To weeping Fancy pines; and yon bright arch,
Contracted, bends into a dusky vault.

All nature fades extinct."

And it will also be admitted to be a good sign, in regard to the reality and strength of the believer's love to Christ, that when the joys of salvation are withdrawn, and he seems banished from the divine presence, no worldly interest can absorb his cares, nor earthly pleasures console and satisfy his mind; but in fixed resolution, he determines "to wait for him who hideth his face."-" Blessed is that servant whom, when his Lord shall come, he shall find so doing.' If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me "."

66

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My beloved addressed me, and said, "Arise thee, my partner-My fair one, and come. For, lo, the winter is over-the rain is passed away, and is gone the flowers appear on the ground-the time of the singing of birds' is arrived-The voice of the turtle is heard in our land-the fig-tree is embalming its fruit-the vines in blossom yield their fragrance. Arise thee, my partner-my fair one, and come." " This affectionate address of the imaginary lover, the beautiful description of the spring, with his invitation to his espoused to come abroad, and enjoy the delightful scene, are clearly emblematical, as we have noticed, of a revival, in the hopes and religious affections of the Christian,

when, after a season of doubt or temptation, of distress or heaviness, the God of all consolation is pleased to restore to him the joys of the Spirit, and a persuasion of the divine presence and approbation. Then indeed it may be said, "The winter is over, the rain is passed away, and is gone." Or, to use the beautiful language of the Psalmist, " And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun ariseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain"."-The rainy season appeared, perhaps, unpleasant and gloomy, but it has left a blessing behind. So, we may observe, in pursuing the comparison, "no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterwards, it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby'."

The transition from winter to spring, in countries under the same parallel of latitude with the Holy Land, is, we are told, remarkably sudden and distinct. The change would therefore be the more observable. In the space only of a very few days, the cold deluging rains, accompanied with the most tremendous thunders, are succeeded by the gayest scenes of verdure and foliage: where the storm so lately roared, and the wintry torrent dashed from the mountains, are heard the welcome notes of the birds of spring, the turtle, and the eastern nightin

gale. The vine and fig-tree, at the same time, exhibit to the pleased beholder the quickened progress of vegetation, and while they regale his sense with the sweetest odours, contain the promise of a rich and plentiful harvest.

So fares it with the mind, when, after a time of trial and sorrow, it is again comforted with the Saviour's presence, and feels again the invigorating influence of the Holy Spirit: every thing in the state of its experience undergoes a sudden change. The storm ceases: the clouds of spiritual darkness quickly disperse and roll away. Faith, which, like the leafless tree, scarcely retained the semblance of life, and stood with difficulty against the blast of winter, again flourishes, and becomes pregnant with good. Hope, which languished and faded, feels the influence of the genial season: fair and sweet are its blossoms, while songs of praise and thanksgiving, more melodious than " the concert of the groves," are heard around. Love too, that had spent its energies in mourning for an absent and long-lost object, now, "satisfied with favour," goes forth cheerfully to its labours.

In a similar strain, we find the Prophet Isaiah describing a revival in the church at some future period; "The wilderness and solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of

Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God."

My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding-place of the precipice." It were impossible perhaps to conceive a more striking emblem of a helpless being, secure through powerful protection, than that of a defenceless dove, who, as is here depictured, has fled to some great rock for shelter, and has concealed herself in the deep crevices of its rugged sides, where no foe can penetrate, and where no arrow can be aimed. There is another fine allusion to this circumstance in the Prophet Jeremiah: "O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock; be like the dove that putteth her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth'."

In the exterior of the parable, the allusion we are considering was in reference perhaps to the sheltered situation of the bride's retreat, from whence, now the winter was past, her beloved would invite her to come. In the interior of the parable, it appears as a striking admonition to the believer of his perfect security in the gloomy period of his spiritual distress, though no sensible comforts give assurance to his mind. In the season of his greatest fear, "kept by the power of God though faith unto salvation," he is safe; while he trembles at the raging storm, his defence is the "munition of rocks." The dove, moreover, hasting to escape from the

Isai. xxxv. 1, 2.

Jer. xlviii. 28.

m 1 Pet. i. 5.

stormy wind and tempest, from the barbed arrow, or the bird of prey, and flying to the clefted sides of some mighty rock for protection, affords a true illustration of the act of saving faith:-the application of the helpless and alarmed sinner to an allsufficient Saviour, whose pierced side may indeed be said to afford a refuge and a shelter from every evil, a hiding-place in every trouble.

"Show me thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is beautiful." This, as we have seen, is part of the invitation of the beloved to his espoused, now that the season admits, to come abroad, and gratify him with her society. "Add to your faith virtue"," is the evangelical precept: that is, fortitude and resolution-resolution to come forth and appear on the part of God, exhibiting, in the midst of a wicked and adulterous generation, the beauty and consistency of the Christian character-a sight most pleasing in the eyes of our great Master! And he delighteth also to hear the voice of his redeemed people, in prayer, in praise, in the confession of his holy religion. As he has said, Whoso offereth

praise glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I show the salvation of God."

"Go catch us the foxes, the little foxes which destroy the vineyard; for our vineyard is in bloom.”