greatly mistake, who suppose that God cares for no other pursuit than devotion. When one works with pure hands and an honest heart, he honors his Maker as well as when he prays; indeed, his piety and his diligence must struggle together, or the fruits offered on our altars are never smiled on by Heaven. Man is not sent hither to mope and muse, but work; as was long since said, "the end of man is an Action, not a Thought." "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might," is the divine rule, and our peace, health, and wealth depend upon our keeping this command. We are not to be of that class who are "fond to begin--but for to finish loth;" on the contrary, "like a star unhasting, yet unresting," we are to toil brightly, steadily on.

Every Christian, for the sake of God and man, should strive to be first-rate in his own particular calling. A firm and consecrated ambition which incessantly aims to accomplish the greatest amount of good, is the foe of idleness and frivolous employments; "it tempers the thirst for sensual indulgence, nourishes high contemplations and generous feelings, and as far as it attains its objects, works out nothing but direct and positive good to the individual and the world." Says Solomon, "The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty, only to want." This describes the patient plodding of a diligent man; content with small gains, and never discouraged by difficulties, he is sure ultimately to be crowned with success. He is not furious but firm and active. Sunshine and storm come and go, but there he is, like the provident ant, laying up substantial supplies for the future time of need.

God never pours his blessing on the spiritual drone. He does not employ sentimental indolence in his service, but sanctified energy. It is the labor of the righteous that tendeth to life, not their lazy complaints. "Occupy till I come,” said Christ, be cultivating the field, and not quarrelling about it; emulate others in good deeds, and not fritter away your

strength in the defence of a fruitless creed. These are they who disgrace our religion by making the power of doing little an excuse for doing nothing. We are bound to be active, remembering that we are the depositaries of the conservative elements of truth and life. If we arrest our diligence a moment in the service of Christ, we suspend the renovating process which was designed to leaven and redeem our globe. As lights in the world, satellites of the great luminary of Salvation, we are appointed to advance perpetually in our respective orbits, invading the thickest gloom, and dispersing it with the splendors of holy zeal.

The most prominent, and most prevailing element throughout the whole empire of the Almighty, is activity. God has no servant, of any grade, or in any kingdom, that has not something to do, some specific office to perform. We believe that the happiness of heaven will consist mainly in an increased conformity to this law. The great and the good are discontented here; but the restlessness of such, like that of the god of day, is a constant progression and inextinguishable glory. The passion that impels their spirit is the love of excellence, and it rapidly assimilates them to the divine image of the perfection they adore.

Jehovah proves his existence by perpetually creating. The process has never ceased; at this moment, suns are throwing off nebulae, and these are hardening into worlds. Why should the immortal soul be dormant? Its Creator reposes never. Think you that Paul is at rest, and Newton idle amid the opening splendors of the universe? Growth in happiness lies in a flight from inertia to energy. God has given man the power of setting all things in motion for useful ends, and in the humble but diligent exercise of this prerogative consists our chiefest joy. The working soul is a spiritual hero, armed with sanctified valor, who ventures forward into the gulf for the disinthralment of mankind. He is fortified with strength more than human, and "through the impassable, paves a

road." On the contrary, the wicked servant who was cast into outer darkness was a slothful servant; indescribable remorse in the eternal world comported with the indolence and viciousness of his existence on earth. Constrained inactivity is the hell of the wicked, but beneficent toil is the heaven of the just.

16

CHAPTER XIII.

PERSEVERANCE;

OR, THE INVINCIBLE CHAMPION.

It is said, in Eccl. 11: 4, "He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." We suppose the wise preacher in these words to mean, that he who leans on the adventitious circumstances of the moment for his support, who takes the exception instead of established law for the rule of his life,-follows the fickle winds and fleeting clouds rather than the guidance of clearly defined and eternal principles, will sow without wisdom and reap without gain. We are encompassed by a cloud of witnesses confirmatory of this doctrine. The spiritual genealogy of many persons, proves their descent in direct line from Reuben, of whom the dying father said, "unstable as water, thou shalt not excel."

We proceed to show that perseverance is the master impulse of the firmest souls; the discipline of the noblest virtues ; and the guaranty of acquisitions the most invigorating in their use and inestimable in their worth.

First of all, let us observe how that perseverance is the main-spring which perpetually impels the firmest souls. Ability for stupendous toil is lodged in every human spirit, a grand gift from the God of nature; but only the persevering worker knows what this latent power is able to achieve, and he can tell only when he has done his very best. Every kind and degree of excellence is food for the spirit which must be earn

ed by the sweat of the brow. Two things are demanded as prerequisites to success; the aspiring competitor in the race of life must early fix his eye in a specific direction, and then with unfaltering step must he press constantly towards the chosen goal.

"Do not, for one repulse, forego the purpose

That you resolved to effect."

The imperial heroes who rule over the opinions of their fellow men for good or ill, are victory-organized; they march towards the execution of their purpose, as if they were intent on the conquest of a world. With a bold front and piercing eye, they are repelled by no obstacles, and entertain not the slightest doubt as to a final triumph; days and nights, like their fortune, health, and everything dear in existence, they consecrate to the success of their particular enterprise. As with hooks of steel, they grapple the most stubborn difficulties, and relax neither hand nor foot so long as there remains one vital energy in their will. A fine instance and illustration under this head, is presented in the person and life of our distinguished countryman, John Ledyard. He was born in Groton, Connecticut, in the year 1751. Early left without a father, with no patron but poverty and his own brave purpose, he resolved to educate his mind and explore the world. ing remained at Dartmouth College as long as he could afford, he went down to the bank of the Connecticut river, felled a majestic tree, and fashioned its trunk into a canoe, fifty feet long and three wide. His craft is launched, and alone with a bearskin for a covering, he pursues his lonely voyage a hundred and forty miles over dangerous falls and through a savage wilderness from Hanover to Hartford. Having found no encouragement at home in clerical pursuits, he embarks as a common sailor, and soon after enlists in the British army at Gibraltar, "thinking the profession of a soldier well suited to a man of honor and enterprise." Escaping thence in about a

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