d and set on their bases; the streams and
rivers and valleys He formed, all rich and lovely, intended for the
comfort and happiness of man; the blue deep He constructed and beautified
with its millions of shining wonders; and in all these stupendous
creations, in all the diverse works of His mighty, omnipotent hands there
was in the beginning no trace of fault, of defect, of error or sin. The
upheaval came when man disobeyed and wrought the commencement of all our
woe. And hence it is to man's first disobedience and the fruit of that
forbidden tree, that we owe all the evils from which our nature suffers
and to which our flesh is heir.

But although we know the source of our sorrows and feel the guilt of our
sins, this does not make our burden lighter or shorten the path of our
pilgrimage. We are confronted by the problem of labor and suffering as
soon as we enter the world. No one is entirely exempted; and, strange as
it is, we see that it frequently happens, that those are most afflicted
who are farthest removed from the wickedness of the world and purest in
the sight of God. "Many are the tribulations of the just;" and how true is
it that the very fidelity of the servants of God is often an occasion of
their sufferings! It is not wonderful that sorrow and fear should be the
portion of sinners throughout the length of their days, for "contrition
and unhappiness are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not
known;"(48) but that all, even the saints of God, should suffer alike and
be oppressed with miseries is, at first sight, a problem and a baffling
mystery.

It is something, indeed, to feel in our suffering that we are paying the
debt of our sins, whether personal, or original, or both; it is much to
know that our crosses, severe and inevitable as they are, are a curb to
our wayward nature, and a restraint against further sins; it is assuredly
a great privilege and a high honor that we, unworthy and unfaithful
servants of our Master, should, through our tears and sorrows and
sufferings, be enabled to conform our poor lives to the tearful and
sorrowful life of our Saviour; it is a comfort that words cannot tell to
be assured by our faith that in the midst of pains and perils the Shepherd
of our souls is ever near to shield, to guard, and to save--all this is
surely much--enough to encourage and strengthen us daily to take up our
cross and joyfully follow our Redeemer, even to the hill of Calvary, even
to the