the health and life of countless multitudes; the Author of the spirit, which he has endowed with all its fine faculties and marvellous sympathies, and has put into this frail body, that it may both enjoy much and suffer much, that it may learn much and do much, through the connection and the mutual dependence which thence arise. Faith views God as the infinitely wise Original of all that is seen or known or felt.

It also contemplates him as the Guardian of the universe which he has created-the God of providence; without whose knowledge and consent nothing happens-whether it be the eruption of a volcano that buries cities in an instantaneous grave, or the fall of a sparrow in its solitary flight-whether it be the occasion that gathers friends to rejoice in the hopes of kindred hearts, or the event that calls them to join their tears and their prayers in the house of mourning. The God of providencethere is great meaning in these words. They describe a presence and a power which have connection with every circumstance of life, and which keep the laws of the Creator in exercise and his purposes in fulfilment through all

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which men call vicissitude, accident, or mystery. They express the continual dependence of all creatures upon God, and indicate the confidence with which events may be submitted to his will. Such a confidence is the fruit of Christian faith.

This faith likewise recognises the moral government of God, acknowledging that in the providence which he maintains he is setting forth and enforcing a discipline suited to promote the end for which the moral creation received its endowments. To the Christian this truth is as a "lamp to his feet and a light to his path." It reconciles the contradictory, it explains the ambiguous. He sees a purpose, a righteous and gracious purpose in all that he suffers, and the disappointment of his hopes, no less than the attainment of his wishes, seems to him as a page on which the hand of infinite Wisdom has written lessons for his study. How true to him are those words: Each blessing to my soul more dear Because conferred by thee!

but equally true those other lines:

He everywhere hath rule,

And all things serve his might;
His every act pure blessing is,
His path unsullied light.

To be the subject of a government just in its principles, invariable in its administration, and beneficent in its results, should be, and by the Christian believer is, accounted a ground of rejoicing.

Yet once more, and to sum up what we have said in one word, this faith embraces God as a Father. Who can tell the significance of this name, or measure the extent of its consolation? The Father-such was the title which Jesus delighted to give to the Supreme Being, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor; in which he comprised all the ideas that these terms represent, and by which he taught us to address the God of nature, of providence, and of grace. The Father, whose regard for us, whose constant, watchful, tender love no other word would denote, who chose, by referring to the inexpressible yearnings, the unconquerable affection, of the parental bosom, to signify his own disposition towards us-the Father is the object of Christian faith, of that faith which is but another name for filial sentiment, for childlike trust, for heartfelt piety. "Let not your heart be troubled!" And why not? "Ye believe in God," whom I have

revealed as the Father. Could Jesus have given a stronger reason?

He added however "believe," or 66 ye believe also in me." What is the faith in Christ that can compose our griefs and subdue our anxieties? It is faith in him as the beloved and chosen of the Father, in whom we behold the messenger, representative, and image of the ever-blessed God. It is faith in him as the kindest of friends, who brought from heaven inestimable gifts, and sacrificed his life to insure their transmission to future ages. It is faith in him as the authority for those truths which have just now been reviewed, by which the soul is made to feel the presence and love of the Infinite One. It is faith in him as the pattern, whose character we should adopt for our standard of judgment and our goal of effort, from whose life we should learn how to do good, from whose death how to suffer evil. It is faith in him as one who has "brought life and immortality to light," who has taken away the vain terrors of death and shown us the home to which death is but the passage. It is faith in that divine influence of which he is the type, and in that glorious consummation

of which he is the pledge, the influence which sanctifies the humble, and the consummation which will present them redeemed from sin and infirmity, and all that oppressed and all that afflicted them here, an innumerable company, partakers of the heaven in the dawning of whose light they had walked on earth. "Let not your heart be troubled." And why not? “Ye believe in me," whose word is truth, whose spirit is love, whose gift is peace, whose promise is eternal life. What more could he have said?

The effects of such a faith are obvious. It takes away fear, banishes distrust, excludes or moderates anxiety, and sheds an influence over the soul like that which music exerts on susceptible natures, overpowering their passions and soothing their griefs to rest. But it produces no dreamy indolence. It quickens into generous action the faculties which it releases from the bondage of impatient desire, and invigorates the soul which it tranquillizes, fulfilling the promise, "in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." There is stillness, but not the silence of sleep; repose, but not the torpor of apathy. There is effort,

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