itself abroad on every side; and is not the greatness of its glory determined by the extent of that communication? Is not God, the Author of all good, the Giver of it also? Who maketh one man to differ from another? or what have we that we did not receive' from Him, the great Father of all? It is His goodness which giveth us the air we breathe, the bread we eat, the reason which guides, and the affections which give us joy. It is His goodness which hath so loved the world He made, but whose beauty the sin of His creatures has defaced, that He "gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life"." "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends";"" but God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." If the Goodness of God, therefore, which giveth us all these things, be that blessed attribute which makes the contemplation of His Power and of His Wisdom no longer terrible; if it sustains us during every moment of our existence here, and opens to us the only way to the enjoyment of His eternal presence hereafter, then surely that act and habit of the mind which, in the compassion by which it is actuated, and the benefits which it is the instrument of dispensing, most

3

1 1 Cor. iv. 7.

3 John xv. 13.

2 John iii. 16.
Rom. v. 9.

nearly resembles the pureness and loveliness of the Divine mercy, must be, from that very cause, the most precious privilege which our nature can enjoy. And herein consists the blessedness spoken of in the text. It is rendering unto others a portion of that gift which God hath given unto us, and so far being like Him. It is ministering to the wants of those who, like us, are created of God, and for whom, as for ourselves, the Son of God died,-and so far it resembles the office of those holy angels who behold the face of God continually, and are "sent forth" by Him "to minister unto them that shall be heirs of salvation." It is a compliance with the precepts of Christ's Gospel,—and so far is it an imitation of His example, and a way to receive His promises, who ever went about doing good, who Himself gave a ransom for our sins, "the just for the unjust 2 ;" and "though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich"." And further, this very resemblance to the Divine perfections, does by a reflex operation, communicate, like every other gift and instrument of grace, a cheering and healthful spirit to the heart and mind of him who is made partaker of it. It multiplies his sources of enjoyment, it diminishes his causes of disquiet, it elevates and refines the affections that bind him to his fellows, and so proves in very truth, that "it is more blessed to give than to receive."

1 Heb. i. 14.

21 Pet. iii. 18.

3

2 Cor. viii. 9.

We have seen what practical and potent influence was exercised on the heart of the Apostle by the recollection of this sacred principle. We have found him making it the subject of his last injunction to the Ephesian elders, and then hastening to the ship that was to bear him from their sight, that he might realize the spirit of his admonition by his own acts, and amidst the many cares that came upon him, might still support the weak, and give unto the poor saints at Jerusalem the bounty which their brethren had sent by him from the cities and provinces of Greece.

And can we, my brethren, think upon these things unmoved? Do not the parting words of the Apostle in the passage before us, belong unto us and to our children for ever? and is there not the same cause now as aforetime to remember and obey them? Does not the constitution of the world bear witness in the present as in past ages, to the truth of the Scripture, which declares that the ، poor shall never cease out of the land," and to the affecting confirmation of it pronounced by the Redeemer, "the poor ye have always with you?" We then must "support the weak;" we must listen to the cry of the weary sufferers, assuage their sorrows, and relieve their wants. We must do this "not grudgingly or of necessity," but with the love of our common Saviour strengthening

1

Deut. xv. 11.

B

2

Matt. xxvi. 11.

our zeal, and teaching us, that "it is more blessed to give than to receive."

Upon these plain grounds of duty I rest my appeal to you this day. I ask you to support the weak, by upholding the interests of that Institution whose gates are opened for their reception, and whose healing consolations are devoted to their help. I ask you, in the name of Christ, to seek the blessedness of which He spake, and to give, as of your ability, to him that needeth. To dwell with minute precision upon the details of the Institution in question; to show that in its design and sphere of operation, it embraces some of the most legitimate and constraining motives of appeal that can be made from a Christian minister to a Christian people; that its benefits are not confined to this town, or neighbourhood, or county, but extended freely to sufferers from every quarter of the kingdom; that it not only assuages the pain and relieves the cares, of those who are carried within its walls, but lends its aid also to them that are without', and thus imparts to them the means of pursuing their daily labour and gaining their daily bread; that it offers separate and distinct shelter for those that are sick with fever, no less than for those that are oppressed with other maladies, and

1 The number of out-patients during the past year has been nearly three hundred, making an amount of more than seventeen hundred since the commencement of the Institution.

thereby provides at once a safeguard for the healthy, and for the diseased a refuge;-that the duties of its medical and surgical officers, are entrusted to the hands of men whose high and deserved reputation is only to be equalled by the kindness, and vigilance, and care, which mark the performance of their free services ;-and that the general management of its proceedings is conducted by laborious and zealous and impartial men, whose sole object is to protect with humanity the helplessness of the patient, and to dispense with justice the bounty of the public ;-to dwell upon these facts, I say, is a part of my subject, which, however willingly I might enter upon its discussion, (inasmuch as, from constant and personal observation, I am enabled to testify to the truth of the facts which I have here stated,) and however needful it may have been in former and earlier years, to have pressed them, as I have thought it my duty to do, upon the attention of others, I am persuaded would now be a superfluous labour. For seven years and a half have these principles and instruments of benevolence been in active and unceasing operation. They have been brought too constantly and closely under the watchful eye of the public, and have borne the test of examination and experience too successfully, to need any further elucidation or proof on my part.

And yet I feel it difficult to pass these matters by as things of course. I feel it difficult to consign

B 2