from his Maker's prefence, but fuch as proceed from divine wrath and indignation!

WE may affure our felves, that the great Author of nature will not always be as one who is indifferent to any of his creatures. Those who will not feel him in his love, will be fure at length to feel him in his displeasure. And how dreadful is the condition of that creature, who is only fenfible of the being of his Creator by what he suffers from him! He is as effentially prefent in hell as in hea ven; but the inhabitants of those accurfed places behold him only in his wrath, and fhrink within the flames to conceal themselves from him. It is not in the power of imagination to conceive the fearful effects of Omnipotence incenfed.

BUT I fhall only confider the wretchednefs of an intellectual being, who, in this life, lies under the difpleafure of him, that at all times and in all places is intimately united with him. He is able to difquiet the foul, and vex it in all its faculties. He can hinder any of the greatest comforts of life from refreshing us, and give an edge to every one of its flightest calamities. Who then can bear the thought of being an outcast from his prefence, that is, from the comforts of it, or of feeling it only in its terrors? How pathetic is that expoftulation of Job, when, for the trial of his patience, he was made to look upon himself in this deplorable condition! Why haft thou fet me as a mark against thee, fo that I am become a burden to myself? But, Thirdly, How happy is the condition of that intellectual being, who is fenfible of his Maker's prefence from the fecret effects of his mercy and loving-kindness !

THE bleffed in heaven behold him face to face, that is, are as fenfible of his prefence as we are of the prefence of any perfon whom we look upon with our eyes. There is doubtlefs a faculty in fpirits, by which they apprehend one another, as our fenfes do material objects; and there is no queftion but our fouls, when they are difembodied, or placed in glorified bodies, will by this faculty, in whatever part of space they refide, be always fenfible of the divine presence. We, who have this veil of flesh standing between us and the world of fpirits, must be content to know that the Spirit of God is

prefent

prefent with us, by the effects which he produceth in us. Our outward fenfes are too grofs to apprehend him; we may however taste and fee how gracious he is, by his influence upon our minds, by thofe virtuous thoughts which he awakens in us, by thofe fecret comforts and refrefhments which he conveys into our fouls, and by thofe ravishing joys and inward fatisfactions which are perpetually fpringing up, and diffufing themfelves among all the thoughts of good men. He is lodged in our very effence, and is as a foul within the foul, to irradiate its understanding, rectify its will, purify its paffions, and enliven all the powers of man. How happy therefore is an intellectual being, who, by prayer and meditation, by virtue and good works, opens this communication between God and his own foul! Though the whole creation frowns upon him, and all nature looks black about him, he has his light and support within him, that are able to chear his mind, and bear him up in the midst of all thofe horrors which encompass him. He knows that his helper is at hand, and is always nearer to him than any thing elfe can be, which is capable of annoying or terrifying him. In the midft of calumny or contempt, he attends to that Being who whifpers better things within his foul, and whom he looks upon as his defender, his glory, and the lifter-up of his head. In his deepest folitude and retirement, he knows that he is in company with the greatest of beings; and perceives within himself fuch real fenfations of his prefence, as are more delightful than any thing that can be met with in the converfation of his creatures. Even in the hour of death, he confiders the pains of his diffolution to be nothing else but the breaking down of that partition which stands betwixt his foul and the fight of that Being, who is always prefent with him, and is about to manifeft itself to him in fulnefs of joy.

If we would be thus happy, and thus fenfible of our Maker's prefence, from the fecret effects of his mercy and goodness, we must keep fuch a watch over all our thoughts, that, in the language of the fcripture, his foul may have pleasure in us. We must take care not to grieve his holy Spirit, and endeavour to make the meditations of our hearts always acceptable in his fight, that he may delight

thus

thus to refide and dwell in us. The light of nature could direct Seneca to this doctrine, in a very remarkable paffage among his epiftles: Sacer ineft in nobis fpiritus, bonorum malorumque cuftos et obfervator; et quemadmodum nos illum tractamus, ita et ille nos. There is a holy fpirit refiding in us, who watches and obferves both good and evil men, and will treat us after the fame man. ner that we treat him.' But I fhall conclude this difcourfe with those more emphatical words in divine revetation, If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

N° 572.

I

Monday, July 26.

-Quod medicorum eft

Promittunt medici---

Hor Ep. 1. 1. 2. v. 115、

Phyficians only boaft the healing art.

AM the more pleased with thefe my papers, lince I

find they have encouraged feveral men of learning and wit to become my correfpondents. I yefterday received the following effay againft quacks, which I fhall here communicate to my readers for the good of the public, begging the writer's pardon for those additions and retrenchments which I have made in it.

TH

us.

HE defire of life is fo natural and strong a paffion, that I have long fince ceafed to wonder at the great encouragement which the practice of phyfic finds among Well-conftituted governments have always made the profeffion of a phyfician both honourable and advantageous. Homer's Machaon and Virgil's lapis were men of renown, heroes in war, and made at least as much havoc among their enemies as among their friends. Thofe who have little or no faith in the abilities of a quack, will apply themselves to him, either because he is willing to fell health at a reasonable profit, or because the patient, like a drowning man, catches at every twig, and hopes for reVOL. VIII. F

lief

Jief from the most ignorant, when the most able physicians give him none. Though impudence and many words are as necessary to these itinerary Galens as a laced hat or a Merry Andrew, yet they would turn very little to the advantage of the owner, if there were not fome inward difpofi tion in the fick man to favour the pretenfions of the mountebank. Love of life in the one, and of money in the other, creates a good correfpondence between them.

THERE is fcarce a city in Great Britain but has one of this tribe, who takes it into his protection, and on the amarket-day harangues the good people of the place with aphorifms and receipts. You may depend upon it, he comes not there for his own private interest, but out of a particular affection to the town. I remember one of thofe public-fpirited artists at Hammersmith, who told his audience, That he had been born and bred there, and that having a special regard for the place of his nativity, he was determined to make a prefent of five fhillings to as many as would accept of it.' The whole croud ftood agape, and ready to take the doctor at his word; when putting his hand into a long bag, as every one was expecting his crown-piece, he drew out an handful of little packets, each of which he informed the spectators was conftantly fold at five fhillings and fixpence, but that he would bate the odd five fhillings to every inhabitant of that place the whole affembly immediately closed with this generous offer, and took off all his phyfic, after the doctor had made them vouch for one another, that there were no foreigners among them, but that they were all Hmmerfmith men.

THERE is another branch of pretenders to this art, who, without either horfe or pickle-herring, lie fnug in a garret, and fend down notice to the world of their extraordinary parts and abilities by printed bills and advertisements. These seem to have derived their custom from an Eaftern nation which Herodotus speaks of, among whom it was a law, that whenever any cure was performed, both the method of the cure, and an account of the distemper, fhould be fixed in fome public place; but as cuftoms will corrupt, these our moderns provide themselves of perfons to atteft the cure, before they publish or make an experiment of the prescriptions. I have heard of a porter, whe

ferves as a knight of the post under one of these operators, and, though he was never fick in his life, has been cured of all the diseases in the difpenfary. These are the men.

whofe fagacity has invented elixirs of all forts, pills and lozenges, and take it as an affront if you come to them before you are given over by every body else. Their medicines " are infallible, and never fail of fuccefs," that is, of enriching the doctor, and fetting the patient effectually at rest.

I LATELY dropped into a coffee-houfe at Westminster, where I found the room hung round with ornaments of this nature. There were elixirs, tinctures, the Anodine Fotus, English pills, electuaries, and, in fhort, more remedies than I believe there are diseases. At the fight of fo many inventions, I could not but imagine myself in a. kind of arfenal or magazine, where ftore of arms was repofited against any fudden invafion. Should you be attacked by the enemy fide-ways, here was an infallible piece of defenfive armour to cure the pleurify: fhould a diftemper beat up your head-quarters, here you might purchase an impenetrable helmet, or, in the language of the artift, a cephalic tincture: if your main body be af faulted, here are various kinds of armour in case of various onfets. I began to congratulate the prefent age upon the happiness men might reasonably hope for in life, when death was thus in a manner defeated, and when pain itself would be of fo fhort a duration, that it would but just ferve to enhance the value of pleafure: while I was in thefe thoughts, I unluckily called to mind a story of an ingenious gentleman of the last age, who lying violently afflicted with the gout, a perfon came and offered his fer-vice to cure him by a method, which he affured him was infallible; the fervant who received the meffage carried it up to his mafter, who inquiring whether the perfon came on foot or in a chariot; and being informed that he was on foot; CC Go," fays he, "fend the knave about his bu"finefs was his method as infallible as he pretends, he "would long before now have been in his coach and "fix." In like manner I concluded, that had all these. advertifers arrived to that skill they pretend to, they would have had no need for fo many years fucceffively to publish to the world the place of their abode, and the vir

F 2.

tues