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to all that he possesses , and desirous of all that he cannot obtain , to make him the more clearly perceive numberless indignities at which he revolts , numberless acts of injustice which hurry him to desperation ? He reasons on every subject , but his reasoning is a source of trouble - , he foresees every thing , but his foresight confounds him . He
affects wisdom , but his worldly wisdom is the origin of all his suffering . Were he to resign himself to the guidance of his God , the consciousness of a Providence continually watching over him would fix his thoughts , limit his desires , soften his passions , strengthen his reason , and in this stillness of the soul he would be truly happy : but in seeking happiness in himseif , independently of God , he finds nothing but discontent and misery . of
" In this situation what resource is open ^ o him ? Convinced his own insufficiency , and unwilling to turn to God , does he then place his confidence in his fellow creatures ? Ah ! my dear hearers , this is a source of still greater misery . c < Thus saith the Lord , cursed be the man that trusteth in man , and maketh flesh his arm . " What servility , to say no more , is connected with this dependence ? How degrading to cast of } the yoke of God , and bend the neck to that of man , to live according to the will of a fellow-mortal , to exist but by his favour , to
have no other will but his ; to be ever obliged to anticipate his wishes , to address him with caution , and to flatter his vanity ; to be in continual anxiety lest he should be displeased and his favour should cease . What slavery can be more wearisome and oppressive ? But to depend on my God ; , whose Providence will never sufter rae to want , constitutes my felicity , and enables me to exclaim , with St . Paul , " I know whom I have believed . ' * On the contrary , to have rejected the protection of the Almighty , and to reflect that we have committed our destiny to the hands of inconstant selfish men : men whose attachment to us
arises solely from a regard to their own interest , and who would aban- < don us without remorse the moment we became burthensome , or unable to render them future service ; ah ! Christians ^ if feeling were still alive in our breasts , would not this be the source of inconceivable misery ? € t Were it possible for the protection of men to be equally beneficial with the benignant providence of God , it is natural to imagine it must be the protection of princes ; whom we regard as Gods upon earth ,
and of their ministers and favourites , who appear to be all powerful in this world : but in these the sacred writings forbid us to place our hopes , lest we build on a ruinous foundation : put not your trust in princes . Experience also enforces the prohibition \ for such is the effect of the just displeasure of God , that in seeking the favour of princes with unremitting solicitude , multitudes daily fall a sacrifice to falsehood and desertion , and consequently prove that in the son of man , even with respect to worldly happiness , there is no help .
«« ¥ Bt , my brethren , such is the blindness of men that , although persuaded of a truth , so strongly evinced , and so important in its nature , they continue obstinately to oppose it , chusing rather to be unhappy by depending on the creature , than ta be l * appy by subjecting themselves to the Creator . Notwithstanding the cruel proofs daily experienced of the indifference , harshness , and insensibility of these false divinities of the earth , their worshippers are still so infatuated as
to remain oppressed with suffering whilst relying on them , instead of throwing off the servile yoke and enjoying their liberty , by exercising a holy confidence in their God . Ask these idolaters of princely favour , these partisans and slaves of the world s what is passing in their
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604 Bourdatoue * s Sei * mon $ 4
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1806, page 604, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1730/page/44/
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