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DISCOURSE XXII.

GOVERNMENT OF THE THOUGHTS.

PROVERBS, IV. 23.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

THE heart in the body is the well-spring of life. From thence the blood proceeds, and thither it returns. Purge the fountain, therefore, and the streams will flow pure.

When we treat of the mind, we use the same word, to denote that centre and source from which all our thoughts issue, as when we say, a man has a good heart, or a bad heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, and the hand acteth. He who never thinks any evil, will never speak any, nor do any. Above all things, then, watch well your thoughts. "Keep the heart with all diligence; for "out of it are the issues of life." Purge the fountain, and the streams will flow pure.

But is this possible? it will be asked-Thoughts are volatile things; they arise without or against one's will; and you may as well tell us to imprison the wind, as to keep them in order, when they are risen.

The task is difficult, but not so difficult. It is difficult, but the greater will be the glory of performing it. It has been done, and therefore may be done again. It is not impossible, for then it had never been commanded. Keep the heart with all dili"gence;" do your best, and, by God's grace, you will succeed.

The right government of the thoughts, to be sure, requires no small art, vigilance, and resolution. But it is a matter of such vast importance to the peace and improvement of the mind, that it is worth while to be at some pains about it. For a little consideration will show us, that our happiness or unhappiness depends generally upon our own thoughts. What happens without us does not produce either one or the other, but our thought and apprehension about it. The same kind of accident which deprives one person of his reason, will give little or no concern to another; nor can any affliction, perhaps, befall the children of men, which some have not borne with cheerfulness and ease.

It will be readily allowed, that a man who has so numerous and turbulent a family to govern, which are too apt to be at the command of his passions and appetites, ought not to be long from home. If he be, they will soon grow mutinous and disorderly under the conduct of those headstrong guides, and raise great clamours and disturbances, sometimes on very slight occasions indeed. And a more dreadful scene of misery can hardly be imagined, than that which is occasioned by such a tumult and uproar within; when a raging conscience, or inflamed passions, are

let loose, without check or control. A city in flames is but a faint emblem; or the mutiny of intoxicated mariners, who have murdered their commander, and are destroying one another. The torment of the mind, under such an insurrection and ravage, is not easy to be conceived. The most revengeful person in the world cannot wish his enemy a greater.

A wise Heathen very justly observes, that a man is seldom rendered unhappy by his ignorance of the thoughts of others; but he that does not attend to the motions of his own, is certainly miserable. Yet look around you, and what do you behold? People ranging and roving all the world over, ransacking every thing, gazing at the stars above, digging into the bowels of the earth below, diving into other men's bosoms, never considering, all the while, that the care of their own minds is neglected. He who spends so much of his time abroad, must expect to find strange doings when he comes home.

A very ingenious and sensible writer has observed, that the selection of our thoughts is of equal consequence with the choice of our company. Permit me to adopt his ideas as the ground-work of the following discourse, adding withal such other reflections as have occurred in a course of meditation on the subject.

Let us consider our thoughts as so much company, and inquire, which of them one would wish to exclude and send away, which to let in and receive ;

a The Emperor MARCUS ANTONINUS.

because it is much easier to prevent disagreeable visitants from entering, than to get rid of them when they are entered. It will be a great matter, therefore, to have a trusty porter at the gate; to keep a good guard at the door by which bad thoughts come in, and to avoid those occasions which commonly excite them.

In the first place, then, it may be taken for granted, no one would choose to entertain guests that were peevish and discontented with every thing. Their room is certainly much better than their company. They are uneasy in themselves, and will soon make the whole house so; like wasps, they are not only restless, but will cause universal uneasiness, and sting the family. Watch, therefore, against all thoughts of this kind, which do but chafe and corrode the mind to no purpose. To harbour these is to do yourself more injury than it is in the power of your greatest enemy to do you. It is equally a Christian's interest and duty to "learn, in whatso"ever state he is, therewith to be content."

There is another set of people, who are not the most comfortable companions in the world; such as are evermore anxious about what is to happen, fearful of every thing, and apprehensive of the worst. Open not the door to thoughts of this complexion ; since, by giving way to tormenting fears and suspicions of some approaching danger or troublesome event, you not only anticipate, but double the evil you fear; and undergo much more from the apprehension of it before it comes, than from the whole weight of it when present. Are not all these events

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under the direction of a wise and gracious Providence? If they befall you, they constitute that share of suffering which God hath appointed you, and which he expects you should bear as a Christian. He who sends trials will send strength. Your being miserable beforehand will not keep them off, or enable you to bear them when they come. pose (as it often happens) they never come; then you have made yourself wretched, perhaps twenty years together, for nothing; and all would have been just as it is, if you had never had an uneasy thought about it. How often has your fear magnified evils at a distance, which you have found infinitely less in reality than in appearance! Learn to trust God, and be at peace: " in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.'

You esteem it a dreadful thing to be obliged to live with persons who are passionate and quarrelsome. You undoubtedly judge right; it is like living in a house that is on fire. Dismiss, therefore, as soon as may be, all angry and wrathful thoughts. They canker the mind, and dispose it to the worst temper in the world, that of fixed malice and revenge. Never recall the ideas or ruminate upon past injuries and provocations. This is the amusement of many in their solitary hours; but they might as well play with cannon-balls or thunder-bolts. They may work themselves up to distraction; to hate every thing and every body; and to have the temper and disposition of the Destroyer himself. Anger may steal into the heart of a wise man; but it rests only in the bosom of fools. Make the most candid allowances