seeches God to take him away from this mortification and disgrace, by causing his death. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.'

It is very probable, also, that Jonah felt thus strongly, because he thought that the Ninevites might receive more favor from God, than even his own people, the Jews. He knew that the Jews had been guilty of so much sin, that they were exposed to the just displeasure of God. Whether they would repent, as the Ninevites did, was quite doubtful. They might be cut off, as a nation; while the people of Nineveh would be spared, and become great, powerful and happy. Here would be an additional mortification and disgrace, which, as a Jew, he would feel very deeply; and he had rather die than endure it.

The reproof which God gave to Jonah, was a very gentle one, considering the sinful feelings which he indulged, and the disrespectful and presumptuous language which he used. Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry ?'

God intended by this question, to lead Jonah to think seriously on the folly and wickedness of his anger, and to see that there was no good reason for it. His own conscience, if permitted to speak; would furnish the most severe reproof; and convince him that, instead of doing well he

was doing very ill, to be angry. To be angry, because God was good, and the penitent Ninevites to be saved from destruction; what a selfish, hardhearted man, it showed him to be. To be angry,

because it seemed to him, that some dishonor might happen to himself, or to the Jewish nation; what a proud spirit he had,-what a want of confidence in the wisdom and power of God ;-as if God would not take care of his own honor, and do all things in the best manner.

Doest thou well to be angry? When you feel angry, my dear children, ask yourselves this same question. Stop a little, and think what it is that causes your anger. Why do you feel angry? Against whom do you feel angry? Can you give any good reason for being angry? In almost every case, you will find that, like Jonah, you have no good reason for indulging such a temper, and that you are acting, as he did, very foolishly and wickedly. You wonder, probably, that he could dare to feel and to speak, as he did. Others who are looking on, when you are angry, wonder, in the same way, at your feelings and conduct. Remember what the Bible says; Cease from anger, and forsake wrath, fret not thyself in anywise, to do evil. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Remember, too, my dear children, that there

never can be the least shame or disgrace, in doing what God commands us to do; even if things do not turn out as we could wish. And if they should turn out, so as greatly to disappoint and perplex us; to cause us even much trouble and sorrow ;-still if we have been faithful in doing our duty, we ought not to complain. God overrules all things. He will bring good out of evil. Although it may so happen, that, while we have gone forward and acted in obedience to his commands, our fellow-men may think there is some occasion for ridiculing or despising us ;-let us feel, that their treatment ought to give us no uneasiness, if we have but secured the approbation and favor of God. In a little while both they and we must appear before God, to be judged by Him, for all that we have done in this world. Then it will be seen, that it was the greatest honor, to be employed, in any way, in the service of God; and that theirs is the shame and disgrace, who have dared to ridicule those who are thus employed.

Had Jonah thought of these things, and felt, as he ought to do, a cheerful acquiescence in all that God did, he would have remained, a little longer, contented and happy, in the city of Nineveh. By remaining there, he would have been of great service to the inhabitants. He could have taught them a great deal about the true God,

and their duty towards Him, and towards their fellow-men. He might have led not a few of them to become thoroughly changed in their conduct; desirous of forsaking all kinds of wickedness, and of rendering a cheerful obedience to the commands of God.

But Jonah thought and felt very differently. 'The gentle reproof which he received from God, did not seem to produce its proper effect upon him. He still was disappointed. His pride was not subdued. He could not overcome his shame and mortification at finding, that the threatenings which he had denounced were not to be executed. He could not remain any longer in the city.

'So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.'

He was hardly willing, after all, to give up the idea, that a 'great judgment would come upon Nineveh. They might fall back again into their wickedness, and God still punish them with the entire destruction of their city. Or, if this did not happen, some other kind of evil might overtake them. At any rate, he thought he would wait and see, and know exactly, how God would treat those against whom he had been ordered to denounce so terrible a calamity.

The booth or covering under which Jonah sat,

T

was, probably, a small kind of house, made of the branches and leaves of trees.

In that warm

climate, he thought this might, perhaps, shelter him. But to make it more comfortable, and, at the same time, to teach him a useful lesson, 'God prepared a gourd, and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief.'

The learned men who have endeavored to discover, if possible, what kind of plant this gourd was, are still in doubt with regard to it. We must not think, that it was much like what we call by that name in this country. It was probably more like a small tree, with a slender trunk, thick branches, and broad leaves. Such trees are found in that part of the world where Nine