her Reft, and that shall be turned to thy Joy: Or, in the Words of the Poet, To watch and pray, the very first Conftantly ufe the Means of Grace, May God, in whofe Hands are the Hearts of all Men, give you Time and Space for, and also the Grace of Repentance: May he influence you by the Means of his powerful Spirit, to fee your Crimes in a proper Light, and, at the fame Time, comfort you, when you feem to yourself overwhelmed in the Ocean of your Iniquity: May he (whenever that happy and neceflary Minute comes) reach out his faving Help to your finking, and almost desponding Soul, and graciously affift you by his Righthand. I hereby testify myself 29th April, 1753. Your Well-wisher, THEOPHILUS. ADVICE A to FTER having congratulated you upon your fafe Recovery, at which I very much rejoice, I take the Liberty to fend you, for your Amusement, a Pair of Canary Birds, not in the leaft doubting but they will be well taken Care of. I hope you will excufe me, if (in order to render them not only a pleasant, but an useful Amusement) I should endeavour to collect to gether gether fome of thofe Leffons which they will teach us if we carefully watch them; not that I think you want many Hints for your Improvement. 1. Their being confined in a Cage, may put. us in Mind of the general Confinement of our Natures, which are ever aiming at fomething which now is, and always will be (whilft we are in this World, and till we take our Flight hence) out of our Reach; and our Confinement is what we cannot (by fluttering about ever fo much) get free from, till we are released from the Prifon of the Body. 2. From their Industry in making their Nefts, we may also learn a Leffon of Diligence, to endeavour to provide for ourselves the proper Neceffaries for our Well-being and Comfort, and the Indulgence of innocent Pleafures; it likewife points out how wifely Providence has provided them with Inftinct, instead of Reason and Reflection in Man. 3. When you obferve them alternatively to pull and deftroy their own Works, and again and again to arrange them, and can hardly fix them to their Minds; in this, I think, they plainly exemplify to us that Ficklenefs in our Natures, which is fo apparent, that we fcarcely know how ever to please ourselves; and ferves alfo as a Leffon of Contentment at our several Allotments. 4. When you hear them fing in the Morning, let then put you in Mind how early we ought to be in our Praise to our Creator; and how thankfully we (with them) ought to be for every renewed Day, and efpecially after any par particular Deliverance from Danger, or great Illness. They joyfully jump and fing around their Meat when given them; and thereby hint to us, that all our Provisions should be received with Thankfulness and Joy, that is, that we should fay Grace before Meat.-N. B. They do not do fo afterwards; which fhews, that Satiety is too apt to make us forget the Donor's Hand. 5. If you watch them when they go to Rooft, you will hear them fing a kind of Requiem to themselves; which may ferve to put you in Mind, how easily and refignedly you may go to your Bed, when the Duties of the Day, properly performed, are over. 6. When there are young ones, you will often see the Hen fed by the Cock (while fhe as it were lays in); in which is obfervable, how much Affection and Friendship will lead us to do for each other; efpecially that Affection, Friendship, and Complaifance, which ought to fubfift in the married State. 7. It is very inftructive and amufing, to fee how tenderly the Cock and Hen feed the young ones by Turns, and how anxious they seem for their Welfare; which is a Leffon to Parents in general, to be careful and anxious for the Welfare of their Children; a Duty this, which I know no-where better performed than by yours. 8. As the young ones begin to be fledged, they also are Monitors to us in this Respect, that we fhould always hope, that he who clothes thefe little Birds, will never leave those destitute O for for whofe Amusement they were sent, for whofe Sake they were created. 9. Obferve the Hen whilft fhe feeds them, and you will fee the utmoft Equality, in diftributing to them the Food by Turns, without Partiality to one more than to another; which is a Monition to us, to free ourfelves from all Partiality in our Friendships and Affections, where the Merit is equal. 10. It is very obfervable to see (in case you take one of these little ones away, or that one of them dies) how wretched the old ones are till they have forgot it, which they foon do; for as their Pleasures are but of a fhort Duration, fo are their Pains too: Let us, with them, alfo endeavour to fet light by reparable Loffes, and to value Trifles but as fuch. 11. When the firft Set of young ones fly, you will foon find another Neft of young ones follow; which it is two to one but they are in Part deftroyed by thofe that were firft hatched pecking at them, and endeavouring to ftarve them: And herein is reprefented to you a juft Picture of the World, full of Jealoufy and Illnature, continually as it were pecking at, and endeavouring to ftarve or undermine one another Now, when you find your Resentment rife against them for thefe Faults, let it be a Leffon to you of univerfal Charity and Goodwill to others. In fhort, the whole Proceedings of them will be a general Leffon (to all) of Gratitude to God, Affection and Love to our Parents; who have, and do, take infinitely more Pains with us than |