and magnificent sun. The regularity of their revolutions, and the completion of their orbits, are as necessary for the harmony of the spheres and the accuracy of the heavenly movements, as is the time of the Moon, the altitude of the Sun, or his ecliptic. They come not forth from their far distant dwelling-place in the heavens, as do the eccentric comets; nor is their light so appalling and attractive to the vulgar and superstitious multitude, as those erratic strangers. They shine not so fair as the silver moon, nor do they send to our earth such genial warmth and cheering light as the sun of our firmament, neither are they so beauteous as the splendid gem in the diadem of heaven, which burns as the evening and morning star. Yet have they their place in the wide expanse, and they know their rising and their going down; the path, though far distant from us, which they gladden in their course, would be chill and cheerless in their absence, and the circuit in which they move, would be a blank in the sapphire and tesselated pavement which is under the glorious feet of Him, who has stretched out the heavens as the groundwork of his pavilion, where he goes forth in the beamy walks of his brightness and his majesty.

In the ordinances and appointments of civil society, the obscurest member, the lowest citizen, every single unit, even the weakest and least honourable among men, has his place and his duty, his sphere and proportion of service; which he not only may, but is required to, occupy. And in the first and elementary circles of society, the right and prompt discharge of obligation is requisite and valuable. Charity to others, in this respect, begins at home. Let each one build the portion of the wall which is contiguous to his own abode. Let every husbandman be faithful in his own vineyard, and carry out the performance of service as the sphere of engagement expands: accomplishing in the greater, what has

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been completed in the more minute undertakings, and then there will be no schism in the body. If the citizen be faithful in that which is least, then may he be expected also to be faithful in much. It is justly required in stewards that they be found faithful. Every man is a steward according to the province of society in which he is placed. If he has well cultivated his own understanding and enlarged his mind; if he has subdued his passions and regulated his desires; if the city of Mansoul be well lighted, well watched, and well defended; if no brawling offenders, no disguised enemies, are tolerated. within, nor foolish councillors allowed to bear sway; no unbridled affections, no lusts of the flesh, no lusts of the eye, no hereditary propensities, no slothful or pampered servants, no irresponsible or spiritual wickednesses in high places; then will the subordinate system be as an instrument well framed for ulterior service. The man, who, as a qualified citizen, enters on the relative duties of life, is a tower of strength to the body politic. It will be his pleasure and interest to regulate well his own house, as a pattern to the young, as a teacher of the ignorant, and maintaining integrity in his secular transactions; his household will be as a well cultivated and beautified nursery; his children will be as olive plants, as trees for ornament and utility. He will be known in the gate, and his counsel will be as of one of the seven. In his municipal suffrage, or as the choice of his fellowcitizens, he will ever remember that he is only in trust for the common good, that he is vested with greater or less power, as an individual, or the representative of others, only for the greatest good of his neighbours as well as himself. And while it will have been his desire to acquire a relative influence as a member of the community, in the possession of such influence, whether in the election of a parliamentary representative, with the legislature, or with the administration of the country,

he will act as for the common good, not sacrificing what is public and relative property for his selfish pleasures, or sordid and mercenary advantages. He will faithfully discharge all the duties which devolve on him as a member of the body, according to the place which he occupies for the welfare of all.

The ordinances of heaven display the glory of Him who guides the stars in their courses, and the firmament sheweth forth his handywork. God has made all things for himself. The power of a state, though in its construction and recognition an ordinance of man, and susceptible of divers and successive modifications, fluctuating and liable to human and selfish corruptions; yet in its permanent benefits and authorised sanctions, as holding forth the terror to evil-doers, and praise to them that do well, it is the minister of God for good, and as the ordinance of God, should be thankfully received, and faithfully used for the purposes for which it has been appointed. It would be an impious desecration of Divine authority as sanctioning the constitution of civil society, to allow any of its secular influences or blandishments to withstand God's claims, to alienate his prerogatives or contest his sovereignty, to divide his dominion, or set the creature in his place and on his throne. The truly enlightened and honest citizen will not countenance any employment of the resources which society creates, or the energies which it combines, to fetter, impede, or repress the cause of truth and religion, or any attempt to perpetrate injustice, and do violence to the rights and consciences of those whom it ought to protect.

A wise political economy can never be guilty of arming one citizen against another, or dividing the community, which it should organise, against itself, or of occasioning mutual jealousy, hostile feuds, imprisonments, confiscations, or distress, among the innocent and conscientious, by the substitution of robbery for burnt

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offering. This would be to make its officers the enemies of peace, and its exactors the foes of righteousness, its rulers not a terror to evil works, but to the good; by whom the things which are God's are rendered to Cæsar, and the honour which cometh from God only, is received as from the hand of man; who in such a system would be neither the minister of God, nor his authorised deputy. Instead of all this, it will be the desire of the Christian citizen to place everything in its own order, giving the preference to Divine things; and while religion holds a prominent rank in his regard, it is not to mingle its claims or services with the weak and beggarly elements of the world, or to make Christianity only a handmaid to secular power, or an instrument for wayward and selfish men. In secular and civil society, which is synonymous with the world, the Christian will find he must " company with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters." But he feels there is a meaning and spiritual application in the words spoken by God's Spirit, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness ? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols ?" He has been taught that he either must needs go out of the world, or else meet with such characters in society, as have neither part nor lot in the matter of Christ's kingdom. But he knows such going out of the world is not necessary; as it is not expedient, nor even practicable, to transact spiritual matters with worldly men; and he has learned from Divine authority, that the most effectual method to maintain purity in religious communion, is "not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or a railer, or an idolater, or a drunkard,

or an extortioner; with such an one, no, not to eat." The Christian leaves them that are without the church of God to His judgment, who searcheth and trieth the hearts and reigns of all men.

Religion is a subject which ought to be the concern of every member of society, and must be the unforced choice, and possess the full concurrence of the conscience and judgment, of each man for himself. Its sanctions, services, and obligations, can be realised and discharged by the obligant only in person, and not by deputy. To regulate such affairs can alone be the responsible duty of those, who, being agreed together, are associated on recognised principles, as societies distinct from the civil community and its authority. Yet the Christian will discharge all social and civil obligations as a religious man, and subject to the direction and control of Him who is Lord, whose servant he professes to be, and whose glory is the chief end of his existence. While man is an erring creature, and his greatest efforts characterised by weakness and imperfection, so long will he be subject to disappointment and failure in his most chosen enterprises; nor can he ever entertain the assurance that his plans shall succeed, or his works remain, except they be accompanied by the Divine blessing. Secular transactions, as well as sacred services, are alike depenent on the smile of heaven, and the approving energy of almighty power. It has been often seen that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; but in civil affairs as well as religious, the Christian looks to Him who, as the Father of lights, and from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift, has promised to give, without upbraiding, that wisdom which cometh from above. But as the blessing of God can only be solicited aright, and consistently, when it is implored with deference to the sovereign will of the great Giver, and then only is it implored acceptably, when the object sought is