10. *God, besides his own great example of love, which ought to draw all his creatures after it, has so provided for us, and made our happiness so _common_ to us all, that we have no occasion to envy or hate one another.
For we cannot stand in one another’s way; or by enjoying our true good, keep another from his full share of it.
As we cannot be happy, but in the enjoyment of God; so we cannot rob one another of this happiness.
And as to other things, the _enjoyments_ of this life, they are so little in themselves, so foreign to our happiness; and generally speaking, so _contrary_ to that which they appear to be, that they are no foundation for envy, or hatred.
How silly would it be to envy a man, that was drinking poison out of a _golden_ cup? And yet who can say, that he is acting wiser than thus, when he is envying any instance of worldly greatness?
11. *How many _saints_ has adversity sent to heaven? And how many sinners has prosperity plunged into everlasting misery? A man seems to be in the most glorious state, when he has conquered, disgraced, and humbled his enemy; though it may be, that same conquest has saved his adversary, and undone himself.
_This_ man had perhaps never been debauched, but for his _fortune_ and _advancement_; _that_ had never been pious, but thro’ his _poverty_ and _disgrace_.
She that is envied for her beauty, may, perchance, owe all her _misery_ to it; and another may be for ever happy, for having had no admirers of her _person_.
_One_ man succeeds in every thing, and so loses all: _another_ meets with nothing but crosses and disappointments, and thereby gains more than all the world is worth.
This _clergyman_ may be undone by his being made a _bishop_; and _that_ may save both himself and others by being fixed to his _poor vicarage_.
How envied was _Alexander_, when conquering the world, he built _towns_, set up his _statues_, and left marks of his glory in so many kingdoms!
And how despised was the poor preacher St. _Paul_ when he was _beaten with rods_! And yet how strangely was the world mistaken in their judgment! How much to be envied was St. _Paul_! How much to be pitied was _Alexander_!
These few reflections shew, that the different conditions of this life have nothing in them to excite our uneasy passions, nothing that can reasonably interrupt our love and affection to one another.
12. To proceed now to another motive to this _universal_ love.
Our power of doing _external acts_ of love, is often very narrow and restrained. There are, it may be, but few people to whom we can contribute any worldly relief.
But tho’ our outward means of doing good are often thus limited, yet, if our hearts are full of love, we get, as it were, an infinite power; because God will attribute to us those good works, which we would have performed, had it been in our power.
You cannot heal all the _sick_, relieve all the _poor_; you cannot comfort all in distress, nor be a father to all the fatherless. You cannot, it may be, deliver many from their misfortunes, or teach them to find comfort in God.
*But if there is a love in your heart, that _excites_ you to do _all_ that you can; if your love has _no bounds_, but continually _wishes_ and _prays_ for the relief of all that are in distress, you will be received by God as a benefactor to those, who had nothing from you but your _good-will_, and tender affections.
You cannot build _hospitals_ for the _incurable_; but if you join in your heart with those that do; if you are a friend to these great friends to mankind, and rejoice in their eminent virtues, you will be received by God as a sharer of such good works, as tho’ they had none of your _hands_, yet had _all_ your _heart_.
This consideration surely is sufficient to make us watch over our hearts with all diligence: and aspire after the height of a loving, charitable, and benevolent mind.
13. And, on the other hand, we may hence learn the great evil of _envy_, _spite_, _hatred_, and _ill-will_. For if the goodness of our hearts will intitle us to the reward of good actions, which we never performed; it is certain that the badness of our hearts, will bring us under the guilt of actions that we have never committed.
*As he that lusteth after a woman shall be reckoned an adulterer, tho’ he has only committed the crime in his heart; so the malicious, spiteful, ill-natured man, that only _secretly_ rejoices at evil, shall be reckoned a _murderer_, tho’ he has shed no blood.
*Since therefore our hearts, which are always naked and open to the eyes of God, give such an exceeding extent and increase, either to our virtues or vices, it is our _greatest_ business to govern the motions of our hearts, to correct and improve the inward state of our souls.