Page:The Works of Samuel Johnson ... A journey to the Hebrides. The vision of Theodore, the hermit of Teneriffe. The fountains. Prayers and meditations. Sermons.v. 10-11. Parliamentary debates.pdf/365



"Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us, for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly." ix. 33.

There is nothing upon which more writers, in all ages, have laid out their abilities, than the miseries of life; and it affords no pleasing reflection to discover that a subject so little agreeable is not yet exhausted.

Some have endeavoured to engage us in the contemplation of the evils of life for a very wise and good end. They have proposed, by laying before us the uncertainty of prosperity, the vanity of pleasure, and the inquietudes of power, the difficult attainment of most earthly blessings, and the short duration of them all, to divert our thoughts from the glittering follies and tempting delusions that surround us, to an inquiry after more certain and permanent felicity not subject to be interrupted by sudden vicissitudes, or impaired by the malice of the revengeful, the caprice of the inconstant, or the envy of the ambitious. They have endeavoured to demonstrate, and have in reality demonstrated to all those who will steal a few moments from noise and show, and luxury, to attend to reason and to truth, that nothing is worthy of our ardent wishes, or intense solicitude, that terminates in this state of existence, and that those only make the true use of life that employ it in obtaining the favour of God, and securing everlasting happiness.

Others have taken occasion, from the dangers that surround, and the troubles that perplex us, to dispute the wisdom or justice of the Governour of the world, or to murmur at the laws of Divine providence; as the present state of the world, the disorder and confusion of every thing about us, the casual and certain evils to which they are exposed, and the disquiet and disgust which either accompany or follow those few pleasures that are within