"It is God's will." This is the first thought which carries with it the healing balm, and supports resignation; while the bright hopes of religion illuminate the darkened mind. Tranquillity and serenity are the companions of devotion; and the eyes that are cast down on this abode of grief and death shall be raised to heaven and to God, who is the faithful and the true; and whose mercy endureth for ever. Forsake me not O my God, that I forsake not Thee!

HOPE OF FUTURITY.

"This mortal shall put on immortality."

WHEN bereavement desolates, and sorrow depresses the soul, and reminds us of our perishing nature, how infinite is the consolation of the assurance that this corruptible shall put on incorruption, this mortal, immortality, and that death shall be swallowed up in victory! It is only the grosser and less valuable part that dies, and that but for a moment, as it were; the body shall then arise of a pure, refined, and spiritual nature, and therefore inincomparably more fitted for the soul's operations, than it is capable of being here below.

Meditation on these consoling truths cannot

fail to prove an effectual antidote against those fears which the prospect of death awaken in the minds of many. Far beyond the clouds and storms that surround our present abode, we, with the eye of faith, descry the heavenly regions, where the virtuous are called to their high destination; where their time shall be diversified by employments more delightful and varied than the earth can afford; where the sphere of their existence shall be enlarged by the developement of new and unknown faculties, "through worlds without number, and ages without end." Where they shall be admitted to the society of immortal beings, in scenes more glorious than nature has ever displayed in the fairest arrangements and aspects of this lower world; but above all, where they shall ever enjoy the glorious vision of God their Creator, God their Redeemer, and God their Sanctifier, and eternally unite in the songs of the angelic choir, praising, adoring, venerating, and worshipping the Triune God!

"O may we pant for God in each desire, And with strong faith augment the holy fire,

Stretch out our souls in hope, and grasp the prize
Which in eternity's deep bosom lies!
At the great day of recompense, behold,
Devoid of fear, the faithful Book unfold;
Then, wafted upward to the blissful seat,

Our Light, our Life, our God, our Saviour meet,
And praises sing through all eternity."

SACRED SONG.

"He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth

up their wounds.”

O THOU who dry'st the mourner's tear,
How dark this world would be,
If, when o'erwhelm'd and wounded here,
We could not flee to Thee!

But Thou wilt heal the broken heart,
Which, like the plants that throw
Their fragrance from the wounded part,
Breathes sweetness out of woe.

When joy no longer soothes or cheers,
And e'en the hope that threw

A moment's sparkle o'er our tears,
Is dimm'd and vanish'd too!