The children of Babylon are miserable indeed; they are slaves to passions that can never be satisfied; to a world that can never be contented; to infernal tyrants that are continually dragging them along with them towards hell: they are slaves to empty vanities, childish toys, and lying follies; laboring under a variety of fears, cares, sorrows, uneasinesses, and innumerable other evils, without enjoying so much as any one solid or lasting satisfaction.

Meditations or considerations upon Christian truths and duties, for every day of the year (ed. 1807)