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and in consequence of which he was slain? and yet it was the fulfilment of the prophecy of Huldah. "Behold, therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place." Before God punishes the Jews for their idolatries, he shelters his servant from the storm of his wrath, and calls him to a brighter crown, and a more enduring kingdom. Should the flames of persecution again be kindled, and should our chief magistrates say to us, as Pilate did to the Saviour, "Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?" we may with Him reply, "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above."

How does the belief of the sovereign and universal dominion of God dispose us to Christian submission, under the loss of our dearest earthly friends! When the objects of our tender love are removed from us, how consolatory the thought that the time of their departure, and all the means by which it was occasioned, were appointed and arranged by a Being of infinite wisdom and benevolence! We sometimes blame ourselves for negligences or mistakes, and we think if this plan had not been adopted, and the other had been pursued,—if we had been more

alive to the danger that threatened us, more wise in the selection of instruments, and more prompt in the use of efficient remedies,-our parent, our child, our brother, our friend, would not have died. But these are useless wailings-vain and foolish regrets! That we are liable to err cannot be denied; and that our errors sometimes hasten the event which we are most anxious to retard, is acknowledged; and yet we should not be slow to admit that the Supreme Arbiter of life and death renders even our short-sightedness subservient to the accomplishment of his own purposes. It is He that takes away the desire of our eyes with a stroke; that bereaves us of our children; that puts our acquaintance into darkness; and who hath broken us with breach upon breach. Much as we loved our friends, and bitter as the pang of separation has been to us, cutting asunder, as it were, the chords, and tearing away the fibres of the heart, we dare not question his right in them, nor murmur at the disposal which he makes of his own property. As the great Husbandman, he walks through the garden of the world, and plucks his flowers when and where he pleases; and if he gives them root in a richer soil, and causes them to expand and bloom in a more genial clime, have we not more occasion to adopt the song of grateful thanksgiving, than the unavailing expressions of sorrow! It is our privilege, as it is our duty, to adore the divine

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sovereignty, and prostrating ourselves at his throne, from the heart to say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Nor let us be unduly anxious about the term of our own life, or the circumstances of our death. If we are reconciled to God through the death of his Son; if sin be pardoned and the heart renewed; we may confidently commit the changes which may take place in the mode of our existence into His hands, the wheels of whose providence are full of eyes, and never move at random. Our great business should be the care of the soul; an attention to the discharge of present duty, and the improvement of present privileges; and to have a supreme regard in all that we do to the revealed will of God: and then we may cheerfully resign the disposal of the body, and of all our temporal interests, to Him, who has the management of the material universe, and with whom reside the spirits of just men made perfect. If all is safe for eternity, we may calmly wait our last summons; and when the messenger arrives, and the call is heard, we may tranquilly apprize our friends, "It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good."

CHAPTER III.

Death-certain in his approach.

Leaves have their time to fall,

And flowers to wither at the north-wind's breath,
And stars to set-but all,

Thou hast all seasons for thine own, oh Death!
Youth, and the opening rose,

May look like things too beauteous for decay,

And smile at thee-but thou art none of those
Who wait the ripened bloom to seize their prey!
We know when moons shall wane;
When summer birds from far shall cross the sea;

When autumn's hue shall touch the golden grain;
But who shall teach us when to look for thee!

ANON.

WHEN, in the heigh-day of youthful vigour, we are enchanted by scenes of earthly pleasure; or when, in advancing years, we are engrossed by the cares and businesses of the world; we are too apt to view death at a distance, and to treat Most are with unconcern invisible realities.

willing to confess the humiliating truth that they shall die; but, they think, not now: and, notwithstanding they daily see man going to his long home, and the mourners walking about the streets, they put far from them the evil time, vainly imagining that to-morrow will be even as to-day, and so much the more abundant. When pressed to an immediate attention to the care of the soul, from the consideration of the shortness and uncertainty of life, like the Israelites to whom Ezekiel prophesied, they say, "The vision that he seeth is for many days to come; and, he prophesieth of the times that are far off." Vain thought! while we are supposing the grim tyrant to be afar, “Death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets." He is hourly stalking abroad through the earth, marking his victims, and securing his conquests. And while we are dreaming of years to come, and of plans of future wealth and pleasure, of enterprize and enjoyment, perhaps the recording angel is saying to us, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."

Had we no other evidence than that of analogy, we should not be without a monitor of the sure approach of death. Every thing around us is subject to dissolution and decay. Mutability is

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