are perfectly happy, because they are perfectly submissive to the will of their Creator-being fully contented with the station allotted them in the universe, and completely resigned to all the future services and allotments which Infinite Wisdom has ordained. Wherever pure affection towards God actuates the mind, among the inhabitants of our world, it produces a disposition similar in kind, though inferior in degree, to that which animates the breasts of the Cherubim, and the Seraphim in the regions of bliss.

He, who is actuated by this noble principle, regards every providential event as the appointment of his Father in heaven. The devouring flames may consume his habitation to ashes, and scatter his treasures to "the four winds of heaven;" the ship in which his wealth is embarked may be dashed against the rocks, and sink "as lead in the mighty waters;" his friends may forsake him in the season of his deepest anxiety and distress; the wife of his bosom, whom he tenderly loved, may be snatched from his embrace by the cold hand of death; his children, dearer to him than his own soul, may fall victims, one after another, to some pestilential disease, and be for ever removed from his sight to the "land of deep forgetfulness;" his familiar friend in whom he trusted may lift up his heel against him," and load him with unmerited reproaches; his own body may be chastened with sore pain and loathsome disease; a fall from a horse may break the bones of his leg, and render him lame for life; a random blow may bruise his eye-balls, and deprive him of all the entertainments of vision; he may be stretched, for many long years, on the bed of languishing; his country may either be ravaged and laid waste by destroying armies, or rains and inundations may sweep away the produce of his fields. But under all such calamities, he bows with submission to the will of Him "who rules in the whirlwind and directs the storm;" not because he has fortified his mind with a stoical apathy and indifference towards the evils of life; not because he is incapable of feeling the evils he is doomed to suffer; for he may feel them in the acutest degree, even while he exercises full resignation; but he is resigned, because he feels assured that they are the appointment of

his Almighty Friend-that they are parts of the plan of unerring Wisdom-that they are intimately connected with the whole chain of Providence that runs through his present existence-that they are intended, in the scheme of Infinite Benevolence, to promote his happiness in a way which his limited faculties are unable at present to comprehend-and, that they have a bearing on the scenes and enjoyments of the eternal world. And, therefore, under the pressure of his most painful feelings, he is enabled to adopt the triumphant language of the prophet, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither fruit be in the vine; the labour of the olive fail, and the fields yield no meat, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stall; yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will be glad in the God of my salvation." While others murmur and rage, and toss themselves like a wild bull in a net, and curse the supposed authors of their calamities, he is enabled to "possess his soul in patience," convinced of the rectitude of the divine dispensations; and thus displays a nobleness of mind, and a heroism which is "above all Greek, above all Roman fame."

Again, Love to God comprehends Gratitude for the benefits he bestows. Gratitude is that particular modification of Love which flows out towards God considered as the Author and Bestower of all felicity: it is love excited by kindness communicated from benevolent motives. It is one of the most natural and obvious manifestations of that general principle which I have been hitherto illustrating; for ingratitude is altogether inconsistent with love to a benefactor. In order to kindle this amiable affection into a lively flame, the person in whose bosom it glows endeavours to take a minute and expansive survey of the "loving kindness of God," and of the countless variety of benefits he is continually receiving. He feels grateful to God for his existence, for the powers and capacities with which he is endowed, for the rank which he holds in the scale of terrestrial existence; in being raised above the clods of the valley, and furnished with faculties superior to the beasts of the forest and the fowls of heaven. He feels grateful that he was brought into existence in a Christian land, and in civilized society, that the "glad tidings of salvation" have reached his ears, that " God so loved the

world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him might not perish but have everlasting life," and that every enjoyment requisite for his present and future happiness is secured through this plan of Divine Benevolence. But he does not rest satisfied with vague and general views of these important benefits: he contemplates the degradation into which sin had plunged him, the greatness of the misery from which the love of God has delivered him, the moral perfection of his nature to which he is now training, the serenity of mind he experiences in the practice of the divine precepts, the security he feels for his present and future safety under the protection of Omnipotence, the "strong consolation" under the evils of life which the promises of God lead him to expect, the victory over death of which he is secured "through Christ Jesus his lord," the resurrection of his body at the close of time, the "new heavens and the new earth" to which he is destined at the dissolution of this sublunary system, the alliance into which he is brought to the angelic tribes and other pure intelligences, his moral capacity for associating with every holy being in the universe, and the endless succession of transporting scenes which will burst upon his view through the ages of eternity. While contemplating these high privileges, in all their bearings and varied ramifications, emotions of affection and gratitude arise in his breast which can only be expressed in the language of elevated devotion.

"O how shall words, with equal warmth,

The gratitude declare

That glows within my ravish'd heart!
But Thou canst read it there."

"Bless the Lord, O my soul! and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Give thanks to the Lord and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction, and crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies."

Nor does he feel less grateful to God for his kindness as displayed in the material world, and in the ordinary course of his providence. He feels grateful for those scenes of sublimity and beauty with which the visible

universe is adorned-for the sun when he ascends the vault of heaven, and diffuses his radiance over the mountains and the vales-for the moon, when she "walks in brightness" through the heavens, and cheers the shades of night-for the planets, while they run their ample rounds, and evince, by their magnitude and motions, the eternal omnipotence of their Maker-for the innumerable host of stars, which unite their splendours to adorn the canopy of the sky, and display the riches, and grandeur, and boundless extent of God's universal kingdom-for the light, which darts with inconceivable rapidity from the celestial luminaries, and diffuses a thousand shades of colour on the terrestrial landscape-for the surrounding atmosphere, which supports the element of fire, conveys the clouds over every region, and sustains and invigorates the functions of animal life-for the variety of beautiful and majestic scenery which diversifies our terrestrial system-for the towering cliffs, the lofty mountains, and the expansive vales-for the meandering river, gliding through the fields, and diffusing health and fertility wherever it flows-for the riches which abound in the gardens, the forests, and the fields; and the mineral treasures contained in the bowels of the mountains-for the harmony of musical sounds, the mellifluous notes of the nightingale and the lark, and the melodious warblings which resound from the vales, the mountains, and the groves for the flowers which enamel the meadows, the trees, the shrubs, and the waving grain which adorn the earth with picturesque beauty-for the animated beings which contribute to our comfort; the bee, which collects for us honey from every opening flower; the sheep, which yields its fleeces for our clothing; and thousands of other creatures, which contribute to supply us with food, raiment, furniture, and innumerable enjoyments. In all these, and similar objects, he perceives ample reasons for elevating his soul, in lively gratitude, to his bountiful Benefactor.

When he turns his eyes upon himself, and considers the wonderful machinery which gives life and motion to his frame, he perceives the strongest reason for the exercise of incessant admiration and gratitude. He feels grateful for every joint of his fingers, and for every movement of

his wrist, by which he is enabled, with the utmost ease, to perform a countless variety of manual operations essential to his comfort-for the hundreds of bones which support his animal system, with their various articulations, and the hundreds of muscles and tendons which are interwoven with every part of the machine, which enable it to perform, without the least obstruction, a thousand varied movements subservient to his health, convenience, and pleasure. He cannot walk through his apartment, nor lift his eyes to the heavens, nor move a joint of his finger, nor draw a single breath, without perceiving an evidence of the wisdom and intelligence of his Almighty Maker. He perceives that if only one joint were wanting, or one muscle out of action, or one movement out of a thousand, interrupted, he would instantly be subjected to a thousand painful sensations, which would throw a gloom on every earthly enjoyment. But especially, when he reflects on the wonders of vision-the thousands of millions of rays that are every moment darting from the objects around him, crossing each other in an infinity of directions, and yet conveying to every eye a distinct perception of their colours, motions, and diversified aspects; when he reflects on the facility with which he can turn his eye in every direction, upwards and downwards, to the right hand and to the left, and, in a moment, take in the landscape of the earth and the heavens "at a small inlet, which a grain might close;" when he considers the numerous and complicated movements continually going on within him-the heart, like a powerful engine, in perpetual motion, impelling, with prodigious force, streams of blood through a thousand different tubes-the numerous lacteal and lymphatic vessels, absorbing nutriment from the food, and conveying it through every part of this wonderful machine; when he considers that these incessant motions are, as it were, the immediate hand of the Divinity within him, over which he can exercise no control, and which are all intended to preserve his existence, and minister to his enjoyment, he cannot forbear exclaiming, in the language of grateful admiration, "How precious are thy wonderful contrivances concerning me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in num