But, alas! I have only the will. How shall I achieve this? Who shall help me that I may do the good that I will, and not do the evil which I would not? Well is it with me, O God, that Thy Spirit strengthens and supports methat Thy dispensations awaken, excite, and elevate my heart; that Thy promises enliven my zeal and fix my courage; well is it that I can in prayer, full of earnestness, implore and obtain power from above, and that I am not left to my own finite strength in the struggle of this life on earth. Oh, Thou Who hearest the supplications of Thy children! let me not travel on my way without Thy guidance and support; make plain before me every wrong road upon which I could stray to my destruction; refresh me when I become weary, support me when I stumble, raise me when I fall. Probably I have but few steps more to make, and I may be at the termination of my pilgrimage, and the decision of my eternal doom may be near. Yet, whether I am still distant from the allotted boundary of my course, or whether I approach it, if Thou, my God and my Saviour, dost but guide me, either will be a blessing to me. JANUARY 8. COMFORT OF BEING IN GOD'S VIEW. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Throughout this habitation do His eyes indeed run to and fro, as I pray before Him;-O God, how happy am I that Thou art nigh unto me in this solitude, in this corner of the world; that I am seen by Thee, and regarded by Thine eyes! But if I look also unto my own heart, I am shocked at the thought that Thou provest and triest, and Thou knowest, my thoughts afar off. For how much wantonness wilt Thou discover in this heart of mine! how many sins wilt Thou verify! I will not, I cannot conceal it from myself, O thou Searcher of Hearts, that I am a sinful man. May I, then, so constantly keep Thee before my eyes, as I at this moment picture Thee to myself. But what prevents me from entertaining uninterruptedly this feeling? The desire for vain objects, the impulse of sin, the fickleness of my heart, tend to stifle the consciousness of my soul. But I will endeavour to combat, through the power of Thy grace, against all these obstacles. I will inculcate this deeply upon my heart, and maintain the impression, that I may continually live as in Thy sight. May the thought of Thine omnipresence accompany me above everything in my solitude, and render every moment in which I employ myself earnestly with Thee more precious; guard me from sin, and encourage me to the most faithful and most joyful exercise of good. Oh, what peace will my spirit find when it is aware that Thine eyes look upon me with complacency. Every act of benevolence that I may show towards the needy, every tear that I may dry up among my suffering fellow-creatures, every conquest which I may gain over my own passions, every virtue which I may carry out in secret, dost Thou see, O Lord, and reward. Then, even if no man shall see and appreciate my righteousness, so long as Thou knowest it I shall be contented and happy. Again, if no man should be aware of my affliction, my secret anxieties and sorrow, I am already comforted when I think that Thou, O God, numberest my tears and countest my sighs. Then, filled with holy awe, I shall, in all the trials and cares of life, be continually mindful of Thee, "that I may not be set to sin, nor transgress Thy commandments;" to be afraid of nothing upon earth, neither the gloomy vale, nor the rugged path, nor dangers which threaten both body and soul; to be comforted, and not disheartened; and to over come evil with good. Under Thy guidance nothing will fail me, but goodness and mercy will follow me for my life long. I will thank Thee when I am in eternity, that Thou hast been my God and my helper. JANUARY 9. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF DIVINE LOVE. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found.—Isaiah lv. 6. Thou art also to be found by me, O Lord, if I seek Thee. I see marks of Thy grace and tender love everywhere about me, everywhere the display of Thy wisdom. If I inwardly examine myself, God is manifest in every motion of my soul; in my thoughts, which first accuse and then exculpate each other; in my sentiments, which become meditation and prayer; in my resolutions, which conduce to the scrupulous discharge of my duties, and to acts of love and faithfulness; in patience, which can endure anguish and the severest trials with unflinching courage; in every hope that fills the feeblest heart with comfort; in every pious thought which seizes, rouses, and softens the soul. If I examine my outward condition, and if I consider my engagements, circumstances, and destinies, my afflictions and my joys, the gifts and the blessings of my life, here again are the grace of God, His wise marvellous power, His dispensations, and His counsels, apparent to me. I recognise Him in the fulfilment of so many hopes and wishes; in the advantages which give joy to my life; in health both of body and soul; in the power and discernment with which my education has endowed me; in the blessings which the love and devotedness of good men have prepared for me; in so many pleasures which cheered childhood and my youth; in the advantages which my home and my country have bestowed upon me; but above my all, that I was born in the bosom of Christendom, and have lived under the blessed influence of Christianity-for every other advantage without this appears void and as nothing, and receives through it alone its value. I must wonder, O God, when I consider what Thou doest for me in any single day of my life, especially when I think what I have, through Thy mercy, become. Out of nothing hast Thou raised me to the dignity of a human being, out of poverty to riches, out of misery to happiness, out of unworthiness to be Thy child, and to the enjoyment of Thy blessing. Me, who could be worthy of no other state than that of poverty, misery, and exclusion from Thy love—me has Thy mercy so highly favoured? What am I, Lord, and who am I, that Thou shouldest have brought me to this? Yes, what am I, Lord, that I should dare to worship Thee ? that Thou, to Whom the heavens ascribe honour, disdainest not the song of praise of a mortal man? Infinite God, now that I am honouring Thee, I am sensible of the highest of all the advantages which Thou hast vouchsafed to my existence, the advantage of being able to worship Thee in spirit and in truth, and to know and to believe that Thou art my Father. May it be throughout my life my business to observe Thy majesty, O exalted God, and my own meanness. Thou never lettest me want encouragement. My deficiency, my fragile body, my corrupt condition, my narrow perception, my toilsome life, my whole existence, tell me every instant how insignificant I am, and how unworthy of Thy favour. Yet, whereinsoever my righteousness may be wanting before Thee, therein does my Saviour, in Whom I trust, make it good. I am redeemed of Jesus Christ, and thereby I have become entitled to Thy fatherly love,-to the forgiveness and longsuffering of which, as a man and a sinner, I have been unworthy. To Thee, O Saviour of the world, am I indebted, that I can call the Creator of the world, my Father, and can pray to Him with filial confidence, and can be assured of eternal life. It is my great delight to belong to Thee. May such be even unto death! my boast, to be faithful unto Thee JANUARY 10. NO ABIDING CITY. Yet a little while I am with you.-S. John xiii. 33. In all possibility shall I also be still for a little with my family. But who knows whether I may not now probably have reached the brink of my grave? For, alas! how many an old person, how many a man and woman in full vigour of life, how many of either sex in the bloom of youth, how many a tender child scarcely commencing its career, has death snatched away and carried off, when they seemed indispensable to us! It is certain that the oftener I behold the morning of a new day, the nearer I am approaching the evening of my life: I cannot conceal that this thought fills me with melancholy and distress, especially in my days of sickness. To be approaching death, the grave, the judgment, and eternity: O God! what a fearful and serious thought! And I can have no doubt of their real approach. But I do doubt whether I shall stand in a condition that I shall be able to meet the last hour with joy and sure hope; for if approaching death and approaching eternity shall not alarm me, I must approach nearer unto Thee, O God, and become Thy child. But my conscience, that only just accuser, tells me that my heart is far from Thee, and that I should be unhappy if I should be at this time near my death; that there is no reprieve to hope for, nor return possible, if I had beheld for the last time in this world the morning sun, and had |