constantly cherish a deep sense of our ignorance, and liability to err; and therefore should pray to be guided aright, and that we may not be suffered to set our desires on that which is evil; but that the good we fail to ask may be bestowed, and the evil we ask be denied.

We should improve our well-regulated desires, as a stimulus to well directed enterprise, and diligence in the use of lawful means: "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich." And when success crowns our diligent and persevering exertions, carried on in humble resignation to the Divine will, and dependence upon the Divine blessing, then, indeed, "the desire accomplished is sweet to the soul." The strength of our desires should be proportioned to the real value of the objects. How many persons have endured years of wretchedness in consequence of inordinately desiring objects which they could not attain; which, if they had attained, could not have made them happy, and in the absence of which they might have been happy, if their minds had but been well directed and regulated! Their disappointment and uneasiness were not in proportion to the value of the object, but to the eagerness of their desires. The only desires that never issue in disappointment, are those which lead us to seek our happiness in God. Delight thyself in Him, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." And we

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cannot with safety suffer our desires to pursue worldly things of any kind, except in humble and entire submission to the will of God, and in due subordination to our soul's best interests, and the

promotion of our usefulness as well as our enjoyment. May it be the happiness of the young reader, in early life so to regulate her desires, as that she may in sincerity say, "And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in Thee.” "Thou shalt choose my inheritance for me." "Truly my soul waiteth upon God; from Him cometh my expectation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved." "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

The following verses of the excellent Dr. Watts sweetly express the workings of a mind whose desires are well regulated :

How vast the treasure we possess !
How rich thy bounties, King of grace!
This world is ours, and worlds to come:
Earth is our lodge, and heaven our home.

All things are ours-the gifts of God,
The purchase of a Saviour's blood;
While the good Spirit shows us how
To use, and to improve them too.

If peace and plenty crown my days,
They help me, Lord, to speak thy praise :
If bread of sorrows be my food,
Those sorrows work my lasting good.

I would not change my blest estate
For all the world calls good or great;
And while my faith can keep her hold,
I envy not the sinner's gold.

Father, I wait thy daily will

Thou shalt divide my portion still.

Grant me on earth what seems Thee best,
'Till death and heaven reveal the rest."

The temper, too, will need constant and vigilant regulation. Temper may be defined as the disposition of the feelings. When we describe a person as of a petulant, or a gentle, or a forgiving temper, we mean that the habitual tendency of his feelings is towards petulance, or gentleness, or forgiveness; and that those feelings in him would be more readily called into exercise, than feelings of an opposite class. Now, it is evident, that some kinds of feelings and tempers are more than others favourable to the discharge of duty, and to the enjoyment and diffusion of happiness. It is therefore our wisdom to maintain habitual control over our temper, to check its evil workings, and to guide it in the right way. To have the rule over our tempers, or to suffer our tempers to have the rule over us, expresses in other words the difference between being good, amiable, and happy, and being a wicked, disagreeable, miserable wretch.

This remark in its fullest extent applies only to the habitual course of the temper; but even its occasional and transient exercises partake, in a measure, of the same character, and exert a portion of the same influence. Habit is but a succession of acts. How exceedingly desirable is it that young persons should cultivate a habitual and well-principled government of their tempers; especially as the temper is peculiarly formed in youth, and an unhappy bias then indulged is scarcely ever effectually cured in riper years.

The temper and feelings are usually excited by our outward circumstances, and social intercourse. They have not, like the graces of faith and hope, chiefly to do with unseen things; but it is an important part of the office of the kindred grace of Love, to regulate them. Let them be placed under her presiding sway, and all will be well. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart" then no rebellious murmuring tempers will arise against his dispensations; and "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;" then no malevolent passions will be suffered to rise against his peace and happiness; for "love worketh no ill to its neighbour, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

The dispositions of mind which we should habitually cultivate, may be classified as those workings of mind which more particularly refer to the providential dispensations of God towards us; and those which have more direct reference to our fellow-creatures.

Under the first class we may reckon humility, submission, and contentment; the second, will comprehend benevolence, meekness, and forgiveness. Humility, or a just sense of our own characters, claims, and deserts, must lie at the root of all good training of the temper in general. We are the creatures of God. From Him we have derived our existence, and all our enjoyments. He was under no obligation to bestow them; they are free gifts, and we ought to possess them with thankfulness. We are mean and insignificant creatures, and might be considered far beneath the notice of God. Surrounded as He is with

mighty angels and archangels, and still more infinitely glorious and happy in himself, we may well say, "Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" We are guilty creatures, and as such we have forfeited all our mercies, and merited the wrath and vengeance of God; and yet we are permitted to live, and to enjoy unnumbered mercies. Surely "it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed," and "because his compassions fail not : they are new every morning."

Humility, while enumerating the undeserved mercies of God which we enjoy, may also be properly employed in comparing our lot with that of others.

"Not more than others we deserve,
Yet God has given us more."

Even as Christians we must feel ourselves as mere
cumberers of the ground, compared with many
dear servants of God, whose lot has nevertheless
been far less privileged than ours.
We have food,
raiment, peaceable habitations, and friends; while
many, of whom the world was not worthy, were
forced to wander, and lie exposed; being driven
into deserts and mountains, and into dens and caves
of the earth; clad in sheep-skins and goat-skins;
being destitute, tormented, afflicted." Oh what
deserved ills are we continually preserved from!
of what undeserved mercies are we the daily re-
cipients! Proper feelings of humility before God,
will tend wonderfully to sweeten and regulate the
temper and feelings in all respects.

We should also cherish a spirit of submission.