It is the lot of Mankind to be happy and Miserable by turns. The Wisdom
of _Nature_ will have it so; and it is exceedingly for our Advantage that
so it should be. There’s nothing Pure under the Heavens, and the Rule
holds in the Chances of _Life_, as well as in the _Elements_: Beside
that, such an Abstracted Simplicity, (if any such thing there were,)
would be neither Nourishing to us, nor Profitable. By the Meditation
of this Mixture, we have the Comfort of _Hope_ to _support_ us in our
Distresses, and the Apprehensions of a _Change_, to keep a _Check_
upon us in the very Huff of our _Greatness and Glory_: So that by this
Vicissitude of _Good_ and _Evil_, we are kept steady in our _Philosophy_,
and in our Religion. The one Minds us of _God’s Omnipotence_ and
_Justice_; the _Other_ of his _Goodness_ and _Mercy_: The _One_ tells
us, that there’s _No Trusting to our own Strength_; the _Other_ Preaches
_Faith_ and _Resignation_ in the prospect of an _Over-ruling Providence_
that takes Care of us. What is it but _Sickness_ that gives us a Taste of
_Health_? _Bondage_ the Relish of _Liberty_? And what but the Experience
of _Want_ that Enhances the Value of _Plenty_? That which we call _Ease_
is only an _Indolency_ or a Freedom from _Pain_; and there’s no such
thing as _Felicity_ or _Misery_, but by the _Comparison_. ’Tis very true
that _Hopes_ and _Fears_ are the _Snares_ of Life in some Respects; but
they are the Relief of it in others. Now for fear of the worst however on
either hand, every Man has it in his own Power by the Force of Natural
Reason, to Master the Temptation of falling either into Presumption or
Despair.