of incomparably less importance, than the effects which we may suffer them to have upon our character, than the habits which we are forming, and the preparation which we are making for our future existence. Disclosing a prospect vast and boundless, it places reason on a point of view where the inequalities of this earth disappear. It teaches us to estimate our own condition and that of others, not with reference to this life merely, but with reference to the whole of our being. It shows us a man prosperous and powerful, of great talents and of great designs, feared, flattered, and admired; to whom prostituted genius is offering up its incense; whose name is floating upon the breath of thousands, from nation to nation; and it tells us that the meanest beggar that crawls the streets may be less an object of compassion than that man. It shows us another, unfortunate, poor, on whom the eye of pride would glance and turn away; whose virtues will be no where recorded on earth; whose days are days of sorrow, and whose nights are nights of pain; and it tells us, that that man enjoys the peculiar favour of God, that all things are working together for his good, and that his lot is inconceivably desirable. If we have neither power, nor riches, nor health, and but few opportunities for usefulness; when nothing is left us but the exercise of resignation and cheerfulness; it then teaches us, that not only the virtues which the world may witness, and will applaud, are acceptable to God, but that the harder and higher virtues of suffering and obscurity, are estimated by Him at their real value, and will receive their full reward; that not only are they his servants, whom he appoints and commissions as his messengers of good, but that 'they also serve, who only stand and wait.' Our religion has conducted her disciple into the midst of sufferings, and broken their power, and compelled them to minister to his exaltation. Under its influence, all that is sordid, and fearful, and selfish, in human nature, has disappeared; and man has risen before us, a being full of the consciousness of his immortality, an object of admiration and reverence. Under its influence, the disciples of Jesus Christ have partaken of the spirit of their master, of him, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame; who, that night, when he entered on all those scenes of ignominy and horrible torture, which terminated in death, just after his betrayer had gone out to

prepare for their commencement, thus addressed his disciples: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified by him. If God be glorified by him, God himself will glorify him, and will immediately glorify him.

In the common course of life, our happiness depends much more upon our character, than upon the circumstances in which we may be placed; much more upon those causes which are under our control, than upon those which are beyond it. To the troubled and uncertain pleasures of this world; to its passions, so restless till they attain their object, and so unsatisfied when it is attained; to its fears and sorrows, so full of inquietude and temporary despair, and beyond which, no prospect of good seems to present itself; and, above all, to that view of death, under which it appears as the desolation of all our hopes and purposes, the good man is not abandoned. It is only, when we refuse to listen to reason and religion; when we dare not raise our eyes steadily to contemplate the future; when we devote ourselves to this world; that our pleasures become heartless as the merriment of a drunkard; that our sufferings crush us with a weight that has no alleviation; and that death appears at once the most terrible, and the most certain of all events. If we could be fully assured, that after some few years spent in the faithful performance of our duty, we might, during the continuance of the present life, attain the full accomplishment of all our wishes and purposes, and spend a long period of prosperity, health, and intellectual vigour, in occupations suited to our temper and habits, in the society of our best friends, and amid the respect and love of all around us; the expectation of such a state would, without doubt, render us very insensible to present misfortunes; would afford constant alacrity and lightness of heart; and would open the mind to the access of all innocent enjoyments. It is such a prospect, similar so far as we may compare any period of life with eternity, and the happiness of this world with that of the future, to which our views ought to be habitually directed. The belief of its reality ought to be incorporated with our principles of action, our thoughts, our imagination, our whole minds; and, if it be so, notwithstanding the many causes which may prevent its full operation, it will change, essentially for the better, the aspect of life. The Christian is travelling to the home of his father,

to welcome and joy; and when the light of heaven shines around him, his heart will be full of gladness; nor will he be easily discouraged or cast down, when the road is rugged and painful, or when his journey must be pursued in darkness and storms.

There are no sufferings, common to us all, which a good man feels more sensibly than what are occasioned by the death of those who have made life dear to him. But, in respect to these sufferings, religion is, if I may so speak, lavish of her consolations. We are ready to lament for them, perhaps, that they are taken from the pleasures, the pursuits, and the hopes of this world; and she tells us that they are admitted to enjoyments, such as this world has not to bestow. We mourn that we have lost their friendship and kindness; and she teaches us not to mourn, as those who are without hope; she tells us that, if we persevere in duty, our separation will be but for a little time; and that we shall meet them again, to be separated no more. We look back, perhaps, with severe regret upon our deficiencies in friendship; and she tells u's, that when we are again with them, all that was wrong in the past will be heartily forgiven; and that no human frailties and follies will remain to mingle with and debase our affections. One after another, whom we have loved, may have been taken from us; the retrospect of the years that have gone by may be saddened by the recollection; and we may begin to feel as if we were solitary and deserted here; and she comes to teach us, that the friends who are no longer with us, are waiting to welcome us in Heaven. She directs our thoughts to the contemplation of their existence in that better world, to which we are looking forward; and thus gives us a more vivid sense of its reality. As our ties to this life are loosening and breaking, she is thus forming new ones to connect us with eternity.

The Christian, when he contemplates the whole of his existence, whatever may be his present circumstances, believes himself, beyond all power of expression, more fortunate, than if, those hopes which his religion affords being taken away, he were made possessor of all that man can enjoy without them. It was this belief which gave its energy to the Apostle, when he exhorted the Philippians to continual rejoicing. The world might have regarded this direction with scorn, as

coming from him, whom it considered as one of the most miserable of men, and addressed to a poor and persecuted community; it might have thought it as wild as any thing which folly or madness could utter; but it was, in truth, the. most rational of all exhortations to joy. In the world the Apostle, and they whom he addressed, had tribulation; but they looked forward to Heaven as their resting place, and God as their rewarder; and it is indeed most rational for him to rejoice, who believes that his light afflictions, which are but for a moment, are procuring for him exceedingly abundant and everlasting glory.

Besides those which we have been considering, there is another source of happiness, which a good man may always enjoy. It is the complacency arising from the consciousness of having acted virtuously and honourably. The better sects of the ancient philosophers maintained, that virtue was the only requisite to happiness; and, though their speculations on this subject were in some respects extravagant and irrational, yet they contained much that does honour to our common nature, much that is true, sublime, and ennobling. But it has been my purpose to speak only of those joys and consolations, which are peculiarly and immediately derived from our religion. We have seen what these are. In order to their enjoyment in any considerable degree, it is necessary that our religious belief should be rational, and worthy of God; that we should thoroughly reject from our minds those absurd and horrible. fictions, by which superstition has darkened and deformed the representations, which it has given of his character and moral government. It is necessary that our religious belief should be an habitual subject of contemplation; that we should acquire a strong sense of the reality of its objects; that we should regard what is invisible, as actually existing, and what is future, as certainly to come; that our belief should be changed into feeling. And it is further necessary, that it should be our guide through life; that our actions and our whole character should be conformed to it; that we should conduct ourselves as creatures of God, and expectants of immortality. Of the efficacy of those considerations, to which our attention has been directed, if we can have any doubt of their efficacy, there is proof in the example of the Apostle and those whom he addressed; there is proof in the exam

ples which have come down to us of many excellent men, who, like them, have felt the power of our religion; and there is abundant proof in what we may every day witness, the different manner in which wise and good men submit to affliction, from that in which it is borne by those whose thoughts and affections are engrossed by the objects of this world. But it ought to be the most frequent and the most earnest prayer of us all, that we may need no other proof of the efficacy of a religious faith, than what exists in our own hearts.

EMINENT PHILANTHROPISTS.

[We have requested for publication in the Examiner the following paragraphs, from a Sermon delivered at the recent anniversary of the Howard Benevolent Society, in Boston, on the text, Go and do thou likewise. Luke x. 37. The preacher spoke of obeying this command, under three heads: 1. It has been done; 2. It may be done; 3. It ought to be done. The extracts are from the illustrations under the first division.]

It has been done. The history of the Church records the names of many good Samaritans, whose benevolence has done honour to human nature, and to the religion they professed. The progress of Christianity has been marked with deeds of kindness, and institutions of charity, of which there were no previous examples in the world. This may be a trite remark, but it is worthy of repetition, for it relates to a bright page in the history of man. There has been, in the christian church, so much unchristian animosity and strife, so much usurpation and tyranny, such contests for power, such useless and wanton sacrifices of happiness and life, that men are too ready to fancy there has been little distinction between the kingdom of Christ, and the kingdoms of the world. But all this, it should be observed, was only the ordinary outbreaking of human infirmity, which Christianity did not prevent, but which it was far from favouring. While, on the other side, as the direct consequence of its influence, there is an immense collection of kind and charitable effort, publick and private, incalculably affecting the happiness of the world, of which Christianity has given the first, the only, specimens.