have answered your question; and having confidence in your piety, and knowledge of human nature, as well as the ways of the Lord with his people, I have freely opened my mind to you, in the hope that your kind directions may receive a smile from above to effect my consolation." "How true is it," said Dr. Stennett," that we are of the earth earthy, and that the friendship of this world is enmity with God. James iv. 4. It has often been said, 'that it is difficult to make an empty bag stand upright;' and it appears also, that a man may have a full purse, and yet be void of real happiness. It is not uncommon that a person having, through a long life, been active in accumulating a competency, thinks it a duty to retire from the busy world, in order to enjoy ease through the evening of life; but how many meet with a disappointment! Whenever a change of this kind becomes desirable, the greatest caution is indispensably necessary. As a sudden transition from activity to ease frequently becomes unfortunate, provision should be made to keep up some employment suited to age and inclination, that nature, if I may so say, may lie down easy. It is well known, that without this caution, the change of habit, from industry to ease, frequently produces unexpected diseases; and the accustomed objects and scenery of the busy world retiring from the sight, the mind gradually sinks into shade, for the want of objects to keep it in action. This is peculiarly the case in old age, when the mental faculty fails, and expedient becomes requisite to keep up the action, or it becomes a burden and a source of disquietude to itself. Perhaps this, Sir, may in some degree apply to your case; if so, according to your remaining strength, I would recommend you to use as much active and gentle labour as possible, whether in your garden or fields, which ever may suit your inclination, even if you pull down one barn to build up another. This exertion will strengthen the nervous system, preserve your dppetite, and, if I am not mistaken, will contribute to disperse the gloom, and make you more animated in your Christian duties. Although at present, like Job, you may go mourning without the sun, and, like David, weeping may endure for the night, yet joy shall come in the morning. The very feelings you possess are strong indications that God has begun that good work in you, which he will never forsake, but perfect it in the day of the Lord Jesus. You have abundance of this world to feed upon, but it will not satisfy you without the smiles of your Saviour; and let me assure you, that I consider all the painful impressions of your mind as the prelude to God's most gracious visitations to your heart, so that when the hour of your departure shall come, you may Set like the sun, nor cloud possess ! 1 must now beg leave, Sir, to say, that I have staid with you beyond the time I intended. I have yet another visit to make this morning, in favour of a bereaved family, and I will indulge the hope, that on my next call, I shall find you in possession of serenity and joy: For be assured, that such changes and feelings as you have described, are not usual with persons in a situation like yours, and are calculated to produce self-examination, humility, and a greater confidence in Christ, who alone must be the fountain of your happiness on earth, as well as in heaven. You are now situated in what I may take the liberty of calling an earthly Paradise; and as we are all too fond of the world, and perhaps you may have anticipated more ease and pleasure in your present retirement than would have produced your best interest; let, therefore, your present feelings, combined with your advanced years, excite your more anxious desires for the Paradise above, which, instead of depriving you of earthly enjoyments, will aid you to make a better use of them, and habitually prepare you to exchange your complaints and tears for joys that shall ever bloom in the Paradise above: so, my dear friend, I offer you my hand, and bid you good morning." THE TEARS OF JESUS. What solemn sight is this appears? Doddridge, altered. THE Messiah of God, who in the fulness of time was to come into the world, was predicted by Isaiah, as a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. The reason for which is assigned by the same prophet, He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. We believe that we have found the Messiah in the person of Jesus, the Son of God, whose whole life was a continued scene of pain, sorrow, and distress, terminating in his death upon the cross; and according to the same prophet, by his soul being made an offering for sin. Isaiah liii. These acts of Christ form the hope of the guilty, and no subject equal to this is more strongly interwoven in the texture of every believing heart. The history and virtue of the sorrows of Jesus form the sources from whence alone sacred joy flows into the heart of man; and for these reasons I purpose to indulge a few considerations on the TEARS OF JESUS, and at the same time sincerely wishing this subject may afford instruction and consolation to the aged Christian, by aiding him to moralize on his own tears by meditating on those of his Saviour. It is not improper that we should devoutly make an attempt to ascertain the QUALITY of the tears of Jesus, and this will naturally aid us to meditate on two well known occasions when Jesus wept. Human tears, flowing from the eyes, are formed from that peculiar limpid fluid secreted by the lachrymal glands. This fluid is naturally designed to preserve the transparency of the cornea, by keeping it moist, and removing from it foreign substances. In man a preternatural flow of tears is excited by different passions of the mind, especially by grief. The human tear has been examined chemically, for the purposes of ascertaining its constituent parts, and its pacific gravity, the result of which is unnecessary here to be recited, for our inquiry is of a different kind, and directed to moral purposes If the philosopher may derive advantage by analyzing the natural tear, so when we reflect on the dignity of Christ's person, and the peculiar nature of his sufferings, we are disposed, by the use of the Scrip |