divine appointment, and "there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them; but Aaron held his peace :" Lev. x. 2, 3.-Eli, in similar circumstances, silenced his heart with this single but sufficient consideration, "It is the Lord:" 1 Sam. iii. 18.-David, under a stroke which he declares consumed him, observes, "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because THоu didst it:" Ps. xxxix. 9.-And Job, when stript of every comfort, blessed the name of him who took away, as well as gave: Job, i. 21.-Whatever be the nature of your calamity, may it be attended with such an humble and child-like spirit as these holy men possessed!

But the Sovereign Disposer is also the COMPASSIONATE FATHER. Among other instances of his tenderness, you may have observed the peculiar supports which he affords under peculiar trials. Let us mark and acknowledge the hand, which mingles mercy with judgment, and alleviation with distress. The parents I have just mentioned lost their children under circumstances far more distressing than yours. The desire of your eyes (if not the idol of your heart) was, perhaps, almost a stranger: you strove hard to detain it, but He, who took the young children into his arms and blessed them, took yours; and, taking it, seemed to say, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter:' (John xiii. 7.) Patiently suffer this little one to come unto me, for of such is my kingdom' composed: (Matt. xix. 14.) Verily I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father! (Matt. xviii. 10.) If I take away your child, I take it to myself. Is not this infinitely beyond any thing you could do for it? Could you say to it, if it had lived, Thou shalt weep no more: the days of thy mourning are ended?' (Isa. xxx. 19.) Could you show it any thing in this world like the glory of God

and of the lamb?' (Rev. xxii. 3.) Could you raise it to any honour here like 'receiving a crown of life?"" James i. 12.

The voice of a 'Father of mercies and a God of all comfort,' (2 Cor. i. 3,) speaks as distinctly in the death as in the birth of an infant. A 'voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping: Rachel, weeping for her children, refused to be comforted, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, for there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border:' Jer. xxxi. 15, 16. 'It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones should perish: Matt. xviii. 14.

It is a pious friend that has just yielded up his breath? The same voice seems to say, "Turn from him :" or, rather, "Turn from his 'clay,' his faded garment.'-'He himself 'is taken from the evil to come: he is entered into peace:" Isa. lvii. 1, 2.

When the able Minister, the exemplary Parent, or the faithful Partner depart, a consternation often seizes the circles which they blessed. We are so stunned by the sudden blow, or so occupied with the distressing circumstances, that we scarcely can hear God saying, "Fear not, I, even I, am he that comforteth you:' Isa. li. 12. I, your Father, am yet alive. I gave you your departed friend. I sent every benefit which was conveyed through him. Trust me for blessings yet in store. Trust me with him, and with yourselves."

Whatever notions one who lives without God in the world' may form of dying, We should learn from his word to regard the departure of the just merely as a Translation;-a change, in which nothing is lost which is really valuable. As surely as we believe

that Jesus died and rose again,' so surely do we believe that 'them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him: 1 Thess. iv. 14. Taught of God, we should view Losses, Sickness, Pain and Death, but as the several trying stages by which a good man, like Joseph, is conducted from a Tent to a Court:—Siñ, ▸ his disorder; Christ, his physician; Pain, his medicine; the Bible, his support; the Grave, his bed; and Death itself, an Angel, expressly sent to release the worn-out Labourer, or crown the faithful Soldier. 'I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works follow them :' Rev. xiv. 13.

But, admitting the state of your departed friend to be doubtful, yet, in all cases that are really so, let us cultivate honourable thoughts of God: let us remember the FAITHFUL CREATOR. Righteousness is his throne, though clouds surround it. Whatever he has left obscure, we may safely leave him to explain. Let us recollect that, amidst innumerable obscurities, he hath made things clear in proportion as they are important : v and therefore repeatedly urges it upon our consciences, that the door is still open to us;-that it is awful to stand before it unresolved;-that we must trust him to-day; and that to-morrow he will equally remove our conjectures and our complaints.

Perhaps you are ready to reply, "I have heard many such things:' and 'I also could speak as you do, if your soul were in my soul's stead,' Job xvi. 2, 4: but my heart and my expectations are so crushed by this blow, that I can hear nothing but 'Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound grievous: thou hast no healing medicines:" Jer. xxx. 12, 13.

Beware, however, of falling into their sin who 'limited the Holy One of Israel:' Ps. lxxviii. 41. There is a charge continually brought against man, that, in his troubles, the Source and the Resource are equally forgotten. 'Though affliction cometh not forth of the dust;' yet 'none saith where is God my Maker, who giveth Songs in the night?' Job v. 6; xxx. 10. Endeavour, then, in extremities, to recollect an ALL-suffiCIENT FRIEND- a very present HELP in trouble. He, at least, may add, (as he does in the passage just alluded to) 'I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds: saith the Lord.' Cannot the voice which rebuked a tempestuous sea calm our troubled spirits? Is his hand shortened at all, that he cannot 'bless our latter end,' like Job's, more than the beginning?" Job xlii. 12. Is it not the Lord, 'that maketh poor and maketh rich; that bringeth low and lifteth up? 1 Sam. ii. 7. Many, whose hearts have been desolate like yours, while they have looked around, have at length 'looked UPWARD unto Him and been lightened: Ps. xxxiv. 5. A single promise has afforded them not only relief, but strong consolation.

Let us, therefore, my dear friend, 'turn again to this strong-hold as prisoners of hope. Even to-day can be render double to us: Zech. ix. 12. Let us look to Abraham's God, and his encouragement is ours: 'Fear not I am GOD ALMIGHTY: Gen. xvii. 1. q. d. "I am all-sufficient in all cases. I am enough; 'and able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think :' Eph. iii. 20. I have taken away thy Gourd, but dost thou well to be angry? Have I left nothing for thankfulness? This world, however, connot be your home, nor its objects your consolation: they are all too poor for the soul of man. 'Look unto me and be saved:' Isa. xlv. 22.

'Acquaint thyself

'Follow

with Me and be at peace: Job xxii. 21. Me and you shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life' John viii. 12. However dark and distressing the present state of things may appear, 'commit thy fatherless children to my care, I will preserve them alive; and let the widows trust in Me" Jer. xlix. 11.

Still, the beloved object is gone, and your heart follows it. You can scarcely receive counsel from infinite Wisdom, or comfort from Omnipotence. To every fresh encouragement you are ready to reply, 'Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave, or thy faithfulness in destruction? Ps. lxxxviii. 10, 11. His word repeatedly assures you they shall; and that 'all that are in the graves shall hear his voice: John v. 28. But it informs you also, that he can do abundantly more for the living than merely restore their dead friends, or revive their fainting spirits: it teaches you that He can sanctify the separation; that he can give a divine life to the survivor, 'though dead in trespasses and sins,' Eph. ii. 1, and inseparably unite both in his kingdom.-If the Comforter could make for the loss of Christ's bodily presence; yea, up make it even 'expedient that HE should go away,' John xvi. 7; how much more can he supply the place of every creature!

May this COMFORTER, writing his word in your mind, help you to say with a confidence highly honourable to himself and his Gospel, "My perishing gourd is, indeed, withered a day before I expected it: my broken reed is gone; but God is left,-'a father to the fatherless, a husband to the widow' Ps. lxviii. 5. 'And now, Lord, what wait I for? truly my hope is in thee:' Ps. xxxix. 7. Thou canst give me 'in thy