nest, and the ewe seeking the sheltered pas-` ture; it is the eternal God, speaking as he speaks to the naked savage, and the creatures of the forest; it is that language, which is more moving than the tombs of heroes, or the ruins of a great city; it is that gospel which has gone forth to all lands; it is that piercing, original appeal, of unprotected weakness, which mankind has heard in every age, which moistens every human face with tears, and melts every soul of flesh. 1 If the people of this island enjoy any moral advantages over the rest of Europe, it is, perhaps, in the domesticity of their character, in their attachment to family life, and the pleasure which they derive from the society of their children, and wives; I am speaking to those, who will understand me well, when I remind you of the feelings of a poor industrious man, whose earnings, exhausted in the purchase of food, disable him from making any provision at this season for the comforts of his wife. When you see him toiling from sun to sun, and still unable to rise above the B A 4 necessities of the present hour! will you not save to such an useful, honest being, the anguish of returning to a sick house; the sight of agonies, which he cannot relieve, and of wants to which he cannot adminis ter? give me a little out of your abun dance, and I will lift off this weight from his heart; listen to me when I kneel before you for humble, wretched creatures; help me with some Christian offering, and I will give meat to the tender mother, and a pillow for her head, and a garment for the little child, and she shall bless God in the fullness of her heart. I fear I have detained you too long; but the sorrows of many human beings rest upon me, and many mothers are praying that I may bring back bread for their children. I told them that this antient Christian people, had never yet abandoned the wretched, that they had ever listened to any minister of Christ, who spoke for the poor; I bade them be of good comfort, that God would raise them up friends, and when they shewed me their children, I vowed for you all, that not one of them should perish for hunger, and for cold; do not send me back empty handed to these victims of sorrow; let not the woman, and the suckling be driven from their comfortable home; listen to the voice of the woman in travail, and minister to the wailing, and spreading of hands; if one social tie binds you to human life; if you can tell how the mother's heart is twined about her child; if you remember how women lighten the sorrows of life; if you are the disciple of the Saviour Jesus, to whom they kindly ministered, forsake them not this once, and God shall save you in the hour of death, and the day of sharp distress. |