s one that comforteth the mourners." And everything
seemed to foretell a continuance of my happy lot. My prejudices and my
convictions, my tastes and my affections, my habits and my inclinations,
my interests and my family, all joined to bind me to the cause of Christ
by the strongest bonds. And I seemed as secure to others as to myself.
Hence I looked forward to a life of ever-increasing usefulness,
reflecting credit on my family and friends, and conferring blessings on
mankind at large. I revelled in hopes of a reformed Church, and a
regenerated world; and, passing the bounds of time, my spirit exulted in
the prospect of a glorious immortality. Yet "when I looked for good then
evil came; and when I waited for light there came darkness." I fell
away. My happy thoughts, my joyous hopes, my delightful prospects, all
vanished. I underwent a most melancholy transformation. The eyes that
gazed on me with affectionate rapture, now stared at me with affright
and terror; and brave, stout men wept over me like children. The light
of my life was extinguished. My dwelling was in darkness. "I was a
brother to dragons, and a companion to owls." And there was nothing
before me but the dreary prospect of a return to nothingness. And can
you, my young friends, dream of safety with facts like these in view?
Again, I say, be on your guard. An easy, dreamy self-security is the
extreme of madness. Our only safety is in watchfulness and prayer. Our
only sufficiency is of God.

"O, never suffer me to sleep
Secure within the reach of hell;
But still my watchful spirit keep
In lowly awe and loving zeal:
And bless me with a godly fear,
And plant that guardian angel here."

2. The second lesson I would name is this: It is dangerous to allow bad
feeling to get into your hearts towards your Christian friends, or your
brother ministers. It is especially dangerous to allow it to remain
there. It works like the infection of the plague. Try therefore to keep
your minds in a calm and comfortable state towards all with whom you
have to do. Guard against rash judgments and groundless suspicions; or
you may take offence when no offence is meant. But even when people do
you harm on purpose, it is best to be forbearing. We never know the
force of temptation under which men act; or the misconceptions under
which they labor. We may ourselves have caused their misdoings by some
unconscious error of our own. It is well to s