actual evolution of which their united powers and functions are incessantly, under the guidance of Divine wisdom, made to conspire.

But, in the second place, as we are thus taught, by the instructive figure of the Apostle, to view society "as a body,”—we are also instructed, that the different members of that body exist, with respect to each other, in places of varied dignity and importance, or have offices to fulfil, which, in some instances, seem to be more august and influential,— and in others to be of less moment, or less capable of being appreciated. It is not unlikely, indeed, that our estimate of these varieties of power and of influence may be formed on very limited views,and not exactly accordant with the results which, on a wider view, would be found to flow from the labours of individuals. But as the places and powers of these individuals actually, in the great spectacle of life, present themselves to our view, they, unquestionably, assume this apparent diversity of importance and of influence,—some members of the community being gifted with powers and opportunities which fit them for producing results of general influence or of vast moment to great bodies of men, or to future generations,-while others are ap

pointed to occupy very humble means, and to busy themselves chiefly with their own private or domestic concerns :-Some occupy stations which draw on them the observation of all who surround them,while others live throughout their whole existence in unnoticed privacy;-and some being thus apparently assigned a sphere which renders the interruption of their labours a great public calamity,-while others pass unlamented from the face of this earth, and seem to leave no blank in the aggregate of existencies.

If, however, we look more closely at this grand arrangement of Providence for the support of the Divine kingdom, we shall perceive,—that the distinctions appropriated to the different individuals of mankind,—that is, to the different members of that "one body" in which all the myriads of individuals hold a place,—are rather differences of office and of function, than exclusive advantages, or marks of peculiar favour which are granted to some and denied to others;-that Divine Providence has in fact so ordered the lots of all creatures, that there is an average of enjoyment distributed, with impartial justice, over all the various conditions and successive generations of men;-and that, accordingly, every

individual must derive his true honour and his substantial enjoyment as a member of this "one body," -not from an indolent abandonment to what he believes to be his peculiar advantages,—but from an efficient discharge of the peculiar duties that have been given him to fulfil, and a conscientious and persevering use of the talents with which,—for the general good of " the body," he has been intrusted.

Such are the ideas involved in this instructive me

taphor of the Apostle, as illustrative of the order which prevails in the various lots and endowments of men,—and such the extensive views, corresponding with that metaphor, under which the actual arrangements of society present themselves, when these are contemplated on the grandest scale, and explained by the aid of the most comprehensive principles.

MEANS PROVIDED FOR MAKING THE INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS OF MEN TO ISSUE IN THE PRODUCTION OF GENERAL GOOD.

The preceding views offer, no doubt, a most captivating subject to our generalizing and speculative powers, but it is chiefly when these faculties are ex

ercised, that is to say, when we permit our minds to rise from the contemplation of actual occurrences and particular situations,—and to expatiate amidst general conceptions, and views which embrace the entire scheme of Providence, that the grandeur of these views is perceived,—and their accordance with the great regulations, according to which the affairs of the kingdom of God are conducted, is recognized.

It is only, however, occasionally that the minds even of contemplative men rise to such heights, or expatiate amidst such general conceptions. For Nature, by a most wise and wonderful provision, has so ordered the lots of men, and given such a direction to their hopes and wishes,-that their attention is most naturally and strongly drawn,-not to the great system of which they form a part,-but to that more limited station which they, as members of the entire body, have been appointed to occupy; --and it hence happens, that though every individual is, in fact, operating for the advancement of the general interest, his limited view, at any particular moment, seems to present to him his own situation as altogether insulated from any more remote or general result, and as only affecting his private welfare and his individual progress.

This is unquestionably the fact with respect to men throughout all the varied ranks and in all the different conditions of life. Occasionally, it may be, the minds of a few speculative reasoners rise above the circumstances in which they are individually placed, and delight to consider themselves as members of

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one body,”—and acting for the good of the whole mass of beings. But in general, and throughout all the conditions and occupations of life,—in the humble retreats of rural privacy,—as well as in the more factitious pomp and more general notoriety of public life, every man's attention and interest are chiefly absorbed by the circumstances and events that compose his individual lot, and though all of these are conspiring, under the direction of boundless wisdom, for united results and distant consequences of great moment to the whole kingdom of God, yet every man seems to be only occupying a place, and busied with interests which are so far from being in concert with any general scheme, that they seem rather to be at variance with the interests and plans of almost every other individual by whom he is surrounded.

Now, from this insulated aspect which our individual lots assume in our own eyes, it naturally hap