fountain of his philanthropy. The question then, clearly is, not whether Job was great, but whether, amid the sons of men, exclusive only of prophets and apostles, there ever was his fellow ?-Behold the decision and elevation which eminent piety imparts to Christian character!

MOSES towers in stupendous elevation, even where all are elevated. Moral greatness in him might be said to reach its apex. It is difficult to conceive of a character in which it could shine forth with more dazzling splendour. Every attribute of his being was imperial. It bespoke a royal origin, and a sublime destiny. He seemed, in some respects, exempted from the ordinary laws of frail and fading humanity. When a hundred and twenty years had passed over him, and his work was finished, notwithstanding unparalleled vicissitudes, difficulties, toils, and privations—all which were enough to have broken down, nine times over, a robust constitution,-" his eye was not dim, nor his natural strength abated." His character was as original as his position. He was, beyond comparison, the most accomplished man of his time. His education was, for the period, of the highest order, and was signally subservient to his subsequent enterprise. As a geographer, and as an historian, it were preposterous, it were almost impious, to compare the most distinguished writers of heathen nations with him; and, as a legislator, he is equally superior and unapproachable. Confucius, Menu, Zoroaster, Numa, Lycurgus, Solon, and Mohammed are but as children, as drivellers, objects not to be named in the same page with the lawgiver of the Jews. His writings, like the sun, are the original source of all our light upon the manifold topics of which he treated. All nations have been instructed by him! and he was

taught by God. It were superfluous to specify any point in which his moral greatness was particularly illustrated; for it was every where apparent. Greatness was his native element. He rose with every occasion, and in no case did his burden seem above his strength. All his movements bore the stamp and the impress of the Divine power and presence. With respect to earth and time, he sacrificed much that he might serve his God, and benefit his countrymen. His conduct in this respect has been recorded by the Holy Spirit with special approbation :-" When he was come to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured as seeing him who is invisible." Behold the decision and elevation which eminent piety imparts to Christian character!

JOSHUA was in all points a worthy successor of Moses. He had in his character more of the martial than Moses; but still he stood pre-eminent in his generation for moral greatness. This is illustrated in a variety of ways. There is space in our firmament for only one sun. The death of Moses made room for Joshua. From that time the great qualities which God had implanted in his breast, began to burst forth like vegetation in spring. He had, however, given splendid intimations, at an earlier period, of the heroic principles which were lodged in his bosom. His integrity, courage, and decision, were advantageously displayed in connexion with the deputation sent to survey the land

of Canaan. He dared, with Caleb, to stand forth against the infatuated and faithless multitude; to rebuke them for their want of confidence in God, and to exhort them to the exercise of trust and obedience. This great man had received not the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. To the refractory and gainsaying nation he gave this counsel: "Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread to us; their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us; fear them not." These words were spoken at the peril of the speaker, and they indicate a disposition in happy accordance with the following farewell address of Moses to him: "Be strong, and of a good courage; for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee, He will be with thee; He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." It is no marvel if the belief of such assurances as these inspired the highest courage; but Joshua had still greater words on which to rest his confidence. The Lord himself from heaven thus addressed him: "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee. I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee, only be thou strong and very courageous." He who has such promises, and who believes them, cannot be other than great, and to that greatness there can hardly be a limit.

Joshua was great in war: but there the military tended, in some degree, to obscure the moral qualities of the man; it is, therefore, during the peace which

succeeded, that his moral greatness breaks forth as the sun from behind a cloud, which has, for a season, interposed to obstruct his beams. Every step of his subsequent career is impressed with moral grandeur. His soul was cast in a noble mould. The spirit which dwelt in him, the principles by which he was guided, and the model of Moses, which was ever before him, all tended to form a character of boundless magnanimity. The military spirit, when subdued by the grace of God, forms a solid foundation of true moral greatness. Some of the finest specimens of manly piety existing at this moment in the world, are to be found in men who spent their early days in camps and fleets! Joshua, after the peace, is seen to vast advantage as a man, a master, and a magistrate. No nation can present any thing approaching to a parallel, although ancient and modern history furnishes two or three cases somewhat analogous.

Joshua supplied an illustration of a well-established fact, that men of very robust mental constitution are always versatile; they are rich in resources; fertile in expedients; they have what resembles an intuitive knowledge of things; they also possess a hand so dexterous that they seem able to perform any thing. In the tumults of war, in the tranquillity of peace, in courts and in cottages, they are equally at home. Thus it was with Joshua; he did every thing, and always seemed to do best that which he was immediately engaged in.

Joshua was strongly marked by decision of character. This high and precious attribute was early developed by him, and it distinguished him up to the very close of his glorious career. How intensely it braced his mind

when before his death he exhorted the tribes of Israel at Shechem, with the heads, elders, judges, and officers! Never did such exhortations emanate from the lips of an old man on the brink of the grave. Every sentence glows with all the fervour of youth and prime. Hear the venerable orator discharging his conscience and witnessing for his God: "Now, therefore, fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up, and our fathers, out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions, nor your sins. If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves,

P