round about those that fear him:"* and, turning to
my guide, I said, O sir, it was well said of that
Hebrew prince, who spent his youth in rural em-
ployments, "Blessed is the nation whose God is
the Lord, and the people whom he hath chosen for
his own inheritance."
Ah, sir! they are well
kept whom the Lord doth keep, and the man is
blessed whom he thus preserveth. To which Ve-
ratio replied, Now, Novitio, you have had a sight
of faithful Abdiel, so justly celebrated by the famous
Milton, for his constant and firm adherence to Im-
manuel, even when left alone in the camp of the
rebellious seraphim. There it was,

That among the faithless, faithful only he;
Among innumerable false, unmov'd,
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrify'd,
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal ;
Nor number, nor example with him wrought

To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind,
Though single. From amidst them forth he pass'd
Long way through hostile scorn, which he sustain'd
Superiour, nor of violence fear'd ought;

And with retorted scorn, his back he turn'd

On those proud tow'rs to swift destruction doom'd.

*The angel of the Lord encamps round about those that fear him." There is a surprising beauty in these words of the Psalmist, as expressive of the highest safety which the most timorous heart can wish for. He encamps with a view to continue in this situation.-It is around them," rather than beside them. Beside them, would have argued great safety; but encaraping "around" implies infinitely more, because every passage is guarded, and no way left for the enemy to give the attack with advantage. Encamps around when dangers are most rife, and humanity is most inactive and off its guard." Around those that fear him," rather thus expressed, in condescension to our unbelieving weakness; the believer being sometimes conscious that he fears God, when he dares not conclude that he loves him.-That no room may be left for unbelief to found its arguments upon, the potency of the illustrious protector is pointed out in his character, as the "angel of the Lord."

Thus, Novitio, this faithful guardian nobly retreated from the tents of rebellion, and ere long returned, commissioned with the rest of the celestial hosts, to fight with the perfidious miscreants, in the quarrel of the Most High; and there he discovered at once his zeal for his God, and the prowess of his own martial arm; for when,

Before the cloudy van,
On the rough edge of battle ere it join'd,
Satan with vast and haughty strides advanc'd
Came tow'ring, arm'd in adamant and gold:
Abdiel that sight endur'd not, where he stood
Among the mightiest, bent on highest deeds.
But from his armed peers
Forth stepping opposite, half way he met
His daring foe, at this prevention more
Incens'd, and thus securely him defy'd.

Proud, art thou met! thy hope was to have reach'd
The height of thine aspiring unoppos'd,

The throne of God unguarded, and his side
Abandon'd at the terrour of thy power-
A potent tongue :

But thou seest

All are not of thy train; there be who faith
Prefer, and piety to God, though then

To thee not visible, when I alone

Seem'd in thy world erroneous to dissent

From all: My seet thou seest; now learn too late
How few sometimes may know, when thousands err.

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It was thus the fervent Abdiel accosted the prince of rebels, when they met between the opposing fronts of the angelick armies, on that awful day on which all the hosts of heaven and hell were drawn forth to battle, on the till then unstained field of ether. And,

The grand foe, with scornful eye askance,
Thus answer'd the faithful Abdiel:

-I'll for thee, but in wish'd hour

Of my revenge, first sought, for thou return'st
From flight, seditious angel, to receive
Thy merited reward, the first essay

Of this right-hand provok'd since first that tongue
Inspir'd with contradiction durst oppose

A third part of the Gods, in synod met,
Their deities to assert.

But well thou com'st

Before thy fellows, ambitious to win

From me some plume, that my success may show Destruction to the rest.

At first I thought that liberty and heav'n
To heav'nly souls had been all one; but now
I see that most through sloth had rather serve
Minis'tring spirits, train'd up in feast and song;
Such hast thou arm'd, the minstrelsy of heaven,
Servility with freedom to contend,

As both their deeds compar'd, this day shall prove.

To whom, in brief, thus Abdiel stern replied:
Apostate, still thou err'st, nor end wilt find
Of erring from the path of truth remote i
Unjustly thou deprav'st it with the name
Of servitude, to serve whom God ordains,
Or nature; God and nature bid the same,
When he who rules is worthiest, and excels
Them whom he governs.

Reign thou in hell, thy kingdom; let me serve
In heaven God ever blest, and his divine

Behests obey, worthiest to be obey'd;

Yet chains in hell, not realms, expect; mean while From me return'd as erst thou said'st from flight, This greeting on thy impious crest receive.

So saying, a noble stroke he lifted high,
Which hung not, but so swift with tempest fell
On the proud crest of Satan, that no sight,
Nor motion of swift thought, less could his shield
Such ruin intercept; ten paces huge

He back recoil'd; the tenth on bended knee
His massy spear upstay'd.

According to the matchless Milton, the faithful Abdiel first asserted the sovereign right of his God, both by word and deed; and thus he hath continued an invincible hero in the cause of his master, a willing and faithful guardian of his militant children, as you have just now seen in the conflict between him and the infernal brotherhood.

I thought in my dream that I thus replied ;--I thank you most heartily, my dear, my venerable Veratio, for this discovery, so strange and surprising in itself; and I thank you most gratefully, dear sir, for this opportunity of seeing the valour of this celebrated angel. But worthy Veratio, whose delight appears to be to instruct the ignorant, I pray you deign to inform me, if it is possible that such a war may be maintained around a Christian, and the party himself, for whom the strife is, remain unacquainted with it? To which I thought he replied; You may be at no loss, Novitio, to know that the best of Christians, even fathers in the Redeemer's family, see and know only in part, therefore there may be many things of this kind transacted among the immaterial inhabitants of the spiritual world, without their knowledge. Every Christian may certainly be informed, by the volume of revelation in general, that all the angels of God are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto them who are appointed heirs of salvation; nevertheless, there is many offices of kindness performed by those benevolent spirits, in behalf of the saints, which them ost intelligent Christians remain utterly ignorant of, while they sojourn in this land of separation and sorrow. As we may see in

the case of good Stabilius, he perfectly knows that God is the prime efficient of all his peace and composure of mind; but he does not know that there is a martial seraph appointed by the Sovereign of heaven, as the guardian of his bed, and protector of his dying moments; nor is he in the least apprehensive that there is such a swarm of reprobate spirits so near, and so earnestly seeking the distraction of his mind.

If the militant members of the chosen church could really see their shining attendants, and understand all the ways of the Lord perfectly, they would enjoy the heavenly glories before the appointed time; but the fulness of joy and the manifest glories of the redeemed are reserved for eternity, therefore not to be expected in time. On this account, many of the Lord's works are done in the dark, and his ways are involved in thick clouds; so that poor blind mortals cannot discern them before they enjoy the light of eternity. And you yourself, Novitio, may know that the conflicts between our benevolent protectors, the guardian angels, and our enemies of the reprobate race, are not to be seen with bodily eyes, but with the more refined rays of the mind. Bodily eyes discern corporeal objects, but spiritual sight alone can discern a spirit.

I thought in my dream, that towards the dissolution of Stabilius, I beheld a squadron of armed seraphs, who were dispatched from the armies in the skies to assist Abdiel in the protection of this chosen disciple; who, as soon as arrived, and fraternal salutation passed after the angelick manner,