people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.' Nay, who knows whether this or some similar passage of Scripture did not really present itself to her memory in that eventful moment? This, at least, was certainly not unknown to her, that God was not merely the God of the Jews, but also the God of the Gentiles. This was infalli bly beyond a doubt with her, that even Naaman, if he humbled himself before Jehovah, would recover, as well as any other, in the radiance of his benignant countenance, and blissfully experience the truth of the consolatory say. ing, that the grace of God extended not only to the borders of Canaan, but also as far as the clouds are carried in the air. But what was it the little maid said to her mistress? Have not you heard it? "Would God," sighed she, "that my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria,❞—she meant Elisha, the man of God, of whom she had already heard, or perhaps, even seen such great things" for he would recover him of his leprosy!" or literally, collect him from his leprosy; that is, bring him out of his retirement in perfect health, re-introduce him into human society, and confer a variety of other benefits upon him. The little maid certainly said no more, and spoke merely at random in her simplicity, not having herself the most distant idea, what important words those were which she had been uttering. But scarcely have they passed her lips, before they produce unexpected and wonderful effects. Her mistress casts upon her a significant look, as if she would say, "Child, of what art thou speaking?" then rises hastily from her seat, runs to her unfortunate consort, calls him joyfully by his name, and amidst great emotion of feeling, relates to him what the Israelitish maid had said. Ah, a cheering ray flashes once more, after a long period of distress, over the troubled countenance of the poor invalid; and his soul, rising up as it were from a deep and gloomy sepulchre, suddenly perceives itself torn from the horrors of despair, and restored to the rosy spheres of more cheering prospects. O what a variety of feelings were excited by the ejaculation of the daughter of Abraham! By it she overthrew in an instant the cloudcapp'd battlements, which environed the afflicted couple, the horrifying dungeon-walls of hopelessness and despair, and hurled, by her ejaculation, the first flash of a new hope into their mournful darkness. She unfolded golden and heart-enchanting prospects to them through the dense and gloomy masses of the heavy clouds of anxiety and sorrow, which had spread themselves over their life, and by her simple words conjured up a bright and promising rainbow in the oppressive and tempestuous night of their existence. The poor people, who dreamed of nothing else than separation, death, and the grave, now see the most sunny regions of a vividly verdant future all at once unfold themselves to their view. They, who on the foaming billows of their sea of affliction, already regarded themselves as irrecoverably given up to storms and whirlpools, now suddenly exclaim, "Land! Land!" in their hearts, and again hoist up the rosy-coloured flag of hope. They see a new world in the distance lying open before them, encompassed with a haze, indeed, but it is the haze of the morning dawn, which promises a bright and glorious day. They have a strong presentiment, which scarcely permits them to doubt, that the star of their good fortune will there again rise upon them; and a thousand bright images of the future, half veiled, half developed, and profoundly beatifying, flit past their mental eye. And we too, my dear friends, are here reminded of a beauteous period of our lives. As we then felt, so Naaman and his spouse probably also felt, after they had received from the Hebrew girl this first, and pregnant intimation of relief. I speak of that period, when after we had long wandered about, restlessly and despondingly, between the gloomy fogs of a lively experienced inward uneasiness, of a profound disgust at the world and its vanity, and of a feeling, though certainly still vague, of our alienation from God, the first Gospel light suddenly shone in upon our darkness. It was just as if some one had suddenly burst open the iron barriers, behind which we had been held captive for years together, and as if we saw in a moment, as it were, a new and wondrous world lying before us in the lovely and azure distance. O how did our hearts then beat, and what sweet and delightful forebodings crowded one after the other through our souls! We felt that the world we beheld, was that in which we should find what we sought; that there bloomed our happiness, our life, our repose; and that beneath that mysterious and hope. exciting dimness, lay the longed-for Eden of our hearts. Like the sound of bells inviting us to an eternal Sabbath, did the words affect our hearts, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden; I will give you rest!" Like a song in the night, did the passage sound in our ears, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." We saw one pass through this world of wonders like unto the Son of man. We then thought, "Thou art he; thou canst heal us, or no one can." We perceived in the distant haze, a towering sign, formed like a cross, and anticipated, that there grew the tree of life, that in this sign we should conquer, and in none besides. A hope, a desire, and a joy, such as we had never felt before pervaded our breasts, which were, touched as with a heavenly magnet; and tell me, my friends, after subsequently entering into this world, did we find that our hopes were in vain, or that our foreboding had deceived us? O blessed is he, who finds a place in this world of light, in this kingdom of love, in this, though invisible yet substantial world, through which the feet of Jesus pass, and where there is counsel, comfort, and help under all circumstances and in every emergency; in this world, upon which the angels of God ascend and descend, and in which sinners rest on the heart of Jehovah, and find repose in the arms of eternal love! O with what colours ought his happiness to be painted, whom the hand of the Lord conducts into the peaceful region of this paradise of grace! Enter, therefore, enter whoever you are that are still standing without. Let him who loves his soul, join our ranks. Here alone is peace, security, and life. Here is the house of God, yea, here is the gate of heaven. The inscription over the gate of this kingdom, it is true, sounds harshly. It says, "Whoever he be that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." But on the oppo "Here is sere site side of the portal, we read the words, nity, here the weary are refreshed, and here repose is enjoyed!" and from a thousand pillars, which stand more firmly than the everlasting hills, the words beam towards "I have loved thee with an everlasting love. I am thy God and thy all; what is mine, is also thine for evermore." us, XI. THE PILGRIMAGE. You know the consolatory words of our Lord, recorded in Luke xix. 10, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost." The Son of man! Sweet apella. tion! On the wings of this expression he inclines himself kindly and confidentially towards us. This title is a palmbranch, not an awful sceptre; an enticing invitation, and not a repelling command, such as that contained in the words, "Put off thy shoe from off thy foot, and stand at a distance!" The Son of man "is come.' Blessed be God that he is so! If he were not, I could execrate the But now since the inscription shines day of my birth. upon the pillars of our earth, "Messiah is come," let us hear no more of a vale of tears. I can never tire myself with reading these three words. me in them, whose radiance more than compensates for the loss of paradise. But to whom has the visit of the great prince of peace reference? Where lay the magnet, which drew him down from his blissful exaltation into this poor world? One would suppose it ought to be sought for in a select number of the pious, the penitent, the holy, and the righteous. But such is by no means the case. If thou wert in any degree pure and holy in thyself, we should not be acting properly to bring the Gospel of peace to thee. For the people, for whose sake Christ came, are mentioned in that passage, not as righteous, but by a word, which signifies in the |