DRAWN BY R.WESTALL, R.A. ENGRAVED BY JOHN PYE PUBLISHED BY JOHN SHARPE, DUKE STREET, PICCADILLY:

MAY.1.1823.

STURM'S REFLECTIONS.

JANUARY 1.

MEDITATION UPON NEW YEAR'S DAY.

I AM inclined to consider this first day of the year as if it were the first of my life; and this consideration encourages me to hope, from the known and experienced goodness of God, a continuation of those benefits which have marked my pilgrimage from the day of my birth until the present moment. How many favours may I not expect from my Heavenly Father, who, from the first moment of my existence, nay, more, even before I was born, has watched so tenderly and so unceasingly for my advantage.

At the moment of my birth HE provided me with friends and relations; to whose love I have been indebted for all those anxieties and cares which induced them to provide for my support and nourishment. Without their assistance, their generous devotion to my service, could I have enjoyed health, that first of blessings, and those numerous comforts and pleasures which have fallen to my lot. Had I been at that time capable of reflection, I should certainly, from the conviction of the present, have anticipated good

only in the future. Now that I am capable of this reflection, I will indulge in the utmost pleasures of hope. Upon this day I commence a new period of my existence; not certainly so helpless as at the moment when I first entered this beautiful world, but still equally dependent upon my fellow creatures. I still require friends to partake of my pleasures, to cheer me when depressed, and to extend their helping hand when dangers beset me. And will not my Heavenly Father grant me this desirable good? Yes, without doubt. And whatever may be my lot in the coming year, I feel assured that Providence has already chosen me a friend, who will be my counsellor in moments of perplexity, and my support in the hours of adversity.

The foundations of my future destiny were laid before I was born. It did not arise from chance, that blind and imaginary deity, that I was born of such and such parents, or in this or that country. No-the time, the place, the immediate circumstances, and succceding events were all arranged by the inscrutable wisdom of the Almighty. He foresaw the sufferings, the troubles I should have to encounter, and amply he provided those antidotes which should restore peace and consolation to my wounded spirit. Many causes, then unknown, concurred by their effects to promote my happiness, and every thing connected with me united in fulfilling the benevolent purposes of my Benefactor. Upon this first day of the year my fate is, as it were, renewed. That powerful Being, who, in the beginning, decreed my existence, penetrates,