Nineteenth Day. Of holy tears

I. Blessed are they that mouriij for they shall he comforted/' Matt. V. 4. What new kind of tears are these? (sailh 8t. Augustin) they make happy -those who shed them. This happiness consists in heing afflicted for the wickedness of the world; the many dangers which surround us, and the inexhaustible corruption of our own hearts. It is a great gift of God, to fear losing his love; to fear lest we should wander from the strait way. The saints shed tears for this. It is difficult to rejoice while one is in danger of losing what one values most, and of losing ones-self with it. It is impossible not to be aMicted, while one sees nothing but vanity, error, offences, forgetf nines s, and contempt of the God we ions.

love. So many sad occasions excite our grief, that such grief, cannot but he pleasing in the sight of God. jSay, he hiraseif inspires it; his love causeth our tears to flow, and he siiall himself wipe them from our eyes.

li. We hear Jesus Christ say, Woe be unto you that laugh noAVj for ye sliall mourn and weep. Woe unto you tha-t are rich, for ye have received your consolation/' Luke vi. 4, 25 — and yet we seek mirth and riches. He also saith, " Blessed are they that weep;" yet we fear nothing more than sorrow. We should grieve here, not only for the dangers of our own state, but for every thing that is vain and criminal. We should weep for ourselves, and for others; all deserve our tears. Happy the tears wbich spring from grace, which make us disrelish these transitory things, and produce in us the desire of eternal happiness.