^^,^ 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-S) 
 
 A 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 1.1 
 
 
 ■u 
 u 
 
 Ufi 12.0 
 
 ^ ii 
 1^ i^ ^ 
 
 PhotDgmpbic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 L-C^ 
 
 iV 
 
 ^ 
 
 O 
 
 ^" 
 
 ^\ 
 
 23 WIST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. MStO 
 
 (716) •72-4503 
 
 
 6^ 
 
 : 
 
 ,F 
 
 #:-%;' 
 
CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series, 
 
 CIHIVI/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microraproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notas tachniquas at bibliographiquaa 
 
 Tha Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha bast 
 original copy avaiiabia for filming. Faaturas of this 
 copy which may ba bibiiographically uniqua. 
 which may altar any of tha imagas in tha 
 raproduction, or which may significantly changa 
 tha usual mathod of filming, ara chaclcad balow. 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 Coloured covers/ 
 Couvarture de coulaur 
 
 I I Covers damaged/ 
 
 Couverture endommagie 
 
 Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaur^ at/ou pelliculAe 
 
 I I Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couvarture manque 
 
 [~~| Coloured maps/ 
 
 Cartes giographiques an coulaur 
 
 □ Coloured init (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encra da coulaur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ 
 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 RalM av9c d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may causa shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La re liura serr^e peut causer da I'ombre ou da la 
 distortion la long <i9 la marge intirieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may 
 appear within the text. Whenever possible, these 
 have been omitted from filming/ 
 II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutAas 
 lors d'una restauration apparaissent dans le texte, 
 mais, lorsqua oela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pas AtA filmAes. 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentalras supplAmentaires: 
 
 L'Instltut a microfilm* le meilleur exemplairv 
 qu'il lui a 4tA possible de se procurer. Les 'Jviails 
 de cet exemplaire qui sont paut-Atre uniques du 
 point de vue bibilographique, qui peuvent modifier 
 une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 modification dans la methods normala de filmaga 
 sont indiqute ci-dossous. 
 
 T 
 t 
 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 n 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 Coloured pagaa/ 
 Pages de coulaur 
 
 Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommagias 
 
 Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 Pages rastaurAas at/ou pelllculAes 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 Pages d6colortes, tachattes ou piquias 
 
 Pages detached/ 
 Pages d^tachtes 
 
 Showthrough/ 
 Transparence 
 
 Quality of print varies/ 
 Qualiti InAgala de I'lmprassion 
 
 includes supplementary material/ 
 Comprend du material suppMmantaire 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Saula Mition disponible 
 
 Pagaa wholly or partially obscured by errata 
 slips, tissues, etc., have been ref limed to 
 ensure the best possible image/ 
 Les pages totalamant ou partiellement 
 obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, una pelure, 
 etc., ont it* fllm^es A nouveau da fapon A 
 obtanir la melllaura image possible. 
 
 T 
 
 P 
 o 
 fi 
 
 C 
 b 
 tl 
 
 s 
 o 
 
 fi 
 
 si 
 o 
 
 Tl 
 s! 
 
 Tl 
 w 
 
 dl 
 ei 
 bi 
 
 rl! 
 re 
 
 This item Is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ca document est film* au taux da rMuction indiqui ci-daaaous. 
 
 10X 
 
 
 
 
 14X 
 
 
 
 
 itx 
 
 
 
 
 22X 
 
 
 
 
 26X 
 
 
 
 
 30X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 %^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 24X 
 
 28X 
 
 32X 
 
The copy filmed hare has baan raproducad thanks 
 to tha ganarosity of: 
 
 Library of tha Pubiic 
 Archives of Canada 
 
 The images appeering here are the best quaiity 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in Iteeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 Original copies in printed peper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All 
 other original copies are filmed beginning on the 
 first page with a printed or iiluatratad impres- 
 sion, and ending on the last page with a printed 
 or illustrated impression. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche 
 shall contain tha symbol ^^- (meaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or tha symbol ▼ (meaning "END"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 IMapa, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Those too large to be 
 entirely included in one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, as many frames as 
 required. The following diagrams illustrate the 
 method: 
 
 L'exempiaira film* f ut reproduit grflce A la 
 ginirositA da: 
 
 La bibliothdque das Archives 
 publiques du Canada 
 
 Las images suivantes ont At* raproduites avec le 
 plus grand soin. compta tenu de la condition at 
 da la nattet* de l'exempiaira film*, at en 
 conformity avec las conditions du contrat de 
 filmaga. 
 
 Lea exemplairas originaux dont la couvarture en 
 papier est imprimte sont film«s en commen^ant 
 par la premier plat at en terminant soit par la 
 darnlAre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'iliustration, soit par le second 
 plat, salon la cas. Tous las autres exemplairas 
 originaux sont filmte en C''nfimen9ant par la 
 pramlAre pege qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'iliustration at 9n terminant par 
 la darniAre page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur ia 
 darnlAre image de cheque microfiche, salon ia 
 cas: la symbols -«- signifie "A SUIVRE", le 
 symbols ▼ signifie "FIN". 
 
 Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre 
 filmte A des taux da reduction diffArents. 
 Lorsque le document est trop grand pour §tra 
 reproduit en un seul clichA, il est film* A partir 
 da I'angle supArieur gauche, da gauche A droite, 
 at de haut an bas, an prenant la nombre 
 d'imagas nAcessaira. Las diagrammes suivants 
 iliustrant la m6thoda. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
TUB 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF PROVIDING 
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION FOR THE POOR: 
 
 CONNECTED WITH 
 
 THE TRUE PRINCIPLE OF ALL CHRISTIAN CHARITY. 
 
 TWO DISCOURSES, 
 
 PREACHED BY REaUEST, 
 
 IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF QUEBEC, 
 
 BEFORE THE QUEBEC DIOCESAN COMMITTEE, OF THE SOCIETY 
 FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, 
 
 ON SUNDAY, THE TWENTY-FIP TH DAY OP OCTOBER, 
 
 f 
 l 
 
 n 
 
 1835. 
 
 By JOHN H. HOPKINS, D. D. 
 
 Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of Vermont. 
 
 PUBLISHED AT THE REaUEST OF THE GENTLEMEN OF THE VESTRY. 
 
 BURLINGTON: 
 
 SMITH AND HARRINGTON 
 
 1835. 
 
DISCOURSE I. 
 
 Isaiah xxxii, 17. 
 
 Tho work of riglitooiisncsi ahall be peace ; and the effbct of riKhtoouin«M, quiotnesi and 
 assurance for ever. 
 
 To an Episcopalian of the United States, my brethren, 
 who looks with affectionate veneration to the parent Church 
 of England, a formal request to deliver the annual discourse 
 before one of her most useful Colonial Societies, is a cir- 
 cumstance of peculiar interest. And when, through the 
 friendly agency of the venerable Archdeacon, (who is the 
 Rector of this Church, and one of the Vice-Presidents of 
 the Society), I received the intelligence, that the first in- 
 stance of such a request had fallen to my lot, I acknowledge 
 that I hailed it as a new pledge of that kind and fraternal 
 spirit, which had been extended to us in so many other 
 forms, before. Personally a stranger to you all, I was 
 conscious that the selection was chiefly attributable to 
 the fact of my being your nearest neighbour: and I 
 accepted the invitation, not so much because it was my own 
 individual concern, but rather because I viewed it as an act 
 of Christian courtesy to the Church of which I am officer, 
 and which I wish I were able to represent on this occasion 
 in a manner moie worthy of her claims. 
 
 But the place, the time, and the office which I bear, 
 alike forbid tlie work of apology or deprecation. Such as 
 I have of knowledge and of skill, I give unto you ; and if 
 it be but little, the blessing of God upon his own truth, is 
 able to make it prosper. 
 
My first object shall be to state briefly the origin and 
 operations of the Society, on behalf of which I appear 
 before you ; and secondly, I shall shew, from the language 
 of the text, the motives to exertion in its support. 
 
 On the eighth day of March, 1699, Dr. Thomas Bray, 
 and four other excellent men, met at London, under the 
 sanction of Bishop Compton, to consult upon the best 
 method of promoting Christian knowledge ; and formed a 
 litde society for that purpose. In a few years, their num- 
 bers increased so greatly, and the sphere of thair opera- 
 tions became so widely extended, that it was found neces- 
 sary to separate the institution into two distinct branches. 
 One of these was incorporated by a Charter from King 
 WiUiam the Third, under the name of the Society for Pro- 
 pagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and directed its ex- 
 ertions to the establishment of Christian ministers in the 
 Colonies of North America and the other Foreign depen- 
 dencies of the British Empire. These exertions were blessed 
 with so much success, that the Episcopal Church of the 
 United States may be truly said to have derived its exist- 
 ence, and the Clergy of the Dioceses of Canada and Nova 
 Scotia to have drawn their support, mainly from the zeal 
 and liberality of that society. 
 
 The other branch of the original Institution retained the 
 name of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 
 and continued to prosecute its first design by the founda- 
 tion and encouragement of pubhc Charity Schools, and 
 by the distribution of the Holy Scriptures, the Book 
 of Common Prayer, the Homilies and other rehgious books 
 and tracts, in accordance with the principles of the Church 
 of England. In these departments of benevolent Chris- 
 tian effort, it is impossible to survey without astonishment 
 the vast amount of good they have effected. 
 
 Within the first half century they had established two 
 thousand catechetical schools throughout the Kingdom, 
 
of which the schools of London alone reckoned 5000 chil- 
 dren. This branch of their labours resulted in the forma- 
 tion of the great National Society for the Education of the 
 Poor upon the principles of the Church of England, in the 
 year 181 1 : and the number of children now receiving edu- 
 cation in the schools of that society, is computed at almost 
 one million. 
 
 The other branch of its operations, in the distribution of 
 the Scriptures, the Book of Common Prayer, and religious 
 tracts, hag not only kept pace with the demand created 
 by these schools, but has extended its blessings to the 
 hospitals, the army, the navy, the prisons, the workhouses, 
 and even to the Colonies of Great Britain, in every part of 
 the globe. In the prosecution of their admirable designs, the 
 Scriptures and the devotional forms of the Church have 
 been scattered far and wide, not only in the English tongue, 
 but in Danish, in Welsh, in Irish, in the Manx language, in 
 Gaelic, in Arabic, and in several dialects of the Indian empire. 
 
 Their zeal however, has not rested here. In 1710, they 
 took up the Danish Mission at Tranquebar, then languish- 
 ing for want of support : and under their auspices it was, 
 that the celebrated Swartz laboured for fifty years with 
 such success among the heathen. His converts alone were 
 between six and seven thousand : and not less than two 
 hundred congregations were established by their other 
 missionaries in Southern India. 
 
 Nor is this all. In the words of the eloquent Bishop 
 of Nova Scotia, " Scarcely a settlement can be found in 
 the wide forests of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, or in 
 the Islands of Prince Edward, Newfoundland, or the Bermu- 
 das, where some of their treasure is not deposited. Many, 
 very many pious members of the Church, too, in those dis- 
 tant Colonies, have been taught to look to the society as 
 the chief source, under Providence, of sound religious 
 knowledge and improvement for themselves and their chil- 
 
6 
 
 (Iren and their children's children, and as a centre and bond 
 of union lor the whole British Empire."* 
 
 Of this admirable Institution, your late eminent Bishop 
 recommended the establishment of a branch or committee 
 lor Quebec, in the year 1818, which was zealously effected 
 with the ready co-operation of the officers of the Royal 
 government, and the active aid of your present venerable 
 and exemplary Diocesan. And since that period you have 
 seen commodious buildings erected for your national 
 schools, you have witnessed the Christian education of 
 children, whose numbers amounted at the period of your 
 last report, to no less than 5925, you have attended their 
 examinations, and must be familiar with the expressions of 
 deep solicitude, and the cares of personal superintendence, 
 by which your excellent Rector and your other clergy 
 manifest their sense of the importance of the institu- 
 tion. But yet, I am instructed to say, that there is a 
 positive necessity for increased liberality and effort, es- 
 pecially in the maintenance of thjse national schools; 
 since otherwise there is imminent danger, that the fu- 
 ture operations of the society will be clogged with em- 
 barrassments and difficulties ; the current of good will be 
 checked ; and the comparison of what might and ought to 
 have been done, with the actual result, instead of filling your 
 hearts hereafter with humble thankfulness for the blessing 
 of God upon your labours, will depress you with the 
 feelings of disappointment and regret. 
 
 2. Let me then, in the second place, ask your attention 
 to the motives which should arouse your best efforts in the 
 liberal support of this institution, derived from the principle 
 of the text, that * The work of righteousness shall be peace, 
 and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance 
 for ever.' And to this end I shall pass over, for the present, 
 the more enlarged and full sense of the passage, and con_ 
 
 *:Pop ih« Kpport of llu« Sociofy for le.ia. 
 
 
fine myself to the shewing, that upon your implanting the 
 principles of righteousness in the minds of the poor, so 
 far as you have ability, may depend, under God, not only 
 their peace but your own; as it respects, first, the quietness 
 and assurance of government, next, your social comfort in 
 the community, and lastly, your condition in the judgment of 
 the great day. 
 
 1 . The age in which we hve, my brethren, is full of iear- 
 ful warnings. The spirit of insubordination — of revolution — 
 of the overturn of all most sacred and most dear — seems 
 to be abroad throughout the earth ; and the instruments of 
 that spirit, every where, are the lower orders of the peo- 
 ple. Excited by the oratory of demagogues, filled with 
 impracticable notions of liberty and equality, taught to 
 band together for the correction of alleged abuses, 
 ready to destroy every government which hesitates to 
 adopt such changes as may please the popular will, and en- 
 couraged to look with suspicious jealousy upon their supe- 
 riors in earthly rank, as if those superiors were all trying 
 to monopolize their rights, and trample upon their privilc^- 
 ges, the labouring classes of every community exhibit a 
 growing hostility to law and order, which the arm of go- 
 vernment cannot always repress, and which can only be 
 effectually prevented by the early inculcation of sound 
 religious principle. In this aspect of the question, there 
 is a serious difference between the rich and the poor, in 
 all communities. The rich may be destitute of piety, 
 and yet be the friends of government and of the public 
 peace; because they have usually every thing to lose and 
 nothing to gain by the work of revolution. But if the 
 poor hitve no rehgious principle to guide them, they are 
 always prepared for disturbance and commotion. They 
 have no property which they fear to hazard. They have 
 no ties of pleasure, or of fashion, or of connexion, or of 
 character, or of worldly honor, or of refinement, which can 
 
8 
 
 operate in tlie absence of the checks of conscience. The 
 (ear of the law is easily silenced when they have the ap- 
 pearance of numbers on their side ; and as for all the rest, 
 the chances of public agitation seem rather in their favor, 
 for they have nothing to lose, and in the general wreck 
 they may gain something. Plainly then, the peace of 
 governments demands the religious training of the poor. 
 Make them Christians, and they will be, on principle, lo- 
 vers of law and order. Make them Christians, and you 
 will make them abhor mobs and insurrections, with their 
 horrid accompaniments of oaths, and curses, and violence, 
 and blood. The Gospel is the religion of peace. It in- 
 culcates the spirit of obedience to all lawful and settled 
 authority. It renders the poor man honest, and industri- 
 ous, and temperate, — the lover ot his home, and of his 
 Church, and of his Bible, — the lover of his country and of 
 his government, and of mankind. And hence in this re- 
 spect it might be truly said, that * The work of righteous- 
 ness is peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness 
 and assurance for ever.' 
 
 2. But the same principle applies with equal force, to 
 the social comfort of every community. The rich and the 
 poor are bound together by a chain of positive necessity, 
 for the support and aid of each other. The rich could 
 not live without the bodily labour of the poor. The poor 
 could not live without the mental efforts of the higher class- 
 es, and the wages which they receive for their own labour. 
 Hence there is an indispensable connexion, which renders 
 the upri ht principles of the poor a primary element in 
 the peace and safety of every family. If servants are 
 destitute of religion, where is the guaranty for their hon- 
 esty, their fidelity, or their truth? The property J the 
 higher classes is entrusted to them. They attend the sick ; 
 they nurse the children ; they look after and reguiate the 
 concerns of every household ; and if they are false or 
 
treacherous, or profligate, or [)roliiiie, they do not siiller 
 alone, but poison every domestic circle around them. Il 
 there be many ol' them in one family together, without the 
 motives of religious principle, quarrels and strifes, intrigues 
 and corruption, disturb the peace of their employers as 
 well as their own : nor is it possible for all the restraints 
 of interest and law to keep them in the track of duty, if 
 the fear of God and the sense of religious obligation be 
 wanting. Hence we see how large a mass of domestic 
 trouble grows out of the impiety of the poor. Locks and 
 bolts to guard against dishonesty — suspicious watchfulness 
 to prevent the contamination of children and youth — and a 
 general expression of distrust and dissatisfaction, with fre- 
 quent and painful discipline and rebuke, — ail does not suf- 
 fice to secure family peace from constant invasion : and 
 therefore it is, that a thoroughly good servant is a rare jew- 
 el, seldom found ; and when found, almost invaluable. 
 
 Now it is manifest that this fruitful source of vexation 
 and disappointment in domestic lile would be cut off, if 
 the poor were faithfully trained in the principles of the 
 Gospel. Make them Christians, and locks and bolts, and 
 suspicion and watchfulness, would all be unnecessary ; be- 
 cause a far higher and stronger principle would govern 
 them. No longer eye servants, but doing for you as they 
 would have done for themselves, — affectionate and obedi-. 
 ent, attentive and punctual, sober and self-denying, — pre- 
 serving your property from waste, your character from 
 detraction, your children from corruption, and your tem- 
 per from provocation, — in this respect also it would be found 
 true, that * The work of righteousness would be peace, and 
 the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for 
 ever.' 
 
 3. In the third place, however, I have said that on your 
 implanting the principles of religion in the minds of the 
 poor, according to your ability, depends, under God, your 
 
 9 
 
10 
 
 ^ 
 
 I' ' 
 
 own peace, as it respects your condition in the judgment 
 of the great day: and this I think can be easily demonstra- 
 ted, from ihe inspired declaration, that though you had all 
 faith, so that you could remove mountains, and yet had not 
 charity, you would be nothing in the estimation of God. 
 The blessed Redeemer, in his description of the judgment, 
 represents the accusation brought against the wicked, in 
 these words : * I was hungry and ye gave me no meat, I 
 was thirsty and ye gave me no drink, I Avas a stranger and 
 ye took me not in, naked and ye clothed me not, sick and 
 in prison and ye visited me not.' And when they ask him 
 saying, * Lord when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or na- 
 ked, or a stranger, or sick, or in prison, and did not minis- 
 ter unto thee,' he replies, * Verily I say unto you, inasmuch 
 as ye did it not to the least of these my brethren, ye did 
 it not to me.' 
 
 Now can it be believed that the Saviour will thus con- 
 demn the neglectors of these duties of charity to the bo- 
 dies of men, and yet not punish with equal severity the 
 neglect of a still higher duty to their souls ? If we are 
 bound to supply the flesh of the poor with food convenient 
 for them, are w^e not equally bound to supply their immor- 
 tal spirits with the bread of life ? Must the lips of the 
 thirsty receive drink, and shall the soul be denied the wa- 
 ters of salvation ? Shall the nakedness of the body be 
 covered, and the nakedness of the spirit be overlooked or 
 disregarded 1 Is the stranger to be taken into a house of 
 hospitahtyj and shall those who are aliens to the common- 
 wealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise 
 not be taken into the Church of Christ ? Shall the sick- 
 ness of the mortal frame be relieved with medicine, and 
 shall not the leprosy of sin upon the soul call for the balm 
 of Gilead, and the divine Physician there ? Shall the pris- 
 oner in an earthly dungeon be visited, and shall not those 
 who are in bondage to Satan he brought into the glorious 
 
11 
 
 liberty of the children of God 1 Nay, my brethren, it 
 would be a most absurd perversion of the principle of the 
 divine judgment to think, that the Lord will punish the 
 neglect of the lesser duties to our fellow creatures, and 
 yet suffer the greatest of all to be despised. If we have 
 not the spirit of Christ, saith the Aposde, * we are none of 
 his,' we are solemnly bound to be like-minded with him — to 
 be followers of his steps, — to walk so as he left us for an 
 ensample. And as it was the chief business of his bless- 
 ed life to preach the gospel to the poor, in vain may we 
 hope for his approbation, if we do not, according to our 
 utmost >ibility, follow him in the same work of mercy. In 
 this respect then, in a far more eminent and important 
 sense, — if prosecuted with the pure aims and motives of 
 religion, — this * work of righteousness would be peace ; and 
 the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for 
 ever.' 
 
 But specially imperative is this application of our subject 
 when we remember that we cannot provide effectually for 
 the religious education of the poor, without setting before 
 them the light of a Christian example. The lower orders 
 of our fellow men look to the higher in all things. The 
 poor ape the rich, as well as they can, in sentiment, in 
 dress, in language, in manners, in pleasures, and in the 
 whole economy of life. And how should it be otherwise, 
 when we reflect that we are of the same blood, possessing 
 a common nature ; the same appetites, passions, faculties, 
 belonging equally to us all. So long, therefore, as the rich 
 are dissipated and profligate, lovers of pleasures, more 
 than lovers of God, we can expect no great progress of 
 good amongst the lower orders of society. If the master 
 despises and laughs at the restrp-'^ts of the Gospel, the 
 man will do the same. If the n. ress gives her heart 
 to personal decoration, and her hours to idle reading, 
 neglecting the Church, and preferring the society . of 
 
12 
 
 I* * 
 
 the gay and thoughtless, to that of the sober and the 
 wise, her maid will copy the example. There was a 
 time in the early ages of Christianity, when, in the lan- 
 guapje of prophecy, Kings were the nursing fathers, and 
 Queens the nursing mothers of the Church. The famous 
 Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, had a 
 Chapel in his palace ; and often read to his courtiers from 
 the oracles of God. Theodosius, surnamed the Great, 
 submitted to the public penance imposed by Ambrose of 
 Milan, and gave the testimony of his personal obedience to 
 the power of the gospel. And Alfred the Great — perhaps the 
 brightest name in English story — translated the Scriptures 
 into Saxon for the use of his subjects ; and composed hymns, 
 like another David, for the worship of that Lord, * by whom 
 Kings reign, and Princes execute judgment.' O, blessed 
 would be the transformation throughout all lands, if the 
 great, and the wealthy, and the powerful, would thus set 
 themselves to the work of practically exemplifying the ex- 
 cellency of the Gospel. Then, National Schools for the 
 religious education of the poor would indeed fulfil the 
 object of their institution, for every family would carry on 
 the work which they began, and cherish the seed of Chris- 
 tian truth until it brought forth fruit fit for the harvest. 
 Then the spirit of discontent and insubordination, of faction 
 and intrigue, of impiety and ambition, would cease to 
 threaten the stability of the throne and the security of 
 the altar. Then the fearful scourge of pestilence, and the 
 horrors of war, would no longer desolate *he nations. 
 Then the favorite occupations of earth would tend to fit 
 mankind for heaven : affection, and confidence, and holiness, 
 and truth, would govern all the relations of our race : * the 
 light of God's countenance would shine upon us ; and the 
 work of righteousness would, indeed, be * peace, and the 
 effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever.' 
 For the sake then, my beloved brethren, of every interest 
 
13 
 
 that should be dear to your hearts — as patriots, as husbands, 
 as fathers, as Christians — cherish the Society for the promo- 
 tion of Christian knowledge, — do your share of the great 
 work, so much required, — support your establishment for 
 the religious education of the poor, and let it not languish 
 for want of any encouragement or assistance which you are 
 able to bestow. The objects of such a charity are ol ines- 
 timable worth. These children are the future men and 
 women of the state. Talents, energies, powers, may now 
 lie dormant within them, which shall hereafter prove a 
 blessing or a curse to the world, according to their present 
 training. It is not for me to say what destiny may be 
 prepared for them in the mysterious Providence of that 
 God, who often works such wonders by the humblest in- 
 struments. It is not for me to tell the consequences, even 
 to your posterity, of your neglect or fulfilment of this very 
 duty. But be all this as it may, of one thing we are cer- 
 tain : The children of the poor are immortal beings ; equal 
 to the highest of our race, as well by nature, as by the privi- 
 leges of redemption. If trained up to piety and virtue, they 
 may never rise to any earthly honor, but they shall one 
 day stand in the presence of the King of kings. If conse- 
 crated to the service of Christ, they may never rise to any 
 earthly rank, but they will one day be crowned with a dia- 
 dem of glory, when the brief distinctions, the fleeting riches, 
 the empty pomps and vanities of this world, shall have fled 
 for ever. Think, then, I beseech you, that to your hand 
 they are committeu. Think that of your hand they will be 
 required. And do on this and every similar occasion,whatso- 
 ever you shall find in your heart; not grudgingly, nor of neces- 
 sity; but remembering that 'the Lord loveth a cheerful giver.' 
 But I am aware that in the views of many, the engrossing 
 anxieties which cluster round the exciting crisis of Pub- 
 lic affairs, as well as the pressing calls of private ne- 
 cessity, serve as a sort of apology for neglecting such 
 
14 
 
 I M 
 
 
 charities as this. Other work is to be done, far more im- 
 portant — other opinions to be expressed, far more inter- 
 esting — other duties to be fulfilled, which will brook no 
 delay. Alas ! how hard we find it to practise the precept, 
 * Take no thought for the morrow, sufficient unto the day is 
 the evil thereof.' How hard to trust Providence with the 
 government of nations ; and quietly, in humble reliance on 
 his wisdom and his power, to go on fulfilling cheerfully and 
 faithfully our own circle of allotted effort. And yet, can 
 we resist the encroachments of misrule and disorder, with- 
 out the Divine blessing 7 Is it our prerogative to rule ' the 
 raging of the sea, the noise of his waves, or the madness 
 of the people V Is it the voice of poor mortality, though 
 decked in all the greatness of this world's dominion, that 
 can say to the tumults of anarchy, Peace, be still? Nay, 
 my beloved brethren, after all we can do, God is the Ruler 
 of nations. The powers that be, are powers only because 
 they are ordained of Him who is the source of all power. 
 And if ever there is a time which more than all others calls for 
 humiliation, and the zealous performance of every Christian 
 work which our hand can find to do, it is when the ele- 
 ments of the social world are in danger, and the moral pes- 
 tilence of confusion and discord is abroad throughout the 
 earth. 
 
 May you, then, my brethren, suffer nothing to hinder 
 your partaking in this and every other labor of Christian 
 beneficence. May that blessed Saviour, without whom 
 nothing is strong, nothing holy, inspire you with such zeal 
 for this and every other good work, that in the last, the 
 final day, you may lift up your heads with joy, and behold 
 many of these children, saved by your instrumentality, and 
 hear them, in the presence of an assembled universe, in- 
 voke blessings on your name. 
 
 Note. — The author is perfectly aware that the principles touched upon in this dis- 
 course are by no means doveloped nor enforced as their importance deserves; nor 
 
15 
 
 was it his own opinion that so alight and hasty a productiuii merited the trouble and 
 cost of publication. He would avail himself, however, of the occasion to say, that 
 while he disclaims all reference to any particular system, he is thoroughly con. 
 vinced that political economy will never be understood, until National Christutnity 
 is adopted, as its fundamental principle. National education, if not sanctified by 
 religious truth, will only qualify mankind the better for the work of discord. 
 Reforms in governments will be worthless, unless some better mode is provided for 
 the training of the people in the knowledge and love of the Divine Will : and no 
 union will ever preserve national prosperity or national peace, until men learn to b© 
 united in the service of the Almighty. 
 
 ■J' 
 
 
DISCOURSE II. 
 
 hi'. 
 
 n 
 
 Mat. XXV, 45. 
 
 Verily I nay unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to ono of the leait of theie, ye did i' not 
 to me. 
 
 It has pleased the directors of the Society in whose be- 
 half, my brethren, your liberality was exercised this morn- 
 ing, to request that such as were not then present, or who 
 were, probably, unprepared for the collection, might have 
 an opportunity to contribute on this occasion. It will not 
 be expected, however, that I should enter again on the 
 specific objects of the Society. Leaving these to your own 
 unbiassed principles and feelings, let me rather apply my- 
 self to the higher aim of instruction, on the great principle 
 of good works in general, which is to regulate the final 
 judgment of the last day. The ministers of Christ may 
 indeed, lawfully reiterate their plea, for any object of Chris- 
 tian benevolence or Christian morality: but the peculiar end 
 of their office is of a more comprehensive kind. It is to 
 implant the character of pure and undefiled religion in the 
 soul — to explain to the understanding and press home 
 upon the heart the true influence of that celestial faith, from 
 which, as from a perennial fountain, all charity must flow, 
 if it would claim the elevated rank of Christian virtue. 
 May the Spirit of God be present with us, that we may set 
 before you aright the exalted standard of religious obliga- 
 tion, and that you may seek to attain it with sincerity and 
 truth. 
 
17 
 
 * When the Son of man,* saith our blessed Saviour, * shall 
 come in his glory, anu all the holy angels with him, 
 then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and before 
 him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them 
 one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
 the goats, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but 
 the goats on the left. Then shall the King say to them on 
 his right hand. Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. 
 For I was an hungred and ye gave me meat : I was thirsty 
 and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger and ye took me in : 
 naked and ye clothed me : I was sick and ye visited me : 
 I was in prison and ye came unto me. Then shall the 
 righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an 
 hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink: when 
 saw we thee a stranger and took thee in, or naked and 
 clothed thee : or when saw we thee sick and in prison, and 
 came unto thee 1 And the King shall answer and say un- 
 to them. Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done 
 it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done 
 it unto me.' 
 
 * Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, 
 Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared 
 for the devil and his angels : for I was an hungered and 
 ye gave me no meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no 
 drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, 
 and ye clothed me not ; sick, and in prison, and ye visited 
 me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying. Lord, 
 when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or 
 naked, or sick or in prison, and did not minister unto thee ? 
 Then shall he answer them saying. Verily I say unto you, 
 inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye 
 did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting 
 punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.* 
 
 There are several questions here involved, worthy of our 
 
18 
 
 
 consideration : First, how is it that we hear nothing of faith 
 but only of works, in this representation of the judgment 1 
 Secondly, how is it that Christ himself is looked upon as 
 the party interested, whenever we assist or neglect his 
 people? and, thirdly, how shall we be exposed to condem- 
 nation, merely for omitting a certain class of Christian du- 
 ties, rather than for the perpetration of gross crimes 1 To 
 each of these we shall endeavour to give a satisfactory 
 reply. 
 
 1. First, then, how is it that the great Redeemer takes 
 no notice of faith in the striking and important detail here 
 given us ? Was it not himself who said * Whoso believeth 
 in me shall not perish, but shall inherit everlasting life ? 
 Does not his Apostle expressly tell us, that salvation is of 
 grace through faith, and not of works, lest any man should 
 boast 7 Are we not told to forsake our own righteousness, 
 which is of the law, and rely solely on the merits of Christ, 
 who is made of God, to us, righteousness and sanctification 
 and complete redemption ? And is it not certain that jus- 
 tification, by faith alone, is the standing article of belief, 
 among all the reformed churches ? How then, is it, that in 
 this most interesting passage of his revealed word, we read 
 not one syllable about faith, but are referred to works alto- 
 gether, as the decisive test of our title to the kingdom of 
 heaven 1 
 
 This question, my brethren, would truly present to us a 
 serious difficulty, if it were not for one circumstance which 
 is all important to the proper interpretation of the passage. 
 Observe, then, that our Lord is not speaking at all of the 
 general performance of moral duties or benevolent actions 
 to mankind at large, but simply of those duties and actions 
 as they concern him, and him only. He does not say. 
 Your neighbour was hungry and ye gave him meat ; your 
 fellow creature was sick, and ye visited him ; but he says, 
 I was hungry, and ye gave me meat ; I was sick, and ye 
 
19 
 
 came unto me : and when the righteous say unto him, Lord, 
 when saw we thee, in this condition 1 he repHes, If ye saw 
 not me, yet ye saw and reheved my brethren, for my sake ; 
 not my creatures, not mankind at large, but my brethren. 
 Now who are his brethren, we learn from his own lips, in 
 a very remarkable passage, related by St. Matthew, when 
 being told by one of the company that his mother and 
 his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him ; he 
 answered and said, * Who is my mother and who are my 
 brethren 1 And he stretched forth his hand towards his dis- 
 ciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren : for 
 whosoever shall do the will of my Father in heaven, the 
 same is my brother and sister and mother.' 
 
 Precisely parallel is the passage where the Saviour saith, 
 * Whosoever shall give to one of you a cup of cold water 
 only, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he 
 shall in no wise lose his reward,' and again,*Hethat receiveth 
 you, receiveth n e, and he that receiveth me, receiveth 
 him that sent me.' 
 
 Now with this clue, we shall have no difficulty in dis- 
 covering the true interpretation of the principle of the 
 judgment : namely, that the works on which it will turn are 
 not the works of morality nor of natural benevolence, but 
 the works of faith. They are works which have respect 
 to Christ Jesus — works done for him and to him — if not to 
 him in person, yet to those who belong to him, and done 
 because they belong to him, that is, for his sake. True, 
 we do not understand by this that it is not the Christian's 
 duty to be merciful, compassionate, and charitable to all 
 men. So far from it, that we are expressly commanded to 
 be kind, even to the unthankful and the evil ; and St. Paul, 
 in like manner, admonishes us to do good unto all men, 
 especially to the household of faith. But these are not the 
 works referred to in the passage before us. On the con- 
 trary the limitation is clear ; the works of which our Lord 
 
20 
 
 It 
 
 1 1 
 
 i 
 
 » , 
 ill 
 
 KIT' 
 
 speaks are works conxected with himself; and that, so 
 closely, that he counts them as done to him in person, be- 
 cause done for his followers in his name. 
 
 This being understood, we proceed to answer the ques- 
 tion, Why is faith not mentioned as the ground of accep- 
 tance, instead of works ? Because our Lord intended to 
 guard his people from a very common and destructive 
 error. There are two kinds of faith, my brethren, a dead 
 faith, and a hving faith — a false and a true. The dead 
 faith produces no works. The living faith is an active 
 principle, for it works by love, saith the Apostle ; it purifies 
 the heart ; it overcomes the world ; it is the good seed sown 
 on the good ground, which brings forth thirty, sixty, and 
 an hundred fold. Hence, at the judgment, our Lord puts 
 the great and final decision, not on faith in profession, but 
 on faith in fact. He rests not on the faith which might be 
 shewn without works, but on the faith which was shewn 
 by works ; and in order to set the question in the strongest 
 light, he calls tor the works of faith at once, and makes 
 their presence or their absence the ground of his sentence. 
 The same principle is clearly inculcated in other places, 
 where the general judgment is called the harvest of the 
 world. For although every husbandman knows that it 
 is the plant which produces the grain, and the tree which 
 produces the fruit, and that the processes of ploughing, and 
 sowing, and grafting, and pruning, and watering, together 
 with much watchfulness and careful cultivation, must be 
 bestowed on the plant or the tree, il ever he would expect 
 to see the harvest; yet when that time arrives, the in- 
 quiry is not for plants and trees, but for grain and fruit. 
 The plant and the tree are hardly named, but the question 
 is solely about product. The field which produces, is 
 reaped ; the orchard which is fiiiitful, is gathered with joy ; 
 while the barren and untruitftil are condemned and forsa- 
 Icen. Now in the things of God, laith is the plant — faith is 
 
T 
 
 21 
 
 the tree: green leaves and blossoms, indeed, look well, 
 and promise fairly, and they may represent to us the com- 
 mon outside of a religious profession ; but good works are 
 the grain and the fruit, without which, plant, tree, leaves, 
 and blossoms, are all worthless and unavailing. There- 
 fore, in the judgment — the harvest of souls — Christ speaks 
 of works only, not because it is possible to save us without 
 a living faith, but because the only unquestionable mode of 
 proving that we had this faith, is by shewing the good 
 works produced by it. 
 
 2. Seeing, then, through this simple analogy, that the 
 passage before us is in no respect inconsistent with the 
 doctrine of salvation by grace, through faith, but rather 
 confirms it; we proceed, in the second place, to con- 
 sider how it is that Christ considers himself personally in- 
 terested, whenever we assist or neglect his people. « Ve- 
 rily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the 
 least of these, my brethren, ye did it not to me.' Now 
 this is easily explained, on the same principle with one of 
 the most common feelings of human nature, in cases of fam- 
 ily connexion, or strong attachment, or even in the union of 
 national partiality. 
 
 Thus, for instance, suppose my child to be in danger or 
 in want, and one of you should step forward to protect 
 or relieve him, do not I acknowledge the benefit, as if it 
 were done to myself? So of my brother, or any other near 
 and dear relation. Again, what is more universal than to 
 introduce our friends by letter, to strangers at a distance, 
 asking their kind offices, for our sakes ; and in all such 
 cases, are not the acts of attention or benevolence felt by 
 ourselves as a personal favor ; do not we say. Inasmuch as 
 ye did it to this, my friend, ye did unto me ? Again, con- 
 sider the character gained by the man, who, in foreign 
 lands, exerts himsell to shew kindness to our countrymen, 
 though they may be personally unknown to us. Even in 
 
 
22 
 
 1 1 
 
 ■A 
 
 ii' 
 
 this case, do we not find our hearts drawn to him ? do we 
 not I'eel ready to say to such an one, Inasmuch as thou didst 
 it to these, my countrymen, thou didst it unto me 1 On 
 the other hand, let our child, or our brother, our relation, 
 our friend, or our countryman, be neglected, injured, or op- 
 pressed, and who does not understand at once the operation 
 of the same principle 1 Do we not all feel it as a personal 
 wrong 1 Nay, is it not harder to pass by and forgive an 
 injury or insult offered to those we love, than if it had been 
 done to ourselves alone? And where is the heart or 
 tongue in such a case that is not prepared to adopt the 
 language of the text, and say. Inasmuch as thou hast done 
 it to one of the least of these, thou hast done it unto me ? 
 Here then is a simple explanation of this interesting truth. 
 Christ Jesus in his Divine nature, is one with our Father 
 in heaven. The benefits conferred on his children, shall he 
 not acknowledge? the neglects and wrongs offered to 
 them, shall he not avenge ? Christ Jesus, in his human 
 nature, is our elder brother, the head of the whole house- 
 hold of faith. Can we be aided or injured, without his affec- 
 tionate sympathy, and tender concern ? Christ Jesus in 
 both natures, is the Sovereign Governor of his Church ; and 
 can we, the subjects of his government, be protected or 
 oppressed without his requital? Shall the governments 
 of earth be more just and watchful, than the government 
 of heaven ? Manifesdy, then, my brethren, reason demon- 
 strates, and even nature approves, the gracious principle 
 announced in the text : that in every benefit conferred, in 
 every wrong inflicted, on the children, the brethren, the 
 subjects of Christ, he should say, ' Verily inasmuch as ye 
 did it unto one of the least of these, ye did it unto me.' 
 
 3. We come now, in the third and last place, to consider 
 Why the wicked shall be rejected in the great judgment, 
 not so much for what they have done, as for what they 
 have neglected. * I was an hungered, and ye gave me no 
 
23 
 
 meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave mc nc; drink ; naked, 
 and ye clothed me not ; a stranger, sick, and in prison, 
 and ye visited me not.' Here is not a single a^t of posi- 
 tive crime : no idolatry, no blasphemy, no Sabbath break- 
 ing, no disobedience to parents, no murder, no adultery, 
 no theft, no perjury, no falsehood, no covetousness ; but 
 simply and merely the want of those good works of a liv- 
 ing faith, which Christ commands, is set forth as alone suf- 
 ficient for our eternal condemnation. A more solemn truth 
 can no where be found than this, nor one which merits a 
 more practical examination from all who bear the Chris- 
 tian name. Listen then, my brethren, while we endeavour 
 to shew you the justice and necessity of such a sentence, 
 un the grounds of the precepts and the example of the 
 Saviour, and the nature of heaven. 
 
 First, then, let it be observed, that the table of the ten 
 Commandments is chiefly concerned with forbidding sin, 
 and was not designed to furnish, except by necessary im- 
 plication, the full and positive rule of duty. Hence we 
 see, that at the very period of its promulgation to the Isra- 
 elites, the Lord added a vast number of other precepts, 
 shewing them what they should do, as well as what they 
 should not do. Of these precepts our great Redeemer 
 places two in the first rank, on which all the rest depend. 
 * Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
 thy neighbour as thyself.' Now this love, of itself, provides 
 lor the whole circle of duty. * Love worketh no ill to his 
 neighbour,' saith the Aposde, * there fore, love is the fulfilling 
 of the law.' But more than this : it is of the nature of love 
 to be active, busy, and anxious to please and to serve the 
 object beloved. Thus a parent loves his son: is he content 
 therefore with not killing, not robbing, not slandering his 
 child ? and when he abstains from positive wrongs, does he 
 think that he has done his duty? Far from it. If he com- 
 mits any actual crime against his offspring, he is regarded 
 
 >u 
 
24 
 
 as a monster : but he may not commit any snch crime, and 
 yet be a very bad and worthless parent still. And how so? 
 Why, simply by not providing for his child as he ought to 
 do : by not insti ucting, feeding, clothing, and watching 
 over him in the spirit of fatherly affection. These things 
 are the acts of love. Every kind, friendly, benevolent 
 look, word, and deed, proceeds more or less from the same 
 fountain : and the precept of Christ could not insist more 
 plainly on the rendering our whole hfe one round of active 
 beneficence, than by saying * Thou shalt love thy neighbour 
 as thyself,' or as it is expressed elsewhere, * Whatsoever 
 ye would that others should do unto you, do ye even so to 
 them, for this is the law and the prophets.' Now there 
 is no man that does not wish to be beloved by those around 
 him : therefore he must love them in turn. There is no 
 man who, if in want, from hunger and thirst, cold or na- 
 kedness, would not wish his fellow men to supply his ne- 
 cessities : therefore he must supply the necessities of 
 others. There is no man who is a stranger, that does not 
 wish to receive hospitality ; therefore he must render hos- 
 pitality : neither is there any who, being sick or in prison, 
 would not wish to be visited in kindness: therefore let him 
 do the same. Here, then, is the simple principle of social 
 obligation, as applied to the world around us, and especially 
 to our Christian brethren, by the express command of the 
 Redeemer ; and the love of the Lord, on a sdll higher 
 scale of duty, would plainly mingle the spirit of piety with 
 all our actions towards each other. If v/e loved him with 
 all our hearts, we should delight to commune with him in 
 prayer and praise. If we loved him with all our hearts, we 
 should find our chief pleasure in conforming to his word 
 and his will. If we loved him with all our hearts, we 
 should count no sacrifice great that he demanded, no ser- 
 vice irksome which he required; feeling his present accept- 
 ance and his futtire favour more than an ample reward for 
 
 f 
 
25 
 
 hardships greater by ten thousand fold than his service re- 
 quires. Hov; plain then is it, that if, at the h\st day, we be 
 found not to have performed the actions ot" kindness and 
 benevolence towards our brethren according to our oppor- 
 tunities, it must be because we have not loved either Christ 
 or our neighbour : and hence, although we may think 
 that we have done no positive harm, and broken none of 
 the ten Commandments, is it not manifest that we shall 
 have hved in perfect violation of the two greatest Com- 
 mandments of all, and therefore must be worthily cast out 
 amongst the condemned who love themselves too well to 
 feel any proper love either towards Christ or towards each 
 other. 
 
 Equally clear is this point, if we view it in connex- 
 ion w^ith the example of our Saviour. His whole mis- 
 sion — his mortal Hfe, his miracles, his sufferings, his death, — 
 all exhibit a stupendous and almost inconceivable wonder 
 of love — love unUmited, perfect and divine. He taught 
 the ignorant, fed the hungry, healed the sick, wept with 
 the mourner, and continually and without cessation or rest, 
 went about doing good. He lived for others, not for himself. 
 While he restored to others, ease, and health, and earth- 
 ly comfort, he wandered without a place to lay his head, 
 gave his back to the smiters, his cheeks to them that buf- 
 feted him, his temples to a crown of thorns, his limbs to 
 chains, his soul to agony, his body to the cross. Now we 
 are expressly told again and again, that if we would be his 
 disciples, we must follow his steps, so far as the difference 
 of our condition and circumstances would jusdfy. At 
 least we are bound to live for others, to go about doing 
 good, to sympathize with the distressed, to feed the hun- 
 gry, to clothe the naked, to minister to the sick, to visit 
 the widows and orphans in their affliction, and to keep our- 
 selves unspotted from the world. And if these easiest 
 and most obvious parts of our Lord's example be aot fol- 
 
26 
 
 'i 
 
 
 lowed, — if we refuse to look unto Jesus the Author and 
 Finisher of our faith, even in those points where it requires 
 the smallest self-denial to imitate him, — if our faith cannot 
 manifest itself even by these works which are the most 
 readily performed, — how can we lay any claim to his great 
 salvation in the judgment of the great day 1 How can we 
 escape the just sentence due to those who not only diso- 
 '^^ey the precepts of the Saviour, but disregard his example 
 also? 
 
 Still more conclusive, however, does the argument appear 
 to my mind, when we look at the nature of that heaven 
 which Christ died to obtain for his people. It is a place 
 of holiness, and purity, and love. The glory of God is 
 the light of it. The Redeemer is there in person, to lead 
 his followers by the still waters and pleasant fountains of 
 the river of life, and to wipe all tears from their eyes. 
 The Cherubim and Seraphim are there, casting their crowns 
 before the majesty of his throne, and saying, *Holy, Holy, 
 Holy, Lord God Almighty, who art, and wast, and art to 
 come.' The multitude of the angelic hosts are there, with 
 harps of gold, and voices of celestial harmony, to swell 
 the high hosannah of holy triumph and enrapturing praise. 
 The spirits of the just made perfect are there, Abel, and 
 Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and David, 
 and all the prophets, and apostles, and martyrs, and re- 
 formers, and confessors of the faith, all the holy and hum- 
 ble men of he'^rt, all the virgins, and matrons, and widows 
 who were sahciified in spirit, all the little ones in Christ who 
 were taken during infancy out of this world of danger, all 
 the servants and follov^rers of the Lamb of God, united in 
 peace, in love, in happiness and glory. And is there any 
 selfishness, unkindness, uncharitableness, illiberality, cov- 
 etousness, parsimony, or cold hearted insensibility, to be 
 admitted in such society as this 1 Can two walk together 
 if they be not agreed 1 And can we walk with Christ, and 
 
 I 
 
27 
 
 with the angels and saints who rejoice to do his will with 
 their whole heart, unless we too deliver ourselves without 
 reserve to his guidapce, and make it our privilef^e and bliss 
 to follow his steps, by a life of active usefulness, untiring 
 beneficence, and Christian afTection 1 Thus then, again, 
 we justify the sentence of the last day ; and clearly see 
 how impossible it is, from the very nature of heaven, that 
 an unchanged, illiberal, churlish, uncharitable soul, can ever 
 be received there. 
 
 From all this you may readily perceive, my brethren, 
 how erroneous and dangerous is the common notion of 
 the world and worldly Christians, that if they live without 
 any gross and discreditable criminality, pay their debts, 
 and maintain passable characters in the eyes of society, 
 they are at liberty to do in other respects as they please. 
 No opinion can be more false, nor more utterly opposed to 
 the principles of the Gospel. ' Christ died for us,' saith St. 
 Paul, * that we might henceforth live not for ourselves, but 
 for him.' And * By this we know that we have passed from 
 death unto life,' saith St. John, * because we love the breth- 
 ren.' If then we would have a hving faith, we must have 
 that which shews itself by works of continual beneficence. 
 * We must not be weary in well doing, for in due time we 
 shall reap if we faint not.' We must spend and be spent in the 
 service of Christ and his people ; we must remember that 
 we are not our own, but are bought with a price ; and 
 whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we should 
 do all to the glory of God, and the advantage of our 
 brethren. 
 
 But some of you will say, perhaps, that this is an extra- 
 vagant view of the subject; which, carried to its full ex- 
 tent, would leave us no time to attend to our business and 
 our families ; n^ime for the acquisition of literary know- 
 ledge, and no time for wholesome recreation. The objec- 
 tion is plausible, my brethren, but it is not correct. The 
 
28 
 
 II' • 
 il. 
 
 » i 
 
 ■■>! 
 
 Gospel itself charges us to be not slothful, but diligent in 
 business ; yet in suchwise that we may be also * fervent 
 in spirit, serving the Lord.' The Gospel commands us to 
 take care of our families, expressly saying, that * He who 
 provideth not for his own, and specially for those of his 
 household, hath denied the faith, and is worse than an in- 
 fidel.' The Gospel further warrants, and indeed demands 
 as large a stock of literary knowledge as we can obtain, 
 so that it be capable of a useful, religious, and moral appli- 
 cation. But it is true that Christ gives no encouragement 
 to the waste of time and means, in the perusal of that 
 worse than idle literature, which cannot profit, but must 
 inevitably weaken and vitiate the mind. It is true that 
 Christ does not sanction the indulging of our families in 
 luxury and extravagance, while his houses are unfinished 
 or unpaid for, his ministers but half provided, or his poor 
 wanting bread. It is true that Christ does not authorize 
 his servants to waste their evenings and their property, in 
 profanity, riot, levity, revelry, and noise, while there are 
 widows to comfort, orphans to relieve, sick to provide 
 for, or any other good work to perform, within the reach 
 of means and leisure to accomphsh. Yea, it is true that 
 Christ authorizes nothing which we cannot justify before 
 his final tribunal, — nothing which his example, if present, 
 would not sanction-nothing which his spirit, which is pre- 
 sent, would not approve. A better and simpler rule cannot 
 be laid down in uninspired language, than tLis : that the 
 Christian should always act and speak as in the sight of 
 God ; and should never engage in any occupation whatever, 
 on which he cannot ask a blessing. 
 
 Remember then, my beloved brethren, the great princi- 
 ple of the text, in its connexion with the sentence of the 
 last day. Have you faith ? See that it 1% not the dead 
 and bairen faith of the worldling, the formalist, or the hypo- 
 crite ; but the living faith which produces the fruit of love 
 
29 
 
 d 
 
 and good works towards all around you. Have you hope 1 
 See that it is connected with zeal for the service of the 
 great Redeemer, and with those Scriptural evidences of its 
 power in your life and conversation, which shall prove its 
 steadfastness and truth. Have you charity ? See that it does 
 not stint itself to a few miserable acts of alms-giving, or 
 a few forced subsriptions, bestowed not so much from the 
 love of God, as from the fear of man. But let it be the in- 
 ternal motive of Christian affec don, supreme towards Christ 
 and warm towards his people, flowing into every channel of 
 beneficence with constant readiness, and anxious to promote 
 every good work to the glory of your Lord. True, you 
 cannot merit heaven by this. Most true, that your salvation 
 must be at last * by grace through faith ;' and that the only 
 righteousness on which you can rely before God, must be the 
 perfect righteousness of your Lord and Saviour. But then 
 though this be true, — though alter all you can do, you will still 
 find reason to mourn over the hardness of your heart and the 
 coldness of your affections, and be forced to acknowledge 
 yourselves unprofitable servants, — sdll is it equally true that 
 your blessed Redeemer will prosper all your humble efforts 
 by his holy Spirit — will help your infirmities — will kindly re- 
 cord every one of your works of faith in the book of his 
 remembrance, and count it done to himself, in the presence 
 of angels and of men. 
 
 May the Lord grant you grace both to will and to do of 
 his good pleasure. May no sou) amongst you ever hear ad- 
 dressed to him the awful sentence of rejection: *Departye 
 cursed, into everlasdng fire, prepared for the devil and his 
 angels ; for I was an hungered and ye gave me no meat ; 
 thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; naked, and ye cloth- 
 ed me not ; a stranger, sick, and in prison, and ye visited 
 me not ; for veril||I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not 
 to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me.* 
 
30 
 
 But may Christ, the King Eternal and Immortal, welcome 
 you as the blessed ot his Father, and give you the Kingdom 
 prepared for his people from the foundation of the world ! 
 And now to God the Father, th*^ Son, and Holy Spirit, 
 be ascribed all honor, power, dominion, glory, and praise, 
 world without end. Amen. 
 
 ill 
 
 4 Hi 
 
mmm 
 
 elcome 
 ngdom 
 world ! 
 Spirit, 
 praise,