nsult these false oracles is not only foolish, but sinful. It is
foolish, because they are themselves as ignorant as those whom they
pretend to teach; and it is sinful, because it is prying into that
futurity which God, in mercy as well as wisdom, hides from men.

God indeed _orders_ all things; but when you have a mind to do a
foolish thing, do not fancy you are _fated_ to do it. This is tempting
Providence, and not trusting him. It is, indeed, "charging God with
folly." Prudence is his gift, and you obey him better when you make
use of prudence under the direction of prayer, than when you madly run
into ruin, and think you are only submitting to your fate. Never fancy
that you are compelled to undo yourself, or to rush upon your own
destruction, in compliance with any supposed fatality. Never believe
that God conceals his will from a sober Christian who obeys his laws,
and reveals it to a vagabond gypsy, who runs up and down, breaking
the laws both of God and man. King Saul never consulted the witch till
he had left off serving God. The Bible will direct us what to do,
better than any conjurer; and no days are unlucky but those which we
make so by our own vanity, folly, and sin.

THE HAPPY WATERMAN

A gentleman and lady walking on the bank of the river Thames, spied a
small ferry-boat, with a neatly-dressed waterman, rowing towards them;
on his nearer approach, they read on the stern of his boat these
words, THE HAPPY WATERMAN. Without taking any notice of it, they
determined to enter into conversation with him; and inquiring into his
situation in life, they found that he had a wife and five children,
and supported also an old father and mother-in-law by his own labor.
The gentleman and lady were upon this still more surprised at the
title he had given himself, and said,

"My friend, if this is your situation, how is it that you call
yourself 'the happy waterman'?"

"I can easily explain this to your satisfaction," answered the young
man, "if you will give me leave;" and they desiring him to proceed, he
spoke as follows: "I have observed that the greatest blessings in life
are often looked upon as the greatest distresses, and are, in fact,
made such by means of imprudent conduct. My father and mother died a
few years ago, and left a large family. My father was a waterman, and
I was his assistant in the management of a ferry-boat, by which he
supported his family. On his death, it was necessary, in order t