is often reaped but by the storm: his days are full of toil: even 66 knowledge but increaseth his sorrow ;” and approaching futurity brings frequently with it the most gloomy cares.

Alas, the picture is often too true, and the contrast too accurate!-and where lies the solution of the difficulty? Are the "vessels of stone and of clay” more regarded than those of the choicest gold? Are the "pearls of great price" less valued than the basest alloy? And amid the wonderful design in the universe, does man alone fail to partake of his Maker's care? No. As in the case of every other living thing, HIS SITUATION TOO IS ADAPTED TO HIS NATURE. He is an intelligent, a moral, and an active being, and a free agent. His enjoyment is in the pursuit more than the possession, and in acquiring rather than in having. He needs little the aid of instinct. The soul which he has received accomplishes his ends. When properly regulated, it is the source, too, of far greater happiness than what any lower animal can ever enjoy. Nothing," said the son of Sirach, "is of so much importance as a well-instructed mind." "Antoninus," said a modern writer,* 66 was happy, not because he sat upon the throne of the world, but because he had an enlightened and beneficent mind." The improvement of our faculties is one of our highest duties; it ought to be one of our greatest pleasures: and that

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* Dr Ferguson.

very chance, as it is termed, which has been so much complained of, is necessary in the production of situations most suited to that end. Those events which are termed accidents, depend in reality upon the operation of causes as direct and efficient as attraction itself. But the Deity sees it meet to conceal from those, who he means should decide for themselves, what are their import and effects. Considered merely as having created, and as sustaining the world, with all the lower animals, God would be no more than the artificer of a wonderful machine; but towards man, he is a mighty sovereign over subjects rational and accountable, whom he will one day summon to answer for all his deeds.

But a far more important point of contrast still remains behind. While "the spirit of the beast goeth down to the earth, that of man goeth upward." Analogies from what we know, guide us towards understanding those things which are hidden from us: some valuable ones we may gather amid the least of nature's works; and the larvæ of various insects, after dwelling years under water, rise from their liquid abode, and striking forth wings, fly in the sunbeam. Now may not man be in some such first state of being, preparatory for another; and will not that view of the case solve our difficulties? If his heart pants for something beyond the limit of his present sphere, may it not be because he is designed for a higher? If his happiness is incomplete here, may it not be because

he is intended for an hereafter ? This is in truth but the antechamber of a magnificent palace, the porch of a sumptuous temple, a state of being antecedent to a far more important existence !

But the discipline of the present is requisite to fit us for our future state; and the difficulties which we have to encounter here, are probably that wherein its excellence consists. An able seaman is not bred in the barges of a glassy lake, but must struggle with the gale and the tempest. In the education of a great commander, the evolutions of the parade would be but a feeble substitute for the campaign and the battle. So the labour and hardships of the present life seem necessary, in like manner, to train us for a future; while its distresses and its sorrows may be requisite to wean us from a temporary and passing scene.

CHAPTER V.

AND here let us not suppose, from the regularity of the works of the Almighty, that, having produced that system which we have been contemplating, he ever withdraws himself for a moment from any of the parts of his creation. He who sustains the life of the minutest animalcule, while at the same time he wheels the spheres, is omnipresent and omniscient, and governs all. The particular providence of God, however, as consistent with the nature of man as a free

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agent, is among the difficulties which encircle this great subject. But as an affectionate earthly parent still bends a friendly eye towards a son, though he is set out into the world, leading him with his counsel, and protecting him with his influence, may we not suppose also our heavenly Father, though he worketh unseen, to turn towards us his children his fostering care, to prompt us to do well, to strengthen our good resolutions, to shield us in the hour of danger, and to guard us in that of temptation? Nor let us doubt of his government, because in that, as in many other instances, we cannot comprehend his doings. The events of it are as unexpected as our foresight is limited. The brethren of Joseph supposed that they were but selling a slave, while the Ruler of nations was in him sending a prime minister into Egypt, and forming an important event in the history of man. While a late haughty conqueror thought he was making his way to universal empire, he was but an instrument in the Almighty's hand to forge the bolts of his own captivity, and bring back the peace of the civilized world. Though our Creator ruleth the hosts of heaven, yet the hairs of our head are numbered by him; he guards the safety of the least of his creatures; and while he breathes in every zephyr, and blooms in every flower, he listens to the devout aspirations of every sincere and feeling heart through his boundless dominions. Let us not, therefore, doubt that we are his special care. As he steps forth from

the general order of things, and carries the little migrating bird, without its knowing why, or whither it is going, through the storms of the wide sea, and, after its fatigue and hunger, places it at length in the groves of a finer country, and under a more genial sky; so in his great providence towards us, and equally without our knowledge of our fate, he often bears us through our troubles to the enjoyment of a brighter and happier day. Whether we wake or sleep, he watches over us; "and his millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth" to protect us. Let us, therefore, cast our anxieties upon him; and, while we endeavour virtuously to exert those talents and capacities which he has bestowed upon us, let us rely on the aid of his dispensations towards us, as intellectual and immortal beings; and trust that all will work together for our happiness here or hereafter.

In systems of false philosophy, attempts have been made to account for what have been considered anomalies in the affairs of human life, by supposing a principle of evil to exist as well as one of good; but let us not detract from the Almighty by such futile conjectures. The Governor of the universe is one and supreme. In the material world every step in the advancement of knowledge has developed the most beautiful arrangement. Let us trust then, that the more we know of the moral government of God, the more shall we discover of order; and taking into view, that the present is but a preparatory state, the