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RURAL HOURS 
is one of the most extravagant follies of man that he constantly 
avows opinions of the attributes of his Maker fashioned by his 
own miserable, puny faculties. As if it were possible that we 
should know aught of the Supreme Being beyond what He is 
pleased to reveal to His creatures ; and as if it were not a most 
plain and rational duty to believe all that is revealed with our 
whole powers of mind and soul ! Even sincere Christians, with 
the weakness and inconsistency of human nature, are too often 
partially guilty of the same folly ; we are all too often disposed in 
practice, if not in theory, to measure the power, and wisdom, and 
justice, and mercy, and love of our God, by our own pitiful stand- 
ard ; and yet, meanwhile, the blessed light of the Gospel is shin- 
ing in all its fullness upon us, revealing great truths connected 
with this most sacred subject, in the plainest words. Happy 
would it be for man were he always content to know his gracious 
God, only as he has made himself known to us, to reject every 
idea of His attributes which is not derived from Scripture, and to 
cling with every energy of soul and body to the holy truths of 
this nature vouchsafed to us in His word. This simple assur- 
ance of the fullness and directness of God's providence would, 
in that case, prove a most blessed source of comfort to every 
Christian heart, amid the trials and sorrows of life ; but it is 
with this as with so many other instances, the boon is ojffered by 
God, but it is rejected or neglected by man. " The very hairs 
of your head are all numberec^" — a stronger expression of tender 
watchfulness could not be framed in human language ; it conveys 
an idea quite beyond the reach of all human power. And such 
were the words of the Deity to sinful man ; it was the holy voice 
of the Redeemer which gave them utterance. It is true, this Ian- 
