have heard, so have we seen, that the Scripture does not belie human nature, though it describes it as most depraved. It indeed represents men everywhere as fallen, guilty, corrupt, and alienated from the life of God. It tells us that "the way of transgressors is hard," and we have seen this in actual instances. It tells us that "there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty;" and we have seen those who have laid up what they ought to have laid out in the cause of God and the poor, exercised with losses, or wretched in their connections, or declining in their health, or depressed in their spirits, unfollowed by regret when they have died, and leaving no memories to embalm their names when they are gone. On the other hand, we have never known a public-spirited Christian in our lives, who was not happy or in some way peculiarly blessed. "They shall prosper that love thee." The Scripture tells us that "the prosperity of fools shall destroy them;" and how often have we observed how "their table has become a snare, and that which would have been for their welfare a trap"! We have seen persons rising in life, and, as riches multiplied, they have set their hearts on them, and begun to give up the Lord's day, the sanctuary, and one religious ordinance after another, concerned only to make provision for the flesh.-The Scripture says, "Is any man afflicted? let him pray." And have we not found prayer our best relief in trouble, both by its answers and by its exercises? "Oh," says God, "that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy salvation as the waves of the sea." And have we not found it true that "the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways"? On the other hand, the Scripture has told us that "they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;" and have we not gained fresh succours when we have been thus engaged? The Scripture has told us that "they that sow in tears shall reap in joy;" and have we not found our humble and penitential hours our very best seasons? Secondly, Have not the "days that are past" tended also to explain them? The Scripture explains providence, and providence explains Scripture. How often have we heard Christians say, "I never saw so much force and beauty in such a passage until I was brought into that affliction, or exercised with that dispensation"! When the Puritans fled from persecution in

this country to America, at first they depended much upon supplies from the mother-country. A company of them having gone down to the sea-shore, after looking anxiously for a vessel which was to bring them corn, and being disappointed, hunger induced them to search among the pebbles; and they soon found a kind of muscle, which they partook of, and found that it was wholesome and nutritious. One day, after they had made a hearty meal of this kind, a venerable old man stood up, and, returning thanks, blessed God that he had given them “to suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasure hid in the sand," -words which occur in the blessing of Zebulun, but which none of them had observed before, and perhaps never would but for this. Thirdly, Have not "the days that are past" tended to endear them? Good men have always been fond of their Bibles; but when have they felt most attached to them? If we ask David, he will tell us, "This is my comfort in my affliction; for thy word hath quickened me;" "Unless thy law had been my delights, I should have perished in mine affliction;""Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage."

DEC. 30.—I wait for the Lord; my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Ps. cxxx. 5.

NOTHING can be more interesting than to see a good man calm and patient while in a very trying and distracted condition. Such a one is a witness for God, by showing the reality, efficiency, and excellency of the religion he professes; David, therefore, in his troubles, had recourse to God. Waiting includes not only seeking, but expecting; and waiting-patiently waiting for the Lord implies that God does not always immediately come to release and relieve his people. "While he is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness," yet he may not come to our relief at the time we expected him, and therefore we feel disappointed. But he is not bound to observe our prescribed rules; and he must know, in his infinite wisdom, that we have often very improperly fixed the times and seasons for him to manifest himself. We may always depend upon him, and that in his own good time and way he will listen to our prayer and interfere on our behalf. He hath said, "He that believeth shall not make haste." If the Lord appears to tarry, we are to wait

for him. The husbandman does not go out and murmur at the clouds, or blame the weather; he well knows that there must be a season between sowing and reaping, and that the various influences of nature, the rough and the smooth, the sunshine and the storm, all operate and combine to produce the final result; therefore he "hath long patience for it." "Be ye," says the apostle, "therefore patient." It is frequently very trying to flesh and blood to wait for God, and it is necessary for great patience to be exercised by us. But let us ever remember we have no claim upon God; and let us also think how long we have kept him waiting for us, how long he stood knocking at the door of our hearts, week after week and month after month, before we arose up and opened unto him. Then it becomes us to exercise full confidence in God, and to feel assured that he will fulfil all his promises; that his delays will be advantageous, and that his is the best time; therefore it is said, "Blessed are all they that wait for him." They are blessed, for they are preserved from those painful reflections that others feel who disobey him, and who charge him foolishly and unkindly, before he explains himself; they are preserved from having recourse to sinful and improper expedients to extricate themselves from present difficulties, and to obtain relief. Had some Christians let God alone, (so to speak,) to bring about his purposes in his own time and way, how many stripes and how many storms in providence had they escaped! In nothing can we honour God more than by confiding in him. And God says, "Them that honour me I will honour."

DEC. 31. He hath done all things well. Mark vii. 37. THE particular providence of God attends the Christian in all his concerns. He goes on board a vessel, launching on the ocean of life; he gives God the command of the helm. Thus we are enjoined to "commit all our ways unto the Lord," and to trust also in him; and we are at the same time assured that he will bring it to pass, for when we "commit our works unto the Lord, the thoughts of our hearts are established." Thus, also, we are enjoined to "be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to let our request be made known unto God." It is when we obey the apostle's injunction that we feel the "peace of God, that passeth all understanding, keeping

our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." "The way of the Lord is perfect;" but we may be left to charge him foolishly, and in so doing we only display our ignorance. In the world, in the nation, in the church, in the family, and with regard to the concerns of every individual, he is not only doing all things, but doing all things well. Do we believe this? There is a vast difference between the reality, and our believing and acknowledging it. And what is it that keeps us from acknowledging that in all things and in all dispensations his providence is doing all things well? First, Because we judge too selfishly. We are not detached individuals; we are placed in connection with others. What is not good for us may be good for them; and what is not good for one part may be good for the whole. Then, Secondly, We judge too carnally. What is not good for our pleasure may be good for our profit; our temporal losses may be our spiritual gains; we may be "chastened with the righteous, that we may not be condemned with the wicked." Here is cause for praise and gratitude. But, oh, how we yield to flesh and blood! When every thing is easy and prosperous, there is no obscurity then. No; but let a change take place, let affliction fall upon us; then, with a sad heart and sorrowful countenance, we immediately exclaim, "His way is in the sea, and his path in deep waters;" as if it were, after all, so wonderfully mysterious that he should suffer us to be afflicted; as if God were less wise and righteous and good in the dark than in the light, in a stormy day than in a calm one. Jacob said, "All these things are against me;" but, if he had waited a little while longer, he might have said, with the apostle, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." Hence the apostle enjoins upon believers that they "judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts."

"Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan his work in vain :

God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain."

THE END.

The Gospels: with Moral Reflections on each Verse.

By PASQUIER QUESNEL. With an Introductory Essay, by the Rev. DANIEL WILSON, A.M., Vicar of Islington, [now Bishop of Calcutta.] Carefully revised by the Rev. HENRY A. BOARDMAN, D.D. Printed with bold type, on beautifully-tinted and sized paper 2 vols. 8vo.........

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