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 Itheological. semina: 
 
 J, Princeton, N. J. 
 
 BV 4844 .M67 1833 
 
 A mother's first thought 
 

''MOTHER'S 
 
 FIRST THOUGHTS. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 *'FAITH'S TELESCOPE." 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PUBUSHED BY KEY & BIDDLE, 
 
 Minor-street. 
 
 1S33. 
 
R. & C. S. WOOD, PRINTERS, NEW-YORK. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Among all the wonderful qualities of earth's 
 highest wonder, the Bible, its astonishing 
 adaptation to all classes and all circum- 
 stances of its searchers is assuredly not the 
 least. Who ever humbly looked into its 
 sacred pages for a " word in season," and 
 found it not? The wealthy and the indi- 
 gent, the old and the young, the prosperous 
 and the sorrowing, have each their varied 
 treasure, each their " apple of gold in this 
 net-wwk of silver," — their word fitly spoken* 
 of rebuke or of warning, of consolation or 
 instruction, aa they severally require them. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 High and low, male and female, bond and 
 free, find depicted on this great map of 
 human duty, the minutest windings of their 
 appointed course. And for special need, 
 what special provision has been made! — 
 For the sinking heart of the bereaved, how 
 Taried, how strong, how abundant the 
 resources of Divine consolation ; for the 
 wearied and fainting, what promises of rest ; 
 for the persecuted and perplexed, what as- 
 surances of encouragement ; for the sick in 
 body, what upholding ; for the sick in spirit, 
 what healing ? Verily, we may say in this, 
 as in another sense, " Thy commandment 
 is exceeding broad : therefore thy servant 
 loveth it." 
 
 The aim of the following pages has been 
 to develope, of this gracious fulness in the 
 oracles of God, some meditations more espe- 
 cially suitable to Mothers, both as such, 
 and more particularly in their character of 
 professing Christians. At a period when 
 the heart is excited by new and pure emo- 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 tions; when gratitude to a merciful Pre- 
 server is usually experienced in a very high 
 degree ; when the world is necessarily 
 much shut out, and the nearness of eternity, 
 often borne in powerfully on the soul by the 
 possibihty, if not the certainty of peril; — 
 it does not appear unreasonable to hope 
 that the "still small voice" of heavenly 
 truth, will be more readily hstened to than 
 at other times. And though it be but too 
 certain that in many cases any salutary im- 
 pressions thus made will prove evanescent 
 or inefficient, yet if the Lord vouchsafe his 
 blessing, in some at least, they may be 
 deepened, enlarged, and brightened, into a 
 lasting record of Eternal mercy. May that 
 blessing be graciously bestowed ! 
 
 But by those Mothers who are already 
 awake to spiritual things, these meditations 
 will perhaps be recognized as embodying 
 some train of feeling and association, or 
 illustrating some scriptural symbol drawn 
 from tne early nursery, which has often 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 occurred to their own minds. To them, 
 therefore, as possessing the best clue to its 
 meaning and intention, this httle work is 
 affectionately dedicated, and may He who 
 alone can, render it, in some degree, condu- 
 cive to their edification. 
 
 Edinburgh, October, 1832. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 MEDITATION I. 
 
 PSA.LM CXX. 1. 
 
 PaGre. 
 
 In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and 
 he heard me 1 
 
 MEDITATION II. 
 
 'MALACHi iii. 6. 
 
 I am the Lord ; I chansje not ; therefore 
 ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 6 
 
 MEDITATION IIL 
 
 Job xiv. 4. 
 
 Who can bringr a clean thing out of an 
 unclean ? Not one. . . .10 
 
VllI CONTENTS. 
 
 MEDITATION IV. 
 
 JOHN xvi. 21. 
 
 A woman when she is in travail hath 
 sorrow, because her hour is come. 15 
 
 MEDITATION V. 
 
 ST. MATTHEW V. 6. 
 
 Blessed are they which do hunger and 
 thirst after righteousness, for they 
 shall be filled 22 
 
 MEDITATION VI. 
 
 ROMANS i. 25. 
 
 They changed the truth of God into a 
 lie ; and worshipped and served the 
 creature, more than the Creator, who 
 is blessed for ever. . . .29 
 
 MEDITATION VII. 
 
 JOHN iii. 7. 
 
 Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye 
 must be born again. . . .36 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 MEDITATION VIII. 
 
 PSALM civ. 24. 
 
 Oh Lord ! how manifold are thy works : 
 in wisdom hast thou made them all. 43 
 
 MEDITATION IX. 
 
 1st JOHN iii. 4. 
 
 Sin is the transgression of the law. . 51 
 
 MEDITATION X. 
 
 JOB xi. 5, 6. 
 
 Oh that God would speak, and open 
 his lips against thee, and that He 
 would shew thee the secrets of wis- 
 dom, that Ahey are double to that 
 which is. Know therefore that God 
 exacteth of thee less than thine 
 iniquity deserveth. . . .59 
 
 MEDITATION XI. 
 
 ZECHARIAH iv. 10. 
 
 Who hath despised the day of small 
 things? 66 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 MEDITATION XII. 
 
 1st PETER V. 5. 
 
 All of you be clothed with humility. 75 
 MEDITATION XIII. 
 
 ST. MATTHEW vii. II, 12. 
 
 If ye then, being evil, know how to give 
 good gifts unto your children, how 
 much more shall your Fathei- which 
 is in heaven give good things to 
 them that ask^him? Therefore all 
 things whatsoever ye would that 
 men should do to you, do ye even so 
 to them : for this is the law and the 
 prophets. 82 
 
 ■ MEDITATION XIV. 
 
 PSALM ciii. 17. 
 
 But the mercy of the Lord is from ever- 
 lasting to everlasting upon them that 
 fear him, and his righteousness unto 
 children's children : to such as keep 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 his covenant, and to those that re- 
 member his commandments to do 
 them 90 
 
 MEDITATION XV. 
 
 ROMANS vri. 14. 
 
 For ye know that the law is spiritual 98 
 
 MEDITATION XVI. 
 
 HEBREWS ii. 16 — 18. 
 
 For verily he took not on him the na- 
 ture of angels ; but he took on him 
 the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in 
 all things it behoved him to be made 
 like unto his brethren, that he might 
 be a merciful and faithful high priest 
 in things pertaining to God, to make 
 reconciliation for the sins of the peo- 
 ple. For in that he himself hath 
 suffered, being tempted, he is able to 
 succour them that are tempted. . 106 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 MEDITATION XVII. 
 
 PSALM iv. 4. 
 
 Commune with your own heart upon 
 your bed, and be still, . . .114 
 
 MEDITATION XVIII. 
 
 ST. MARK X. 13, 14, 16, 
 
 And they brought young children to 
 him, that he should touch them ; 
 and his disciples rebuked those that 
 brought them. But when Jesus saw 
 it, he was much displeased, and said 
 unto them, Suffer the little children 
 to come unto me, and forbid them 
 not: for of such is the kingdom of 
 God. — And he took them up in his 
 arms, put his hands upon them, and 
 blessed them. . . . .122 
 
 MEDITATION XIX. 
 
 JAMES IV. 14, 
 
 What is your life ? It is even a vapour, 
 that appeareth for a little time, and 
 then vanisheth away. . .131 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 MEDITATION XX. 
 
 1st CORINTHIANS i. 19. 
 
 For it is written, I will destroy the wis- 
 dom of the wise, and will bring to 
 nothing the understanding of the 
 prudent. 138 
 
 MEDITATION XXI. 
 
 ST. MATTHEW xxiii. 37, 
 
 Jerusalem! Jerusalem! — how often 
 would I have gathered thy children 
 together, even as a hen gathereth her 
 chickens under her wings, and ye 
 would not 146 
 
 MEDITATION XXII. 
 
 JOB xxxix. 3, 4. 
 
 Their young ones are in good liking, 
 they grow up with corn; they go 
 forth, and return not unto them. 
 Who hath sent out the wild ass free ? 
 or who hath loosed the bonds of the 
 wild ass? 155 
 
XIV CONTEJ^TS. 
 
 MEDITATION XXIII. 
 
 GALATIANS iv. 19. 
 
 My little children, of whom I travail in 
 birth until Christ be formed in you. 165 
 
 MEDITATION XXIV. 
 
 ST. MATTHEW XXV. 40. 
 
 Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
 of the least of these my brethren, ye 
 have done it unto me. . . . 175 
 
 MEDITATION XXV. 
 
 ISAIAH xxvi. 16. 
 
 Lord, in trouble have they visited thee ; 
 they poured out a prayer when thy 
 chastening was upon them. . . 182 
 
 MEDITATION XXVI. 
 
 JOSHUA IV. 6. 
 
 What mean ye by these stones? . 189 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 MEDITATION XXVII. 
 
 PSALM C. 4. 
 
 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, 
 and into his courts with praise : be 
 thankful unto him, and bless his 
 name 198 
 
 MEDITATION XXVIII. 
 
 1st CHRONICLES Xxix 12. 
 
 In thine hand it is to make great, and 
 to give strength unto all . . 205 
 
 MEDITATION XXIX. 
 
 GENESIS XXXV. 18. 
 
 And it came -to pass, as her soul was 
 in departing, (for she died,) that she 
 called his name Benoni, [the son of 
 my sorrow,] but his father called him 
 Benjamin, [the son of my right hand.] 214 
 
MEDITATION I. 
 
 " In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he heard 
 toe." — Psalm cxx. 1. 
 
 These are words of much simplicity; the 
 humblest capacity can readily perceive their 
 meaning ; yet what capacity is exalted 
 enough to comprehend the vast mysteries 
 which they involve ? The communion of a 
 praying soul, with a prayer-hearing God, 
 who shall explain it ? The condescension 
 of Omnipotence towards the breathings of 
 distress, from a being whose volition could 
 not confer the breath of existence upon the 
 ineanest replile, who shall fathom it? The 
 tiever-slnmbering watchfulness over mil- 
 lions, and the ever-ready compassion awake 
 to the groan of penitence, even from the 
 vilest of them, who shall express their mar- 
 vellousness ? — Yet all this, yea, more than 
 this, is implied in the assertion, " In my 
 distress I cried unto the Lord, and He 
 heard me." 
 
 Easy it is for those who have not tritd 
 this blessed resource in the depths of human 
 2 
 
wretchednesa, to say in their folly, How can 
 Man converse with God ? How can an in- 
 significant, nay, a sinful creature, engage the 
 attention, depend on the kindness, obtain 
 the assistance of Him, who holds a universe 
 in his hand, who is " glorious in hohness, 
 fearful in praises, doing wonders ?" How ! — 
 Because He is God, — glorious in holiness. 
 He " ever worketh," that the creation He 
 has formed may be holy also ; and the whole 
 economy of Providence and Grace is but a 
 succession of steps in this important process. 
 SubUme in Majesty, He is no less sublime 
 in Mercy — admirable in his Power — mag- 
 nificent is the sphere of its operation — but 
 quite as admirable, and to us infinitely more 
 delightful is the benevolence of its exercise, 
 and the minuteness of its difiusion. " I 
 cried," says the sinner, " and thou heardest 
 me." Has the objector reasoned himself 
 into a behef that this is a fallacy ? Let him 
 " become a fool that he may be wise ;" let 
 him try, what to him appears so unlikely to 
 succeed. — Oh, that his first petition might 
 be for humihty, and for profound submission 
 to that revelation of unspeakable grace, 
 which says to the sons of men, " Call upon 
 me in the time of trouble, and I will answer 
 thee!" — which unites duty with privilege, 
 
3 
 
 and pledges Infinite Truth to reward the 
 petitioner, who, venturing on the unim- 
 peachable warrant of an express permission, 
 flees for refuge, where " He that cometh shall 
 in no wise be cast out." And when perfor- 
 mance has actually been vouchsafed of this 
 promise, so rich with unspeakable consola- 
 tion, when we have cried and have been 
 answered, when we know that God, through 
 our never-faiUng Intercessor, has heard us, 
 " because we have tke petitions that we 
 asked of Him," shall we ever again be back- 
 ward to pour out our souls before Him, who 
 has thus heard our voice out of his holy 
 temple, and suffered our feeble cry to come 
 before Him, even into his ears ? Or shall 
 we hesitate to devote to Him the homage 
 of our most devoted love, who has not dis- 
 dained to listen to us, to comfort and to 
 reheve us, when He might justly have 
 answered us only thus, "Why should a 
 living man complain, a man for the punish- 
 ment of his sins?" 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh, good and gracious God ! Father of 
 all mercies, Giver of all comfort, I adore 
 and praise thee that thou permittest me to 
 
approach thy throne of grace in every time 
 of need. I desire especially to thank thee 
 for [the recent instance of] thy preserving 
 mercy towards me, a miserable sinner, and 
 I earnestly pray that I may be led so to 
 meditate on thy lovincj-kindness, manifested 
 in all thy past dealings with me and mine, 
 as henceforth to devote my heart and life to 
 thy service, and to put my whole trust in 
 thee, in every trial and trouble of this mortal 
 state. Through thy dear Son Jesus Christ, 
 who in the days of his flesh offered up 
 prayers and supplications, with strong cry- 
 ing and tears, and was heard in that he 
 feared, and who ever lives to make inter- 
 cession for us, hear my prayers, oh merciful 
 Lord! and to thy name be glory for ever 
 and ever — Amen. 
 
 PSALM CXVL 
 
 I love the Lord, whose gracious ear, 
 Hath heard my humble voice, 
 
 Who saw my supplicating tear, 
 And caused me to rejoice. 
 
 Long as I live, I'll call on thee, 
 
 Thou Answerer of prayer ; 
 Long as I live, my joy shall be, 
 
 To cast on thee my care. 
 
Anguish, with unrelenting fangs, 
 
 Deep hold upon me took ; 
 As of approaching death, the pangs 
 
 My suffering spirit shook. 
 
 Then cried I unto thee, oh Lord ! 
 
 Deliverance I besought ; 
 Thy grace and righteousness adored, 
 
 And of thy mercies thought. 
 
 Who simply fix their trust on thee, 
 
 Thou amply dost protect; 
 I was brought low — Thou helpedst me, 
 
 Nor didst my suit reject. 
 
 Return, return, my weary soul, 
 
 Be tranquil and repose. 
 For Mercy's hand can still control 
 
 The measure of thy uoes. 
 
 Oh ! be it no'w thy only aim. 
 
 With grateful zeal to pay. 
 That tribute which His bounties claim, 
 
 Who chased thy griefs away. 
 
MEDITATION II. 
 
 "I am the Lord; I change not; therefore, ye sons 
 of Jacob are not consumed."— Malachi iii. 6, 
 
 The sun is still the same glorious orb of 
 splendid lustre, though innumerable clouds 
 have passed between us and his dazzling 
 brightness, since first our eyes opened on his 
 beauty. The moon is still the same faithful 
 witness in heaven of her Creator's directing 
 hand, as vv^hen the newly-breathing inmates 
 of Paradise first gazed with admiration upon 
 her nightly varying form, or hailed the 
 return of her suspended beams in evening's 
 silent hour. Five thousand years have rolled 
 away, and the ordinances of heaven depart 
 not from before the Lord, who in his wisdom 
 decreed them all. Yet fAe?/ shall change; 
 as a garment shall they all wax old, and as 
 a vesture shall they be folded up. Thou, oh 
 Lord ! only art ever, ever the same, and thy 
 years shall not fail, neither shall thine Israel 
 cease from being a nation before thee for 
 ever. 
 
 Happy thought, if we too are of Israel ! 
 Have we " wept" for sin and " made sup- 
 
plication" for grace like him ? Through the 
 Angel of the Covenant wrestling powerfully 
 with our hearts in the hour of apprehension 
 and peril, have we like Jacob, " had power 
 with God," and " prevailed" with him for 
 a blessing? Happy thought! "He changes 
 not." He will establish, he will keep us from 
 all evil. Faithful is he that calleth, who also 
 will do according to his abundant mercy, 
 and his ever-steadfast promises. He changes 
 not, therefore are we not consumed. Oh! 
 where, but for the immutability of this Rock, 
 on which the believer has laid his eager, 
 grateful hand, where would he have been 
 ere now ? Where would he still fall, had not 
 that rock, once touched, a magnetic power, 
 strong enough to retain his hold in spite of 
 all the counteractions of his corrupt nature? 
 Sometimes, alas ! so feeble and vacillating 
 is his will, so faint and careless his mind, 
 that he scarcely knows whether he stands 
 or not within reach of his security. But 
 the Lord " changes not." He sees and he 
 restores. New energy flows into the almost 
 paralyzed spirit. A startling view of sin, 
 a melting view of Jesus, is vouchsafed. 
 The sliding one beholds! repeats! adores! 
 " It is not consumed." Oh, grace unspeak- 
 able ! how can we suflSciently admire it ? 
 
s 
 
 How can we earnestly, speedily enough 
 accept the offer of it, each one for ourselves ? 
 Lord enable us so to do. Make us willing 
 in this day of thy power. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh Lord ! God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob ! God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever, I rejoice in the assurance of thy ever- 
 lasting faithfulness contained in thy Holy 
 Word. I would rest upon them now and for 
 ever. Work in me, oh Lord ! to will and to 
 do of thy good pleasure. My own heart is 
 deceitful, and its corrupt bent is ever to fall 
 back from thee, my true life, and strength 
 and joy. Oh, aid me with thy continual 
 grace. Watch over me for good, and make 
 me watchful that 1 may never depart from 
 thee, my God. Thy love to thy redeemed 
 is wonderful, beyond all that I can imagine 
 or express. Fill all my faculties with such 
 a deep sense of this, that I may love thee 
 more and more, till I see thee face to face, 
 and rejoice in thee unceasingly for ever and 
 ever, through Him who bought us with his 
 own blood, and pleadeth continually that we 
 may not be consumed, — even Jesus Christ, 
 our ever blessed Lord and Saviour. — Amen. 
 
" Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she 
 should not have compassion on the son of her womb 1 
 Yea, they may forget ; yet will I never forget thee." 
 —Isa. xiix. 15. 
 
 Golden key of richest treasure, 
 Opening wide affection's store ; 
 
 Oh the tender throb of pleasure, 
 At the mother's bosom core ! 
 
 Oh, the deep pathetic feeling, 
 
 Joyful hope and pity mild, 
 Through each new pulsation stealing. 
 
 As she gazes on her child ! 
 
 Can they forget ? Ah, yes, fond Mother, 
 
 Ostrich bosoms do exist : 
 Sucking babes may find another 
 
 Kinder than the parent breast. 
 
 They may ftfrget. Compassion's fountain 
 Human hearts may turn to gall ; 
 
 Yet, " fear not thou, my holy mountain, 
 That thy God forgets thy call." 
 
 Oh, afflicted, tempest smitten. 
 
 Though the whelming billows roll, 
 
 On his hands thy name is written. 
 As " the travail of his soul." 
 
10 
 
 Say not thou, in sinful blindness, 
 That Jehovah loves thee not ; 
 Called with everlasting kindness, 
 Thou shalt never be forgot ! 
 
 MEDITATION III. 
 
 " Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? 
 Not one.— Job. xiv. 4. 
 
 There are rivers which run under ground 
 for a part of their course ; but in that hidden 
 progress, are they not as truly fed from the 
 original source, as when emerging into open 
 day, they overflow the level plain, or rush 
 impetuously towards their great depository ? 
 There are diseases of which the patient 
 knows not the existence within his frame ; 
 but do they therefore the less certainly, 
 because unsuspectedly, sap its vital force ? 
 While the faculties of the human mind are 
 as yet undeveloped, while its imaginations 
 are as yet unexercised, many are inclined 
 to suppose that it would be a work of little 
 
11 
 
 or no inherent difficulty, to direct its powers, 
 j as they shall gradually increase, into the 
 purest, the most beneficial, the most virtu- 
 ous channels. The mind, they affirm, is as 
 a smooth unmarked surface : indented by 
 the minute processes of Habit, — sculptured 
 into various forms by the skilful hand of 
 Education, or stained by contact with un- 
 favourable Example — all its pecuharities and 
 all its vices may be traced to the circum- 
 stances in which the individual, from hia 
 earliest and most impressible age, has been 
 placed. To a certain and limited extent, 
 these assertions may be said to be founded 
 in truth. Habit, Education, and Example, 
 have, indisputably, a large and important 
 influence informing the youthful character; 
 and had man retained his original righteous- 
 ness, these would have but tended to 
 strengthen within him the principles of rect- 
 itude and piety. But had not the word of God 
 expressly asserted, that, fallen from primeved 
 uprightness, men have sought out and sub- 
 stituted for it, many inventions, — had it not 
 illustrated the melancholy fact of our deprav- 
 ity, by reminding us how impossible it is 
 to draw from a polluted fountain hmpid and 
 pure waters, or to " bring a clean thing out 
 of an unclean one," — personal observation 
 
12 
 
 might, in a great degree, have led to such 
 a conviction of our state. When the good 
 and the evil are set before us, or before 
 our youngest intelligent inmates, — let con- 
 science and experience M'itness which of 
 these it is, that, on the impulse of the 
 moment, would invariably be chosen, and 
 which rejected ; — which it is that it requires 
 no struggle to select : Alas ! does not our 
 real position, as to these things, resemble 
 that of a heavily laden equipage, " a burden 
 to the weary beasts," who, with toilsome 
 steps, and by slow degrees, drag it up the 
 steep ascent, but liable, if only a moment's 
 pause occur in their exertions, to run back 
 with fearfully multiplying rapidity, to the 
 very foot of the precipice ? In such a case, 
 where would be the most rational hope of 
 safety ? Would it be most securely grounded 
 on ignorance of danger, or on the perception 
 of ifin its fullest extent ? 
 
 Surely, then, an enlightened view of our 
 tendency to evil, ought to excite more vigor- 
 ous exertions for overcoming it, than would 
 a supine denial of its existence I and if there 
 be a strong and friendly aid at hand who can 
 give efficacy to our otherwise futile efforts, 
 and enable us to climb in safety the hill of 
 Zion, that must be an infatuation indeed, 
 
13 
 
 which induces men to stand denying theii' 
 need, till the opportunity of attaining help 
 is gone forever. " He that trusteth in his 
 own heart is a fool ; but whoso walketh 
 wisely, he shall be delivered." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Vouchsafe to me, oh gracious Lord ! a 
 just and accurate view of my condition in 
 this world, as a sin-loving and sin-practising 
 creature. Give me deep contrition for the 
 many offences against thee, wherein a 
 depraved will and selfish affections, have 
 involved me, with humble and entire reli- 
 ance on thy loving-kindness, which is able to 
 extricate me from all the perils by which I 
 am surrounded. Through the atoning love 
 of thy blessed Son, and the promised aid of 
 Ihy Holy Spirit, which for his sake I implore 
 thee to give me, may I be renewed in heart 
 and mind, and preserved unto thy heavenly 
 kingdom. And for those immortal souls 
 in any way especially committed to my 
 guidance, grant me also, oh merciful 
 Father ! the same inestimable help. May 
 we all be taught of thee, and by thee mer- 
 cifully guided and defended, for the Re- 
 deemer's sake. — Amen. 
 
14 
 
 " Foolishness ia bound in the heart of a child, but 
 the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." 
 Proverbs xxii. 15, 
 
 Addressed to a very young Infant. 
 
 Gentle and dove-like are thine eyes, 
 Thy look is calm and meek, 
 
 And innocence endearing sits 
 Upon thy dimpled cheek. 
 
 And can it be, that flower so fair, 
 Should seeds of poison hide ; 
 
 And can it be, thy brow serene, 
 Should flush with angry pride ? 
 
 I love thee much, my little one, 
 
 And fain I would believe, 
 Thy youthful spirit, angel pure, 
 
 And pure for aye to hve. 
 
 But, ah ! my babe, each day confirms, 
 What heaven-taught sages say. 
 
 That " foolishness is bound" in man, 
 E'en from his earliest day. 
 
 Uncheck'd by grace divine, his sin 
 
 Developes as he grows ; 
 And hopeful infancy's sweet bud. 
 
 In disappointment blows. 
 
15 
 
 While ot lerg therefore boast the mind, 
 Of chiMhood, spotless white, 
 
 And, all ur aided, hope to guide 
 Its energies aright ; 
 
 I, for I love ihee, little one, 
 
 Most earnestly will pray, 
 A purer spirit than thine own, 
 
 Thy helplessness to stay. 
 
 Incipient evils I'll deplore. 
 Ere they themselves unfold, 
 
 And seek a Father's pitying hand 
 To drive them from their hold. 
 
 And so, my babe, in holy truth, 
 
 Shall shine upon thy brow, 
 Those virtues which but seem to deck 
 
 Its placid sweetness now. 
 
 MEDITATION IV. 
 
 "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, 
 because her hour is come." — St. John xvi. 21, 
 
 The sure word of prophecy when setting 
 forth, in subhme and awakening language, 
 
16 
 
 the approachingjudgmentsof t} aLordilpotl 
 sinful nations, has perhaps app led no meta- 
 phors more frequently — certai ily none \Vith 
 more appropriateness and force, — than those 
 which it has drawn from the sorrows of a 
 woman " when her hour is come." When 
 the troubles thus denounced are on the 
 heathen (as in Jeremiah xlix. 22, 24. and 1. 
 43.) we may remark, that the symbol is 
 chiefly directed to point out the inevitable 
 certainty of their occurrence at the time 
 appointed, — the suddenness of the visita- 
 tion, — and the terrors with which it will be 
 attended ; but when addressed to that Zion, 
 whom her long-suffering Lord will not 
 utterly cast ofl^, though the crown of her 
 glory be for a season laid in the dust, though 
 her habitation be desolate, and the voice of 
 joy unheard within its bounds, it is very re^ 
 markable how the illustrative figure is 
 carried forth to the happy termination of a 
 deliverance, as joyful as its introductory 
 sufferings are terrible^ " It is even the day 
 of Jacob's trouble," but he shall be saved 
 out of it. *' Be in pain and labour to bring 
 forth, oh daughters of Zion ! like a woman 
 in travail, for now shalt thou go forth, even 
 to Babylon ; there shalt thou be delivered j 
 there the Lord shall redeem thee from the 
 hand of thine enemies." — Micah. iv. 10. 
 
17 
 
 So, al*o, when in predicting the solemn 
 p- i!od of searching and sifting retribution, 
 u hich is reserved for the enemies of Christ, 
 the same allusion is employed, first by the 
 Saviour himself, and subsequently by his 
 Apostle. The same encouraging promises 
 arc vouchsafed to the church of a terminat- 
 ing joy, which shall swallow up all memory 
 of previous anguish : " I will see you again, 
 and your heart shall rejoice, andyour joy no 
 man taketh from you." Of that awful "day 
 of vengeance," when the Lord Jesus shall 
 be revealed from heaven, all previous and 
 detached outpourings of indignation have 
 boon indeed but the types anB precursors, 
 and as a snare will it come on the often- 
 warned, but obstinately careless inhabitants 
 of the whole earth. But, oh blessed thought 
 for the saints of Jesus ! and through all the 
 convulsions and tribulations among men by 
 which " the time of the end''' shall be ush- 
 ered in, how supporting, how reviving to 
 jtheir trembling hearts, to know that "their 
 iRedeemer is mighty." He for whom they 
 ihave waited, is the same who now cometh 
 in the clouds of heaven with power and great 
 glory, and with a triumphant salvation will 
 he save thera. They shall be hidden within 
 an inviolable sanctuary, protected by an im« 
 3 
 
18 
 
 pregnable fortress, yea, saith the Lord of 
 Hosts, " they shall be mine in that day 
 when I make up my jewels." They are his 
 special treasure, and He will spare them, as 
 a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 
 After briefly enumerating the signs by 
 which the watching disciple may be enabled 
 to perceive the immediate approach of that 
 day, to which he so frequently directs their 
 attention, how impressively does the Lord, 
 in one short precept, comprise the character- 
 istics of such, by saying to his faithful 
 servants, " When ye shall see these things 
 begin to come to pass, then lift up your 
 heads, for the day of your redemption draw- 
 eth nigh !" When others faint and tremble, 
 the people of Christ are commanded to 
 exult, and why ? Because they are virtuous, 
 and therefore safe ? Because they are holy, 
 and entitled to pre-eminence ? No ! but 
 because their rede7nptioii draweth nigh. 
 Those who rejoice in recovered freedom, 
 must have groaned under the oppressions of 
 captivity. Those who welcome the victory 
 of the Redeemer over his enemies, must 
 have inward evidence that they are num- 
 bered with his friends. Those who arc 
 looking for, and hasting unto the day of 
 God, cannot be such as are lavishing their 
 
19 
 
 affections and exertions oti the evanescent 
 j delights of a world ripe for correction* 
 Those who anticipate, with lively joy, the 
 coming of Jesus, must be equally ready, 
 should he previously call them, to be absent 
 from the body and present with himself* 
 While they are continued here, they must 
 be living as strangers and pilgrims, in all 
 holy conversation and godliness. If thus we 
 be looking for that blessed hope, and glorious 
 appearing of our Lord and Saviour, we shall 
 Terily and effectually be strengthened, (even 
 though our lot should be cast among the 
 troubles of the latter days,) to " endure 
 unto the end ;" assured that if we do, the 
 unspeakable mercy which has kept, will 
 finally bless us. — May all our trials here 
 purify and " make us white" for that great 
 consummation ! 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God ! the Shield and the Re- 
 fuge of them that trust in thee, enable me so 
 to confide in thy gracious protection, as to 
 contemplate with joy, and not with dismay, 
 the predicted coming of thy Son. May I, 
 in the way thy Gospel has revealed, seek 
 righteousness and meekness, bo that I may 
 
20 
 
 he hid in the day of thy fierce anger. Open, 
 Lord, r beseech thee, the eyes of those 
 who are careless and at ease in Zion, to 
 behold, ere it be too late, the things which 
 are for their everlasting good. Awaken 
 them who yet slumber and sleep, that with 
 replenished lamps they may be ready, when 
 summoned to meet their Lord. If the 
 combined voices of thy word, and thy 
 Providence unite to say, " The bridegroom 
 is coming, go ye forth to meet him," may 
 our souls hear and obey the call ; and may 
 He ever meet us in mercy and peace, M'bo 
 is with thee, our prevailing Mediator and 
 Advocate, For his sake hear and accept 
 me, oh my God ! and all for whom I desire 
 to pray, and among the multitudes in the 
 day of decision, place us at thy right hand, 
 and pronounce us blessed. — Amen and 
 Amen ! 
 
21 
 
 "When they shall say peace and safety, then eud- 
 flen destruction cometh upon then^, as travail upon 
 a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But 
 ye, bethren, are not in darkness, that that day 
 should overtake you as a thief." — 1st Thess. v. 3, 4. 
 
 That trying hour ! how suddenly it came, 
 
 Though long expected, unawares at last ; 
 So on a world at ease, Destruction's flame, 
 And judgment's fearful, long impending 
 blast. 
 With startling shock shall burst, 
 O'erwhelming the accurst : 
 And " they shall not escape." 
 
 Dark day of terrors ! emblem faint of thee. 
 Are woman's sorrows when her hour's 
 arrived. 
 Shalt thou not Earth ! as one in travail be, 
 Press'd with increasing pangs ? yet not 
 deprived , 
 Of Hope — for from thy womb. 
 In that dread day of doom, 
 A gladdening birth shall spring. 
 
 The dead in Christ shall rise. The teeming 
 dust 
 Shall wake and sing. Thick as the drops 
 
 of dew 
 h' innumerable myriads of the just 
 
22 
 
 O'er their last enemy, triumphant too, 
 Caught up their Lord to meet, 
 With shouts of joy shall greet 
 Jesus — salvation's King ! 
 
 Oh ! for a heart prepared, to watch, to wait, 
 With trembhng joy that consummation 
 sure; 
 God's ways to love — the ways of sin to hate, 
 And through all tribulations, to "endure." 
 Such, in earth's direful woe, 
 Shall " peace and safety" know, 
 E'en in a world convulsed ! 
 
 MEDITATION V. 
 
 "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirat 
 after righteousness, for they shall be filled." 
 
 St. Matthew v. 6. 
 
 Among the treasures of Divine Wisdom 
 which are richly scattered through the re- 
 vealed Scriptures, none surely should be 
 more dear to the Christian's heart, none 
 more constantly present to the Christian's 
 memory, than the very words whicb feU 
 
23 
 
 from the lips of Him, who even from his 
 enemies extorted this confession, " Never 
 man spake hke this man !" That beautiful 
 analysis of true blessedness with which the 
 Lord commenced his instructions on the 
 mountain, is of itself an inexhaustible fund 
 of pious and profitable meditation ; so that 
 we can scarcely help supposing, that many 
 of the assembled multitude unto whom it 
 was delivered, must have called to mind the 
 words of their ancient Lawgiver, " A 
 Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up 
 unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear," 
 and welcomed their evident fulfilment by 
 exclaiming, " Grace is poured into thy lips ; 
 therefore God hath blessed thee for ever." 
 Not only do the beatitudes here announced 
 describe the assured happiness of the 
 believer who possesses them, and the fitness 
 of the promised blessings to his several 
 wants, — they also aflTord a distinguished test 
 of individual profession, marking deeply 
 that line of separation from worldly max- 
 ims, feelings, and pursuits, by which the 
 genuine character of the Redeemer's people 
 is to be distinguished. The strong hold of 
 corrupt nature is pride. " Ye shall be as 
 Gods," formed no inconsiderable part of 
 the first temptation ; and it is in almost 
 
24 
 
 levery sin still committed, a component part 
 of the guilt; but what says the Saviour? 
 " Blessed are the poor in spirit." Nature 
 loves present ease at the expense of future 
 good ; but what saith Grace ? " Blessed 
 are they that mourn." The carnal mind 
 resents injuries, revolts against mysteries, 
 rebels against afflictive dispensations; so do 
 not they who are born of the Spirit: 
 " Blessed are the meek." The people of this 
 world covet the splendours and luxuries of 
 life, saying, " What shall we eat, and what 
 shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we 
 be clothed ?" So do not the people of 
 God. They hunger and thirst after righte- 
 ousness, and " Blessed are they, for they 
 shall be filled." Their meat and drink 
 it shall be to do the will of God. Earnestly 
 do they desire the sincere milk of the 
 Word that they may grow thereby, and 
 it shall not be denied them. Is not their Lord 
 he that teacheth them to profit ? Does 
 not his Spirit turn into nourishment for them^ 
 that which to others is tasteless and unsatis- 
 factory, mixing it with faith in their hearts, 
 and so fulfilling the ardent prayer of the 
 Redeemer for his Church, that through the 
 Word of Truth it might be sanctified ? 
 
 As there is no surer sign of animal life 
 and health, than the desire of wholesome 
 
25 
 
 snstenance ; so of the life of faith within the 
 soul, is no token more unquestionable than 
 an abidinff delight in all God's testimonies; 
 a longing for them, not mingled with merely 
 human ingredients, and so depreciated into 
 the food of controversy, — not to be agitated 
 in a vessel already soured by preconceived 
 opinions, and so fermented into the aliment 
 of intoxicating Pride, of infidel doubts ; — 
 but pure, unmixed, and in all their sublime 
 simplicity; to grow thereby, and not to 
 shine, — to improve the heart, not merely to 
 gratify the taste, — to give vigour and activity 
 to self-denying obedience, not merely to 
 excite indolent admiration, or encourage 
 speculative contemplations, from which no 
 practical influences are to be digested. 
 
 It is most important to examine ourselves 
 on this point, whether hungering and thirst- 
 ing after righteousness be distinctly the mo- 
 tive of our Scriptural studies. They may 
 otherwise be pursued with regularity and 
 perseverance, yea, even with delight, with- 
 out real spiritual advantage. The Word 
 of God may be admired for its many intrin- 
 sic excellencies, even where it has not 
 reached the conscience and affections. The 
 faithfulness and antiquity of its national 
 records, — the grandeur of its discoveries 
 
26 
 
 concerning the origin of created things — 
 the pathetic beauties of its interesting biog- 
 raphies — the loftiness of its poetry — the 
 rich variety of its imagery — the convincing 
 energy of its arguments — the compreliensive 
 simphcity and unsullied purity of its moral 
 lessons — have, in various ways, attractions 
 for minds who never suffered it to say, I 
 have a message from God unto thee. For 
 any or for all these, its perfections, as well 
 as from custom or decency, for professional 
 distinction, or for victorious arguments, the 
 Bible may be examined statedly, and even 
 closely, yet laid down without heartfelt ad- 
 vantage ! And why ? Because not handled 
 as food. None but those who can say, 
 "Thy commandments were found and I did 
 eat them," can grow in grace by their spirit- 
 ual digestion. Personal apphcation of the 
 Divine statutes is the only arrow which can 
 effectually reach, and prick, and rouse, the 
 self-satisfied conscience. Personal appli- 
 cation of the love of Jesus, the only elixir 
 which can exalt and purify the soul unto 
 the love and practice of holiness ; they are 
 both in the hand of the Spirit to dispense, 
 for his office it is, both to convince of sin, 
 and, taking of the things of Christ, so to 
 shew them to the souC that it may have 
 
27 
 
 peace and joy in believing. The feast is 
 spread ! many behold and many praise it ; 
 but who are they that partake of the pro- 
 vided repast, not only with relish, but so as 
 to go in the strength of that meat from day 
 to day, from hour to hour, through evil 
 report and good report, rejoicing ? This is 
 the privilege of those only who are taught 
 of God. Such honour have all his saints, 
 and his saints only. Are we called so to be ? 
 Let us look well, that we be not only called 
 but chosen, and to that end pray earnestly 
 to Him who is able to make all grace abound 
 towards us, that he will open our eyes to see 
 wonderful things out of his law. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Gluicken me, O Lord, after thy loving- 
 kindness, so,shall I keep the statutes of thy 
 mouth. May I hunger for Christ the living 
 bread. May I thirst for the water of life, 
 which he only can bestow, and may that 
 bread be given me, and those waters be 
 made sure according to thy promises. O 
 never-failing Fountain of Love and Hope, 
 of Holiness and Peace ! Spirit of Truth, 
 whom the world cannot receive, because it 
 seeth thee not, be in me whenever I meditate 
 
28 
 
 on the oracles of God, and impress them 
 savingly on my heart to the end of my 
 course on earth, making my profiting to 
 appear unto all men, to the glory of my 
 Heavenly Father. All I ask is through 
 Jesus Christ, my only Saviour. — Amen. 
 
 " As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the 
 word that ye may grow thereby."—! Peter ii. 2. 
 
 Instinctively the infant craves 
 
 That food which fits it best, 
 And nature's nutriment receives 
 
 Pure from the mother's breast. 
 
 See with what eagerness of joy 
 
 It takes the proffered boon. 
 What tempting bait shall wealth employ, 
 
 To lure it thence too soon ? 
 
 No weariness — no love of change, 
 
 Repress its fond delight ; 
 Had it the universe to range, 
 
 'Twould seek no dearer sight. 
 
 With powers thus ardently intent, 
 
 Do Christian minds desire, 
 That heaven provided nourishment. 
 
 Their daily wants require. 
 
29 
 
 On nnadulterated food, 
 
 Jehovah's word they live, 
 Nor would they change that cherished good 
 
 For all that earth^can give. 
 
 Thy statutes, Lord, are good and pure, 
 They make the simple wise: 
 
 Thy testimonies, clear and sure, 
 Illume our darkened eyes. 
 
 Oh be the sacred pleasure mine. 
 
 Unceasingly to draw, 
 Fresh from the fount of life divine, 
 
 The sweetness of thy law. 
 
 MEDITATION VI. 
 
 "They chan^'ed the truth of God into a lie ; and 
 Avorshipped and served the creature, more than the 
 Creator, who is blessed for ever. "^Romans i. 2o. 
 
 From the beginning it was even so ! From 
 the beginning, even until now, the dispo- 
 sitions here described have been the very 
 essence of all sin. Disbelief of the Divme 
 
30 
 
 testimony — self-indulgence, in opposition to 
 the restraint of the Divine commands — 
 deliberate preference of created perishing 
 enjoyments, to the favour and fruition of the 
 Creator, who is blessed for ever. Thus it 
 was with Eve ; she doubted the immutabil- 
 ity of the Divine Word ; she permitted a 
 momentary gratification, opposed to her 
 Maker's will, and the visionary prospect of 
 an exalted happiness, independent of Him, 
 to withdraw her heart from its only true 
 rest, even when surrounded by the paradise 
 of delights in which he had vouchsafed to 
 place her. The serpent beguiled her by his 
 subtlety, and she fell. Thus, too, it was 
 with Adam — he was not deceived — he sup- 
 posed not that any rich virtues dwelt in that 
 forbidden fruit, whereby he should be wiser 
 or happier after he had eaten; but the 
 creature lay at Ms heart. " The woman 
 whom thou gavest me, she tempted me and 
 I did eat." His love for Eve was greater 
 than his love for his God ! Without that 
 last precious gift, he could not be happy, 
 even in the light of his Maker's counte- 
 nance, and the certainty of his approring 
 smile. Though he knew that his help-meet 
 had thrown off her allegiance to the Supreme 
 Giver of all their blessings, he shrank not 
 
31 
 
 from the pollution of her society, as shrink 
 the unfallen from contact with the dis- 
 obedient. He loved the world, and the 
 things of the world, and the love of the 
 Father faded within him, and he fell. See 
 ye not, oh posterity ! of that offending pair, 
 see ye not your own portraits in this mirror? 
 Yet how mercifully does the adorable Je- 
 hovah meet, even the guilty beings who had 
 thus insulted him ! He condemns man in- 
 deed to toil, but with the passions which 
 now became predominant in his degraded 
 nature to what excesses might not a life of 
 total indolence have exposed the wretched 
 culprit ? He condemns woman to suffering 
 and to subjection ; but these also counteract 
 the evils of that supine rest, to which a frame 
 less Stted for robust exertion than her part- 
 ner's, might often expose her. Rightly used, 
 they are beneficial in changing that corrupt 
 bias to which she yielded in the original 
 transgression ; they wean her spirit from its 
 too fond attachment to this vain world, and 
 humble it by the frequent recollection, that 
 " Dust she is, and unto dust, must ere long 
 return." But there is yet a more astonish- 
 ing mercy to be remembered, when medi- 
 tating on this momentous transaction : The 
 resources of Omnipotent Love are infinite j 
 
32 
 
 and greatly as they had rebelled, Jehovah 
 forsook not the work of his own hands. 
 He looked and there was none to help — 
 none to uphold; therefore his own arm 
 brought salvation. *' God sent forth his 
 Son, made of a woman, made under the law." 
 The " Eternal Word was made flesh !" 
 
 It is not indeed Wonderful, that when once 
 conscious of disobedience, the soul should 
 l"ecoil from immediate contact with inflex- 
 ible justice. The unsullied purity — the un- 
 speakable dignity of his Omniscient Judge, 
 cannot fail to fill the sinner with dismay ; 
 and often is he driven, by his futile anxiety 
 to forget his terrbrs, to seek a hiding-place 
 " among the trees of the garden," to plunge 
 deeper and deeper into creature worship — 
 that fatal net which first entangled his facul- 
 ties, and is ever dragging them to a wider 
 distance from their right end and aim. But 
 redeeming mercy makes her gentle sum- 
 mons heard. Can the guilty refuse to listen ? 
 •' To you, oh sons of men ! does she speak," 
 and will you refuse to hear the voice of the 
 charmer, saying, "God so loved the world, 
 that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
 whosoever believeth on him should not 
 perish, but should have everlasting life ?" 
 ** Look unto Him and be saved all ye ends 
 
33 
 
 i of the earth?" A mediator, with claima 
 I irresistible to the confidence of both the 
 aUenated parties, stands between them. On 
 the one side, (and that the side of the Lord 
 God Almighty,) he is accepted, approved, 
 delighted in. What is wanting, then to 
 the reconcihation ? Wonder ye^Heavens, 
 and be astonished, oh Earth"! when it is 
 replied, — the acceptance of man ! 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Blessed be thy name, Oh Just and Holy 
 God ! that thou hast declared thyself the 
 Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus — 
 that thine indignation burneth not against 
 us continually, to destroy, but that in wrath 
 thou rememberest mercy, ever saying unto 
 the children of men, " Turn ye, turn ye, 
 for why will ye die ?" Gracious Father ! I 
 would now arise and come unto thee, con- 
 fessing that 1 have grievously transgressed 
 thy righteous laws, and too slightly regard- 
 ed thy tender forbearance towards me hith- 
 erto. I ever need, and fervently implore 
 the renewing influences of thy Holy Spirit, 
 to take of the things of Christ and make 
 them unto me the seed of everlasting life 
 and blessedness. I adore thy kindness in 
 4 
 
34 
 
 rendering the temporal punishments of oor 
 guilty race beneficial to our fallen state. 
 Oh! may I bear my portion of them patient- 
 ly, cheerfully, and wisely, so as best to pre- 
 pare me for that hour, when the last effect 
 of the curse shall be triumphantly overcome 
 by the power of the Saviour. Wiien my 
 body shall return to the dust, and my spirit 
 unto Thee who gave it, oh ! may I meet 
 death in the joyful hope of rising from the 
 grave, to dwell for ever in thy presence, 
 through the merits of our blessed Lord and 
 Saviour, Jesus Christ. — Amen. 
 
 "In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children."- 
 Genesis iii. 16. 
 
 Not long may woman hide, 
 
 In Eden's happy bowers; 
 Her doom is " sorrows multiplied," 
 
 And not a path of flowers. 
 
 Hope's garland may be bright 
 
 In girlhood's opening day. 
 But matron troubles early blight 
 
 Youth and her roses gay. 
 
 And shall she, therefore, grieve, 
 
 Or wish to change her lot, 
 If sin be strengthened to deceive, 
 Where suffering enters not ? 
 
35 
 
 Where " changes" are unknown, 
 
 Created gifts are dear ; 
 But He who showers them from his throne, 
 
 Where are His thanks and fear? 
 
 The smooth imruffled nest, 
 
 Might sleep klhargic woo, 
 Welcome the storm that breaks such rest j 
 
 Welconae afflictions too. 
 
 Pain and subjection well 
 
 Mind woman of their cause, 
 And to her humbled spirit tell. 
 
 Of Heaven's neglected laws. 
 
 Yes ; from her very curse, 
 
 Distils a precious balm. 
 As dews of godly sorrow nurse, 
 
 The saint's eternal palm. 
 
 Scarce was that curse pronounced 
 
 On disobedient Eve, 
 Ere the consoling Judge announced, 
 
 What Mary should achieve ; 
 
 That handmaid of the Lord, 
 Her wondrous Seed hath borne ; 
 
 Our God by Woman hath restored 
 What woman's guilt had shorn ,- 
 
36 
 
 Then weep not nor repine, 
 Ye daughters at your state, 
 
 Behold for you the Scriptures shine 
 With gems of heavenly weight. 
 
 "She shall be saved," they say, 
 " Through her severest woe, 
 
 If on her sober, holy way, 
 In faith and love she go." 
 
 MEDITATION VII. 
 
 " Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born 
 again," — John iii. 7. 
 
 What a contrast to the self-seeking ha- 
 rangues .of many human teachers is to be 
 perceived, in the calm yet dignified simpli- 
 city, with which the Lord Jesus delivered 
 his instructions. Replete with heavenly 
 wisdom, he yet sought not to display it. 
 He desired not that his own praises should 
 be sounded, but the glory of his Father pro- 
 moted. He desired not that the voice of 
 astonishment should be uplifted, to magnify 
 
37 
 
 the perfection of his precepts, the " entic- 
 ing words" of his oratory, or the originahty 
 of his system of doctrine. Marvel not !— r 
 Art thou a Master in Israel, and knowest 
 not these things? What is written in the 
 law ! how readest thou? — Expressions like 
 these, leading the hearers rather to wonder 
 at their own culpable darkness, than to ex- 
 tol the illunr)ination of their teacher, plainly 
 shew that it was their edification, not their 
 admiration, which Jesus desired, — not to 
 be taken by force and made a King, envi- 
 roned with outward splendour, but to reign 
 in their hearts, unto the glory of God, even 
 the Father. Oh ! how apparent is it that 
 such was the spirit of that Divine Re- 
 deemer, who came not to do his own will, 
 but the will of Him that sent him in accom- 
 plishing the salvation of them that beheve 
 on his name. That such was also the 
 spirit of his early disciples, very evidently 
 appears from several passages of their writ- 
 ings. One short expression of the Apostle 
 Paul may be quoted as an example ; it 
 beautifully expresses the temper which he 
 had imbibed, not at the feet of Gamaliel, 
 but of Jesus, "We seek not yours, but 
 you." To win souls from destruction to 
 duty, — to thwart evil, — to implant, revive, 
 
38 
 
 and multiply good ; these were the spiritual 
 meat and drink of Christ in his earthly hu- 
 miliation. Christians ! should they not 
 also be yours? Instruments tilted by his 
 Spirit for agency in his cause, should you 
 seek other and meaner objects than his 
 glory, in any ministrations to which you 
 may be called? 
 
 But let me now return to meditate on the 
 Lord's assertion, "Ye must be born again," 
 and his intimation that in announcing this, 
 he was speaking of an already known and 
 received truth, not putting forth a novel and 
 mysterious revelation ; or, as it would seem, 
 Nicodemus had imagined, a prediction of 
 some supernatural interference with the 
 course of human events. The previous 
 and convincing miracles of Christ seem to 
 have prepared the inquiring Pharisee to give 
 a literal interpretation to the tigureof a new 
 birth, uncfer which the Lord had represented 
 the nature of conversion ; so that he appears 
 to have expected a miraculous demonstra- 
 tion of Almighty Power connected with the 
 words, "Ye must be born again." But if 
 such were his error, he was not long per- 
 mitted to entertain it. The nature of this 
 absolutely requisite renovation was distinct- 
 ly described as an earthly thing, attended 
 
39 
 
 with no miraculous evidences, no shakings of 
 the earth, nor thunderings of the heavens : 
 No marvelUngs of men, nor manifestation 
 of angels, were to be its consequences, but 
 the still small voice which none heareth 
 save the happy soul within which it whis- 
 pers. Yet as surely, as undeniably, was it 
 to be proved to exist by its influences on 
 the heart and conduct, as the winds of 
 heaven are proved to be in motion, by the 
 echoing blasts or the yielding boughs, of the 
 forests which they visit. And must all be 
 thus renovated? "That which is born of 
 the flesh is flesh." — If any can plead ex- 
 emption from such a natural condition, they 
 and they alone may rightly deem that to 
 them a new birth from above \\ould be su- 
 perfluous. If any be now living the life 
 that they Jive in the flesh by the faith of 
 the Son of God, who gave himself for them, 
 who died for them, who lives for them — 
 they are created anew in Christ Jesus. 
 They are the children of God by faith. 
 May they walk, obediently, not fashioning 
 themselves according to the former lusts in 
 their ignorance, but pressing ever towards 
 the mark for the prize of their high calling. 
 But, ohi for more vigour of faith, more 
 singleness of heart, more unsophisticated 
 
40 
 
 humility in crediting the assurances of our 
 
 Father's gracious message, and embracing 
 the condescending offers of his love. Oh ! 
 for grace to receive the truth in the love 
 of it, with the undoubting simplicity of a 
 little child, that questions not the kindness, 
 the sufficiency, the constancy, of parental 
 care; but lives from hour to hour upon its 
 continued vigilance. Thus to trust in our 
 God is everlasting strength. To them that 
 receive Christ, — a free gift, a willing Saviour 
 — power is given to become the sons of 
 God. Believe on his name, and ye are 
 born again. Believe strongly, and you shall 
 have life abundantly. Waste not time in 
 fallacious, useless, disquisitions as to the 
 manner of that holy change, which must 
 tjualify you for a blissful inheritance. Make 
 it not a mere subject of marvelling specula- 
 tion, but once convinced of its necessity by 
 the existence of even one allowed sin within 
 your heart, make it rather a subject of 
 prayer, till the invaluable blessing be ob- 
 tained, till the Spirit be poured on you from 
 on High, and witness with your spirits, 
 that you are accepted in the beloved, — the 
 children of God by adoption and grace. 
 Lord increase our faith, and be Thou cur 
 all in all. 
 
41 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh God ! from whose inexhaustible ful- 
 ness Cometh down every good and every 
 perfect gift, and who art ever inviting thy 
 guilty and unworthy creatures to come unto 
 thee, according to thy rich mercies revealed 
 in the Gospel, for light, and life, and ever- 
 lasting strength, incline me effectually, I 
 pray thee, by thy Holy Spirit, to obey the 
 repeated calls of thy word to repentance 
 and faith. Thy word is the incorruptible 
 seed of hohness. Make it fruitful, I beseech 
 thee, in my renewed soul, — that seeing I 
 may so see, and hearing I may so hear, as 
 to be regenerated in heart and mind, hence- 
 forth abhorring and renouncing every sin, 
 and perseveringly contending against every 
 temptation-, through thy gracious help and 
 imdeserved goodness in Christ Jesus, our 
 Lord and Saviour. — Amen. 
 
42 
 
 " Except .ye he converted and become as little 
 children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven." — Matthe-w xviii 3. 
 
 " In quietness and in confidence shall be your 
 strength."— /saiaft xxx. 15. 
 
 To a very young Infant. 
 
 Dear object of a parent's prayer! 
 
 How peaceably and sweetly 
 Thou'rt resting on Ihy mother's care, 
 
 And trusting her completely. 
 
 Thou thinkest not, with anxious fear, 
 Of future wants distressing; 
 
 Enough for thee, if she be near. 
 Who waits but their expressing. 
 
 Thou dreamest not, her love depends 
 On aught thy hand can give her; 
 
 Nor that thine infant power extends 
 Thy perils to deliver. 
 
 But tender thoughts of kindness past, 
 
 Reposing trust awaken ; 
 And freely all thy cares are cast, 
 
 Where freely they are taken. 
 
 'Twere well, dear babe, of thee to learn 
 Such simple, strong believing. 
 
 And in a Saviour's love discern 
 Our warrant for receiving. 
 
43 
 
 'Twere well to trust his gracious Word, 
 Not weigh our own deserving; 
 
 And calmly rest, whate'er occurr'd, 
 Upon his safe preserving. 
 
 As " little children" he invites 
 
 Our full and free confiding, 
 And in the filial heart delights 
 
 Still in his love abiding. 
 
 Our happiness is just to leave 
 
 Ourselves to his direction ; 
 The sole return that we can give, 
 
 Our reverence and affection. 
 
 MEDITATION VIII. 
 
 " Oh Lord ! how manifold are thy works : in 
 ■wisdom hast ihou made them all." — Psalm civ. 24. 
 
 Infinite skill, commanding infinite re- 
 sources might well be supposed capable of 
 producing a world of wonders ; and in such 
 a world do we live. Researches, diligently 
 
44 
 
 made through many successive centuries, 
 have still discovered within its shpere, new 
 fields of observation, unexplored by those 
 that preceded them. Yet not one leaf of 
 the book of science has ever been perused 
 without displaying, in still brighter charac- 
 ters than before, this testimony of the 
 Psalmist concerning the works of the Most 
 High, that "in wisdom hath he made them 
 all." That record standeth sure. Placed 
 beneath the searching influences of micro- 
 scopic investigation, (like a secretly written 
 manuscript, whose important information 
 might long remain invisible, did not fire, or 
 some other efficient agency, bring it into 
 view,) the utmost concentration of human 
 talent, employed in examining the structure 
 and arrangement of this world and its in- 
 habitants, has but yielded forth new proofs 
 of creative Omnipotence, Intelligence, and 
 considerate Benevolence. The minutest 
 touches of nature's great record, as well as 
 that magnificent vault of heaven, where 
 suns and planets, comets and satellites form 
 the vast materials of her alphabet, testify 
 unvaryingly the same great truth. From 
 the obscurest cavern of earth, as from the 
 immeasureable distances of space, echoes 
 the same interrogation, " Canst thou by 
 
45 
 
 earching find out God ; canst thou find out 
 ihe Almighty to perfection?" 
 
 The Divine Infinitude is indeed daily and 
 hourly corroborated. Every beam of light 
 that visits us, fitted as it is in every possible 
 respect for the organs which are to receive 
 and use it, witnesses this great truth. Every 
 breath we inhale, — impossible as it would 
 be for us to exist were the present just pro- 
 portion of its constituent parts impaired, — 
 gives it confirmation ; and yet, does not that 
 sacred Word, which like the visible things 
 of creation, is the more wonderful, the more 
 minutely it is scrutinized, does it not assert 
 that there are those who regard not the 
 work of the Lord, neither consider the oper- 
 ation of his hands ; and others, who make 
 indeed an extorted acknowledgment of his 
 existence, yet nullify it as to any moral 
 efTects, by saying, the Lord will not do good, 
 neither will he do evil ? If there be there- 
 fore, alas ! fools who still say in their hearts, 
 " There is no God," — who mock at sin, say- 
 ing, " He will never see it," — melancholy as 
 that fact is, let us remember it is neverthe- 
 less an attestation of Scripture, which so 
 well defines the scoffers of the last days, 
 as " walking after their own lusts," care- 
 lessly, contentedly, and as if the eye of an 
 
46 
 
 onslumbering God were not always upon 
 them. 
 
 Awful state of practical infidelity! yet 
 how little aware of their condition are many 
 who are nevertheless deeply sunk in its 
 guilt ! They would start and shrink from 
 the imputation were they called Atheists ; 
 but to ichat purpose are they otherwise, if 
 they can as fearlessly plunge into the 
 iniquities which God abhors, as though the 
 Lord were not a God of knowledge, by 
 whom actions are weighed ? 
 
 My soul, this is a profitable subject for 
 self-searching humiliation. Thou believest 
 that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, 
 that by Him and for his pleasure were all 
 things created, that the grand end and object 
 of all being is to glorify Him, his Power, 
 his Wisdom, his Justice, his Holiness, and 
 his Love. Art thou in any way, and to the 
 extent of thine ability, fulfilling this end? 
 Art thou glorifying Him? admiring his 
 works, wherever they are placed before 
 thee and their consummate excellence de- 
 veloped ? adoring his goodness in their 
 adjustment to the comfort of intelligent 
 creatures ? especially art thou remembering 
 that He who made all, who preserves all, 
 must needs be present with all ? That to 
 
47 
 
 Him the secrets of all hearts are revealed, 
 and that unreserved obedient devotedness 
 from those who are endowed with faculties 
 to bestow it, is his undoubted right? My 
 Boul, bind down thy wandering powers to 
 reflect seriously on these questions, and 
 thou wilt infallibly find cause to reply, " I 
 liave sinned, I have perverted my wa)'. I 
 have forgotten God my Maker. Deliver 
 me, oh Lord ! by the ransom thou hast 
 found, lest I go down into the pit, for the 
 wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the 
 people which forget God." 
 
 Neither let any one say, I am no philoso- 
 pher. I understand not the discoveries of 
 science. I have no means of studying them. 
 I am safe from the charge of neglecting to 
 praise God for the wisdom of his works, 
 on this plea of my ignorance. The most 
 illiterate among us has in his own frame, — 
 " fearfully and marvellously made," and 
 " curiously wrought" as it is, enough to 
 prove, beyond the shadow of rational doubt, 
 that the hand that " made him is divine." 
 To set in motion, and preserve in order, 
 such complicated machinery as it exhibits, 
 — to adapt its members, in the most admira- 
 ble manner, for their several functions, and 
 to place them all under the direction of the 
 
48 
 
 indwelling soul, — required the exertion of 
 such Intellect, such Foresight, such Scope 
 of Design, that had we only this to contem- 
 plate, and did we contemplate it as steadily 
 and frequently as we ought, we could not 
 long withstand the conviction, that " Verily 
 this is done by the finger of God ;" nor 
 withhold the adoring confession. Oh Lord ! 
 our Governor, " How excellent is thy name 
 in all the earth !» 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Glorious and ever blessed God ! I am 
 astonished and awed by the infinity of thy 
 Power, and the innumerable exertions of thy 
 Wisdom, by which I am continually encom- 
 passed. By thy Spirit, Thou hast garnished 
 the heavens, calling out their hosts by num- 
 ber! T-he vast ocean is measured as in the 
 hollow of thine hand. The dust of the whole 
 earth is comprehended in a measure ; for 
 thou distinctly perceivest and providest for 
 its minutest living atom. There is no 
 searching of thine understanding. Thou 
 doest great things past finding out ; yea, and 
 wonders without number. Yet, oh Lord ! 
 God of Power and Might, of Knowledge 
 and Wisdom, thou art also the good Shep- 
 
49 
 
 herd of thy believing servants, and the 
 lambs of thy flock are dear to thee. They 
 that wait on thee shall run in thy ways and 
 not be weary, and thou upholdest them that 
 seek no other helper. Without thy con- 
 tinual care, oh good Lord ! wliere had we 
 now been ? Amidst the perils of feeble 
 infancy, what else could have preserved our 
 bodies ? And amidst far worse, because 
 spiritual dangers, what else can maintain us 
 in the life of faith and holiness ? Both for 
 body and soul, do 1 now entrust myself, and 
 all those that I love, to thy fatherly care, 
 for all eternity, through thy manifested 
 loving-kindness, in thy blessed Son our 
 S^iviour, Jesus Christ. — Amen. 
 
 *' Thine hands have made me, and fashioned i 
 together round about."— Jo6 x. 8. 
 
 In every work of thine, 
 Thou only Great and wise ! 
 
 The demonstrations of design 
 Are laid before our eyes. 
 
 The heavens thy glory shew, 
 The stars speak loud to man ; 
 
 " Behold us, as we circling glow, 
 And own Creation's plan." 
 5 
 
50 
 
 The earth with riches filled, 
 
 The wide replenish'd sea, 
 Proclaim no less — 'twas Goodness will'd, 
 
 And Might that made us be* 
 
 Yet infant of a day. 
 
 Thy little frame would seem, 
 With voice more powerful than they, 
 
 To tell the glorious theme. 
 
 A thousand fibres twine, 
 
 Throughout each feeble limb ; 
 
 Muscles, and nerves, and veins, corabincj 
 All, all to speak of Him. 
 
 No eye that work could mark ; 
 
 In secret wast thou made ; 
 Yet, members fashion'd in the dark, 
 
 In symmetry were laid ! 
 
 Admiring awe and fear, 
 
 Divide ray powers of thought, 
 
 So complex ! and such perils near ! 
 Yet safe through perils brought. 
 
 My soul, thou marv'lest much, 
 
 How sceptic should deny. 
 Strong evidence of sight and touch, 
 
 Declaring, " God is nigh." 
 
51 
 
 Oh ! marvel deeply more, 
 
 Examining within, 
 That thou, who scann'st it o'er and o'er, 
 
 Should'st ever dare to sin ! 
 
 MEDITATION IX. 
 
 " Sin is the transgression of the law." 
 
 1st John iii. 4; 
 
 The Apostle does not even add the law of 
 God; what that law really is, — the breadth 
 of its requirements, and the force of its 
 sanctions, might then have become the 
 questions fox discussions ; but on these he is 
 not at present arguing. His assertion is, in 
 fact, true of every law, which is acknow- 
 ledged by the transgressor of it to emanate 
 from authority competent to direct his 
 actions. The Gentiles were a law unto 
 themselves, and were criminal in transgress- 
 ing it. Wilfully departing from what their 
 own conscience and philosophy (defective 
 as these were) instructed them to observe, 
 they were brought in guilty before Jehovah, 
 
52 
 
 even had they never heard of his personal 
 exislence, nor witnessed those outward to- 
 kens of his "Eternal Power and Godhead," 
 which left them without excuse when they 
 refused to retain Him in their knowledge. 
 Of those whom the Gospel has not yet 
 reached, the same may he declared. Insuf- 
 ficient, and even false as are their notions of 
 true good, and misplaced their dependence 
 on their deluded lawgivers ; yet, the delib- 
 erate act of preferring, to what is supposed 
 good, that v;hich is believed to be evil, 
 ^vhile this is done for the gratification of 
 self, and as rejecting lawful subordination, 
 as foully proves the individuals so offending 
 to be sinners after the similitude of Adam's 
 transgression, as if the law to which they 
 pi-ofess obedience were in itself perfect. 
 
 But if those shall be accounted liable for 
 the stripes of a just condemnation, who have 
 thus lifted up the hand of rebellion against 
 natural conscience, or the commands of err- 
 ing legislators, of how much sorer punish- 
 ment think we, shall they be found worthy, 
 who have trodden under foot the authority of 
 the Son of God, and who, instead of valuing 
 the privilege of being numbered among his 
 visible church, count, as it were, the blood 
 of that covenant, wherewith they have been 
 
53 
 
 so set apart as a peculiar people, an unholy, 
 or a worthless thing? What shall we 
 think of those who have in their possession 
 a perfect rule, and an unfailing standard of 
 principle and conduct, who profess to sub- 
 mit to it, yet even when fully aware of its 
 injunctions and prohibitions, fearlessly dis- 
 regard and infringe them ? Verily, if he 
 that committeth sin by choosing what he 
 only imagines to be evil, offendeth Him 
 who enjoins purify in the inmost parts, rec- 
 titude in the will, and uprightness in the 
 actions, — then must every mouth be stopped, 
 and every individual pronounced guilty 
 against God. Many will, however, confess 
 thus much, who will by no means allow 
 their minds to go forward to the conse- 
 quences which hang upon the admission. 
 Though convinced of the law, as trans- 
 gressors, they yet put aside those awful 
 denunciations, " The soul that sinneth it 
 shall die," " The wraih of God is revealed 
 from heaven against all ungodliness and 
 unrighteousness of men," &c. — as inappli- 
 cable to their own case — blessing them- 
 selves in their hearts they say, "Peace, 
 peace," where there is no peace, and walk 
 on in their vain imaginations, undisturbed 
 by the fear of impending wrath, — satisfied 
 
54 
 
 that " all will be well at last." Various are 
 the self-soothing conlrivances of man to 
 free himself from all uneasiness on these 
 momentous subjects. It might be easy to 
 extend our meditations by reflecting on 
 these several fallacies ; but unbelief of God's 
 testimony is the agent which in every one 
 of them blinds the deceived arguers ; and 
 it matters comparatively little, whether she 
 choose the material that hoodwinks them, 
 from the embroidered stores of human rea- 
 soning, and venture to suppose the execu- 
 tion of Divine Justice inconsistent with the 
 Infinity of Divine Mercy ; or snatching up 
 the flimsy veil of the voluptuary, blinds 
 their eyes to the nearness of eternity, while 
 a vague whisper silences the strivings of 
 conscience, saying, " There will be time 
 enough yet for thoughts like these." Nu- 
 merous and subtle as the devices of Satan 
 may be, to produce in us an unsafe security^ 
 when the word of the Lord goeth forth, as 
 a mighty warrior, conquering and to con- 
 quer, as the fire devoureth the crackling 
 thorns, and as the flame consumes the stub- 
 ble, they vanish before it. The sinner won- 
 ders at the callous ears which so long heard 
 its convincing statements of his condition, 
 without carrying to his conscience one feel- 
 
55 
 
 ing of their truth, and like a swimmer I 
 have lately read of, who, in his sleep, ven- 
 tured into the ocean, wakes to a conscious- 
 ness of peril, more or less awful perhaps, 
 according to the depths whereto he may 
 hare ventured ; but in its mildest form suf- 
 ficiently overwhelming to absorb every other 
 thought, while he cries aloud, " What shall 
 I do to be saved ?" As the moon, bursting 
 from the cloud that long obscured her, a 
 beam of hope from the hitherto neglected 
 Gospel, crosses his soul, and shews him the 
 rock of safety. Is not Jesus the Saviour ? 
 Has he not suffered the just for the unjust ? 
 Has He not redeemed his people from the 
 curse of the law ? Is He not a hiding place 
 from the wind, and a covert from the tem- 
 pest ? Lord save me, or I perish. Thus is 
 Christ the end of the law to every one that 
 believeth. 
 
 But that is not belief which only sees him 
 to be a Saviour. There are hearers of the 
 law who behold as in a glass their natural 
 face, yet go their way, and straight-way 
 forget what manner of creatures they are. 
 Oh ! that we may not only look into that 
 perfect law of liberty, whereby Christ Jesus 
 is made unto us Wisdom and Righteous- 
 ness, Sanctification and Redemption, but 
 
56 
 
 continue therein, as doers of the works 
 which it enjoins to his glory. Those whom 
 God justifies, them He also glorifies; a 
 wilful continuance in sin can never be glo- 
 rious; what therefore God has joined to- 
 gether, let not man put asunder; but that 
 we may perfect holiness in the fear of God^ 
 let us be ever looking unto Jesus as the 
 author and finisher of our faith ; as our ex- 
 ample, our atonement, our advocate, our 
 shield on earth, and our exceeding great 
 reward for ever, yea, even for ever. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 What shall I say unto thee, oh I thou ob- 
 server of men ? When I remember thy 
 righteous law, and my innumerable back- 
 slidings ? Behold I am vile ! I abhor myself 
 in dust and ashes ! Heal me, oh Lord, and 
 I shall be healed ; turn me and 1 shall be 
 turned. Surely in vain is salvation hoped 
 for, except through thy rich mercy in Christ 
 Jesus, for thou art a just God and hatest 
 iniquity, and wilt by no means clear the 
 guilty, therefore ha?t thou laid on Him, 
 whom the rulers despised, whom man re- 
 jected, the iniquity of us all, that He might 
 bear it far away into the wilderness, whence 
 
57 
 
 it should never return to witness against the 
 contrite and believing soul. May I be en- 
 abled by thee to lay my hand, in true faith, 
 on the Lamb that taketh away the sins of 
 the world. Sprinkled with the blood of 
 Jesus, may I obtain confidence and comfort 
 in the hour of affliction, and serenity on the 
 bed of death, and at length arrive in safety 
 where I shall keep thy holy law perfectly, 
 delightedly, and for ever. — Amen. 
 
 "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of 
 sin is the Ja\v ; but thanks be to God who giveih its 
 the victory tlirough our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 1st Corintfiia7Js XV. 56, 57. 
 
 Hadst thou, oh God ! in judgment turned, 
 
 To view thy creatures' sin, 
 Had thy just wrath in vengeance burned 
 
 With nought to intervene ; 
 
 "Where should we then have found a place, 
 
 Our.wretchedness to hide? 
 Or to escape thine awful face. 
 
 What way of refuge tried ? 
 
 When to the couch of sickness led, 
 
 What horrors had been there. 
 While conscience strewed the restless bed 
 
 With thorns of sharp despair ! 
 
68 
 
 But oh ! for words of wonder vast, 
 
 Of gratitude immense ! 
 God on his well-loved Son hath cast 
 
 The weight of man's offence. 
 
 His well-loved Son, in pity free, 
 
 Our Rescuer became, 
 And fenced a tower where faith might flee 
 
 From fear, and wrath, and shame. 
 
 Thither my guilty spirit fled. 
 
 When rose the offended law, 
 And wielded o'er my conscious head 
 
 The weapons of its awe. 
 
 Thither I fled, for Jesus called 
 
 And helped me to obey. 
 And in that fortress, once installed, 
 
 Who shall forbid my stay ? 
 
 Approacheth now affliction's fire ? 
 
 It burns but to refine ; 
 Pain is no longer penal ire. 
 
 But chastening love divine. 
 
 Sweet thought, and full of hallowing peace, 
 Through sorrow, pain, and fear, 
 
 Eternal love can never cease, 
 Eternal love is here. 
 
69 
 
 MEDITATION X. 
 
 " Oh that God would speak, and open his lips 
 against thee, and that He would shew thee the se- 
 crets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is. 
 Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than 
 thine iniquity deserveth. — Job xi. 5, 6. 
 
 Good were the words of Zophar, the 
 Naamathite, when he thus reminded his 
 suffering, but repining friend, that the act- 
 ings of an all-wise Providence are not to be 
 meted with the measure of earth, nor com- 
 pared with the expansive ocean, but extend 
 their consequences into a boundless eternity. 
 Job had cried out in the bitterness of his 
 soul, under almost unparalleled afflictions. 
 " Changes and war are against me." He 
 had bewailed, what he considered the re- 
 newed witnesses of the Lord's indignation 
 against him, so keenly, that he had been 
 even betrayed into expressions of regret, 
 because the gift of existence had been 
 bestowed upon him, or not withdrawn im- 
 mediately after his birth : " Wherefore 
 hast thou brought me forth out of the 
 womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, 
 and no eye had seen me !" 
 
60 
 
 And if even that eminently pious man, 
 who feared God and eschewed evil, and 
 whose meekness of resignation has been 
 enshrined by the Inspired Word as a pattern 
 for succeeding ages, — was so overcome by 
 bodily and mental anguish, as to forget for 
 a while that the Most Higl\ doth not arbi- 
 trarily afflict, nor wantonly grieve the chil- 
 dren of men, and to vent his sorrovvsin such 
 unbecoming language, who are we that we 
 should be able to stand, were similar trials 
 to assail u? ; or how can we be sure that the 
 weight of a far lighter burden might not be 
 too heavy for our faith to counterpoise? 
 " Lead us not into temptation" is wisely 
 ordained to be our daily petition, and sweet 
 is the corresponding promise, " God is faith- 
 ful who will not suffer you to be tempted 
 beyond that ye are able, but will also with 
 the temptation make a way for you to 
 escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 
 
 The promises are, however, in our days 
 fulfilled, noi by miracle, but by extraordinary 
 blessings upon ordinary means, especially 
 by enlightening our minds to derive comfort 
 from the sacred precepts of revelation, and 
 the testimonies of God as suited to Ihe 
 peculiar necessities of our case. If, then, 
 we be in heaviness through manifold tribula- 
 
61 
 
 tions, if "without be fightings, and within 
 be fears," so that we areas it were " pressed 
 out of measure," '* beyond strength," ipay 
 not the support and consolation we have 
 earnestly besought, be conveyed to us in 
 meditating on such a text as that now in 
 view, — intimating to us, as it manifestly 
 does, that there is in the secrets of the 
 Eternal Mind, a " need be" for every spe- 
 cific tribulation of his saints, a " double for 
 that which zs," however dreadful, however 
 overwhelming may be its present endurance. 
 We see but parts of the Lord's ways : 
 Justice and Mercy may sometimes be hid by 
 the tears with which the exercise of Poioer 
 dims our eyes ; but, " is there iniquity with 
 the most High?" " Shall not the Judge of 
 all the earth do right ?" " Know rather 
 that He exacteth of thee less than thine 
 iniquity deserveth." Every stroke of his 
 scourge is but the evidence of what he has 
 forborne, for were He not slow to anger 
 and of great mercy, why should that scourge 
 have been so long withheld, or wherefore 
 dost thou instinctively hope for its mitigation 
 or removal ? Were this world under any 
 but a dispensation of compassion, — were it 
 governed by the caprices of chance, or un- 
 der the dominion of might unallied with 
 
62 
 
 benevolence — would not its inhabitants 
 (strung together as they are with nerves 
 of exquisite sensibihty,) be daily, hourly, 
 agonizing under torturing disarrangements 
 of their complex mechanism ? would not 
 sufferings, which are now of rare occur- 
 rence, be frequent and long continued, and 
 without remedy, unless indeed it be ima* 
 gined that some happy accident alone haa 
 stored the world with medicines and pallia- 
 tives for human misery ? And if occasion- 
 ally, and for a season, and to a few individ- 
 uals there arise complaints which baffle 
 medical skill, and occasion intense agony 
 to the sufferer, shall we therefore ven- 
 ture to assert that " God hath forgotten to be 
 gracious ?" Suppose the case our own, 
 would it not be less, far less, than our mani- 
 fold rebellions have warranted as an equit- 
 able visitation ? Hath not God promised 
 to make 'them endurable if he remove them 
 not? Hath he not said, "My grace is 
 sufficient for thee, my strength is made 
 perfect in weakness ?" 
 
 And if we are wearied and faint in our 
 minds, let us consider the Captain of our 
 Salvation made perfect through suffering, 
 Jesus whose soul was sorrowful even unto 
 death j the Father, for our imputed sin, laid 
 
63 
 
 on Him that deep distress; and among 
 other fruits of this inestimable mercy, we 
 are well warranted to include the assurance 
 of our Saviour's sympathy under our most 
 trying woes. Let us, then, draw refresh- 
 ment from that well of consolation, and re- 
 member that if we suffer with him, we 
 shall with him rejoice. We shall " shine 
 forth as the morning," we shall forget our 
 misery, and remember it as *' waters that 
 pass away." Let but our hearts be pre- 
 pared, and our hands stretched forth to- 
 wards him, while iniquity is put far from 
 our hand, and wickedness dwells not in 
 our tabernacle, and in the end, clad in his 
 perfect righteousness, who for us became a 
 man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, 
 we shall lift up our faces without spot. 
 We may " be steadfast and not fear," — 
 " we may be secure," because in Him there 
 is hope, — there is salvation, — there is ever- 
 lasting felicity. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh Lord ! the God and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, enable me so to feel my- 
 self in and through Him, one of thy recon- 
 ciled and beloved children, that under every 
 
64 
 
 trying and painful dispensation of thy will, 
 I may draw near to thee in the confortable 
 hope, that thou dealest with me in mercy, 
 not in wrath, — with the tempered chastening 
 of a tender parent, and not with the rigid 
 hand of a recompensing Judge. May I re- 
 ceive all thy corrections with meekness, 
 humbly endeavouring to profit by their en- 
 durance, and do thou, oh, Heavenly Father! 
 so bless to me all the afflictions of this mor- 
 tal state, that they may work out for me an 
 exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 
 when the days of my mourning shall be 
 ended, and sin and sorrow eternally dis- 
 missed, through the merits and mediation 
 of Jesus Christ, my Saviour. — Amen. 
 
 " She remembereth no more the anguish, for joy 
 that a man is born into the world." — John xvi. 21. 
 
 Oh man "of woman born ! 
 
 Thy upward path, through many a con- 
 flict lies. 
 Thy early breath is drawn, 
 Where sin has fenced thee from a glori- 
 ous prize ; 
 And many a wounding thorn 
 
 Must pierce thee ere thou grasp it in the 
 skies ; 
 Oh man of woman born ! 
 
65 
 
 "Without a friend to cheer thy way of woe, 
 
 Art thou then left to mourn, 
 With none thy bosom's bitterness to know ? 
 
 Nor how thy heart is torn 
 With strugghng through the hated things 
 below ; 
 
 Oh man of woman born ! 
 
 Were such indeed thy miserable case, 
 
 Sad were thy natal morn. 
 Oh how could anguish e'er to joy give place, 
 
 Or mother cease to mourn, 
 Because she held within her fond embrace, 
 
 One to Despondence born ? 
 
 But thou art not without a pitying friend, 
 
 Nor helplessly forlorn ! 
 One is at hand, who "oil of joy" can send. 
 
 To comfort all that mourn ! 
 He who himself did humbly condescend. 
 
 To be of woman born. 
 
 Come then ye sorrowing sinners to his foety 
 Who sorrow's robe hath worn, 
 
 He is exalted to Dominion's seat ; 
 He is salvation's horn ; 
 
 Ye grateful ransom'd ones ! his name repeat, 
 Jesus of woman born. 
 
66 
 
 MEDITATION XI. 
 
 " Who hath despised the day of small things ?"— 
 Zechariah iv. 10. 
 
 It is no proof of a superior mind to overlook 
 or contemn what by casual observers is 
 deemed unimportant. Had Sir Isaac New- 
 ton when the question occurred to him, " why 
 should the apple infallibly fall to the ground^ 
 and not fly ofl' into boundless space ?" dis- 
 missed it from his mind as unworthy of con- 
 sideration, those grand laws impressed on 
 nature by her Maker, and whereby the 
 heavenly bodies are kept in their several 
 orbits, might have been yet unattained by 
 human intellect. Had another philosopher 
 disregarded, as too trivial for attention, the 
 inquiry suggested by the force of the rising 
 vapour,' when it lifted the cover from the 
 boiling hquid, whence would then have 
 arisen our knowledge of the steam-engine, 
 and all its important advantages? 
 
 To despise the day of small things, is in- 
 deed, in various ways, a common error ; the 
 commencement of many scientific improve- 
 ments has been frequently discouraged by 
 its prevalency; useful projects have been 
 
67 
 
 retarded ; works of art utterly prevented, 
 by the habit in which men are so apt to in- 
 dulge of pouring contempt on insignificant 
 beginnings ; and it is well, therefore, to be 
 on our guard against it, even in temporal 
 things. With such a feeling did the heathen 
 around Nehemiah ridicule his first attempts 
 to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem : " What 
 do these feeble Jews ? will they fortify them- 
 selves ? will they offer sacrifice ? will they 
 make an end in a day ? Even that which 
 they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break 
 down their stone wall !" With such a feel- 
 ing also did the Jews of Jerusalem in Ze- 
 rubbabel's day regard his first endeavours to 
 rebuild their temple, and despond, as they 
 considered the magnitude of the work he 
 had to accomplish. But while the Prophet 
 remonstrates with them on this, and as- 
 sures them of a joyful completion, which 
 should make them ashamed of their early 
 incredulity, may not his remonstrance give 
 rise to a series of reflections in our minds as 
 to the building of that spiritual edifice, of 
 which the temple at Jerusalem was but a 
 symbol? Our Lord has himself directed us 
 to such an apphcation, when, likening his 
 visible church to a grain of mustard-seed, 
 gradually increasing in importance till its 
 
68 
 
 protecting branches should become well 
 known as a safe and obvious shelter, he 
 thus predicted that his evangeUcal domin- 
 ion, though then restricted to a few humble 
 followers, would at last overspread the 
 earth as the waters cover the sea. No less 
 has he in another simile, that of the leaven 
 hidden in three measures of meal, taught us 
 to avoid the tendency we are considering. 
 It might seem small at first that leaven, and 
 its ef^cts despicable ; but once hidden, the 
 whole would be leavened ; and the kingdom 
 of God, in the believer's heart, may be com- 
 pared to it. It enters into a mass, which 
 would otherwise be relinquished to corrup- 
 tion. It preserves, it elevates, it renders it 
 profitable. But does it this at once, or 
 gradually ? Christian ! let your experience 
 testify ! Yet how cheering the assurance, 
 that though the process of sanctification be 
 slow, it is, it must be, complete. Mark the 
 words, till the whole be leavened. Not one 
 element of evil shall remain. Holiness shall 
 endure for ever, without spot or possibility 
 of stain. Righteousness, peace, and joy in 
 the Holy Ghost, constitute that kingdom to 
 which the comparison relates ; and if, — 
 while we deplore the slow progress they 
 make within us, we have still the testimony 
 
69 
 
 of their certain existence, then, stirring them 
 up by prayer, and pleading the immutable 
 promises for their full developement, let us 
 not, in the mean time, despise our day of 
 small things. The Lord is able to make all 
 grace abound towards us, and to supply all 
 our need, according to the riches of his mer- 
 cy. In him let us trust, and the little one 
 shall become a thousand, and the feeblest 
 among us " as David." 
 
 But there is another and an opposite way 
 of despising the day of small things, far 
 more common and far more dangerous, than 
 that already alluded to. The beginnings of 
 sin are small, nay, sometimes they are al- 
 most imperceptible ; yet how great a matter 
 a little fire kindleth ! Does Humility slum- 
 ber at her post ? is our state of dependence 
 forgotten, and an aperture thus left for the 
 destroyer ? With stealthy step, how readi- 
 ly glides in the unsuspected desire — how 
 unprofitably sUps by the precious opportu- 
 nity — how quickly escapes the culpable 
 expression— Oh how shall they be rectified 
 or retrieved? The tempter well knows that 
 seeming trifles are his vantage-ground with 
 those who have in them any fear of God, or 
 love to Jesus. From daring and open sin 
 they instinctively shrink. From habitual 
 
70 
 
 and allowed evil they are mercifully kept by 
 "the anointing that abideth;" but who will 
 despise the day of small things when he 
 looks into himself, and beholds how often the 
 spirit of unwatchfulness in minute occur- 
 rences has led him into a way hedged about 
 with the thorns of painful regret and con- 
 trition, and caUing for salutary rebukes from 
 Him, who will have us in this wilderness to 
 be often humbled and proved, that we may 
 know what is in our hearts ; their proneness 
 to depart from their only strength, and His 
 mercy in not utterly forsaking us, notwith- 
 standing all our foUies and weakness. But 
 let us remember that even the thought of 
 foolishness is sin, and beware, yea, of its 
 smallest inroads. As a fortress may be 
 taken by the feeblest enemy, entering in 
 disguise, and opening its gates, while the 
 defenders sleep ; it behoves us therefore to 
 be watchful, even against the least formi- 
 dable approaches of evil, and never to lay 
 aside our armour of proof, till we reach the 
 land M'here no enemy can assail us. In the 
 meantime it may console us to reflect, that 
 even our faint, oiten-remitted endeavours to 
 promote the glory of our Redeemer, are not 
 over-looked nor despised by Him. He will 
 not quench the smoking flax, but kindle it 
 
71 
 
 into a more vigorous flame. There is joy 
 among the angels of God "over one sinner 
 that repenteth," and so far from despising 
 our day of small things, Jesus has himself 
 said, a single cup of cold water, given in 
 the true spirit of Christian love to him, and 
 to our brethren, shall in no wise lose its 
 reward. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh Eternal and most Holy God ! who 
 knowest the end from the beginning, and 
 dost discern the most secret thoughts and 
 intents of our hearts, we are yet but in the 
 infancy of our spiritual being ; our highest 
 thoughts of Thee are low and deficient, — 
 our endeavours to approach thee weak and 
 faltering, — our ignorance is great, and our 
 frailty distressing. Have pity on us, oh 
 our heavenly Father ! Enlighten and uphold 
 us. Keep us from sin, and put us on our 
 guard against its most subtle approaches. 
 As the eagle beareth her feeble ones on her 
 wings, do thou, oh merciful Lord ! have 
 compassion on our infirmities, and lift up 
 our minds to improving contemplations, 
 that, growing in grace and in knowledge, 
 we may be prepared, in thy good time, for 
 
72 
 
 the glorious inheritance of the saints in 
 hght, through the merits and intercession of 
 the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 — Amen. 
 
 " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth 
 not yet appear what we shall be." — 1 John iii. 2. 
 
 " When I was a child, I spake as a child, I under- 
 stood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I be- 
 came a man, I put away childish things." — 1 Corinth. 
 xiii. 11. 
 
 Trace to its source yon broad majestic 
 
 stream, 
 Where navies float, and nations riches 
 
 teem. 
 What does it shew? a small and shallow 
 
 rill. 
 Moistening the marshes of a nameless hill. 
 
 Or mark yon stately oak ! the forest's pride, 
 Deep-rooted, and with boughs extending 
 
 wide ; 
 Where was it once ? inertly folded up 
 In the small compass of an acorn cup. 
 
73 
 
 Or lift thine eye, where yonder star minute, 
 A faint uncertain ray appears to shoot ; 
 Canst thou imagine it a sun, most bright, 
 With worlds perhaps dependant on its 
 light? 
 
 All these are wonderful ; yet stranger far, 
 Than oak, or stream, or faintly beaming 
 
 star. 
 The passive babe, upon the mother's knee, 
 Viewed as a child of immortality. 
 
 Oh ! tis astonishing so frail a shell, 
 Should hide Creation's mightiest miracle, 
 A living soul ! Jehovah's gifted breath, 
 Placed in a tent of weakness! Life in 
 death! 
 
 Lo ! in her secret chamber sleeps the mind, 
 Until those cords mysterious shall be twined, 
 By which her busy handmaids find access 
 To break the slumbers of her deep recess. 
 
 Perfect each faculty, complete each sense, 
 Yet all chained up in infant impotence. 
 Bound, as it were, in mental swathing 
 
 band. 
 For Time to loosen with his gradual hand. 
 
74 
 
 Believer ! in such types, a picture see, 
 Of what the spirits blest consider thee, 
 Thou glorious creature of ethereal birth. 
 Passing thy time of pupilage on earth ; 
 
 They view thee as a jewel in the mine, 
 All rough and lustreless; yet form'd to 
 
 shine ; 
 Thy brightest graces, as a little spark, 
 Just visible, — because the world is dark. 
 
 From thee to them the interval how great ! 
 A baby and a minister of state ; 
 And yet deny it, doubt it if we can. 
 The babe as truly lives as does the man. 
 
 Already does thy full admiring love, 
 Follow the rays that reach thee from above. 
 And when thine eye can bear the full orb'd 
 
 blaze, 
 Thy King, in all his beauty, waits thy gaze. 
 
 Already dost thou nestle to that side. 
 Where all thy wants are tenderly supplied. 
 Oh ! keep thee closely to that parent breast. 
 For thou shalt find it an eternal rest. 
 
75 
 
 MEDITATION XII. 
 
 'AH of you be clothed with humility-"— 1 Peter v. 5. 
 
 In no respect does the Gospel present a 
 more striking contrast to those maxims of 
 moral guidance, which have their origin in 
 motives unconnected with eternity, than in 
 the discouragement which it uniformly gives 
 to a system of actions founded on the love 
 of fame. The heathen philosophers esteemed 
 this a noble passion, and ever encouraged 
 those feelings of rivalry, and those strivings 
 of an ambition, falsely called heroic, which 
 sprang from its indulgence. To live and to 
 die undistinguished, was, according to them, 
 to live and to die ignobly. They even went 
 so far in their unhallowed pride, as to con- 
 sider it better to be remembered for some 
 bold and daring deed, which even their ethics 
 justified not, than to lie down in an obscure 
 unnoted grave. Eratostratus deemed it more 
 honourable that posterity should name him 
 
76 
 
 as the impious incendiary of the consecrated 
 fane, than that it should be unknown to 
 posterity that Eratostratus ever hved. 
 
 The desire of celebrity is now indeed 
 frequently directed into other channels than 
 those which flow through the ensanguined 
 field of warfare, or live to future ages in the 
 songs of the minstrel. Yet who will say 
 that potently and influentially it acts not 
 among worldly men of the present day? 
 Assuredly it so acts. From the youthful 
 aspirant for the college crown, to the can- 
 didate for exaltation, as the most eloquent 
 and learned of the village operatives ; from 
 the statesman to the peasant, how often do 
 we see ambition of this world's praise to be 
 the sole, or most powerful incentive of effort ? 
 Were there no other or better state than the 
 present hfe, all this might be of little con- 
 sequence, it might even be laudable as pro- 
 ducing some advantages to society, which 
 the absence of higher motives would other- 
 wise deliver over to much supineness. But 
 are they wise to seek honour from men, who 
 know the eager pursuit of it to be inconsis- 
 tent with the attainment of that true honour 
 which Cometh from God only ? Yet there 
 is reason, I think, to fear that such is the 
 caso with many. There are even in the 
 
77 
 
 religious world symptoms plainly betraying, 
 that the strife among the disciples which 
 of them should be the greatest, is not with- 
 out parallel in the present day. But will it 
 avail any in the day of judgment, to have 
 been called an eminent Christian, if the 
 luxuriance of those gifts which acquired for 
 him the venerable tide, had not its deep root 
 in the recesses of his closet, neither was 
 there continually consecrated to the glory 
 and referred to the guidance of its great 
 Bestower ? Alas ! we have all much cause 
 to say on this subject, "Search me, oh God ! 
 and try my heart, and see whether there be 
 any way of wickedness in me, and lead me 
 in the way everlasting," for when we least 
 suspect ourselves of lacking humility, then 
 may we be in most imminent peril of pride. 
 The heart is very deceitful ; even in its purest 
 and most gracious actings, much base alloy, 
 alas ! is mingled. We speak of God, and 
 for God perhaps ; but do we always, in so 
 doing, speak as of the ability which God 
 giveth? Is there no lurking pride of victory, 
 no craving for human applause, no deficiency 
 of holy charity in things whereby our light 
 shineth forth before men ? If our actions 
 be performed to be seen of them, or our 
 words spoken to be admired of them, verily 
 
78 
 
 we have our reward ; and if there be a strife 
 among us which of us should be accounted 
 greatest, let it utterly cease when we see 
 our blessed, lowly Master, putting honour 
 on a little child who seeks it not, and setting 
 him in the midst, for observation and for 
 pre-eminence, that he may practically ex- 
 emplify how he that humbleth himself shall 
 be exalted. The entire subjugation of self, 
 — the absorption of all other glorying into 
 the glory of Jehovah, — seems to be the 
 grand end of our discipline on earth ; and 
 the more entirely our views and wishes are 
 condensed into this, the closer will be our 
 membership with our glorified Head, for He 
 did not his own will, but the will of the 
 Father who sent him. The true honour of 
 the saints is conformity to their Divine Lord : 
 and " He came, not to be ministered unto, 
 but to minister, and to give his life a ransom 
 for many." Whoso receiveth a little child, 
 as a type of the humility with which he 
 ought to be clothed, and thenceforth strives 
 diligently towards the acquisition of the 
 spirit so depicted and approved, receiveth 
 Christ. The possession of a truly humble 
 spirit is a genuine test of having embraced 
 by faith a crucified and reviled Saviour. 
 Nothing, in fact, can produce a habit of 
 
79 
 
 mind so opposed to our natural bias, except 
 such a transformation, by his Holy Spirit, 
 as imphes a reception of Him in all his 
 offices. And as he who " receiveth the 
 Son, receiveth also the Father that sent 
 him," cheerful, ready, and implicit obedience 
 to the whole promulgated law of God, is 
 also necessarily included ; so that to be 
 truly humble, does in every possible way, 
 indicate the vitally unfeigned Christian. 
 Clothed with humihty, as Jesus was, should 
 his servants be in this world, and so arrayed 
 they are, except when for a time they fall 
 into some strange delusions. From the 
 delusions of pride, may the good Lord 
 preserve us, for verily a "haughty spirit 
 goeth before a fall ; but before honour is 
 humility." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh Lord ! may that mind be in me which 
 was so conspicuously in thy dear Son, when 
 He emptied himself, and made himself of 
 no reputation, and took upon him the form 
 of a servant, and was made in the likeness 
 of men. May my only strife henceforward 
 be contending zealously for the faith once 
 delivered to the saints ; my only provoca- 
 
80 
 
 tion, the provoking of others to mutual love 
 and good works ; and my only covetous- 
 ness, the coveting earnestly of thy best 
 gifts. Give me, I pray thee, that meek 
 and quiet spirit, which is in thy sight of 
 great price, and that wisdom which is full 
 of mercy and good fruits. May my modera- 
 tion be apparent in all things. May thy 
 great name be glorified, and my soul sanc- 
 tified, for the Redeemer's sake. — Amen. 
 
 " And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set 
 him in the midst of them, and said, verily I say unto 
 you, — Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as 
 this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom 
 of heaven."— <§■<. Matthew, xviii. 2, 4. 
 
 Far happier in the sheltered vale, 
 
 Than if permitted to inhale 
 
 The dangerous, though enlivening gale, 
 
 Which men distinction name. 
 Shall the disciples of the cross, 
 Exchanged for which the world were loss. 
 Barter their gold for earthly dross. 
 
 And covet earthly fame ? 
 
SI 
 
 Shall they among themselves aspire, 
 Each one to be " a little higher"' 
 Who all were lifted from the mire 
 
 Of guiltiness and sin ? 
 And that by one who chose to trace, 
 With shame and spitting on his face, 
 The path of sorrow and disgrace, 
 
 Their happiness to win ! 
 
 Remember when unhallowed strife 
 Arose among the heirs of life, 
 How Jesus marked the mischief rife. 
 
 And marked it to repel ! 
 Remember how he took a child, 
 Too young to know ambition wild, 
 And taught them, by that emblem mild, 
 
 How his meek Church should dwell. 
 
 With such sweet type, in daily view, 
 Lord ! I would be instructed too, 
 And at that fount my soul imbue. 
 
 With antidotes to pride ; 
 As in thy chosen glass I'll see, 
 How heaven-born Christians should be 
 
 free 
 From all contentious rivalry. 
 
 And " in their lot abide." 
 7 
 
82 
 
 Oh lowly Saviour ! thou didst deign 
 Thy saints' affections to enchain, 
 By entering on a life of pain, 
 
 Thyself an Infant pure. 
 Teach all thy faithful— unenticed 
 By honours frail, though dearly priced, 
 Humble and calm, like babes in Christ, 
 
 For ever to endure. 
 
 MEDITATION XIII. 
 
 " If ye then, bein;? evil, know how to give good 
 gifts unto your children, how much more shall your 
 Father which is in heaven give good things to them 
 that ask him 1 Therefore all things whatsoever ye 
 would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to 
 them : for this is the law and the prophets." 
 
 Matthev) vii. 11, 12. 
 
 The connecting vi^ord therefore between 
 these two verses is very remarkable. Let 
 us consider the whole passage as it stands 
 from the 7th verse. Those magnificent, un- 
 fettered promises, " Ask and ye shall re- 
 ceive ; seek and ye shall find ; knock and 
 it shall be opened unto you," are first pro- 
 pounded ; and then the infinite, but wise 
 kindness, of our Heavenly Parent in their 
 fulfilment, is illustrated and restricted, by 
 
83 
 
 an appeal to those tender feelings, which 
 yet remain unobliterated in our fallen nature, 
 " What man is there among you, who, if his 
 son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or 
 if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?" 
 Assuredly no aflectionate father would hes- 
 itate to refuse the hurtful gratification of a 
 wish made in ignorance by his fondly loved 
 child. But if we, warped and deadened aa 
 we are by the evil that is in us, have yet so. 
 much perception of what is right, and so. 
 much regard for what is kind, as to bestow 
 cheerfully and assiduously, what our best 
 judgments can select as good upon our chil-. 
 dren, much more will our Heavenly Father 
 give *' good tliings,^^ truly, intrinsically, 
 eternally excellent things, even (as another 
 Evangelist expresses it) his Holy Spirit, 
 unto them that ask him, " Therefore what- 
 soever ye would that men should do unto 
 you, do ye even so to them, for this is the 
 law and the prophets." Because you are 
 thus assured by God himself of his willing- 
 ness to bestow on you freely every needful 
 blessing. Because you are thus invited to 
 come to him as reconciled children and re- 
 ceive power to obey his commands ; there- 
 fore I again give you forth this epitome of 
 social duties, not as the ministration of con- 
 
84 
 
 demnation, but that you may seek and ob-' 
 tain (by the pleading of your Father's hb- 
 eral promises with himself in prayer) to 
 have it written on your hearts as the law of 
 love. As the true disciples of a lowly and 
 loving Lord, you will moderate to a due 
 standard your own expectations from others, 
 and then, by the same standard, regulate 
 your conduct towards them. The refer- 
 •ence to the corrupt state of man, (ye being 
 evil,) strengthens this application of the 
 promise, as implying our need of Divine 
 assistance in our dealings with our brethren, 
 as well as amply providing the means of 
 obtaining it ; and if we do but consider how 
 " exceedingly broad is the precept of doing 
 to all men, not as they act, but as we should 
 reasonably desire them to act towards us, 
 we shall not be slow to acknowledge, that 
 in order to " do justly," and to " love mer- 
 cy,'' as t-his brief precept enjoins, we must 
 also "walk humbly with our God," and 
 implore of him ability to do to others, as we 
 would they should do to us. When a cer- 
 tain lawyer "stood up and tempted Jesus," 
 that he might be entrapped, if possible, to 
 shew a partiality to one commandment over 
 others, and so give occasion for captious 
 objections and arguments, the Lord confuted 
 
85 
 
 his base purpose by a comprehensive en- 
 forcement of those two great mainsprings of 
 action, the love of God, and the love of man 
 flowing from it, (which the lawyer had him- 
 self selected as the most important of all 
 its precepts,) saying, "This do, and thou 
 shalt live." By one of those inimitably 
 minute strokes, with which the volume of 
 inspiration abounds, and which unveil the 
 deception of man, as by a touch from the 
 great Heart-searcher, without the superflu- 
 ous use of words, the struggle of pride with 
 conviction of his own guilt, which this short 
 sentence produced in the enquirer, is thus 
 briefly narrated, "But he wilhng to justify 
 himself, said, And who is my neighbour?" 
 and we are constrained to confess how, 
 when this spirit-searching standard, this rule 
 of universal love, is pressed home on any 
 one of us, the same desire of self-justifica- 
 tion, and the sam« endeavour to lower the 
 duty to the performer, instead of seeking 
 help to elevate the performer to the duty, is 
 frequently visible. Our Lord rephed to the 
 question by the beautiful parable of the 
 charitable Samaritan. We shall do well to 
 study it to enlarge our own ideas of the 
 self-denial and kindness, the indifference to 
 man's mistaken opinions, and resistance to 
 
86 
 
 evil example, the victory over prejudice, the 
 consecration of time, labour, and substance, 
 and the provident attention to the permanent 
 relief and benefit of others, which are thereia 
 set before us, as included in our fulfilling this 
 great precept. All must perceive that so 
 considered it is well calculated to make us 
 conclude our internal scrutiny by deep-felt 
 condemnation of our past defective per- 
 formance, and so to lead us for pardon, and 
 the power of better obedience, to the throne 
 of unfailing grace. May this, then, be the 
 lesson gained from the whole subject — 
 abasement of our "evil" selves before God, 
 and unfeigned entreaties, as from perish- 
 ing offspring to a pitying Father, for the 
 faith which can justify — the grace which 
 can restore, — the love which can enable us 
 to fulfil the law. May we so trust in Him, 
 who waijteth to be gracious, as to believe 
 that having given us his dear Son, he will 
 with him freely give us all things ; and may 
 He send into our hearts the spirit of adop- 
 tion, ever to cry unto him, abba, Father ! 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh Lord God! Omnipotent Creator of 
 Heaven and Earth, I am ashamed and con- 
 
87 
 
 founded when I remember thy condescend- 
 ing goodness, compared with my own cold- 
 ness, disobedience, and rebellion, towards 
 Thee. Through the compassionate invita- 
 tions of thy dear Son, who was manifested 
 to take away our sins, thou hast given us 
 free access to thee, our insulted Sovereign, 
 as unto a propitiated Father, and hast calfed 
 us to thy throne of grace, to ask and receive, 
 to seek and find, according to our wants, 
 and not according to our deservings. But, 
 alas ! wayward, perverse, and ungrateful, I 
 have too little esteemed, too little profited, 
 by privileges so unspeakable. Oh ! may I 
 henceforward approach thy mercy-seat in 
 every time of need, and obtain there all thy 
 covenanted blessings in Christ Jesus, our 
 Saviour, even abundantly more than I can 
 ask or l.hink. — Amen. 
 
 "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
 pitietli them that fear him." — Psalm ciii. 13. 
 
 Prostrated by destroying hands, 
 
 In ages long gone by, 
 Beneath Arabia's dreary sands 
 
 Some noblo fragments lie ; 
 
88 
 
 And even on her arid soil, 
 
 May here and there be seen, 
 Sweet to the eye and foot of toil, 
 
 A cheering spot of green. 
 
 Thus He who of our evil state 
 Explored the depths profound, 
 
 Tho' crush'd by sins' encumbering weight. 
 Saw Eden's wrecks around. 
 
 He saw, and on one verdant spot, 
 That blessed the sterile waste, 
 
 A tree whose verdure fadeth not, 
 His hand divinely placed. 
 
 With that Oasis in his view, 
 Parental love its name, 
 Rich words of comfort Jesus drew, 
 His wanderers to reclaim. 
 
 " If ye, corrupt and full of ill. 
 
 As parents yet perceive, 
 What gifts your children's welfare still, 
 
 Requires them to receive ; 
 
 "Yea, if thy yearning heart would shrink. 
 Heart-hardened though thou be, 
 
 From leading on to danger's brink, 
 Sons that depend on Thee ; 
 
89 
 
 " Shall the great Parent not much more. 
 
 Confiding souls require? 
 And to his asking children's store 
 
 Add life, and love, and light ? 
 
 " When supplicating heavenly bread. 
 
 Will He a stone confer ? 
 Or leave them to be basely fed 
 
 With husks that swine prefer ? 
 
 " Will He their filial tears despise, 
 Or slight the woes they speak ? 
 
 Or with a scorpion whip chastise. 
 When they forgiveness seek ? 
 
 "Ah! lay aside such fearful thoughts. 
 Though sinful, yet approach, 
 
 As rebel children homeward brought. 
 Nor dread one harsh reproach. 
 
 " Distrust your Father's love no more, 
 ' That love so vast and sure ; 
 Knock boldly at the mystic door, 
 Who enters is secure." 
 
90 
 
 MEDITATION XIV. 
 
 " But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to 
 everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righte- 
 ousness unto children's children : to such as keep hia 
 covenant, and to those that remember his command- 
 ments to do them."— Psaim ciii. 17, 
 
 What a remarkable suitability may be 
 traced in the nature of the blessings here 
 promised, and the characters addressed ! 
 To those who contemplate, with awful rev- 
 erence, the character of God as a Being of 
 unbounded Majesty and Hohness, what can 
 be so desirable as to be assured that these, 
 his adorable attributes, co-exist with a 
 mercy which is " from everlasting unto 
 everlasting," upon them that fear Him. 
 While to such as keep " his covenent ;" to 
 those who have embraced it as the anchor 
 of their soul, sure and steadfast, who can 
 say with David, " Thy testimonies have I 
 taken as mine heritage for ever, for they 
 are the rejoicings of my heart," how satis- 
 factory must be the conviction, that there 
 is a Righteousness pledged to the inviolable 
 fulfilment of those engagements, which the 
 Lord of his goodness has vouchsafed to 
 
91 
 
 make with them and with their children 
 after them, which no power of earth or hell 
 can avail to do away. " The fear of God," 
 says Solomon, " is the beginning of wis- 
 dom ;" and though we are told that " per- 
 fect love casteth out fear," yet this is that 
 love which casteth out also the lawful 
 causes of fear, by turning the heart with 
 abhorrence from every thing offensive to 
 Him it loves. Wherever love fails in doing 
 this, it is so far imperfect. No truly Chris- 
 tian heart ever " cast out" the fear of sin, 
 (that abominable thing which the Lord 
 hateth,) though undoubtedly it is delivered 
 from fear of approaching a merciful God to 
 obtain peace and pardon through the blood 
 of Jesus. Well does the w^ord of truth 
 assure us, that it is the fear of being utterly 
 cast off for all that we have done, and not 
 the holy affectionate fear of offending our 
 best Friend, grieving and quenching the 
 Holy Spirit, and bringing a scandal on our 
 blessed religion, that is to be dismissed from 
 our bosoms ; for it says, " The Lord taketh 
 pleasure in them that /ear him, in those that 
 hope in his mercy," and let none divide 
 what is thus expressly united by the highest 
 authority. Fear, which excludes Hope, 
 cannot certainly consist with Love ; — such 
 
92 
 
 were the fear of remorse, of Judas Iscariot, 
 of the condemned spirits ; but neither can 
 such a hope as excludes fear of sin, consist 
 with humiUty, for it is written, " Be not 
 high minded, but fear ;" " Blessed is the 
 man that feareth always." While therefore 
 we remember this, let our hope in unspeak- 
 able mercy be nevertheless unlimited ; let 
 us remember that it is "from everlasting ;" 
 all has been foreseen, all is provided for, that 
 the trembling supplicant can need or desire ; 
 and it is " to everlasting" also. Effects 
 more astonishing than imagination can pic- 
 ture, will flow from it through unbounded 
 ages. 
 
 But has God given us assurance that his 
 righteousness is " unto children's children, 
 to them that keep his covenant, to those 
 that remember his commandments to do 
 them," and are we verily and unreservedly 
 joined to' Him in the blessed covenant, 
 whereby he justifieth the ungodly ? Have 
 we not only embraced it intellectually, con- 
 senting to its provisions, as good and wise, 
 and sufficient, saying, " It is well ordered 
 in all things and sure," but have we em- 
 braced it personally, saying, " This is all 
 my salvation, all my desire ?" And are we 
 indeed remembering his commandments to 
 
93 
 
 dv them, not merely abstaining from evil 
 deeds and words, but watching over secret 
 thoughts, feehngs, and motives ? Are we 
 looiiing out for opportunities to follow the 
 injunctions to activity and benevolence, 
 which more peculiarly distinguish the gospel, 
 as well as watchful to avoid the things 
 forbidden, of which the ancient law makes 
 mention? Have we respect unto the Lord's 
 precepts, not partially but universally? 
 then, why does faith droop ; why does the 
 heart grow sad as we look forward to our 
 future path through life, or that of our 
 beloved children, and almost despondingly 
 envisage the temptations they must encoun- 
 ter, the evil examples they must witness 
 in their progress through a world lying in 
 wickedness? Assuredly these feelings are 
 natural; but nature is fallible, and'^grace 
 should T)e triumphant over her where they 
 are at all incompatible. To doubt the ful- 
 filment of promises recorded in the sacred 
 word, in one of two ways, ** cometh of evil ;" 
 either we must be conscious that we are not 
 fearing, adhering, and obeying, according to 
 the terms of the promise, or, we must con- 
 sider the promise itself too vast and aston- 
 ishing for our credence. Oh ! for the faith 
 of holy Paul, when he said, " The Lord 
 
94 
 
 will deliver me from every evil work : The 
 Lord will preserve me to his heavenly 
 kingdom !" Oh 1 for the confidence of pious 
 Hannah, when she said, " For this child I 
 prayed. I have lent him to the Lord, and 
 he shall be lent unto the Lord as long as he 
 liveth!" Christian mother! who remem- 
 berest the commandments of the Lord to do 
 them, and art therefore studying how thou 
 shalt bring up thy child in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord, lift up thy hands 
 which hang down ; strengthen thy feeble 
 knees. His righteousness extends to the 
 completion of thy heart's desire ; it is 
 pledged to thee for it ; it is as much engaged 
 to thee for thine offspring as for thyself. Be 
 not afraid nor dismayed by reason of the 
 "great multitude" of difficulties which un- 
 belief would conjure up to alarm thee. 
 " The battle is not your's, but God's." Be- 
 lieve in the Lord your God, so shall you 
 be established; believe his prophets, so shalt 
 thou prosper. "Lo ! children, and the fruit 
 of the womb, are an heritage and gift that 
 Cometh of the Lord ;" it is the abuse of the 
 Lord's gifts which alone can render them 
 undesirable. Do therefore Ihy part faithfully, 
 and the fidelity of the promise will be abun- 
 dantly displayed. Thy children shall rise 
 
95 
 
 up and call thee blessed, and in that day 
 when the secrets of all hearts shall be 
 revealed, thou shalt have the unutterable 
 joy of saying, " Behold, Lord, here am I, 
 and the children whom thou hast given 
 me ;" for "He will fulfil the desire of them 
 that fear him." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Gracious God, I pray that my ways may 
 be made so direct, that I may keep all thy 
 statutes, as well as reverence all thy per- 
 fections. Give me immoveable confidence 
 in all that thy gracious Word sets before 
 me, as the covenanted inheritance of thy 
 people, and let me hold it fast to the end of 
 my earthly pilgrimage. Though I see not 
 with my eyes any fruit of my labours and 
 intercessions in those for whom Thou hast 
 commanded me to pray, let me not be 
 tempted to remit them, nor to cease from 
 exercising the patience of faith, resting on 
 thy faithfulness and truth. Oh ! holy Lord 
 God! who keepest covenant and mercy 
 with them that fear thee, enrich my heart 
 daily more and more, with that reverence 
 which springs from grateful love, and keep 
 me in the way of thy commandments in all 
 
96 
 
 things, through Him in whom all thy gra- 
 cious promises are yea and amen, even 
 Jesus Christ our Saviour. — Amen. 
 
 " A good man leaveth an inheritance to his chil- 
 dren's children." — Proverbs xiii. 22. 
 
 Not as heir of wide domains, 
 Fertile fields or watered plains ; 
 Not as destined to possess 
 Carmel's richest fruitfulness ; 
 Nor because my eye ambitious 
 
 Pictures forth thy mortal day 
 Pleased beneath a sky propitious, 
 Graced with honours, crown'd with sway, 
 Greet I thee, my infant dear, 
 On thy welcome coming here ; 
 
 But because endowed to claim 
 Birthright more than wealth or fame, 
 Privileges dearly bought. 
 Passing language, passing thought; 
 Gifted by the promise gracious, 
 
 Of a God who cannot lie ; 
 With an heritage more spacious 
 
 Than in Time's small span can lie; 
 Therefore do I greet thee here, 
 With hopeful smiles, my infant dear. 
 
97 
 
 Ah I if thou shouldst live to know 
 Human happiness and woe ; 
 That to gain and this to shun, 
 May'st thou ne'er through folly run! 
 But, above all transient pleasure, 
 
 Far above as sky from dust, 
 Value still the glorious treasure 
 
 Which their Saviour gives the just 
 Else, alas ! my infant dear, 
 Sad should be thy greeting here. 
 
 Better never to have been 
 Than to live, to die in sin. 
 Better hear no sound at all, 
 Than refuse the Gospel call! 
 But the word of consolation 
 
 Sets a brighter hope in view, 
 And the voice of supplication, 
 
 Still shall plead that word anew. 
 Till I greet thee, child of bhss, 
 in a holier world than thia. 
 
98 
 
 MEDITATION XV. 
 
 "For we know that the law is spiritual." 
 
 Romans vii. 14. 
 
 Though acknowledged in words, it is too 
 often forgotten in practice, that the pre- 
 cepts of God's word extend even to the 
 thoughts and intents of the heart, and claim 
 dominion over the inner, as well as the 
 outer man. Yet He, in whom dwelt all the 
 fulness of the Godhead bodily, upon many 
 occasions luminously enforced the great 
 truth, that the essential venom of sin is as 
 deadly when existing in the most secret 
 foldings of the hearttielt desire and cherished 
 imagination, as when it breaks forth into 
 the plague spots of open transgression, seen 
 and knawn of all men. And though we 
 may not at present consider the spiritual 
 nature of the law, in the details of its every 
 branch, it may be very profitable to do so 
 in one (and that a most important) require- 
 ment, and to remember the various ways 
 in which wc may be departing in heart and 
 mind, from that commandment, " Thou 
 shall have none other gods but me," even 
 
99 
 
 when scarcely suspecting how far our wan- 
 dering steps have deviat<3d from the path 
 60 pointed out to them. 
 
 Let us reflect, then, when this injunction 
 was dehvered, — at Mount Sinai, — amidst a 
 fearful conflict of the elements, — and to a 
 people who had been enfranchised by the 
 strong hand of miraculous power from igno- 
 minious servitude, by the infliction of awful 
 judgments on their enslavers, when they 
 dared to deny the sovereign IJ' of Jehovah, 
 Let us remember, that this display of su- 
 pernatural might had been made, not only 
 in wrath against Pharaoh, but to accomplish 
 a promise given four hundred years before 
 to an ancestor, then childless, that a great 
 nation, descended from him, should thus, and 
 at that time, be delivered. We shall then 
 perceive unlimited command over the pow- 
 ers of nature, minute observation of human 
 actions, jealousy of his own honour against 
 the despisers of his mandates, prescience, 
 gracious forbearance, and fulfilment of his 
 promises to the minutest tittle, — to have 
 been all attributes, so exemplified before the 
 eyes of Israel, that when they heard this 
 claim of their Deliverer to be exclusively 
 their God, they would necessarily be aware 
 that to worship any being, without ascribing. 
 
100 
 
 to him the possession of these things, as 
 well as the character of the self-existent one, 
 by which he had announced iiimself, would 
 be a flagrant breach of the command. Let 
 us take care that our deep and undivided 
 devotion be indeed given to the God of Israel, 
 with these his attributes in view, that our 
 worship be rendered to him who created the 
 heavens, and rules in the kingdoms of men ; 
 who searches the heart and tries the reins; 
 who taketh vengeance on his adversaries, 
 and reserveth wrath for his enemies ; who 
 will not acquit the wicked, yet is slow to 
 anger, waiteth to be gracious, and knoweth 
 them that trust in Him, and not merely to 
 an idol of our own imaginations. They who 
 represent to themselves a God less indig- 
 nant against the rebellious, less omniscient, 
 less magnanimously compassionate than the 
 Bible displays the God of Israel to be, cer- 
 tainly transgress this law, which confines 
 us to have Him for our God, and Hira 
 alone. 
 
 But what is it to have him for our God ? 
 Is it not to live in Him, and for him ? to 
 do all that we do to his glory ? to devote all 
 the powers he has given us to his willing 
 service ? If God be the chief good, then 
 to have him for our God is to regard him 
 
101 
 
 as our chief good ; to place no other object, 
 no other affection in competition with him, 
 to surrender to him the guidance of our wills, 
 and the care of our true happiness ; to fear 
 him, as the avenger of iniquity, the just, 
 the terrible, the all-seeing judge, at whose 
 touch the mountains shake, and all the 
 strong ones of the earth shall tremble, — yet, 
 to love him, because He is merciful and 
 gracious and long-suffering, and has not 
 ■withheld from us his Son, his only Son. 
 This it is to have the Lord for our God ; 
 and to serve him fully, because no man can 
 serve two masters, this is our duty. But 
 said the Lord to Ezekiel, " Son of man, these 
 men have set up their idols in their heart, 
 and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity 
 before their face : should I be inquired of 
 at all by them?" And do we not at all 
 resemble those so here depicted ? Could the 
 hidden chambers of the heart be unveiled, 
 what idol worship would too often appear 
 among the nominal Israel of God ! Self- 
 indulgence, like the cameleon, taking va- 
 rious hues, specious and voluptuous in some, 
 dark and loathsome in others, usurps do- 
 minion over hearts pledged, yea, frequently 
 sacramentally pledged, to deny themselves, 
 and take up the cross. The god of this 
 
102 
 
 world exhales around him the pernicious 
 vapours of pride and false reasoning, and 
 to these are made to yield the plainest laws 
 of heaven. Covetousness grasps increase 
 of wealth with more than pious eagerness, 
 and well merits the epithet which an apostle 
 has bestowed. Vanity, with smiling face, 
 allures the simple to her control ; but, oh ! 
 what sacrifices must be rendered at her 
 idol shrine ? too often truth, consistency, 
 principle, natural affection, are offered up 
 where she presides, while health, and event- 
 ually life itself, have not been too much 
 to receive from her jaded worshippers. 
 Oh ! why, or wherein, are any of these 
 abominations less abominable than weeping 
 for Tammuz, or pouring out cakes of obla- 
 tion unto the queen of Heaven ? 
 
 Eut are toe through grace delivered from 
 the prevalence of such evils? and has the 
 Lord numbered us among his own true peo- 
 ple, to whom }ie is indeed a God, so that 
 we can say, " Whom have I in heaven but 
 thee, and there is none upon earth I desire 
 in comparison of thee?" it is well 1 Great 
 should be our measure of gratitude; but let 
 us remember that He who walketh in the 
 midst of the golden candlesticks, who 
 keepeth his vineyard, and watereth it every 
 
103 
 
 moment, passed not without rebuke, even 
 the faithful, patient, laborious £;)/iesu*, when 
 He saw that she had left her first love. 
 Jesus will allow no rival in the afTections of 
 his redeemed people towards himself; their 
 members which are on the earth, the friend, 
 the child, the husband, the parent, are idol- 
 ized when they in any way interfere to wean 
 them from Him. He that loveth, even those 
 dear relatives, more than he loves his 
 Saviour, "is not worthy" of him. They 
 that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, 
 with its affections and lusts ; and though to 
 love all men, and especially the household 
 of faith, and more especially still they of our 
 own household, be all commanded duties ; 
 and of the last it is said, such as neglect it 
 have denied the faith, and are worse than 
 infidels, yet our love for the Redeemer 
 should be the moving spring of all these 
 afl^ections towards his creatures. Our desires 
 of happiness /ro7n them should centre in the 
 hope of enjoying together everlastingly the 
 blessings of his favour ; and our desires of 
 felicity for them, should aspire to nothing 
 but what accords with his will, and con- 
 duces to his honour. 
 
104 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Worthy art thou, oh Lord ! to receive 
 glory, and honour, and power, for thou hast 
 created all things, and for thy pleasure they 
 are and were created. I deplore before thee, 
 oh Almighty God ! my many departures 
 from thy perfect law. Though I consent 
 unto it, that it is good, and acknowledge thy 
 just claims on my entire love and obedience, 
 and though I desire to have no other God 
 before thee, yet other lords have had domin- 
 ion over me, but too much and too often. 
 By thee only therefore, blessed Jesus ! will 
 I make mention of the name of the Lord 
 God ; through thee He is pacified towards 
 me, notwithstanding all my rebellions. 
 Strengthen the cords of love by which thou 
 drawest me to thyself; and weaken all those 
 attractions which would allure me from thee. 
 Let neither the fear nor the praise of man 
 prepare a net to entangle my soul, but may 
 even life itself be less dear than the Saviour, 
 who gave his own life to deliver us from this 
 present evil world. Abiding in Him, with- 
 out whom I can do nothing, may I endure 
 unto the end in thy faith and fear, and to thy 
 name be glory for ever and ever. — Amen. 
 
105 
 
 " He that loveth son or daughter more than me, is 
 not worthy of me.— Matthew x. 37. 
 
 Oh ! for a self-appropriating faith, 
 
 In ceaseless action, calling Jesus mine. 
 
 " Abide in me," the great Redeemer saith, 
 Ye living branches of the living vine. 
 
 Thou inexhaustibly nutritious root, 
 Diffuse thy vital presence through my 
 heart. 
 Flow forth blest Comforter, and love's rich 
 fruit. 
 In all Its fair maturity impart. 
 
 Shake off, as on thy blossoms they alight, 
 Those soul-insinuating things terrene, 
 
 Whose unsuspected, but destructive blight, 
 Eats out the sweetness of a hope unseen. 
 
 Holy Redeemer! are they none of thine, 
 Who son or daughter lovein place of thee? 
 
 Exalt and purify the love of mine. 
 From every tincture of idolatry. 
 
 Not for themselves, nor for their creature 
 worth. 
 
 But as reflections of celestial light ; 
 As fibres of my Saviour ; sent to earth 
 
 To work his glory and rejoice his heart. 
 
106 
 
 So would I love them ! and if cherished so, 
 In thee and for thee, oh our glorious Head! 
 
 My joys shall work me no insidious woe, 
 Nor serpent lurk beneath my flowery bed. 
 
 MEDITATION XVI. 
 
 " For verily he took not on him the nature of 
 angels ; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 
 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made 
 like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful 
 and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, 
 to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For 
 in that he himself hath sulfered, being tempted, he is 
 able to succour them that are tempted." 
 
 Hebrews ii. 16—18. 
 
 That He who upholdeth all things by the 
 word of his Power, who laid the foundation 
 of the earth, and of whose hands the 
 heavens- are the works, should be made for 
 a little while " lower than the angels," that 
 He should " take on," the seed of Abraham, 
 — tabernacling in the flesh of that holy 
 thing, which, by the overshadowing of his 
 omnipotent Spirit, was born of Mary, and 
 so intimately uniting it to his Eternal God- 
 head, as to be really bone of our bone, and 
 flesh of our flesh, tempted in all points hke 
 
107 
 
 as we are, yet without sin, — that through 
 the Eternal Spirit given to Him during his 
 humiliation without measure, He should 
 offer himself without spot to God, a sa- 
 crifice of a sweet smelling savour, to 
 take away the sin of the world, are 
 indeed most astonishing facts. Vast be- 
 yond utterance are their consequences, — 
 deep beyond imagination the everlasting 
 counsels of Wisdom and Love which pre- 
 pared, performed, and revealed them. Well 
 may it be said into these " things the angels 
 desire to look." Angels rfolook and adore, 
 yea, rejoice in the blessings thus brought 
 upon the heirs of salvation ; but what shall 
 we think of any who are invited to share 
 this inheritance, nay, perhaps, nominally 
 invested with the privileges of its reversion- 
 ary possessors, yet who turn away, as from 
 the tediousaess of a twice told tale, when 
 meditations are suggested on this seraph- 
 enrapturing, this soul-interesting subject — 
 this one only intimation of a way in which, 
 being at enmity, they may be reconciled to 
 God ; being rebels, may be welcomed again 
 among the obedient. 
 
 If all the Inspired Scriptures be profitable 
 for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
 instruction in righteousness, surely that 
 
108 
 
 which is as it were the sum and substance 
 of all Scripture, must to all these ends be 
 abundantly efficient. As to doctrine, we 
 have already alluded to its sublimity, and of 
 its adaptation to the nature of man, in every 
 state, from the most savage to the most re- 
 fined, testimonies of the strongest kind 
 might be brought ; it witnesses itself, in fact, 
 even to our debased understandings (where 
 no immediate enticement of engrossing sin 
 at the moment interferes to blind them) as a 
 doctrine well fitted to magnify the law, as 
 most worthy of honour, and at the same 
 time admirably calculated, by the exhibition 
 of love ineffable, to win back the alienated 
 creature to its only true rest and joy. 
 
 But not only for doctrine is it good for us 
 to go even to Bethelem and see that Avonder- 
 ful thing there brought to pass, which the 
 Lord hath made known to us, — for reproof 
 also should we go, and for correction. Has 
 the Son of God made himself of no reputa- 
 tion for the sake of sinful men, and do we 
 still prefer to him, the transient honours, 
 the fading pleasures of this life — gaudy 
 poppies that look fine to the childish eyes of 
 ambition and folly, but distil over the senses 
 a fatal dulness to the things of eternity ? 
 Oh let us stand reproved, Let us beseech 
 
109 
 
 Him, who alone can, to set before U3 the in- 
 gratitude and guilt of thus slighting our 
 Divine Benefactor, and that so forcibly, so 
 affectingly, that we may neither hesitate'nor 
 delay to fall low before the footstool of his 
 mercy, saying, " Lord, what wouldest thou 
 have me to do ?" 
 
 And not less for instruction and improve- 
 ment in righteousness, than for doctrine and 
 reproof, does the incarnation of the Lord of 
 Glory furnish large and various scope. No 
 longer need the timid and the contrite des- 
 pondingly exclaim, How shall I know that 
 my tears are accepted, my sins blotted out? 
 A voice from heaven has" pronounced. This 
 is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased ; and that Son has said. Him that 
 Cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. No 
 longer need the heart of the desolate turn in 
 vain through the universe for one sympa- 
 thizing Comforter; Jesus groaned at the 
 grave of Lazarus ; Jesus was wounded by 
 the perfidy of Judas, the cowardice of 
 Peter, the desertion of every friend ; Jesus 
 was aspersed, betrayed, forsaken ; who like 
 Him can appreciate, who hke Him can 
 effectually reUeve the bitterest bereave- 
 ments, the most heart-rending woes of 
 man? 
 
110 
 
 Come ye persecuted and behold whether 
 there be any sorrow hke unto that sorrow 
 wherewith the Lord afflicted Jesus of Naz- 
 areth in the day of his tierce anger. Ye 
 who are in heaviness through manifold 
 temptations come, for he was tempted in all 
 points like as ye are. He hath compassion 
 on the ignorant and on them that are out of 
 the way. He is a merciful High Priest, 
 knowing and pitying the infirmities of those 
 whom he is not ashamed to call his brethren ; 
 di faithful High Priest in things pertaining to 
 God, seeing he hath offered for them a pure, 
 perfect, unsullied offering, and of infinite 
 value. Ye proud, learn of Him, for he wa3 
 meek and lowly, accessible to all, benevolent 
 to all, ever ready, without a reluctant word, 
 to yield up those precious hours he most 
 valued, the hours of solitary communion with 
 God, when the poorest and meanest sought 
 him, that they might be instructed by his 
 words. Ye poor, learn of him, for he suf- 
 fered the want of all things, that ye might 
 practically perceive, how " Man does not 
 live by bread alone," and while obliged 
 therefore to labour for your needful, but 
 perishing food, be far more fervently labo- 
 rious for the instruction, and the feelings, 
 and the holiness of the children of God. 
 
Ill 
 
 Come to Jesus ! thou selfish sensualist, and 
 be ashamed. He had not where to lay his 
 head, yet he went about doing good. 
 Thou farest sumptuously every day ! and 
 art thou doing good even when opportuni- 
 ties are presented to thee ? Come to Jesus 
 ye fainting souls, who shudder and shrink, as 
 ye are to enter the valley of the shadow of 
 death ; He is the staff upon whom you may 
 safely lean in its gloomiest passes. From 
 his own dying lips it was extorted, " My 
 God, my God ! why hast thou forsaken 
 me ?" yet He closed not his eyes on this 
 visible world till he had said in the full 
 repose of love, "Father! into thy hands I 
 commend my spirit !" and whatever be 
 your present distress and fears, He can 
 enable you to say so too. 
 
 But the time would fail, even to name the 
 many, many advantages combining all, and 
 tallying with, the grand purpose of making 
 reconciliation for the sins of the people, 
 which are derived to Christians and to the 
 world from the Saviour "taking part of 
 that flesh and blood," of which " the chil- 
 dren" of men " are also partakers." 
 " Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable 
 gift." 
 
112 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Well may we sing unto thee a new and 
 still renewing song of praise, Almighty Lord 
 God, for thou hast done wonderful things. 
 Thine own right hand, thy mighty arm, 
 have gotten thee the victory. Holy is thy 
 great name, and marvellous are thy v/ays, 
 oh King of saints! in that Thou hast sent 
 us a Saviour every way suitable to our 
 wants, in every possible respect replete 
 with excellencies. Good will to man has 
 been published from thy throne. Oh dis- 
 pose my heart to welcome the precious 
 tidings with the joy of submissive gratitude. 
 May my spirit go up with unfailing delight 
 to contemplate the sanctuary of thy holy 
 mercy towards the children of thine adop- 
 tion, even Him whose generation is from 
 everlasting, yet who "came forth" in feeble 
 infancy from Bethlehem-Ephrata. This 
 is the tent which thou hast pitched among 
 men. May I abide therein for ever, safely 
 hidden from the malice of the accuser; 
 protected and upheld through the duties and 
 troubles of life, and sustained in the hour of 
 death J so, oh my God ! in the ages lo come 
 
113 
 
 shall I exalt the riches of thy mercy among 
 the multitudes of thy redeemed, for ever and 
 ever. — Amea. 
 
 " Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this 
 thing which is "come to pass, which the Lord hath 
 made known to us." — Luke ii. 15. 
 
 In the hour of blest devotion, 
 Oft the hallowed theme we find. 
 
 Echoing to each pure emotion 
 
 That has whispered through the mind. 
 
 Thy prompt gale association, 
 Thus from cradle scene anew, 
 
 Wafts the soul in contemplation, 
 Where the Virgin's babe we view. 
 
 Wondrous thought! that Lord dependant, 
 On a nurturing creature's care! 
 
 At whose single word attendant. 
 World's of creatures would repair ! 
 
 Yes, Ephrata ! in thy stable 
 
 Is the palace of a King, 
 Vain the stores of truth or fable 
 
 Pedigree like His to bring. 
 9 
 
114 
 
 In his weakness, lies before us, 
 
 Hope of Prophets! Lord of Heaven? 
 
 He whose advent woke the chorus, 
 " Unto us a Son is given." 
 
 On that Holy Infant looking, 
 
 Son of Mary, Son of God ! 
 Scorn and want resign'dly brooking. 
 
 While archangels wait His nod. 
 
 Shall not every cloud of error 
 Melt in Love's refulgent blaze ? 
 
 Shall not sin, and doubt, and terror. 
 Die within me as I gaze ? 
 
 MEDITATION XVII. 
 
 " Commune with your own heart upon your bed, 
 and be still." — Psalm iv. 4. 
 
 In forming their estimate as to what it may 
 be worth while to relinquish or to endure 
 at the present moment, for the sake of pro- 
 spective benefit, men are not in general so 
 blinded as greatly to mistake their path of 
 
115 
 
 wisdom. There are few who would abso* 
 lutely refuse to submit to a painful operation, 
 where death without it would appear inevit- 
 able. There are few who would not sacrifice 
 a trifling sum of money, where even a rea- 
 sonable possibility occurred of thereby se- 
 curinor the reversion of a vast inheritance. 
 To obtain the honourable celebrity of enter- 
 prising courage, how many are always eager 
 to volunteer for services where they must 
 struggle through the most painful privations, 
 and be exposed to the most imminent perils. 
 But if the question be, what will you wil- 
 lingly submit to, what will you cheerfully 
 resign, that you may improve the condition 
 of your soul, and that for eternity, how 
 quickly falls below zero the index that 
 must give reply, namely the practice of 
 thousands. 
 
 But -if we be Christians indeed, we have 
 not so learned Christ as to put out of re- 
 membrance that impressive question of our 
 Lord, " What is a man advantaged if he 
 shall gain the whole world, or what shall a 
 man give in exchange for his soul ?" The 
 whole world, were it possible to attain it, — 
 every imaginable gratification that man can 
 enjoy in and from the world, without refer- 
 ence to the will of his Maker, ought to be, 
 
116 
 
 and to the truly pious soul is, but dust in 
 the balance, compared to advancement in 
 those graces which evidence their possessor 
 to be gradually becoming fit, imder the 
 potent hand of an internal agent, for a world 
 %vhose joys and whose glories neither change 
 nor depart. If the day of adversity be a day 
 peculiarly fitted for consideration, it is there- 
 fore not wonderful that it should be spoken 
 of honourably by those who look beyond 
 this transitory scene in forming a judgment 
 as to their true interests, or that to those 
 who are much engaged in the active rela- 
 tions of life, a season of comparative ab- 
 straction from its cares and duties, should 
 be regarded as peculiarly precious. Divested 
 of every encumbering solicitude, how de- 
 lightful is it on such occasions to sit down, 
 as at the feet of Jesus, hearing his precious 
 words addressed to ourselves; or to com- 
 mune \vith our own hearts upon the couch 
 of languid convalescence, when all around 
 is calm repose, and the sweet experience of 
 the Psalmist, that his gracious Shepherd 
 led him beside the " still " waters, is fully 
 realized to our feelings. Is not this prefer- 
 able to the festive relaxations which the 
 worldly minded claim as but due refresh- 
 ments on their course of zealous and active 
 
117 
 
 attention to the business of life ? True it 
 is, that even among multiplied secular en- 
 gagements, the heart that sincerely loves 
 the Saviour has within itself a " little sanc- 
 tuary," wherein to retreat from the strife 
 of tongues and collision of earthly in- 
 terests troubhng it from without; a fresh 
 spring, as it were, beneath the ocean's 
 tide, retaining its purity and ministering 
 refreshment, though the restless billows 
 ebb and flow above it. But notwith- 
 standing this, there is undoubtedly a de- 
 teriorating tendency in many of the trials 
 we experience in life, and the corruption of 
 our hearts too readily coincides with it, in 
 permitting the details of duty to assume un- 
 due, or at least unseasonable predominance 
 in our thoughts. From day to day perhaps, 
 we go on, recollecting indeed the' sins, and 
 reviewing the employments of the few pre- 
 ceding hours, but very seldom taking a 
 comprehensive view of our whole spiritual 
 progress, unless when preparing for some 
 special ordinance, or when called into the 
 more immediate chambers of reflection by 
 sickness, or other providential appointments 
 of our lot. But in these special retirements, 
 it seems, as if, other voices being for a while 
 unheard, we can more easily distinguish one 
 
lis 
 
 which searcheth the heart and trieth the 
 reins, sayino; unto us, as to Elijah in the 
 solitudes of Carmel, " What dost thou 
 here?" We have leisure and opportunity 
 to go farther and deeper into ourselves, and 
 when these are blest by the Divine Spirit, 
 teaching us to profit, how frequently is the 
 result comprehended in this text, "Before I 
 was afflicted I went astray, but now have I 
 kept thy word." Uninviting therefore as 
 the valley of Baca may be, its deep pools 
 often furnish much needed aid on the way 
 to Zion. Is it recorded in vain, that the 
 Lord withdrew himself into the wilderness 
 to pray ; nay, that in the oratory of the 
 desert he spent whole nights of watchful- 
 ness and love ? Oh let us remember that 
 our special seasons of recollection and retire- 
 ment, must like his be prayerful if we desire 
 them to be profitable ; and taking advan- 
 tage of there being a more extended time at 
 our command than in our ordinary course, 
 let us therein embrace a wider scope of 
 retrospection, and gain a more thorough 
 insight into the state of our hearts, our 
 affections, and our consciences. Those 
 who stand on high and isolated ground take 
 into their view a larger surface, and are 
 less influenced by the mists that overspread 
 
119 
 
 U, than their brethren who are walking 
 below and mingling with its many travellers. 
 Let us not lose the advantage thus figur- 
 atively represented, but (adapting the Pro- 
 phet's words to such a situation) " Let U9 
 stand upon our watch tower, and set our- 
 selves upon the tower of observation watch- 
 ing to see what the Lord will say to us, 
 and what we shall answer when we aro 
 reproved." We may then hope to return 
 with invigorated powers to the routine of 
 our appointed occupations, offering the 
 sacrifice of thanksgiving, and calling upon 
 the name of the Lord, who in the multitude 
 of the thoughts that we had in our hearts, 
 by his comforts refreshed our souls. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh most holy Comforter! who didst de- 
 scend like a dove on our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and lead him forth into the secluded wilder- 
 ness, there to commune with the Father 
 concerning the salvation of his chosen, 
 breathe upon me, his unworthy disciple, 
 the spirit of grace and supplication, that I 
 may delight unfeignedly in every enlarged 
 opportunity of seeking my God, and pouring 
 out my heart before lum. Gluicken me, oh 
 
120 
 
 Lord! for my soul cleaveth unto the dust. 
 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, 
 and teach me thy statutes. Cause me to 
 rejoice in every event that conduces to bring 
 me nearer to thee, and to nurture my mind 
 in humihty and the love of holiness. Make 
 my seasons of devotion profitable, both to 
 myself and others, stirring me up to much 
 and manifold intercession for my friends, for 
 thy Church, and for all men ; and may that 
 peace which passeth all understanding keep 
 my heart and mind, for ever and ever, 
 through Christ Jesus the Lord. — Amen. 
 
 " He went oat and departed into a solitary place 
 and prayed."—^/. Mark i. 35. 
 
 When, rapidly rolling, the wheels of our life 
 Move on undisturbed by affliction or strife, 
 Oh ! how soon might they kindle the flame 
 
 of despair, 
 Unless rectified still by the unction of 
 
 prayer. 
 
 How desirable then is the stone on our 
 
 way. 
 Intercepting a little their uniform play. 
 
121 
 
 If the pause of retirement but lead us to 
 
 think, 
 It may hurry us back from a precipice 
 
 brink! 
 
 The wilderness witnessed our pattern and 
 
 guide, 
 When in pious communion He sought to 
 
 abide, 
 Preparing for conflicts, with labours opprest, 
 Meditation apart was his strength and his 
 
 rest. 
 
 Bless the Lord then my spirit, — ah ! bless 
 him indeed, 
 
 For ihe hours of refreshment which sickness 
 hath freed ; 
 
 But adore him with trembling, — with 
 trembling rejoice. 
 
 Lest his mercies abused wake his chasten- 
 ing voice. 
 
122 
 
 MEDITATION XVIII. 
 
 " And they brought young children to him, that he 
 should touch them ; and his disciples rebuked those 
 that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was 
 much displeased, and said unto them. Suffer the little 
 children to cojne unto me, and forbid them not : for 
 
 of such is the kingdom of God. And lie took them 
 
 up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed 
 them."— <S7. Mark x. 13, 14, 16. 
 
 The more closely we observe and analyze 
 the smallest incidents recorded of our 
 blessed Saviour's life and actions, the more 
 fully will it appear to us that one great 
 purpose of the Lord of glory, when he con- 
 descended to dwell on earth, conversing 
 familiarly, and on terms of condescending 
 equality with the sons of men, was to dis- 
 play in the way most intelligible to the 
 human understanding, and most impressive 
 on the human heart, the true character of 
 the Almighty Creator and Governor of all 
 things towards his intelligent creatures. 
 
 In express words Jesus intimated this ob- 
 ject of his mission when he said, "No man 
 hath seen God at any time, the only begot- 
 ten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father 
 he hath declared Him," and oh ! how beau- 
 
123 
 
 tifuUy is this object developed and fulfilled 
 on the occasion which forms the brief nar- 
 rative before us. He took infants in his 
 arms and blessed them. If Christ be " God 
 manifest in the flesh," here then is a visible 
 palpable declaration, that '• God is Love." 
 His sacred word asserts it, his providential 
 arrangements confirm it, but his beloved 
 Son proves it, sets it actually before the eyes 
 of men, and leaves them not the shadow of 
 an excuse for doubting it. What could these 
 helpless infants oflTer to the Messiah, that 
 they should thus have the unspeakable 
 privilege of His affectionate embrace? 
 Nothing, absolutely nothing, not even their 
 poor powerless gratitude. Thus not by 
 works of righteousness that we have done, 
 but according to his mercy, doth the Most 
 High save us — freely appointing and accept- 
 ing for us a way of access in which He will 
 receive and bless us. Thus does He act 
 towards all who evince their entire confi- 
 dence in his Infinite tenderness, and come 
 to Him craving unmerited favours. None 
 may rebuke them for their unprofitableness. 
 His blessing is given while they are yet 
 unable of themselves to help themselves : 
 " While we were yet sinners, Christ died 
 for the ungodly." 
 
124 
 
 Neither will He upbraid them because of 
 the root of bitterness which is in them : 
 Jesus takes the babes into his arms, not to 
 hold them up as beacons to a trembling uni- 
 verse of the irretrievable misery produced 
 by disobedience, but to bless them, to oblit- 
 erate that worst ingredient of their misery, 
 alienation from himself, by saying, " Suffer 
 them to come unto me — Forbid them not!" 
 Oh does not this expressive delineation of 
 the boundless goodness, the attractive kind- 
 ness of the Majesty of Heaven, melt our 
 hearts, overcome our enmity? Unholy, self- 
 convicted sinners! well might ye fear to 
 draw nigh, as in the intimate communion of 
 children, had ye not hope, that in the Lord 
 there is plenteous redemption. Behold! the 
 Son takes in his own holy arms, the offspring 
 of sinful parents and says, *' of such is the 
 kingdom of heaven!" that He may exem- 
 plify and picture to you the expansive com- 
 passion of the Eternal Jehovah. Will ye 
 not, then, exclaim, " Who is a God like 
 unto Thee, that pardonest the transgres- 
 sions of the remnant of thine heritage, that 
 castest our sins into the depths of the sea ?" 
 Will ye not henceforth cry unto him " My 
 Father, Thou art the guide of my life?" 
 Desire you not to approach the habitation 
 
125 
 
 of his holiness, the brightness of his glory, 
 the express image of his essence, saying, 
 Lord Jesus, I am thine. My soul is as a 
 weaned child before thee, no way, no 
 resource of sustenance and happiness is 
 open to it but thy goodness. Take me into 
 the arms of thy love, and give unto thy 
 servant the blessing of peace, write my un- 
 worthy name in thy book of life by virtue of 
 that blessing, and make me joint heir with 
 thyself of the glory which is prepared for 
 the saints in light. 
 
 But there are other ways in which this 
 lovely picture of Christ's condescending 
 goodness may be contemplated with advan- 
 tage. Revelation's luminous hand clears up 
 many obscurities in the Book of Nature, and 
 this gracious declaration of the Redeemer 
 concerning the admissibility of infants to 
 privileges they cannot appreciate, is most 
 valuable as a sure testimony of his dispo- 
 sition towards them, w'hen removed at a 
 period incapable of individual sin, from 
 this present life. That infants should suffer 
 and die, would be very inexplicable on the 
 principles of mere natural religion. The 
 Scriptures alone give us any insight into the 
 cause, '• death having passed upon all men, 
 in consequence of their universal connection 
 
126 
 
 with one who incurred it as the known 
 penalty of his own act ; but the words of the 
 Lord, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven," 
 do more than this, they show us that these 
 sufferings are but temporary— a point in 
 immeasurable space,— that such death is but 
 an entrance into lite. Where no deed of per- 
 sonal disobedience has re-forfeited the once 
 retrieved inheritance, they direct us to con- 
 sider the obedience of the second Adam as 
 having availed to blot out on behalf of his 
 posterity, the darkly recorded guilt of their 
 "First Father." The sap of the whole 
 human tree is indeed envenomed, but when 
 broken off in its earliest spring, the evil has 
 not so circulated into the newly germinated 
 twig, as to show even the buddings of the 
 natural fruit. Often then doth an unseen 
 and beneficent hand, (after divesting it of 
 all its latent poison, by a sure and effica- 
 cious, though silent process,) take it away 
 and engraft it into a rich and fertile vine to 
 bloom and bear fruit in never-fading glory. 
 Instead, therefore, of melancholy regrets 
 and murmuring cavils at the mortality in- 
 cident to those who have never personally 
 sinned, the Christian sees ground for admir- 
 ation of the great mercy of God, who has 
 reaped to himself a rich harvest from the 
 
127 
 
 fields of destruction, by suffering the little 
 children, whom Jesus hath redeemed, to 
 come unto Him, in all ages, and from all 
 nations, tongues, and kindreds. Of his un- 
 speakable goodness has he thus perfected to 
 Himself praise out of tlie moutlis of babes 
 and sucklings, that he might still the enemy 
 and avenger, who prompted their Parent's 
 crime, and might rescue, untold millions, 
 from that horrible gulf of hopeless perdition 
 into which they would have fallen had they 
 lived to knmv, but not savingly to repent of 
 sin, silencing every objection of the foul 
 accuser, by that irresistible sentence, " Who 
 shall condemn ! It is Christ that died." 
 
 Finally, when we have meditated on this 
 transaction as an expressive type of the sim- 
 plicity and humility, in which we should ex- 
 pect, obtain, and use, gospel blessings, we 
 may ajso observe the example here given for 
 the purpose of directing our conduct towards 
 those who, being yet somewhat dark, con- 
 fused or insufficient in the knowledge of 
 divine things, are aptly termed babes, as 
 compared to others whose minds, by reason 
 of use, are more competent to receive it. 
 Discourage not such in coming, ye who 
 have better opportunities of knowing the 
 truth as it is in Jesus. If they be willing 
 
128 
 
 and obedient, know ye not that they shall 
 eat of the fruit of the land, and though they 
 may not yet be capable of digesting the 
 "strong meat," may they not be patiently 
 fed with the sincere milk of the word ? 
 Forbid them not, but encourage them rather 
 to follow on perseveringly till they know 
 the way of the Lord more perfectly, till the 
 now dawing gleam increase to the perfect 
 day : Encourage them to come, in humble 
 consciousness of their own helplessness and 
 ignorance, to Jesus ; for " of such is the 
 kingdom of heaven." 
 
 And oh ! if the Lord, with such amiable 
 tenderness, received and rewarded the pious 
 parents who besought tokens of his love on 
 their little ones, can we too early, in the 
 fulness of faith and hope, dedicate to Him 
 our own fondly cherished babes ? If we 
 are ourselves of his own peculiar people, 
 his word has already said of them, " Now 
 are they holy." May it be our persevering 
 prayer and faithful endeavour, that they 
 should so escape the pollutions of the world, 
 through the effectual sanctifiealion of the 
 Spirit, as to give them an early application 
 of these words, " Ye are of God, little 
 children, and have overcome them, because 
 greater is He that is in you, than He that is 
 
129 
 
 in the world. Little children abide in Him, 
 that when he shall appear, we may have 
 confidence, and not be ashamed before Him 
 at his coming." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 God of all grace ! by whose tender mercy 
 towards a seed of evil doers, the day-spring 
 from on high hath visited us, to shew us the 
 glories of the divine nature in the face of 
 Jesus Christ, dispose and incline my heart 
 continually and closely to study the sacred 
 words and works of thy beloved Son, in 
 whom Thou art well pleased. Remove 
 from my mind every carnal and prejudiced 
 feeling, that beholding as in a glass the 
 glory of the Lord, I may be changed into 
 some reflection of the same glorious image, 
 and go on my way rejoicing. Purify me 
 even as Christ was pure. Help me to imi- 
 tate his affectionate patience towards the 
 young and ignorant, and the sincere love 
 with which he invoked on them the blessing 
 from on high. Heavenly Father, adorable 
 Saviour, pour out thy benediction upon me, 
 and on all whom I bear on my heart 
 before thee at this time. Give them a name 
 and a place among thy children in t^e kingw 
 10 
 
130 
 
 dom of thy glory, for thy great mercy's 
 sake. — Amen. 
 
 " Take heed that ye despise not one of these little 
 ones : for 1 say unto you, that in heaven their angels 
 do always behold the face of my Father which is in 
 heaven." — St. Matthew xviii. 10. 
 
 Repell'd, and yet retained, a wondrous sight 
 On the rough blade impends the glittering 
 dew, 
 
 Trembling and shining, like a beam of light, 
 Condensed into a drop of rainbow hue. 
 
 Thus like the creatures of a purer sphere 
 Unmingled yet with all the black alloy 
 
 Of sublunary things, refracting clear 
 Some beauteous rays of pure primeval joy, 
 
 Jesus beheld you, ye, whose angels high, 
 Unintermitted see his Father's face ; 
 
 Jesus beheld you, and with pitying eye, 
 And tender speech conferred his kind 
 embrace. 
 
 Ye could not " cone," yet Mercy called it so, 
 When others brought you where the 
 Christ received. 
 Ye could not plead, when bid from him to go, 
 Yet who so pleaded for, ye babes ag- 
 grieved! 
 
131 
 
 Safe in his sheltering arms, his word of loVe 
 From age to age assures us, He will bear 
 
 'The tender nestlings of his turtle dove, 
 By faith presented to his holy care. 
 
 And shall they not be brought ? Shall any 
 say 
 Fall back, ye little ones, your time's not 
 yet ; 
 Or, whom the Saviour blesses chide away, 
 Till worthiness for blessings they may 
 get? 
 
 MEDITATION XIX. 
 
 " What is your life 1 It is eYen a vapour, that 
 BppeaTeth for little time, and then vanisheth away." 
 James iv. 14. 
 
 A VAPOtiR ! quickly exhaled ! soon dissi- 
 pated ! Oh man ! is this all thy brief exist- 
 ence? Are all thy schemes, thy highly 
 isounding designs, thy pompous titles, thy 
 intricate investigations, dependant on that 
 frail uncertain evaporating thing, which thus 
 appeareth for a little time, and then vanish- 
 
132 
 
 eth away ? It is even go. Well may it be 
 said "Cease ye from man whose breath is 
 in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be 
 accounted of?" His manifold solicitudes 
 for the future, how vain are they ! That 
 future, perhaps, beholds him cold, inani- 
 mate, insensible to joy or woe. How vain 
 his presumptuous boastings of the morrow ! 
 He knows not what a day may bring forth. 
 
 There is no one subject more continually 
 brought under our observation than this : 
 the crowded street, whose habitations en- 
 dure, reminds us as forcibly, where now are 
 the builders thereof! as the tomb of the 
 dead, or the chamber of the dying ; but 
 though in theory no absurdity can be more 
 glaring than to forget that which is so 
 present to our daily experience, yet where 
 is the person who duly remembers it? 
 
 We see our contemporaries, our acquaint- 
 ances, our relatives, successively and rapidly 
 disappearing. They depart quickly, and 
 the place thereof knoweth them no more ; 
 as a dream, as a shadow, as a concluded 
 tale, they are past away. No security have 
 we, that we shall not follow them ere an- 
 other's sun has risen in its splendour ; yet 
 where are they who lay this to heart, who 
 live as in the raidst of death, using their 
 
133 
 
 lamp actively, efficiently, cheerfully, while 
 it does burn, but looking from day to day, 
 from hour to hour, for the sudden blast to 
 which it is constantly exposed, and from 
 which no art of man can cover or protect it. 
 But there is a lamp whose flame expires not, 
 whose bright glow is no transient meteor, 
 but the radiance of an eternal, immutable, 
 inexhaustible, luminary ; and do we not 
 ardently desire its never-dying presence ? 
 There is a life hidden with Christ in God, 
 and can we prefer any earthly trifle to the 
 possession of it ? There is a promise, 
 " He that heareth my word, and beheveth 
 in Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, 
 and he that liveth and beheveth in me shall 
 never die," and can we rest till vve embrace 
 it as given to ourselves ? '* Because I live," 
 says the Saviour, " ye shall live also." That^ 
 then is not life, which has no connection, 
 no union with Him, the only true source of 
 vitality. To be in Him, by whom and for 
 whom are all things, as his devoted, loving, 
 beloved members : this is to be alive unto 
 God. To deny Him, to walk no more with 
 him, to remain wilfully ignorant of him, of 
 his offices, of his love : this is blindness, 
 numbness, misery. 
 Oh my soul ! thy days on earth are num- 
 
134 
 
 bered ; as the thread of the weaver's shuttle, 
 they may be suddenly broken off when ap- 
 parently most smooth in their career. But 
 Jesus came that thou mightest have life, a 
 name and a place among happy immortals, 
 rejoicing together in the riches of his grace. 
 He came that thou mightest have it abund- 
 antly. Why then content thyself with such 
 languid progress, such sickly and interrupted 
 evidences of thy acceptance in the Beloved? 
 Thou art not straitened in Him, for he is all 
 fulness, but thou hast not because thou ask- 
 est not. He says, Drink, yea, drink abund- 
 antly of my grace ; but thy thirst is slaked 
 with lower blessings; and where are thy 
 ardent longings that one should give thee of 
 the well of Bethlehem? Oh awake, thou arm 
 of the Lord ! and revive my drooping ener- 
 gies ; put activity into my obedience, in the 
 use of every talent committed to me ; and 
 as it was said to the creatures when endued 
 with annual life, " increase," " multiply," 
 and " replenish the earth," may I know that 
 I have true spiritual life, by a fervent wish 
 ' and sincere endeavours to diffuse it through 
 the whole sphere of my influence. Accord- 
 ing to the Lord's own tender expostulation, 
 " He hath no pleasure at all in the death of 
 the wicked, but that he should turn from his 
 
135 
 
 evil ways and live," and how can we be his 
 faithful ones if we strive not to forward that 
 which he has thus declared to be his plea- 
 sure ? Oh may He renew the face of the 
 earth, and may the spiritually dead hear his 
 voice, cast aside the vanities of time, and 
 deliirht themselves in Him; for in "Him 
 shall all the seed of Israel be justified and 
 shall glory." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh ever living ! ever adorable Jehovah ! 
 shall we who inhabit houses of clay, who 
 are frail and feeble and short-lived creatures, 
 venture into thy glorious and awful pres- 
 ence ? Yea, Lord, for thou hast com- 
 manded us to come, and thou hast even 
 reproved us by the voice of thy Son, saying, 
 " Ye will not come to me that ye might 
 have life," therefore, now trusting in the 
 multitude of thy mercies, do I approach thy 
 mercy-seat, oh Lord ! beseeching Thee to 
 give me the seeing eye, and the understand- 
 ing heart, of a new creature in Christ 
 Jesus, and to enlighten me continually with 
 the blessed doctrines of thy word. Enable 
 me to crucify and render harmless, all 
 worldly affections and desires within mo. 
 
136 
 
 Keep me in remembrance, that not only foy 
 my mortal body, but for my immortal spirit, 
 in Thee I live and move, and have my 
 being; and endue nie with an assured hope 
 that when this earthly house of my taber- 
 nacle is dissolved, I have a house not made 
 with hands eternal in the heavens, prepared 
 for me through the prevailing- merits of our 
 ever gracious High Priest and meritorious 
 sacrifice, Jesus Christ. — Amen. 
 
 ** O that Ishmael might live before thee." 
 
 Genesis xvii, 18. 
 
 Could Parents hold a magic glass. 
 Wherein should meet their eyes. 
 
 Those troubled scenes through which shall 
 pass, 
 The offspring whom they prize, 
 
 How oft the views depicted there, 
 
 Of sorrow and of strife, 
 Would wake for early death the prayer, 
 
 That now beseeches life ! 
 
 And though before the eye of sense, 
 
 No lights prophetic gleam, 
 How vain to draw permission thence. 
 
 For Hope's delightful dream. 
 
137 
 
 Experience and the word of Truth, 
 Full soon such visions break, 
 
 And bid the rosy lips of youth, 
 The cup of sorrows take. 
 
 Then why for dying life like this. 
 
 With strong petitions plead, 
 And for your darling's better bliss, 
 
 So slightingly take heed ? 
 
 Hark how the pious Patriarch speaks ! 
 
 Suppose you that his cry 
 Refers but to the days and weeks 
 
 Ere his beloved die ? 
 
 Suppose you that the bounded span 
 
 Of Ishmael's dwelling here, 
 The breathings of the faithful mark 
 
 Comprised within its sphere ? 
 
 Ah ! take with him a loftier flight, 
 
 That only living call, 
 Which breathes to God ! and in his might 
 
 Bursts off corruption's thrall. 
 
 Oh Life eternal ! Life begun ! 
 
 E'en in a house of clay, 
 Obedient as the constant sun 
 
 In Heaven's appointed way : 
 
138 
 
 Life ! still miraculously fed 
 
 By God the Spirit's care, 
 With rich reception of " The Bread'^ 
 
 Jehovah did prepare. 
 
 Thou art existence ! and to thee 
 Should point the parent's love, 
 
 That intercedes with energy 
 For blessings from above. 
 
 MEDITATION XX. 
 
 _" For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the 
 wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of 
 the prudent."— 1st Corinthians i. 19. 
 
 The desires of the self-seeking mind, in 
 various ways, concur to usurp and occupy 
 that pre-eminence which is due to the 
 Creator alone. But in no respect has man 
 been seduced more readily and fatally from 
 the supreme allegiance which he owes to the 
 Lord his God, than by an inordinate, un- 
 sanctified, seeking after knowledge. Where- 
 ever knowledge is sought merely for its own 
 sake ; wherever the elevation of human in- 
 tellect, as an independent intelligence, and 
 not the expansion of the faculties for adora- 
 
139 
 
 tion of the Beneficient Being who bestowed 
 them, is the chief object of mental cultiva- 
 tion, the pursuit must assuredly be deemed, 
 in its nature, unhallowed, and in its effects, 
 pernicious. 
 
 " To be as gods,^^ in the acquisition of 
 extended wisdom about the nature of all 
 things " good and evil," is a snare, which 
 has indeed been long in use, but has not 
 even yet, by any means, lost its power over 
 the hearts of foolish, ambitious creatures. 
 The gentile world, professing themselves to 
 be wise, became fools." Their philosophers, 
 (with few exceptions,) when too refined to 
 entertain the grosser superstitions of the 
 multitude, deified their own understand- 
 ings ; and, alas! there is even yet a genera- 
 tion who are wise in their own eyes, and 
 instructed, not that they may praise, but 
 too often that they may insult, the Giver 
 of all true wisdom. It is the besetting sin 
 of our age to bestow far more attention 
 on the mere accumulation of facts within 
 the memory, than on their right apphcation 
 to the conscience. Many run to and fro, 
 and knowledge is increase'd ; but where are 
 they who study for personal improvement in 
 principles and practice, and make all their 
 studies more or less directly conduce tp the 
 
140 
 
 glory of God and benefit of society, — ex- 
 tending that benefit beyond the contracted 
 sphere of visible things ? 
 
 Revelation itself is brought before the 
 tribunal of human opinion, — not to ascer- 
 tain its sense, not to examine its authen- 
 ticity, — but try its consistency v^^ith precon- 
 ceived notions of the fitting and the good ; 
 to explain away the miracles by which it 
 was attested — to neutralize its doctrines — 
 to soften down its holy requisitions — to put 
 aside, as the result o( obsolete and uninspired 
 traditions, the belief of those sacred mys- 
 teries to which the holy penmen refer. Vain 
 man ! will ye thus assume the authority of 
 Wisdom, and exalt yourselves to teach your 
 teachers ? Wo ! wo unto you ! for ye put 
 bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter ; ye 
 put darkness for light, and light for dark- 
 ness. 
 
 Oh ! let me be on my guard against the 
 most specious and subtle risings of this vain- 
 glorious and dangerous spirit; this most 
 hateful of that serpent tribe, the corrup- 
 tions of man. Every exhibition of talent 
 for the sake of display, has in it a tincture 
 of this spirit ; every ingenious sophism by 
 which we think to blunt the keen edge of 
 Scripture, when coming too near our own 
 
141 
 
 consciences, is but a modification of it 3 
 every indulged sentiment of delight in the 
 misdirected exertions of genius, flourishing 
 from a godless soil, shews the latent seeds 
 of it to be in our own hearts ; and, if scru- 
 tinized closely, alas ! where is the Christian 
 who is totally free from its baneful influ- 
 ence ? Is there no self-gratification when 
 our prayers have been fluent, and our hearts 
 (according to our own conceits) enlarged ? 
 Is there no conscious complacency, because 
 we have devised ingeniously, or executed 
 acceptably, rather than a pure, deep, unal- 
 loyed delight, that our Redeemer is hon- 
 oured, and his spiritual kingdom advanced? 
 Verily we may smite on our breasts saying, 
 " God be merciful to me a sinner," when 
 we detect this spirit mingling with our very 
 devotions, and so debasing even the fine 
 gold ef the sanctuary, that we may almost 
 universally take. up the Apostle's lamenting 
 declaration and say, " aW," (in some degree 
 or other,) " seek their own, not the things 
 which are Jesus Christ's!" 
 
 But if it be thus even in the Church, in 
 the world this ungodly influence is truly 
 dreadful. It envelopes the spiritually in- 
 sensible within such redoubled coatings of 
 resistance, and they adhere so tenaciously 
 
14^ 
 
 to their Very substance, that gharp and mi& 
 is often the process of tearing them aside^ 
 when Almighty Mercy gives the word, and 
 the proud worshipper of intellectual wealth, 
 is made to enter the rock, and to hide him* 
 self in the dust for fear of the Lord, and for 
 the glory ©f his majesty, and to acknow* 
 ledge that the preaching of the cross is to 
 them that perish, foolishness, but to them 
 that are saved, Christy the wisdom of God, 
 and the power of God. 
 
 Oh it is a goodly sight, when every 
 thought is subdued into the subjection of 
 willing obedience unto the revelations of the 
 Most High. When they are received, not 
 as the writings of falhble men, but as the 
 testimonies of Truth, from which not one 
 jot, not one tittle, shall in any wise depart 
 until the whole be fulfilled, and which are 
 able to make us wise unto salvation. A 
 blessed sight it is when the haughtiness of 
 man is laid low, and all his lofty imaginings 
 terminated in this conviction, that to fear 
 God, and to keep his commandments, and 
 to be at peace with Him through a propiti- 
 ating Mediator, is the concentration of all 
 genuine felicity, and that to depart from 
 evil, that is understanding. 
 
143 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Great is thy long-suffering patience, Al* 
 mighty, but gracious God I that the insolent 
 pride of rebellious worms has not provoked 
 thee long since to consume us in vindica- 
 tion of thy Sovereign Majesty; yea, to 
 destroy us utterly. Pride was not made for 
 man. Behold we are vile, what can we 
 offer to thee ? Hath not thy hand given us 
 all that we possess ? We must crave from 
 thyself the only acceptable sacrifice, the 
 broken and the contrite heart, which Thou 
 dost not despise. Lord, look on me, thy 
 sinful suppliant, and bestow on me this 
 blessed gift. Lead me in unfeigned humil- 
 ity to the foot of the cross, and induce me 
 to embrace the invitations of Him, who suf- 
 fered there, the just for the unjust. With 
 Jesus my Lord in view, may I neither trust 
 to my own heart, nor lean to my own un- 
 derstanding, but in all my ways acknow- 
 ledge thee, and obtain thy unerring direction, 
 and unto Thee, who art the King Eternal, 
 Immortal, Invisible, the only Wise God, be 
 honour, and glory, and praise for ever.— 
 Amen. 
 
144 
 
 *' To this man will I look, even to him that is poor, 
 ^d of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." 
 —Isaiah ixvi. 2. 
 
 "Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not re- 
 ceive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall 
 not enter therein."— ^^ Mark x. 15, 
 
 Where is thia world's disputer ? where the 
 
 wise, 
 
 In subtlest themes of philosophic thoug^ht? 
 
 Can all their science, falsely named, suffice, 
 
 To gain that kingdom which the Saviour 
 
 bought. 
 
 Ah no ! Salvation has no lofty door, 
 
 Through which, erect, in self- exalting 
 pride. 
 And crown'd with pompous gems of human 
 lore, 
 Mancan in triumph march, hie God 
 defied ; 
 
 But when to infant simpleness and trust, 
 Bends the proud soul, embracing Jesus 
 given. 
 
 What systems can philosophy adjust, 
 To give that soul so pure a taste of heaven ? 
 
145 
 
 Say'st thou, " Presumption, only would ad- 
 vance, 
 
 With less than Virtue's fulness to prefer, 
 Dare I assume the vast inheritance, 
 
 Till years of holiness the right confer?" 
 
 Ages of holiness no right could give, 
 Nor freeness of that blessing supersede; 
 
 As rationally might you fear to live 
 
 Till you had purchased all the breath you 
 need ! 
 
 'Tis sweet Humihty that enters in. 
 Invited freely, and receiving blest, 
 
 But haughty perseverance unto sin, 
 
 Usurps her name, and spurns the Sa- 
 viour's rest. 
 
 True, thou art helpless as the new-born 
 child. 
 And quite as destitute ! the more thy need, 
 On God in Christ, thy Father reconciled, 
 / Simply to rest, and on his fulness feed. 
 
 //Meek, babe-like souls, encouragement to 
 
 This gospel strain in silvery sweetness 
 tells. 
 Who lowhest stoop among the chosen few, 
 In them most potently the Saviour dwells, 
 11 
 
146 
 
 MEDITATION XXI. 
 
 "O Jerusalem. JcrusalehV,— how often would I 
 have gathered thy children together, even as a hen 
 gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye 
 would miV'—St. Matthew xxiii. 37. 
 
 It were difficult to say whether in this 
 pathetic lamentation, the condescending 
 tenderness of the remonstrance, or the 
 frigid obduracy of those to whom it was 
 addressed, be most conspicuous. Certainly 
 there is in both what may well excite our 
 wonder, even if we limit our thoughts to 
 that nation whose city was especially apos- 
 trophized. It is a sort of epitome of their 
 whole history. Provocations in return for 
 unexampled wonders of kindness — patient 
 forbearance insulted by continual rebellions 
 — enmity holding out against entreating 
 love — a perverse, stiffnecked nation — a 
 long-suffering wonder-working God ! 
 
 But the Shepherd of Israel had other 
 sheep not of that peculiar fold. Them 
 also must He bring that they might be 
 blessed with faithful Abraham. Not the 
 
147 
 
 sons of Jacob only, but all the sons and 
 daughters of Adam does He continually 
 invite to look unto Him that they may be 
 saved ; and alas ! to how large a proportion 
 might He appropriate the language he ap- 
 plied to Jerusalem, " How often would I 
 have gathered you together unto me, and ye 
 wrould not." And how simple, yet beauti- 
 ful, is the simiMtude by which he illustrates 
 his love: instinctive affection prompts the 
 hen to gather her chickens under her wings ; 
 her anxious voice warns them of impending 
 peril, or summons them to needful provis- 
 ion ; with self-denying care she waits long 
 for the reward of knowing them as her 
 cherished brood, and when they come forth 
 from their imprisonment, how industriously 
 does she procure for them all that their 
 wants demand. She shelters them from 
 every' inconvenience; she protects them 
 from every hostility as far as her ability 
 permits. " She gathers them under her 
 wings !" 
 
 How readily does the Christian discern, 
 in all these lender demonstrations of affec- 
 tionate interest, an apt resemblance to the 
 work of the Redeemer towards his beloved 
 and ransomed people. Long and patiently 
 does He " wait " for them ; kindly does He 
 
148 
 
 cherish in them, their yet unfledged graces, 
 and prepare them for what is to form the 
 scope and enjoyment of their existence, the 
 promotion of glory to God by their holy and 
 willing services; how safe are they when 
 confidentially trusting in their Lord's re- 
 vealed mercies. When they are entering 
 upon any dangerous path, or when the 
 Tempter, like an impending bird of prey, 
 is hovering about them, watching to devour, 
 how providential are the warnings they 
 receive from God's word, from his ministers, 
 from the events around them, to flee to their 
 hiding-place of invulnerable safety ; how 
 abundant are the supplies, how sweet and 
 nourishing the stores of gospel food and 
 refreshment laid up for them ; how precious 
 the consoling conviction, that personal su- 
 perintendance, vigilant tenderness, are in 
 unceasing exercise towards all of them indis- 
 criminately ; that there is ample room be- 
 neath the outstretched compassion of the 
 Almighty Summoner, for every one who 
 hears and obeys the call of mercy, and 
 treasures of grace, inexhaustible by the 
 largest demands. Verily under their Sa- 
 viour's wings they have a refuge, and there 
 do they rest till every tyranny, every ca- 
 lamity be overpast. But alas ! Jesus said of 
 
149 
 
 the Jews, ye looidd not. He said it and wept ! 
 What will He say of t(s ? Oh it is an impor- 
 tant inquiry, If God be so condescending 
 as to plead with man for his own eternal 
 peace, who are they that beUeve the report 
 and are melted by the pleading. If the 
 Lord deign to say, " I, even I, am He that 
 comforteth you," who are they that are 
 aroused by such compassionate words to 
 disdain the vanity of frivolous pleasures, 
 and to value lightly every created comfort 
 in comparison of that promised friendship. 
 Who are they that reflect so profitably on 
 the brittle texture of earthly blessings, as to 
 use only without abusing them, who enjoy 
 them indeed by the way, as the pilgrim 
 inhales the coohng breeze that enlivens his 
 path, but are too intent on the grand object 
 of their course, to be induced by these 
 pleasant occasional reliefs to lie down 
 supinely, slumbering beneath their seducing 
 influence, and so retard their progress 
 heavenwards? 
 
 That the Lord Jesus exemplified in action 
 the character of the invisible Godhead, is a 
 truth which we have already dwelt upon in 
 meditation, and it is strikingly displayed in 
 the passage before us. 
 
 How could imagination devise a more 
 
150 
 
 full correspondence than this narration pre- 
 sents with those passages of the Old Testa- 
 ment that delineate a yearning, pleading 
 Jehovah. Hear him saying of an ungrateful, 
 disobedient, apostate people, " How shall I 
 give thee up Ephraim? how shall I deliver 
 thee Israel? how shall I make thee as 
 Adtnah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim ? 
 Mine heart is turned within me, my repent- 
 ings are kindled together: I will not execute 
 the fierceness of mine anger." " Turn ye, 
 turn ye, for why will ye die ?" Hear Him 
 saying, " In all their afflictions I was 
 afflicted," then turn to his Incarnate Son ; 
 behold his tears mingling with his rebukes, 
 his soul melting in pity for the desolations 
 which he foresees coming on the beloved 
 city, and say, is he not indeed the mani- 
 festation in the flesh of the just God. the 
 Saviour? And if this be conceded, there 
 is yet an observation to be made : Let none 
 forget that there is yet one attribute of the 
 Godhead, Judgment on the obstinately im- 
 penitent, which Jesus of Nazareth must set 
 forth before men, in the flesh that he as- 
 sumed as the mirror of Deity. He hath yet 
 to exemplify openly in human action, that 
 awful definition of the Prophet Nahum, 
 " God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth. 
 
151 
 
 The Lord will take vengeance on his adver- 
 saries, and he reserveth wrath for his 
 enemies." But how merciful is He in his 
 indignation to be still warning and expostu- 
 lating with us, notwithstanding our long 
 indifference ; still admonishing the wicked 
 to forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
 their thoughts, and to " come under his 
 wings and be safe under his feathers." Oh 
 let us kiss the Son, lest he be angry ; lest 
 when his wrath be kindled we perish in our 
 sins. Is He already our tried corner-stone 
 of safety, then cordially do we add the last 
 clause of that M'arning verse, "Blessed are 
 they that trust in Him." What exceeding 
 consolation is contained in the strong as- 
 surance of faith, that the Eternal God is our 
 refuge, the Lord Jehovah our everlasting 
 strength. In pain, or in privation, how 
 precious to rest on Him, as on a mother's 
 tender breast rests her feeble babe, wearied 
 with suffering. When dark threatenings of 
 trouble and perplexity are gathering around, 
 their portentous appearance may distress, 
 but it cannot dismay. The prayer of the 
 Christian, more potent than the boldly 
 wielded rod of the electrician, draws out 
 from those black clouds every alarming 
 quality, and directs the salutary flame to 
 
152 
 
 kindle a new sacrifice of thanksgiving on 
 the altar of the heart. 
 
 If they be indeed the sufferings of Christ 
 that we in any shape endure ; if they be 
 cheerfully borne for his sake, with the same 
 great objects in view, of which he never 
 lost sight, and if they be met in the same 
 spirit of meek acquiescence, of uncomplain- 
 ing, patient, gentleness, so also by Christ 
 shall our consolations abound. Our broken, 
 because self-hewed, cisterns may be drained 
 and polluted, but the fountain of living 
 waters never fails. The Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the God of all mercies, is the 
 God, not of temporary, nor of partial, but 
 of all comfort. Oh let me pour out my 
 heart before him at all times, and I shall 
 find him a very present help in every time 
 of trouble. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh God ! I bewail the sinful coldness 
 with which the advances of thy tender pity 
 towards us, miserable sinners, are contin- 
 ually met ; especially I bewail my own guilt 
 and hardness of heart which have made me 
 criminally indifierent to the things of my 
 everlasting peace. Preserve me, oh gracious 
 
153 
 
 Father, from that judicially inflicted blind- 
 ness, under approaching judgments, which 
 is an awful forerunner of wrath in those 
 whom thou hast long wooed in mercy to 
 come under thy wings, and they would not. 
 Preserve me from disregarding the compas- 
 sionate strivings of thy Holy Spirit within 
 me. Let me never quench nor grieve Him, 
 but receiving him as the only Comforter, 
 may all the consohng truths of rehgion act 
 forcibly upon my heart, and enable me 
 even to rejoice in tribulations as thy ap- 
 pointed messengers for my good, as proofs 
 of thy love, and instruments of thy wisdom. 
 May grace and peace refresh me, and all 
 the people of thy pasture, through Jesus 
 Christ, our Saviour. — Amen. 
 
 " As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I 
 comfort you." — Isaiah Ixvi. 13. 
 
 When pangs it cannot utter, wring 
 
 The tender infant's frame, 
 And deeply, keenly, shoots the sting 
 
 Of ancestorial blame, 
 
154 
 
 What anodyne avails so well, 
 
 What sympathy so sweet, 
 As that which draws its secret spell 
 
 From hearts with love replete ? 
 
 And when advancing childhood knows 
 
 A less corporeal pang. 
 And youth's maturer, deeper woes, 
 
 Thick o'er her prospects hang. 
 
 Shall anguish find compassion bland, 
 
 Or grief, a friend sincere, 
 If not in her, whose loving hand, 
 
 Dried its primeval tear? 
 
 Oh then of Love what treasures deep, 
 
 Reveals the sacred Word, 
 When, pointing out to them that weep. 
 
 Their mercy beaming Lord. 
 
 Thus, thus the truthful witness saith, 
 (Hear ye the witness true,) 
 
 " As one-his mother comforteth, 
 So will I comfort you!" 
 
 What but a churl's ingratitude, 
 Remote from God would mourn, 
 
 Wooed by such sweet similitude, 
 Entreated to return ! 
 
155 
 
 Earth's best refreshments, frail and brief, 
 
 If leaned upon too much, 
 But aggravate the mourner's grief, 
 
 When wrested from its touch. 
 
 But He who piteth his own, 
 With more than mother's heart. 
 
 Gives peace from an eternal throne, 
 Peace never to depart ! 
 
 MEDITATION XXII. 
 
 " Their young ones are in good liking, they grow 
 up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto 
 them. Who hath sent out the wild ass free 1 or who 
 hath loosed the bonds of the wUd ass V 
 
 Job xxxix. 3, 4. 
 
 The material creation is as an open book 
 of instruction, wherein every being formed 
 with reasoning powers, may, by the atten- 
 tive use of them, attain to some perception 
 of the Wisdom and Glory of its Author. 
 Those clearer and more enlarged testimo- 
 nies, delivered by the instrumentality of 
 holy men of old, and hxmded down from age 
 
156 
 
 to age in their genuine writings, refer us 
 often to that universal volume, not only 
 freely employing the visible things around us 
 as symbols and tokens of abstract truths, 
 but pointing out much direct information as 
 to the ways and dealings of the Lord, to be 
 derived from closely examining the arrange- 
 ment of his Providence throughout the in- 
 ferior and inanimate divisions of nature. 
 But as in the early period when Job lived, 
 it was lamented, " None saith, where is 
 God my Maker ! that giveth songs in the 
 night, that maketh us to know more than 
 the beasts of the earth, and to be wiser than 
 the fowls of heaven ?" so in our own days, 
 there are many who discern not the work of 
 the Lord, neither regard the operations of 
 his hands, even when science has unfolded 
 to them the well-adapted economy estab- 
 lished towards every class of living beings, 
 and is still developing new wonders in every 
 compartment of nature's richly-gemmed 
 casket. It might appear strange that 
 beings, naturally inquisitive, should pay 
 little attention to innumerable curious and 
 interesting facts offered to their observation. 
 Yet however unlikely, it is but too prac- 
 tically visible, that a total want of considera- 
 tion, when viewing the beautiful and inge- 
 
157 
 
 niou3 works by which the eye of man is 
 surrounded, is a leading feature in the char- 
 acter of many, wlio yet call themselvea 
 rational and grateful creatures. Inquiries 
 are indeed made, and investigations dili- 
 gently prosecuted from vain-glorious, or 
 self-indulgent, or sordid motives. Profit- 
 able rewards, a distinguished reputation, 
 the gratification of a refined taste, or of an 
 eager curiosity, have all sufficient influence 
 to prompt men's accurate investigation into 
 the various modifications of animal exist- 
 ence, and the provisions made for its advan- 
 tage ; but comparatively few look into these 
 things, that by beholding the minute, the 
 never-failing sufficiency of his regulations, 
 they may bless and magnify the Divine 
 Regulator. The verse now chosen for med- 
 itation, relates to one of those wise provi- 
 dential arrangements, which perhaps 1 have 
 less attended to than I ought to have done ; 
 but that it is wwthy of attention cannot be 
 doubted, when we remark who it is that 
 alludes to it as claiming remark. The com- 
 mencing verse of this chapter hinted at 
 that singular fact, that the time of year 
 when undomesticated animals produce their 
 young, is always that most suitable for their 
 due nourishment j had the most trifling de- 
 
158 
 
 tails of this kind been left without atten- 
 tion in the due ordering of a stupendous 
 universe, what confusion must have arisen ; 
 but even "The wild goats bring forth at 
 an appointed time," that the herbage scat- 
 tered among the rocks may be prepared for 
 them at the fitting season. The tiny insect, 
 whose food is the verdant leaf, lies dormant 
 till that leaf expands ; the bird hatches not 
 its nestlings till the winter is past, till the 
 rains art over and gone, and the flowers 
 appear in the earth ; the hinds calve when 
 their young ones may grow up with corn. 
 Another circumstance is then noted, that 
 their young ones (that is the hinds, wild 
 goats, &c.) are in good liking ; they go 
 forth and return to them no more. The 
 description is concise, but it refers to a cir- 
 cumstance on which extended observations 
 might be made, namely, the remarkable 
 peculiarity, that man, who, considered 
 merely as to his animal nature, is assuredly 
 the noblest and most perfect of earth's chil- 
 dren, should be inferior to the meanest of 
 them, as to early capacity, for providing 
 himself with the necessaries of life. Con- 
 sidering him as a creature endowed with 
 mental powers and an immortal soul, this 
 apparent deficiency is subservient to his best 
 
159 
 
 interests — it cements the parental and filial 
 affections by lengthening the term of de- 
 pendant feebleness, on the one side, and of 
 assiduous tenderness on the other ; and it 
 affords time and opportunity for that judici- 
 ous and Nigilant culture, which it is the 
 purpose of his Creator man should receive, 
 and which when duly pursued in the spirit 
 of obedience, faith, and prayer, he has 
 promised to bless ; so that though his in- 
 fancy be weak and unpromising, his latter 
 end may be peace, and his resurrection 
 glory. Were the newly-weaned child cor- 
 poreally strong enough to "go forth," (like 
 the offspring of other creatures at a similar 
 period,) and return to his parents' roof no 
 more ; were he instinctively able like them 
 to seek and procure his own food, how 
 limited must have been the progress of our 
 race in, every intellectual and religious im- 
 provement. Voluntary submission to the 
 restraints of education, and voluntary en- 
 deavours to impose them by continuing the 
 tuition of the mind, after the body had 
 attained its full vigour, would scarcely have 
 been yielded or attempted, and it is easy to 
 perceive the consequences to society, to 
 religion, and every other advantage now 
 blessing the generation of men, which would 
 
160 
 
 have ensued. While we perceive, therefore, 
 how by this httle-noticed pecuHarity of our 
 infantine weakness, the goodness of God 
 has produced most important and widely 
 ramified effects on our eternal well-being, let 
 us be led to improve the presentconsideration 
 of it, 1st, By laying up as an axiom for our 
 guidance in every seeming anomaly in crea- 
 tion, that whether we can discern them or 
 not, the reasons of it are founded in perfect 
 foresight and consummate sagacity, and 
 that the deeper the researches of Christian 
 philosophy into the works and ways of 
 Heaven, the more will they reveal of Heav- 
 enly wisdom and benevolence. 2dly, If to 
 afford facility for instructing the youthful 
 mind, be the motive of God in making the 
 offspring of man more helpless than that 
 of any other race, let us not thwart his 
 gracious purpose by wasting that precious 
 seed-time for eternity. For creatures des- 
 tined oTily for this life, the consumption of 
 many years in education would be dispro- 
 portioned to their whole duration, and 
 accordingly the force of the instincts they 
 require is exceedingly increased ; but a 
 being formed for immortality may well con- 
 sider the brief period of his earthly span at its 
 fullest extension, thoroughly well bestowed 
 
161 
 
 on the great object of obtaining that holi- 
 ness, without which he can never see God, 
 and which therefore to remain unclothed 
 with, were to insure unspeakable misery to 
 himself for ever. While therefore it behoves 
 parents to use diligently their talent of in- 
 fluence over the impressible affections of 
 their httle ones, we may all find it beneficial 
 to remember, that our heavenly Father is 
 by the various changes that happen in our 
 temporal state, carrying us through a pro- 
 cess of instruction and refinement, which 
 however mysterious or unnecessary it may 
 now seem, will assuredly develope itself to 
 our ripened faculties in all its deep discretion. 
 The words which the Lord spake to Peter, 
 " What I do thou knowest not now, but 
 thou shalt know hereafter," may in an en- 
 larged sense be applicable to every believer. 
 Let us, only yield ourselves entirely and 
 submissively to the means appointed for 
 training us to the maturity of faith, and we 
 shall at last have cause to rejoice that the 
 discipline of our spirits for a higher world 
 was longer and more painful than our own 
 hearts might have chosen. Guided by the 
 Lord's counsel here, we shall hereafter see 
 Him, not through a glass darkly, but face 
 to face, and know even as we are knownv 
 12 
 
162 
 
 My soul, this is the felicity of his chosen. 
 Rest not satisfied till thou hast a good hope 
 that thy name is written among them. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Thou, oh Lord ! art our Father, our Re- 
 deemer ; from everlasting is thy name. 
 May thy paternal protection and teaching 
 be never forfeited by the backwardness and 
 obstinacy of my behaviour towards thee. 
 Thou hast made every thing beautiful in 
 its time ; all thy works redound to thine 
 honour. My soul praiseth thee, oh God ! 
 that thou hast of thy free goodness, created 
 me with powers capable of receiving some 
 knowledge of thy wisdom and goodness, 
 although thy thoughts surpass my highest 
 thoughts, as the heavens are high above the 
 earth. But thou hast encouraged mc to an- 
 ticipate a time of increased capacity, of 
 purified and enlarged faculties. May it be 
 my delight to prepare for the arrival of that 
 blissful period ; and by docility, under all 
 the methods by which thy grace would 
 mould my character for a hap[)y eternity, 
 may I be proved to be indeed one of thy 
 ransomed people, for Jesus Christ's sake. — 
 Amen. 
 
163 
 
 " Train up a child in the way he should go ; and 
 tv'hen he is old, he will not depart from it." 
 
 Proverbs xxii. 6. 
 
 Search all the tribes of hving things 
 That roam the woods or dive the main, 
 
 Float through the air on burnished wings, 
 Or scale the rock, or crop the plain. 
 
 Where shall investigating skill 
 Dependence so enduring trace, 
 
 Weakness to act, and strength to will, 
 As mark our planets ruhng race ? 
 
 Man only, views returning Spring, 
 With frequent blossoms deck the trees, 
 
 While he himself a helpless thing 
 Is dandled on a parent's knees. 
 
 Man only (sovereign though he be, 
 By Heaven's deputed rule below) 
 
 Successive summer's fruits may see. 
 Ere his own life her summer know. 
 
 And why does Providence prolong 
 The hours of feebleness and care? 
 
 Why is not man at once a% strong 
 As ail inferior creatures are ? 
 
164 
 
 Is there no cause ? when thus is gained 
 Time for tuition and control ? 
 
 Is there no cause, if thus be trained 
 For heavenly bliss, the human soul? 
 
 Where instinct guides, sufficeth well 
 Protection and provision kind, 
 
 And short, though potent, is the spell 
 Which only for such ends doth bind. 
 
 But Reason's children, nobler made, 
 A culture more laborious need. 
 
 And claim a Parent's fostering aid, 
 For higher purpose, richer meed. 
 
 Train up thy child as he should go. 
 Yea train him in "the" glorious "Way," 
 
 The only path from sin and woe, 
 The only path to endless day. 
 
 If thou thyself that pathway tread 
 Thou knowest well its narrow gate, 
 
 And there by yearning nature led. 
 
 Dost for thine offspring pleading wait. 
 
 " And if they enter, shall their feet 
 To devious paths dechne again ?" 
 
 Take to thine heart the promise sweet, 
 And hush to rest thy doubtings vain. 
 
165 
 
 " Train np a child where he should go," 
 He may fall down, may swerve, may 
 start, 
 
 But this saith He, who best can know, 
 " Thence will he not when old depart." 
 
 MEDITATION XXIII. 
 
 " My little children, of whom I travail in birth un- 
 til Christ be formed in you." — Galatians iv. 19. 
 
 What fervent love must that have been 
 which chose for its expression this energetic 
 metaphor. What a picture does it set be- 
 fore us of Christian intercession in its aim, 
 and in its fervency. But not only for ad- 
 miration and applause, is it here recorded : 
 as a guide for our own meditation and self- 
 examination, it is calculated to be very use- 
 ful ; as such would I now employ it. Do I 
 not profess to be a servant of the same Lord, 
 to whose glory Paul devoted himself? Do 
 I not profess to derive vitality from the same 
 Spirit of holiness, which kindled his heart 
 into a glow of sympathizing philanthropy, 
 {ind made him become all things to all 
 
166 
 
 men," that by any means he might win 
 some; which made him willing to spend 
 and be spent in the service of Christ ; which 
 made him zealous in never-ceasing prayers 
 and exertions to spread through the whole 
 earth the blessed gospel of salvation, and to 
 persuade those who nominally accepted it, 
 to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour 
 in all things. But if this be so, if I am in- 
 deed purchased by the same redeeming 
 blood, and looking for the same glorious 
 immortality, and sealed by the same Spirit, 
 which thus worked mightily in Saul of Tar- 
 sus, and transformed him by the renewing 
 of his mind, do my feelings at all corres- 
 pond in their object or their intensity with 
 those which influenced him to use the lan- 
 guage before me ? 
 
 The Apostle calls the Galatians, to whom 
 he writes, " my little children, of whom I 
 travail in birth again." Thus intimating 
 that they were already, to all appearance, 
 Christians, and that his former supplications 
 and labours on their behalf had been heard 
 and blessed ; but does he therefore consider 
 his work done, and his continued pleadings 
 superfluous? or should we deem it enough 
 when we see our children, our friends, or 
 our relatives, embracing the cause of piety, 
 
167 
 
 and avowing themselves to be on the Lord's 
 side ? Should we thenceforth relax in the 
 fervour of our petitions for them, resting 
 satisfied that they are safe^ and further 
 intercession unnecessary? So did not Paul : 
 Like him, let us rather redouble than remit 
 them. Let us be instant in seeking for 
 them the perfecting of that good work which 
 we hope to be already commenced. Let us 
 further that work by every counsel, every 
 aid, in our power. Let us not faint, nor be 
 weary of interceding, that their whole mind 
 may be brought into such conformity to 
 Christ, that he may truly be said to be 
 *' formed " in them. 
 
 We are more easily awakened to anxiety 
 for the conversion of those we love, than 
 upheld in a steady course of solicitous efforts 
 for their progress and improvement after 
 it. ' Yet such efforts are surely implied in 
 the Apostle's parental address, and that they 
 should increase, not diminish, in vigour as 
 the blessing to be attained approaches nearer 
 to our possession. It is often difficult for 
 hearts prone to unbelief as ours are, to 
 hope on even against hope, to view things 
 ahoays through the cheering medium of the 
 promises, and so, to pursue perseveringly 
 our way of exertion, though nothing but dis- 
 
1.68 
 
 couragement appear to follow our endea- 
 vours. We know that this is our duty, but 
 it is one against which the "Anakim" of 
 the land muster in stoutest opposition ; but 
 what an earnest of good things to come, is 
 the first tear of unfeigned humihation, the 
 very first tottering step that decidedly turns 
 towards the cross. When we remember 
 who it is that worketh in the regenerate, 
 both to will and to do, what encouragement 
 ought we to derive in helping them forward 
 with our prayers, who have apparently the 
 the work of grace proceeding upon them. 
 "This is to be honoured indeed ; to be fellow- 
 workers with the Lord our Saviour, who not 
 only engrafts the branches into Himself, the 
 true vine, but so deals with them as to in- 
 crease their fertility. And surely the Apostle 
 felt this encouraging incitement, or he would 
 not have said so confidently, " Until Christ 
 be formed in you." Had the result of his 
 petitions- and exhortations been doubtful, 
 he would have said, in hopes, or to the end 
 that this may be ; but until ! until ! There 
 is no dubiousness here. It is just the pros- 
 ecution of appointed means for an assured 
 end, and evinces the same principle, which 
 on a memorable occasion prompted the 
 writer, though supernaturally convinced of 
 
169 
 
 final safety from shipwreck, to urge the 
 means of preservation as indispensable. 
 
 Another thing to be noticed in this verse 
 is the impUed fact, that the formation of 
 the Christian character is a secret internal 
 work ; that it needs another agent than him 
 who is to evidence its operation by the tenor 
 of his conduct; that the assistance of this 
 all-sufficient Agent is to be implored and 
 received by addressing the throne of grace, 
 and that the standard of perfection, the full 
 measure of stature to which the Christian 
 must be always aspiring, is nothing less, 
 than as his Saviour was, so to be himself in 
 this world. Vain and fallacious is every 
 criterion as to a really saving union with 
 Christ, which embraces not unreserved sub- 
 mission to the continual influence of the 
 Holy Spirit dwelHng in the soul, as in a 
 temple, and producing likeness to Him, 
 with whom it claims membership, fellow- 
 ship and everlasting heritage. Tried by 
 this criterion, if we are deficient, our own 
 prayers must not indeed be wanting to 
 attain a state of more security; but we may 
 also well ask the prayers of the Lord's de- 
 voted people, and most especially should 
 we entreat those who are set over us in the 
 ministry, that they would earnestly plead 
 
170 
 
 with the Lord, — in the expressive language 
 of the Prophet, — that they would give him 
 no rest, till Christ be formed in us, till He 
 make us with his chosen Jerusalem, a name 
 and a praise in the earth. Nor can we 
 cultivate too carefully that spirit of holy 
 charity which feels deeply for the spiritual 
 state of others, which " hopeth all things," 
 and rejoiceth in the truth, where even a 
 dawning of its triumphant day can be dis- 
 cerned, and which labours strenuously, 
 though silently and unostentatiously, by 
 supplications unceasing, to obtain increase 
 of the church, and to contribute to its edifi- 
 cation. 
 
 Could we but duly regard the value of 
 that which is to endure for ever, — could we 
 weigh souls after the shekel of the sanc- 
 tuary ; could we estimate as He estimated 
 them, who agonized in prayer for their 
 eternal salvation, till "his sweat was as it 
 were great drops of blood, falling down to 
 the ground" with the vehemence of that 
 inward conflict, — oh ! how should we be 
 ashamed of our apathy in suffering sin 
 upon our brethren, in omitting any thing 
 which may save them from perishing for 
 whom Christ died, in being indifferent to 
 the growth in grace of those for whom 
 
171 
 
 Paul, were he now living, would be fervent 
 in prayer night and day ! 
 
 The answer of assent to all this is on our 
 lips, may it sound deep into our consciences, 
 and animate our affections into such zeal, 
 as through Divine grace may prove inde- 
 fatigable for promoting the enlargement, 
 the purity and the peace, of our spiritual 
 Zion. " They that be w ise shall shine as 
 the brightness of the firmament, and they 
 that turn many to righteousness, as the 
 stars for ever and ever." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh ever glorious King of Zion ! unite me 
 to thyself in the bonds of thy everlasting 
 covenant, and to thy people in the bonds of 
 love and holy communion. Give me occa- 
 sion, to thank thee for the triumphs of thy 
 grace, in making known by me the excel- 
 lency of thy knowledge in every place. But 
 especially draw forth my heart in much sin- 
 cerity of desire for those who are nearest 
 and dearest to me after the flesh, and for 
 those with whom I am connected in the in- 
 timacy of Christian fellowship. Give me an 
 abiding interest in their prayers, and an ever 
 widening solicitude for thy glory in the con- 
 
172 
 
 version of sinners. Oh Lord! send forth 
 labourers into thine harvest, strengthened 
 by thine own hand in the great and honour- 
 able task of preparing souls for thy everlast- 
 ing kingdom, and may they never remit 
 their exertions, while there remains the least 
 glimmering of hope, that Christ may yet be 
 formed in them, and become in them the 
 hope of glory. Lift up the light of thy coun- 
 tenance, oh gracious Lord ! upon me, and 
 upon all who truly seek thee. Accept us 
 mercifully through the meritorious sacrifice 
 of the cross, and to God the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Spirit, be honour and praise for 
 ever and ever. — Amen. 
 
 " He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall 
 be satisfied :"—/sajo/2 liii. 11. 
 
 " Who for the joy that was set hefore Him, endured 
 the cross, despising the shame." — Hebrews xii. 2. 
 
 The bark has struck upon the reef, 
 The surge is mountain high. 
 
 Who ventures forth to their relief? 
 Shall he not surely die ? 
 
173 
 
 Oh should they gain the rescuing strand, 
 That Hfe-boat and her crew, 
 
 And one by one in safety land, 
 And their Deliverer too, 
 
 Who would not read within that heart. 
 
 So nobly self-denied, 
 Engraven on its liveliest part, 
 
 " Now am I satisfied !" 
 
 The fruit of peril must be dear, 
 This well the Mother knows, 
 
 When falls the calm delightful tear 
 That terminates her throes. 
 
 But how may human emblem suit. 
 
 Or human tongue repeat, 
 The Saviour's anguish ! or its fruit 
 
 Ineffably complete ? 
 
 Full in his knowledge was the weight 
 
 Impending over man, 
 Yea, all the horrors of a state 
 
 Of everlasting ban. 
 
 Full in his knowledge was the weight, 
 
 Of blessing for the pure. 
 And all the glories of a state, 
 
 Whose joys for ever dure. 
 
174 
 
 And love was stronger than the grave, 
 
 And deeper than our loss ; 
 It bufFetted Temptation's wave, 
 
 It triumphed o'er the cross ; — 
 
 It drained the darkest, bitterest draught, 
 That Wrath for sin could pour, 
 
 Defeated all the Serpent's craft, 
 And opened Heaven's door; — 
 
 It toiled, it suffered, it obeyed, 
 And who the joy shall mete, 
 
 When "it is finish'd," Jesus said, 
 And saw his work complete! 
 
 This was the travail of thy soul, 
 
 Oh Son ofGod Most High! 
 Thy ransom'd church, while ages roil, 
 
 Was all within thine eye. 
 
 Yes for this joy thou didst despise 
 All suffering and all shame : 
 
 Oh give us grace, and make us wise, 
 For thee to do the same. 
 
175 
 
 MEDITATION XXIV. 
 
 " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least 
 of these my brethren, ye have clone it unto me." 
 St. Matthew xxv. 40. 
 
 It cannot be too often dwelt upon, that the 
 motive and not the manner of our perform- 
 ances designates them as really good or bad 
 in the sight of God. Worldly men, like 
 Herod, do " many things," which, towards 
 society, have much in them that is good, 
 pleasing, and advantageous,— much that 
 passes current as kind, disinterested, valu- 
 able ; but do we examine for the deeply 
 engraved stamp of the genuine gold, the 
 royal mark which distinguishes the pure 
 metal from the dross and from the counter- 
 feit, where it is to be found, and what is it? 
 It is good to feed the hungry, and to clothe 
 the naked, says one, and am I not a mem- 
 ber of a benevolent society which does both, 
 which gives bread to the hungry, and rai- 
 ment to the destitute? It is good to minister 
 to the aged and to the sick, says another, 
 and do I not subscribe to this hospital, or to 
 that infirmary, which provides efficiently for 
 
176 
 
 these purposes ? It is good to instruct the 
 ignorant and evangelize the world, says a 
 third, and towards distributing Bibles or 
 supporting missionaries, I am ever ready 
 liberally to contribute. 
 
 One comprehensive answer includes every 
 variety of such cases. When you aid those 
 whom Jesus condescends to call hia 
 brethren, do you do so, because they are 
 such? 
 
 If full of affection to your great Redeemer, 
 you look round and say, what shall I render 
 in proof of my gratitude ; and your memory 
 recalls his words, " If ye love me, keep my 
 commandments," — " a new commandment 
 give I unto you, that ye love one another," 
 and so having nothing else to confer, your 
 go forth, even with the cup of cold water, 
 to refresh his meanest member, you shall 
 in no wise lose the blessing and the reward, 
 — that blessing and that reward which will 
 assuredly be most dear to you, of hearing 
 from his own lips the acknowledgment, 
 " Inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of 
 these my brethren, ye did it unto me." But 
 if God be not at all in our contemplation- 
 when we do actions beneficial to man, from' 
 man alone must we look for their recom- 
 pence. Let the thanks of the receiver, or 
 
177 
 
 the praise of the beholder, crown with sati^ 
 faction the merely compassionate or the 
 merely liberal ; but let the Christian seek 
 his Father, which seeth in secret, and say, 
 accept, oh Lord, the feeble endeavours of a 
 wiUing mind, receive this labour of love as 
 a token of obedience and gratitude, and 
 help me to perform it as unto thyself. 
 
 But we are sometimes apt to forget, that 
 if the love of Christ constrains us for his sake 
 to view with tender pity every distressed 
 fellow creature, however slight may be our 
 acquaintance or connection with them, as 
 all bearing that form, wherein the Son of 
 God thought it net below his dignity to 
 inhabit ; it is no less the love of Christ, not 
 any inferior excitement, which must prompt 
 and consecrate our services towards those 
 with Vshom the ties of kindred and of friend- 
 ship bring us closely into contact. 
 
 Are we called to the momentous task of 
 educating for eternity a being dear to us 
 as the breath of our own life, and the light 
 of heaven ? That being is yet dearer to 
 the Lord, who bought it, not with silver or 
 gold, but by his own unblemished oblatioa 
 of himself. Nurture it then as you would 
 a child of God. Give it up to him as not 
 yours only but his ; receive it back as the 
 13 
 
178 
 
 Hebrew mother did her rescued Moses, to 
 nurse it in his way?. Like Peter obey your 
 Lord's injunction to feed his lambs, and 
 like Peter obtain confidence to regard both 
 it. and yourself as partakers of the glory 
 that shall be revealed. 
 
 It is delightful to fulfil relative duties in 
 Christ, and for Christ, instead of finding 
 them snares and hindrances, (as it too often 
 the case,) by setting out upon them with 
 unfixed principles, or deficient views of 
 duty. " Whether ye eat or drink, or 
 whatsoever ye do. do all to the glory of 
 God," is a command which well explains 
 how piety does not withdraw us from need- 
 ful occupations and refreshments, but sets 
 us rather to watch over their nature, degree, 
 and peculiar influence on our own disposi- 
 tions. If they neither infringe the law of 
 love to God and man, by their natural ten- 
 dency, -their abuse, or their excess, they 
 may be presented to Him as part of our 
 cheerful obedience, and they will be ac- 
 cepted, and through Christ sanctified. 
 
 And if it should be thus with our very 
 meals and recreations, how much more with 
 our almsgiving, our exhortations, our teach- 
 ings. When we give, or when we speak, 
 could we always but keep in view, that it 
 
179 
 
 is a fellow-member of that body to which 
 unmerited mercy alone has united ks, whom 
 we relieve, or whom we advise, or over 
 whose tender infancy we carefully watch, 
 would not a richer unction of affectionate 
 sympathy pervade our free-will offerings, 
 and a holier dedication mark our daily em- 
 ployments? May it be thus with us hence- 
 forth, that God in all things may be glorified 
 through Jesus Christ. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Be not far from me, oh Lord my God, 
 in any thing that I do. In all that 1 plan, 
 and in all that I undertake ; when I rise 
 up and when I lie down ; when 1 go forth 
 and when I return ; when I speak and when 
 1 hear ; when I read thy Word, or when 
 I sin'g thy praise, enable me still to choose 
 the good, and refuse the evil. Let me ever 
 bear in mind, that though living in the 
 world as a scene of duty and trial, I must 
 not be conformed to its spirit, nor bhnd to 
 its vices. Oh Lord, help me to be ever 
 proving what is thy good and acceptable 
 and perfect will, and with firm reliance on 
 the immutable truth of thy promises, may 
 I follow the way of thy commandments, 
 
ISO 
 
 looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesua 
 Christ unto eternal Hfe. For his sake, 
 Eternal Father, hear and pardon my imper- 
 fect prayers. — Amen. 
 
 '' A child left to himself bringeth his mother to 
 Bhame." — Proverbs xxix. 15. 
 
 " Yet now hear, O Jacob ni}^ servant ; and Israel, 
 whom I have chosen : Thus saitii the Lord that mado 
 Ihee, and formed thee from the womb, which will 
 help thee ; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant ; and thou, 
 Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour 
 water Jupon him that is thirsty, and floods upon 
 the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy 
 eeed, and my blessing upon thine offspring : And 
 they sliall spring up as among the grass, as willows 
 by the water-courses. One shall say, I am the 
 Lord's ; and another shall call himfelf by the name 
 of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with his hand 
 unto the Lord, and surname himself by th® name of 
 Israel. — Isaiah xliv. 1 — 5. 
 
 A mother ! oh the sacred trust 
 
 Confided in that tender name, 
 To rear and sway, with guidance just, 
 
 The dedicated of the Lord ! 
 
 To stamp the ductile mind of youth 
 With lessons time shall ne'er efface. 
 
 With reverence for Eternal Truth, 
 With longings for refining grace j 
 
181 
 
 To watch, to warn, to check, to teach, 
 To point the path and cheer the way, 
 
 Enforcing by affection's speech, 
 
 What wisdom else might vainly say ; 
 
 Who is sufficient for the task ? 
 
 Who trembles not the task is theirs. 
 Which doth imperatively ask, 
 
 Such anxious unremitting cares ? 
 
 Who is sufficient ! not indeed 
 The frail, unaided, fleshly arm ; 
 
 But Faith hath stores for every need, 
 And cordials for each new alarm. 
 
 " Fear oot Jesurun," saith the Lord, 
 " My chosen servants, fear not you, 
 
 My Sp'irit on your seed is poured. 
 My blessing on your offspring too." 
 
 They shall spring up among the grass, 
 The church's ever verdant field. 
 
 Where crystal flowing waters pass. 
 
 Where healing herbs their fragrance yield. 
 
 As willows by the water course. 
 Their pHant boughs luxuriant bend, 
 
 So drawn by Love's constraining force. 
 Their hea^-ts shall seek the sinner's friend. 
 
182 
 
 " I am the Lord's, those hearts shall say, 
 Emmanuel's, by recorded vow ; 
 
 Like Jacob, to their God they'll pray. 
 Like Israel to Jehovah bow." 
 
 What gracious words, what prospects fair ! 
 
 Is He not mighty to fulfil ? 
 Plead them, my soul, in faithful prayer, 
 
 He can perform them, and He will. 
 
 MEDITATION XXV. 
 
 " Lord, in trouble have they visited tliee ; they 
 poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon 
 them." — Isaiah xxvi. 16. 
 
 There are few men living to whom these 
 words might not with truth be applied : so 
 natural is it to a dependant, powerless being 
 to look out of himself for help in the hour 
 of extreme distress. Like the mariners 
 whom Jonah accompanied, when men are 
 afraid, each one cries unto his God. " In 
 their distress they did seek him early ;" but, 
 alas ! this is all too often in the spirit of 
 selfishness unmixed. Love to themselves. 
 
183 
 
 and the dread of continued suffering, alone 
 influence lliem, and not the feehng of ren- 
 dering honour to Him whose sovereignty 
 they yet virtually acknowledge, and whose 
 succour they implore ; and because they 
 have thus " no root," is it wonderful that 
 their piety should be evanescent as the ter- 
 rors which awaken it. 
 
 But is not the dread of approaching 
 punishment, or the apprehension of imme- 
 diate death, in any case salutary? Are they 
 that exhort henceforth to dismiss from their 
 quiver the terrors of the Lord as ineffica- 
 cious for producing true conversion ? Are 
 they that tremble, because the great and 
 dreadful God, holding in his hand the issues 
 of life and death, is dealing with them in 
 apparent wrath, who are deeply bowed 
 down in awe before the displays of his 
 retributive justice towards the de?pisers of 
 his forbearance and long-suflfering, — are 
 they to be told that fears thus excited are 
 vain, and lead only to delusion, — that to be 
 dismayed under affliction by the reproaches 
 of conscience, or to shrink I'rom the ven- 
 geance which our sins have incurred, is " to 
 be in bondage," — that repentance so pro- 
 duced is in all cases unsound and unaccept- 
 able, and will prove merely transitory 1 
 
184 
 
 The Scriptures arc remote from such con- 
 clusions ; they inform us, that when the 
 Lord's judgments are in the earth, the in- 
 habitants thereof will learn righteousness ; 
 they command us to serve God with rever- 
 ence and godly fear, for " our God is a con- 
 suming fire ;" and they continually intimate 
 that he heareth the groaning of the misera- 
 ble, and is very gracious, even to the most 
 wretched, when they cry to him in their 
 destitution and despair, seeking comfort 
 only from his mercy and goodness towards 
 them. They ever intimate to us, that the 
 most awful of all human conditions is that 
 which is denoted by insensibility under 
 God's uplifted scourge ; by " refusing to 
 receive correction," — " Why should ye be 
 amitten any more ? Ye will revolt more 
 and more." Never was surely a more aw- 
 ful denunciation ! The prediction of any 
 calamity, however sweeping on the nation, 
 however 'agonizing on the individual, which 
 the Prophet could have put forth, would 
 have been light compared to it ! 
 
 What is it, then, which makes a differ- 
 ence between the mere cry of terror, and 
 the out-breathings of a spirit humiliated by 
 anguish into sentiments of profound godly 
 sorrow, and poured forth in earnest peti- 
 
185 
 
 tiong for relief and protection from an omni- 
 potent Jehovah? Great is the difference, 
 essential the distinction in every way, in 
 their object, their nature, their effects. 
 Much might be said on all of these ; but 
 at present it may be as well to confine our- 
 selves to the last mentioned. It is a safe 
 and easy, as it is also an authorized test, 
 " By their fruits ye shall know them," let 
 repentance be tried by it, and it will readily 
 appear which are real and which spurious 
 of its apparent symptoms. That fear must 
 be insufficient which is unaccompanied by 
 love ; and where love is not, there is not 
 the fulfilling of God's law. Should we 
 observe an unwonted frown on the coun- 
 tenance of an earthly benefactor, and be 
 sensible of an alteration in the exercises of 
 his benignity, our first inquiry would be, 
 what can possibly have induced so kind a 
 friend to act on this occasion with seeming 
 severity ? How have I oflTended him ? and 
 if we could trace the cause to some negli- 
 gence or ingratitude of our own, would not 
 the only probable course towards reconcili- 
 ation be an altered behaviour on our part? 
 
 Thus the alarms arising under danger 
 from a sense of guilt, if produced in us by 
 God's saving grace, will neither subside nor 
 
186 
 
 terminate in mere confessions and depreca- 
 tions. They trouble not the smooth waters 
 of life without also healing him whose dis- 
 eased frame is exposed to their influence, 
 and bringing him forth "a new creature," 
 devoted in heart and mind to his heavenly 
 Physican ; whereas the sorrows of the world 
 worketh death, — every fresh trial, unim- 
 proved in the right way, hardening the heart, 
 and lessening its ability to turn unto Him 
 that smiteth. Oh of what importance is it, 
 then, to see that afflictions be indeed of 
 abiding benefit, and to bear forth with us 
 into the business and the allurements of 
 life, those prospects which, under the press- 
 ure of sickness or of peril, caused us to cry 
 out, " God be merciful to me a sinner !" 
 The recollection of danger escaped can 
 never avail us, unless the renewal of danger 
 be guarded against. Not only while in suf- 
 fering or in fear, but at all times, in all 
 places, "Lord save us or we perish," must 
 be our heartfelt prayer. Oh may He enable 
 us, by our spiritual thank-oflerings and du- 
 tiful conduct through life, to pay him ac- 
 ceptably those vows which we may have 
 made in the time of trouble. 
 
187 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh Almighty Lord God, thou hast not 
 dealt with me after my sins, neither reward- 
 ed me after my iniquities : Thou hast stayed 
 thy rough wind in the day of thy east wind, 
 in thy wrath remembering mercy : Thou 
 hast debated with me in measure, and hast 
 kept back my soul from the pit, and my life 
 from perishing, when thou didst see fit to 
 exercise me with pain upon my bed, and the 
 multitude of my bones with strong pain. Oh 
 continue forth thy loving kindness and thy 
 truth unto thy servant, and establish me so 
 firmly on the Rock of Salvation, that I may 
 never be removed. Through the provided 
 ransom, may my soul, not only be delivered 
 from the curse of thy just anger, but reno- 
 vated, day by day, and preserved in holiness 
 to the glory of thy grace in Christ Jesus, 
 our Lord and Mediator. — Amen. 
 
 " And Jesus answering, said, Were there not ten 
 cleansed 1 but where are the nine 1" 
 
 St. Luks XYil. 17, 
 
 A time of deep distress 
 Impels us. Lord, to thee: 
 
 We feel our utter feebleness. 
 And to thy greataesa flaet 
 
188 
 
 But freedom from alarm, 
 
 A brightly shining sky, 
 Life's current flowing clear and calm, 
 
 A thousand comforts nigh, 
 
 These form a state of peace. 
 
 And well we might suppose. 
 Such gifts would heav'nward love increase, 
 
 Far more than torturing M'oes. 
 
 Yet, ah ye sons of men ! 
 
 Cold and ungrateful race, 
 Nine lepers thankless out often 
 
 Best parallels your case. 
 
 Deceitful as the brook 
 
 Dried by the summer's sun, 
 *Twere often vain in health to look, 
 
 For what Affliction won. 
 
 The vows in trouble breathed, 
 
 Engraved on brass may seem, 
 Yet prove, when trouble's sword is sheathed, 
 
 Writ on the faithless stream ! 
 
 Oh ! thou preserving God, 
 
 Whose mercy led me through 
 The strokes of thy paternal rod, 
 
 For sin so justly due, 
 
189 
 
 Still more thy grace I need 
 
 To guard my treacherous heart, 
 
 From pain and sickness when I'm freed, 
 Than while beneath their smart. 
 
 A thousand, thousand snares, 
 
 As ease and health return. 
 Alluring joys, absorbing cares, 
 
 My spirit can discern. 
 
 Lord Jesus ! let thy prayer 
 
 In my behalf prevail, 
 Where'er I am, be Thou but there, 
 
 And faith shall never fail. 
 
 ' MEDITATION XXVI. 
 
 " WTiat mean je by these stonea.'"— Joshua iv. 6. 
 
 In all nations the custom has prevailed of 
 preserving to future generations, by monu- 
 ments and observances, a lively impression 
 of their forefathers' historical annals, and in 
 the early times of the world, even individual 
 contracts were concluded by the joint erec- 
 
190 
 
 tion of a " pillar of witness," which should 
 serve to remind each party of the solemn 
 ratification of their mutual promises made, 
 as it were, in its presence. The Israelites 
 were a nation so nurtured in marvels from 
 their first existence as a distinct people, that 
 they seem, (like many in our own day who 
 behold, with careless eyes, the daily mira- 
 cles of creation and providence,) to have 
 forgotten that there a^ as any thing remark- 
 able in the dealings of God M'ith them, and 
 to have become callous to their special mer- 
 cies. Though their bread was rained from 
 heaven, and water flowed from the rock to 
 refresh their fainting bodies, those miracu- 
 lous supplies were received with the same 
 indifference, which too often characterizes 
 the professed followers of Jesus, before 
 whom the nourishing truths of the Gospel 
 are spread, till they become scarcely con- 
 scious of the inestimable privilege thus en- 
 joyed. 
 
 But the merciful and gracious God inflicted 
 not on Israel the extermination their provo- 
 cations merited. He permitted Moses, as 
 a type of the one Mediator, Jesus, to plead 
 successfully for their continued national 
 existence ; by new wonders and new bene- 
 fits He " wrought with them for his name's 
 
191 
 
 sake," exemplifying to all creatures that 
 long-suffering patience of his, by which 
 alone his church reaches Canaan in safety 
 under the guidance of their spiritual Joshua, 
 and prepared them after their long wander- 
 ing in the wilderness, for a triumphant en- 
 trance into the land he had promised them 
 for an inheritance. 
 
 To shew that notwithstanding past for- 
 feitures of his favour, He was still to tliem 
 a God of blessing and of grace, and as if 
 by renewing in their memories the transac- 
 tions of the Red Sea, to give proof of his 
 being still pledged to put them in possession 
 of that Canaan for which they quitted 
 Egypt, he divided the waters of Jordan, 
 and made them to pass through the midst 
 of it, and while the miracle was yet in pro- 
 gress, provided a memorial of it for their 
 successive descendants, by erecting in the 
 centre of the river, where the feet of the 
 priests had stood, and on the banks, so 
 miraculously reached, massive stones taken 
 from its then uncovered bed. 
 
 When a mighty deliverance of Israel from 
 the oppressing Philistines took place some 
 centuries after, "Samuel took a stone,"* 
 and giving it an appropriate title, Ebenezer, 
 
 1 Sani. vii. 12. 
 
192 
 
 or the stone of help, set before the observa- 
 tion of all future inquirers, as to its remark- 
 able position, the important truth that the 
 battle is the Lord's, that He ruleth in the 
 generations of men, that he hath not said in 
 vain unto his faithful ones, '* Seek ye my 
 face," but that instead of continually fear- 
 ing for the fury of the oppressor, they should 
 contend manfully in His strength, and still 
 acknowledge, as they retrace past conflicts 
 and victories, " Hitherto has the Lord 
 helped me." 
 
 Jfational perpetuations of signal events 
 are in our days devoted chiefly to very sub- 
 ordinate ends. As in many other respects, 
 the glory of man is in this matter a more 
 prevaihng summons to us, than the glory of 
 God. If England once had a Clueen, who 
 shewed commendable piety in acknowledg- 
 ing the hand of the Omnipotent, by com- 
 manding a medal to be struck after the dis- 
 comfiture of the Spanish Armada, bearing 
 that sublime inscription, "Thou didst blow 
 with thy winds and they were scattered," 
 the present day of practical infidelity would 
 too probably laugh to scorn any similar ac- 
 knowledgment of the superintending Deity. 
 But in the solitude of that happy Bethel, 
 where the Christian has found himself as at 
 ithe gate of heaven, where he has studied 
 
193 
 
 the sweet mystery of Divine love, till his 
 heart melted in entire subjection to that 
 God, of whose least mercies he felt his un- 
 worthiness, — where he has meditated in 
 faith on the wisdom and mercy of the incar- 
 nation, till he saw how it " opened heaven," 
 and formed a ladder of communication be- 
 tween its holy courts and the polluted 
 dwellinor-place of man ; there are yet I trust 
 many who are setting up a pillar of remem- 
 brance, which in future hours of depression 
 and disquietude, will remind them how they 
 have tasted that the Lord is gracious, and 
 revive their trust in his everlasting mercy. 
 " When deep calleth unto deep," and escape 
 seems so difficult that nature says, " des- 
 pair," some association is made to recall the 
 " months that are past," when the " secret 
 of God" was "upon our tabernacle," and 
 " his candle" shined upon our heads, — we 
 remember our God concerning such and 
 such particular seasons as the JPsalmist did 
 concerning the land of Hermon, and the 
 hill of Mizar, and at length are generally 
 enabled to say with him, " Why art thou 
 cast down, oh my soul, and why art thou 
 disquieted within me ? I will yet trust in 
 Him, who is the help of my countenance 
 and my God." 
 
 H 
 
194 
 
 It is obvious that the same principle may 
 be carried through all the varieties of life. 
 Anniversaries of our several changes, joyful 
 or sorrowful, will suggest trains of improv- 
 ing thought. A season of new and exciting 
 emotions, if duly employed, will be fruitful 
 in thoughts which will recur to the mind 
 very powerfully and beneficially in after life. 
 Let us neglect none of these helps on our 
 way to the celestial city. Let us treasure 
 them up for those that shall be young when 
 ■we are old, so that when asked by thetn, 
 " What mean ye by these reminiscences," 
 a reply which shall tend at once to their 
 improvement, and the glory of our great 
 Preserver, may be given, and we may re- 
 late to them, on such and such occasions, 
 " the Lord did wonderously," — we sought 
 him and he was found of us, " Go ye and 
 do likewise." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh Lord engrave upon my memory and 
 affections, an imperishable record of thy 
 manifold and unceasing merciestowards me, 
 through the several periods of my life. 
 May I frequently retrace in ray mind the 
 way by which thou hast led me hitherto, to 
 
195 
 
 adore thy goodness and faithfulness, and to 
 bewail my own ingratitude. Alay every 
 past fall serve as a beacon to my future 
 steps, and instruct me in the humbling 
 knowledge of my own defects. Thy coun- 
 sels of old are faithfulness and truth. Thou 
 forsakest not them that fear thee. I put 
 my trust in thee, therefore, oh God, to open 
 for me a safe pathway into the land of thy 
 heavenly promises, that with all thy re- 
 deemed I rnay praise thy name for ever.— 
 Amen. 
 
 " Set thee up way-marks."— JerewwA xxxi. 21. 
 
 In thy solitary place 
 
 Of communings divine, 
 Christian ! did thy Saviour's face, 
 
 •Upon thy spirit shine ? 
 Mark the spot. — Forget it not, 
 
 Set thee up a way-mark there. 
 
 Though calamity drew nigh, 
 
 Hath God in pity spared, 
 Very gracious at thy cry, 
 
 Through his Lamb prepared ? 
 Note the place, of special grace. 
 
 Set thee up a way-mark there. 
 
196 
 
 "When as overwhelming flood 
 
 The enemy came in, 
 Did the standard, bathed in blood, 
 
 For thee the battle win ? 
 Of that field, preserve the shield, 
 
 Set thee up a way-mark there. 
 
 Did thy course perplexing seem, 
 
 Thy mental organs blind, 
 Till suddenly, a sacred beam 
 
 Refreshed thy doubting mind ? 
 Fold the leaf, that soothed thy grief, 
 
 Set thee up a way-mark there. 
 
 Hath thy sympathizing heart 
 
 Bewailed another's fall, 
 And seen exemplified in part 
 
 The sin which cleaves to all ? 
 Deeply think, " How near that brink!" 
 
 Set.thee up a way-mark there. 
 
 When returning seasons wake 
 
 Remembrance of the past, 
 And bid thee for the future take 
 
 The warning light they cast, 
 Hear the speech, which sounds from each. 
 
 Set thee up a way-mark there. 
 
197 
 
 But especially doth God 
 By sickness with thee plead, 
 
 To " hear" his own appointed rod, 
 And give his precepts heed ? 
 
 Let thy couch, amendment vouch, 
 Set thee up a way- mark there 
 
 Thus the pilgrim fathers went 
 
 Tow'rds city not in view, 
 Erecting for each new event, 
 
 Jehovah's tribute new : 
 Hark • they raise, their song of praise, 
 
 See they set their way-mark there. 
 
 So Christian ! when thy master sends, 
 That thou thy crown receive. 
 
 What blest memorial for thy friends 
 Thy calm farewell may leave ! 
 
 yield thy breath, rejoice in death ! 
 'Christ has set his way-mark there. 
 
198 
 
 MEDITATION XXVII. 
 
 " Enter into his gates with thanksgivins:, and into 
 his courts with praise : be thankful unto him, and 
 bless his name," — Psalm c. 4. 
 
 When we enter the courts of the Lord to 
 offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and the 
 honour due unto his name, in the genuine 
 spirit of humble, obedient gratitude, how 
 surely do we find it a joyful and pleasant 
 thing to be thankful ; and what new dis- 
 coveries of heavenly mercy are graciously 
 made to those waiting spirits who studiously 
 endeavour to fulfil all outward righteous- 
 ness, that they may magnify the Lord's 
 goodness to them, and who, because they 
 rejoice in God their Saviour, say ever in 
 sincerity, "Behold the servant of the Lord. 
 Be it unto me according to thy word." 
 
 The mother of Jesus was thus piously 
 anxious to perform all things according to 
 the law of Moses, and when the Most High 
 had graciously fulfilled what his Holy Spirit 
 spake to her by the mouth of her cousin 
 Elizabeth, and had given her a performance 
 of those things which the commissioned 
 angel predicted, she entered therefore the 
 
199 
 
 temple of her God with the offering suited 
 to her humble circumstances, and a heart 
 no doubt deeply impressed with the miracu- 
 lous sublimity of her infant's birth and 
 destiny, and prepared to render homage to 
 Him, who yet lay cradled on her maternal 
 bosom, as one to whom the Lord God had 
 promised the throne of his father David. 
 
 Obscure, though a daughter of kings, — 
 poor, though highly favoured by the author 
 of all real wealth, — an unknown stranger, 
 though aware that " all generations should 
 call her blessed," little could Mary have 
 expected that the fulfilment of her vows 
 would be attended with such remarkable 
 strengthening of her faith and hope, as was 
 afforded by the welcome of holy Simeon, 
 and the superadded testimony of Phanuel's 
 pious widow. Well may it be said, Joseph 
 and his mother marvelled at the things 
 which were spoken concerning him ; for 
 though previous events must have entitled 
 them to expect great things from his matured 
 years, yet it is probable that they, like 
 others of their people at that period, re- 
 garded the kingdom promised to the Mes- 
 siah, as national, temporal, and immediate, 
 and had insufficient notions of the universal 
 benefits mankind were to derive from the 
 
200 
 
 wonderful, yet lowly child before them. 
 When, therefore, the inspired Simeon em- 
 braced his Lord, as the salvation prepared 
 before the face of all people, " The light to 
 lighten the gentiles, and the glory of his 
 people Israel," — when he yet spoke plainly 
 of his ill reception on earth, " as a sign 
 that should be spoken against," and pre- 
 dicted the sword that should pierce through 
 his mother's soul while beholding his suffer- 
 ings, it is easy to conceive what new and 
 almost overpov;ering views of extended 
 consequences, in time and eternity, would 
 expand before the mind of the humble and 
 believing Mary. Much and deeply ponder- 
 ing them in her heart, what profound awe 
 and enlarged gratitude would be the results, 
 — many a rapturous meditation on the glory 
 that should be revealed, — and many a 
 prayer for fortitude to endure the foretold 
 teinporary agony of spirit, would take their 
 rise in that visit to the sanctuary, which had 
 for its primary object a conformity to ex- 
 ternal and typical ordinances. 
 
 And have believers of our own time no 
 inference nor instruction to draw from all 
 this history? 
 
 Professor of Christianity, few and simple 
 are the outward signs and ceremonies which 
 
201 
 
 are binding upon thee, see that the Saviour 
 be near thy heart when attending them, 
 and they will not be profitless. The serv- 
 ants of the Lord may not indeed pour 
 forth for thine edification any prophetic 
 hints concerning thy future path through 
 life ; neither may the Lord communicate 
 by them any new truths concerning his be- 
 loved Son, as He did by those venerable 
 saints at Jerusalem ; but if they speak to 
 thee of Jesus, as the dehght of their hearts 
 and the desire of their eyes, as the chiefest 
 among ten thousand, and altogether lovely; 
 if they descant on his perfections, and de- 
 clare to thee his offices ; if they prick thee 
 to the heart while pointing out Him whom 
 thy sins and the sins of thy brethren have 
 nailed to the accursed tree, yet shew thee 
 that there is salvation in no other, and that 
 through him life and immortality are brought 
 to light, rest assured that they give thee 
 information far more precious than the gold 
 of Ophir, — even that wisdom which, re- 
 ceived and acted upon, may enable thee at 
 the last to '* depart in peace," according to 
 the word of thy Lord. Oh think not that 
 it is enough to hear, to know, to worship. 
 Mary "kept" the things told her in the 
 temple, and " pondered them in her heart." 
 
202 
 
 In the secrecy of the closet must be digested 
 the energetic declarations of the pubUc as- 
 sembly, if we wish them to prove effectual 
 comforters under the endurance of persecu- 
 tion, or the anguish of tortured affection. 
 She who was greeted by an angel as 
 " highly favoured," no doubt endured much 
 when Herod drove her from her humble 
 home, and greatly more when Pilate gave 
 to the cross its unblemished victim ; but 
 faith had treasured up the words which 
 were spoken of Him by the holy prophets, 
 and patience had her perfect work. What 
 but the thought that all these things were 
 appointed for bringing many sons to glory, 
 the assured hope that Jesus should rise 
 from the dead triumphant and immortal, 
 supported her, (like Abraham looking to 
 receive back his Isaac,) as she stood by the 
 cross, that appalling scene for a mother? 
 "What but the view of the same cross, and 
 the bles'sed certainty of that resurrection, 
 can support us in the hour of death, or even 
 under the bereavements of this varying 
 world ? 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh Lord, bestow upon me the wiUing 
 mind and the grateful heart, which alone 
 
203 
 
 can render outward sacrifices acceptable in 
 thy sight. Accept, I pray thee, my ser- 
 vices, not according to their intrinsic value, 
 but as oflfered in dutiful love, and through 
 that availing Intercessor, whose gracious 
 undertaking for man was so variously sha- 
 dowed forth to thine ancient people. May 
 thy Holy Spirit take of the things of Christ 
 and shew them unto me, and make me 
 greatly delight to ponder them to my soul's 
 good ; and when the days of my sojourning 
 here, oh Lord, are accomplished, may my 
 purification from sin be declared by presen- 
 tation before thee in thy everlasting temple, 
 faultless, and with exceeding joy, through 
 the merits of thy dear and only begotten 
 Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour. — Amen. 
 
 " And when the days of her purification, according 
 to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they brought 
 him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord." 
 
 iSt. Luke ii. 22. 
 
 Pictures and shadows filled the law 
 From Sinai's mountain taught, 
 
 Moses •' far off"" the substance saw, 
 And by that pattern wrought. 
 
204 
 
 All shewed the dread desert of sin, 
 
 And sin's polluting taint, 
 Tlie means that should remission win, 
 
 The culprit and the saint; 
 
 Each new extension of the stain. 
 That clings to Adam's race, 
 
 Demanded thus a victim slain : 
 Propitiating grace ; 
 
 But victim, altar, offering priest. 
 Were emblems all of One, 
 
 At once the Giver and the Feast, 
 The everlasting Son ! 
 
 Ah lowly Mary, wherefore bring, 
 
 Those purifying doves. 
 When in thine arms, for offering. 
 
 Was Him the Father loves ? 
 
 No spot nor blemish had the child, 
 Thy bosom fondly pressed, 
 
 Then why, (as if that birth defiled,) 
 This expiative test ? 
 
 Thus it became Him ! he was given 
 
 To do the Father's will ; 
 Each type, each ordinance, of heav'n 
 
 His coming must fulfil. 
 
205 
 
 The antitype through every rite 
 Must show his richer worth ; 
 
 The lamb, the dove, must be in sight, 
 With him they shadowed forth. 
 
 Whom Mary brought, whom Simeon 
 Whom Anna joyed to see, [blessed, 
 
 In him to trust, in Him to rest, 
 Is purity for me. 
 
 And if my feet again may stand 
 Where saints in praise unite, 
 
 A grateful heart, though empty hand, 
 Vouchsafe me in thy sight. 
 
 MEDITATION XXVIII. 
 
 " In thine hand it is to make great, and to give 
 strength unto a.ll."—lst Chronicles xxix. 12. 
 
 To depreciate the importance of common 
 cares and domestic duties is no part of Bible 
 instructions, and that surely is a very mis- 
 taken view of its tendency, which would 
 
206 
 
 inculcate, as the highest attainment of piety, 
 a separation from these, or such an entire 
 absorption of the soul in continued contem- 
 plations of a sacred nature, as to withdraw 
 it from giving due and earnest attention to 
 their performance. The Scriptures invari- 
 ably deal with men as social beings ; in fact, 
 they greatly suspend on their behaviour as 
 such, the external evidence of their subjec- 
 tion to the gospel of truth. Thus, women 
 " professing godhness," are no where en- 
 joined to discard from the catalogue of their 
 avocations the humbler employments of their 
 sex or station ; on the contrary, the due dis- 
 charge of these is ever ascribed to them as 
 an honour,* while the opposite neglect is 
 marked with more than one Apostolic cen- 
 sure.f However, therefore, the monoton- 
 ous uniformity of feminine occupations may 
 render it irksome to minds richly stored 
 with heavenly wisdom, to pursue them 
 steadily for their own sake, yet they become 
 invested with powerful attractions when it 
 is perceived that they are capable of devout 
 consecration to the Master whose we are, 
 and whom we serve. The " wise-hearted " 
 women who contributed their industry to 
 
 ♦ Prov. xxxi. 27. 1 1 Tim. i. 10. 
 
207 
 
 the embellishment of the typical sanctuary, 
 may be easily conceived to have wrought 
 without one murmur at their own insignifi- 
 cance in the councils of the elders or the 
 gatherings of the tribes, and when spinning 
 the curtains of goats' hair in obedience to 
 the Lord's directions for the right ordering 
 of the tabernacle, to have been as efficiently 
 grounded in the faith, as when with Miriam 
 for their leader they went forth with tim- 
 brels and with dances, openly rejoicing in 
 the delivering potency of the Lord who had 
 triumphed gloriously. 
 
 And if subordinate offices in the Christian 
 church be assigned to us, shall we therefore 
 complain or be weary ? When indeed we 
 view things steadily in this gospel light, all 
 the distinctions and varieties of our present 
 state greatly diminish in relative importance. 
 We, see that to let our light shine before 
 men so as to glorify our Father in heaven 
 must be our undeviating object, but whether 
 that light be elevated on the smoothly hewn 
 summit of a pyramid, or surmount an erec- 
 tion of the roughest, coarsest kind, is of little 
 consequence. An eminent Christian has 
 recorded his opinion, that could we imagine 
 two holy angels sent down to earth for a 
 season, and placed the one on a throne, the 
 
20S 
 
 other as a scavenger, the scale of happiness 
 or of alacrity in discharging duty would not 
 be turned in favour of the former. Both 
 would be so engrossed by the desire to glo- 
 rify God and do his will, that the condition 
 or the employment, wherein each was to 
 pursue that vast end, would be estimated as 
 nothing. It is in the Lord's hand to make 
 us great in this sublime manner ; not by ex- 
 alting our station or withdrawing us from 
 its duties, but by making our hearts so 
 entirely his own as to obliterate all feelings 
 of bitterness under the mortifications to 
 which we may be exposed, and to render us 
 careful for nothing except to walk worthy 
 of the vocation wherewith we are called. 
 
 But do we recoil from so avviul a con- 
 sideration as those now suggested ? Do we 
 say each one within ourselves, if life be 
 thus a continual votive offering, and its com- 
 monest occurrences are to be rendered holy 
 by the spirit in which they are encountered, 
 it is indeed, I perceive, relieved of its ap- 
 parent frivolity : it is manifested as an in- 
 finitely valuable possession ; but at the 
 same time what a burden does this throw 
 upon my conscience; what deep culpability 
 attaches to the misuse of its precious frag- 
 ments, and how largely have I misused 
 them. 
 
209 
 
 Not to feel thus, would argue a strange 
 and fatal dulness of heart in any child of 
 man, and well may we bewail ourselves in 
 this respect, saying, " My leanness, my 
 leanness. Wo unto rne !" Yet though to 
 discover sucli cause for mourning be sad, 
 we may be assured it is safe. To be heavy 
 laden with infirmity is common to all; to 
 feel and lament that they are so, and so 
 lamenting and feeling to cast their burden 
 on the Lord is the distinction of those who 
 are accepted in his love. 
 
 It is in the hand of the Lord to make us 
 great, and he giveth strength to all. There 
 is no class of petitioners too lowly to engage 
 his kind attention, and his promise is, that 
 " as our days are, so shall our strength be.'* 
 The more conscientiously we become alive 
 to the extended demands upon our entire 
 energy, and the insufiiciency of our past 
 dedication of time and talent to the Lord, 
 the more shall we prize such merciful 
 declarations of his readiness to supply all 
 our need. Were He extreme to mark what 
 is done amiss, who should stand in his 
 sight ! but He who lived as well as died for 
 us, had the power to present a pure offering 
 and- unadulterated incense. " Bless the 
 Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his 
 15 
 
210 
 
 benefits," that his glorious strength is 
 pledged to support his people's weakness. 
 Vain is the help of man, but if the Lord 
 give quietness, who then shall make trouble? 
 Only forget not that it is strength to act, 
 not liberty to be idle, that the Lord prom- 
 ises. It is peace in seeking fellowship with 
 Him, the zealous worker, not quiescent, 
 inactive reliance on his finished work. It 
 is pardon under deficiencies resisted, not 
 indulgence in a contented indolence of spirit. 
 Go daily, my soul, to the Fountain of Sal- 
 vation, and renew within view of Calvary, 
 that zeal which has its birth from humility 
 and gratitude. If such be already our 
 blessed experience, none need make us 
 afraid. Happy are the people that are in 
 such a case. Yea, blessed are the people 
 who have the Lord for their God. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh God ! who workest all things accord- 
 ing to the counsel of thy own will, even 
 when employing the agency of man to 
 accomplish thy wise designs, teach me to 
 rest so fully on thy goodness and truth, as 
 never to repine at any peculiarities in thine 
 appointments on my behalf. The lot is 
 
211 
 
 fallen unto me in a fair ground, yea, I have 
 a goodly heritage ; if whatever other and 
 lesser advantages may seem withheld, lean 
 truly say, Thou art my portion and my 
 Almighty Friend. Oh Lord ! I entreat 
 thee to accept, as offered on the golden altar 
 of thy Son's atonement, and perfumed with 
 the incense of his continual priesthood, the 
 dedication to thyself of all I have and I all 
 am. Sanctify, "by thine indwelling Spirit, 
 the fountain of my thoughts, words, and 
 actions, so that their current be henceforth 
 pure, deviating less and less from that safe 
 and happy course enjoined in thy holy 
 Word. Look upon the face of thine 
 Anointed, and for his sake, love me freely, 
 blotting out my many sins, pardoning all 
 my deficiencies, and filling me with the 
 fruits of righteousness. Now to thy glori- 
 ous name. Eternal Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, be praise, honour, and reverence, 
 for ages everlasting. — Amen. 
 
212 
 
 " Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 
 1st Corinthians x. 31. 
 
 Oh ! how it dignifies this scene, 
 Of still recurring petty things, 
 
 Exalts our life, and o'er the mean 
 The broidered robe of beauty flings. 
 
 Oh ! how it reconciles the soul 
 
 To tedious, homely, humbling, tasks, 
 
 When as our days appointed roll. 
 
 Their due improvement conscience asks. 
 
 *Tis this which forms the jewell'd chain 
 By which immortals measure time, 
 
 Not by its seconds, but the gain 
 Of fitness for celestial chme. 
 
 To look on life as Glory's porch, 
 
 And as the toilsome steps we mount, 
 
 Lifting aloft Faith's brightening torch, 
 Our cares minute as lessons count ; — 
 
 'Tis this'which makes the meanest shine 
 
 In heavenly estimation great, 
 The coarsest duties can refine, 
 
 And sooth the most ungenial state. 
 
 Nor only this : but, if ordained 
 
 By presience wise, this world's career. 
 
 What high results may be enchained 
 Upon each small domestic sphere. 
 
213 
 
 Could Levi's daughter e'er have thought, 
 
 As patiently her fingers phed, 
 To weave tliat ark, which dearly fraught, 
 
 She placed upon the river's side. 
 
 Could she have thought its slender frame 
 Involved the fate of nations vast, 
 
 Or that its helpless inmate's name 
 Should soon eclipse all heroes past ! 
 
 Yet Faith and strong Affection fed 
 
 The hope that nerved her trembling hand ; 
 
 How should her " saved one" else have led 
 His people from their bondage land ? 
 
 And shall the Christian mother shrink 
 From tasks comparatively hght. 
 
 Or mean, or unimportant think, 
 With such example in her sight ? 
 
 No ! rather let her act her part 
 With cheerful, conscientious care, 
 
 Support, oh Lord ! her fainting heart, 
 Give strength and wisdom at her prayer. 
 
 Nor let her view with tearful eyes, 
 Her path of duty winding doiorij 
 
 Lest detailed cares and worldly ties, 
 Her nobler contemplations drown. 
 
214 
 
 Sufficient is the clue of grace, 
 
 To clear the most entangling road, 
 
 To aid her hesitating pace, 
 To lighten her detaining load. 
 
 " As is thy day, thy strength shall be," 
 Thy fears but make thee closer hold, 
 
 " What e'er thou dost, do all to me," 
 This turns the meanest thing to gold. 
 
 MEDITATION XXIX. 
 
 " And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, 
 (for she died,) that she called his name Ben-oni, 
 [the son of my sorrow,] but his father called him. 
 Benjamin," [the eon of iny right hand.] 
 
 Ge7iesis xxxv. 18. 
 
 The vanity of human wishes, and the igno- 
 rance of those who impatiently murmur 
 when the gratification of them is withheld, 
 were never perhaps more forcibly illustrated 
 than in the history of Rachel. The mo- 
 ment when her long cherished hope received 
 its accomplishment, was the same which 
 deprived her of all enjoyment from its com- 
 pletion: "Give me children, or I die!" 
 
215 
 
 A second son is granted ; his mother Hves 
 to embrace him ; but it is as the son of her 
 sorrow, not of her joy, " Her soul is in de- 
 parting !" Better surely were the sickness 
 of a hope deferred, than the fulness of desire 
 vouchsafed, and frustrated thus in its very 
 fulfilment. 
 
 And is it not still thus with short-sighted 
 man ? "Walketh he not still in a vain 
 shadow, disquieting himself to little profit ? 
 Alas ! how large a portion of human exist- 
 ence is spent like that of Jacob's beloved 
 wife, in painful longings for supposed good ; 
 in virtually exclaiming, — Give me this, give 
 me that, or I die ! And when the darling 
 aim, the long-sought object of many years' 
 endeavours, is at last within grasp, we seize 
 it, and the stroke of the torpedo is in its 
 touch ! The attractive brightness which 
 occupied our thoughts, which roused our 
 exertions, was but the glittering hue of the 
 envenomed serpent, or it existed only in our 
 own deceived imagination ; it is gone, and 
 for ever. The hour of possession is the 
 hour of illumination, and the " son of our 
 sorrow" is the truest title we can give to 
 the fruition of all our earthly toils. 
 
 There is something exquisitely pathetic 
 and affecting, as well as instructive in the 
 last words of Rachel ; considered as the fond 
 
216 
 
 yearnings of maternal affection over an in- 
 fant seen but for a moment, they need no 
 comment, they do indeed speak to the 
 mother's heart. " Let him be called Ben- 
 onV^ As if she had said, With agony and 
 with death have I borne him. Son of my 
 sorrow, let these be recorded in thy name. 
 Let me depart in the sweet hope that thou 
 wilt love my memory, that the endearing 
 appellation which I now give thee, shall 
 hereafter awaken in thy soul affections 
 towards her whom thou hast never seen ; 
 affections which I may not live to enjoy, 
 but the very thought of which is consola- 
 tion ; or, to paraphrase her feelings in the 
 beautiful language of a modern poet, 
 
 " And now when summoned from the world 
 
 and thee, 
 I lay my head beneath the willow tree, 
 Wilt thou, sweet mourner, at my stone 
 
 appea'r. 
 And soothe my parted spirit lingering near? 
 Oh wilt thou come at evening hour to shed 
 The tears of memory o'er my narrow bed. 
 With aching temples on thy hand reclined, 
 Muse on the last farewell I leave behind ; 
 Breathe a deep sigh, to winds that murmur 
 
 low, 
 And think on all ray love, and all my woe ?" 
 
217 
 
 But the warmest affections of earth cannot 
 detain when the voice of the Unseen has 
 spoken. " Her soul was departing, and 
 she died." And does the thought arise, 
 soon, soon, shall the like consummation be 
 written of those who now meditate on her 
 latter end ?. I too must one day be gathered 
 to my fathers ! I too perhaps may be sum- 
 moned to leave behind me this cherished 
 one, so feeble, yet so dear, which now lies 
 beside me unconscious of my love, unin- 
 terested in my fears ? Shalt its infant lips 
 never lisp in my delighted ear the name of 
 mother, shall its infant heart never respond 
 to my unutterable tenderness? Oh might 
 I .but live to see its youthful mind expand, 
 to watch the slender tendrils, as they suc- 
 cessively unfold, and myself to entwine them 
 around the pillars of Jehovah's temple, 
 around all that is holiest, purest, best ; 
 what cause should I not have for thankful- 
 ness! how calmly should my spirit part 
 from this earth, were my memorial thus 
 erected, where alone it is valuable, in the 
 inmost soul of those I love most tenderly. 
 But to die,— to die like Rachel, and to 
 leave the beloved of my soul on this cold 
 world, orphanned, at least in part j helpless, 
 
218 
 
 untaught, forsaken ! oh grief immeasurable, 
 how can I bear the thought ! 
 
 This is the language of nature, but is it 
 nature in subjection to the faith; or nature 
 rebelhous, unbelieving, graceless? Is the 
 Lord's arm shortened that He needs our aid 
 to fulfil our prayers and his own purposes? 
 or is his ear become heavy that He will not 
 hear the redeemed of his Son, committing 
 to his tenderness, the children from whom 
 He may see fit to withdraw them? Even 
 to the chastised Edomites He condescended 
 to say, " Leave thy fatherless children, and 
 I will preserve them alive." And shall less 
 be done for those who are washed, and jus- 
 tified, and sanctified, by the atonement and 
 the Spirit of his Son ! Forbid the thought, 
 every feeling within us that is Christian. 
 
 But even when convinced that the Divine 
 protection is all-sufficient, even when ac- 
 quiescing.resignedly in whatever God wills, 
 may not a tear of fondness rise unbidden to 
 the eye ? As she contemplates a separation, 
 possibly an early one, from the objects of 
 her love, may not the Christian mother weep 
 even when she smiles as she anticipates 
 how to be with Christ is far better ? That 
 she may, that she must, none can deny, and 
 who shall venture to condemn ? Yet though 
 
219 
 
 such tears may for a while dim the eyes of 
 the saints to the glories beyond the grave, 
 they are among those which shall be wiped 
 from them, so soon as they enter the gales 
 of the heavenly Jerusalem. When Rachel 
 passed the boundaries of sense, she might 
 possibly be made aware that the son of her 
 sorrow would be the son of his father's 
 right hand, the Benjamin of his old age, the 
 apple of his eye, watched over as one, whose 
 loss would bring down his grey hairs with 
 sorrow to the grave, — that he would be the 
 partial object of a Joseph's love, a Judah's 
 self-devoting generosity ; but whether these 
 facts were made known to her or not, such 
 they were, and in the great day of recogni- 
 tion, many such will be disclosed, many 
 an anxiously departing parent will behold 
 how the seeming bereavement may be made 
 the- means of multiplied blessings, — how 
 compassion and solicitous tenderness may 
 be excited with redoubled force in surviving 
 relatives, where one more near than all, was 
 prematurely removed, — and in innumerable 
 ways how all may be made to work tor 
 good where the original aspect of events 
 was most discouraging. Many a child like 
 Jabez,* named in sorrow, and quitted, like- 
 * 1 Chron. iv. 9, 10. 
 
220 
 
 Benjamin, with regret, may like them be 
 distinguished in blessing, and kept from 
 evil that it should not grieve them ; through 
 the large requests of faith, and the gracious 
 answers of the God of Israel, they may be 
 enlarged in their coast of usefulness, and 
 rendered more honourable than their 
 brethren. " Why then art thou cast down, 
 oh my soul, and why art thou disquieted 
 within me ?" " Be still, and know that 
 the Lord is God ;" anticipate not with dis- 
 may, events which He can afford thee am- 
 ple power to endure ; and to endure with a 
 composure which now, perhaps, thou canst 
 scarcely conceive. Trust in Him at all 
 times ; commit thy way unto him, and He 
 will give thee the desire of thine heart. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Oh Lord, our righteousness ! the place 
 of defence of them that fear thee is as the 
 munition of rocks, why should any thing 
 prevail to depress or make us afraid, when 
 we know that thou seest from everlasting to 
 everlasting; that not a sparrow falls to the 
 ground without thy special permission, and 
 that very precious in thy sight is the death 
 of thy saints. Oh give me a cheerful de- 
 
221 
 
 pendence on thy mercies and promises, and 
 •while I use the means thou hast commanded 
 towards appointed ends, let me ever trust, 
 not in them, but in thee, remembering that 
 thou art all-sufficient, and that the agency 
 of man would be totally superfluous hadst 
 thou not ordained, for an exercise of his 
 obedience, that he should execute thy 
 righteous purposes. Do unto thy servant 
 as seemeth good in thy sight, and when my 
 soul shall depart from my body, may an 
 abundant entrance be given it, where every 
 trace of earthly sorrow shall be effaced, in 
 the kingdom and glory of thy' Son, Jesus 
 Christ, our Lord and Saviour. — Amen. 
 
 " Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
 shadow of death, I will fear no evil." 
 
 Psalm Kxiii. 4. 
 
 Visions of a mournful future, 
 
 Wherefore thus unbidden throng, 
 
 Boding tones of bitter sorrow, 
 Mingling with my grateful song. 
 
 Overhanging rocks and mountains, 
 
 Shade the valley of the tomb ; 
 But a brighter sun than nature's, 
 
 Shall it not disperse the gloom ? 
 
S22 
 
 Is there not a gracious Shepherdj 
 Burdened souls to meet and claim, 
 
 Is there not a hand Almighty, 
 
 Pledged to bear them through the flame ? 
 
 Wherefore then his love dishonour, 
 Faithless sink, or doubting sigh, 
 
 When imagining the moment, 
 
 That shall tell thee, " thou must die ?'* 
 
 On thy Father's tried compassion 
 Rest thee, stay thee, — thou art safe, 
 
 Though the tempest rage around thee, 
 Though the torrent roar and chafe. 
 
 j^5ot by human rule or measure 
 
 Spreads the everlasting plan, 
 Shall an insect grasp the Andes, 
 
 Shall a worm the ocean span ? 
 
 What to Rachel seemed denial, 
 
 But prolong'd probation kind. 
 Had her hope been earher granted, 
 
 Earlier had her Joseph pined ! 
 
 Though she left a " son of sorrow,'* 
 Son of strength he soon arose ; 
 
 Loved of God,* and dwelling by him, 
 Covered from relentless foes j 
 
 * Deut. xxxii. 12. 
 
223 
 
 So thy child, dejected mother, 
 
 If by faith on Jesus cast, 
 (None may pluck Him from the Saviour,) 
 
 Thou shall see with Him at last. 
 
 Whether life or death be written, 
 Shrink not, tremble, nor complain, 
 
 Let the cross be all thy portion, 
 
 " Life is Christ, and Death is gain?" 
 
 FINIS. 
 
^i