the Divine Providence, which runs through all things, hath disposed and connected them into such a series and order, that there is no single event or accident (but what is purely miraculous) but depends upon the whole system, and hath innumerable causes antecedent to it, and innumerable consequents attending it; and what the consequents will be, whether good or bad, singly and apart by itself, yet in conjunction with all those consequents that will most certainly attend it, the best event, for aught we know, may prove most mischievous, and the worst most beneficial to us. So that for us boldly to pronounce concerning the good or evil of events, before we see the train of consequents that follow them, is very rash and inconsiderate. As, for instance, you see a good man oppressed with sorrows and afflictions, and a bad man crowned with pleasures and prosperities; and, considering these things apart by themselves, you conclude that the one fares very ill, and the other very well; but did you at the same time see the consequents of the one's adversity and the other's prosperity, it is probable you would conclude the quite contrary, viz., that the good man's adversity was a blessing, and the bad man's prosperity a curse. For I dare boldly affirm that good men generally reap more substantial benefit from their afflic tions than bad men do from their prosperities. The one smarts, indeed, at present, but what follows? Perhaps his mind is cured by it of some disease that is ten times worse to him than his out. ward affliction; of avarice and impatience, of envy or discontent, of pride or vanity of spirit; his riches are lessened, but his virtues are improved by it; his body is impaired, but his mind is grown sound and hale by it, and what he hath lost in health, or wealth, or pleasure, or honour, he hath gained with vast advantage in wisdom and goodness, in tranquillity of mind and self-enjoyment, and methinks no man who believes he hath a soul should grudge to suffer any tolerable affliction for bettering of his mind, his will, and his conscience.

On the other hand, the bad man triumphs and rejoices at the present; but what follows? His prosperity either shrivels him into miserableness, or melts him into luxury; the former of which

impoverishes, and the latter diseases him; for, if the former be the effect of his prosperity, it increases his needs, because before he needed only what he had not, but now he needs both what he hath not and what he hath, his covetous desires treating him as the falconer doth his hawk-luring him off from what he hath seized, to fly at new game, and never permitting him to prey upon his own quarry; and if the latter be the effect of his prosperity, that is, if it melt him into luxury, it thereby wastes his health to be sure, and commonly his estate too; and so whereas it found him poor and well, it leaves him poor and diseased, and only took him up from the plough, and sets him down at the hospital. In general, while he is possessed of it, it only bloats and swells him, makes him proud and insolent, gripping and oppressive; pampers and enrages his lust, stretches out his desires into insatiable feeling, sticks his mind full of cares, and his conscience of guiles, and by all those woful effects it inflames his reckoning with God, and treasures up wrath for him against the day of wrath; so that, comparing the consequences of the good man's adversity with those of the bad man's prosperity, it is evident that the former fares well even in his worst condition, and the latter ill, in his best. "It is well for me," saith David, "that I was afflicted, for before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept Thy commandments." But, on the contrary, when the wicked spring as the grass, saith the same author, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, then is it that they shall be destroyed for ever! If, then, in the consequents of things, good men are blessed in their afflictions, and bad men plagued in their prosperities, as it is apparent they generally are, these unequals destributions are so far from being an argument against Providence, that they are a glorious instance of it. For wherein could the Divine Providence better express its justice and wisdom together, than by benefiting the good, and punishing the bad, by such cross and unprobable methods?

GOD moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain ;

God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

COWFER.

THE SABBATH.

Ir was a pleasant morning, in the time

WILILS.

When the leaves fall-and the bright sun shone out
As when the morning stars first sang together—
So quietly and calmly fell his light

Upon a world at rest. There was no leaf
In motion, and the loud winds slept, and all
Was still. The labouring herd was grazing
Upon the hill-side quietly-uncall'd

By the harsh voice of man; and distant sound,
Save from the murmuring waterfall, came not
As usual on the ear. One hour stole on,
And then another of the morning, calm
And still as Eden ere the birth of man.

And then broke in the Sabbath chime of bells--
And the old man, and his descendants, went
Together to the house of God. I join'd
The well-apparell'd crowd. The holy man
Rose solemnly, and breathed the prayer of faith-
And the gray saint just on the wing for heaven-
And the fair maid—and the bright-hair'd young man-
And child of curling locks, just taught to close
The lash of its blue eye the while,-all knelt
In attitude of prayer-and then the hymn,
Sincere in its low melody, went up

To worship God.

The white-hair'd pastor rose
And look'd upon his flock-and with an eye
That told his interest, and voice that spoke
In tremulous accents eloquence like Paul's,
He lent Isaiah's fire to the truths

Of revelation, and persuasion came

Like gushing waters from his lips, till hearts
Unused to bend were soften'd, and the eye
Unwont to weep sent forth the willing tear.
I went my way, but as I went I felt
How well it was that the world-weary soul
Should have its times to set its burthen down.

Ancient London.

FITZ STEPHEN.

[WILLIAM STEPHANIDES, or Fitz Stephen, a monk of Canterbury, was born in London; lived in the reigns of King Stephen, Henry the Second, and Richard the First; and died in 1191. He wrote a description of his native city in Latin. Stow, the antiquary, printed this very curious tract, with a translation, in his "Survey of London ;" and it has since been reprinted several times. The translation of this passage which we give is more modern than that of Stow; and we take it from a very elegant and accurate edition of the "Survey," edited by Mr Thoms, the learned and accomplished secretary of the Camden Society. There are few things of antiquarian value more curious than this picture of London and its manners, written more than six centuries and a half ago.]

Of the manner in which the Affairs of the City are disposed.The artisans of the several crafts, the vendors of the various commodities, and the labourers of every kind, have each their separate station, which they take every morning. There is also in London, on the bank of the river, amongst the wine shops which are kept in ships and cellars, a public eating-house; there every day, according to the season, may be found viands of all kinds, roast, fried, and boiled, fish, large and small, coarser meat for the poor, and more delicate for the rich, such as venison, fowls, and small birds. If friends, wearied with their journey, should unexpectedly come to a citizen's house, and, being hungry, should not like to wait till fresh meat be bought and cooked:

"The canisters with bread are heap'd on high,

The attendants water for their hands supplys."-DRYDEN's Virgil. meanwhile some run to the river side, and there everything that they could wish for is instantly procured. However great the number of soldiers or strangers that enters or leaves the city at any hour of the day or night, they may turn in there if they please, and refresh themselves according to their inclination; so that the former have no occasion to fast too long, or the latter to leave the city without dining. Those who wish to indulge themselves would not desire a sturgeon, or the bird of Africa, or the godwit