SERMON XXIX. FAITH IN DIVINE PROVIDENCE.* ROMANS xi., 33. How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! THERE are few subjects, my Christian friends, more deserving of our frequent and serious attention than the providence of God. An habitual conviction that all events are under the superintendence and direction of infinite wisdom and goodness is unspeakably valuable. It raises us, as far as human weakness will permit, above the influence of calamity, and enables us, through the darkest clouds of affliction, to discern the brightness of the Divine beneficence. Such an habitual reliance upon God, as the wise and merciful disposer of all things, is rendered peculiarly important by the circumstance, that we can never tell how suddenly or how severely it may be put to the test. Events are continually occurring of a character so afflic * Preached after Mr. Huskisson's death, and at a time of family bereavement. tive, and, at the same time, so mysterious and unaccountable, as to shake any faith but the strongest, and to force even the confirmed and experienced Christian to give vent to his feelings in language similar to that of the apostle, in the text, "how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" The truth of the preceding remarks has been of late strikingly exemplified, in more than one lamentable occurrence. To one event of this awfully mysterious description we have been ourselves mournful witnesses. We have seen the gaiety and grandeur of the triumphal procession succeeded by the solemnity and gloom of the funeral; the gilded and tapestried car exchanged for the hearse; the shouts of admiring thousands for the tolling of the death-bell; and the universal voice of exultation, echoed from one end of the kingdom to the other, that greeted the completion of one of the most magnificent and stupendous works of modern art, and hailed one of the proudest triumphs of enterprise, ingenuity and skill, for the deep and heartfelt groans of a nation bereaved of one of its wisest and most substantially useful statesmen. Nay, my friends, there may be some amongst us who heard, with indescribable horror, the agonized shrieks and groans of him upon whose words of wisdom assembled senates had so often hung with breathless attention. The event to which we refer can scarcely have passed by unnoticed by any of us. Its nearness, and greatness, and mournfulness united, must have been sufficient, we should suppose, to secure general attention to it. Have we not, my fellow Christians, whilst meditating on this sad event, not unfrequently felt inclined to give expression to our feelings in some such language as the following? "Might not, then, some meaner victim have sufficed? Why, from amongst the countless thousands who witnessed, and the multitudes that took part in, the procession, should the distinguished and efficient representative of this great community, the patron and the pillar of liberal principles in commercial matters, have been selected? Why should he, in the full vigour of his intellect, with matured experience, in the height of his usefulness, and with the prospect of still increasing influence, have been suffered thus miserably to perish?" Can the pious Christian refrain, under such circumstances, from exclaiming, "how unsearchable, O Lord, are thy judgments, and thy ways past finding out!" The other event to which we referred, though of a more private nature, can scarcely fail to have excited a mournful interest on the part of all who have been made acquainted with it, and from the connection of those whom it most nearly concerns with this religious society, seems entitled to a particular notice. We allude to the case of a near relative,* who, after having, in obedience to the call of duty, gone to a distant country, under circumstances well calculated to excite, on the part of his friends, hopes of future usefulness and happiness, has been, by a shocking and lamentable accident, which terminated his life within an hour from the time of its occurrence, consigned to an untimely grave. It must always be a source of sincere satisfaction to the Christian minister when, from personal knowledge, he is enabled to pay a well-merited tribute to the virtues of the departed. The recollection of an acquaintance with the deceased, which commenced at an early period of his boyhood, is accompanied with a mournful pleasure. Unqualified praise of one who was only entering on the career of life, who was but just, as it were, buckling on his armour, might justly be deemed misplaced; but I speak in the presence of those whose hitter tears will attest the truth of the assertion, when I say, that the youth, whose premature Mr. Eddowes Boult. ances. departure has been the source of such severe affliction to them, was, in an eminent degree, what an affectionate parent would desire. Possessing observation and thoughtfulness beyond his years, he added to intellectual qualities and attainments highly respectable, an affectionate disposition and amiable and unassuming manners, that inexpressibly endeared him to the members of his family, and deservedly rendered him a general favourite amongst his acquaintIf we add to this, that his principles and habits were, considering his time of life, in an eminent degree virtuous and religious, we shall have imperfectly pourtrayed a character which his friends, and especially those who knew and loved him best, may contemplate with no common satisfaction, and of which it may be affirmed, with no ordinary degree of truth and emphasis, that it was ripe for immortality. Such having been the character of him whom it has pleased the Almighty thus suddenly to snatch from existence, may we not appeal to all, and especially to those who are most capable of sympathising in the feelings of parents, whether it be possible to regard such a dispensation of Providence as otherwise than mysterious? Is it not natural, on such an occasion, for us all, and particularly in bitterness of spirit for those most nearly connected with the de |