the outward act, but God the principle from which it springs.

To think of having done well without self-esteem, is an evidence of true humility; as it is our evidence of great faith, to abandon the hope of consolation from created things. He that seeks not witness for himself among men, shows that he has committed his whole state to God, and has the witness in his own breast: for it is "not he who commendeth himself," nor he who is commended by others, that "is approved;" but him only, saith the blessed Paul, "whom God commendeth."

CHAPTER VII.

Jesus to be loved above all.

BLESSED is he who knows what it is to love Jesus, and for his sake to despise himself. To preserve this love, we must relinquish the love of self, and all creatures; for Jesus will be loved alone. The love of the creatures is deceitful and unstable; the love of Jesus is faithful and permanent. He that adheres to any creature, must fail when the creature fails; but he that adheres to Jesus, will be established with him for ever. Cherish his love, who, though the heavens and the earth should be dissolved, will not forsake thee, nor suffer thee to perish. Thou must one day be separated from all that thou seest and lovest among created things, whether

thou wilt or not: living and dying, therefore, adhere to Jesus, and securely commit thyself to his faithful protection, who, when nature fails, is alone able to sustain thee.

Such is the purity of thy Beloved, that he will admit of no rival for thy love; but will himself have the sole possession of thy heart, and, like a king, reign there with sovereign authority, as on his proper throne. If thy heart was emptied of self-love, and of the love of creatures whom thou lovest only for thy own sake, Jesus would dwell with thee continually. But whatever love thou hast for men, of which Jesus is not the principle and end, and whatever be their returns of love to thee, thou wilt find both to be utterly vain and worthless. O place not thy confidence in man ; lean not upon a hollow reed! for "all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass: the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away."

Of men thou regardest only the outward appearance, and, therefore, art soon deceived; and while thou seekest relief and comfort from them, thou must meet with disappointment and distress. If in all things thou seekest Jesus, thou wilt surely find him in all; and if thou seekest thyself, thou wilt, indeed, find thyself, but to thy own destruction. He who in all things seeks not Jesus, involves himself in more evil than the world and all enemies could heap upon him.

CHAPTER VIIL

The Friendship of Jesus.

WHEN Jess is present, all is well, and no labor seems difficult; but when he is absent, the least adversity is insupportable. When Jesus is silent, all comfort withers; but the moment he speaks again, the soul rises from her distress. Thus Mary rose hastily from the place where she sat weeping for the death of Lazarus, when Martha said to her, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee." Blessed is the hour when Jesus cal's us from affliction and tears, to partake of the joys of his Spirit !

How great is the hardness of the heart, without Jesus! how great its vanity and folly, when it desireth any good beside him! Is not the loss of him greater than the loss of the world? for what can the world profit without Jesus? To be without Jesus, is to be in the depths of hell : to be with him, is to be in Paradise. While Jesus is with thee, no enemy hath power to hurt thee. He that finds Jesus, finds a treasure of infinite value, a good transcending all that can be called good; and he that loseth Jesus, loseth more than the whole world. That man only is poor in this world, who lives without Jesus; and that man only is rich, with whom Jesus delights to dwell.

It requires skill to converse with Jesus, and wisdom to know how to keep him; but not the skill of men, nor the wisdom of this world. Be humble and

peaceful, and Jesus will come to thee; be devout and meek, and he will dwell with thee. Without a friend, life is unenjoyed; and unless Jesus be thy friend, infinitely loved and preferred above all others, life will be to thee a desolation. It is madness to confide and delight in any other : rather choose that the whole world should combine to oppose and injure thee, than that Jesus should be offended at thy preferring the world to him. Of all that are dear to thee, let Jesus be the peculiar and supreme object of thy love. Men, even those to whom thou art united by the ties of nature and the reciprocations of friendship, are to be loved only for the sake of Jesus; but Jesus is to be loved for himself. Jesus alone is to be loved without reserve, and without measure; because, of all that we can possibly love, he alone is infinite in goodness and faithfulness. For his sake, and in the power of his love, enemies are to be dear to thee, as well as friends; and let it be thy continual prayer, even for thy enemies, that all men may be blest with the knowledge and love of him.

Desire not to be admired and praised for the goodness that is in thee, as if it was thy own; for the praise of being good is the prerogative of God: his goodness alone is absolute and underived. Thou art good only by the communication of that goodness which, from eternity to eternity, dwells essentially in him. Aspire after such inward purity and freedom, that no affection to any creature may have power to perplex and enslave thee: Have a heart divested of all selfish affections and earthly desires,

"stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Indeed, to this exalted state thou canst not arrive, without the prevention and attraction of his grace, which will bring thee into union with his blessed Spirit.

When the grace of God thus lives and reigns in the heart of man, he has power to "do all things :" but when its divine influence is suspended, he feels himself left in the poverty and weakness of fallen nature, exposed to the lash of every affliction.

CHAPTER IX.

Absence of Comfort.

Ir requires no considerable effort to despise human consolation, when we are possessed of divine : but it is transcendent greatness, to bear the want of both; and, without self-condolence, or the least retrospection on our own imaginary worth, patiently to suffer desolation of heart for the glory of God. What singular attainment is it, to be peaceful and devout, while "the light of God's countenance is lifted up upon thee?" That man cannot but find his journey easy and delightful, whom the grace of God sustains so that he neither feels burden, nor meets with obstruction, but is supported by Omnipotence, and conducted by Truth.

We perpetually seek after consolation, from the dread of the want of it; and it is with difficulty that