row of the world is deeply seated; and in whose spirit it is working death! Think of Ahab, Haman, and Saul; and turn to the many daily instances of wasting constitutions and broken hearts which the face of society presents,- and then dwell on the blessedness of that spirit which bows to the will of God, and finds even in manifold trials, joy unspeakable and full of glory.

It is not the man who is exempted from tribulation, but the man that endures it, that is pronounced blessed. Take for your example your brethren and companions in tribulation. Trace the footsteps of the flock, and you will find that all of them have trodden the path of tribulation. In reading the Scriptures, you will find yourself most interested in the histories of those whose career was the most dark and distressing. In the school of affliction the principles of piety are called forth, tried, and strengthened; as were the excellencies of the Saviour himself. Look to the cloud of witnesses; but look particularly to him, and see in his example, the blissful result of heavy and manifold tribulations. Happy is he, you will then say, whom the Lord correcteth; who, by the losses and the crosses of time, is induced to take God for his portion; who is weaned from earthly hopes and worldly dependencies; and is determinately turned to God as the fountain of his happiness. Precious, indeed, is affliction when it cherishes that self-denying, subdued, and heavenly temper of mind, which is the very life of genuine religion; which insures both safety and blessedness in this valley of tears; which purifies and

strengthens the heart; and which assimilates to the character of the Saviour, and to the spirit of the celestial temple.

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Should you be called to duties arduous and painful -according to your day shall be your strength. He who brought his people to the Red Sea, and allowed them to be hemmed in, did so to manifest his power and his goodness. His people were called to stand still and see his salvation. They were called at the moment, of all others the most critical, to go forward. They did so, with the sea before them, in the confidence of safety. It was "to them according to their faith;" for he who had called them to go forward spake and opened a way in the waters. This is written for our comfort and instruction. He is the same now that he was then. When called to difficult circumstances, let the Lord be our confidence. is nothing in this bordering on thoughtlessness, insensibility, or enthusiasm. We have the word of our God before us, and there we see the work and the character of Christ; and believing in this we act under the influence of principles the most rational. The faith of this raises us to the hope of the second coming of the Saviour, and in the prospect of it we are patient and happy in all our tribulations. As the husbandman waits for the fruits of harvest, so do we wait for the fruits of our faith and our afflictions. With us the word of our God ought to be an end of all doubt; and confiding in it, we ought to establish and compose our hearts, in the expectation of that blessed day when the Redeemer "shall come to be glorified

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in his saints, and admired in all them that believe." The great thing is to have the Lord himself ever before us; to feel and act under the constant conviction that he is ever present with us; and to remember that soon, very soon, we shall be called to his bar. When through faith we maintain a resigned and devout spirit, success will follow us in all our ways. But when we fail to persevere in the course of faith and of patience we shall suffer, as did Moses and Aaron, when for their evils they were corrected of God. When the Saviour dwells in our hearts as the object of intense regard, and we continue in the contemplation of our future prospects through him, the mind is elevated above all the interests and the afflictions of time.— We acquire much of the spirit of the many who have travelled the same course before us, and in circumstances far more distressing than any in which we have been placed. That which supported them can also support us; and, in the faith of that word in which they trusted, we shall, as they did, finish our course with joy.

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May the God of all consolation bless to you ways of his Providence, by making them all work together for your present and everlasting good. May find comfort here in the heaviest trials; and grow you in meetness for that state in which sorrow and sighing are unknown, and where bliss unmingled ever flows. I remain, &c.

LETTER XII.

ON OUR LORD'S ANSWER TO THE SONS of Zebedee.

Then came to him the Mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.-MATTHEW, XX. 21-23.

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MY DEAR FRIEND,

In my last letter I endeavoured to illustrate the goodness of God, by showing you some of the benefits which may be derived from affliction. You would observe that I kept in view the important consideration, that they are designed to affect the character, so as to make meet for heaven. With a special eye to this, I shall now make some remarks on the reply of our Lord to the request of the sons of Zebedee.

The disciples James and John, through the médium of their mother, expressed a desire that they should be granted the honour of sitting, the one on the right and the other on the left hand of their Lord, in his kingdom. The request included not merely situations of rank or dignity in general, but the two chief official situations

in his kingdom-not merely a high degree of happiness, but the honour of being his principal ministers. This appears from the repetition made, in the 27th and 28th verses, of the rule of precedency which he formerly established, when the disciples were disputing which of them should be greatest; and from the reference which he makes, in verse 25th, to the Princes of the Gentiles. It appears also from a similar reference made on the night in which he was betrayed, connected with the promise then given them, that they should sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. It is evident that they had very mistaken notions of his character and glory: They thought of an earthly kingdom, while his kingdom is spiritual. But our Lord, without directly entering on the subject of their prejudices, took occasion from their request to exhibit his sufferings as the means of his initiation into office, and to state the principles on which the honours of his kingdom should be bestowed. Looking on them, he felt for their ignorance; and in a very gentle and affectionate manner told them, they were not aware of what they asked. His keen feelings on the occasion, arose from the inseparable connection which he well knew subsisted between his sufferings and his advancement to the throne of his kingdom. They had touched a subject, to him of the most tender interest. The principles in mạn which associate ideas had their influence on him as well as on us; and the thought of the right and the left hand of his throne, led his mind to the awful scenes which he had to encounter before he could ascend it. He had but lately