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By the same Author.

I.

DISCOURSES on ELIJAH and JOHN the BAPTIST. 8vo. 10s. 6d. Second Edition.

II.

The CHRISTIAN PATRIOT.

A Sermon, preached before the Corporation of the Trinity House, at St. Nicholas, Deptford, June 3, 1833. 4to. 2s.

III.

CHRISTIAN PHILANTHROPY.

A Spital Sermon, preached before the Lord Mayor and Corporation of the
City of London, at Christ Church, Newgate-street, on
Easter Tuesday, April 21, 1835.

8vo. Js. 6d.

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JAMES S. M. ANDERSON, M.A.

CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO THE QUEEN,

PERPETUAL CURATE OF ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, BRIGHTON, AND CHAPLAIN TO
THE SUSSEX COUNTY HOSPITAL.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON,

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL;
SOLD BY J. H. PARKER, OXFORD;

& ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN BRIGHTON.

MDCCCXXXV.

3

The five Royal Hospitals referred to in this Sermon, and of which the Annual Report was read at p. 21, are Christ's Hospital, St. Bartholomew's Hospital, St. Thomas's Hospital, Bridewell Hospital, and Bethlem Hospital.

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A

SERMON,

Sc.

GALATIANS vi. 2.

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

It

IN examining the context of these words, we find that they immediately succeed the exhortation which the Apostle had addressed unto his brethren, that, if a man were "overtaken in a fault," they which were "spiritual" should restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering" themselves, lest they also might "be tempted." would seem, therefore, as if the duty urged, in the present instance, referred rather to the forbearance and humility which should be exercised in restoring the sinner from the paths of sin, than in the compassion which is required to administer to his bodily infirmities; and that, both in principle and extent of operation, it resembles the

precept which is given, elsewhere, to the Thessalonians, to "comfort the feeble-minded," to "support the weak," to "be patient toward all men1;" and that also to the Romans, "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not please ourselves "."

The meaning and application of the text, however, is obviously not confined within these limits: for the burdens which oppress man, (and which we are here commanded to help one another in bearing), affect the bodily no less than the spiritual part of his nature; they agonize his frame, and wear down his bones with sorrow; yea, these ills of the flesh encumber sometimes even the noblest energies of the soul, and cast a gloom over its brightest hopes and loftiest aspirations. And if, as the Apostle teaches, the consciousness of our own liability to err ought to constrain us to restore those who have already gone astray, and lead them back, in the spirit and meekness, to the way of holiness and peace; then surely the consciousness of our exposure to temporal and bodily distress, ought no less powerfully to actuate us in the work of relieving those whom we see borne down by the weight of those same sorrows. In both cases, the affliction is real and grievous, and in both, are we supplied with a motive to alleviate its bitterness,

1 1 Thess. v. 14.

2 Rom. xv. 1.

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