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divine promise, that "his horn is exalted with honour." For there is no instance of practical piety by which God is more glorified than this. It is an imitation of Him who is the Universal Benefactor; a treading in His footsteps who will have it celebrated among his loftiest attributes that "he giveth food to the hungry, executeth judgment for the oppressed, preserveth the strangers, and relieveth the fatherless and widow." By such good works it is when men behold them, that our Heavenly Father is glorified. The partakers of your pious alms are moved to a devout admiration of Him who disposes your hearts to a compassionate consideration of their distresses, and many tears and sorrowful lamentations are transferred into hymns of grateful praise. Thus St. Paul speaks of that charitable contribution which was raised in the Church at Corinth, for the poor saints at Jerusalem: "For the administration of this service not only supplieth the wants of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God: while by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the Gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them and unto all men." Since then God is thus glorified by the generosities of his people, he is "not unrighteous to forget their work and labour of love." His infinite goodness will return in honour what they obediently render in duty. From him all true dignity proceeds. He is the Fountain of honour and truth. The disposition of all things is with him, and in his hands are the hearts of all. In fulfilment therefore of his own divine promise, he will prefer and dignify the man who advances his praise, for he hath said, "Them that honour me, I will honour." While parsimony and prodigality are alike held in contempt; "the liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand."

Secondly: Next to the honour they receive while they live, it is both intimated in the text, and more definitely expressed in other parts of Scripture, that the benefactors of mankind shall be remembered with affectionate veneration when they cease to be the inhabitants of the present world. Of little consequence indeed can it be to a soul which has already stood in the presence of the Eternal, and from his sentence received its unchangeable destination, whether to the regions of the lost, or to the mansions of the blessed, what judgment may be formed of its actions by posterity. The great anxiety should doubtless be not to acquire posthumous reputation among men, but to approve ourselves to God; and such will be the solicitude of every philanthropist who acts on Christian principles. Yet we ought not to undervalue a consideration to which importance is evidently attached in the Oracles of truth. The inspired writers in repeated instances speak of it as part at least of a good man's singular felicity that his name shall be followed with blessings, and the remembrance of his piety be cherished when he has entered upon his everlasting rest. Thus in contrast with the contemptuous oblivion into which the wicked shall fall it is said, "The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot." So in a verse preceding my text, the Psalmist declares that, "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance;" while of the wicked it is said in the book of Job, "His remembrance shall perish from the earth.”

Experience confirms the declarations of Scripture. The names of holy men of former generations are still fragrant in the Church, and their deeds of beneficence will never be forgotten. The alms of Cornelius, the garments of

Dorcas, and the hospitality of Gaius to the brethren and to strangers, have found an imperishable record in the sacred page; while our own age has already given to posterity the names of Howard, of Wilberforce, and of Carey, to be enrolled among the most illustrious lovers of mankind. Their deeds of disinterested and self-denying piety will be told through all future times, and men will pronounce their names with admiration, when the monuments of heroes and the mausoleums of kings shall have mouldered into dust. No spices can enbalm, no marble perpetuate the memory like virtuous and beneficent actions. The very grave of the good man is venerable, and his dust fragrant as the breath of the morning, and sweet as the flowers of spring.

Thirdly but the chief part of that reward which it pleases God to bestow upon Christian beneficence is reserved for another world. Little as we know of that future state of being upon which we enter at death, we are left in no doubt of the fact, that it will be to every man a state of misery or of happiness, according to the manner in which he shall have spent this present probationary season on earth. They, consequently, who, "by patient continuance in well-doing, are seeking for glory, honour, and immortality," shall not find themselves disappointed at last. That divine and adorable Person, who at the last day will be our Judge, has already made us acquainted with the principle of discrimination upon which the judgment will proceed. When all nations shall be gathered before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats, placing the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left, the great elements of character, which will furnish the rule of distinction, will consist of acts of kindness done to the poor or the persecuted disciples of our Lord. "I was an hungered, 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; for inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye did it unto Wherefore, to them who are thus applauded will he add, "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world."

me.

Then shall be brought to light every secret visit to the abodes of poverty, every prayer offered up by the bed of affliction, every alms bestowed upon the indigent. Incomparably better will it be, in that day, to be known as one who sheltered the outcast, vindicated the oppressed, dried the tear of the sorrowful, soothed the couch of the dying parent, and then became the protector of the widow, and the orphan's friend; than to rank among the most distinguished by birth, by talents, or by this world's renown. Over all those whose titles to distinction stand on no better conditions than these, will God lift up the head of the Christian philanthropist. Him will he exalt with honour, and give him a dignified rank among the spirits of the just. O, with what indescribable surprise and rapture will he find that his poor imperfect services, his little, and as he would deem them, insignificant offices of charity, are all set down in the annals of heaven, and judged worthy of an imperishable recompense! With what amazement will it fill him, and with what ecstacy, to hear his Judge pronounce his encomium before the universe-" Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make the ruler over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

The Institution, whose claims upon your liberal support I am now to present to your attention, is, on many accounts, worthy of the continued and increased patronage of the friends of the Redeemer. And it is, certainly, not amongst the least considerable circumstances which may be spoken to its praise, that it was founded by the piety of our ancestors, and has flourished for more than a century. It has thus stood the test of time: and while many other designs, even of a benevolent nature, have either been superseded, or, finding no adequate encouragement, have expired; this has shewn itself to possess a vigorous constitution, and continues to this day dispensing its benefits according to the original intention of its founders. Its "hoary head is a crown of glory, for it is found in the way of righteousness." Those charitable persons who set it on foot, and most of their immediate successors in its management, have gone to their eternal reward. The early recipients of its bounty also have entered into rest. And may it not be permitted us to imagine with what holy joy they have met in the presence of their gracious Lord; the one not having a benevolent desire ungratified, nor the other a want unsupplied? I cannot but feel that antiquity invests this excellent institution with more than ordinary claims upon the consideration of the present times. Since its youth and its manhood were spent in works of beneficence, its old age is rendered peculiarly venerable. As our forefathers witnessed its infant efforts, and saw it take its first steps in the career of pious benevolence, and their children fostered its maturing years; it may surely appeal to us, descendants of the third generation, to cherish its still remaining strength, nor suffer it to fall into decrepitude and neglect.

True it is that during the hundred years that have rolled over it, many other societies for charitable purposes have risen into existence, and the demands formerly made upon the pecuniary resources of the Church of Christ have multiplied to an almost indefinite extent: nor in pleading for this charity, valuable as it is, would I wish to divert the supplies of any other; yet I may be allowed to urge that if what is given to them is given at the expence of this nothing is gained to the general ca se of philanthropy. It is at the best but a transfer; and the possibility at least may be suggested, that it may not in every case be a transfer considerately and wisely made. It will, I am sure, be acknowledged, that, amidst the numerous, novel, and constantly increasing modes of doing good by which the present age is distinguished, there is a danger lest our more ancient, and on that account, perhaps, less known, and more unobtrusive institutions should be suffered to decay. Happy will the advocate of "THE WIDOWS' FUND," who now addresses you, deem himself, if his feeble, though well-intentioned plea, may attract to its proceedings and its claims your friendly regard.

It may, I apprehend, with truth be urged, that, of all the societies to which advertance has been made, there is not one prepared to step into the place of that, for which I plead, should it unhappily lose the public support. Were the means withholden by which this venerable institution fulfils its truly Christian design, it is difficult to conceive in what way so serious a calamity could be repaired as would then overtake its annual pensioners. None will question, I will not say the desirableness, but the imperative duty of providing for them; and since no more recent method of meeting their necessities has been proposed, this society must persevere in its laudable and unsuperseded labours. And it

will persevere. Its long tried friends will not forsake it; new coadjutors will step forward with their aid; and that watchful and kind Providence which has hitherto smiled upon its efforts, will not suffer the stream of its bounty to exhaust the springs from which it flows.

Language thus confident will not be deemed misplaced, if, in conclusion, I call your attention, in few words, distinctly to its object. If there be one class of individuals whose portion of the common afflictions of life, more especially commends them to the sympathy of Christian bosoms than another, it is precisely that class for whose relief this society exists. No condition presents an image of loneliness like that of the widow; or of destitution like that of the fatherless. Bereft of their protector, their counsellor, their guide, where can a destitute mother and her orphan children look? On whom can she repose when the centre of her affections is gone? To whom direct her infant charge for succour when their parent is committed to the grave? And if that parent have been a holy man of God, the more irreparable their loss. Accustomed to the instructions of such a teacher, who can supply his place? Deprived of the prayers of such an advocate, what voice can intercede for them in the deserted closet, or guide their devotions at the family altar? When that smile is withdrawn in which the innocence of childhood loved to disport; when those lips are silent on which the listening family-group had been wont to hang with infantile delight, while they poured forth streams of entertainment and knowledge; when those eyes are closed, from whose mild lustre a mother's heart caught the inspiration of gladness; when that arm lies nerveless on which she had so often leaned with fond affection, as they walked in company to the house of God; when a cheerless void occupies his place, whose was the presiding mind, and the dignified demeanour, that constituted the stay and the glory of the household; when a bereavement so complicated, a calamity so overwhelming is sustained, who can wonder at the exclamation, "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me!" It is yours, then, my Christian brethren, the patrons and supporters of this institution, to pour the balm of comfort into this disconsolate bosom. It is yours to succour these destitute orphans. You step forward at such a time, and offer the substantial proof of your generous sympathy. Your hearts compassionate the distress of the widow, and your seasonable bounty comes like a messenger of mercy to fulfil His promise, who hath said, "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me."

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THE FACT, EVILS, AND REMEDY OF DRUNKENNESS.

REV. J. M. RODWELL, A.M.

ST. PETER'S CHURCH, SAFFRON HILL, APRIL 5, 1835.

"An enemy hath done this."-MATTHEW, Xiii. 28.

IT is at once an humbling and an awful sight, to look back upon the time that is past, and to see what misery, what havoc, and woe, sin has brought into the world. And equally humbling it is, to look around us now, and to see the dark tide of evil still flowing on-to see the power of pride, of malice, of wrath, of all evil, still holding their ancient sway over the heart of man. Look where you will, in the history of every nation that has ever flourished, look at the domestic annals of every family, look at the individual histories of each single heart, and what an awful picture is brought before you, of rebellion against God, of unkindness to man, of injustice to ourselves: how fearfully does it urge upon us the truth of the Scripture statement, that "the carnal heart is enmity against God;" that men "know not the way of peace," that they have "all gone out of the way, and that none is righteous, no not one."

True there has been some good seed sown in the wilderness; and here and there, where the grace of God, and the knowledge of a Saviour have visited the heart of man, there has been a green and a shady place in the midst of this howling wilderness. But what a harvest of tares has ever been with the wheat! What a mixture of much evil with little good. How often has the darkness seemed ready to overwhelm the light! So that wherever Christ has had his elect, there also Satan has had his thralls, his slaves and votaries, in still greater abundance. And an easy, though painful—a startling, though profitable, task would it be, to trace out each form of evil; to shew how it exists in the heart of man, against light, warning, and mercy, and Gospel grace; and to prove that an enemy hath done this." We might drag into light the various refuges of lies, to which men will trust for salvation; to the mercy of God, without knowing him in his dear Son; to a trust in their own righteousness; to a proud sense of their superiority over others; to a late and death-bed repentance: and which of these is not the act of the enemy of our souls, and calculated to ruin our present peace and eternal prospects ?

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But it is not my intention now, to call your attention to the parable before us, nor to the general fact of the corruption of the human race. We are not now about to dwell on the power, and subtlety, and deceitfulness of sin in general; but, by a plain statement of plain facts, to draw your minds to one

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