not reverse this effect of physical causes. All the appropriate efforts of the rational spirit are to be made, in such a case, by an instrument unfitted for its "high employ"; and the soul must sink back upon itself, waiting, in faith, the day of its redemption from the burden of the flesh. Blessed be God, that there are truths appropriate to our higher nature, and adequate to sustain us amidst the gloom and solitude of bodily suffering. The Resurrection will be a remedy to the most lengthened malady; and the body will then become a perfect medium for the manifestations of mind and spirit. If we duly considered how easily "the fine net-work of mortality" may be disordered, and the effects resulting from this disorder, we should be better prepared to comprehend the state of the afflicted, and to minister to their necessities. Let the diseased bear in mind, for their own consolation, that God remembers their frame. "He knows each secret thread in nature's loom;" and perceives the necessary effect of their physical maladies, though unperceived by human skill and science. The weakness of the flesh now too often defeats the willing submission of the spirit. But it will not be so always.
It is important that, in the perusal of these poems, we should keep in mind the peculiar character of the author's sufferings, and the circumstances under which they were composed;—otherwise, we shall be but poor interpreters of their spirit. We should remember that, under "the pressure of irresistible suffering," God permits his creatures to complain to him, though not to murmur against him. We should consider, that the faith manifested in such a complex state
