Knowing and feeling all this, Howard wished all the glory to be given to Him to whom it was due,-none reserved for himself: "let me" he said, "be forgotten." And thus is it ever: the highest are the humblest. The man, who on earth rises most nearly to the heavenly state, and is most closely conjoined in spirit with his God, feels himself as nothing in the Divine Presence, as lost in the Divine Glory:-just as the 'Star of the morning,' which from its nearness to the sun flames brightest of them all, yet oftenest is lost within his blaze.

And now might we turn to other instances of human goodness, and call them up as witnesses to the Divine goodness. We might adduce the devoted OBERLIN, the good pastor of the Ban de la Roche, who, for fifty years, gave himself, with all the ardor and energy of an apostle, to the work of civilizing, instructing, and elevating the rude inhabitants of a secluded and mountainous district of France: and who, by united precept and example, so completely succeeded, as to convert a wild and semi-barbarous population into an orderly, industrious, Christian people, filled with love to God and to their neighbour. Truly, in humble imitation of his Divine Master, was he a "good shepherd," sent to seek the "lost sheep among the mountains ;" and he found them, and brought them into the "green pastures," and into the heavenly fold. Again, we might adduce the heavenly-minded FENELON, who, a Catholic and an archbishop, was yet one of the humblest and purest of men for to no religion, and to no rank or country, is goodness confined: it is to be found wherever men open their hearts to the Divine influence. Fenelon seems in some respects to approach more nearly to

what we may conceive of the angelic character, than any perhaps whom biography describes. His spirit of utter self-sacrifice, of entire submission to the will of his Heavenly Father, of perfect trust in His Divine care and Paternal providence and love,—an almost angelic superiority to all earthly wishes, and complete consecration of himself to his God, joined at the same time with a course of active duty and love to his fellow-men,these traits of character, as exhibited throughout his admirable writings and in his whole life and conduct, place him among the most elevated spirits that have adorned and blessed humanity and the world.

These two high-souled men, France claims for her own, as England claims Howard. America, too, has one, who in his own line and kind of goodness, stands perhaps first and highest,-the patriot WASHINGTON. Noble and disinterested, faithful and true, was that great man,—an example to the world; one, who by his lofty virtue, as well as by the native dignity and firmness of his character, excited the awe, mingled with admiration, of all who approached him. Whence came that lofty virtue and disinterested patriotism, and whence, too, the wisdom and power, by which it accomplished its high ends? Look into Washington's private history, and we discern the secret. Behold him, in the darkest hour of his country's struggle, and when fear and distress filled every heart,-behold him, near the winter camp where the snow was marked by the bleeding feet of his poor soldiers,-kneeling, in a retired spot, beneath a tree, and offering up a fervent prayer to God above, for his country's deliverance. In this act of devotion he was overheard by a passer-by: and the listener, struck and awed by what he had wit

nessed, though before opposed to the cause, at once changed his course, affirming his belief that that cause must be a good one, and in the end a successful one, the leader in which thus looked to and depended on God for guidance and assistance. Here, then, was the secret source of Washington's patriotism, and influence over men's minds, and final triumph over difficulties so great as to have overwhelmed with despair any man who trusted only in himself—any but a man of religious principle, and of courage sustained from above. was a character, which has, alas! been most rare in the history of the world,-that of a Christian hero and statesman.

His

To multiply examples further were needless: as a sufficient number have already been adduced, to effect the purpose we had in view, which was, in the first place, to prove, from facts universally known and acknowledged, the existence of disinterested goodness, as exhibited in man; and then, to show, from the conduct and acknowledgment of those good men themselves, that their goodness was not their own, but was derived from a Power above themselves-from God. Thus we have sought to make it plain, not only that God is good, but that He alone is good; and that all man's goodness is but God's love in him, as all man's wisdom is but God's light in him.

* "There is none good but ONE, that is, God."-Matt. xix. 17.

SECTION III.

GOD'S GOODNESS MANIFESTED IN MAN'S HAPPINESS.

IN the preceding Section, we endeavoured to portray God's goodness as imaged in man's goodness, the lat• ter being but a reflection of the former: we sought to display the goodness of God, as seen in men acting under His influence and by His guidance. Now, however, we wish to contemplate the Divine goodness, exhibited in man not as an actor but as a receiver. We wish to consider man's mind and heart, and his state and condition, as a part of the great works of God's spiritual universe,-made by Him, and sustained and blessed by Him. In the first Chapter of this work, treating of God's works in the Material Universe, we had occasion rather, perhaps, to admire God's wisdom and power than His goodness, because we were contemplating for the most part inanimate objects, in the construction of which wondrous intellect and skill were shown. But in the present Chapter, treating of God's Spiritual Works, and particularly in this Section of it, God's goodness comes more especially into observation, because we are treating of animate and conscious beings, and of the highest of them all, man ; and such beings are the proper objects of the Divine love, because they alone can feel and be affected by it. Therefore, here chiefly it is, that God's love and goodness are seen manifested, namely, in endeavoring to make man happy, and to fill with joys and blessings the life which He has bestowed upon him: for Love ever desires to see its object happy.

Contemplate, then, the joys and delights with which

man's life is blessed-even now, disordered as it is by his own wilfulness and sin; consider how numerous and various those delights are, and behold in them the benignity of man's Maker and Heavenly Father. And in taking this wide survey, where shall we begin? what spot in the landscape is not clothed with green ? what portion of man's life has not the dew of Divine blessing upon it?

Let us begin, then, with the beginning of life: let us contemplate man in infancy. The babe is sleeping. Watch his little unconscious motions. Note the light movements of the lips. First, he draws them down slightly, knitting at the same time his tiny eyebrowsa look of momentary sadness: it was but for a moment, for now a smile breaks over the face, that little dream-cloud is dispersed, and heaven's full sunshine beams on his infantile spirit: he even laughs out. What pretty pictures does he see? Are angels talking to him in their own language, which he seems to unstand better than man's, as being yet nearer to heaven than earth? That pretty Irish legend of angels whispering to infants would almost seem to be the truth. What else makes him smile so ? what else causes those changes of expression to pass so rapidly over his little countenance, like cloud-shadows chasing each other over a landscape? His eyes are shut; it is nothing of earth that he sees; it is nothing earthly that he hears. His little thoughts, whatever they be, are all from the world of spirit,—that is plain: may we not believe they are from heaven, and caused by the presence of attendant angels? Are we not indeed told expressly that there are angels who are attendant upon little children, and who, as it were, belong to them?