There is no death-there is only a temporary separation. I wander about as in a mighty dream, in which the forms of my beloved appear to me, and then suddenly vanish. But I shall, one day awake, and meet again with my beloved. The happiness of that dream is but the presentiment of the bliss I shall enjoy on awakening. The delights and raptures of the terrestrial existence are but the foretaste of the raptures of an eternal future, in order that our hearts may long the more fervently after that better life, and render themselves worthy of it, by the amendment of our life, and an entire faith in our Redeemer.

To thee O Eternity, do I consecrate myself, and this fleeting, transitory terrestrial life is but the entrance and vestibule of Eternity. Nothing perishes in Eternity, thereføre will none of those beloved souls perish, which belonged to me in the world. Nothing perishes in Eternity, therefore, O Lord, will thy grace not perish either in this world, nor in the future.

And the same eternal, immutable, Supreme love, which once opened to me the gates of this life on earth, will also open to me the gates of eternal life. The same love, which here below conducted to me, and only for a few moments, the beings whom I loved, will also conduct me to them again in yonder better world, in more glorious, and blessed relations; and it will also conduct to me those whom, when I have passed the bourne of this life, and have entered the realms of eternity, I left behind me in this world.

Slumber then softly, O ye beloved dead over your resting places my soul finds again the peace, which it has lost. Ye only have gone earlier to God, and I shall soon follow you. I have not lost you, for that which God has given, has he preserved for us, that which he created for one another, that will he not allow to perish.

On your graves I exalt my mind to the father of grace, who is never angry, but whose love is eternal. To him I dedicate this vow, never O God, all compassionate and eternally beneficent Father, never will I despair of the

grace of thy love. With an undeviating confidence in thy guidance, I will with joy and comfort pursue my course through life. My heart shall not despond at the remembrance of my beloved amongst the dead, and I shall thereby manifest that my confidence in God is everlasting.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and bless his holy name. Exait thyself, my soul in Christian greatness, and let thy life be a hymn to the all gracious Father in Heaven.

JANUARY XXVIII.

THE SUFFERINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN, HIS PREPARATION FOR ANOTHER WORLD.

GREAT are my sufferings. My soul is full of trouble and sorrow. To whom should I or can I utter my complaints, but to thee, my God, thou, who art all love and eternally takest compassion on thy works. Who, but thou, canst help me? Will my fellow-men heal the sickness of my mind, will they alleviate my grief? They, who often will not help when they can, and often cannot help when they will. But is there no other resource from which I can extract comfort and consolation? Are there no means to be found in Heaven or earth for the restoration of my peace and happiness? Are my sufferings really insupportable? Is there no hope of help, of assuagement, of a change to a better state? O thou Eternal and compassionate God, in such a depth of affliction thou dost not permit any of thy creatures to remain, nor to be reduced so low as to give themselves up to despair.

But I will investigate the matter, and discover the causes which have brought me into these circumstances. My selflove shall not induce me to spare myself: A wound will never be properly healed, if the internal injury be not removed, How can I expect the deliverance from any evil, as long as the cause of it is to be found in my heart. O what a pleasing melancholy steals over me, when I think

that I have so often offended thee, my Heavenly benefactor. that I have so often rendered myself miserable by my own folly and levity, that I have weakened the powers of my soul and body, that I have not always followed the voice of my conscience, nor of religion and nature. O the thought of these things effects in me much good, it produces shame, repentance and grief, but it also creates a determination, and an ardent desire for my reformation. O God! have I reason to grieve at any thing else, than at my own sins? What man is without sin before thee. sufferings in some degree merited? And should I not suffer a thousand fold more, if thou wert to act towards me according to my transgressions? I know to a certainty that thou wilt forgive all my sins for the sake of Christ, if I sincerely repent of them, and abstain from them.

Are not all our

The sorrow however, which torments me, is perhaps merely an earthly one. Perhaps I am in my own eyes so miserable, merely because I am dissatisfied, because everything has not coincided exactly with my wishes, because my terrestrial designs and hopes have been frustrated, or because injuries, want, vexation and sickness oppress me, which I believe I have not deserved. Perhaps it is my own proud heart which is the cause of all my self-torment. Perhaps it is obstinacy, ill-humour, misanthrophy, or any other vicious propensity and passion, that is the disturber of my peace.

And if it be so, why should I wonder that I am miserable? What claim have I upon cheerfulness and contentment, so long as disorderly desires arise in my soul? O God how much better would my condition be, were my heart to be better. But this heart thou canst and willst reform by thy grace, and that thou willst do it, is the prayer, which I this evening offer to thee. Under the dominion of my evil desires, my understanding becomes confused and dark, my heart corrupted, my imagination destroyed, my conscience uneasy, my body weak and feeble, my soul deformed, but with tranquillity, with order and regularity in my

inclinations, joy, cheerfulness, and comfort will return into my soul.

But what is then the cause of my anxiety and sorrow? Is it the loss of a few of the benefits of this world? Is then every thing lost? Do I not still retain the far more noble and higher gifts of the mind and heart? Is then the loss not to be repaired? and can I not be happy, without the possession and enjoyment of riches? does not true happi ness consist in contentment and peace of mind under every degree of terrestrial property, be it great or small? Or is it contempt, injury, calumny, or the malice of my fellowmen, which so depresses my heart? But should not the honour of God surpass with me all other things? Should I not elevate myself above the praise or censure of a whole world, and endeavour above all things to enjoy the blessing of an unsullied conscience? If I be universally despised, I am still great and noble enough, if I enjoy the approbation of God, and when I am conscious to myself of my own virtue and rectitude. If I be forsaken by all, I have no reason to complain, if God be with me, and provides for me. In the estimate of my own worth or unworthiness, it will always depend upon what God and my own own heart testify for me, and not upon the short-sighted and partial opinions of human beings.

Why therefore art thou afflicted my soul, and why is the disquietude so great? Place thy confidence in God. He it is, under whose wise and paternal government, the fate of my life depends. If no sparrow falls to the gound without his will, then certainly will he do much more for me, a rational and immortal being. I am the work of his hands, and with patience will I bear and suffer everything which he imposes upon me. Yes, my heavenly Father! behold how my anxious heart under the pressure of all its sufferings still clings to thee. O preserve me from impatience and discontent, and let me not give pain to others on account of the sufferings which I myself endure. I know the time

will come when my sorrows will be turned into joy, and as an inmate of thy Heaven,. O God, look down upon the tribulations of this earth as of a moments duration, and that they were sent to prepare me for thy better and more blessed kingdom.

JANUARY XXIX.

THE GREATNESS OF GOD IN THE SMALLEST OF HIS

WORKS.

CONSTANTLY do I return from the oppressive turmoil of life to thee, my Creator, and to the contemplation of the wonderful things, with which thou hast surrounded me. Here I always meet again with my sweetest recreation and the most lively renovation of my powers. Here I behold in greater splendour the majesty of thy Omnipotence and wisdom; here the most affecting proofs of thy all-pervading thy all-beatifying goodness; here the most adorable effects of thy Providence.

And who then could remain dumb, whilst the solemn Anthem of all nature rises to Heaven? who can remain insensible in the magnificence of the extended creation which surrounds us in infinite variety?.

Whither shall I direct my look, in order to discern the might and glory of the Creator, in all their awful magnitude? Shall I count the worlds, which as innumerable suns shine from infinite distances in the nocturnal heavens? or shall I admire the mysterious economy of the clouds, in whose abysses, the hurricanes and the lightnings, and the floods hold their empire?

God is great in all his works, and why should I look for him in the wonders of the distant realms of the universe? His power and wisdom are not more sublime and incomprehensible in the paths of the Heavens, where earths, and suns, and moons float in unchangeable orbits and systems, than