every thing for thy good; unfailing support under trials; protection in danger; strength sufficient for thy day; and, finally, the sufferings and imperfections of time, ending in the enjoyments and perfection of eternity-consider these things; and are they not sufficient sources of comfort? Jehovahspeak it with joy and trembling-Jehovah is thy Comforter. He is thy portion. Admire, yea, be astonished at, the divine goodness. Be humble, believing, and devout. Be thankful, spiritual, holy, and obedient. Walk humbly with thy God: follow hard after Him in Christ Jesus. Look well to the divine life within thee; and look well to thy outward conversation. As thou truly believest in Christ, and partakest of the Spirit, and bringest forth the fruits of that faith and of that participation, so shall thy peace and thy consolation abound.

O gracious God, how unspeakable is thy goodness to the children of men! Thou hast made, in thy fatherly love, an abundant provision not only for our salvation, but also for our comfort and happiness. Truly, thy mercies, thy tender compassions, have been manifested in the greatest abundance. In all the trials and changes, in all the sorrows and distresses of the present state, grant that I may enjoy the consolations of thy word. Let thy comforts delight my soul. Let these be my support and joy at all times during my mortal pilgrimage; until I arrive at that state where sorrow is unknown, and participate the pure and perfect bliss of Heaven, through the merits and interpession of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

JONES.

REVIEW OF LIFE.

WHAT a variety of pleasing and painful thoughts and feelings does the recollection of past years excite in the mind! I have seen days of prosperity and gladness, and days of adversity and sorrow. I have enjoyed the love of relatives and friends, and conversed with the wise and good. But many of those who were the nearest and dearest to me, are gone down to the grave; and I stand like an aged tree, surrounded with a new generation. The spring is past; the summer is ended: the autumn is almost closing, and winter is at hand.

Shall I indulge in sadness and grief? No: I would most thankfully acknowledge the divine goodness. I have enjoyed numberless blessings; and I now put my severest trials among them.

What blessings in Providence have I to recount! God has preserved me, provided for me, guided me, and "done all things well." I have had friends and benefactors. The evil which I feared, did not befall me and good things which I never expected, have been granted me. Truly, it becomes me to be thankful.

When I look to spiritual blessings, how shall I express my gratitude? I might have been left to spend my years in ignorance, pride, and folly; but in the tender mercy of the Most High, I have been made acquainted with the way of life, and peace, and everlasting blessedness. I might have been at this moment a careless, presuming, miserable trifler on the borders of eternity: but "by the grace of God, I am what I am."

But what shall I say, on the review of my conduct? What have I rendered to the Lord for all his benefits? What have I done for his glory, and

for the good of men? When I look on the talents committed to my care, what shall I say respecting my use or abuse of them? Have I faithfully improved my spiritual blessings, and lived as a true follower of Christ?

Alas! I have not fully and rightly improved any talent; any mercy; any portion of the divine bounty. "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified."

But I trust that, through divine grace, I have not been altogether faithless, inactive, and useless. I have reason to be ashamed and penitent; but I have reason also to be thankful and to rejoice. I have not wholly forgotten God, and his word, and the duty of the true Christian.

I now find it an easy thing to discover how I should have acted; what I ought to have done: and I chide myself for my former indolence and perverseness. How much of life has been wasted in doing nothing! How much of it has been spent in fine speculations, airy fancies, specious purposes, and inefficient resolves! How small a portion of it has been properly spent in the acquisition of good for myself, and in doing good for the benefit of others!

What reason have I to admire the goodness and forbearance of God! I would magnity his grace, by which I am what I am; by which only I have been enabled to order my conversation in any measure aright. I would magnify that grace which has done great things for me: but I would take shame and confusion to myself, when I consider how little I have done for my divine Benefactor.

I acknowledge my numberless transgressions and my unprofitableness: and I extol the divine

goodness, by which, I trust, I have been redeemed from ignorance, sin, and death: and I cannot refuse to cherish the hope, that He who has been good to me will yet continue his goodness to me, and that I shall praise Him for ever-JehovahFather, Son, and Spirit-the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.

O my Soul! thou hast been made to take the Bible for thy teacher and guide. Thou hast been enabled to receive, in some measure, the offered blessings, and to rejoice in the consolations, of the gospel of Christ. Thou knowest spiritual things in a spiritual manner. Be humble and penitent, as thou considerest thy past misconduct; and gratefully acknowledge the divine goodness. While the outward man totters and decays, while this world is receding and fading from thy view, let faith prevail, and let thy language be gratitude and praise. My lips shall greatly rejoice, when I sing unto Thee; and my soul, which Thou hast redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long."

Thou art now, O my Soul, standing, as it were, upon an eminence, from which thou mayest see the past and the future. Behind thee is a world with which thou hast been for a long time fainiliar, and in which thy pilgrimage is coming to a close. Before thee is the remnant of thy days, and then a world without limits and without change; a world that is everlasting.

Value, O my Soul! the remnant of thy life on earth. Use greater diligence and fidelity, and let thy last days be thy best days. Be thou the courageous soldier and the laborious servant of Christ, even till the sun descends, and thou art dismissed for ever from conflict and from toil. Weaned from

a world which thou art about to leave, and breathing the spirit of that world on which thou art about to enter, the conclusion of thy mortal course shall be like a fine autumnal evening: it may have its clouds and dark shades; but a mellow effulgence shall shine forth; and thou shalt depart in faith, hope, and peace.

Most merciful and gracious God, I thankfully acknowledge thy goodness to me during all my days. Mercy and goodness have hitherto followed me. "Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth." Make me penitent and humble, thankful and joyful; and enable me to spend the residue of life to thy glory, and to the good of my fellow-creatures; through Jesus Christ our only Saviour. Amen.

JONES.

THE GRAVE.

"MAN goeth to his long home;" to "the house appointed for all living." "There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master." As a flower of the field, so man springs up, grows, flourishes, and fades, and disappears. He may be cut off in the morning, or in the midst of his days, or his existence may be prolonged to old age; but every step that he takes on earth is a step towards the grave. The day will come when the frail tenement shall be consigned to the dust. "I have said to Corruption, Thou art my father; to the Worm, Thou art my mother and my sister."