SPIRITUAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 285 



quences to flow from it, which he could not see 

 before. How happy the man whose sight is 

 thus cleared, and his heart enlarged to trace 

 the manifold wisdom and mercy of God in dis- 

 pensations that once seemed dark and unac- 

 countable ! 



We noticed in the late gale, and it is often 

 observed by mariners in the beginning of bad 

 weather, before the storm is fairly set in and 

 fixed in its course, that the needle in the com- 

 pass-box was considerably affected, and there 

 was unusual oscillation, probably through the 

 changing or disturbance of the atmosphere's 

 electric forces; but after the gale was fairly 

 formed or at its height, the needle became true 

 again to its polarity. 



There is an analogy to this in the mind of a 

 Christian under a storm of trial a mind that 

 has been once thoroughly magnetized by the 

 grace of God, and stamped with the law of 

 DIVINE POLARITY, making it to turn always to 

 that POLE-STAR OF BETHLEHEM, the great mag- 

 net of the regenerated soul. Though ordinarily 

 true to his pole, yet in sudden emergencies, on 



