upon them in the affability of this friendly messenger. Fear and timidity depart from his presence, which promises help and deliverance.

Happy would it be, my brethren in the Lord, if we also shone as such benignant stars in the firmament of the earth! This would be the case, if we were resolved to be only vessels of mercy, and dew-drops, in which Jesus reflected himself. There are a few amongst us, unconscious of it themselves, who sparkle as such friendly and lovely constellations. They are those, who, nothing in their own esteem, and emptied of themselves, have renounced their own life, that Christ may become their life; in the enjoyment and believing apprehension of whom, they say with. the Psalmist, "Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." Such individuals diffuse around them a delightfully soothing, consoling, and hope-inspiring atmosphere; we become conscious of the firm and sure position which they occupy in the invisible world by faith, and our doubts and fears disperse. We see the profound peace of heart which they enjoy, and feel ourselves breathed upon by a sabbatic influence. The oppressed, embarrassed, and afflicted, involuntarily seek their society, as if, when with these blessed individuals, light, by their means, would again arise upon them, and the wished-for aid approach. They are like friendly satellites, which brightly beam forth the benevolent love of Jesus. The image of him, who invites the weary and heavy laden to him, that he may give them. rest, is vitally and vividly reflected in them. He himself appears to greet us in their eyes, benignly to smile upon us through their features, and to speak with us through their conversation. We imagine ourselves breathing the atmosphere of the throne of grace, in their vicinity, and

seldom do we leave them without having obtained a more cheering insight into Divine truth, and a more elevated view of the Divine perfection.

The subject which the inhabitants of Jericho had to bring before the man of God, was the following. The city of Jericho originally possessed a very beautiful situation. An ever-verdant wreath of lofty palm-trees and odoriferous gardens surrounded it, and the circumjacent soil, favourable for every production of the vegetable kingdom, yielded, in fruitfulness, to no other district of the Holy Land. But since the time of Joshua, the beautiful rigion was no longer what it had been. The curse, above alluded to, had left dreadful traces upon it. The branches of the palm-trees droop; fruitfulness forsakes the gardens, and the shepherds on the meadows, which were once so luxuriant, incessantly complain of the languishing state of their cattle, and especially of the many abortions amongst their flocks; at the same time an universal malady prevailed amongst the people themselves; and untimely deaths were frequent. The cause of all this lay in the quality of the water, which, since the curse of the Lord had taken effect, was no longer wholesome. Whether it flowed, in unfathomable depths, over deleterious strata of earth, or whether the cause of its insalubrity was of a more mysterious and less material nature, it is impossible to ascertain. Be it as it may, the fountains were as though they had been poisoned, and the manifold misery which resulted from it, almost rendered it a cause of regret that Hiel, notwithstanding the Divine warning, should have fallen upon the idea of rebuilding this unhappy and desolated city. What could the inhabitants of Jericho desire more ardently, than the removal of this memento of a fatal event of ancient times from their vicinity, which was

in other respects so beautiful and pleasing! Much labour, money, and art, had doubtless been already expended for this purpose. But the cancerous evil was not removed; on the contrary, it only extended itself the more. Elisha is now in the city, and the idea that he might feel inclined to help them, soon presents itself. That which God has inflicted, God only can remove. The mischief was occasioned supernaturally, and a miracle must expel it. With these ideas, and hoping a favourable result, they hasten to the man of God. They find him in one of the dwellings of the sons of the prophets, and encouraged by the kind reception he gives them, they intimate their wishes in a modest manner, by saying, "The situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth; but the water is naught, and the ground barren."

This description, given by the men of Jericho, reminds me, alas! of so many a district, even in our native land, of which everything that is pleasing and beautiful may be stated, excepting that "the water is naught;" I mean in a spiritual sense, and hence the field of the human mind lies waste and unfruitful. Where the spiritual fountains are poisoned, and where, instead of the pure milk of the Gos. pel, the people are presented, from pulpits and professors' chairs, with the fatal potion of a false and deceitful religion, which makes the individual his own saviour, and leads him past Bethlehem and Calvary-truly this is a curse more direful and horrible than that which formerly devastated the plains of Jericho. Although in such a place, the meadows and gardens may be clothed with all the luxuri. ance of nature, yet the horrors of an uninhabitable wilder. derness cover the fields of the heart. If science there weaves its perishable wreaths, and the world presents the poverty of its vain joys-yet in the waste and empty soul

reigns death; in the inward garden every thing vegetates except the evergreen of hope, the rose of heavenly-mindedness, and the lily of peace. May the Lord create many Elishas, who shall likewise carry to these fountains the healing salt! This wondrous salt is the doctrine of the cross. Where this is scattered, it transforms the desert of the heart into a blooming and delightful region.

No sooner had the men of Jericho made known their desire to the prophet, than the latter manifests his willing. ness to comply with their wishes. Elisha perceives in their request, a superior intimation, of which he is the more conscious by the concurring testimony of the Holy Spirit, instructing him what he ought to do. With the confidence of one who is indubitably certain of the success of his undertaking, he says, "Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein." And the men hasten joyfully and full of expectation, to fulfil the commission of the holy seer.

Elisha, in the performance of his miracle, is directed to employ an outward means, and such a one, as could so little produce the intended effect by its natural properties, that the contrary result was the more probable. In a city, which like Jericho lay not far from the Dead Sea, every one knew that salt would only spoil the water and render it unfit for use. The desolate banks of that lake rendered it obvious to every one, that salt water, far from fructifying the soil, only deprived it of its productive power, and inflicted death upon the vegetable world. The recollection of the well-known custom of strewing salt upon those places destined to eternal desolation, rendered the intimation of the prophet extremely strange. But even the contrary nature of the remedy only served to cause the miracle subsequently to appear in a more obvious light. But irrespective of this, it may be inquired, why such an

earthly means was employed? For the same reason, my friends, for which Moses was provided with his wonderworking rod, and for which the imposition of hands was subsequently enjoined upon the apostles. This rod, without which Moses could not effect anything, was intended, with reference to himself, and to the witnesses of his acts, to assist in preserving to him the consciousness of his dependence upon God, and his own instrumental position; and the Lord also attained the same object by the means which he prescribed on this occasion to his servant Elisha. If the prophet had healed the spring simply by waving his hand, or by the mere utterance of his lips, it might easily have seemed as if the miraculous power lay in him, and the sign would have failed of attaining its object. But by the intervention of a means, which seemed indispensable, the matter assumed a totally different appearance. The miracle now manifested itself more conspicuously as the work of the Lord, who was pleased to mingle something of his Divine power, with an element which was of itself inoperative.

Another intention was also included in the Divine appointment of this medium for the miraculous healing of the waters. It was not a mere arbitrary and insignificant circumstance, that the inhabitants of Jericho were commissioned to fetch both the salt and the cruse--this was likewise graciously arranged; nay, it was even intended to contribute to the great and blessed object of Elisha's mission in general. What an honour was conferred on the inhabitants of Jericho, by being permitted to participate in this mighty miracle; what a proof of the Lord's kindness and favour! What condescension of the Almighty was manifested in the circumstance of his selecting a common earthern vessel as the medium of his healing power, and