WORK. INTRODUCTORY. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest."-ECCLES. ix. 10. "Man hath his daily work of body or mind Appointed, which declares his dignity, And of their doings God takes no account.' PARADISE LOST. IDLENESS has no place in the busy and beautiful creation of God; it enters not into His thoughts and ways; it is opposed to all that He has said, and to all that He has done. Work,-various it is true in kind and degree,—is one of the laws of the universe. In our own planet at this moment, multitudes of busy hands and busy heads are to be found in all directions. The merchant at the desk,—the labourer in the field, the statesman in the cabinet,-the author in the study,—the red Indian in the hunting ground, the gold digger in the mine, and a great A company whose work as a whole constitutes the very essence of £cial order. It is true that men have taken advantage of this to hold the scales of work with an uneven hand, and to mete an unjust Hence the cry of the slave, hence the 'long hours" of the factory,-hence the mournful song of the seamstress. measure. This does not however interfere with the fact that work is an element of our being. It is not only a barter for food, and raiment, and gold, but it is intended and fitted to produce happiness ;-while the unworking classes, sensible of the deficiency, are obliged to assume the semblance of work, and toil in their vocation of finding pleasure Nor is this principle confined to our earth. We know not what passes within the starry mansions; but the planet in its revolution, the satellite in its perturbations, the comet in its eccentric path, are all working their appointed work; while light and heat, snow and vapours, and stormy winds, fulfil the word of their Creator. While such is the universal law, its principle and practice have been so marred by the selfishness of man, that we must look to the Gospel for the remedy of the evil, and for those high and holy motives by which the true service of God ought to be characterized and sustained. We accordingly find that there is one great and peculiar privilege amongst many, which God accords to those who being redeemed by the blood of Christ, occupy the two-fold position of children and servants. He allows such to work for Him. Nor is this a mere nominal position. He condescends to call them to His help. He gives each a different "charge to keep," which if he neglects, God's glory will suffer loss. He gives each a field to cultivate, and if the furrows are thinly sown, where will be the summer harvest? In looking around, however, upon the Christian Church, it is startlingly evident that there is more profession than practice, more words than deeds, more fair green leaves than ripe wholesome fruit. There are indeed many whose works the day alone will declare, for even their left hand knoweth not what the right hath done; and there is ever a staff of open zealous workers, a record of whose deeds is left behind, "Like foot prints on the sands of time." Still there remains a large number of professing Christians who do not work, or at least do not work thoroughly and acceptably, from want of power, or opportunity, or understanding. There are many who marvel at the idea of work being a privilege, many whose whole felicity is comprised in the dolce far niente of their negative existence, or in the excitements of their pursuit after bright glancing butterflies. There are others who do not understand the privilege of work, though they are hard workers, harder than any others, for they work as if to complete the tale of bricks for an Egyptian task-master. Others there also are, and a vast proportion in the present practical age, who delight in work for its own sake; their whole lives are passed in meditating and in accomplishing work,—successful work,-useful work,-work to be honoured in all ages. There are yet others whose heads droop, and whose hands hang down; and who, when they hear that work is a privilege possessed by the children of God, are ready to fancy that such they cannot be, for, alas! they are of no use in the world,— God has given them no work to do for Him. Now, to the first class we have nothing to say, unless to bid them learn wisdom from the bee and the bird, and the silent but ever-working monitors who dwell in the little peopled cities on every hill-side.-(Prov. vi. 6.) Neither do we speak to the second class, because they are not working for God,-they are emphatically working for themselves, and in the way most offensive to God, for they are trying to hew out a door of their own into heaven, their works are "dead works," or "splendid sins," as St. Augustine said of such. Nor can we invite the third class to listen to us, for neither are they working for God, even though their work may often look like God's work, they are working for fame, for occupation, for excitement, for philanthropy; they are working because they cannot help working,-because to be busy is a principle of their nature. But we turn to |