with the unbelieving nobleman; "If the Lord should make windows in heaven might such things be." What would have been the surprise of David, if a prophet had approached him when he was in a field sitting on a hillock, with the sheep at his feet and his harp in his hand, and had opened to him the future scenes of his greatness! But by a train of events, led on by the providence of God, he was called to exchange the shepherd's crook, for the royal sceptre, and the cottage for the palace. In revolutions less splendid and striking, but not less strange and unlikely, he has led others by a way that they know not. He has made darkness light before them, and crooked things strait. Difficulties which seemed insuperable have been overcome; and without a design formed by their friends, or a hope entertained by themselves, they have passed from obscurity to honor; from limitation to enlargement; from dependence, to be the support of others; from inability, to be the instruments of good to thousands. "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people." "It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."

It should teach us not to disregard those in humble life, especially poor children. “Despise not" said our Lord, "One of these little ones." And three reasons he assigns for it: angels are their attendants" Their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven:" Jesus is their Savior" The son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost." God is their friend-" It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." Is it necessary to add, you know not what they may hereafter become; what in the destinations of heaven they already are. See that floating ark of bulrushes; it contains a weeping babe, abandoned to the perils of the Nile, in a state equivalent to the want of father or mother-but it carries the scourge of Pharoah, the deliverer of Israel, the historian of the creation, the legislator miraculously commissioned, the prophet divinely inspired! Behold the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person. Where shall we originally find him? From what peculiarity of beginning, promissory of his future unexampled grandeur does his illustrious course commence? Where is he that is born king of the Jews, king of nations,

king of saints, king of glory? See that newborn Infant, brought forth in a stable, wrapped in coarse swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger because there was no room for him ino the inn! These cases it will readily be allowed: are peculiar as well as extraordinary but we may reason from them. They shew us how liable we are to err, while judging after outward appearances; and how unanswerable present indications frequently are to future events. There are many around us unnoticed, in whom are lodged talents, which if roused by circumstance, and improved by diligence, would bless if not astonish the church and the world. The subject of these memoirs, was not only in a considerable degree, an instance himself of the truth of this remark, but an example also of the influence it should have upon the mind. He was observant of the neighborhood in which he lived, and congregations in which he preached; he never overlooked the lower ranks of life, but endeavored to draw forth and encourage every token of piety or talent, however destitute of external recommendation. Often would he say

"Full many a gem of purest ray serene

The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

Secondly. We see what progress may be made under the greatest disadvantages. It is frequently the case, that those who have the means and opportunities of improvement undervalue and neglect them; while others who are desirous of excelling, are denied these assistances. But diligence conquers the hardest things. An intense desire of knowledge will not suffer a man to be idle. It will create the helps it does not find. It will detach leisure from distraction, and solitude from company; it will keep open the eyes, and the ears; and by lively, active, minute, habitual attention it will aggregate and multiply intellectual stores; it will render every place a school, and every occurrence a tutor; it will suffer nothing to be lost.

"Some minds are temper'd happily, and mix'd
With such ingredients of good sense, and taste
Of what is excellent in man, they thirst
With such a zeal to be what they approve,

That no restraints can circumscribe them more
Than they themselves by choice, for wisdom's sake;
Nor can example hurt them"-

None therefore should despair. Especially let young men who wish to render themselves respectable and useful, by the cultivation of their minds and the acquisition of science, be

encouraged. Let them see what individuals have become, who never enjoyed the advantages of a classical education, regular tuition, and ample libraries. How many instances might be mentioned, to refer only to modern times, commencing with Dr. Ashe, the successor of Doddridge in the academy, and ending with Cornelius Winter. That which has been done, may be done by assiduity and the divine blessing. And if any choose, in the possession of advantages which others want, to be idle and ignorant, let them remember that their case is not peculiar: there have been and

there are

Whom schools dismiss'd

And colleges, untaught."

Thirdly. We learn how much good may be done by small resources. The poor and miserable have seldom been much indebted to the rich and great. In general the demands of those in the higher circles of life are equal to their supplies: for they have not only the requisitions of necessity, and convenience, and decency to satisfy, but those of pride, and luxury and folly. An allowed distinction above the vulgar will not content them: they must be