state of society just as he found it, and indolently contributes his quota of deceit, to make the life of a human being an huge falsehood, from the cradle to the tomb. It is this which speaks to Dives the false history of his shameless, and pampered life;-here it is, in the deceitful mirror of the human face, that he sees the high gifts with which God has endowed him ;-and here it is, in that mirror, so dreadfully just to guilty poverty, he may come back, after he has trampled on every principle of honor, and justice, and see joy, and delight, and unbounded hospitality, and unnumbered friends: Therefore, I say to you, when you enter in among your fellows, in the pomp, and plenitude of wealth,--when the meek eye of poverty falls before you, when all men listen to your speech, and the approving smile is ready to break forth on every brow, then keep down your rising heart, and humble yourself before your father who seeth in secret; then fear very greatly for your salvation; then tremble more than Felix trembled; then remember that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a

rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

The second reason why it is so difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God is, that he loves the kingdom of the world too well: Death is very terrible, says the son of Sirach, to him who lives at ease in his possessions; and in truth the pleasure of life does, in a great measure, depend upon the lot which we draw, and the heritage which we enjoy; it may be urged, that a person who knows no other situation, wishes no other; and, that the boundary of his experience, is the boundary of his desire: This would be true enough, if we did not derive our notions of happiness, and misery from a wider range of observation than our own destiny can afford; I will not speak of great misfortunes, for such instances prove, but too clearly, how much the love of life depends on the enjoyment it affords;-but a man who is the eternal prey of solicitude, wishes for the closing of the scene; a constant, cheerless struggle with little miseries, will dim the sun, and wither the green herb, and

taint the fresh wind; he will cry out, let me depart, he will count his grey hairs with joy, and one day will seem unto him as many. Those who are not reminded of the wretchedness of human existence by such reflections as these, who are born to luxury and respect, and sheltered from the various perils of poverty, begin to forget the precarious tenure of worldly enjoyments, and to build sumptuously on the sand; they put their trust, (as the psalmist says,) in chariots, and horses, and dream they shall live for ever in those palaces which are but the out-houses of the grave. There are very few men, in fact, who are capable of withstanding the constant effect of artificial distinctions; it is difficult to live upon a throne, and to think of a tomb ; it is difficult to be clothed in splendor, and to remember we are dust; it is difficult for the rich and the prosperous to keep their hearts, as a burning coal upon the altar, and to humble themselves before God, as they rise before

臘

men. In the mean time, while pride gathers

in the heart, the angel is ever writing in the

book, and wrath is ever mantling in the cup:

complain not, in the season of woe, that you are parched with thirst; ask not for water, as Dives asked; you have a warning which he never had. There stand the ever memorable words of the text, which break down the stateliness of man, and dissipate the pageantry of the earth:-thus it is that the few words of a God can make the purple of the world appear less beautiful than the mean garments of a beggar, and striking terror into the hearts of rulers, and of exarchs, turn the banners of dominion to the ensigns of death, and make them shudder at the sceptre which they wield. To day, you are cloathed in fine linen, and fare sumptuously; in a few, and evil years, they shall hew you out a tomb of marble, whiter than snow, and the cunning artifice of the workman shall grave on it weeping angels, and make a delicate image of one fleeing up to Heaven, as if it were thee, and shall relate, in golden letters, the long story of your honours, and your birth,—thou fool!! He that dieth by the road side for the lack of a morsel of bread, God loveth him, as well as he loveth thee; and at the gates of Heaven, and from the blessed

angels thou shalt learn, that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

Another fatal effect of great wealth is, that it is apt to harden the heart; wealth gives power; power produces immediate gratification; the long habit of immediate gratification, an impatience of unpleasant feelings; à claim to be exempted from the contemplation of human misery, of every thing calculated to inspire gloom, to pollute enjoyment, and protrude a sense of painful duties; the compassion with which prosperous men are born in common with us all, is never cherished by a participation in the common suffering, a share in the general struggle; it wants that sense of the difficulty and wretchedness of existence, by which we obtain the best measure of the sufferings of our fellow-creatures: We talk of human life as a journey, but how variously is that journey performed? there are some who come forth girt, and shod, and mantled to walk on velvet lawns, and smooth terraces, where every gale is arrested, and every beam