were far more rigorous, they would not be grievous, for God has "promised his Holy Spirit to them that ask him," who will give "both the will and the power to do after his good pleasure."

SIMILES. Thunder and lightning may appear dreadful demonstrations of wrath, but the storm is sent in love, to purify the air, and prevent pestiferous stagnation.

The members of the body, by obeying the dictates of common instinct, thrive and are happy; and man would be happy too, if he were to "walk in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly."

A hen seems constantly to restrain her young brood "with false alarms of fear," but every cry she gives pro ceeds from love and maternal vigilance.

Pain may be regarded by some as a cruel exaction, but how much better is it that fire should give alarm of danger by pain before the body is injured by a burn; that the eye should give warning of too great light before vision is destroyed; and that the bowels should cry out in agony, before the glutton or drunkard has overwhelmed them with excess, &c.

The knife and the probe of the surgeon are fearful instruments to the patient, but not so fearful as the disease from which he suffers.

Wise laws are looked upon by some as infringements or restraints on natural liberty; but, as Pope says,

What each one likes, if others like as well,
What serves one will, when many wills rebel,
How shall he keep what, sleeping or awake,
A weaker may surprise, a stronger take?
His safety must his liberty restrain,
For all must guard what each desires to gain
Forced into virtue thus by self-defence,
E'en kings learn justice and benevolence :
Self-love forsakes the path it once pursued,
And finds the private in the public good.

A wise vinedresser cuts off this and that cane,-heads

in what is straggling,-nips off every bud which would weaken the clusters he is nursing,-plucks off a leaf here and a leaf there, and seems to reduce his vine to poverty, and strip it of its luxuriance and beauty; but he knows what he is about, and every thing he does is dictated by skill, and has for its object the health and vigour of his plant.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

QUOTATIONS.-He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.-Micah, vi. 8.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.-Matt. xi. 29, 30.

Stand ye in the ways, and see and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for yourselves.-Jer. vi. 16.

Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honour: Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace: She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is every one that retaineth her.-Prov. iii, 16–18.

My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.-Prov. iii. 1, 2.

In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply; and the Lord thy God shall bless thee.Deut. xxx. 16.; see also verse 20. and viii. 1.

Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.-Ps. cxix. 165.

Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.1 Tim. iv. 8.

The fear of the Lord is honour, and glory, and gladness, and a crown of rejoicing. The fear of the Lord maketh a merry heart, and giveth joy, and gladness, and a long life.-Eccles. i. 11, 12.

The fear of the Lord is fulness of wisdom, and filleth men with her fruit. She filleth all their house with things desirable, and their garners with her increase. The fear of the Lord is a crown of wisdom, making peace and pefect health to flourish; and it enlargeth their rejoicing that love God.-Eccles. i. 16-18.

Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments; His seed shall be mighty upon earth . . . Wealth and riches shall be in his house. -Ps. cxii. 1-3.

Submit. In this or any other sphere,

Secure to be as blessed as thou canst bear;
Safe in the hand of one disposing Power,
Or in the natal or the mortal hour:

For spite of pride, in erring Reason's spite,

One truth is clear, WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT.-Pope.

Lex est ratio summa insita in natura, quæ jubet ea quæ facienda sunt, prohibetque contraria.-Cicero. Naturæ ratio est Lex divina.-Cicero.

CONCLUSION.

THEME LXXX. Set not your Affections on Things

INTRODUCTION.

below.

1ST REASON.-Because no sublunary joy can satisfy the mind.

2ND REASON.-Every thing below is uncertain of attainThe desire may never be gratified.

ment.

3RD REASON.-Even if possession be obtained, its du

ration will be but transient; for the "world passeth away, and the lust thereof."-1 John, ii. 17.

4TH REASON. The best of worldly delights is "but a mingled yarn of good and ill together;" and, even in the sweetest cup "there is a poison drop at the bottom."

5TH REASON. Just in proportion as the world and the things of the world become objects of love, God and the things of God become objects of aversion; for (as St. John says), "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."-1 John, ii. 5.

the

6TH REASON.-As no man "can serve both God and Mammon," who would be so infatuated as to barter eternal weight of glory" for "the vanity of vanities?"

7TH REASON. He who sets his affections on things below is certain of sorrow, disappointment, and temptation; but "the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it."-Prov. x. 22.

8TH REASON.-He who loves the world must leave his idol behind when he dies; but he who has set his affections on things above has "not only the promise of the life that now is, but also of that which is to come."1 Tim. iv. 8.

9TH REASON.-Jesus Christ died upon the cross deliver us from this present evil world.”—Gal. i. 4.

SIMILES. Juno and the Peacock.-Esop's fable.
The foolish boy who cried for the moon.

"to

The pleasures of the world are but "castles in the air." The things of the world may be compared to the berries of the aconite, which indeed look beautiful to the eye, but are a deadly poison to those who taste them.

The ignis fatuus resembles a friendly taper, but those who trust to its guidance fall into a snare.

The pleasures of the world resemble those flowers which the Roman captives had to walk over when they entered the capital of their conquerors; the savour might be sweet, "but it was a savour of death unto death."

As a moth, attracted by the glare of a lighted candle, burns its wing in the flame; so he who "sets his affections on things below" will assuredly receive injury, and perhaps destruction.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

QUOTATIONS.-Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.-1 John, ii. 15.

Be not conformed to this world.-Rom. xii. 2. What is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul.-Matt. xvi. 26.

-

Bring earthly blessings to a strict account,
Make fair deductions; see to what they mount.
How much of other each is sure to cost,-
How each for other oft is wholly lost,-
How inconsistent greater goods with these,-
How sometimes life is risked, and always ease :
Think, and if still the things thy envy call,
Say, wouldst thou be the man to whom they fall?
To sigh for ribands, if thou art so silly?
Mark how they grace Lord Umbra or Sir Billy.
Is yellow dirt the passion of thy life?
Look but on Gripus, or on Gripus' wife.

If parts allure thee? think how Bacon shined,
The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind.
If all united thy ambition call?

From ancient story learn to scorn them all.
There in the rich, the honoured, and the great,
See the false scale of happiness complete!
Mark by what wretched steps their glory grows,
From dirt and sea-weed, as proud Venice rose;
In each how guilt and greatness equal ran,
And all that raised the hero sunk the man.
Alas! not dazzled with their noon-tide ray,
Compute the morn and evening to the day;
The whole amount of that enormous fame,
A tale that blends their glory with their shame.

Pope.