OP PUBLIC EVENTS. 551 delay ; a messenger who lays his coldhand on princes, and bears them away resistless through the midst of then- . guards, to their long home, and the unseen world. Vain was the skill of physicians in that mournful hour ; the zeal and fondness of a brother's love was vain, He arrived at the palace of Osrraburg, the habitation of his dearest brother, and only gave him the sad opportunity to see a,dying monarch, and take his last long leave of so near and so desirable a relative. What lesson shall we learn now from the suddenness of this great event but to " awaken our own souls to a con - stant readiness for a removal." Be ye always ready, says our blessed Lord, for ye know not when ye shall be called, whether at evenor at midnight, or when the cock crows in the morning ;" Mar /c xiii. 35. Whether we shall.be sum- moned away at once from our own homes, or when we are travelling in distant lands. Let us remember we are still borderers on the grave, and the eternal world, and we are always within a moment's reach of the invisible state and the region of spirits. It is but the wink of an eÿe, the cessation of the pulse, the stoppage of our breath, and we are gone beyond the power of medicines, and the art of man to recai us. Who would venture upon a jour- neywithout having his soul insured in the hands of Jesus, the Saviour ? 'There is another reflection that we may derive from this circumstance ofthe death of our late sovereign, and that is, how often have we ourselves been preserved in journies, when our gracious monarch died in the midst of his travels ? blow have we left' our habitations in peace, visited our friends in distant parts, and returned to our dwellings in peace again ? But this great man was cut off on a sudden, before he reached the place de- signed ? How often have our friends gone forth from the midst of us, and been brought back with safety and joy ? Our king went from us and returns no more ; here is the sovereignty ofDivine Providence ; here is ¿he interposing will of the Almighty : Let us remember then to take the will and providence of 'the great God into our consulta- tions, " when we say, to-day, or to-morrow, we will .gel into such a city, and continue there a season and return again; whereas we know not what shall be on the mor- row : What -is your life, it is even a vapour that appears N4
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