other uttered in vain! Had the gifted eye of some living contemporary been miraculously opened to look round the whole world, and select from among the millions of its most miserable inhabitants one supreme in wretchedness, and of whom no hope, either in this world or that which is to come, could be entertained —that one of whom we speak might well have been fixed upon as he— motherless, homeless, friendless a stranger in a strange land, disinherited, for aught he knew, by his father, forsaken of God, and trampled under foot by man experiencing in its most literal fulfilment the curse upon Canaan, (the oldest and direst next to that which accompanied expulsion from Eden) being truly "a servant of servants" —a slave's slave, for whom none prayed, and who prayed not for himself! So fallen below the lowest of his race was he at the crisis which we have described, that had the man of most practical faith then living been permitted to survey such a spectacle of mental, personal, and spiritual reprobation, and heard a voice from eternity whispering in his ear— "Behold, he is a chosen vessel— this shall be a light of the world, a star in the right hand of Him who walketh amidst the golden candlesticks— this derider of the faith shall be the angel of a church, the church of Philadelphia; and of him shall this testimony be given, I know thy works; behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown! "—We say, had the man of most practical faith in existence seen our prodigal in this state, and heard such a prophecy, he could only have received it as the most secret things of the eternal counsels are received— on the simple authority of Him who cannot
