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    put-poses of his Heavenly Father ; and he knew thai they must be accomplished . And what has been the result ? What bafftes human wisdom , and yet cheers and animates the heart of Christian love . —Human wisdom , when it aims to penetrate the future , is often but folly : human strength , when it is exerted for purposes which , however good , anticipate the order of Divine Providence , is always weakness . Human wisdom would have anticipated

    that that which is so great a blessing would be communicated to all men , at once ; and , like the light of the sun , would in quick succession visit every region of the globe to refine , to elevate , and to lead to holiness and to blessedness : and human strength would have put forth unhallowed weapons to force the reception of the seed where the ground was not prepared . He who said , " Let there be light , and there was light , " could , indeed , at once have

    given light to the'soul , where the deepest shades of ignorance involve in gloom and wretchedness ; but , in his infinite wisdom , He had appointed that the progress of spiritual light should be gradual , not only to the individual , but to mankind at large : He has made that progress depend on human exertion and benevolence : and in carrying on the great work to its termination , lie has seen fit to make the exercise of faith and hope the mainspring of benevolent exertion . It is not alone those who are to be blessed , but those

    also who bless , that are to be disciplined . The seed of love is to be sown by the hand of faith . We are to watch and wait for opportunities ; and even then we can merely sow the seed ; we cannot command tne weather or the soil : sometimes , even with the best directions of sound Understanding and experience , it will prove to have been sown in vain . But where we have done our best , ( not with the presumption of pride , but with simple desires to serve our generation according to the will of God , and to fulfil , in our

    sphere of exertion , the noblest prayer that the human heart can utter , — " Thy Will be done , " ) we may rest satisfied in the results , be they what they may ; and where , notwithstanding the disappointments which benevolence must often experience , and without which it would be narrowed and debased * we go on with " the patience of hope and the labour of love , " our labour shall not be in vain . We may see no results : for a time there may be none apparent : but the momentous interests of truth and righteousness

    are silently but effectually advancing . It was the noble maxim of a noble mind , " 'No effort is lost ; ' * and certainly no effort can be lost , in which good intention is guided by ( discretion , and supported by the hi g her motives of love and duty . The good intended may not be accomplished . Some unexpected evil may follow , even where the understanding has been

    enlightened and disciplined by religion . In the moral world , causes which at the time we do not comprehend continually operate in ways which we know not , and cannot with the utmost sagacity fully discern . But such efforts are like the prayer of the faithful , which , if not answered in the way desired , returns to his own bosom . Disappointment leads to self-discipline and selfcorrection . It leads to mutual forbearance and mutual aid , It " worketh

    patience , and patience experience , and experience hope , and hope maketh not ashamed . ' * In some directions , hope will hot be ashamed . The time must come when " the knowledge of Jehovah shall cover the earth as the waters do the channels of the deep . " The lines of providence and of prophecy all converge towards this glorious period ; and whatever contributes to it , is deserving of Our desires for its success , and of our exertions according to our abilities . Blessed , we may say is he , who , by iiis labours , his privations , his instructions , or ( if this be all he can give , ) what is the most essential of all , his

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    258 Reasons for mutual Encouragement and Co-operation .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1829, page 258, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2571/page/34/