of happiness, or the pangs of misery, be complete. In the mean time, much of good is permitted us on earth; and whatever approaches we make to a real satisfaction of heart, the only sure basis of happiness, must be made through the medium of religion. Right wisely indeed, hath He who doeth all things well, placed the sphere of perfect felicity in eternity; since every effort of our lives, becomes thereby attracted to that focus, and converged to that centre. Yet enough of enjoyment is scattered over the path, to encourage the weary traveller, and to quicken his footsteps.

"Enough hath Heaven indulged of joy below
To tempt our tarriance in this loved retreat;
Enough hath Heaven ordain'd of useful woe,
To make us languish for a happier seat."

John Scott.

That alloyed happiness which is permitted to man, doth not affect, exclusively, either the cottage or the palace; neither wealth nor poverty, elevation or depression, are essential to its production, but a well regulated mind.

Men seek for happiness in riches, and after a long life spent in the pursuit, they sink beneath a cumbrous load of earth, but happiness eludes their grasp. They seek for happiness in the world's honor, which when acquired by vio

lence and bloodshed, is rated most highly, and hailed as glory; they cast away innocence, integrity, and health, to obtain it; and when their names are trumpeted abroad, when stars and ribbons bedeck their bosoms, they find that they have built their happiness on air, and that the same breath which brings it to their ear, bears it into empty space, ten thousands leagues away.

The true voluptuary is the man of virtue. For his use, but not for his abuse, the air abounds with birds, the earth with quadrupeds, the rivers and the ocean with fishes. For his use, but not for his abuse, the almond and the fig-tree blossom, the vine and the olive yield their fruits.

He who looks through earth to heaven, can perceive more beauties in God's creation, and enjoy them with a better relish, than he whose prospects are bounded by the tomb. If the earth offers incense from her broad censer, if the birds sing hymns to their Creator; he partakes the incense, and he unites with the hymn. The park of the nobleman; the pleasure-grounds of the gentleman; the sublimities of rude, and the chaste elegance of decorated nature; the good man can enjoy as he passes by them, more perhaps, than he who claims their transient possession. For what is their owner but a passenger? That consciousness of their evanescence, which strikes the worldly-minded possessor with many a

ing source of delight.

pang, is to the heaven-bound traveller, a never failHe well knows that his Heavenly Father, who hath created this world so wondrous fair, as a temporary residence to his creature man, during his short period of expiatory exile; hath in reserve for purified spirits a Paradise, of a far more exceeding and enduring beauty.

Religion alone can confer happiness, and that happiness which she confers, is proof against every accident. "Wherever we go, it will lead us; whenever we sleep, it will keep us; and whenever we awake, it will talk with us." We may apply to Religion, all that Cicero so eloquently said of learning, with this important addition; that having been our companion in the city, and in the country; in society, and in solitude; at home, and abroad: it will make for us all our bed in sickness, and sweeten for us the bitterness of death. Religion will never leave us, nor forsake us, until by her care we are safely established in her own peculiar and everlasting kingdom, where all the hierarchies of heaven, cherubim and seraphim sing together, and where all the redeemed of our God shall shout together for joy.

As Religion in its militant state alone bestows a foretaste of happiness, so religion triumphant alone confers its perfect and full fruition. For

C

that Happiness, Heaven is the synonime. It mocks all language, it soars beyond all imagination; it pervades immensity, it accompanies eternity, and OMNISCIENCE alone can apprehend it.

On Humility.

B.

"The supercilious and the vain, the arrogant and the proud, should be taught to understand that Humility is the foundation-stone of felicity."

HE that would build to last, should lay his foundation low: even the conversation of a man is tottering, if it be not founded on humility. The proud man, like the early shoots of a newfelled coppice, thrusts out full of sap, green in leaves, and fresh in color; but, bruised and broken with every wind, and being top-heavy, is wholly unfit for use: whereas the humble man retains it in the root, can abide the winter's chilling blasts, the ruffling concussions of the wind, and can endure far more than that which appears so flourishing; like the pyramid he hath a large foundation, whereby his height may be more eminent; and

still the higher he is the less doth he draw at the top, as if the nearer heaven, the smaller he must appear and indeed the nigher man approacheth to celestials, the more he doth consider God, and sees the more to make himself vile in his own esteem. Humility ever dwells with men of noble minds; it is a flower that prospers not in lean and barren soils; but in a ground that is rich, it flourishes and is beautiful.

We are sent to the ant for industry, to the lion for valor, to the dove for innocence, but for Humility, unto God himself. What is that man the worse who lets his inferior go before him? The folly is in him, who takes what is not his due ; but the prudence rests with him, who in the sereneness of his own worth, does not value it. chides not the morning star, though it presume to usher in the day before him.

The sun

Humility prevents disturbance, it rocks debate asleep, and keeps men in continued peace. I had rather be accounted too humble, than a little proud. Even in gold, the stiffest is the basest; but the purest is the most ductile.