Cut from the living, whither dost thou go?—
Hades is moved to meet thee from below."

Neither can the sinner successfully resist the power of omnipotence. With what a tone of sovereign independence does the Almighty speak to Job out of the whirlwind? "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath; and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee." If Jehovah only touch the creature with his afflicting rod, immediately his strength fails, and his beauty consumes away like a moth. When impotence wages war with omnipotence-the fluttering insect of a day, with the Father of eternity, the contest cannot be doubtful. "If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, how wilt thou contend with horses? If in the land of peace thou hast been overcome, how wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan ?” "Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth; but woe unto him that striveth with his Maker."

Nor can he safely indulge the thought of anni

hilation. He who has made the spirit of man has determined to perpetuate its existence, either in a state of inconceivable happiness, or of unutterable woe. The sinner may destroy his natural being; but he cannot destroy that conscious intelligence, by which he reasons, reflects, and is sorrowful. "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear; Fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell." Oh then, let him now seek to be reconciled to God, through the death of his Son, that the evils which he cannot escape may be turned into blessings; let him secure on his side those perfections of the divine character which have long been an object of dread; that, interested in the Christian charter, death may be enrolled in the number of his advantages.

If death is unsparing and invincible in his attacks, we ought to hold our comforts with a loose hand, ready to surrender them at the divine command, and disposed patiently to submit to the righteous will of heaven. Our fairest possessions are held by an uncertain tenure: we are only stewards of the manifold gifts of God, and he, as their great proprietor, may take them away at pleasure. Who knows how soon the enemy may break in on our little circle, removing the

objects of our tender affection, and fondest hopes; and turning our dwellings into a desolation! "Wilt thou set thine heart on that which is not ?" is a question which comes home to the bosom of every human being. The brightest scenes on earth are only flitting shadows; and the sweetest comforts of life but gourds, with worms at their

roots.

And, when our dearest earthly treasures are removed from us, let us, without a murmur, resign ourselves to the divine will, saying, from the heart," the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." When we reflect on the perfection of his character, especially on his attributes of wisdom, equity, benevolence, and faithfulness; when we think on his infinite right in us, and in all that we possess ; and when we consider the present world as only a link in the great chain of existence- -a narrow vista which opens to the wide expanse of eternity; it becomes us to submit our judgment and feelings to the decisions of the all-wise Supreme; unsuspectingly to confide our interests in his hands, and wait the disclosures of futurity. Such a temper of mind is honourable to God, and conducive, in a high degree, to our own peace and holiness. To resist the will of God is fruitless rebellion against the Majesty of heaven; and to repine against it, discovers a heart unhumbled

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DEATH-INVINCIBLE IN HIS ATTACKS.

under his mighty hand, and unaffected by the stupendous realities of the unseen world.

"FRIEND after friend departs;
Who hath not lost a friend?
There is no union here of hearts
That finds not here an end!
Were this frail world our final rest,
Living or dying none were blest.

Beyond the flight of time,—
Beyond the reign of death,-
There surely is some blessed clime
Where life is not a breath;
Nor life's affections transient fire,
Whose sparks fly upwards and expire.

There is a world above,

Where parting is unknown;
A long eternity of love,

Form'd for the good alone :
And faith beholds the dying here
Translated to that glorious sphere!

Thus star by star declines,

Till all are past away;

As morning high and higher shines

To pure and perfect day :

Nor sink those stars in empty night,

But hide themselves in heav'n's own light."

CHAPTER VI.

Death-rapid in his movements, extensive in his triumphs, and various in the instruments he employs.

On-on he hastened-and he drew
My gaze of wonder as he flew :

Though like a demon of the night

He passed, and vanished from my sight;
His aspect, and his air, impressed
A troubled memory on my breast;

And long, upon my startled ear,
Rung his dark courser's hoofs of fear.

BYRON.

PREVIOUS to the deluge, while the new world was thinly peopled, and before men were hardened in crime and perfected in the arts of vice, the march of Death was slow, and his arrows were thrown with a cautious and sparing hand. The human frame, although sadly changed by the fall, still retained much of its primitive

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