have been the stupifying charm, or the coercive incantation. We have not gone down with them to the haunts of the sorcerer, that we might know by what rites they have thus been humanized. But they would never be indifferent where there is most to excite, and insensible where there is all that can tell upon their feelings, if they had not surrendered the soul to some power of darkness, some beguiling and o'ermastering passion, some agency which, like that pretended to by the woman of Endor, professes to give life to the dead. And therefore remembering, that, as grafted into the Christian Church, they are men "before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among them," we cannot see them manifesting no love to the Savior, and yielding him no allegiance, without feeling that this their vehement ingratitude is wholly unnatural, and without therefore pressing home upon them the question, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth?"

We may certainly add, that, as addressing itself to men's hope, the Gospel is so calculated for making and retaining disciples, that nothing but the workings of sorcery will explain its rejection. It must be remembered that Christ, as Mediator, not only gained our pardon, but procured for us everlasting happiness. And if we must judge the immenseness of the escaped punishment, we must judge also that of the proffered glory, by the fact that our substitute was none other than a person of the Trinity. If Christ Jesus is set before men, crucified among them, they are manifestly taught, that, as the price paid is not to be computed, neither is the happiness of which it was the purchase. And they are beings keenly alive to their own interests, readily excited by any prospect of good, and who exhibit the greatest alacrity and vigor in pursuing such plans as promise them advantage. It is moreover their natural constitution, to forego a present for a future and far greater good, and to submit cheerfully to privations, in hopes of receiving what shall be more than equivalent. We call this their natural constitution; and we therefore, further, call it unnatural, and demonstrative of strange

and sinister influence, that they should choose the trifling in preference to the unmeasured, and give up the everlasting for the sake of the transient. Yet this men do when they disobey the Gospel. The Gospel addresses itself directly to their desire after happiness. It makes its appeal to that principle in their nature, which prompts them to provide for the future at the expense of the present. In every other case they hearken to such address, and respond to such appeal. But in this case, which differs from every other only in the incalculable superiority of the proffered good, they turn a deaf ear, and wear all the appearance of a natural incapacity of being stirred by such an engine as the Gospel brings to bear.

What account shall we give of this? A principle of their nature is in full vigor, except in the instance in which there is most to excite it, and then it seems utterly extinguished. They can pursue a future good, unless it be infinite, and be moved by any prospect of happiness, except of everlasting. There must have been sorcery here; and we have no difficulty in determining how the magician has worked. The devil has practised that jugglery which causes the objects of faith to shrink into insignificance, and those of sense to dilate into magnitude. There has been the weaving of that spell which circumscribes the view, so that, though a man can look forward, he never looks beyond the grave. There has been the drinking of that cup of voluptuousness, of which whosoever partakes is maddened into longing for yet deeper draughts. It is sorcery, it is witchcraft. Men would not hesitate, if an earthly good were to be secured on the conditions of the Gospel; and they refuse, when the good is heavenly, only because they had suffered themselves to be beguiled, and cheated, and entranced. There is a charm upon them, and their own passions have sealed it, binding them to love the world, and the things that are in the world. There is an enchanted circle, which their indulged lusts have traced, and within which they walk, so that they cannot expatiate over the vast spreadings of their existence. There is a syren voice, and their own wishes syllable its whispers, telling them there is no cause for haste,

but that hereafter it will be soon enough to attend to eternity. And thus there is no defect in the Gospel. It is adapted, with the nicest precision, to creatures so constituted as ourselves. But we live in the midst of gorgeous deceits, and brilliant meteors. The wizard's skill, and the necromancer's art, are busied with hiding from us what we most need to know; and our eyes are dazzled by the splendid apparitions with which the god of this world peoples his domain; and our ears are fascinated by the melodies in which pleasure breathes her incantations; and thus it comes to pass, that we are verily "bewitched" into disobeying the truth. Would to God that we might all strive to break away from the seductions and flatteries of earth, and give ourselves in good earnest to the seeking happiness in heaven. And what is it that we ask of men, when we entreat them to escape from the magician, and live for eternity? Is it that they should be less intellectual, less philosophical? On the contrary, religion is the nurse of intellect, and philosophy is most noble when doing homage to revelation. It is not intellectual to live only for this world, it is not philosophical to remain ignorant of God. Is it that they should surrender their pleasures, and walk a round of unvaried mortification? We ask them to surrender nothing

which a rational being can approve, or an immortal vindicate. We leave them every pleasure which can be enjoyed without a blush, and remembered without remorse. We ask only that they would flee those vices whose end is death, cultivate those virtues which are as much the happiness as the ornament of man, and propose to themselves an object commensurate with their capacities. This, let them be assured, is practical christianity—to shun what, even as men, they should avoid, and pursue what, even as men, they should desire.

Shall we not then beseech the Almighty, that we may have strength to break the spell, and dissolve the illusion? The Philistines are upon us, as upon Samson, and we are yet, it may be, in the lap of the enchantress. But all strength is not gone. The Spirit of the living God may yet be entreated; and the razor of divine judgment hath not swept off the seven locks wherein our might lies. And therefore, however bewitched, each amongst us may yet struggle with the sorcerer who has bound him; and we can assure him that there is such efficacy in hearty prayer to the Lord, that, if he cry for deliverance, the green withes shall be as tow when it toucheth the fire," and the new cords be broken like a thread from his arms.

In regard of the concerns and occurrences of life, some men are always disposed to look at the bright side, and others at the dark. The tempers and feelings of some are so cheerful and

elastic, that it is hardly within the power of ordinary circumstances to depress and overbear them; whilst others, on the contrary, are of so gloomy a temperament, that the least

of what is adverse serves to confound them. But if we can divide men into these classes, when reference is had simply to their private affairs, we doubt whether the same division will hold, we are sure it will not in the same proportion, when the reference is generally to God's dealings with our race. In regard of these dealings, there is an almost universal disposition to the looking on the dark side, and not on the bright; as though there were cause for nothing but wonder, that a God of infinite love should permit so much misery in any section of his intelligent creation. You find but few who are ready to observe what provision has been made for human happiness, and what capacities there are yet in the world, notwithstanding its vast disorganization, of ministering to the satisfaction of such as prefer righteousness to wickedness.

Now we cannot deny, that if we merely regard the earth as it is, the exhibition is one whose darkness it is scarcely possible to overcharge. But when you seek to gather from the condition of the world the character of its Governor, you are bound to consider, not what the world is, but what it would be, if all, which that Governor hath done on its behalf, were allowed to produce its legitimate effect. And we are sure, that, when you set yourselves to compute the amount of what may be called unavoidable miserythat misery which must equally remain, if christianity possessed unlimited sway-you would find no cause for wonder, that God has left the earth burdened with so great a weight of sorrow, but only of praise, that he has provided so amply for the happiness of the fallen.

The greatest portion of the misery which is so pathetically bewailed, exists in spite, as it were, of God's benevolent arrangements, and would be avoided, if men were not bent on choosing the evil, and rejecting the good. And even the unavoidable misery is so mitigated by the provisions of christianity, that, if there were nothing else to be borne, the pressure would not be heavier than just sufficed for the ends of moral discipline. There must be sorrow on the earth, so long as there is death; but, if this were all, the cer

tain hope of resurrection and immortality would dry every tear, or cause, at least, triumph so to blend with lamentation, that the mourner would be almost lost in the believer. Thus it is true, both of those causes of unhappiness which would remain, if christianity were universally prevalent, and of those for whose removal this religion was intended and adapted, that they offer no argument against the compassions of God. The attentive observer may easily satisfy himself, that, though for wise ends a certain portion of suffering has been made unavoidable, the divine dealings with man are, in the largest sense, those of tenderness and love, so that, if the great majority of our race were not determined to be wretched, enough has been done to insure their being happy. And when we come to give the reasons why so vast an accumulation of wretchedness is to be found in every district of the globe, we cannot assign the will and appointment of God: we charge the whole on man's forgetfulness of God, on his contempt or neglect of remedies and assuagements divinely provided; yea, we offer in explanation the words of our text,

none saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night?"

We shall not stay to trace the connection between these words and the preceding, but rather separate at once the text from the context. We may then consider it as giving a beautiful character of God, which should attract men towards him, and which is sufficient pledge, that, if it did, they would be happy even in the midst of adversity. Or we may regard the words, when thus taken by themselves, as expressive of the inexcusableness of men in neglecting God, when he has revealed himself under a character the most adapted to the fixing their confidence. It is evident that Elihu represents it as a most strange and criminal thing, that, though our Maker giveth songs in the night, he is not inquired after by those on whom calamity presses. therefore, divide what we have to say on our text under two general heads; considering, in the first place, what an aggravation it is of the guilt of men's forgetting their Creator, that he is a God "who giveth songs in the night;"

We may,

and showing you, in the second place, with how great truth and fitness this touching description may be applied to our Maker.

Now we must all be conscious, that, if pain and suffering were removed from the world, a great portion of the Bible would become quite inapplicable; for on almost its every page there are sayings which would seem out of place, if addressed to beings inaccessible to grief. And it is one beautiful instance of the adaptation of revelation to our circumstances, that the main thing which it labors to set forth is the love of our Maker. There are many untouched points on which curiosity craves information, and on which apostles and prophets might have been commissioned to pour a tide of illustration. But there is no point on which it was so important to us to be certified, as on this of God's love towards us, notwithstanding our alienation. We emphatically needed a revelation to assure us of this; for natural theology, whatever its success in delineating the attributes of God, could never have proved that sin had not excluded us from all share in his favor.

And accordingly it is at this the Bible labors; and thereby it becomes most truly the Bible of the fallen. A revelation of God to a rank of beings untainted by sin, would probably not be much occupied with affirming and exhibiting the divine love. There must be guilt, and therefore some measure of consciousness of exposure to wrath, ere there can be doubt as to whether the work of God's hands be still the object of his favor. The Bible therefore, if we may thus speak, of an order of angels, might contain nothing but gorgeous descriptions of divine supremacy and magnificence, opening the mightiest mysteries, but having no reference to the tenderness of a Father, which was always experienced, and none to the forgiveness of sinners, which was never required. But such a Bible would be as much out of place on this fallen creation, as ours in a sphere where all was purity and light. The revelation, which alone can profit us, must be a revelation of mercy, a revelation which brings God before us as not made irreconcilable by our many offences; a revelation, in short, which

discloses such arrangements for our restoration to favor, that there could be a night on which cherubim and seraphim lined our firmament, chanting the chorus, "peace on earth, good-will towards man," and thus proving of our Maker, that he is a God" who giveth songs in the night."

Now you all know that this is the character of the revelation with which we have been favored. Independently on the great fact with which the Bible is occupied, the fact of our redemption through the suretyship of a Mediator, the inspired writers are continually affirming, or insisting upon proofs, that the Almighty loves the human race with a love that passeth knowledge; and they give us, in his name, the most animating promises, promises whose full lustre cannot be discerned in the sunshine, but only when the sky is overcast with clouds. We must, for example, be ourselves brought to the very dust, ere we can rightly estimate this exquisite description of a being, who made the stars, and holdeth the waters in the hollow of his hand, "God, that comforteth those that are cast down." We must know for ourselves the agony, the humiliation, of unforeseen grief, ere we can taste the sweetness of the promise, that God, he who hath "spread out the heavens like a curtain," and ordereth the motions of all the systems of a crowded immensity, "shall wipe away tears from off all faces."

But if God have thus revealed himself in the manner most adapted to the circumstances of the suffering, does not the character of the revelation vastly aggravate the sinfulness of those by whom God is not sought? Let all ponder the simple truth, that the having in their hands a Bible, which wondrously exhibits the tenderness of Deity, will leave us without excuse, if not found at last at peace with our Maker. For we are not naturally inaccessible to kindness. We are so constituted that a word of sympathy, when we are in trouble, goes at once to the heart, and even the look of compassion acts as a cordial, and excites grateful feelings. We have only to be brought into circumstances of pain and perplexity, and immediately we show ourselves acutely sensitive to the voice of consolation; and any of our fellow-crea

tures has only to approach us in the character of a comforter, and we feel ourselves drawn out towards the benevolent being, and give him at once our thankfulness and friendship. But it is not thus with reference to God. God comes to us in the hour of anxiety, bidding us cast all our care upon him; but we look round for another restingplace. He comes to us in the season of affliction, offering us the oil and wine of heavenly consolation; but we hew out for ourselves "broken cisterns." He approaches in the moment of danger, proffering us refuge and succor; but we trust in our own strength, or seek help from those who are weak as ourselves. But let us be well assured that this single circumstance, that God hath revealed himself as a comforter, to those whose condition makes them need comfort, will prove us inexcusable, if we die without giving him the heart's best affections. He acts upon us in the manner in which, both from our necessities and our susceptibilities, there is the greatest likelihood of our being moved to the making him the prime object of our love. And if, notwithstanding, we prefer the creature to the Creator, what shall we have to urge, when he, who now deals with us in mercy, begins to deal with us in vengeance? Yes, it is not the manifestation of majesty, nor of power, nor of awfulness, which will leave us inexcusable; it is the manifestation of compassion, of good will, of tenderness. A fallen and unhappy creature, harassed by a thousand griefs, and exposed to a thousand perils, might have shrunk from exhibitions of Deity on his throne of clouds, and-in his robes of light. He might have pleaded that there was every thing to confound, and nothing to encourage him. But what can he say, when the exhibitions are of God, as making all the bed of the sick man in his sickness, and cheering the widow in her desolateness, and supplying the beggar in his poverty, and guarding the outcast in his exile? Are not these exhibitions touching enough, thrilling enough, encouraging enough? Oh, I might perhaps have felt that it was not to prove the human race necessarily inexcusable in their forgetfulness of God, to say, none saith, where is God my Maker who is "from everlasting,

and to everlasting," who "sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers," who "telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names"-but I feel that it is to express such a wilful hard-heartedness as must demand and justify the severest condemnation, to say, none saith, where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night ?".

But we now proceed to the showing you, as we proposed in the second place, with how great truth and fitness this touching description may be applied to our Maker.

We have already referred to the precise adaptation of the Bible to our circumstances, and we would now examine this adaptation with a little more attention. We may assert that there cannot be imagined, much less found, the darkness, in passing through which there is no promise of Scripture by which you may be cheered. We care not what it is which hath woven the darkness; we are sure that God has made provision for his people's exulting, rather than lamenting, as the gloom gathers round them, and settles over them. Whatever be the nature of the afflictions with which any man has been visited, can he deny, if indeed he be one who has received Christ into the soul, that he has found "a word in season" in Scripture; will he not, at the least, confess, that, if he have passed through the period of calamity without experiencing such consolations as filled him with gratitude, it has been through his own fault and faithlessness, seeing that even the "vale of Baca" can be used by the righteous as a well."

१९

Let us take the case of most frequent occurrence, but of which frequency diminishes nothing of the bitterness. We mean the case of the loss of friends, the case in which death makes way into a family, and carries off one of the most beloved of its members. It is nightdeep night, in a household, whensoever this occurs. When the loss is of another kind, it may admit of repair. Property may be injured, some cherished plan may be frustrated-but industry may be again successful, and hope may fix its eye on other objects. But when those whom we love best die, there is no comfort of this sort with which we can be comforted. For