exertion will be necessary to execute any great and extensive plan, or to complete any work which will benefit the world. Accordingly we find, that those authors, whose writings have contributed most to enlighten and improve mankind, have commonly been favored with a long life. How many examples of this might be produced. Among others which occur to my recollection, I would mention only one, that of the celebrated Dr Lardner, who at the age of forty began his Credibility of the Gospel History, the most learned, liberal, and comprehensive demonstration of the Christian religion which appeared in the last century, and prosecuted it to the day of his death, which took place in the eightyfifth year of his age; nor was this long period quite sufficient to complete his extensive plans. I cannot forbear considering it as a peculiar instance of the goodness of God, that he has lengthened out the lives of eminent men, whose labors have been useful to the world in general, and to the Christian church in particular. I would not confine this observation to authors. It is equally applicable to statesmen and judges, of some of whom it may be truly said, that their length of days has been a blessing to the public.

Finally, a long life may be viewed as a distinguished blessing, as it is frequently the effect and the reward of virtue. Under the Mosaic economy it was promised to them, who obeyed the commands of God; and it is generally supposed that it was bestowed as a positive recompense. I presume not to say, that any favor of this kind can be expected under the Christian dispensation. I only affirm, that a long life is the reward of virtue, as it is its natural effect. That length of days is in the right hand of wisdom, by which Solomon meant such

good conduct as wisdom dictates, is as true now as it ever was. Not that every act of virtue has this tendency. Some may even bring on a premature death; and must expect their recompense, not in this world, but the other. It must be granted also, that many amiable persons die at an early age, while the lives of the wicked are spared. But it is still true, that cleanliness and early rising, industry, temperance, and chastity, cheerfulness, good temper, and the government of the passions, all of which are either acts of virtue or closely allied to it, naturally tend to prolong life. On the other hand, it is equally true, that the opposite vices, filthiness, sloth, drunkenness, gluttony, and debauchery, fretfulness, ill temper, and ungovernable passions, sink a man into an untimely grave. Ungodly and wicked men do not live out half their days. They wantonly destroy their bodies as well as their minds, and bring on disease, imbecility, and finally death. There is indeed a great natural difference in the constitutions of men; but even a feeble frame may be preserved many years by attention, moderation, and purity of morals. Daily experience confirms the truth of these observations; so that there is no rashness in affirming, that a long life is in some measure in our own power; and, on the contrary, that many who are cut off before they reach old age, may be properly said to die by their own hands.

II. Upon the whole we may infer from the remarks which have been made, that a long life is a blessing, and that old age, the last stage of it, is not so gloomy a season as it has sometimes been represented, as it enjoys many comforts, and even pleasures. It may be concluded from this fact, that the aged have duties to

perform; some of which I would now lay before you in the second part of my discourse.

1. The aged should conduct themselves with suitable gravity, and not fall below the dignity of behaviour, becoming the period of life, which they have attained. It is not decent in the old to retain the levity and thoughtlessness of the young, and to indulge in vices, for which youth itself is not an excuse. It is time to be done with

voluptuousness, with the loose joke, with gaming, with dissipation of every kind. These things are not only criminal, as they always were; but they are now exceedingly shameful. They may be pardoned in youth by them, who entertain false ideas of the force of the appetites; but in age they are pardoned by no one; in particular, not by the young, among whom old men lose all respect, and are the objects of contempt and derision, when they still linger within the precincts of licentious

ness.

2. But while the aged avoid their vices, they should be cautious of censuring the young. On the contrary they should be kind and indulgent, and not fall into a mistake common to old men, many of whom believe and maintain, that the former times were better than the present. The manners and the morals of men are different at different periods. It must be granted that one age of the world is comparatively innocent; and that another is very corrupt, such as the abominable age which preceded the Reformation of Luther, and the still worse age which preceded the revelation of the Christian religion; but there is no reason for thinking that the present times, in this country at least, are remarkably bad. It is diffi

cult, I am aware, to make a just estimate; because the knowledge of any individual must be limited; but as far as I know, there were formerly more love of mischief, more licentiousness, and more profaneness, than there are now. We are apt to view the sins of the young, when age has removed us at a distance from them, as men, who live in the country, view the sins of large cities. They, who are unaccustomed to the bustle of men, imagine that every great town is a place of temptation and wickedness; but they, who dwell in the capital, know that one half of the reports, which are raised against them, are not true. There is comparatively as much honor, generosity, freedom from slander, purity of behaviour, holiness, and religion, in the city, as in the country. A similar remark applies to the present times; and the reason is the same in both cases; for as men grow more refined, provided their refinement is not carried too far, decorum, modesty, and other virtues of the same class prevail. I will not say that the present morals are more pure; but they are certainly more decent, than the morals of the last century. That so many public speakers should assert the contrary, is not to be won dered at; because this exaggeration, like other exaggerations, enables them to be more eloquent: but while they inveigh against the present times, and gain applause from their admiring hearers for the fire and strength of their satirical language, let not the experienced and wise old man join in these invectives; because he must know, that his sons are probably as correct and moral, as he was at their age. Let him maintain, what he feels every day to be true, that the sun does not shine as brightly, that the zephyrs are not as bland, that the peach is not as sweet, and that the face

of the earth is not as novel and charming, as it was in his youth: but let him confess at the same time, that the change is not in surrounding objects, but in himself; that human nature is not deteriorated; that there is as much as there ever was of chastity and truth, of filial gratitude and reverence, of tenderness and goodness, of charity and devotion.

3. They, who are advancing in age, should take pains to prevent the love of the world from increasing in their hearts. As this sin easily besets them, they have here need of all their caution. A man, who has lived a half century of years, must be fully convinced of the folly of extravagance. His own experience and his observation on the fate of others must prove to him, that property, when it has once been lost by sloth, neglect, or dissipation, can seldom be recovered. He sees too, that even care and prudence sometimes do not avail him; and that he who is the most firmly established in wealth, is not secure against a reverse of fortune; but that riches, after they have long perched on the mansion of prosperity, suddenly take wing, and leave the old man to consume the remainder of his days in poverty and dependence. It is not surprising therefore, that the fear of coming to want should sometimes enter the bosoms of them, who have heaped up silver and gold. But anxiety is as useless in this case, as it is in all others; and for this plain reason, that it cannot shield us against the apprehended evil. Prudence and foresight, when they are extended beyond proper bounds, deprive us of the very advantages, which we hope to derive from wealth, that is, of ease and independence; and it can make no difference to man, whether he is wretched