a considerable, time stood sentry at the door, is extended at his ease, and snores with his master. -In every place toil reclines her head, and application folds her arms. All interests seem to be forgot; all pursuits are suspended: all employment is sunk away; sunk away with those fluttering myriads, which lately sported in the sun's departing rays.-'Tis like the sabbath of universal nature; or as though the pulse of life stood still. Thus will it be with our infinitely momentous concerns, when once the shadows of the evening (that long evening which follows the footsteps of death!) are stretched over us. The dead cannot seek unto God; the living, the living alone, are possessed of this inestimable opportunity. "There is no work or device, no repentance or amendment, in the gravet, whither we are all hasting." When once that closing scene is advanced, we shall have no other part to act on this earthly theatre. Then, 66 Behold! Now is the accepted time. Behold! Now is the day of salvation, 2 Cor. vi. 2. Haste, haste, he lies in wait, he's at the door, They who are gone down to the grave, are represented (Isai. xxxviii. 11.) by the phrase, wr-rendered by Vitringa, Those that inhabit the land of intermission or cessation which prevents all appearance of tautology in the sentence; and is, I think, a valuable improvement of the translation; as it conveys an idea, not only distinct from the preceding, but of a very poetical and very af flicting nature; such as was perfectly natural for the royal singer, and royal sufferer, to dwell upon, in his desponding moments. Thus interpreted, the sense will run; "I "shall see man no more; I shall be cut off from the cheerful ways of men, and all the sweets of human society. "And, what is a farther aggravation of the threatened "stroke, I shall, by its taking place, be numbered with "those that inherit the land of cessation and inactivity: where "there will be no more possibility of contributing to the "happiness of my kingdom; no more opportunity of "advancing my Creator's glory; or of making my own "final salvat sure."-A sentiment like this, is grand, important, and full of benevolence; removes all suspicion of unbecoming pusillanimity, and does the highest honour to the monarch's character. the sluggard, who has slumbered away life in a criminal inactivity, must lie down in hopeless dis tress, and everlasting sorrow. Then, that awful doom will take place, "He that is holy, let him "be holy still; and he that is filthy, let him be "filthy for ever." Is it so, my soul? Is this the only, only time allotted for obtaining the great reward, and making thy salvation sure? And art thou lulled in a vain security, or dreaming in a supine inadvertency? Start, O! start from thy trance. Gird up the loins of thy mind, and work while it is day. Improve the present seed-time, that eternity may yield a joyful harvest.-We especially, who are Watchmen in Israel, and ministers of the glorious gospel; may we be awakened, by this consideration, to all assiduity in our holy office. Some or other of our people are ever and anon departing into the invi sible state; all our friends are making incessant approaches to their long home; and we ourselves shall very shortly be transmitted to the confine. ment of the tomb. This is the favourable juncture, wherein alone we can contribute to their endless welfare. This is the crisis, the all-important crisis, of their final felicity. Instantly, therefore, let us pour in our wholesome instructions; instantly let us ply them with our earnest exhortations. A moment's delay may be an irreparable loss, may be irretrievable ruin. While we procrastinate, a fatal stroke may intervene; and place us beyond the power of administering, or place them beyond all possibility of receiving any spiritual good. The case, represented by the prophet (1 Kings xx, 40.), seems perfectly applicable on this occasion. As the servant was busy here and there, he was gone. So, while we are either remiss in our function, or laying ourselves out upon inferior cares, the people of our charge may be gone:-gone beyond the influence of our counsels be yond the reach of our prayers:-gone into the unchangeable and eternal state. How frequently is the face of nature changed 1 and, by changing, made more agreeable !-The longcontinued glitter of the day renders the soothing shades of the evening doubly welcome. Nor does the morn ever purple the east with so engaging a lustre, as after the gloom of a dark and dismal night.-At present, a calm of tranquillity is spread through the universe. The weary winds have forgot to blow. The gentle gales have fanned themselves asleep. Not so much as a single leaf nods. Even the quivering aspen rests. "And not "one breath curls o'er the stream."-Sometimes, on the contrary, the tempest summons all the forces of the air; and pours itself, with resistless fury, from the angry north. The whole atmosphere is tossed into tumultuous confusion, and the watery world is heaved to the clouds. The astonished mariner, and his straining vessel, now scale the rolling mountain, and hang dreadfully visible on the broken surge; now shoot, with headlong impetuosity, into the yawning gulf; and neither hulk, nor mast, is seen. The storm sweeps over the continent; raves along the city-streets; struggles through the forest-boughs; and terrifies the savage nations with a how! more wildly horrid than their own. The knotty oaks bend before the blast; their iron trunks groan; and their stubborn limbs are dashed to the ground. The lofty dome. rocks; and even the solid tower totters on its basis. Such variations are kindly contrived, and with an evident condescension to the fickleness of our taste. Because a perpetual repetition of the same objects would create satiety and disgust; therefore the indulgent father of our race has diversified the universal scene, and bid every appearance bring with it the charm of novelty.-This circumstance is beneficial, as well as entertaining. Providence, ever gracious to mortals, ever intent upon promoting our felicity, has taken care to mingle, in the constitution of things, what is pleasing to our imagination, with what is serviceable to our interests. The piercing winds, and rugged aspect of winter, render the balmy gales and flowery scenes of spring peculiarly delightful. At the same time, the keen frosts mellow the soil, and prepare it for the hand of industry. The rushing rains impregnate the glebe, and fit it to become a magazine of plenty. The earth is a great laboratory; and December's cold collects the gross ma terials, which are sublimated by the refining warmth of May. The air is a pure elastic fluid; and were it always to remain in this motionless serenity, it would lose much of its active spring; was it never agitated by those wholesome concussions, it would contract a noisome, perhaps a pes tilential taint. In which cases, our respiration, instead of purifying, would corrupt the vital juices; instead of supplying us with refreshment, would be a source of diseases; or every gasp we draw might be unavoidable death*.-How then should we admire, how should we adore, that happy union of benignity and wisdom, which, from a variety of dispensations, produces an uniformity of good! produces a perpetual succession Considering the immense quantity of coals, and other combustible materials, which are daily consumed, and evaporate into the air: considering the numberless steams, and clouds of smoke, which almost continually overwhelm populous cities; the noisome exhalations, which arise from thronged infirmaries, and loathsome jails; from stagnating lakes, and putrid fens;-the variety of offensive and unwholesome effluvia, which proceed from other causes;it is a very remarkable instance of a Providence, at once tenderly kind, and infinitely powerful, that mankind is not suffocated with stench; that the air is not choked with filth. The air is the common sewer, into which ten thousand times ten thousand nuisances are incessantly discharged; yet it is preserved so thoroughly clear, as to afford the most transparent medium for vision; so delicately undulatory, as to transmit, with all imaginable distinctness, every diversity of sound; so perfectly pure, as to be the constant refiner of the fluids, in every anímal that breathes, of delights, and an uninterrupted series of advan tages! The darkness is now at its height; and I cannot but admire the obliging manner of its taking place. It comes not with a blunt and abrupt incivility, but makes gentle and respectful advances. A precipitate transition, from the splendors of day, to all the horrors of midnight, would be inconvenient and frightful. It would bewilder the traveller in his journey; it would strike the creation with amazement; and, perhaps, be pernicious to the organs of sight; therefore the gloom rushes not upon us instantaneously, but increases by slow degrees; and, sending twilight before as its harbinger, decently advertises us of its approach. By this means we are neither alarmed, nor incommoded, by the change; but are able to take all suitable and timely measures for its reception.Thus graciously has Providence regulated, not only the grand vicissitudes of the seasons, but also the common interchanges of light and darkness, with an apparent reference to our comfort. Now the fierce inhabitants of the forest forsake their dens. A thousand grim forms, a thousand growling monsters, pace the desert. Death is in their jaws, while stung with hunger, and athirst for blood, they roam their nightly rounds.-Unfortunate the traveller, who is overtaken by the night in those dismal wilds! How must he stand aghast, at the mingled yell of ravenous throats, and lions roaring after their prey! Defend him, propitious heaven! or else he must see his endearing spouse, and hail his native home, no more!Now the prowling wolf, like a murderous ruffian, dogs the shepherd's footsteps, and besets his bleating charge: the fox, like a crafty felon, steals to the thatched cottage, and carries off the feathered booty. Happy for the world were these the only destroyers that walk in darkness. But, alas! there |