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in proof of a divine mission, our Lord alone, could ap peal to a body of recorded prophecy, delivered many hundred years before he came into the world, and say, "In these ancient oracles it is predicted that the Messiah, appearing among you at a time defined by certain signs and characters, shall be known by his performing -not miracles generally-but such and such specific' miracles. At a time distinguished by those signs and characters, I come; those specific works I do; and I exhibit the character of the Messiah, delineated in those prophecies, in all its circumstances."

It is remarkable, that our Lord, in reply to the Pharisees, condescended not to resort to this summary and overbearing proof. But he answered their objection by an argument, just indeed, and irresistibly conclusive, but of more refinement. This, I conceive, was in resentment of the insincerity of these uncandid adversaries. It is indisputable, from many circumstances in the gospel history, that the Pharisees knew our Lord to be the Messiah; and yet they were carried, by motives of worldly interest, to disown him,-just as Judas knew him to be the Messiah, and yet he was carried, by motives of worldly interest, to betray him. Thus, dis owning the Messiah, whom they knew, they were deliberate apostates from their God; and they were treated as they deserved, when our Lord rather exposed the futility of their own arguments against him, than vouchsafed to offer that sort of evidence, which, to any that were not obstinate in wilful error, must have been irresistible, and which had indeed to the godly multitude offered itself. But when John the Baptist sent his disciples to inquire of Jesus if he was the person who was to come, or whether they were to look for another (they were sent, you will observe, for their own conviction, not for John's satisfaction; for he at this time could have no doubt), our Lord was pleased to deal with them.

in a very different manner. He made them eye-witnesses of many of those miracles which were a literal completion of the prophecies, and bade them go back and tell John what they had heard and seen. "Go and tell your master that you have seen me restore the paralytic; you have seen me cleanse the leper, cure the lame, the blind, the deaf, and the dumb; you have seen me liberate the possessed; you have seen me raise the dead; and you have heard me preach the gospel to the poor. He will connect these things with the prophecies that have gone before concerning me; he will tell you what conclusion you must draw, and set before you the danger which threatens those who are scandalized in me."

I must now turn from this general subject, nor farther pursue the interesting meditations which it might suggest, in order to apply the whole to the particular occasion which has brought me hither.

You will recollect, that the miracles which are specified in the prophecies as works that should characterize the Messiah when he should appear, were in great part the cure of diseases, by natural means the most difficult of cure, and the relief of natural imperfections and inabilities. In such works our Lord himself delighted; and the miraculous powers, so long as they subsisted in the church, were exercised by the first disciples chiefly in acts of mercy of the same kind. Now that the miraculous powers are withdrawn, we act in conformity to the spirit of our holy religion, and to our Lord's own example, when we endeavour what we can to extend relief, by such natural means as are within our power, to the like instances of distress. It was prophesied of our Lord, that when he should come to save those that were of a fearful heart," the eyes of the blind should be opened, and the ears of the deaf should be unstopped; that the lame man should leap as the hart, and the

tongue of the dumb should sing." All this, and much more, he verified. Of all natural imperfections, the want of speech and hearing seem the most deplorable, as they are those which most exclude the unhappy sufferer from society,from all the enjoyments of the present world, and, it is to be feared, from a right apprehension of his interests in the next. The cure of the deaf and the dumb is particularly mentioned in the prophecies, among the works of mercy the most characteristic of man's great deliverer: and, accordingly, when he came, there was, I think, no one species of miracle which he so frequently performed; which may justify an attention even of preference in us to this calamity.

It is now some years since a method has been found out, and practised with considerable success, of teaching persons, deaf and dumb from the birth, to speak; but it was not till the institution of this Asylum, in the year 1792, that the benefit of this discovery was extended in any degree to the poor,-the great attention, skill, and trouble, requisite in the practice, putting the expense of cure far beyond the reach of the indigent, and even of persons of a middling condition. The Directors of this charity, who are likely, from their opportunities, to have accurate information upon the subject, apprehend that the number of persons in this lamentable state is much greater than might be imagined.

In this Asylum, as many as the funds of the charity can support, are taught, with the assistance of the two senses of the sight and the touch, to speak, read, write, and cast accounts. The deafness seems the unconquerable part of the malady; for none deaf and dumb from the birth have ever been brought to hear. But the calamity of the want of the sense of hearing is much alleviated, comparatively speaking it is removed, by giv. ing the use of letters and of speech, by which they are

admitted to the pleasure of social conversation,—are made capable of receiving both amusement and instruction from books,-are qualified to be useful both to themselves and the community,-and, what is most of all, the treasures of that knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation are brought within their reach. The children admitted are kept under the tuition of the house five years, which is found to be the time requisite for their education. They are provided with lodging, board, and washing; and the only expense that falls upon the parent, or the parish, is in the article of clothing. The proficiency of those admitted at the first institution, in November 1792, exceeds the most sanguine expectations of their benefactors; and the progress of those who have been admitted at subsequent periods, is in full proportion to the time. The number at present exceeds not twenty. There are at this time at least fifty candidates for admission, the far greater part of whom, the slender finances of the society will not permit to be received.

I am persuaded that this simple statement of the object of the charity, the success with which the good providence of God has blessed its endeavours, within the narrow sphere of its abilities, and the deficient state of its funds, is all that is necessary or even proper for me to say, to excite you to a liberal contribution for the support of this excellent institution, and the furtherance and extension of its views. You profess yourselves the disciples of that Master, who, during his abode on earth in the form of a servant, went about doing good,-who did good in that particular species of distress in which this charity attempts to do it,-and who, seated now at the right hand of God, sends down his blessing upon those who follow his steps, and accepts the good that is done to the least of those whom he calls his brethren, as done unto himself.

SERMON XI,

JOHN xiii. 34.

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love onë another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

IN that memorable night, when divine love and infernal malice had each their perfect work,-the night when Jesus was betrayed into the hands of those who thirsted for his blood, and the mysterious scheme of man's redemption was brought to its accomplishment, Jesus, having finished the paschal supper, and instituted those holy mysteries by which the thankful remembrance of his oblation of himself is continued in the church until his second coming, and the believer is nourished with the food of everlasting life, the body and blood of the crucified Redeemer;-when all this was finished, and nothing now remained of his great and painful undertaking, but the last trying part of it, to be led like a sheep to the slaughter, and to make his life a sacrifice for sin, -in that trying hour, just before he retired to the garden, where the power of darkness was to be permitted to display on him its last and utmost effort, Jesus gave it solemnly in charge to the eleven apostles (the twelfth, the son of perdition, was already lost; he was gone to hasten the execution of his intended treason),—to the eleven, whose loyalty remained as yet unshaken, Jesus in that awful hour gave it solemnly in charge, "to love

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