Cljeap iRepositorp. SUNDAY READING, THE HARVEST HOME. Sold by J. EVANS and Co 1 ;rca t Allowance will be miH^ *« But let us here endervour to prevent this forget, fulness of our present mercies from taking pi aC g in the mind of our readers, and let us invite them to come and contemplate with us that greatness and goodness of our Creator which are so observable at the time of harvest. There is indeed no part of the creation to which We can turn our e yes without meeting with some proofs of the divine power and mercy. Shall we lift up our eyes to the heavens ? There shines the brightness of the sun, which God has placed in the firmament to give light and heat to the world, — Shall we wait till the sun is set ? Then the moon and the stars take up the same language of praise, and tell of their maker's power and goodness. Shall we turn our eyes to the earth ? See how the surface of it is spread forth like a carpet, deck- ed with every thing to charm the eye, to delight the sense, and to supply the wants of man. Shall we look upon the great and wide ocean ? There go the ships; and behold, even the sea is filled with food for the use of man. " How many are thy ord, in wisdom hast thou made them drou tift < 5 ) f • i t n? these common objects of natu T,,e - slg , n rarrv out the holy men of old in pr; ased often to w ^ of w hich we will mention ^ ioatl< !L 6 able to it, and then "he goethawav m ' av °" r - up he knoweth not how^ThfevS wht f "** was in the first place given by God w e f pl * er has put it intfth, fround/tl-.re i \* or operation, carried on in which man s iVn'f unconcerned, but he does not even know ^ ^accomplished. The d CiZ^Z Wi J^T* 1 ? tak **P*"»>t fresh plant , « means of?- - this P Unt is means of roots hidden within the earth, which the shoot folrth without the aid of man , in this secret thiough the plant vby-atid-by the flower blooms; the eai forms itself ; and the corn takes the proper shape and substlmce, the rain in the mean time waters it, the dews desend, and the sun shines up- on it, till at length it is fit for the use of man. In all tins man can do no thing. It is during his absence even that tins work is going on, If the grain is blighted, man cannot help it; if it grows too slowly he is not able to quicken it, he can only look on . with hope and fear, and watch it in its different 1 stages ; he must ascribe all its growth to the unas- sisted power of the great Creator of all things. Plain as the hand of the Creator is in the pro- duction of the corn, yet such is our natural stupidi- ( 7 ) i :j c we gather the corn, we often think I'*- ffiod in it, than the very cattle which > ll1 ° re The farmers speaks of his own skill, ^ b Sd P^ns. And when the grain is ripe, .,1 Ishoill o ,,u r. . - • - i i ^ t w > ud in his barn, with much self applause, tW l \ L c ount his gains, not considering that lM ke in fact is due to God, and that every 'SiU is laid up is a proof of man's obligation m tet uThere notice also the < largeness' of the - ■ hmmtv The works of god are upon a large J t5 Je like himself, infinite. The works £ are little and insignificant; it is but a small L which his strength can water, but the showers ofheaven water a whole territory at once. It is but , f w acres which the diligent labors of man can mike productive ; but God causes his un to shine, md his dew to descend, and the whole earth is ren- ted fruitful. Look over that beautiful and ex- tensive prospect : See as far as the eye can reach low die fields are crowned with plenty; extend the scene in your imagination, still the same rich view ofthe divine bounty presents itself.. Cross the wide ocean, and survey the different countries of which Hie earth consists. In all the varied productions of these different climate,?, we only meet with more and more signs of the divine goodness. How are we then called upon to admire and adore that glo- rious Being who suffers no prrt of the earth to es- cape his kind and benignant notice. With the extensiveness of this bounty let the 'continuance' of it be considered. No sooner is the harvest got in, than again the seed is committed to to ground, and again the same scene return* f ( 8 ) i upon us. Let us carry back our though! years that have been of old. How unwea' been our Great Benefactor ! How unceas ^ exertions of his goodness! How many gen^ ^ have been fed and supported by it ! Seasons^ changed, but they have only presented diff views of the Lord's mercy ; and the cold ofwh!? the bloom of spring, 'he heat of summer, anthk' fruits of autumn, have each in their seasons m fested the same bounty and care of our Creator 111 Having indulged in these pleasing ietlection upon the divine bounty, it seems proper in the next place to turn our attent ion to a more melanchol subject, I mean ' our unworthiness of it,' For whom does the Lord open his stores, and provide with so liberal a hand ? For a race of creatures who are touched with the most lively sense of his goodness andlovt: and honour him in proportion to these great obligations ? Do we then hear the reapers, while they cut down the corn, speaking good of the name of the Lord, and blessing him for hib kindness to the chil- dren of men ? Hark! is it hymns of praise, which they are chaunting in yonder field ? Is the song they sing that song of the psalmist which has just been spoken of? Methinks, instead of it, some song full of prophaneness and obscenity is sung aloud. The name of God, indeed, is on many lips, but it is only that it may be trifled with or blasphemed. What then, are these men gathering God's bounty, and in the same moment piofaning his name? But fol- low them to the harvest home; surely now at least they meet and offer up their prayer and thanks- giving, and while God is in the act of crowning the ( 9 ) , h his bounty, each tongue is loud in talk- r ar f Srcy, and each grateful heart is sweU- k oi : " nra ise. It is commonly reported, that •«^ Vlth Reason in the year in which so much Kll Z drunkenness prevail among the ivide as in that of bringing the harvest home. KS^&nthe returns which in this year also ^St^^ goodness P Is all our 1 aining of want, and our prayer to God for ^Stoend in a drunken abuse of the mer- s h e so wonderfully bestows? But not to dwell on vices which are so great, that ,e would willingly hope they must only be the vices of a few, let us little consider also the ge- neral unwoithiness of mankind. Who are they that will be fed by this abundant harvest t Will no idle person be maintained by it? Will no sinners be their strength sustained, so as to continue their life in sin ? Will th|re be no one who w\ll eat withunthankfulriess ? None who, as the reapers have reaped it without thinking of the Author of the har- vest, will in like manner feed upon it without thinking of the Author of their food? Again, wUf no discontented murmuring, repining people be fed by the goodness of the Lord? will all those, in short, whose life is prolonged by the bread now sent them, devote that life to the service of him who prolonged it? Surely, if we could remove our- selves to a distance from the earth, and become by ai ty means impartial judges between God and man, we should stand astonished at the present rebellion °f the creature. He who made man, He who sup- ports him, sending him the very bread which he eat s,has a right to his sesvices; and hath made him m doubt for his own glory. Methinks if any of us f f faience constant service in Z? M f ^ *** Wng should presuSSl tor himself, and pretend to have a will of l ^ \ and break all the laws we had given him, w S be ready methinks to stamp our foot upon S to crush him to death at once, tor -not fulfil J ends of his creation. We should have no p£ I with such a little insolent and rebellious animal 1 And yet God has patience with us, notwithstandV all our forgetfulflcss of the ends for which wem born, and our unthankfulness for the daily returns j of his bounty. Nay, though we go on abusing his ? mercies, he goes on cloathing the pastures wit' ilocks. The valJies also are again covered .... with corn ; again they shout for joy, they also sing, Olet us be ashamed of the baseness of our ingra- titude, and repent in the name of Christ, before the day of his vengeance is come upon us. The season of harvest is also one which should lead us particularly to reflect on our ' dependance upon God.' God gave us life at first. He causes our blood to flow, our heart to beat, and our sto- mach to distribute the nourish ment. He too sup- plies the food we eat, of w hatever kind it be. ^ e may combine together different meats; we may dress them in a variety of ways, but we can create nothing— God is the only giver of life and food. aw all things — and happy. is that man who lives in ^ lively rememberance of this, who accepts all w ,. , tha f he ins not of himself power to moment, or to procure, mde- ^^rnd one single drop of water, or grain seine ofourdependance is not &■* ^ aUat comfort also : tor how does N° 7 ' tve all that anxiety, which is so natu- . i:ienilt ° t at oar sobsistance in the time to come. P'!^e remember that we are the creatures • He more w re" u y . Q Xmst t0 hml to ; f m y even as a child trusts f* fdr h, V^n eof his parent, * Behold, * k f e v^ the V sow not, neither do they ItSetnse of our dependence 'gratitude' £ may be mentioned as peculiarly becoming. ,!ks a? this time not only tho heavens above ktthe earth beneath, calls aloud upon us to be MM. Every field, every ear of corn seems to liusspeak the praises of God. How do these rlorify him, as it were, by an expressive, though Imboffering of praise '.-But man has a tongue with which he can speak forth the praises ot his,vla : to. It is for the sake of man also that the store- house of divine bount y is opened — it is tor man tot the pastures are 'loathed with flocks, and the rallies covered with corn; it is for man that the son shines and the showers descend. From him *en should the offering of praise continually rise "But why will yor, suppose mankind to be so un- thankful }" Methinks 1 hear some one reply 3 " Do )'°» think we do not know as well as you that we ; wght to praise God for a good harvest ?— There ( 12 ) will always indeed be a few .wicked peonl* • land, but in general we understand well * that it is God who sends us bread, and all eies; nay, when any of us' speak of havmT*^' good crop, < thank God 5 is the very phrase # ?> quite common in our lips/' I admit it is so V hope indeed that many thousand hearts hav i ready offered up the sincere tribute of thank™!/ or any never lav lor the present plentiful season. But we eannJ help adding here, that there is a way tar bey ! that of simple praise, by which true gratitude will manifest itself. It will break out not in words only but in deeds, in deeds I mean of obedience to him towards whom the gratitude is felt. What would any father think of the gratitude of a child, husband of the gratitude of a wife, which., shewed itself in any thing else but a few warm ex- pressions of obligation. No, it is by the readiness and activity in serving the person praised, and by the desire in all respects to please him, that the disposition to gratitude must be judged of. A man may say ' thank God twenty times a day, and yet never truly thank him in his heart. Words are cheap. Many men think to pay God off, as it were, by this sort of coin. Let it be remarked, also, that there is a satisfaction and self complacency which are naturally felt on receiving abundance of wealth into our lap ; we are put into good humor by it, and when we are reminded that God is the author of our prosperity, the truth of this is so plain that we cannot deny it, and since our understandings agree to the observation, we fancy that our hearts agree also ; whereas, in fact, we only 'J u ^\.* God ' ought' to be thanked, but we do not thank mm. i3 ) the good humor we are in, it arises mere- ; S our being well pleased with ourselves, or 'y.^Tppnioyrnents which God has given us, and IS our being well pleased with God. That -ctice some such frauds as these on Ourselves Miuttoo plain; for mark now what follows. When 'l same person who has been thanking God so of- fer his mercies, is by-aud-by called to do some- jL, to suffer something, or to give up something for the sal^e of serving this gracious being to whom ^ professed such prodigious gratitude, he is then either to® idle, or too selfish, or too much govern- ed bv the opinion of his fellow creatures, or some nv or other too full of excuses to do what is want- eiofhmi" on the other hand, when some tempta- tion conies in his way, he yeilds to it, and sins against the same God as freely as if.he were under no obligation to him. Let us then beware of this hypocritical sort of gratitude, by which we cannot deceive God, though we often delude ourselves by it Let us shew forth his praise not only with our lips but with our lives. Let us shew our sense of lis goodness by doing his will, by reading his word, by attending his worship, by readily denying our- selves for his sake, and in short, by laying out our lives in his service, and by standing forth to promote his cause in a disobedient and unthankful world. f t, Here let it be hinted also, that this may be a Htune for laying down our plans for using the My which is flowing in to us. God has now fven us provision for another year, but for what In J y ■ * given it ? In order that we may eat m innk, and be merry ? What, then have we ( H ) 4 not immortal souls? The great end f i,*r 1 is, that we may serve him in this world iH be prepared to dwell with him for ever i i His direction his, that we should qmplov '° i 11 ' and strength, and all our vigor of bod v T/^ in Shilling his will; that we should \S i*! first place to know God and Jesus Christ uh 7 has sent into the world, and having learnt t T\ him, that we should then act in our several 2"! from the ; motive oflove to his name, im £S^ his bounty, by ministering to the necessities of our Iellow creatures. Are these, then our ends of ft mg ? Is this what we propose to ourselves } Are these the views with which we reap the harvest) Are we determined that none of it, as far as in us lies, shall be wasted in riot or in luxury, or in im- provident consumption ? Do we look forward to it as tp a treasure, with which the hungry shall be fed, and the poor be satisfied ? Then indeed we ma; rejoice in the bounty of heaven, and we may rea- sonably trust that all the expressions of gratitudeii our lips are sincere. Again, let the consideration of the goodness of God, displayed in the fruits of tjje earth, raise our minds to the contemplation of those still greater mercies which he is able and willfog to give us. — It is with him a small matter to provide the earth with food, or to take care of tlid.ibody. See vvhata rich provision he has made for our souls— for them he has not spared his only begotten Son, M given him up tc be the propitiation for our sins For the sake of the soul he has sent his Holy Spirit into the world to guide me n into the knowledge o truth. For the soul he has prepared an eternal , " ah inheritance which Is 5n- V „deW and that ladeth not away, m- k^ft'SU for «s." We may learn to **- served m hf ^ fromw h a t we sec of temporal • or.cs strike the senses, and hem- one- Teul f„ rese nt fallen nature, are more apt*® °f r l V v5t h ioy and gratitude. But we may fi U ur bef^e t l!ess ings which God has pro- re f 1? the souh ate much superior to those pr^ 't Sr he body, as the soul is to the body, *gL '* ; k to time. Let us then turn from this ofabundaucc to still nobler and larger « 3rth r c " r " t the fields not only preach to usrtte bltssmgs- Let the lieios , t ^Sights also to the « unsearchable ***** tf;^nSit.»-Let the harvest -serve to ^ 1 a thoughtless world wi th wonder, .gratitads. Caace, and love to him who is the author tfourearthlv treasures only, hut of all the hk* sinpofetirnityl-In short, let tof goodness ' J Godleaiiusalltorepentar.ee, and If each *$m take care that the mercies of his Maker, be a* iurned into a curse, by rendering our ftearte only -am. Wth the more full of the world, and jnogre aMM*- feeat to the blessings of the gospel, THE FOLLOWING R A C T t. i\ a u r s HAVE BEEN LATELY PRINTED AND PDBI „ J. EVANS and Co DSV The History of Mr. Bragwell n P**l The Two Shoemakers di tto price ~, ^ r '^ Threepence. ^ I he Story of Joseph and his Brethren The Explanation of the Ten^Commandrnents Prayers to be used by a Young Person I v Jr •on, by the Master or Mistress of a Sunday School? Per ' Price Twopence. ' ' The History of Tom White, the Postillion. I he Shepherd of Salisbury Plain. Black Giles the Poacher, in Two Parts. Price Three -Halfpence. ' r^SS^^SSt comp,ete ' wi,h Mr. Fa; Horn. The Labourers in the Vineyard. The Valley of Tears, in i wo Parts. The Judgment Day. Hints to all Ranks on the Scarcity of 1795. Price One Penny. The Good Mother's Legacy, The Two Soldiers. The Thunderstorm. *Tis all for the Best. The Cottage Cook. The Sunday School. Hester Wilmor, 4>art I. TI. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. A new Christinas Tract. Good Friday Tract. Parlev the Porter. The Fall nf Adam. The Black Prince. The Cheapside Apprentice. The Lancashire Collier GirJ. The Life of William Baker. Betty Brown. The Shopkeeper, 4 parts. The Beggarly Boy. Noah's Flood. The Troubles of Life. The Harvest Home. Sorrowful Sam. Tawney Rachel. Charles Jones, the Footman. Genera] Resurrection and Day of Judgment. Onesimus Patient Joe, Wild Robert, Faith and Works, 6kJ>P Sinful Sally, Robert and Hi*- ard, Hampshire Tragedy, Tad Bargain. Turn the Carpet. Christmai Hymn, Army of Martyr*.