last be separated; the body must mingle with the dust, but the soul returns to God who gave it. How agonizing must death's summons be to those who are at ease in their possessions, who have known no change, whose hope is in this world! However hard the trials in life may be, however deep its afflictions, still if they lead us to prepare for death happy are we, for after death comes judgment. In your lengthened affliction, you no doubt have often found by experience that it hath been the means of grace to your soul, in leading you to Him who afflicteth for our welfare. None enters Canaan's rest without tribulation; it is the furnace God is pleased to bless for purifying the soul, and with his blessing it proves the most valuable part of our lives; but if we improve not the day of affliction, it will turn to us a judgment instead of the kindness of a father correcting his children. We should mark every stroke in providence as the voice of God; though they are performed in silence, still to the observing mind they speak louder than thunder. His providence is over all his works; even the wicked he feedeth with a bountiful hand, but he withholds from his own, that they should not be condemned with the world. In the full assurance of the superintendence of Providence, and that he will make all work for our good, and his glory, F. I.

LETTER VIII.

Hail, sovereign Lord! by all thy works confest!
By angels worshipp'd, and by saints address'd!
Hail, sovereign love! mysterious wisdom, hail !
In whom the Father and his fulness dwell!
In whom the Godhead, and the man unite,
Stamp of his form, and glory of his light;
Come, and thy two-fold character maintain,
Jehovah's equal, and the child of man!

PERRONET.

Edinburgh 5th January, 1821.

THIS is the anniversary of your birth. Ninety and two years have rolled over your head since you inhaled the first breath of life; and at your advanced period of life, I know nothing will give you greater pleasure, than turning your attention to the sublime traits of character in the Old Testament Saints. At the command of God, Noah commenced building an ark, amid the ridicule of the profane, without any visible evidence of the approaching deluge to silence their unbelieving reproach. It is a great example of fortitude and faith, to obey instantly the command of God, believing that what he hath pro

mised or threatened will assuredly come to pass. At his command, too, Abraham left his kindred and country, to dwell amongst strangers, not knowing whither he went, obeying the Word, whose delights were with the sons of men. There is a lofty grandeur in the character of Abraham, that few have displayed since his day. To prevent strife between his servants and his kinsman's, Lot's, he nobly said, "separate thyself from me; if thou take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or, if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." His refusing to share the spoil of Sodom is of the same generous character: "I have lift up my hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abraham rich." This action was truly noble, after having hazarded his own life, and that of his servants, in rescuing the king of Sodom, and his kinsman, Lot, from captivity. To refuse a compensation for such generous interference bespeaks a character elevated far above the warriors of modern times. But what raised his character to the sublime height of being called, "father of the faithful," was his prompt obedience to the command of God to offer up his beloved son Isaac, the son of his old age. It must have been trying to his feelings, when Isaac, in the simplicity of his soul, said, "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the

lamb for a burnt offering ?" How pious the answer of the venerable father!" My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering."

Jacob, though he displayed a great deal of cowardice in certain periods of his life, yet at his death exhibited the greatness of a child of God. On the eve of his departure he assembled his children to tell them their future lot: "And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered to his people." With what self-possession did he perform all this, and at last sunk in silence to rest. The heathen philosophers have no example of the departure of their heroes to compare with this shepherd in Israel. His exit was in full assurance of future peace; the angel who redeemed him from all evil was with him.

Joseph's character in all its detail is lovely; affectionate to his father and brethren, and pious towards his God. The scenes between him and his brethren are drawn with an inimitable touch, and the meeting with his aged father is most affecting : "And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive." And

after the death of his father, when the message of his brethren came unto him, he wept when they spake unto him, showing the affection of his character, and the greatness of his love, in passing over his brethren's evil treatment of him : "Fear not: for am I in the place of God? but as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

When Israel had turned from the Lord to worship an idol formed by their own hands, "The Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, they are a stiff-necked people; now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them, and I will make of thee a great nation." Here was an opportunity for Moses exalting himself and house to all generations; but instead of bringing himself and family into view, he with the utmost generosity pled the cause of Israel: "Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. Yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written."