the loving providence of our Lord and Saviour, a man of the
substance of his mother, born in the world, who therefore can be
touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and knows our necessities
before we ask, and our ignorance in asking, and orders all things
for good to those who love him, and desire to copy his likeness.

2. Those stern laws and rules by which the world moves, and will
move as long as it lasts--we should not be afraid of them either, as
if we were mere parts of a machine forced by fate to do this thing
and that, without a will of our own. For we should believe that
these laws were the laws of the Lord Jesus Christ; that he had
ordained them for the good of man, of man whom he so loved that he
poured out his most precious blood upon the cross for us; and
therefore we should not fear them; we should only wish to learn
them, that we might obey them, sure that they are the laws of life;
of health and wealth, peace and safety, honour and glory in this
world and in the world to come; and we should thank God whenever men
of science, philosophers, clergymen, or any persons whatsoever,
found out more of the laws of that good God, in whom we and all
created things live and move and have our being.

3. If we believe really that Jesus was the Son of God, we should
never believe that selfishness was to be the rule of our lives. One
sight of Christ upon his cross would tell us that not selfishness,
but love, was the likeness of God, that not selfishness, but love,
which gives up all that it may do good, was the path to honour and
glory, happiness and peace.

4. If we really believe this, we should never believe that custom
and fashion ought to rule us. For we should live by the example of