through suffering; and whether it be for a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, or a series of years, that we are arrested and laid aside, each sickness and every other painful trial should be viewed as special messengers to us from the great Disposer of all events, giving the opportunity, and loudly calling on us to improve them for our own good and God's glory.

And this leads me to remark by way of practical improvement to this subject, that Christians now under the rod ought to be thankful for this proof of their Father's dealing and love. "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all (sons) are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Therefore despise not thou the chastenings of the Almighty, neither faint when thou art rebuked of him. For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee."

These scriptures have a definite and clear reasoning as to the cause and the intent of afflictions to the righteous; the cause, God's love to them; the intent, the increase of their love to him. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. "When he is tried”—the trial of faith it is that is precious; to trust God in the thick midnight of trial under providences which every moment gather blackness, that is precious; it is of great intrinsic value in God's sight, for it honors him, and there is a peculiar blessing pronounced upon not seeing and yet believing, which they who do thus believe, and who when tried thankfully embrace afflictions, and strive to get the good of them, shall assuredly know. What thou seest not now thou shalt see hereafter.

"God nothing does, nor suffers to be done,

But what thou wouldst thyself could thou but see
Through all the events of things as well as He."

It is not a moderate faith that will keep us believing while not seeing; nor is it a superficial rooting and grounding that will keep us steady when the storms of adversity arise. But our roots must strike deep, and know the place of stones, and be wound around the pillars of the promises, if we would be preserved from shaking under the inevitable vicissitudes and trials of life.

I have observed at sea, and it is often noticed by mariners, that in the beginning of bad weather, before the storm was fairly set in and fixed in its course, the needle in the compass-box was considerably affected, and there was unusual oscillation, probably through the changing or disturbance of the atmosphere's electric forces. But after the gale was fairly formed or at its height, the

needle became true to its polarity. In like manner is it with a mind under trial that has been once thoroughly magnetized by the grace of God, so as to have the law of Divine polarity impressed upon it, making it to turn always to that pole-star of Bethlehem, the great magnet of the regenerated soul. Though ordinarily true to his pole, yet in sudden emergencies, on the first storm-burst of trial, it is seldom for never that the Christian can at once repress the flutter and agitation of nature, control or understand its deviations, collect his energies, and repose calmly on God. It is seldom that faith, taken by surprise, does at once steady the soul, and lift a man clear above hostile infirmities and fears. Although it be true that when once magnetized by the love of God, the soul does always point upward by strong attraction, as the compassneedle to the north, yet, like that same needle, suddenly acted upon by a disturbing force, you must give it time to recover its balance, and, its oscillations done, to fasten upon the central point of rest.

We have known God's dear children sometimes, when calamities came suddenly in prospect, when huge billows seemed ready to go over them, and a black cloud of sorrows was about to burst upon their heads, at first trembling and anxious, swinging a little with trepidation to this side and that of the central point of rest. But as the trial became more distinctly defined, the cloud's lightning began to flash, and its big drops to fall, the palpitating heart would be still, the vibrations of the will would cease, faith gather strength, and the eye of the soul be upturned and fastened on a faithful God, and its hand grasp firmly the promises, which neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, can ever loosen.

Brethren, is it in those promises that we are strongly rooted, so as to fear no evil? Is our anchor firm in the Word of God? Is it cast within the veil? and do we find our ship ride easy with it in a gale? The engrossing earnestness with which the captain of a ship (which the good providence of God once placed me in) studied his chart, and watched the soundings, while it was so foggy we could hardly see a ship's length ahead, in order to make his way safely to port over a dangerous shoal, and at the close of a long voyage, taught me a lesson I have never forgotten of the way in which we should all study, and watch the answers of God's word and prayer, as we prosecute the voyage of life, having to sail by a thousand sunken rocks and shoals and perilous quicksands, before we can make the port of peace.

He would himself carefully put the tallow or soap into the hollowed end of the lead, then heave it himself, or hold the line, and carefully ascertain when it reached the bottom. Then he would scrutinize it closely when hauled up, to learn what report it brought from the bottom, whether it were sand, or gravel, or mud, or ooze adhering to the end, or whether it were dented as

if it had fallen on rocks. Then he would sit down to his chart with compass, and slide, and slate, to compare what he had found by the soundings with what was told on the paper, and fix, if possible, upon his position on the great shoal, and shape his course accordingly through the fog-damp darkness for the next hour. Then he would lie down on the transom in his great watch-coat, to catch a half-hour's sleep, with the chart unrolled before him on the cabin table, and a signal lantern swinging over it.

Now with the same carefulness should we ponder the word of God, that we may be shaping our course aright over the tempestuous sea of life, where, even as to the mariner,

Dangers of every shape and name

Attend the followers of the Lamb.

It is seldom in our voyage along these coasts of time that we are not in peril from some out-jutting reef, or shoal, or sunken rock, or moving quicksand; to avoid which we must heave the lead, and watch our soundings, and study well our chart, and keep a good look-out. Then, if only vigilant and faithful, with what thankfulness and grace in our hearts shall we be singing, the rest of our way through time,

A thousand deaths I daily 'scape,

I pass by many a pit :

I sail by many dreadful rocks,.

Where others have been split.

And when the perils of probation are all over, and we are safe home at last in heaven, how will the numberless vicissitudes and trials of the voyage be as a dream when one awaketh! Safely moored there in the port of peace, and finding the end not only answer but far exceed our expectations, how will the trials endured and the hazards seen in time enhance the glory of eternity; and with what fervent gratitude shall we praise God for them all! We remark, finally, that those who are not exercised with afflictions, unless they are manifestly growing in grace, have just ground for fear; fear lest continued prosperity harden their hearts, and beget the spirit of pride and self-indulgence and worldliness, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, that it become unfruitful; and fear lest it be an evidence of no peculiar fatherly love to them on the part of God. They are far from being the happiest and safest men who prosper in the world, who increase in riches, whose eyes stand out with fatness, who have more than heart could wish; who are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men ; who heap up silver, and gold, and merchandize, who multiply houses, and lands, and honors.

On slippery rocks I see them stand; and in the view of true wisdom their envied estate, with all its affluence, and ease, and luxury, but forgetfulness of God, is not worth a desire in compa

rison with that man's whom God chooseth in the furnace of affliction, and lays his rod upon him as a dear son whom He means to ripen for glory. Ah, what a meaning is that!

For which now of these two, the afflicted man and the prospered man, will be best off in the end? What effect is affliction working upon the afflicted man? What effect is prosperity working upon the prospered man? If affliction in the one case is softening the heart, leading to reflection and prayer, weaning one from the world, loosening your hold on the earth, making you long for heaven, and inducing the temper of heaven now in your heart, a holy hatred of what is contrary to it, and the love of what enthrones heaven in the soul, then are you, the afflicted man, the happy man; for you will be so in the end, and your affliction is the necessary instrument to that blessed end, being the discipline employed by God to make you holy.

And if, on the other hand, prosperity is hardening the heart, as it generally does (for the contrary is the exception), if it is making one worldly, and selfish, and self-confident, and forgetful of God; if it is making one more earnest for acquisitions in property than for acquisitions in holiness, more eager to be rich than to be good, more bent upon accumulating than upon distributing for God and religion, then are you, the prospered man, the unhappy man, for you will be so in the end.

It is far from being always what makes us best off now that is really best for us, but what will make us best off for the future; what is best for our characters; what is best to cure us of our besetting sins; what is best for our religious prosperity; what will most conduce to our growth in grace; what will be most likely to kill the seeds of sin in us, and keep down the weeds of worldliness, vanity, self-love, and pride; what will tend to make us considerate and kind, duly regardful of others, and mainly anxious for the glory of God; what will be best for me as an immortal being, on trial for eternity, having a soul to be saved or lost; under instant obligation to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling, and to do all that is possible to save others; what, in fine, will make me the best man, and the best Christian, the most conscientious, benevolent, and careful in my intercourse with other men, the most upright, sincere, and dutiful toward God.

Ah, constituted as we are, it is far from being continued prosperity that is most likely to do this; the being blown upon long or always in life by favorable gales, and wafted along on a prosperous tide of success. But rather is it the blasts of adversity, the rough winds of affliction and distress, that drive us for shelter to the Lord Jesus Christ. Who in this view will not choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season! They are but for a season, and that season at best oh how short! While, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but (what a world of meaning follows!)

but the Lord delivereth out of them all. Precious deliverance! worth all the previous delivery over unto pain.

In God's good time may there come such a deliverance to all the sons and daughters of affliction that now hear me. Let none of us faint in the day of adversity and prove that our strength is small; but may the consolations of God be large with our souls, and alike under blessing and trial, in joy and sorrow, may we hold fast our integrity, and steadfastly trust and serve our God and Saviour to the end. And may trials be so sanctified to us all, and the meaning of God therein be developed, that the conclusive logic of our experience shall be that of David: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy law."

To that Great Being who doeth all things well, who dispenses all life's allotments in perfect rectitude and love, to God only wise be all honor and glory, both now and for ever. Amen.

SERMON DI.

BY REV. JOHN DUDLEY.

Quechee, Vt.

THE DUTY AND BENEFIT OF PASTORAL

VISITATION,

"For they watch for souls as they who must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief."-HEB. 13: 17.

THIS Scripture refers to the care which a pious minister feels for the salvation of souls. It exhibits the complete idea of a faithful pastor. The love of Christ constraining him, empowered by his authority, and set over a people "by the laying on of the hands," his office and business are to save, if possible, those committed to his charge. He watches them with intense solicitude. His eye is ever upon them, and every opportunity is improved to do them good. He preaches-preaches much-preaches well, plainly and earnestly; not so much in the wisdom of words, but in the "demonstration of the Spirit;" then watches to see the blessing, and hastens to secure every impression, "if by any means he may save some. At the close of every day, he renders his account to his Master; with joy, if successful; with grief, if he have labored in vain.-This must necessarily refer to the present dis