state of morals in any country from the manner, in which age is treated by youth. Where they, who are advanced in life, receive affection and respect, there decency is found, purity is not unknown, and the passions and appetites are under some restraint. The time was, when the old kept themselves at too awful a distance from the young; but this reserve was productive of two evils: it rendered fathers less cheerful, and sons more licentious; for as soon as they were out of the reach of the stern eye of authority, they gave a greater loose to their words and deeds. That state of society is the most happy, and probably the most virtuous, in which the different ages freely and frequently mix together; and as this state of society is our own, I would hope that we do not yet deserve the character of a very corrupt people. Approach then, my young friends, the old; and while your gayety brings a smile on their countenance, let their gravity temper your mirth. The pious and virtuous old man is worthy of your love and reverence; he is an object, which you can contemplate with admiration and delight; for age has the same effect on a devout and benevolent heart, which time has on a beautiful painting: it softens every color, and mellows every tint.

4th S. in Advent.

SERMON V.

ALMS.

MARK XIV. 7.

YE HAVE THE POOR WITH YOU ALWAYS, AND WHENSOEVER YE WILL YE MAY DO THEM GOOD; BUT ME YE HAVE NOT ALWAYS.

You devote, Christians, a day in the last week of the year to a sacred festival; and you regard it as one of the most important in the religious calendar. The design is to commemorate the birth of the Saviour of mankind, to exult at the glad tidings which he has brought from heaven, and to recall to remembrance the many blessings which the gospel has conferred on the world. By celebrating the festival at this particular season, and by ornamenting your churches, and singing hymns of praise, you close the year with pious cheerfulness; and thanksgiving and joy ascend with the voice of melody to the throne of God. An essential part of the festival is the alms, which, on this day, you are accustomed to bestow. This act, which produces useful effects, renders your devotion acceptable in the sight of the Most High, and is an indispensable proof of gratitude and affection to your benevolent Redeemer. As it respects the objects of your beneficent care, the festival is opportunely placed

at the end of the year; for as at this season the earth is usually bound with the chains of frost, they require peculiar assistance. Such being one of the principal designs of observing the nativity of our Lord, no subject appears to me more proper for the occasion than charity ; and I trust you will not charge me with forgetting the object of the institution, when I plead before you in behalf of the poor.

That charity to the indigent is a duty of the gospel, will be allowed by all who are conversant with its pages, The Author of our religion may be styled emphatically the poor man's friend. He was well qualified to be so by his situation in life, because he was himself poor. When he was on earth, he not only bore the griefs of the sorrowful, but also the poverty of the indigent; and in all the afflictions, which are usually laid on the wretched, he had a large share. Hence he became a merciful Redeemer, who is touched with the feeling of human infirmities, being tried in all respects as other men are. His family descended from the line of ancient Jewish kings ; but at the time of his birth, it had sunk into such indigence, that his mother could not obtain lodgings in the inn of Bethlehem, which was crowded with guests, who were less poor than herself: he was therefore laid in a manger. At her purification she offered doves, the sacrifice of the indigent, not being able to present a lamb. During the greatest part of his life Jesus wrought at a laborious employment; and when he entered on his public ministry, he says of himself, that the foxes and the birds of the air had places of refuge, but that he was destitute of a home in which he could lay his head. So needy was he, that he was compelled to work a miracle

for the payment of his taxes; and though we are not to suppose that he was ever reduced to such a depth of misery, as to want the necessaries of life, yet it is evident that he learned from experience, as well as from sympathy, to feel for the indigent. Accordingly we find that he always attended particularly to them: and he declared that he came to preach the gospel to the poor. Whilst he inculcated in his precepts the duty of pitying and relieving their wants, he practised himself what he taught. His miraculous power was frequently exerted in favor of the indigent, and from a purse, which belonged to him and his disciples, small as it was, it appears that it was customary to give alms. He did still further honor to the necessitous, by pronouncing them his representatives in his description of the last judgment, he speaks of himself as receiving the benefit of the benevolent deeds, which are exercised toward the hungry and the naked, the sick and the imprisoned: Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

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Our Saviour having ascended to heaven, the world no longer enjoys his bodily presence; but he has left the needy behind him as his substitutes, to remind us continually of him. Infants are born in dark cellars or dilapidated chambers, where their wretched mothers are exposed to the inclemencies of the air, and deprived of every comfort and accommodation; there are distressed wanderers, who have not where to lay their heads and like Jesus on the cross, a pious son is sometimes obliged on the bed of death to commit an aged parent, for whose support he can no more provide, to the care of a faithful friend. Through the providence of God we have the poor with us always, as our Lord says in the text,

and whensoever we will, we can do them good, and thus testify our love to him, whilst at the same time we exercise the best virtues and the most amiable feelings of the human heart.

As we have thus the poor with us always, we are under obligations, as disciples of Christ, to pity and assist them. We should therefore, first, endeavor to acquire the will to do them good; and, secondly, we should examine in what manner we can most effectually perform this duty.

I. The will to do good to the poor is obtained by impressing on the heart the motives of reason, nature, and the gospel. The distressed object, who cries to me for relief, is a man: He has nerves, which are alive to the touch of pain; he has a head, which throbs; he has a heart, which beats with anguish. As he has no food to eat, he must be hungry; as he is naked, he must be cold; as he is sick, he must be miserable; as he is in prison, he must suffer the vexation which necessarily arises from the loss of liberty. He is a man, and I am no more: he is my brother, of the same nature as myself. I am exposed to similar misfortunes; and was I as deeply afflicted as he is, my tears would flow as fast and I should utter the same sad lamentations. If our situations were exchanged, and he should pity and relieve me, with what gratitude should I behold him? If he should say to me, Brother, it is in my power to supply thy wants, and to remove thine affliction; take this food and satisfy thy hunger; take this garment and cover thy shivering limbs; I open the prison doors, and restore thee to freedom;- with what ardent love, with what a burst of joy, should I press his hand? Why then should I not do