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uncomplaining, and periwinkles float with the tide
in a very sea of comfort, and well-fed oxen and
geese and swine are, in their own sphere, and
after their kind, as contented as the angels. But
then present pleasure is not the supreme earthly
good. Man's life here is not terminal, but a transi¬
tion, not a May-game, but an earnest work—a battle
in heavy armor with Principalities and Powers—
an Exodus through a desert where angels encamp
round us under burning suns, and the fiery serpent
hisses even in the shade of the Shekinah. And
the true heart prefers the pilgrimage to the
play-ground, accepting and exulting in its con¬
dition of discipline, and, wise to value blessings
according to their spiritual uses, thanks God more
for the crown of thorns than the May-queen's gar¬
land, and counts the star-fire of the firmament of
greater price than all the colored lamps of an
imperial pavilion.
5thly. Patience.—In considering our obligations to
God, we are to remember, that He works for our
good, as elsewhere, slowly and in circles of immense
sweep. His buildings are not Aladdin's palaces,
nor his oaks Jonah's gourds. His mercies come
to us often in the germ, and sometimes the kernel
has a rough shell, which yields only to acrid chemis¬
tries and sharp frosts. And we must perceive the
oak in the acorn, and the perfected temple in its
slowly wrought walls and pillars, and, patiently
awaiting the consummation of God's gracious pur-
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