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"His peace requires it. People love to sting the passionate: they who are easily provoked, commit their repose to the keeping of their enemies they lie down at their feet, and invite them to strike. The man of temper places himself beyond vexatious interruption. He that hath ⚫ no rule over his own spirit, is like a city that is broken down and without walls,' into which enter over the ruins, toads, serpents, vagrants, thieves, enemies while the man, who in patience possesses his soul, has the command of himself, places a defence all around him, and forbids the entrance of such unwelcome company to offend or discompose.

He

"His wisdom requires it. that is slow to anger is of great un⚫derstanding: but he that is hasty of 'spirit exalteth folly,” • Anger rest

eth in the bosom of fools.' Wisdom gives us large, various, comprehensive, sailing-round views of things: the very exercise operates as a diversion, affords the mind time to cool, and furnishes numberless circumstances tending to soften severity.. Such is the meekness of wisdom. Thus candour is the offspring of knowledge.

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for me, when they were sick my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned into my own bosom. I 'behaved myself as though he had 'been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother!' View Stephen, dying under a shower of stones: he more than pardons, he prays; he is more concerned for his enemies, than for himself; in praying for himself, he stood; in praying for his enemies, he kneeled, he kneeled and said, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. A greater than Joseph, or David, or Stephen, is here-He endured every kind of insult: but when he was reviled, he reviled not again when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.' Go to the foot of the cross, and behold him suffering for us, leaving

us an example that we should fol low his steps.' Every thing conspired to rendered the provocation heinous, the nature of the offence, the meanness and obligations of the offenders, the righteousness of his cause, the grandeur of his person:

and all these seemed to call for ven"His dignity requires it. It is geance. The creatures were eager to the glory of a man to pass by a trans-punish. Peter drew his sword. The gression. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.' The man provoked to revenge, is conquered, and loses the glory of the struggle; while he who forbears, comes off victor, crowned with no common laurels: he that is slow to Sanger is better than the mighty

and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city. A flood assails a rock, and rolls off unable to make an impression; while straws, and boughs are borne off in triumph, carried down the stream, and driven, and tossed.

"It is also required by examples, the most worthy of our imitation. What provocations had Joseph received from his brethren? but he scarcely mentions the crime, so eager is he to announce the pardon: And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt: now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hi⚫ther; for God did send me before you to preserve life.' Hear David: They rewarded me evil for good, to the spoiling of my soul. But as

sun resolved to shine on such criminals no longer. The rocks asked to crush them. The earth trembles under the sinful load. The very dead cannot remain in their graves:-He suffers them all to testisfy their sympathy, but forbids their revenge: and lest the Judge of all should pour forth his fury, he cries, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'-'Here is the patience of a God.

"Secondly, Patience is to be displayed in suffering affliction.

Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward;' and so far are the saints from being exempted, that we are told many are the afflictions of the

righteous. We shall not describe them: we have only to inquire after the temper with which they are to be borne. It is not necessary to be insensible; there's no virtue in bearing what we do not feel: grace takes away the heart of stone, and patience does not bring it back. You may desire deliverance; but these desires will not be rash, insisting, unconditional; but always closed with ⚫ never

theless, not as I will, but as thou

affliction, and of patience. You have heard of the patience of Job. He was stripped of all--and he said, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of the Lord: what! shall we receive good at the Lord's hands, and shall we not receive evil? Consider the unparalleled sufferings of thy Saviour: he said, the cup which my Father giveth me to drink, shall I not drink it?-Do not imagine these trials are fruits of my displeasure: as many as I love, I rebuke ' and chasten. I design thy welfare, and I know how to advance it. You have often been mistaken, and sometimes led to deprecate events, which you now see to have been peculiar mercies. Trust me in this

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plaining things fully at present: what I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. In the mean time be assured, I do not

wilt.' You may employ means to obtain freedom; but these means will be lawful ones. A suffering Christian may see several ways of release, but he seeks only God's way. • He who confined me shall bring me forth; here will I stand still to see the salvation of the Lord, which be ⚫ will shew me.' He would rather endure the greatest calamity, than commit the least sin: and while the affliction remains, there is no rebellious carriage, no foaming expressions, no hard thoughts of God, no charging him foolishly. He calmly acquiesces in a condition, of the disadvantages of which he is fully sensible: his patience keeps him in the medium between presumption and despair; between despising the chas-dispensation: reasons forbid my extening of the Lord, and fainting when rebuked of him;' between feeling too little and too much.Here then is another field, in which patience may gather glory. Affliction comes to exercise our patience, and to distinguish it. The trial of 'your faith worketh patience;' not only in consequence of the divine blessing, but by the natural operation of things; use makes perfect, the yoke is rendered easy by being worn, and those parts of the body which are most in action, are the most strong and solid. And therefore you are not to excuse improper dispositions under affliction by saying, It was so trying, who could help it?' this is to justify impatience by what God sends on purpose to make you patient be assured the fault is not in the condition, but in the temper. Labour therefore to display this grace in whatever state you are, and however afflicted you may be. Impa tience turns the rod into a scorpion. Till you wipe your eyes from this suffusion of tears, you cannot see what God is doing; and while the noisy passions are so clamorous, his small still voice cannot be heard. Suppose you were lying on a bed of pain, or walking in the field under some heavy affliction; suppose you were alone, and heard a voice which you knew to be the voice of God.Do not imagine your case is singular, there has been sorrow like unto thy sorrow. Take the prophets, 'who have spoken in the naine of the 'Lord, for an example of suffering

afflict willingly, nor grieve the chil'dren of men. These troubles are 'as necessary for thy soul, as medicine for the body, the furnace for 'gold, the knife for the vine. Be not afraid of the affliction, I have it completely under my management; when the end is answered I will re'move it, and I know how to deliver. Till then, fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God:,I will strengthen thee, yea I will keep thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.'-O could I hear this, this would hush each rebellious sigh, check every murmuring thought.-Is this then supposition has not God said all this, does he not say all this

in his word?

"Thirdly, Patience is to be exercised under delays. We as naturally pursue a desired good, as we shun an apprehended evil: the want of such a good is as grievous as the pressure of such an evil; and an ability to bear the one, is as needful a qualification, as the fortitude by which we endure the other. It therefore equally belongs to patience, to wait as to suffer. We read of the patience of hope:' patience will be rendered necessary according to the degree of hope. Hope deferred maketh the

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heart sick it is the office of patience to prevent this fainting. And God is perpetually calling for the

' rest.

I would hasten my escape from the stormy wind and tempest. O when shall I come and appear 'before God? When shall I leave the dregs of society, and join the gene

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exercise of it. He does not always immediately indulge you with an answer to prayer. He hears indeed as soon as you knock, but he does not open the door: to stand there resolved not to go without a blessingral assembly above? When will my requires patience, and patience cries wait on the Lord; be of good conrage, and he will strengthen thine heart; wait I say on the Lord '— He does not appear to deliver us according to the time of our expectation; and in woe we number days, and hours; the language of desire is O when wilt thou come unto me?' and of impatience, why should I wait for the Lord any longer?'-but patience whispers, it is good that a

dear connections gone before, re'ceive me into everlasting habita'tions: O how I envy them! O the 'glories of yonder world! I seem indistinctly to see the shining prize; to hear a little of their melody-0 that was a perfume blown across the river; how it revives my spirits, and calls me away!' But a voice cries, be patient, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord; behold the husbandman waiteth for the pre

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long patience for it, until he receive the former and the latter rain.' The saint answers, I pray not that he 'should take me out of the world, but keep me from the evil. I am willing to remain, while he has a 'station for me to fill, a duty for me to perform, a trial for me to bear.

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All the days of my appointed time 'will I wait, until my change come.’— Here is the patience of the saints.'

man should both hope, and quietlycious fruits of the earth, and hath ⚫ wait for the salvation of the Lord.'—To long for pardon, and to feel only an increased sense of guilt; to implore relief, and to be able only to say, without are fightings, and within are fears;' to journey in a weary land, and see the way stretching out immeasurably before us, lengthening as we go; to pursue blessings which seem to recede as we advance, or to spring from our grasp as we are seizing them-all this requires patient continuance in welldoing. We have also need of patience, that, after we have done the ⚫ will of God, we may receive the ⚫ promises.'-See the Christian waiting composedly year after year in a vale of tears, for an infinite happiness; the heir of such an inheritance resigned to abide so long in indigence! Surely, it is trying to be detained so many months at anchor off the fair haven, the end of his voyage in view; to have all the glory of the unseen world laid open to the eye of faith; the trials of this life to urge, and the blessings of another to draw; to have earnests to ensure, and foretastes to endear-Surely, there is enough to make him dissatisfied to stay here. And it seems proper for the Christian to be more than willing to go. Should an Israelite fix on this side the promised land? Is he not commanded to arise and depart hence? Can he love God, unless he wishes to be with him? Does not the new nature tend towards its perfection? What wonder therefore, if we should hear the believer sighing, ‘O that I had wings like a dove; for ⚫ then would I flee away, and be at

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"Let us learn then, my brethren, how necessary it is for us to possess this temper of mind: it is of perpetual and universal use. All of you need it, and will need it always. You do not all need genius, learning, wealth-but what will you do in a world like this without patience? How can you pass through a wilderness of thorns and briars, unless your feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace? Who can say, my mountain stands so strong, I shall never be moved?'If a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many: all that cometh is vanity.'-How undesireable is a squeamish appetite, that incessantly requires delicacies; a puny body that can bear no hardships; a tender frame, that must not be exposed to the variations of the weather: but how much worse is it to have a soft, enervated, pampered constitution of mind, that must be stroked or rocked like a child; that can with extreme difficulty be pleased; that must have every thing according to its fancy. In a state where so little is left to choice and convenience, and where

we are liable to trials and changes every day; we should seek after a general preparation, and strengthen and invigorate the soul by pa

tience.

"-Labour strenuously, not only to acquire this grace, but to excel in it. Seek higher degrees of it; exercise it not in one thing, but in every thing, and in every thing to the end. Let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. There is a God of patience, who giveth more grace. Approach him with enlarged desire, that you may abound in this grace also, strength 'ened with all might according to his 'glorious power, unto all patience and 'long-suffering with joyfulness.'

come,

"And remember, you will not always be called to the exercise of patience; your warfare will soon be 'accomplished for yet a little 'while, he that shall come, will and will not tarry.' A little more patience, and the wicked shall cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest: then, farewell, provocation, affiction, and anxious delays. Patience, having conveyed you safe, and being no longer necessary, shall return for more; but it shall leave you in a state where all shall be peace, all shall be quietness, all shall be assurance for ever. O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard -for thou. O God, hast proved us, thou hast tried us, as silver is tried: we went through fire and through water, but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place." p. 40-55.

(To be continued.)

their condition stated and provedReasons assigned for believing that a restitution of the old slavery is the true object which the West India expedition is designed to accomplish.

-II. The probable issue of the expedition as far as relates to the French Colonies enquired into-Motives that will induce the negroes to resistTheir means of resistance — General difficulties of West India warTheir nature and causes explained→ Comparative advantages possessed by negro troops-Means of repelling invasion arising from the face of the country and the climate-Difficulties of keeping the negroes in subjection if conquered, and of restoring perma. nently the former system of bondage.

III.The probable consequences of the expedition more immediately affecting the interest of Great Britain in the West Indies considered-1st. Consequences of the total failure of the enterprise - 2d. Those of a middle event or compromise; or of an immediate agreement on the basis of the liberty of the negroes-3d. Probable effects of the entire success of the supposed enterprise of the Republic-Dangers to which the British Islands will in either of these cases be exposed.-IV. Measures that the prospects opened in the former letters should suggest-A strict neutrality between France and her Colonies recommended - Means of defence that ought to be prepared in our West India Islands-Right of Parliament to make laws for the government of the Colonies considered-Thoughts on the means of settling Trinidada-The vacant lands ought not to be settled by means of Slavery and the Slave Trade

The sale of the Crown Lands ought at least to be deferred-Moral view of the question of opening a new slave Colony after the resolu tions of the House of Commons in 1792-Innocent uses that may be made of this Island-Its commercial advantages-The practicability of cultivating the uncleared lands by the labour of free Negroes-General suggestions on that head-Conclusion.

Having given the whole of the contents, we shall subjoin an extract from

the last letter, containing the author's plan for settling the vacant lands of Trinidada.

"To the West India possessions of Great Britain the peace has now