covenant, saying, "Lord, I am thine, save me, and manifest thyself to me." Some purpose had allured him there, which our Saviour noticed, and approved; he saw him in secret, and he now rewards him openly. Does he see us? are we strangers to retirement? Surely, if we are Christians, and concerned for the welfare of our souls, we shall often retire, and find that we have much to do alone. I pity the man, whose life is full of action, and void of thought. I pity the professor, who lives only in public; who is always hearing sermons; who pays very little attention to the duties of the family, and none to those of the closet.

It is alone that we disengage ourselves from the dominion of the world: the world conquers us, in a crowd, when our senses are dazzled, and our minds amused, and we are too much occupied to find out the cheat; but, when we are withdrawn from it; when we calmy consider it an object of lonely contemplation, O how is its importance diminished! how is its influence reduced!-ah! it is then we sigh, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. It is alone that conscience operates, that motives impress, that truth is examined, and applied. It is alone that we obtain a knowledge of ourselves; there we can examine our condition, investigate our characters, discover our follies, and our weaknesses. Alone we can be familiar with God, and divulge to him secrets which we could not communicate to the dearest friend, or express in any public or social exercises of religion.

OI love the fig-tree! I love to go forth from among the works of man, to enjoy the creation of God: to enter a wood-to walk through a field

of standing corn-to follow the windings of a river to view the playfulness of the lambs-to listen to the varied melody of the birds-O! here is nothing to vex, nothing to pollute. What an innocency, what a softness does it spread over the mind-how disposed is the heart to welcome and cherish every devotional sentiment!

"O sacred solitude! divine retreat!

Choice of the prudent, envy of the great-
There, from the ways of men laid safe ashore,
We smile to hear the distant tempest roar:
There, blest with health, with business unperplext,
This life we cherish, and ensure the next."

Secondly. Let us remark how perfectly acquainted our Saviour is with our most private concerns. Whence knowest thou me? asks Nathaniel, when our Saviour had in a few words developed his character. Jesus answered-When thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee. This good man imagined himself alone there: he supposed no eye saw him. No wonder therefore he was surprised to hear a person who appeared only a man like himself announcing the whole affair, no wonder he was immediately convinced of his Messiahship, and exclaimed, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. To know all persons and things infallibly is the prerogative of God only; he therefore claims it in distinction from all creatures: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart; I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." And what says our Lord, in his address to John? "The churches shall know that I am he who searcheth the reins and hearts, and

I will give unto every one of you according to your works." In the days of his flesh, actions were not necessary to inform him, nor did he derive additional discovery from the declarations of others: "He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.'

Let us remember, therefore, that "the eyest of the Lord are in every place, beholding both the evil and the good." Of this he will give proof hereafter, when he shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." It will be in vain for the sinner then to say--when his wickedness is published to the world-Whence knowest thou this?-I saw thee, says the Judge, devising mischief upon thy bed, I saw thee walking in a way that was not good, I saw thee endeavouring to stifle every conviction of conscience, and to banish every serious reflection from thy mind. Thou hast always stood in my presence-thou hast always sinned under mine eye. I beheld all thy actions, I heard all thy words, all thy thoughts were open to my view-and here they all are.

But let the righteous rejoice.-He sees their situations, their trials, their dangers, their fears, and their desires. He has " engraven them upon the palms of his hands, their walls are continually before him."

Let the broken-hearted penitent be encouraged. Godly sorrow affects loneliness. Into many a corner you retire to pour out tears unto God. Well, thither his eye follows you-" To this man will he look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at hiss

word. And the Lord said unto Ananias, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus: for behold he prayeth.'

Thirdly. Sincerity in religion is a quality which our Saviour calls upon us to observe and admire. What an honourable character, as he approaches him, does he give Nathaniel! "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." By calling him an Israelite, he distinguishes him from other nations, and by calling him an Israelite indeed, he distinguishes him from many of his own nation. For all were not Israel who were of Israel. From the beginning, "he was not a Jew who was one outwardly, neither was that circumcision which was outward in the flesh; but he was a Jew who was one inwardly, and circumcision was that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise was not of men, but of God." Now Nathaniel was one of these true Israelites; he was in reality, as well as by profession, one of the people of God. And the evidence he gave of this, was his freedom from guile. But our Saviour does not say he has no guilt-a man may be freckled, or have spots, and not be painted. A Christian is not sinlessly pure-he has many unallowed and bewailed infirmities-but guile he has not: he is no hypocrite. He does not, in religion, ascend a stage, to assume a character which does not belong to him. He is what he appears to be. There is a correspondence between his professions and actions, his meaning, and his words. He is upright in his dealings with himself-in his dealings with his fellow-creatures— and in his dealings with his God. He is all of a piece. He is the same alone as in company:

the same in his own house, as in the house of God: the same in prosperity, as in adversity.

This is the character that stands fair with his own conscience. This is the character that enthrones himself in the esteem of others. This is the character that the King of Glory delights to honour. "The prayer of the upright is his delight.-Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.-The upright shall dwell in thy presence.-The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.-Hast thou," said he to Satan, " hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" And, placing such a character before us, in a situation the most sublime, and awful, he says, "Mark the perfect man; and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." There are two reasons why he calls upon us to admire a Nathaniel. The one is, the rareness of the character. It is not to be seen every day. Many make no pretensions to religion, and many have only a form of godliness, while they deny the power thereof.

"Broad is the road that leads to death,

And thousands walk together there;
But Wisdom shows a narrower path,

With here and there a traveller."

The other is the excellency of the character. It is indispensably necessary in all religious concerns: nothing can be a substitute for this integrity-nothing that we can say, nothing that we can do, nothing that we can suffer. Without this, everything else will only render us the more