we approach it. Time writes no wrinkles on the brow of our religion. It came not from the dust, and to the dust it does not return." The Gospel is man's rule of faith; let him live by it, and in this world he will receive Consolation, and, by the atoning offices of his Saviour, realize Promise in the world to come. CONSOLATION AND PROMISE CONSOLATION. Are the consolations of God small?-Job xv. 11. THAT "man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward," the history of bygone generations and the experience of every day abundantly demonstrate; and it is in the constitution of worldly affairs that the annals of the past and present shall be confirmed by the revelations of the future. Hence it is that of all created beings man most requires the aids of Consolation; but though conscious how essential is its possession to a tranquil mind, though he deem no exertion superfluous to obtain this antidote to trouble, how frequently is his search unrequited with success! This, however, is rather to be deplored than wondered at, when Consolation is looked for in things too vain and too evanescent for its fruition. Like Solomon, ere the light of the Divine guidance had dawned upon his erring |