both to the spirit and body, it would, perhaps, be difficult to convince the mere worldling that any use or benefit could arise out of afflictions of either body or mind. But it is not to the mere worldly man that we must appeal for the truth of any subject that requires deep thought. It is to the experience of the thoughtful and reflecting that we must appeal for the truth of the proposition—the usefulness of affliction,
It is a truth of easy admission, that Order is heaven's first law, and that from this order the angels in heaven derive their peace, their joys, their pleasures and blessings. In heaven there can be no afflictions, no sorrows, nor sighings! There—age, disease, and sickness have no dwelling-place; for there, health is everlasting, and the high-born spirit hath undying life! As all peace springs from Divine Order—the law of heaven—so from Disorder, the opposite to heavenly order, spring all kinds of sorrow, pain, and affliction. Whence, then, disorder? O man, ask thine own heart, and thou shalt have a correct answer. Sin, containing a selfish and impure love, has cooled thy affection towards God and man, has darkened thy judgment, perverted thy thoughts, and rudely interrupted that smooth current of life which thou art momentarily receiving from God thy Creator: this is the origin of all affliction, lamentation, mourning, and woe, and is the secret cause of all pain and disease. "Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted." (Psalm cvii. 17.) In affliction we are for a time removed from the world and its cares. In the sick man's chamber the busy hum of worldly life is hushed; all is still, and the soul, thrown as it were upon its inward resources, is enticed
