Year: 1865

righteousness, in the midst Of the calam.
tiles which befall the good, and in the
most prosperous successes ofthe wicked;
and steadfastly to believe that all, at
last, shall turn to our advantage, il, like
His servant Job, We persevere in faith
and hope and patience"


The condition of Job in his prosperity
was not unlike that OF many large plant
ers and farmers of the South in. better
days. He was rich in land and cattle.
and had large numbers Of slaves. The
most unlimited plenty and hospitality
reigned in his dwelling and the dwell
ings Of his family. The birthdays of
his children were celebrated with inno-
cent fcasting and merriment, as well AZ
accompanied by prayer and sacrifice. 1t
was upon such man as this-devout,
generous, genial, illustrious for virtue as
for wealth-that the Devil was permitted
to turn loose fire, sword, hurricane, d.
sease; to strip him of children, servants,
prosperity and health to make him an
object of scorn to his own friends, and
to reduce him so low in the regards of
men that he exclaimed: "They that
are younger than have me in derision,
whose fathers would have disdained to
set with the dogs Of my flock" "And
now am l their song, yea, l am their BY
word" How many Southern patriarch,
exiled from his home, and bereft Of his
possessions, can look back with Job, and
say: ooh that were as in months past,
as in the days when God preserved me"
"when the Almighty was yet with me,
whep my children were about me, when
| washed my steps with butter, and the
rock poured me out rivers of oil.' Yet,
amidst all his reverses and humiliations,
Job did not deny the Providence of God ;
he bore his disasters with resolution,
with resignation, and even with hearty
thanksgiving.


If such man could be permitted thus
to suffer, and could conclude that the
best of men are but vile in the sight Of
God, we of-this generation eau scarcely
present any superior claims to the indul-
gence of Heaven. The purest and noblcst
of our people, who have been reduced
from ailluence to poverty, and are
mourning over better days, may well
exclaim: "What, shall We receive good
at the hands of the Lord, and shall We
not suffer evil - and heed the counsel
of St. Basil: Remember all the past
happiness thou hast enjoyed, and oppose
better unto worse. No mans life is en-
tirely and thoroughly happy. If thou
art grieved at what is present, fetch thy
comfort from what thou hast received
before. Now thou weepest, but formerly
thou didst laugh now thou art poor,
but there was time when thou wantedst
nothing Then thou drankest of the
pure fountain of life; be content and
drink now more patiently Of the troubled
waters. Behold the rivers, their streams
are not clear in all places; and our life,
thou knowest, is like to one of them,
which slides away continually. and is off,
times full of waves, which come rolling
one upon another: one part of this river
is passed by, and another is running on
its course. This part of it is gushing
out from the fountain, and the next is
ready to follow as soon as it is gone
And thus we are all making great haste
to the common sea; Death, l mean,
which swallows up all at last"


The London Times remarks that
whether Poland was made over to Rus
sia in the last settlement of Europe as a