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love of him and of his true people in every church and nation, was preserved alive in their hearts, notwithstanding their inauspicious cireumstances-Some there are unconnected with the societies in which they were educated, whose property, talents, and moral chracter, render them respectable-these were once useful in the religious world, but are now retired from the field of labour-it is to be feared that a revolution in the faith of these, much to their disadvantage, and to the disadvantage of that cause which they once espoused, has had too large an influence in this change-a change with regard to some of these, much to be lamented, as they possessed those religious and natural advantages, which strengthen and set the mind at liberty for public service; the fall of such as these is more to be regretted than that of individuals more obscure, because they never fall alone; and this lamentation is increased, when the cause is considered to have been a subversion of the foundation of truth in their own minds-a fall more immediately affecting their moral character, although attended with loss of reputation, would not have been so dangerous. There are two other classes of separatists, worthy also the attention of visible churches--the tempted and the licentious-the former of these surely stand in need of succour-many there are scattered up and down as sheep without a shepherd, who are nevertheless not willing to let their Saviour go, and yet hold him with a trembling hand-the little barks of these would long since have perished in the deep waters, if the invisible mariner had not now and then touched them with his finger-the latter are those who set out with their brethren

for the port of the new Jerusalem, and for a season kept in company with the rest; but putting in for provision at the island of carnal delight, have kept revelling there ever since and can visible gathered churches sit at ease, and behold all these various classes straying in one direction or another from their Father's house, and be quite at ease, as to their present happiness, and future destiny? Can they address their souls while sitting at the table of the bountiful Head of the Church, in the language of the rich man in the gospel-" Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many seasons, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry," and forget that they are thus furnished with the plenty of his house, to try their fidelity, and to prove their compassion to the starving prodigal!

SUITABLE SUPPLEMENT TO THE FOREGOING FROM THE BOOK

OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL, CHAP. XXIV. VERSE 2. WOE BE TO THE SHEPHERDS THAT DO FEED THEMSELVES,

1. Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

4. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away-neither have ye sought that which was lost, but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

5. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd, and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

6. My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

7. Therefore ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

10. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock,* neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more..

11. For thus saith the Lord God, Behold I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

12. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock, in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the dark and cloudy day.

16. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong, I will feed them with judgment.

21. Because ye have thrust with side and with

* This prediction has been often and remarkably verified-not only in the Jewish church, but not long since in the French nation. The oppressors of the church, and corrupters of its doctrines, who professed themselves its ministers for filthy lucre's sake, have sometimes been swept away by the torrent of corruption, which their ministry, vices, and negligence produced-and on the other hand, those who have been unfaithful to the true gift received for improvement, have been punished with that barrenness which is aptly described, by "causing them to cease from feeding the flock," and which is rendered additionally terrible by a threat of future retribution, in the words-" I will require my flock at their hand."

shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad,

22. Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey, and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

23. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David: he shall feed them, and shall be their shepherd.

28. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beasts of the land devour them, but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.

30. Thus shall they know, that I the Lord their God, am with them, and that they even the house of Israel, are my people saith the Lord God.*

31. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.

* Considering the degraded state of the natural descendants of Israel for many ages-few would suppose that they are interested in these promises; but let it be recollected, that they were in similar or more grievous bondage in Egypt, and their God delivered them at his own appointed time.

THE WHEEL OF LIFE.

PART THE FIRST.

Strange are its springs!-No doubt they are all subject to the controul of an over-ruling principle, but to the human eye, the wheel seems animated by its own subordinate springs only and on his sentiment the doctrine

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of rewards and punishments is founded-'tis true, none of these subordinate springs, prevent the grand operarations of Providence from taking place in the world, but this is perfectly compatibte with the exercise of their respective powers-I have been led to these reflections, by considering the intrigues that sometimes give rise to great events, and to other events, which though small in themselves have great influence on the happiness or misery of private life-some of the former as they occur to my recollection, shall first be noticed. Henry VIII. is supposed to have laid the foundations of the reformation in England, by withdrawing his subjects from the supremacy of the Roman Pontiff-this single act was a step toward reformation, and was therefore right in itself, and yet it is represented, by historians to have proceeded from an unjust resentment against Clement VII. for refusing to sanction his prospects of a second marriage, during the life time of Catharine of Arragon-here an unlawful pasbecomes the spring of the political wheel of England, and never ceases to act, until it has laid the foundation stone of liberty—the next case that occurs to my recollection, is that of Maurice duke of Saxony, who had professed an attachment to the reformation, but had perfidiously invaded the electoral dominions of his uncle John Frederick, while that prince was maintaining its cause in Bavaria. Here is a political wheel, moved by the main spring of ambition in various contradictory evolutions--the wisest spectator of its living transactions, would probably find himself at a loss to calculate, how Providence could be at all concerned in such adverse proceedings