does enjoy:* does it not appear, at least, as if human will, allying itself to the spirit of evil, reared its lonely horn on earth, against Him who formed man for happiness, and who designed that the LIFE of that happiness should be that "one thing needful?"‡ To some this does appear; to others it may not. But if there be any, who will to themselves confess the consciousness of their own sufferings, will they not also ask themselves, Is there no remedy?

v...Does not man, on seeing man in such a case as we have pictured, entertain the simple thought, "How wretched is this to behold?

* We would here propose the question, Is not that our "which does us good?"

good

See Psalm 1xxv.

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The one thing needful" is an earnest desire of spiritual instruction and improvement; or, in other words, a serious and constant regard to our everlasting welfare.”"To those who, like Mary of Bethany, have chosen this one thing as the object of their first desire, this encouragement remains it is the good part' they have chosen, and while perishableness is written upon every earthly object, and calamity, and time, and death, take away the things on which others rely, the part they have chosen the God of all is engaged to uphold; and the declaration of his voice to the meek and constant, the devout and docile Jewess, is a pledge also to them, that it shall never be taken away."

Could I arrive at that state of mind? Is there no help? Is there no refuge? Is there no home for that wanderer ? No medicine for that spirit—no cure for that evil?"

We do naturally ask ourselves such questions on witnessing such a case as we have supposed.

vi...We know that this world has no remedy to offer. The evil is too vast, the disorder too great, for the powers of this world alone. either to cause or to relieve.

The common troubles of life can teach us, that on earth there is nothing to afford us real consolation or support, even under the pressure of these, which, alike in weight, appear to be measured to all.

But this extremity of woe, this monstrous suffering-defying all human charity-scorning all human aid! Earth's medicaments in application add to that they cannot cure! And nothing earth affords touches the texture of this woe! *

*"Can a man bind a thought with chains, or carry imaginations in the palm of his hand? Can the beauty of the peacock's train, or the ostrich's plume, be delicious to the palate and the throat? Does the hand intermeddle with the joys of the heart? or darkness, that hides the naked, make him warm?"-Jeremy Taylor.

VII...Therefore, is it unwise to consider, whether, beyond the SIGHT of man, there may not be a force to move the malady, which thus all visible things defies? "The wind bloweth where it listeth"-and before its viewless power the yellow corn-fields wave— the stately trees bend, and the white sail passes from the sight. "The wind bloweth, and we hear the sound thereof, but we cannot tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth.'

But we have seen the goodness of Him who NEVER left himself without witness:we know that the God who is above is compassionate, pitiful, and merciful-that he is

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mighty in strength"-that he is "clothed with strength"-that nothing is "too hard for the Lord"-that he is God Almighty! — and that he is " merciful and gracious”—“ full of compassion"" the fountain of all goodness" "the Father of all mercies!"

Does not the question, therefore, now suggest itself,-May not He, whose very name is goodness,* and whose will is, as we know,†

* The Saxon word god signifies also good; and " the same word," says 66 Johnson, passes in both senses, with only accidental variations, through all the Teutonic dialects."

† See Appendix I.

the happiness of his creatures-may not He, in his infinite mercy, have provided a remedy for sin and sorrow? Could not His hand heal the sick? Could not HE cleanse the lepers?*

Is it not wisdom-is it not our hope-to seek the living God, who MADE heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are therein! "Who is Lord of heaven and earth"-who giveth to all LIFE, and BREATH, and ALL THINGS."-That we should SEEK Him, if haply we might FEEL after Him, and FIND Himwho is not far from every one of us, for " in Him we LIVE, and MOVE, and have our being." "To whom" else" shall we go?" We must look beyond this earth-we must look beyond the scene around us-for support and comfort, for instruction and peace of mind, for assistance and strength, for health, of understanding and direction in our ways. We are vile and abject-" shapen in iniquity," and "born to trouble." || "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not:"¶ "Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?”**

* See Lev. xiv. 2, 7. Is. lii. 15. 1 Pet. i. 2.

† Acts xvii. 27. || Job v. 7.

See John vi. 68.
Eccles. vii. 20.

§ Psalm li. 5. ** Prov. xx. 9.

"If

"In many things we ALL offend:"* and " we say that we have no sin, the TRUTH is not in us."+

"The thoughts of mortal men are miserable, and our devices are but uncertain; for the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind."+

But, let us look upwards, in hope, unto our God! unto Him who made us,-unto

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the

Him who created man upright," § merciful Father who formed man " in his own image," and "blessed man, and said, Be ye fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth; ||"-unto Him ye "free among the dead;"T-unto Him who is above all principality, power, and might: who "stilleth the raging of the seas, and the madness of his people." ** We preach that ye should turn unto Him!

James iii. 2, 3.

Wisd. ix. 14, 15.

† 1 John i. 8.

§ Eccles. vii. 29.

|| Gen. i. 31—" And God saw all that he had made,

and behold it was very good."

Psalm lxxxviii. 5. Lev. xiii. 45.

** Psalm lxv. 7.

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