e banquet hall; Stephen falling asleep beneath the shower of
cruel stones, and Saul gazing complacently at the murderers' clothes
laid at his feet:--these, and a thousand other such incidents in human
history, are, to beholders, involved in a portion of that darkness
which hung over the cross of Christ itself, at the time, a mystery of
mysteries to all who witnessed its agonies! But when, from the history
of persons, we rise to the contemplation of the history of cities,
countries, and nations; or ascend to a still higher region in order to
take in, if possible, the history of the human race from age to age;
and to comprehend what Jesus Christ has done for it, and how He
has governed it,--how much more profound is the darkness! If, for
instance, we endeavour to form any estimate of the effect which has
been produced upon the character and destiny of mankind by the present
structure of the physical earth, with its mountains, seas, rivers,
winds, and climate--the house which Jesus Christ has built and
furnished for His creatures; by the famines and pestilences, wars and
conquests, migrations and settlements, arising out of circumstances
more or less controlling man, and beyond his will; as well as by all
that has come, as it were, directly from Jesus, through His Church,
from Eden till this present hour;--how infinite to us is the field
of observation! "O the depth of the riches both of the knowledge and
wisdom of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past
finding out!" We gaze upon those majestic wheels of His providence,
some of which take whole cycles to revolve, and "their wings are so
high, that they are dreadful!" It is so, for example, with the history
of Israel, which, commencing with Abraham, when earth was young, four
thousand years ago, is still moving on as a distinct stream flowing
amidst the waters of the great ocean, yet never mingling with them,
though nearing the unfathomable gulf where all is still.

But "what we know not now, we shall know hereafter," upon the great
"day of the _revelation_ of Jesus Christ," when, in the light of
unerring truth, the history of each man, and of the whole race, will
be seen, and for the first time understood. "Now we know in part, but
then we shall know even as we are known." Every question which here
perplexes or pains the thoughtful and conscientious inquirer, will be
fully answered. The secret and hitherto hidden springs of actions will
be laid bare, an