emotions-for he was no enthusiast teacher of lip-andpaper feelings only - Sturm, on many occasions, approaches more closely to the style of rapid and spontaneous thinking than to that of slow and studied writing; and hence his sentences sometimes bear palpable marks of instantaneous conception; and the same word is employed in a perplexing variety of acceptations. My wish has been, and if I am disappointed I cannot accuse my exertions, to transfuse into my translation all the sentiments-if it could be, the sensations—and, as far as was consistent with the genius of my own tongue, the idiom of the Pastor of Hamburgh.

But I will no longer dwell upon what I consider the merits or deficiencies of my own labours: censure or approbation I must now patiently await from the award of criticism. Whatever, moreover, be the opinion formed regarding the present work, as a literary performance, I trust that the larger portion of my readers will be too deeply affected by the devotional spirit and pious rapture it displays to think of scanning its defects with the coolness of mere criticism. As to the topics contained in these Meditations, readers of every station in life, and of every sect of Christianity, may be invited to peruse them; for although none of them bear reference to any particular rank or contingency of life, and few to any calendared day, yet each is so contrived that it is at once adapted to every rank of society, and every exigence and circumstance of human nature, whether common or special, bodily or spiritual, prosperous or adverse, and to every season, whether gay or serious, festal or profane; and the doctrine is strictly suited to the universal preaching of the temple not built by men's hands, but capacious enough to admit the re-union of all who acknowledge the name, at least, of Jesus The Doctrine of the Mount.

MORNING COMMUNINGS WITH GOD.

JANUARY I.

Acknowledgment to God for the Mercy of prolonged

Existence.

THE goodness of my heavenly Father permits me again to behold the commencement of a new year; yet longer on this earth shall I enjoy his mercy, and possess the opportunity of preparing myself with increased care and fidelity for his celestial kingdom. O how unfortunate should I have been, if with yesterday the period of my trial and probation for eternity had finished! Yet, to my soul's salvation does the Lord of my days prolong my life a few hours. I have still time to reflect on the days which yesterday fled for ever; those days of salvation, which I have not always wisely and dutifully spent, or at least not constantly employed according to the views of God. No one of them returns; but the sorrowful recollection of them will sooner or later arrive, will represent to me my errors in lively colours, and occasion me unspeakable anguish. How many hours and days of this precious season of trial have I dissipated and lost either in idleness, or culpable enjoyment! O! with what bitter remorse shall I hereafter, when my final hour is come, think of this squandered time-how anxiously desire to have it back! But in order to avoid this last grievous torment, I will now devote the first morning of the early year to the retrospection of my past life; I will profit by the present hours in order to make a prudent use of the future term of my pilgrimage.

Yet how can I speak of future days while the passing moments are so uncertain, and I dare scarcely call this immediate minute my own property! No, this instant must be as judiciously employed, as I have to wish that my whole life had been.

This minute is short, but yet long enough to display to me my negligence, my insensibility, and my unthankfulness. Beloved Father, grant me a wise heart to consider the value of time, and a willing heart to use it according to its worth. If I do not prize the minutes of my existence, neither shall I regard hours and days; and even on one single minute often depends the fate of all the days that are before us. Thou demandest as severe an account of one mispent minute, as of the half century which I have spent to no purpose.

Here my soul trembles. God, my God, be gracious unto me. When all the days of my existence rush into my memory; when thou callest me to a reckoning concerning them, and I am obliged to stand mute; in the last hour of my life; under thy strict decisive judgment, be thou gracious unto me; for Jesus' sake, be thou gracious unto me!

God, thou seest beforehand, how I shall employ this year of which I now hail the first morning. Thou foreknowest the sins which I shall commit, the temptations to which I shall be exposed, and the sufferings which I shall have to endure. In all these various circumstances be thou gracious to me. If I transgress, chastise me not in thy wrath; when I am tempted, let me not be overcome; when I suffer, have compassion upon me. God, be thou my help, my comfort, my aim, and my guide. I recommend myself to thy good guidance. Be my God in life and in death. O God, be thou also my God in eternity.

JANUARY II.

Eternity the Scope of Life.

My destination is the most important and the most exalted. The whole world with its changes and vicissitudes, my own condition, the brief period of my stay on this earth, the fleetness of the present minute, in fine every thing announces to me this fact, that I am intended for eternity. But yet more certain is my conviction, when I consider myself as one of the redeemed of Jesus. All the sufferings which my Saviour felt, all the benefits which through his atonement he has procured for me, are so many proofs that my soul belongs to eternity. I rejoice beyond utterance when I reflect upon this happiness. But how deeply am I forced to bewail many of my brethren, who, unmindful of their heavenly calling, go on amid the enjoyments of sensuality and fail in their appointment.

Still these unfortunate beings mistake their own true value, nor know their real happiness! Only forget not, thou, my soul, that thou livest for eternity. When thy weak heart entices thee to sin, forget not that the deceitful gratifications of vice are unsuitable for those who know the ambition of an everlasting existence. When thou standest still in the way of godliness, when thou art weary, or wouldst even draw back, O! then forget not that the path of virtue ends in the happiest manner in eternity. When the troubles of this life would render thee fearful and dismayed, then forget not that it is shame and misery to sacrifice to them the joys of eternity. And when at length thou castest off thy mortal covering, forget not then that the eternity

to which death conveys thee, is a complete indemnification for such a loss.

Be therefore this higher life to which I am destined my constant aim, and let the remembrance of this my destiny fit me properly to employ that time on which, however long or short it shall be, the happiness or the unhappiness of eternity rests. Carefully therefore will I estimate it; and will judge all my actions according to the value which they may have in eternity. Far be it from me to confine myself with my wishes and endeavours merely to this transitory and uncertain life. Father of eternity, teach me this wisdom; instil it deeply into my soul, that I am created and redeemed for eternity. What were I, if I knew not this? What were my life-how frightful would be my death, if I believed not this? But the carnal possessions of this world, often stifle these high ideas. Thou must thyself O God, call them forth and maintain them in my soul. Thou must give me grace, that eternity be not only heard on my lips, but that it be profoundly and indelibly engraven on my heart. And for this favour do I entreat thee kind and everlasting Parent. Teach me to reflect -teach me, this day, to reflect, that I am a citizen of yon better world, and a child of eternity. Even this day and each of its hours constitute a portion of my period of preparation for my last change. If thou governest me, then shall I employ these inestimable moments to my perpetual good, and under every temptation to wickedness, under every suffering, under every trial, fortify myself with the thought-I LIVE HERE

FOR ETERNITY,