faithfulness, wisdom, and love! Leave all cheerfully in His hands; receive all thankfully from His hands; wait on the Lord-wait, I say, on the Lord! and thus, staying yourself on Him, you will be kept in a peace, so stable, that the firmest objects in creation, can only by contrast image its stability. "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee !" A peace, so tranquil, that we look in vain in our troubled world for an object calm enough to image its tranquillity. One however was lately presented to me, which may serve, though it can be but faintly, to illustrate it. On a stormy day I was looking towards the sea; a harbour stretched out its sheltering arms before me; outside that harbour, all was tempestuous agitation-the ocean dashing its foaming waves on high-and the vessels exposed to its fury, tossed to and fro on its troubled surface: within the harbour all was calm-the water smooth and unruffled and the vessels anchored within its sheltering arms, safe from every storm, and kept in perfect peace; and even thus, while the children of the world are tost to and fro, in restless agitation on the troubled surface of life's stormy sea, dost Thou, O Saviour-God, keep those in peace, whose minds are stayed on Thee; anchored within the harbour of thy providential care; sheltered

within the arms of Thy covenant love; safe indeed from every storm, and preserved in peace-the pledge and foretaste of heaven's eternal rest. Oh!

that you all, dear friends, knew, by your own sweet experience, how inadequate is this, or any image earth could supply, to illustrate the deep, serene, holy peace, which Jesus gives those who love and trust in Him; but, fervently as I desire, I dare not indulge such a hope! Let me then affectionately ask you, who have not yet sought rest in a Saviour's sheltering arms, nor cast anchor within the vail, have you found peace? have you found happiness? Peace! while forsaking Jesus, the prince of peace, and seeking it in the world! As well might you leave a safe and sheltering harbour, and launch out into the wide ocean, when all the storms of heaven are abroad, in search of a quiet anchorage. Happiness! while turning your back on God, the source of happiness, and seeking it in the things of earth! As well might you turn your back on the glorious orb of day, and dig into the dark bowels of the earth, in search of sunshine. I say not, that you may not have had not have had your lightning-flashes of gaiety, which glittered for a moment and then expired, leaving the gloom that overshadowed your spirit, deeper and darker than before; but peace, the calm cheerful sunshine of the soul, you have never known. Though I cannot look into your heart, to see the secret sorrow which, like a canker

worm preys upon its peace, turning all there to desolation, decay, and death; while smiles, which leave the heart all dark, sparkle on your cheeks, and laughter, which leaves the heart all sad and lonely, echoes from your lips, like gleams of sunshine, and sounds of merriment passing over a sepulchre! Yet I know, on the authority of the God of truth, that whatever be in your heart, peace is not there; for "there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked!" and all are regarded as such in His sight, whatever they may be in the world's or their own, who are not found in Christ-washed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness, and sanctified by His grace. The experiment to find satisfying happiness in the things of this world, was tried by Solomon on the grandest scale, which heart could desire or imagination conceive: what was the result? has himself told us in two words-vanity and vexation. You have made the experiment on a comparatively insignificant scale. Tell me-have you succeeded better? Or, if your heart could speak, must it not echo the monarch's mournful confession? But perhaps you have ceased to look for happiness. You are now searching only for Like the dove of old, you are wandering over a world which sin and sorrow have deluged indeed-seeking for rest, but finding none, for the floods of affliction have not left one green spot of gladness, one leafy branch of hope, one solitary

rest.

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shelter of consolation on which to rest! Oh ! what an emblem is that poor weary dove, of what you now are. Stamp Eternity on her wanderings! What an emblem would she exhibit of what, if you persevere and perish in your present state, you will for ever be! Conceive the waters of the deluge rolling restlessly for ever, and the dove, with weary wing, and wailing cry, wandering over the wide waste of waters, seeking a resting place for the sole of her foot, but finding none-for ever! Oh! how the heart sickens at the very thought! sinner, how very faint an emblem of the a lost soul, lifting up the wailing cry, the,piercing shriek of everlasting despair, as it wanders over the burning waves of the lake of unquenchable fire, seeking rest but finding none; no-not one moment's rest throughout a wild eternity of woe! But see! the dove has reached the ark-a hand is tenderly put forth to take her in. And oh how safe, how happy, after all her wanderings, the weary bird now feels. And is there not an ark for you too, poor weary soul? is-Jesus is that ark!

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Yes, blessed be God! there The true everlasting ark of safety and of peace. Thousands, myriads, have been sheltered there; and yet there is room. See, the door is open, and from the ark a voice is heard saying, "Come unto me, thou poor weary wanderer, and I will give thee rest." Oh! hasten then to this ark-the floods are rising higher and

higher; yet a little, and the windows of heaven shall be opened and a deluge of fire descend, to destroy all that are not found sheltered in this ark. Oh! come then, come immediately; and the hand of mercy shall be stretched forth to take you in ; and once sheltered there, you shall be safe-safe for time-safe for eternity. For even when the deluge of fire shall descend, and the heavens and the earth are passing away with a great noise, amidst the convulsions of a distracted and dissolving universe, “Thou, O God, wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee."