MEDITATION XIII. On Death. [Cæsar Malan. WE were born, and we must die. The time allotted to us here below is short indeed. If we stretch out our hands, we may almost touch the portals which terminate the path of our mortal pilgrimage. If we listen with attention, we seem to hear the labor of him who is engaged in preparing our graves; and, if the Holy Spirit is pleased to open our ears, we may already discern the sounds which proceed from the celestial abodes. Listen, O my soul, to this warning voice with the deepest attention! "All flesh is grass, and the glory of man is as the flower of the field." Fresh and verdant in the morning, it adorns the meadow: the sight is gladdened at its beauty, and it sheds sweet perfumes around. “In the evening it is cut down and withered!" Its glory is departed; and it tells us that a few hours must suffice for earthly enjoyThe day is passed-the grass ments. and the flowers thereof are gone. MEDITATION XIV. On the Joys of Heaven. [Bp. Ken. HAIL, the despised followers of the poverty of Jesus! he had no estates,-he had no purchase on earth, not "a hole wherein to lay his sacred head." In this you were like your suffering Lord; for your treasures were in heaven, where you now enjoy them with an assurance of an everlasting possession; you are now no longer heirs but actual inheritors of that kingdom of inexpressible wealth, from which he has utterly debarred all that are encumbered with riches here below, and place their security and reliance on them. What divine melody is this, O my soul, which thus charms my ravished thoughts? What vigorous echoes of joy inexpressible are these I hear? These can be none other than the voices of angels. Oh, the fervor of this joy! as if their heavenly breasts were unable to contain the flaming zeal within. Lo! how they break forth into the most ardent expressions, and pathetic hallelujahs to your Creator's glory! Hark! what heavenly song is this I hear? "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! which was, and is, and is to come. Blessing, honor, power, and glory, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever!" SELF-EXAMINATION. Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.-2 Cor. xiii. 5. It is only by scrutinizing the heart that we can know it. It is only by knowing the heart that we can reform the life. Any careless observer indeed, when his watch goes wrong, may see that it does so by casting an eye on the dial plate; but it is only the artist who takes it to pieces and examines every spring and every wheel separately, and who, by ascertaining the precise causes of the irreg ularity, can set the machine right, and restore the obstructed movements. Dr. Barrow has remarked, that "it is a pecu |