universal and eternal good. He knows that nothing is too great to be above the care of his heavenly Father; nothing too small to be below it. He is assured that the gracious Being, who regards with compassion the sparrow that falls silently to the ground, and clothes the smallest field-flower with beauty and fragrance, while he wheels the planets in their orbits and restrains the sun in his place of light, will never forget the humblest individual whom he has created in his own image, and destined to immortality. He feels that the darkest events of Providence are appointed in love, and that the benevolent Father who pities his children, and knows that they are dust, sends no sorrow without a kind design.

This is indeed a hard lesson to learn. It is taught thoroughly in the school of Christ alone, that the discipline of suffering is as truly a part of the order of Providence, and as strong a proof of the love of God, as the blessings of prosperity. You may acknowledge the benevolence of the Deity, and be able to feel it in the loveliness of a summer's landscape, where the blue heavens and the bright waters and the green earth are mingled in a common expression of beauty, and

the magnificent drapery of nature is all unfolded by a divine hand; but do you not know, that the blighting frosts and chilling snows, the gloom and desolation of winter, are appointed by the same Almighty author, and that he who causes the gentle showers which refresh the thirsty earth, rides forth in the whirlwind, and directs the tempest? Does he send the one in love and the other in anger? Is not the God of the summer and the God of the winter the same? Are not his tender mercies over all his works? Do you not see him in the red lightning and the angry storm, as well as in the blue sky and tranquil heavens? Does the long resounding thunder, which inflicts evil upon a part for the benefit of the whole, speak less distinctly the praises of Jehovah, than the gentle music of the wind, as it dies peacefully away over the echoing hills?

And as natural evil and natural good are thus blended in just proportion for the benefit of man, the christian perceives that the trials of life and the blessings of life are from the same wise Providence, and that adversity has its sweet and sacred uses, as well as prosperity. In sickness as well as in health; in sorrow as well as in joy; in the event which

prostrates his hopes, as well as in that which elevates them, he recognizes the will of the same God. What! he devoutly exclaims, what! shall I receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall I not also receive evil? The Lord gave, the same Lord hath taken away : blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed, when he gives, and when he takes away.

The christian, moreover, derives peace from the assurance, that as all the allotments of Providence come from a father, and are sent in love, so they may all contribute to the ultimate welfare of his soul. The gospel teaches us not only that it is good for us to be afflicted, but it explains how it is good for us to be afflicted. It informs us that the great object of life is the cultivation of our moral being. It informs us, that though outward blessings are taken from us, if the inward virtues are increased, our highest good is not injured, but on the contrary augmented. Now we know, by our observation of the human mind, that certain traits of character are not fully developed in the sunshine of prosperity, but are nurtured and flourish and grow up amid the storms of adversity. Many a beautiful plant is brought to perfection, many a precious fruit is ripened, not so much

by the hot sun of noon, as by the refreshing moisture of midnight. So many a beautiful and precious virtue of the soul is best cherished in silence and solitude, when all things bright and fair have vanished, and darkness broods around.

There is thus in the eternal plan of Providence a principle of compensation, by which sorrow is turned into joy, and present troubles produce lasting benefits. The light af fliction, which is but for a moment, works out for the subdued and improved sufferer a far more exceeding and an eternal weight of glory. No matter in what form the trial comes; no matter what stern disguise it may assume; it is sent for the best good of man. It is borne from the throne of the Almighty, not by a demon of wrath, but by an angel of mercy. The cup of trembling which he presents, though it contain the waters of bitterness, is filled from the fountain of life.

In feelings and hopes like these does the christian find peace. Thus is fulfilled that blessed promise of our Lord, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you."

G. R.

Fragments.

For what was call'd

Affliction, brought an evidence of love.
It came disguis'd in Sorrow's livery,
But it threw off her borrow'd garb, and lo!
The white rob'd Angel of celestial love
With her sweet influence was there.

She still'd

His troubled thoughts, open'd his blinded heart,
And led him out beyond the changing earth,
And pointed up to the Eternal mind,
That taketh knowledge of a sparrow's fall,
And lights a world with glory; that will hear
A sigh's low music mid the swelling praise,
Which rushes upward from a thousand realms.

-Light came from darkness, gladness from despair: As, when the sun-light fadeth from the earth,

Star after star comes out upon the sky,

And shining worlds, that had not been reveal'd,
In day's full light, are then made manifest:
'T was so with him. The light of earth shut out,
His thoughts turn'd inward, and discover'd there
Things of immortal wonder, living springs

Of an unfailing comfort; hidden things,

Brighter than earth's allurements. He could trace The operations of the immortal mind,

On its high path to excellence and joy,

And see the prize of its high calling there.

M.