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MARY AT THE FEET OF JESUS.

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tainment of these golden moments, while hurried about meats and drinks, and tables with their furniture, till she lost, not only her opportunity, but her temper too; as it is indeed hard to preserve it without a resolute guard, amidst the cloud and clamour of domestic cares! Happy that mistress of a numerous family, who can manage its concerns with the meekness and composure of wisdom, and adjust its affairs in such a manner, as that it may not exclude the pleasures of devotion, and cut her off from the means of religious improvement! Happy the man who, in a pressing variety of secular business, is not so cumbered and careful as to forget that one thing which is absolutely needful; but resolutely chooses that better part, and retains it as the only secure and everlasting treasure.

The Fall of Peter.

How loudly does this affecting story speak to us in the words of the apostle, "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." Peter professed the warmest zeal, and gave his Lord repeated, and no doubt very sincere, assurances of the firmest resolution in His cause; and yet, except Judas the traitor, none of his brethren fell so low as he. But a few hours before he had been with Christ at the sacred table, and had learned from His own lips those gracious discourses, which, as echoed back from His Word, do still strike so strongly on the heart of every true believer. He had just seen those words remarkably and even miraculously verified, that "Jesus, having loved His own that were in the world, loved them to the end." How reasonably, then, might it have been expected that His own should also have continued their most zealous and constant affection to Him! But Peter, who if possible was more than doubly His, as a disciple, as an apostle, as a distinguished intimate, most shamefully denies Him; and that not only once, but a second, yea, and a third time, even with oaths and curses,

as if he would by that diabolical language give a sensible proof that he did not belong to Christ; and who indeed, that had heard it, would have imagined that he did?

Lord, what is man! What is our boasted strength but weakness! and, if we are left unto ourselves, how do our most solemn resolutions melt like snow before the sun! "Be thou surety for thy servants for good."

The Lord turned and looked upon Peter. So may He graciously look upon us if we at any time make any approach towards the like sin. May He look upon us with a glance which shall penetrate our hearts, and cause floods of penitential sorrow to flow forth. Peter went out, and wept bitterly. He quitted that dangerous scene where temptation had met and vanquished him; and chose retirement and solitude to give vent to his overflowing soul. Thus may we recover ourselves; or rather, thus may we be recovered by divine grace from those slips and falls which, in this frail state, we shall often be making. Let us retire from the business and snares of life, that we may attend to the voice of conscience, and of God speaking by it; and may so taste the wormwood and the gall, that our souls may long have them in remembrance. To conclude; let us express the sincerity of our godly sorrow by a more cautious and resolute guard against the occasions of sin, if we would not be found to trifle with God when we pray that He would "not lead us into temptation, but would deliver us from evil."

Early Rising.

Rom. xiii. 13: KoiTaL.-This Leigh explains of lying long in bed. I will not defend that sense of the word; but I will here record the observation which I have found of great use to myself, and to which I may say, that the production of this work, and most of my other writings, is owing; viz. that the *The "Family Expositor."

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difference between rising at five, and at seven of the clock in the morning, for the space of forty years, supposing a man to go to bed at the same hour at night, is nearly equivalent to the addition of ten years to a man's life, of which (supposing the two hours in question to be so spent) eight hours every day should be employed in study and devotion.

How to Die.

[The conclusion of the "Rise and Progress."]

Thus, my dear reader, I have endeavoured to lead you through a variety of circumstances; and those not fancied and imaginary, but such as do indeed occur in the human and Christian life. And I can truly and cheerfully say, that I have marked out to you the path which I myself have trod, and in which it is my desire still to go on. I have ventured my own everlasting interests on that foundation on which I have directed you to venture yours. What I have recom

mended as the grand business of your life, I desire to make the business of my own; and the most considerable enjoyments, which I expect to desire in the remaining days of my pilgrimage on earth, are such as I have directed you to seek, and endeavoured to assist you in attaining. Such love to God, such constant activity in His service, such pleasurable views of what lies beyond the grave, appear to me (God is my witness) a felicity, incomparably beyond anything else which can offer itself to our affection and pursuit: and I would not for ten thousand worlds resign my share in them, or consent even to the suspension of the delights which they afford, during the remainder of my abode here.

I would advise, then, in the first place, "that, as soon as possible, you would endeavour to get rid of all further care with regard to your temporal concerns, by settling them in

time, in as reasonable and Christian a manner as you can.” I could wish there may be nothing of that kind to hurry your mind when you are least able to bear it, or to distress or divide those who come after you. Do that which, in the presence of God, you judge most equitable, and which you verily believe will be most pleasing to Him. Do it in as prudent and effectual a manner as you can; and then consider the world as a place you have quite done with, and its affairs as nothing further to you, more than to one actually dead; unless as you may do any good to its inhabitants, while yet you continue among them, and may, by any circumstance in your last actions or words in life, leave a blessing behind you to those who have been your friends and fellow-travellers, while you have been despatching that journey through it, which you are now finishing.

That you may be the more at leisure, and the better prepared for this, "enter into some serious review of your own state, and endeavour to put your soul into as fit a posture as possible, for your solemn appearance before God." For a solemn thing, indeed, it is, to go into His immediate presence: to stand before Him, not as a supplicant at the throne of His grace, but at His bar as a separate spirit, whose time of probation is over, and whose eternal state is to be immediately determined. Renew your humiliation before God for the imperfections of your life, though it has in the main been devoted to His service. Renew your application to the mercies of God, as promised in the covenant of grace, and to the blood of Christ as the blessed channel in which they flow. Resign yourself entirely to the Divine disposal and conduct, as willing to serve God, either in this world or in the other, as He shall see fit. And, sensible of your sinfulness on the one hand, and of the Divine wisdom and goodness on the other, summon up all the fortitude of your soul to bear as well as you can whatever His afflicting hand may further lay on you, and to receive

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the last stroke of it, as one who would maintain the most entire subjection to the great and good Father of spirits.

Whatever you suffer, "endeavour to shew yourself an example of patience." Let that amiable grace have its perfect work; and since it has so little more to do, let it close the scene nobly. Let there not be a murmuring word; and that there may not, watch against every repining thought; and when you feel anything of that kind arising, look by faith upon a dying Saviour, and ask your own heart, "Was not His cross much more painful than the bed on which I lie? Was not His situation, among bloodthirsty enemies, infinitely more terrible than mine amidst the tenderness and care of so many affectionate friends? Did not the heavy load of my sins press Him in a much more overwhelming manner than I am pressed by the load of these afflictions? And yet He bore all, “as a lamb that is brought to the slaughter." Let the remembrance of His sufferings be a means to sweeten yours; yea, let it cause you to rejoice when you are called to bear the cross for a little while before you wear the crown. Count it all joy, that you have an opportunity yet once more of honouring God by your patience, which is now acting its last part, and will in a few days, perhaps in a few hours, be superseded by complete everlasting blessedness. And I am willing to hope, that in these views you will not only suppress all passionate complaints, but that your mouth will be filled with the praises of God; and that you will be speaking to those that are about you, not only of His justice, but of His goodness too. So that you will be enabled to communicate your inward joy in such a manner as may be a lively and edifying comment upon these words of the apostle, "Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; even a hope which maketh not ashamed, while the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Once more, "to give you comfort in a dying hour, and to

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