Page:Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse.pdf/173

 who "regardeth not the outward appearance;" neither let us deceive ourselves, by thinking we have already obtained victory over our own hearts, when those roots of bitterness spring up within them, which hereafter must be gathered, "and bound in bundles to burn."

Omit a duty for once, and it will be more difficult to execute when necessity compels its performance. From what knowledge I have of my own character and propensities, I find that I am inclined to delay, to procrastinate, and to neglect favourable opportunities, either from not duly appreciating them, or from a vain hope that they will return again.

Friends, benefactors, and enemies are neither more or less to us than an Omnipotent Being sees fit to make them. Favours and insults, gifts and injuries, are neither sent us at random, nor without a good design; and it should be our constant prayer that we may never frustrate the intended good, nor miss the lesson of improvement which the page of providence spreads before us.