the lesson you gather from grief, then remember that there is good even in wretchedness; remember that in this world we are perplexed, but not in despair, -persecuted, but not forsaken, - cast down, but not utterly destroyed.

We must remember in great grief that our present views of our misfortune cannot be lasting, and that they are probably exaggerated; we must represent to ourselves that the time will soon come when acute sorrow will be calmed into solemn regret,-that our feelings are like the feelings of other sufferers, who have found that their sorrow was not too great for the healing hand of time, or too deep to be affected by the ordinary current of human affairs; we must remember too that the ordinary condition of human life does not allow us to indulge long in unprofitable grief- that after a certain concession to the tenderness of our feelings, we must return, and do the business of God in the world, possessing our souls in patience, and living on cheerfully to the last.

Then a great comfort to us is, that nothing is overlooked, that God knows even the least of all our sufferings, and that if it was not right it would not be. The moral government of an Omniscient Being the certainty of this, which we have gained from Revelation-this is the great source of courage. To talk of chance, is to use a word without meaning: if the moral government of God is admitted, there can be no chance; our joys and our sorrows all spring from one great and wise system, and are controlled by the same infinite and infallible Being; so that there is no wretch in the obscure corner of a desert upon whom the eye of God is not bent, and in whose sorrow the ministering angels are not busy. This is a great consolation, nor is there any other consideration on which in time of great grief it is more expedient to dwell. "O Lord! thou hast tried me and searched me out; thou knowest my down-sitting and my up-rising;

thou art about my path and about my bed! If I go up to heaven, thou art there: if I go down to hell, thou art there also! If I take the wings of the morning, and go into the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also thy right hand shall follow me."

In the management of great grief we need not be exhorted to fall back on the kindness and pity of our friends; it is then we feel that dependence upon our fellow-creatures, and the importance of those social feelings, which are the best and highest gift that God has given to man.

It may be of some use to contemplate the manner in which great grief has been endured by the wisest and the best men; to model in our imagination, from their example, a character of mild and patient suffering; and to convert a barren admiration of pious fortitude into an useful, though perhaps a distant imitation, of what we admire. There is help to grief too in modesty and comparison. Have the good, have the wise, have the pious escaped? Have I never seen the best of human beings writhing in the agonies of pain? Is it the wicked only that are vexed? No! the servants of God also, the souls and spirits of the righteous, men of holy and humble hearts! Have I never seen the comforter of other men's misfortunes bowed down under his own? Have I never seen genius, fancy, wisdom, and all the powers of the soul broken in pieces, and beat down to the dust by the rude storms of life? Do I see death respecting the sceptre and the palace? Can great possessions, can names, can the bustle of human power keep the heart bright, and shine away the long shadows of sorrow? Can I look round upon the vast sorrows of the world-can I see the decay of wisdom, the ruin of health, and beauty, and power, and wealth, torn from their fond possessors can I see a reasoning creature looking down into his grave, and knowing that in a few hours, there, all the tumult of life and the majesty of

intellect will be laid can I see the tears of mothers, and the groans of fathers, and the moaning of the young, torn away before their time, and foolishly imagine that I alone am exempt? Why not me as well as they? Why am I not to have my share, or why am I to suppose that a more bitter dart has been levelled at me, and that on me and my devoted head has the vessel of God's wrath been poured?

Grief is unjust, and unjust where injustice is impious. We remember what God has taken away, but we do not remember what he has given. David blessed God in every exercise of his almighty power; he blessed God the Avenger, he blessed God the Giver of good things: "the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord." It would indeed be pious and wise at the time of great grief to encourage this train of reflections:-I have to mourn over this loss, and God only knows the bitterness of my grief; but there remain to me health, competence, fame, friends, power, or any other of the good things of this life. Is it not wise, is it not our duty, to balance our condition? Is it fair to tax God with every loss, and not to thank God for every blessing?-to suppose that every thing we enjoy is due to us as a matter of course, and then, when misfortune comes, to cast up looks of keen inquisition to Heaven, and to say, "Oh, my God, why hast thou smitten me thus sorely?" The misfortune is, that few men are religious in their pleasures - all men are religious in their griefs. Many supplications go up to Heaven, but few thanksgivings. We do not thank God for the great marks of benevolence displayed in the universe; for light, for heat, for the earth's fertility, for the social spirit, for the pleasures of benevolence, and the pleasures of knowledge; for the certainty of another life attained by the revelation of Jesus Christ our Saviour. and Redeemer. All that is sunk and forgotten! But when disease comes, and a human being whom we love

is sinking away before us, then cover the altar, and begin the intercourse with the God of punishments, and sigh and weep away the terrors of his wrath.

You will all easily anticipate me when I come to the last and greatest consolation of grief- the certainty of another life from the promises of the Gospel; without which all the other consolations of grief which I have suggested would be of little or no avail; for under that promise, every event of life assumes a new aspect, and is to be judged with a fresh judgment. That same truth which deprives the grave of its victory, and death of its sting, turns aside the arrows of grief, and brings the calamities of human life within the powers of human endurance. It is not only a topic for strong and elevated minds, but it penetrates the humblest faculty, and lifts up the feeblest spirit. When we open the book of God, and read that the great day will come, when we are all to assemble before the everlasting Judge for healing, for redress, for recovery, for justice, for renewal of affections, for restoration of rights- when these are the solemn promises of our God and our Saviour, why is not the frantic spirit of grief calmed, and why do we go on to mourn as men without hope?

It is but for a season; it will all be recovered, and all be restored; there is some help now, and at the end of all, splendid and immeasurable comfort! God never forsakes us, but there is plan and wisdom in it all! We are perplexed, but not in despair - persecuted, but not forsaken cast down, but not destroyed.

-

63

SERMON VIII.

ON THE EXCELLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL.

PHIL. iii. 8.

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.

As one method of ascertaining the justice of this eulogium upon our blessed religion, I propose to examine its effects upon our temporal concerns, and through the medium of such examination to show, that the text which I have quoted from the pious apostle of Christ is not the language of enthusiasm, but the decision of impartial reason. And I am the more inclined to the examination of the excellence of the Gospel by this sort of test, because it has ever been one of the principal obstructions to Christianity, that it has been considered as unfriendly to worldly advantages, for Christianity seems to smother and slacken the industry of men, by charg ing them to be content with a little; by disparaging secular wealth, and praising spiritual feeling; by debarring men of what seems to be the readiest instruments of profit-violence, exaction, fraud, and flattery, and by limiting the use even of those instruments which are good-care, vigilance, and dexterity; by paring away the licentious use of wealth, and always taking part with conscience whenever it clashes with interest.

To these considerations it may be added also, that the worldly advantages produced by Christianity are by no means so gross and palpable that it is easy for all men to appreciate their excellence. For a remedy to