tim. But blessed are the merciful; as they diffuse peace around them, they enjoy holy tranquillity in their own breasts. The voice of mercy is ever sweet, and the influence which she exerts is always healthful.

How abject and how wretched are they who are easily and always overcome of evil! How great, on the other hand, is their moral worth, their real dignity and felicity, who can overcome evil with good! Their happiness is not dependent on the state of things around them, their peace is not destroyed, nor are their spirits agitated by every wind that blows; cultivating a merciful spirit, they dwell perpetually in an element of tranquillity and enjoyment. He who when reviled reviles not again, when suffering from injustice or malignity seeks not to avenge himself, but thinks of the greatness of his own sins, and of the abundant mercy to which he owes all his happiness and all his hopes, and thus finds every angry and resentful feeling subdued, and a spirit of clemency gain the ascendency over him, and shed abroad her benignant influence on his heart, so that he returns not evil for evil, but blesses those who curse him, and prays for those who despitefully use him and persecute him. He must possess within his own breast a source of peace and enjoyment which the world cannot give, and which it cannot take away. Oh! happy the man who does not attempt to avenge himself, but gives place unto wrath, knowing who hath said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." Happy he who does good to those who wish him and who do him evil; who when his enemy hungers gives him bread, when he thirsts gives him drink, and thus heaps coals of fire on his head, and melts down the enmity of his mind. In such a man there is something godlike; he is truly a partaker of the

and with the divine spirit of forgiveness is ever associated the divine blessedness. He who is merciful, lives above the regions of noise and strife. He has a shield against the most envenomed darts of those who seek his hurt, they cannot really harm him. Those injuries which disturb the repose and embitter the enjoyments of others, and make them truly wretched for successive days and nights, scarcely move him. He takes them to the cross, he looks to Him who, in the moments of his greatest agony, prayed for his murderers, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," and recollects who has said, that Jesus "went before, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps," and that "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his." He takes them to the mercy-seat, and as he prays for forgiveness, he prays also for grace to forgive; as he seeks mercy for himself, he shows mercy to others. Blessed indeed are they who are thus merciful. The Father of mercies is also the God of all comfort. He who is love and who delighteth in mercy is the Blessed God. He, on the other hand, who allows the sun to go down on his wrath, gives place to the devil; he permits the enemy of all good, the destroyer of all peace, the murderer of souls, to get the advantage over him, and to injure him. The same is true of mercy to the dependent and the wretched. The mercy which prompts you to weep with those that weep, to counsel and to succour the afflicted, and to sympathize with those whom you cannot comfort ; the mercy which prompts you to seek out the real distress that pines away in secret, and to contribute to the utmost of your ability to relieve the destitute and to cheer the disconsolate; the mercy which brings you to the chamber of affliction, to the couch of the sick

and the dying, and to the house of mourning to weep and to instruct, to comfort and to pray; the mercy which prompts your various efforts to teach the young, to awaken the careless, to convince the impenitent, to reclaim the wanderer, to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, as you have opportunity to "do good to all men, especially to those who are of the household of faith." This mercy is a source of the purest enjoyment to those who yield to its benign influence. What are the pleasures of avarice, or of sensuality, of luxurious ease and indolence, of prosperity and splendour, of authority and power, compared with the real satisfaction enjoyed by him who is of a merciful spirit! The happiness of God himself is the happiness of pure and active benevolence; it is the happiness of unbounded mercy incessantly exercised. "My Father worketh hitherto." He works constantly, without the slightest interruption, and he always works good. "His tender mercies are over all his works."

Blessed, then, are the merciful. They impart much happiness to others, but they realize still more themselves; for "it is more blessed to give than to receive." This is the blessedness which God enjoys, the blessedness of giving, not of receiving. He receives from none, he gives to all, and yet the blessedness enjoyed by a universe of intelligent and holy beings is as nothing compared with the infinite fulness, the boundless ocean of felicity in which he dwells-THE BLESSED GOD!

disposition ever found in our world? Yes, verily. It was found in Judea when Jesus was there, who went about doing good; an angel of mercy, the God of love incarnate! Preaching the gospel, pardoning the guilty, comforting the afflicted, healing the sick, raising the dead, bestowing all blessings both for time and for eternity. It was found in Judea and Galilee, multiplied exceedingly, when the twelve apostles, and afterwards the seventy disciples, were sent forth on the same embassy of mercy-to heal the sick, to cleanse the lepers, to raise the dead, to cast out devils, and to preach, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." It was found in the land of Uz when Job was there; hence he says, "When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not I searched out." was found in Jericho when Zaccheus was there, who said to Jesus, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." It was found in Jerusalem when "the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all Neither was there any things common. among them that lacked; for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet and distri

It

The snow may be considered as an emblem of God's dealing with his people. In his infinite wisdom he sometimes spreads a covering over that which has been accustomed to afford us comfort and support, but by it he intends to fertilize our hearts. Let us not then murmur and repine as if the day of trouble should never end. Who is such an infidel as to refuse to believe that the snow shall, after a season, be dissolved? Who is so ignorant or unobservant as not to be satisfied of that by experience? But equally blind and ignorant is that son of affliction who exclaims, My sorrows can never be dried up; rather let him say, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

Let every sorrow, every dispensation, be considered with reference to the duties which it enforces upon us. If, in consequence of the snow, our usual avocations are interrupted, let us view ourselves as called upon to consider. Let the interval of labour be employed in examining ourselves, in ascertaining whether this almighty God is our father and our friend, and if he be, in seeking more intimate communion with him. If it is a season of privation to many, let the comforts with which we are surrounded excite our gratitude. If many are prevented by the inclemency of the season from attending in the house of God, let those whose privileges are not thus abridged be concerned diligently to improve the means of grace. Such a season peculiarly calls to benevolence. If the snow on the earth stops the pro

Our minds may be profitably occupied in meditating on those things which snow is employed in scripture to illustrate. It is frequently used as an emblem of purity; thus it is applied in representations of the Divine Majesty. It is also used to express forgiveness. It was customary in some nations for criminals who had been pardoned, to appear clothed in a white robe, and this is illustrated by Rev. vii. 14, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." In Isaiah i. 18, God says, "Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." This expresses the perfect purity of the man whose iniquity is pardoned, and whose sins are blotted out. Heavenly glory, likewise, is represented by white robes; "and white robes were given unto every one of them," Rev. vi. 11.

As the snow will quickly pass away, so let us realize the fleeting nature of all terrestrial objects; and let us rejoice that the word of the Lord abideth for ever, that as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, and maketh it bring forth and bud, so shall the word of God be that goeth forth out of his mouth, it shall accomplish the most important purposes. Thus may we consider the snow as a pledge for the fulfilment of the divine word.