CCXXXVII. No one can be habitually and uniformly polite, without insensibly contracting somewhat of good. Whatever in any degree counteracts selfishness, so far lets into the mind its opposite-benevolence. CCXXXVIII. How often in a man's life does he see cause to repent of his exercise of forbearance? CCXXXIX. Selfish and worldly loves are not really removed, nor are they permanently diminished, by afflictions; their activity is merely suspended thereby, in order to give time to the understanding to reflect, so as to become rationally convinced of the wisdom of bringing the lower principles into subjection. CCXL. How can any sincere Christian doubt that where he is, there Providence has placed him? In deciding where we will go, and what we will do, we decide as if human prudence were everything; but having so acted, we cannot but know that Providence, at the least, permitted our determination; and then, and thus, it appears impossible for any true Christian to be out of his place. CCXLI. Angels, in order to their happiness, must perform uses, and these they are able and willing to perform joyfully: infernals, on the other hand, must also perform uses, in order to mitigate their pains, and these they perform reluctantly. Does it not, then, appear, that mankind must be providentially governed on the same principle?—the righteous, according to the government which prevails in heaven; and the wicked, according to the government which prevails in hell, that is, as far as possible, or so far as is consistent with the free exercise of liberty under a state of probation? If so, it follows that every man, so far as he is willing· religiously to perform the uses of his providential position, must experience a mitigation of the ills which befall him, and must, at least, be essentially happy. CCXLII. The test of popular religious estimation is indicated by the frequent question," Is he pious?" It is, of course, presumed by the inquirer, that his question can easily be answered; and yet the real case is this: If we consider piety as an interior sentiment, the fact of its existence, in any case, is known to the Lord alone; but if we view piety as an external habit, it must then derive all its value from the interior sentiment; whence it follows, that the question, " Is he pious?" is one that » cannot be answered with any certainty so long as hypocrisy is possible. The question, "Is he a good man?" is far more easily answered, because acts of outward goodness imply self-denial of a kind and degree to which acts of outward piety can have no claim. CCXLIII. At the period of the mind's first development, outward things are regarded for their own sake; but as life advances (supposing regeneration to proceed), a weaning from them imperceptibly takes place, so that, in old age, they come to be regarded almost with indifference. Thus a preparation is made for the transfer of the spirit to heaven, where external things are in their highest perfection, but where, nevertheless, they are not at all regarded for their own sake, but solely for their use, as the reflected images of things spiritual and divine. CCXLIV. The judicial blindness of pride is seen in this, that those are the proudest who have nothing to be proud of. Such pride is the manifestation of essential self-love,—of that love of self which exists where self is most vile and unlovely. CCXLV. So far as we are willing to surmount our lower propensities, we are enabled to associate with our fellows on higher principles—with males, on the basis of disinterestedness and charity; and with females, on the basis of chaste and rational affection; because the Lord then restrains and removes our lower propensities, so as to keep them from mingling with and profaning the high. CCXLVI. 'It is more blessed to give than to receive," because the highest pleasure the receiver can have is that which accompanies the sentiment of gratitude; while the love of doing good, which should prompt the giver, being a higher and nobler principle than gratitude, confers a purer, and therefore a greater pleasure. Gratitude takes some alloy from desire towards the gift, from which the motive of the giver is free. God is infinitely blessed as a giver, and not at all as a receiver; and man was created to resemble God in this respect, so far as is possible to a finite nature. CCXLVII. The only "real property" that a man can really possess, is his mind;— an advantage shared equally by the worldly poor, and the worldly rich. The thought of this might beneficially check the pride of riches,- --a pride which so obstinately clings to them, that to effect its subjugation belongs only to Omnipotence. "With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible." CCXLVIII. The ability to love what is love-worthy, and thus to love the Lord as the most love-worthy, is the highest privilege of a rational creature. (To be continued.) A MEDITATION ON PSALM XIX. THIS psalm affords a striking illustration of the spiritual sense of the Sacred Scriptures. The transition which marks the literal sense is too abrupt to be accounted for by the boldest poetic license. For the outward glory of the atmospheric heavens, and the virtues of the Divine Truth in the soul, are subjects of contemplation so widely different, that they can only be associated by comparison; and yet they are abruptly combined by the inspired Psalmist. When, however, we consider that this is the Word of God, we must cease to judge of it by the laws of mere human composition; but rather adopt the apostolic rule of comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (a) In this case, although rude and unconnected in its outward garb, it will interiorly assume its own truly divine and harmonious aspect. The object of Creation is to form an angelic heaven from the human race consequently to form the individual mind into a heaven in miniature. By virtue of this capacity, man is distinguished from the brute. Man, therefore, is the only proper medium of the divine praise and glory. It is true, that in the Scriptures the irrational and even inanimate creation are frequently represented as giving utterance to the praise of the Creator; and the Lord Himself declares, when questioned respecting the glorification of the disciples, "If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." (b) It is also true, that the works of the Lord, when wisely and piously explored, bespeak the infinity of the Divine Love, Wisdom, and Power; and the mind thus deeply impressed by "the handy-work of the Great Artificer, bursts forth in rapturous strains of admiration and praise." But here we see that man is the intelligent medium, without whom the Divine Name remains unacknowledged. It is the human mind that gives eloquence to nature, because all her forms are the types of those living principles by which God is conjoined with man. When we know and perceive that the Holy Word is written by Correspondences-that all natural things are employed therein as representative and significative of things spiritual-we must regard it as the repository of Divine Wisdom, and associate all its expressions with spiritual instruction. Filled with the inspiration of His Spirit who hath formed the human mind to be His living temple, the Psalmist describes the order and effects of Regeneration-from things innermost to things outermost. From the 1st to the 6th verse, is described the order of Regeneration : the effects in the succeeding verses. Let us briefly consider the subject under these two aspects. * *My substance in secret, and curiously Thine eyes did see my First, as to order. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy-work." Man is distinguished by an inmost faculty of life which ranks him as the chief of the divine works. This inmost faculty-being the most perfect and exalted likeness of God Himself,—is in the very form of heaven, and is the immediate receptacle of the divine influences. Hence we read in another psalm, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made. * was not hid from thee, when I was made wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (a) This inmost faculty is guarded by the Lord as His own sacred habitation: it being the first receptacle of the Lord's Divine Love and Wisdom, by which the truly-human form is restored to the whole man. Regeneration commences in the inmost faculties or receptacles of life, the seat of the divine operations, immediately. The internal man is first regenerated, and afterwards the external. The former process is the work of the Lord exclusively, and in a manner incomprehensible. Hence He declares-" Ye must be born from above. * * The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the spirit.” (b) The latter process indispensably requires the coöperation of man: for without such coöperation, the divine operations having no ultimate plane, are obstructed and negatived. Hence the momentous duty on the part of man to "work out his salvation with fear and trembling." (c) And how full of meaning the Lord's words to Peter,—“ He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet." (d) * (a) Psalm cxxxix. 14, 15, 16. (c) Phil. ii. 12. (2) John iii. 7, 8. (d) John xiii. 10. As the Lord's regenerative presence is immediately and primarily in the internal man; and as all spiritual light and power are thence derived, how significant are the inspired words-"The heavens declare the glory of God"! The divine sphere of Love and Wisdom proceeding from the Lord in His glorified Humanity, constitutes the Spiritual Sun-the true and only source of glory to angels and men! This divine sphere, which is called the Holy Spirit, restores the soul to its heavenly state, and fills it with ineffable blessings! To look for glory to any other source, must ever prove a delusion, and leave us in darkness and despair. As well might we expect order, light, and loveliness in nature, if the Solar presence were withdrawn, as expect mental order, illumination, and happiness, from any origin but the Creator. The words of the Russian poet are sublimely true:— "O God! the effluence of Thy light divine, Pervading worlds, hath reached my bosom too. Yes, in my spirit doth Thy Spirit shine, As shines the sun-beam in a drop of dew. Eager towards Thy embrace; for in Thee The regeneration of the soul commences in the internal, but it must be carried on and completed in the external. And as this completion indispensably requires the free and determinate coöperation of man himself, it must be evident that an important medium on his part is the Rational Faculty, especially as to the interior discernment of divine truth. The Rational Faculty is the intermediate by which the internal and external are conjoined, and by which, during regeneration, the latter is brought into correspondence with the former. Being the seat of all hereditary evil and disorder, the external can only be purified and transformed by the power of Divine Truth. It is not the nature of evil to see itself to be such: this conviction can only be produced by the Light of Life, which, as we have seen, is from the Lord through the internal man. Man is, therefore, gifted with an Intellectual Faculty superior to his fallen state. The divine truths of the Word are so many heavenly luminaries which draw his attention above himself, excite his admiration, fix themselves in his mind, and, revealing the wisdom and goodness of God, manifest the opposition of his own state. The Rational Faculty being, as just observed, of an intermediate order, is constituted to receive light both from heaven and the world. It is, however, to be well considered, that True Rationality is from heaven, and is the offspring of the affection of divine goodness and truth: this |