I shall now, as the present occasion directs, speak of the deceased Mr. BENJAMIN ASHURST, of whose Goodness there are very valuable Testimonies. He had the Felicity to be instructed and ordered in his early and obsequious Age by a wise and holy Father: and as usually the gracious or vicious Habits of the first Age are transfused into the next, so his succeeding ⟨p. 89⟩Life was correspondent to his Education. There is a fit resemblance between the natural Culture of the Earth and the moral of our Minds: Three things are requisite to make the Earth fruitful, a good Soil, good Culture, and good Seed; so by Analogy, that Education may be successful, a well disposed Nature, an Understanding and good Instructor, and the Precepts of Religion and Virtue are necessary. All these concurred in the present Subject. Some by a rare Privilege are exempted from those tyrannous Passions that so frequently disorder the Lives of Men; and in their ⟨p. 90⟩Childhood are of such mild and gaulless Spirits, so receptive of virtuous Impressions, that at the sight of their Dispositions and Carriage we may have a conjecture of the Felicity of the innocent State, of which one Ray, or rather Shadow, is so amiable. With such a happy Temper God was pleased to endow our deceased Friend: his Spirit was humble, modest, gentle and complying with the Counsels of his gracious Father, who with tender Care led him in the way to Heaven. When he was grown up to the Age of Vanity, he was preserved from youthful Lusts: His Conversation was unstained: He ⟨p. 91⟩was not swelled with Pride, nor ruffled with Passion, nor disordered with Excess. And as to a judicious Eye, no Spectacle is more deformed than an old Man in whom the Vices of Youth are notorious, levity of Mind, vehemence of Passions, and vanity in Conversation: So on the contrary, there is not a more amiable sight, than a young Man in whom the Virtues of Age are conspicuous; a staid Mind, temperate Desires, a composed Deportment: and it were happy for the World if foolish old Men were as rare to be found, as wise young Men.
I shall now, as the present occasion directs, speak of the deceased Mr. BENJAMIN ASHURST, of whose Goodness there are very valuable Testimonies. He had the Felicity to be instructed and order'd in his early and obsequious Age by a wise and holy Father: and as usually the gracious or vicious Habits of the first Age are transfused into the next, so his succeeding ⟨p. 89⟩Life was correspondent to his Education. There is a fit resemblance between the natural Culture of the Earth and the moral of our Minds: Three things are requisite to make the Earth fruitful, a good Soil, good Culture, and good Seed; so by Analogy, that Education may be successful, a welldisposed Nature, an Understanding and good Instructer, and the Precepts of Religion and Vertue are necessary. All these concurr'd in the present Subject. Some by a rare Priviledg are exempted from those tyrannous Passions that so frequently disorder the Lives of Men; and in their ⟨p. 90⟩Childhood are of such mild and gaulless Spirits, so receptive of vertuous Impressions, that at the sight of their Dispositions and Carriage we may have a conjecture of the Felicity of the innocent State, of which one Ray, or rather Shadow, is so amiable. With such a happy Temper God was pleased to endow our deceased Friend: his Spirit was humble, modest, gentle and complying with the Counsels of his gracious Father, who with tender Care led him in the way to Heaven. When he was grown up to the Age of Vanity, he was preserved from youthful Lusts: His Conversation was unstained: He ⟨p. 91⟩was not swell'd with Pride, nor ruffled with Passion, nor disorder'd with Excess. And as to a judicious Eye, no Spectacle is more deformed than an old Man in whom the Vices of Youth are notorious, levity of Mind, vehemence of Passions, and vanity in Conversation: So on the contrary, there is not a more amiable sight, than a young Man in whom the Vertues of Age are conspicuous; a staid Mind, temperate Desires, a compos'd Deportment: and it were happy for the World if foolish old Men were as rare to be found, as wise young Men.
