evil state of society. Behold all the children of Adam serving as instruments of punishment to each other!-See the onehalf of mankind rendered miserable by the other, who equally oppress them in their turn!--Behold, in every nation, in every family, and even between two friends (not influenced by religion) the never-ceasing divisions caused by pride and self-love!

17. If you love and serve God, you are then independent of the world; its passions, its follies, and its crimes, affect you not: You will then know (and it will be your supreme comfort) that the events of the world, and the wickedness of mankind, are under the controul of Him who is all-powerful; that they cannot pass the bounds prescribed by Him, and that they are only permitted for his all-wise and inscrutable purposes. You will then have placed your treasure in heaven, where it

will be secure. Though shame and grief, and oppression, and death. itself come upon you, you will hear the encouraging voice of your blessed Saviour-" Fear not them who can hurt the body." How weak is their power!-Even when they take away our life, they can but shorten that term, which must soon of itself have ended. They can but at once give us death, which the chances of every day may occasion, and which the lingering torments of a sick-bed might have made much more painful. Remember that, in this life, you are to suffer, whenever it pleases God; and that our Saviour has said, "Miserable are they, whose consolation is of this world." Those who seek for their happiness here, have no right to expect the joys of heaven. We shall one day know the spiritual advantage of our worldly trials; the anguish of them will then have passed away; but the glories of heaven, and our blessed reward there, will last to all eternity.

18. Put your trust in God, and rely on him without fear: Remember the words of our Saviour to one of his disciples: "Wherefore didst thou doubt ?" Still, however, take care to preserve your humility, and let the experience of your own weakness make you doubt even your best resolutions, until you have implored the blessing of God on them. O how deplorably weak and blind are we! and how merciful is our God! Put your whole confidence, therefore, in him, and take refuge from your errors, by casting your-self and them at his feet. Acknowledge how poor is that vain-glory, whose best resolutions are so unstable; God will then send you the grace of his Holy Spirit, and make you strong in Him; and, in time, you will reflect with astonishment that, at any time, you have placed your trust either in yourself, or in the world.

19. Seek not to penetrate into futurity,

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neither encourage an habit of anticipating good or evil. Our trials do not always come from those occasions which we may have foreseen. God frequently takes us by surprise, and sometimes, in those objects on which we most fondly rest our hearts, and in those moments in which we think ourselves most secure. The evils which we have imagined for ourselves, often vanish before the eye of reason, and it is not in our own power to choose where the blow shall fall. Let, then, the obedience of every day, and of every hour, be your daily bread: Live upon the will of your God: He provides for you celestial manna; be satisfied with it; it is not in your power to lay it up in store, or to say how much of it God will give you; all that you have to do, is to 'use it in such proportions as you receive it. Strive to pass your life in peace, simplicity, and resignation; place your hopes of happiness in God, and not in his creatures, and you will then be secure; for

on him you may rely with full confidence.

20. We must sow in tears, in this world, if we expect to reap the joys of heaven. Those who are enslaved to the enjoy ments of the present life, desire to reap before they have sowed; they wish that God should make the road smooth which leads to him, and are unwilling that his service should cost them any trouble.Self-love induces them to wish for eternal happiness, yet withholds them from making any sacrifices to obtain it. But we are assured, that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to bę compared with our eternal reward; and the time will come, when the sinner will look back with horror and dismay on the vain and empty joys of this world, and on his own blindness, in preferring them to the happiness of that heavenly kingdom, where God him