misery strongly impressed ourselves with the worthiness of virtue and the demerits of vice, and sensible, perhaps, of the esential tendency of the former towards increasing felicity, we are ready to cry out with the prophet, Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?'-Let the same prophet then furnish the answer — Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: Is there any thing too hard for me?”

"It is the peculiar province of Omnipotence to produce good out of evil, and as we have full evidence both of his power and justice, it is our duty to believe that he will do So. The merit of faith principally consists in not suffering the calm convictions of truth to be shaken by apparent contradictions, and that humility which is so strenuously inculcated in the Gospel, is the best preservative against the dangers of scepticism. Thus, in this respect as in all others, our service may justly be termed a reasonable service; for in every investigation, the most indispensable of all rules is this, not to suffer that which we do not know to invalidate that which we do. The greatest apparent inconsistencies, therefore, in the moral world, afford but a poor palliation for infidelity; because, difficulties are no answer to demonstration. But, though the enquiry of the prophet was probably enforced by the scenes then passing before his eyes, the converse seems more naturally suggested by the general lot of humanity. To prove that the way of the wicked is prosperous, would, perhaps, be found difficult, considered as a general fact, however warranted by particular exception; for we must feel, though we would fain forget, that sin and sorrow are naturally connected; but it is not difficult to be convinced that the way of the virtuous is strewed thick with thorns, and that the practice of our duty proves no exemption against the calamities of life.

Here then it is that we find ourselves in a state of probation. We must walk by faith and not by sight.' The present state of things is against us; have we sufficient evidence to convince us that this affords no presumption against the goodness of God, no excuse for the neglect of our duty? or, having this evidence, have we also fortitude to trust in him who made us, putting on the whole armour of righteousness?—If not, I fear we have little claim to be entitled Christ's faithful soldiers and servants, since it is the duty of the latter to obey the orders of their master without discussing their propriety, and of the former to face manfully their enemy, confiding in the wisdom of their leader. Yet, as in the hour of distress, we are often disposed to act rather from feeling than duty, it will be wise to examine beforehand the nature of those miseries which we shall all some day encounter; that when the hour of trial shall arrive, whether it march deliberately towards us like a spreading pestilence, or blast us at once like a bolt from heaven, we may be found armed at all points, prepared for the encounter, and, having done all, may stand. Let us then employ the present moments in meditating on affliction, for affliction we must all know, and, however unwelcome be the guest, it will be better to court her favour by previous acquaintance, than provoke her indignation by ill-judged contumely. I shall consider it in the three natural divisions of its advantages, its duties, and its comforts.

"First then for its advantages: and, surely, these at least we may accept without repining. Alas! no; benefits indeed we would fain receive, but then they must be benefits after our own fashion, and this is adjusted rather to the standard of present gratification than prospective felicity. Yet advantages it has, however unwilling we may be to accept them; and as one of the first of these will be to controul

our present petulance, perhaps in the day of necessity, our mental vision will be unveiled to behold the train of smiling cherubs attendant on their stern mistress, to pour a balm into the wounds her chastisement inflicts. The present state of man is evidently a state of discipline, by which through every æra of our life, we become capable of acting in situations for which we are naturally unqualified. By discipline are our rude passions and appetites corrected and repressed, till we are able to harmonize with those gentler habits of civilised society in which selfishness yields to urbanity. By discipline, our bodies are habituated to the exercise or art which we cultivate, and our minds subdued to the rigour of tedious application. By discipline, infancy is ripened to manhood, and manhood matured to perfection. In all these cases, so much are we influenced by early habit, necessity, and interest, that the wiser part of mankind uniformly accept the badge of their severe monitress; and those who neglect her lessons are allowed to be either vicious or contemptible. Yet what is affliction but a higher state of discipline? what is discipline but a lower degree of affliction? If present pain be dreaded, both are equally obnoxious; if future happiness be desired, both are equally advantageous; but man, earth-born man, buries his thoughts in that dust from whence he sprung, and forgets that the spark of celestial fire infused into his nature at the creation, should elevate him to higher regions. To those forms of discipline which precedent has established and experience sanctioned, we willingly submit, and think we testify our wisdom in devoting our youth to labour, that our hoary hairs may be crowned with honour; yet when the hand of a merciful Father inflicts on us a healing discipline from above, to wean us from a world of folly, and gently force us along that path which only can conduct us to happiness,

we shake the yoke as a burthen from our shoulders, and despise the corrections of the Most High. Yet, let us examine these truths still more accurately, and see whether the benefits of special affliction are practically discernible even by our short-sighted observation. To every reasonable Christian it is almost self-evident, that the improvement of our moral character ought to be the highest object of pursuit. Now virtue includes the three great classes of duty, to our God, our neighbour, and ourselves. Surely I need not inform those whose eyes are open to the world, that in the days of prosperity almost every one, in a greater or less degree, forgets the God who made him; by which I mean, not that he disbelieves his existence, for this is impossible; or is wholly devoid of gratitude for his favours; but that in the tumult of business, the glare of wealth, the ecstacies of ambition, and the elevation of spirits, we have little time for reflection, and less disposition to disengage ourselves from the complication of happiness in which we are involved, in order to court the pangs of mental disapprobation; by degrees our eyes become dazzled with the glittering scene for ever presented to them, and no longer perform their office when turned towards the sombre shades of wisdom. Our minds dance with rapture, and at last, intoxicated with success, are whirled round the ring of dissipation, senseless alike to every object; for as the extremes of abstinence and repletion are equally injurious to the natural body, so those impressions which never recur at all, or which recur continually without cessation, are equally unnoticed. So few are those who in any age or nation have been found capable of sustaining a long course of prosperity with moderation, that mankind have agreed to adopt this criterion as the best evidence of superior excellence, and the

same practical sense, whose results are above appeal, has established as a maxim that adversity is the nurse of heroism.'- Neglect of God, then, and of those religious duties which we owe to him, is in all common cases attendant on great success. And as the temptation of the highest course of fortune is generally found to be irresistible, the same effect will in every situation be proportionably consequent upon the same cause. If the head is dizzy on the top of a pyramid, it will scarcely be quite calm, though placed on a less fearful elevation.-As, then, is the disease, such must be the remedy. The drunken delirium of dangerous felicity can only be removed by the bitter draught of affliction ;-bitter, indeed, to all, but bitter, above all, to him whose taste has long been vitiated by luxurious enjoyments: - many a sigh of proud disappointment shall he heave, many a groan of sullen desperation shall he pour forth, before his spirit shall be subdued to reflection, and penitence gently lead him unto peace. They who are fluttering in the sunshine of gaiety, little know how deep are those mental agonies which throng the chamber of affliction, when the spirits droop, and life has lost its lustre; when the pride of intellectual greatness is humbled in the dust, when every thing around us is gloomy, all behind dreadful, and all before desolate; yet (praised be God) they little know, too, that even in these shades of sorrow, hope waves her wing, virtue slowly revives, repentance cheers, humility purifies, expectation kindles, faith animates, and the poor deserted Christian, bursting the darkness that surrounds him, grasps the promised immortality, and anticipates on earth the glory of a better mansion. - By affliction the mind is drawn to God as the great physician of our souls; the glare of life no longer distracts us, and our duty and disposition are the same. A faithful friend