98. First, the love and contemplation of God in some measure renders us partakers of the divine nature, and consequently of the perfection and happiness of it. Our wills may thus be united to his will, and, therefore, rendered free from disappoint ment; we shall, by degrees, see every thing as God sees it, that is, see every thing which he has made to be good. Though this can only be the case in part in the present world, yet it is well known that there have been those who have so far reached this perfection of our nature, as to acquiesce, and even to rejoice in the events of life, however apparently afflict ing ; to be freed from fear and solicitude ; and to receive their daily bread with con stant thankfulness. And though the num ber of these happy persons has been com paratively small, and the path be not fre quented and beaten, yet, if the desire be sufficiently earnest, it is in the power of all to arrive at the same state.
99. Secondly, the love of God may be considered as the central affection to which all the others point. When men have entered sufficiently into the ways of piety, the ideas of the Supreme Being re cur more and more in the whole course and tenor of their lives, and, by uniting with all their sensations and intellectual feelings, overpower all the pains, and aug ment and connect with themselves all the pleasures. Every thing beautiful and glo rious brings in the ideas of God, mixes with them, and coalesces with them ; for all things are from God, be is the only cause and reality, and the existence of every thing else is only the effect and proof of his existence and excellence. Let the mind be once duly imbued with this truth, and its practical applications, and every thing will afford exercise for the devout affections.' Add to their unli mited extent, their purity, and perfection, and it cannot but be acknowledged, that they must be far superior to the rest, both in kind and in degree.
100. Thirdly, the objects of other plea sures are frequently removed. No time,
no place, no circumstance of life, can de prive us of this. Our hearts may be di rected towards God in the greatest exter nal confusion, as well as in the deepest silence and retirement. All the duties of life, when directed to God, become pleasures, and by the same means, every the smallest action becomes the discharge of the proper duty of time and place. Thus time is turned to its best advantage : thus every situation of life may be con verted into present comfort and future fe licity.
101. Fourthly, when the love of God is thus made to arise from every object, and to exert itself in every action, it becomes of a permanent nature, and will not pass into deadness or disgust, as those other pleasures do from repeated gratification.
102. We should be glad if our limits would allow of our laying before our read ers a view of those means which are point ed out by Hartley, for the culture of the theopathetic affections, of faith, fear, gra titude, hope, trust, resignation, and love : we must, however, content ourselves with referring to his 72d proposition on this point, and to his important rules in the 73d proposition, concerning the manner of expressing them in prayer, and other religious exercises ; concluding this bead with the following observations from the latter. There cannot be a more fatal de lusion, than to suppose that religion is nothing but a divine philosophy in the soul ; and that the foregoing theopathetic affections may exist and flourish there, though they be not cultivated by devout exercises and expressions. Experience, and many plain obvious reasons, shew the falsehood and mischievous tendency of this notion ; and it follows from the theory of association, that no internal dispositions can remain long in the mind, unless they be properly nourished by proper associa tions, that is, by some external acts. This, therefore, among others, may be consi dered as a strong argument for frequent prayer.