ness you feel in communion with him at his table; and it is the day of the gladness of his heart, in which he fills his disciples with the graces of his spirit, and with the joys of his salvation. He surveys with delight every step you take in the way to heaven, and his joy will be full when he presents you faultless before the presence of his glory, and when no remaining infirmity, and no decline in piety, shall ever mar his complacency in you. "He will rest in his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

How astonishing is it, that the Lord Jesus in his glory still looks on perishing sinners with compassion! His glory now is very different from that short-lived' triumph which marked his entrance into Jerusalem, which was so soon succeeded by the hour of darkness, and which so quickly led him to the scene of blood. He is at the right hand of the Majesty on high, yet even there, amidst all the gladness which arises from the countenance of his Father, and from the happiness of his redeemed, his heart melts in pity for the victims of Satan; and by the methods which he employs for their salvation, he shows that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked. When he surveys the fulness of joy prepared for his people, and to which his grace hath brought so many of them, and when he thinks on those who scorn all the offers of this happiness, and by obstinacy in sin are fitting themselves for destruction, he may be viewed as saying, "Oh that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me, and. keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever."

In the spirit of your Lord, take a lively interest in the welfare of your country. Some, under the influ ence of a spurious philosophy, reprobate all such attachments as inconsistent with general benevolence.

But though the name of patriotism hath often been abused, to encourage envy and dislike, injustice and cruelty to other nations; and though we are bound to love all whom God has made of the same blood with ourselves, a peculiar attachment is due to the land of our fathers' sepulchres, to a people with whom we are connected by so many interesting associations, and to scenes so rich in the memorials of the care of Providence.

Others, under the influence of malignant discontent, sicken at their country's glory, rejoice in its calamities, and are eager to depreciate its institutions. And what hath their country done to them, to incite them to such conduct? Were it true that it had treated them with unkindness, it would still be their duty to pray for its welfare, and to deprecate its ruin. Show your attachment to your country by the zealous support of law, of order, and of the public peace; by your readiness to make every sacrifice which may be required to alle viate any general calamity, and by labouring to promote that Christian knowledge, principle and virtue, which can alone ensure the stability and the happiness of nations.

Regard not the calamities of your enemies with de light, but with a sincere, tender, and active compassion. If the heart that hated you is bleeding with sorrow, you will act like your Lord in binding it up, and you will find a pleasure in this effort of mercy which revenge never gave. When you see those who have injured you hurrying to destruction, instead of pleasing yourselves with the thought that Providence will thus avenge you, labour to arrest their progress, and show that you are solicitous for their amendment, and not for their ruin.

Say not of the wicked, that they do not deserve your

commiseration. Human creatures abusing such powers as God has bestowed on them to his dishonour, and to their own misery, are objects which claim our strongest compassion. Ah, how few tears are shed over their present infatuation, and their approaching ruin! It is strange that it should have been deemed by any a mark of superior orthodoxy, and of eminent sanctity, to address to them no call of mercy, and to leave them to perish without an effort to save them. Instruct them in meekness and patience, beseech them in the bowels of Jesus Christ, and warn them with tears to flee from the wrath to come. You may thus gain them to wisdom, and if you succeed, your triumph will be blissful, and if you do not, you shall in nowise lose your reward. Such opportunities of pious utility will soon be at an end. Their next trespass may provoke God to seal their doom, and though he should still wait to be gracious, the time is short; life is but a day; sweet is its morn, and bright its noon, but the shadows of the evening will soon be stretched out, and the night comes in which no man can work. What anguish will you feel when you hear of the death of a transgressor, if he has departed without warning from you! It is an act of benevolence to them, and of fidelity to your Master, to exhort them to apply their hearts to wisdom, and to beseech them not to receive the grace of God in vain; and this will animate and cheer your own efforts in the study and the practice of that true religion which is the light of life, and the whole of man.

You will depart, I trust, from this scene, with feelings of compassion for the Jews, who are groaning under the misery, in the anticipation of which our Lord wept, and disposed to support the plans of those who in wisdom and mercy are labouring to turn away unbelief from Israel. Of all the pious charities of the

age, this will not be the least acceptable to the Saviour. How great will be his delight when he shall see their eyes opening to the knowledge of the gospel, and their hearts glowing with Christian love! and if his Spirit animates you, that joy shall be yours.

ADDRESS XXX.

HEB. V. ..

“Who, in the days of his fesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard, in that he feared."

OUR Lord's days on earth were characterized by devotion. His miracles were preceded, his sermons were followed, his labours were lightened, and his sufferings were soothed by prayer. But there were some occasions in which he poured out his soul to God with peculiar earnestness. This was the case in his agony, and to that scene the Apostle here refers.

In that scene our Lord offered up prayers and. supplications. The word rendered prayers signifies deprecations of evil; and the term suppliant is applied to those who fall down at the feet of the persons they address, and take hold of their knees while they be seech them to be favourable to them.

Our Lord's prayers were offered at this memorable

period with strong crying and tears.

When Jesus

was brought before men, and suffered from their hands, he was silent; but when God entered into judgment with him, his cries were vehement, and though they were heard by no human ear, they rose before the throne of the Highest. The expression intimates earnest desire, and urgent entreaty.

The Evangelists do not mention the tears which our Lord shed in his agony; but this affecting circumstance the Apostle has recorded, as he noted a memorable saying of Christ's, which is not to be found in any of the Gospels, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." This is the third and last instance of his weeping recorded in Scripture, and his tears at this time were tears of agony, flowing from a breaking heart. No torture which men could inflict could make him thus weep and cry. He wept and cried under the pressure of his Father's rod, to save you from the place of weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and to procure for the children of sorrow that best of all consolations, "God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes."

These cries our Lord addressed to him that was able to save him from death. He now felt the power of God in punishing; yet while the thunders of that power were roaring around him, he thinks of its strength to save. He believed that the power of his Father, could embolden him against the mightiest host, support him under the weightiest burden, and raise him from the lowest degradation.

But what did your Lord solicit in these prayers, and how was he heard? He prayed that if it was possible the cup might pass from him. This cup contained all the anguish of a violent death, and all the curses of the broken law; and it was put into his hands as the