invincible; they went on till near the time of the Jewish "evening sacrifice." Stili no voice,-no auspicious sign,no fire. The great assembly that witnessed this long process, had to make their reflections. The great majority had to reflect, that these were the personages to whom they had long surrendered their judgments, their consciences, and the religion of the God of Israel; that these had been their accepted intercessors with invisible power. They had to consider in what degree themselves might be involved in the consequences which now would seem to impend. It was too much to hope that divine justice would entirely dissever the retribution.

Elijah knew his appointed moment. Think what a mighty tide of feeling would rush toward him when he summoned the people to a new ground, and a different altar! A ruined altar which he had to rebuild; it was left undone till then,-that there might be no air of previous assumption, ("I will wait to see whether an altar will be wanted;") nor of careful preparation; the stones had remained out of their place, that every one of them might be laid under the inspection of so many observers. And then the water was poured three times. See how rigorously the Governor of the world would authenticate a miraculous interposition. This "water" would be a most formidable circumstance in the view of the idolatrous priests. It was truly a strange preparation for a burnt sacrifice in the presence of those to whom not one spark had been afforded by heaven, or earth, or hell; when the active spirit of that element seemed as profoundly asleep as Baal himself. No sign of it-no blue sulphureous element had begun to appear round this new altar-no meteors to hiss and glare. But there was to be a fire, under which the water, and the very stones, were in a moment to vanish? An emblem,— may we not consider it ?—or rather a precursory sparkle,

powers of evil, in this

and beam, and specimen of that fire to which, one day, the globe shall be a sacrifice, in contempt of all its oceans! But that fire will leave no more controversies to be decided between God and false divinities. That will be a funeral flame, as to the dominion of the world; but it will not be lighted till all is ready for the sacrifice, as Elijah's fire was not. (And nothing is more solemn than a short delay in an awful crisis.) It did not come till he had distinctly invoked Him, to whose sole divinity it was to testify. The whole assembly were clearly to understand what Being it was on whom he called for the demonstrative sign, which had irradiated the cloud before the camp of Israel. The fire, if it came, was to second that which had flamed on Sinai, and which had descended on Sodom. It was to be a fire of intelligence, as well as power. It was to be Elijah's prayer converted and returned in flame. The prophet's prayer was, that the very TRUTH might lighten on the scene, and consume all question, doubt, and subterfuge. The Invisible Presence was there; the thunder-bolt was ready; and as soon as he had ended, "it fell." And neither sacrifice, nor altar, nor water, remained! The whole materials of the testimony were consumed; as the book of divine revelation will perish in the last fire, that fulfils its predictions.

"When all

The effect was irresistible on the multitude. the people saw it they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God." As to the priests of idolatry, it is in literal obedience to the divine law, given to the Israelites, that they were all put to death. (Deuteronomy xiii. 5.) And the heap that was probably raised over their dead bodies, ought to have been to the people a monument, as conspicuous to thought as Carmel was to their view.

To our thought, too, the whole transaction should be con

spicuous and monumental. We think-how powerful and how holy a Being was manifested then. Let us not forget to consider, too, that it was the same being in whose presence we are every moment; and under whose government we shall be for ever. Let us reflect how all idolatry, that of which we may be guilty, is to be dreaded in such a presence. And let us think how the adoration is to be performed, and how the mercy is to be propitiated of a God whose justice is a "consuming fire."

November 25, 1822.

LECTURE XXI.

THE WINTER, AND ITS MORAL ANALOGIES.

PSALM lxxiv. 17.

"Thou hast made-WINTER."

IN a former instance in a much more pleasant season, we attempted to turn the season itself to some religious account, by means of a few reflections suggested by its peculiar character. It is our fault, if any very marked part of the great vicissitudes of the natural world in which we are sojourning shall pass by us without yielding instruction, -instruction of a special kind, as well as that which we should be reaping from all our time. There is some peculiar inscription by "the finger of God" on each presented view of his works.

The winter is generally felt an unpleasing and gloomy season of the year; the more desirable is it to make it yield us some special good, by way of compensation. The practicability of doing this, displays the excellence of mind above matter, and the advantage of religion. The sky is gloomy;-the light brief and faint; the earth torpid, sterile, and deprived of beauty! the whole system of the elements ungenial, like a general refusal of nature to please us, or afford us any thing. Well, but MIND, with the aid of wisdom and religion, may not only flourish within itself, but may compel the very winter to afford assistance to its doing So. It may raise a richer produce than what the agriculturist can in spring and summer. And perhaps the truth is, that wisdom and piety might find or make all seasons

and scenes nearly equal in point of yielding the most valuable advantage. There are gratifying examples to this purpose.

Let us consider, for a few moments, what the winter season might offer in aid of instructive reflection. And we may revert to the expression of the text, "Thou hast madewinter." God's work and wisdom in it are to be regarded. The Almighty Maker has fixed in the order of the world that which is the natural cause of the winter: a most remarkable adjustment of supreme wisdom and power, appearing at first view, something like irregularity and disorder, that is, the inclination of the earth's axis. We may note the signal benefits of this adjustment to the whole earth, (stated by Dr. Keill) as contrasted with what the consequences would have been of a position which would have made the seasons always the same. After this, we may observe that the winter illustrates to us the beneficent principle of distribution acted on by the Divine Providence. We must have our winter, in order that the inhabitants of another part of the world may have their summer. Not but that even we, separately considered, are the better for this order: but set that out of view, and even suppose it were not so, the people of the southern hemisphere need to have their season of light and warmth, to make their allotted ground productive, and ripen its produce. The sun and the fine season, leave us, to go to them. The winter, therefore, seems to inculcate upon us a great lesson of equity and charity,—that we should be willing to share the benefits of the system with the distant portions of our great wide-spread family,-willing to part with a pleasing possession for a season, for their sakes, even if we could retain it. And the lesson might be brought down to matters within a narrower circle.

Again, the winter should, by the very circumstance of