the troubled bosom, and restore peace to the anxious breast. Do we require instruction and direction along the stormy way, he has promised to guide and protect us; and offers his word as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. He has said, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."*

He is a gracious monitor. To give advice, and administer reproof, is one of the most difficult and last performed offices of human friendship. But with God, this is no difficult task. He afflicts in order that the mind may be softened to receive reproof and instruction; he prepares the heart to listen to his admonitions, and thus gaining entire access to the soul, he is enabled, by the still small voice of the Spirit of his grace, to say, "This is the way, walk ye in it." He suggests the existence of the very evil his discipline is intended to remove, or points to the necessity of exercising the graces he has designed to strengthen. He awakens the supineness and indolence of the lethargic

* John xiv. 1, 18, 27.

bosom, and rouses to activity and exertion in the cause of God; and thus prepares the heart for a purer, a more fervent, and a steadier aim to the promotion of his glory, and the advancement and extension of his power. He enlightens the understanding, renews the will, and enables us to discern, as well as choose, the things which pertain to our everlasting peace. He warns us of danger, cautions against the indulgence of evil, and admonishes of the benefits to be derived from suffering.

us.

Surely, then, we can but infer the peace and safety of yielding submission to a Friend so wise, who condescends to arrange our affairs for Omniscient goodness knoweth all things. He wisely ordains what is best for us; and well knowing that we are incapable of choosing for ourselves, he condescends to superintend and appoint the events which shall befall us. Intimately acquainted with these circumstances, surely it is more than folly, if we do not meekly, quietly, and obediently acquiesce in his appointments. Since we remain in his hands, we are safe from every hurtful snare; and we are assured that all things shall work together for our good; for he has promised us protection, and has engaged to convert the bitter cup of sorrow into the healing balm of contrition. He will give rest unto his people. How urgent a

motive to be still in the hour of darkness, and to wait for the peace and the deliverance which he has promised in his own time; assured of our inviolable security, if we put our trust in Him who is our refuge and strength: "a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces." And "it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation."*

* Isa. xxv. 4, 8, 9.

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CHAPTER VII.

ON THE SOURCES OF CONSOLATION.

WE have already traced the duties of the mourner, and shall now take a view of the consolations provided for him, in submitting to the will of God. These consolations are promised to those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth, who are desirous of imitating his example, and living to his glory.

"There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked;" neither can the troubled bosom, agitated by a thousand turbulent passions and solicitudes, lay claim to a participation of those consolations which are provided only for such as live by faith upon the Son of God. Yet even those who are estranged from God, though they cannot appropriate these comforts to themselves, are not left without solace under the loss of their relatives. They claim our pity, for they suffer acutely they feel as much as others, and they have not the same support under their trials. They know the bitterness of sorrow, without the pleasure of obedience; they suffer

affliction, without the heart-cheering prospect of eternal rest, when "death shall be swallowed up in victory."

If these pages should fall into the hands of such an one-if you are indeed mourning the loss of your earthly comforts, and not a ray of hope, reflected from eternity, cheers your solitude, and animates you with delightful anticipations of futurity; if you have lost your dearest treasure, that in which your soul delighted, and your prospects are now clouded by the gloom of death; if you are suffering under the mighty hand of God, and yet perceive not the hand that gives you the bread and water of affliction, nor whence cometh your help; if you are experiencing his wrath, and are not induced to inquire wherefore he contends with you, and to search and try your hearts, repent of your iniquities, and turn unto the Lord your God; if you are angry with him under your trials, refusing to yield submission to his will, and calling in question the equity of his government, or the purity, wisdom, and goodness of his dispensations; if you harden that heart which he would mould into conformity to his will, and impiously murmur against heaven, or carelessly neglect its admonitions, it is to you I would address the following considerations; and while they tend to mitigate your grief, may they induce you to be