God equally delighteth in the perfections of all his creatures; therefore we should rejoice in those perfections wherever we see them, and be as glad to have other people perfect as ourselves. 10. *God, besides his own great example of love, which ought to draw all his creatures after it, has so provided for us, and made our happiness so _common_ to us all, that we have no occasion to envy or hate one another. For we cannot stand in one another’s way; or by enjoying our true good, keep another from his full share of it. As we cannot be happy, but in the enjoyment of God; so we cannot rob one another of this happiness. And as to other things, the _enjoyments_ of this life, they are so little in themselves, so foreign to our happiness; and generally speaking, so _contrary_ to that which they appear to be, that they are no foundation for envy, or hatred. How silly would it be to envy a man, that was drinking poison out of a _golden_ cup? And yet who can say, that he is acting wiser than thus, when he is envying any instance of worldly greatness? 11. *How many _saints_ has adversity sent to heaven? And how many sinners has prosperity plunged into everlasting misery? A man seems to be in the most glorious state, when he has conquered, disgraced, and humbled his enemy; though it may be, that same conquest has saved his adversary, and undone himself. _This_ man had perhaps never been debauched, but for his _fortune_ and _advancement_; _that_ had never been pious, but thro’ his _poverty_ and _disgrace_. She that is envied for her beauty, may, perchance, owe all her _misery_ to it; and another may be for ever happy, for having had no admirers of her _person_. _One_ man succeeds in every thing, and so loses all: _another_ meets with nothing but crosses and disappointments, and thereby gains more than all the world is worth. This _clergyman_ may be undone by his being made a _bishop_; and _that_ may save both himself and others by being fixed to his _poor vicarage_. How envied was _Alexander_, when conquering the world, he built _towns_, set up his _statues_, and left marks of his glory in so many kingdoms! And how despised was the poor preacher St. _Paul_ when he was _beaten with rods_! And yet how strangely was the world mistaken in their judgment! How much to be envied was St. _Paul_! How much to be pitied was _Alexander_! These few reflections shew, that the different conditions of this life have nothing in them to excite our uneasy passions, nothing that can reasonably interrupt our love and affection to one another. 12. To proceed now to another motive to this _universal_ love. Our power of doing _external acts_ of love, is often very narrow and restrained. There are, it may be, but few people to whom we can contribute any worldly relief.