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possess our souls in patience, in the day of trouble to believe the good will and fatherly love of God even when he smites, is a point of no small difficulty.—But, were we never to enjoy a season of prosperity, where would be the evidence of our humility, heavenly mindedness, and contempt of a present world? Variety adds a beauty and lustre to providence. In the day of prosperity therefore, we ought to rejoice with trembling, and in the day of adversity, to consider and faint not; for "God hath set one against the other, to the end that no man might find any thing after him," Eccl. vii 14.
While in this valley of tears, it is not wonderful that believers should be often called to weep. To mingle their tears with those of their brethren—or in the words of the apostle, to "weep with those that weep,—is a part of the holy fellowship they are called to by the gospel.
At present, the way of providence in general is dark and mysterious. There is a depth in it, for which we have no line. There are many seals on it, not fit as yet to be opened. But when the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne, shall open the seals, and shew the meaning of all the dark passages in that mysterious book, and every one is
