compassionate Redeemer; of him whose great delight it was, to preach the Gospel to the poor. He told the humblest of his disciples-In my Father's house are many mansions. It is not his will that the meanest of his subjects should be excluded from his house, or from his table.;

When he sets forth the condition of his church, under the similitude of a king making a great supper for his son, and inviting many guests, we find the rich men of this world make light of his invitation: then he commands his servant to go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring into his house, the poor, the mained, the halt, and the blind. The faithful minister presently returns with the answer-Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded; AND YET THERE IS ROOM. (Luke, xiv. 22.) Thus he who expired upon the cross, to procure our admission into heaven, holds out to his poor guests the hope of ample accommodation..

Having promised that the act of receiving the indigent stranger would be acknowledg ed as done to himself, it might be thought that he could have safely confided in the

care of his more opulent disciples to provide for the reception of the poor and needy. But amongst us, his distinguished followers, in these days of extended charity, in these days of affluence, when the Almighty is giving us all things richly to enjoy, the poor are strangers in the house of God, and they are strangers for want of room. The extensive ruins of sacred edifices which remain in our land, furnish ample proof, that in the time of Roman superstition this was not the case. And the separate conventicles which daily rise in our streets appear in judgment against us, and accuse us of woeful apathy in the cause of that religion from which we hope for eternal salvation.

My brethren, we have manifested a gene ral sense of the duty of beneficence. Our various charitable institutions are undeni able proofs, that our conscience is not asleep, and that we are not unmindful of a future responsibility. But still an essential branch of duty is overlooked. This neglect will mar all our acts of charity. Whilst the poor are yet strangers in the house of God, whilst we have neither received them nor provided for their recep

tion, we ourselves are hastening into the presence of our Judge: and shall we not dread the sentence-Inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have not done it unto me!

With whatever reluctance we now turn our thoughts to the spiritual welfare of the poor, we are assured that we shall all meet them in the day of judgment; that we shall meet them upon equal terms, divested of all distinction of rank, and affluence, and power. It would, therefore, be matter of common prudence to reflect, in the mean time, whether their presence in that awful day will be to us a subject of joy and comfort, or of affliction and unavailing remorse -whether their offences will be charged upon us in addition to our own, or whether the charity we have shewn to them will come before the face of our righteous Judge, and cover the multitude of our sins.

Such are the motives to liberality, in promoting the spiritual edification of the poor, which are suggested by the Scripture of truth. In addition, I would offer a few re

marks to those persons who acknowledge the

influence of worldly prudence and public

economy.

When we take our last and melancholy account of those unhappy offenders who have forfeited their lives to the laws of society, we generally find them deplorably ignorant of the fundamental principles of religion. They are also, for the most part, ready to acknowledge that their career in vice had commenced with the profane abuse of the Lord's-day. Hence it is reasonable to infer, that their crimes have arisen from the want of early religious impressions, and the habitual neglect of Christian duties. And, for the prevention of an evil which springs from this source, it must be an obvious expedient to educate the children of the poor in schools of industry, where, together with the doctrines, they should be taught the moral duties of the Gospel; and then to facilitate and inspect their regular attendance at divine worship. Thus they would be trained up as useful members of society. And as crimes can only be prevented by the influence of religion, and industrious habits, this work of charity, duly carried into effect,

would not only secure our persons and fa milies from the danger of nightly violence, but would leave the honest and industrious in the peaceable possession of that property which is now lost to them by the depreda tions of the profligate. It would also prevent the expence of prosecuting and executing the sentence of the law upon multitudes of the neglected poor, whom its benign influence would reclaim, and prepare for better purposes. And, in cases of less notoriety, it would save incalculable sums, which are now annually applied to the sup port of those who are indigent, only because they have been suffered to grow up in ignorance and idleness, without religious impressions, or habits of honest industry.

Could all this be confronted with the charge that may be requisite to provide for the religious instruction of the poor, and for their due accommodation in the established church, it may safely be concluded, that the balance would appear in favour of liberality and virtue. But, though the design may be approved, and its usefulness acknowledged, it will be urged that the