stewardship; and then having done that, it becomes the duty of our profession as his disciples, to leave consequences with him.

An old writer calls anxious care “sweating thoughts," which, he says, are mostly employed about superfluities; for it requires but little care to provide necessaries. Every day of our lives we witness the labour and the work that is bestowed upon articles of dress, and yet art cannot equal nature. Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like a flower of the field, which, for its beauty and transcendent purity, declares, "the hand that formed me is divine." It was with this view of things that Solon, one of the wise men of Greece, though a heathen, in seeing Croesus gaudily attired, exclaimed, " I prefer the sight of a peacock to Crœsus!"

The motives of reliance. "For which of you, with taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit ?" The fruitlessness of anxious care is here made obvious; a man cannot make himself grow; and it is intended by this representation that anxiety about other things must prove equally fruitless; "for God hath made of one blood all nations of men, to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." And however anxious a man may be about extending the bounds of his habitation and enlarging his possessions, it must necessarily prove to be fruitless, unless God has purposed that it should be so; and in that case the event will occur without anxious thought: "God putteth down one, and setteth up another; behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.” The same argument that is held respecting raiment will apply to everything that is necessary for this life:

"If God so clothe the grass of the field"—that is, if he gives to the flowers of the field their form, their varied tints, and assigns to each of them their delicious scents, not suffering one of them to depart from its original construction,-if so, then how fruitless for man, for the potsherds of the earth to strive with their Maker;" for which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit?" The commencement of our being was by his decree; the formation of our bodies, their growth, their height, were all determined before we were born; the post we were to occupy in life, our circumstances, our rise in life, or our fall, were all wisely determined by the foreknowledge of the Eternal; " for we are all the work of his hands; he made us, and not we ourselves;" and he will not let one of us depart from his original intention respecting us. A man may therefore fume and fret, but what doth it advantage him, "for which of you, with taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit?"

If, then, man is what God makes him to be, and if, for wise reasons known to himself, God makes a man to be poor, is that a reason for repining? Will repining mend his circumstances? He who knew what was good and what was evil; he who had the power within himself to have possessed that which is most esteemed by worldly-minded men; he whose were the cattle upon a thousand hills, and yet laid no claim to his rights if He chose a life of poverty, did he not thereby sanctify the state of poverty? And while he was, by rejecting riches, pouring contempt upon them, was he not also teaching us that true happiness was not to be looked for in the world's idols? Does it not, then, plainly appear that there is a motive for reliance in the sovereignty of God, who doth what he will with his own? But there is another motive for re

liance in the faithfulness of God: "For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee; so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." God made this promise first to Jacob, then to Israel, then to Joshua, and afterwards to all believers, for the confirmation of their faith. Is any one disconsolate and cast down by reason of present difficulties, or doubts, or fears, or forsakings? Let such an one trust in the living God, and take courage; God is faithful who has promised. For the encouragement of such an individual I will quote a passage or two from the sacred text: "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not shall the flame kindle upon thee. and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea."

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be burned, neither God is our refuge

This subject leads us to learn to rely implicitly upon the unalterable, though often mysterious, decrees of Providence. We may learn to quiet ourselves in trouble with the consideration that an all-wise and omnipotent Jehovah is at the helm of affairs, and that if we strive never so much, we cannot turn one hair white or black.

We may also remember that, if we are genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus, God is our Father; and most men know a father's feelings towards a dearly beloved child. And I may remark, in passing, that had

not God dearly loved us, he would never have paid a price so enormously great as the blood of his co- equal from eternity for our redemption: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."

We may learn also not to be anxiously careful for anything, but to seek, first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and then, all things that he sees to be needful and necessary for us will be given us into the bargain; and in this view the subject of a particular providence is full of consolation and encouragement to the sincere Christian.

We may learn also that while anxious care is forbidden, a senseless apathy is not to be indulged; but every one is directed to labour, working with his own hands, and then to leave consequences with God: "Be not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;" for diligence and piety shall be blessed.

THE DIFFERENT EFFECTS OF SUNSHINE.

THAT the shining of the sun should have different effects upon different substances may not be thought to be remarkable, as almost every one knows that heat will melt wax and harden clay. Notwithstanding almost every one is acquainted with this result, yet it is not every one who reflects that this apparent anomaly is not occasioned by any difference in the rays of the sun, but in the substances upon which those rays fall.

The human mind in some persons may be compared to wax-impressible; in others to clay-hardenable.

The gospel, when preached to one description of persons, proves to be "a savour of death unto death;" and when preached to the other, is "a savour of life unto life." This is scripture language.

The preaching of the gospel is neither more nor less than the setting forth of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Saviour of sinful men; and he takes to himself the title of " Sun of Righteousness." "But unto you who fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings."

When the Sun of Righteousness shines, his beams of grace fall alike upon all; and yet the result of his