glory, which survive, and still are traceable, amidst the ruins of the fall. And thus, like that majestic emblem of himself, which he makes to rise upon this lower world, God is seen, not in his own inaccessible light, but in the beams which issue from his presence, and are scattered throughout the boundless fields of his creation. It is with this view, that both Testaments sparkle with such gems of pure, disinterested, self-denying, and self-sacrificing tenderness and goodness:—it is, I say, in order that, in diverse manners, and in all varieties of exhibition, the mind, as it traverses the of inspiration, may meet these rays from the central sun, these drops from the parent ocean, and recognize, in them, reflections, however faint, of what God is; and thus, kindling into sympathy with what it hath seen, be drawn to the great original, whom it hath not seen.

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God, we are told, is love. But love is but a word: we must have some realizing sense of what it means; we must come into some experimental contact with the thing it signifies; or we know not God. How, then, shall we effect this greatest of all purposes? I know, and blessed be God, I do know, that Christ alone is the way, through which a sinner's person can be accepted with, or his heart return again unto its rest in, God. But still, it is our duty, to stir up every

gift, and to work by every instrument we can, in the great concerns of salvation. If then, I say, we would, at any moment, desire to retouch within our breast, the bright impression, and living sense, of what God is; let us take the following method. Let us select, even from the low level of human attachments, some instance which the Scripture records, of genuine tenderness and love. We need not go far, to find it. The only difficulty would be to choose, amidst such countless treasures. But as some example must be taken, let us turn to that unrivalled picture of a mother's patient constancy, and the feelings of a mother's heart, even to the lifeless remains of those who once had

hanged upon her breast: "And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until water dropped upon them out of heaven; and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night."[2 Sam., xxi. 10.] Or let us, for a moment, contemplate one or two of those bright touches of simple nature, with which the history of Joseph everywhere abounds :--where forgiving and forgetting all the wrongs and injuries which he had received, he makes himself known to his brethren. "I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore, be not grieved

nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you, to preserve life." "And behold your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste, and bring down my father hither."-[Gen. xlv. 4, 5, 12, 13.] Or let us turn from this, to the no less tender and affecting scene, which the venerable patriarch presents, [vv. 26-28.] "And they told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived; and Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him, before I die."

Passages like these, could be quoted without number. Enough, however, for our present purpose, have been adduced. Let us, then, observe how such instances of warm and generous affection, touch the springs of sympathy within us;-how, at such exhibitions, the mind will catch the infection, and kindle into a congenial flame;-how love begets love, and proofs of strong attachment

between two souls, however distant from us in time and place, will, insensibly and irresistibly, draw us to love them both. What means the gentle fire which, under such excitement, warms the heart? the joy which fills the breast-the heaven which sheds its beams throughout the soul? I scruple not to say, to the man of genuine piety; "Be still, and know that this is God." God is love; and love, when sanctified and pure, in a certain sense, is God. It is an effluence and emanation from him. Only suppose the drop to swell into a boundless ocean-the spark to spread into an infinite sun of glory;—and such, as far as our faculties can reach, is the God with whom we have to do. Happy those, who can say; "This God will be our God, for ever!"

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LECTURE II.

RUTH, i. 14, 15.

"AND THEY LIFTED UP THEIR VOICE, AND WEPT AGAIN: AND ORPAH KISSED HER MOTHER-IN-LAW, BUT RUTH CLAVE UNTO HER. AND SHE SAID, Behold, thy SISTER-IN-LAW IS

GONE BACK UNTO HER PEOPLE, AND UNTO HER GODS: RETURN THOU AFTER THY SISTER-IN-LAW."

THE kind and generous expostulations of Naomi, which I noticed in my former Lecture, are interrupted by the sobs and lamentations, both of herself and her two daughters. "And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth clave unto her."

Orpah was like the stony-ground hearer, in the Gospel; susceptible of strong and lively impressions, for the moment. But hers was not the attachment of principle, nor the deep engagement of a constant heart. She loved her mother-inlaw; but she had other ties. The world, its ways, its people, and its idols, had still their attractions; and to these she yielded. Now was, perhaps, the grand turning point and crisis of her everlasting destiny. She chose, that day, whom she would serve. And from the moment she made the wrong decision, we hear of her no more.