earth, as much so as that of sin. Life is one great lazar house, in which are different wards filled with every kind of anguish. On earth, in every shape, save in the physical world, to which God has given a law which shall not be broken, confusion, disorder, and the effects of the fall reign. What a scene is the world, what a theatre of disappointed hopes and blighted hearts, and all the lot and destiny of man! And yet strange the goodness and mercy of GOD! from the weapon that inflicts the wound, as the father used to say, the remedy is obtained, and suffering joined to and sanctified by the one great all-sufficient Suffering on Mount Calvary, has taken a mighty remedial position in the universe, and where love fails pain succeeds. "Blessed are

they that mourn."

Lift up thine

head, O sorrower, whatever cause distress thee. Look upwards to the Cross of thine adorable REDEEMER, and thou shalt be comforted. That Cross has been the prelude of His Resurrection, and that Resurrection has been for thy justification. To thee there is a bright hereafter. Though confounded here, thou shalt not be confounded for ever. Heaven is in store for thee where corruption and all its attendant evils will no longer reign over thee. And who shall tell the joys of that blest abode, where He Who was thy hope shall wipe away all thy tears-where all thy sorrows shall be forgotten-thy bereaved ones restored to thee, thine ills cured, and the hand of the oppressor taken off thee? There thou

shalt need no garments, for thou shalt be clothed with immortality-there thou shalt want no food, where He Who is the living bread that came down from heaven shall satisfy thee with His presence-there thou shalt desire no drink, for thou shalt taste of the fountain of life, and He shall satisfy thee with the plenteousness of His House as out of the river. There thou shalt suffer no scorching heat, for under the shadow of His wings shall be thy resting place. There thou shalt not pine from cold, for the Sun of Righteousness shall warm thee with the beams of His love, and lighten thee with the rays of His Godhead. And all this for ever and ever; not for one extatic moment of bliss, but through the endless cycles of eternity, drawing in life and love

by Him and in Him; to whom with the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST be

all honour and glory, now and for Amen.

evermore.

NOTE A.

The passage on the descent of our LORD into hell has been inserted, not so much to inculcate that particular interpretation of it as a matter of faith, as to draw the attention to a vivid description of that awful verity. Whatever be the full meaning of this mysterious act in our LORD's life, we may be quite sure that it is most important, because it is His act; and therefore the devout Christian will not fail to meditate upon it duly.1 The first orthodox Creed in which, according to Bishop Pearson, the article "He descended into hell" is found, was that used in the Church of Aquileia. After that it came into the Roman Creed, and has

1 S. Augustine says, "Who but an infidel would deny that CHRIST was in hell?" (Ep. xcix. cap. 2.)