us, and these tears assure us that he will do it, and they revive our drooping hearts. They had profes sions of sympathy from others in abundance, but no tears were balm to them but his.

But our Lord wept over the desolations of death. He was now going to a grave, and his mind went back to the period when by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and he beheld death pass ing in succession upon all, because all had sinned. If the serious and feeling mind contemplates with a sigh the ruins of ancient palaces from which the noble and the mighty gave law to all around; if such a man cannot travel over the scene where proud and wealthy cities once stood, without being depressed by the thought that the splendour of courts, and the throng of commerce, are now succeeded by the nakedness and the silence of desolation, the heart of our Lord must have bled at the view of the millions he had made and fashioned, and in whom wisdom and piety dwelt and ope rated, consuming in the grave.

Our Lord saw too, that notwithstanding the conquest which he was to gain over death, it would continue its ravages till the time of the restitution of all things, and had therefore in his view all the painful separations it was yet to make; and I must add, and how agonizing must have been the sight, all the multitudes whom it was to cast into hell! He thought of the human beings to whom the offers of his grace would be addressed in vain, and who, in spite of all the methods which would be employed to turn them to God, would be driven away in their wickedness. He beheld the

ravages of the king of terrors, not with fear but with sorrow; his eye at that moment surveyed every death-bed, and entered into every grave; and the tears which fell from it were those of generous pity over the

ruins of that nature which he had assumed, and to which, amidst all its degradation, his soul cleaved, and over the perdition of those who would not come to him that they might have life.

And now, my brethren, let me ask, into what frame of mind have these contemplations brought you? Are your hearts melting, and your tears mingling with his ; and are you now following him from the grave where he wept, that you might be soothed by his sympathy; to the cross where he died, that you might be washed in his blood; that you may know him in the virtues of his character, and in the fellowship of his sufferings? Then over you the Saviour will rejoice, and his comforts will delight your souls.

After the Service.

Christians, you feel, I trust, the claims which the Saviour in tears has to your admiration and love. Our hearts esteem the man whom we behold weeping with the mourner, especially if we know him to be one of a great and beneficent character; and shall we not regard him with every sentiment of wonder and affection, who, though he was in the form of God, entered so deeply into the woes of suffering humanity? Tenderness of heart is always amiable, but it appears espe cially so in one whose situation is superior to that of the sufferer, or who has severer woes of his own to bear. And when the Lord from heaven, when the victim of the curse weeps for us, we must feel disposed to say, "How precious is thy grace! I am ashamed of the coldness of my love, nor can I think of the selfish spirit of the world, or of the enmity of the carnal mind

against thee without indignation. Here is a heart that would love thee in the highest degree, and which thy tears and thy sufferings have won." Thy heart is accepted; but while his condescension should fill thee with grateful wonder, remember the solemn responsi bility under which this surrender has brought thee. The heart, thus devoted, can never be withdrawn from him without involving thee in the guilt of the basest treachery. O keep it " with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life or of death."

sorrow,

Trust in your Saviour's compassion in the hour of You cannot accost him in the same form, nor receive his sympathy in the same way with the friends of Lazarus; but we know that in all our affliction he is afflicted. Let not the assurance of his sympathy be treated as a vain delusion. It is no idle tale which I

hear from the lips of that orphan, "I went to weep at and I looked for some to pity me, my father's grave, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. All was motionless around me save the waving of the grass, and all was silence save the howling of the wind. No father's voice spoke to me from the dust; but I heard a voice, and by its kindness and its power I knew it to be that of Jesus, It promised me the pity, the love, and the care of an Almighty Friend; it inspired me with fortitude, and animated me with hope. I felt his arm supporting me, I sunk into his bosom, and he soothed my heart to rest."

Cultivate sympathy, and be ready to manifest it to the children of sorrow. It is painful to think how lit tle of the Saviour's spirit is to be seen among the visitants of the house of mourning. The bereaved parents, the helpless orphan, and the broken-hearted widow, have too often been surrounded by those who had nought of sorrow but its garb, and have listened in vain

for one sentiment of piety, or one counsel of religious comfort. Foolish talk and political details too often occupy the place which should be devoted to the words of eternal life. Let us do every thing in our power to correct such flagrant improprieties, and labour to support the weak, and to comfort the wounded mind. How soothing to the sufferer is the language and the manner which says, "I cannot remove your pains, but I will make them as easy as I can by the ministrations of love. I cannot bring back the friends you have lost, but I will be a friend in their place." Were the spirit of sympathy prevalent in a church, it would resemble the sensitive plant, every twig of which vibrates if a leaf is touched; or the natural body, where all the members suffer if one is injured. Sympathy with others will prevent your brooding too painfully over your own troubles; and to you it must be the most powerful of all motives to this duty, that he who hath taught you contentment by his privations, zeal by his labours, and devotion by his prayers, hath called

the mourner by his tears.

you to weep with

What a happy day to your Lord will that of the resurrection be! Then the friends whom he gave up to death with a sigh will rise to die no more, and those with whom he wept will be more happy than ever they were sad. Then the bodies of good men will appear more comely than our nature did even in the period of innocence, and the crown of life shall be placed on the head which once lay so low in the dust. They shall be engaged in the noblest services, and called to the best enjoyments.

How delightful to Jesus will be the astonishment and rapture with which pious friends will meet each other, and the pleasure with which they will listen to his assurance from his throne, that their union shall be eter

nal! In the very spot where friends parted they shall meet again in joy more sweet than the sorrow was bitter, and the place of weeping shall be the scene of exul tation. Let your decaying hopes feel the reviving influ ence of your Lord's promise; and while nature mourns over the disorder and the desolation which are spread over the fairest of her works, rejoice in hope of the new heavens and the new earth, where righteousness, har mony, and love, shall flourish for ever.

ADDRESS XXIX.

LUKE XIX. 41, 42.

And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou at least, in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace, but now are they hid from thine eyes."

MANY are the bright examples of patriotism which are exhibited in the history of nations. The warrior who has secured the liberty, or extended the power of his country by his skill and valour; the legislator, who has established its rights, and promoted its prosperity, by his wise regulations; and the beneficent, who have founded institutions for the relief of the helpless and the wretched among its inhabitants, are remembered with lively gratitude from age to age. That they lived, not to themselves, but to their country, is the tribute paid to their name when they die, and it is preserved with care as a sacred memorial of national gratitude, and as an animating motive to others to de