This restlessness, this continual reaching after something which is not yet attained; this happiness of next week, or next year, is a shrewd indication of the poverty of the world. It proclaims loudly in every ear, if men would but hear it, that they have set out upon a wrong course, that they are pursuing shadows instead of the substance; and that if ever they design to be happy, they must tread back their steps and take a new direction. Yes, it calls them to abandon the broken cistern, and come away to God the fountain of living waters, where they may drink and thirst no more.

To Him then let me invite you, one and all, to return. You will never find a peace in your bosoms which deserves the name of peace, till this is done. God has so constituted our minds that nothing but Himself can be to them a satisfying portion. Our souls are immortal, and they thirst for a happiness which is commensurate with their being. They will not, they can not be content with objects which we see every day perishing before our eyes. O then let us come unto God, the infinite God, for He is the fountain of Being, and an ocean of blessedness. Let us come with an humble and broken heart, for our past sins and follies,and with a believing and child like confidence that we may henceforth stay ourselves upon Him, as upon the eternal rock. Let us say to ourselves, in the language of David, "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him." And especially let me exhort those to do this, who are in any peculiar trouble, whether of body or mind. Does want or poverty assail you? Go and repose yourselves upon Him, who

opens his hand and supplies the wants of every living thing. He knows all the fowls of the mountains; and the cattle upon a thousand hills are his. His providence is not only rich and extensive, embracing the interests of all worlds, but in the highest degree minute and special; it extends its regards even to the falling of a sparrow, and to the numbering of the hairs on your head.

Does your heart bleed under a separation from the dearest earthly friend? Go to Him who will be better to you than father or mother, son or daughter, or any earthly relative. Now that the stream is dried up, you have a new call to hasten to God, the fountain, and unbosom yourself to Him. Roll all your cares and burdens upon his arm;-say with David, "The Lord liveth, the Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock."

Are you grieved with those who have deceived and forsaken you? Go to God, the everlasting God, whose friendship is sincere and unchangeable, like Himself. His promise is, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." "The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee; neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee." Those whom he loves, he loves unto the end. Nothing can separate between him and them. "Fear not," saith he, "I am thy shield, thy exceeding great reward.”

Do you find yourself alone and unprotected in the world; subject to a thousand cares and anxieties which you cannot disclose? We invite you to Him, who is the friend of the friendless, and the judge of the fatherless, and the widow in his holy habitation. Come and

stay yourself upon Jehovah, for in Him is everlasting strength. He is ever near you, and his Almighty arm shall be round about you. He will quiet those fears which agitate your bosom; he will soften or banish your cares, and fill you with that blessed composure of mind, which results from a confidence in his wisdom and love.

Do enemies, powerful and malignant, lie in wait for you? Do they watch for your halting, and with the greediness of lions, stand ready to devour you? Go to Him who will hide you in the secret of his pavilion, from the strife of tongues, and from the violence of those who would injure you. He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye, says this Almighty friend; and as soon could Omniscience be surprised, and eternal power defeated, as one hair of your head injured while you repose your confidence in him.

Are you all your life time subject to bondage through fear of death? This is the unhappy case of multitudes. But I exhort you to go to Him who can turn the shadows of death into the light of the morning,-to Him who is the resurrection and the life, and who has graciously promised that whosoever believeth in Him shall never die; and though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Do you feel unhappy or restless from any cause? (and many there are who thus feel without being able to trace their wretchedness to any particular source.) Go to God, the fountain of all felicity. He, and He alone, can calm your disquietudes, and wipe away your tears. Hear the melting language which he ad

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dresses to you, and to all who resemble you. every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters: and he that hath no money; come ye buy and eat, yea come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour, for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me and hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."

SERMON XI.

THE HEART OF MAN PROVED BY THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

DEUTERONOMY VIII., 2.

"And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee, these forty years, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no."

Every thing around us tells that we are in a probationary state. The mixture of good and evil which attends us, the inequalities of Divine Providence towards the righteous and the wicked, the temptations which assail us and the numerous succours offered to our aid, proclaim, with united voice, that this world is not itself the world of retribution, but only preparatory to it. No man can seriously reflect upon the circumstances of his present existence, without perceiving that he is borne along to some other and higher destiny. The events of each day exert upon him a moral influence; and whether he attends to the fact or not, he is growing better, or growing worse, by every change through which he passes. In each fleeting moment something is done or omitted to be done, for which