choked her utterance, and overmastered her soul. But the sight of one so dear to him, lying in such helpless grief at his feet, is an appeal to him far stronger than any supplication. And his own responsive sigh is an answer more comforting than any promise. "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her," for it was a melting scene, "he groaned in spirit, and was troubled." And when he had asked of the bystanders, "Where have ye laid him?" and received the reply, "Come and see "-like Joseph, he could not refrain himself— "Jesus wept" (ver. 33-35).

O most blessed mourner, with whose tears thy Saviour mingles his own! O sympathy most unparalleled! To each of the two stricken and afflicted ones the Lord addressed the very consolation that was most congenial. To Martha he gave exceeding great and precious assurances, in words such as never man spake. To Mary he communicated the groanings of his spirit, in language more expressive to the heart than any spoken words could be. With Martha, Jesus discoursed and reasoned. With Mary, Jesus wept. What a friend is this! What a brother! yea, and far more than a brother! And how confidently may you come to him, ye Christian mourners, in every season of trial! For, surely, he will give you the very cordial, the very refreshment, of which you stand in need. He is a patient hearer if you have any thing to say to him; and he will speak to you as you are able to bear it. Your complaints, your regrets, your expostulations, your very remonstrances and upbraidings, may all be expressed to him. He will pity. He will comfort. His Holy His Holy Spirit will bring to your

remembrance what Christ has said suitable to your case. He will recall to you the Saviour's gracious words of eternal life, and suggest to you considerations fitted to dissipate your gloom, and put a new song in your mouth. And even if you cannot collect your thoughts, and order your words aright—if you are dumb with silence when your sorrow is stirred, and as you muse your heart is hot within you-oh remember, that with these very groanings which cannot be uttered, the Spirit maketh intercession for you! And they are not hid from him who, when he saw Mary weeping, groaned, and was troubled, and wept. There is indeed enough of all varied consolation in that blessed book, which all throughout testifies of Jesus! For the sorrow that seeks vent in words, and desires by words also to be soothed, there is the Saviour's open ear— there are the Saviour's lips into which grace was poured. For the grief that is dumb and silent,there are the Saviour's tears.

We have endeavoured to trace the lineaments of two very different characters. We have seen how they appeared in the ordinary scenes of life, and how they manifested themselves in the chamber of sickness -in the house of mourning. On their comparative excellencies and defects respectively, we pronounce no judgment, farther than what may be gathered incidentally from the narrative as the judgment of the Lord himself. But we may be allowed to say, in conclusion, of Mary's fervency of spirit as compared with Martha's diligence in business-this ye ought to cherish, but not to leave the other undone. There is a tendency to regard religion as consisting

chiefly in services rendered to the Lord Jesus, and attention and observance paid to him; in ministering busily, if not to his person, yet to his cause and the affairs of his kingdom. And there is a danger, in days especially when much is to be done, of substituting a certain bustling activity, and liberality, and zeal in the work of the Lord, for deep and devoted piety in waiting upon his word. Never forget, then, that Mary chose the better part. What Jesus chiefly desires is to see you rather sitting at his feet, than cumbered about much serving, rather that you should ask and receive from him, than that you should make a merit of rendering much service to him. But beware of supposing that there is any inconsistency or incompatibility between these two habits of mind, The tempers of the two sisters may be united and blended. Be it your study and prayer that they may be so in you. Be as fervent in spirit as Mary was-as diligent in business as Martha was. Choose the privilege of waiting upon the word of the Lord-yet, neglect not the work of the Lord. Seize every opportunity, answer every call, of usefulness—while, at the same time, you cultivate the holy taste for meditative retirement, divine fellowship, and heavenly rest ;-even as He did who went about doing good, and of whom also it is written, that he spent the whole night in prayer to God. Then may you entertain the confident hope, that in seasons of affliction yours will be the blessedness of uniting both the portions of consolation which the sisters separately received. Jesus will speak to you as he did to Martha,-Jesus will weep with you as he did with Mary.

XII.

PETER-HIS GENERAL CHARACTER-ITS STRENGTH

AND WEAKNESS.

"And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"-MATTHEW xiv. 28–31.

THIS passage is selected, in the first instance as illustrative of the character of the Apostle Peter. His whole conduct on the occasion here referred to, is such as vividly to exhibit the peculiarity of his natural temperament; and the rather, when we trace its remarkable though undesigned agreement with what we read elsewhere concerning him.

The character, indeed, of this holy apostle is not in any part of the sacred writings directly drawn; for the historians of the Bible do not deal in professed delineations of individual character, it being their province to narrate, and not to comment. Hence

they never undertake to describe at length what such a man was; they content themselves with telling us simply what he did. And this they do without reserve, and generally without remark-neither elaborately magnifying what is excellent, nor studiously palliating what is wrong, but permitting facts to speak for themselves, and leaving it to the reader to form his own judgment concerning the merits or defects of the various actors in the scenes which they honestly set before him.

Now, this artless, unaffected simplicity of narration well becomes the authority of sacred and inspired evangelists; it contributes much to gain credit to their testimony, while it approves itself to the taste of every competent and intelligent judge of such matters. For what person of good sense and good feeling can refuse to believe authors, every page of whose writings bears the stamp of honesty, and of that courage which is fearless and careless of every thing but the truth? And, on the other hand, is it not a source of the most refined satisfaction and delight—a high intellectual entertainment, as well as an interesting moral experiment, to exercise our own skill in discerning and discriminating character to trace for ourselves its broad outline, its marked and distinctive features, its nicer and more minute and delicate shades of peculiarity; — and to observe how, in different histories, and in all varieties of situation, the same individual is, without any appearance of artful contrivance or constraint, represented as uniformly and most harmoniously in keeping, if we may so speak, and in accordance both with nature and with himself?

Thus, to those who delight in inquiries and specu