of my friends shall be placed at thy feet, and the throne of my heart shall be occupied by thee for

ever.

After the Service.

When I think on the baseness of the human heart, I am astonished that Jesus should ask its love, and do so much to gain it. He is the object of supreme affection to all the angels in heaven, yet doth he cast his eye on human beings, and say to them, "give me thine heart." Fix your eyes on a suffering Redeemer, and tell me why that heart groans, and why it is broken? It is to win yours. Our love cannot add to his happiness, but he requires it because it constitutes our own. Happy is he who is now saying, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength;" and blessed shall he be who is attempting to say it, though with a trembling heart, and with a faltering tongue, for "the bruised reed he will not break, and the smoking flax he will not quench, till he bring forth judgment unto victory." The communion table is a place for reanimating languid affection, as well as for strengthening weak faith. Here the fire of heaven descends, not to destroy, but to fill the cold and dark heart with love and gladness. That fire has come down, and is consuming your corruptions and your fears, and making your hearts right in the sight of God.

Express your love to him in the language of adoration and praise. To the most splendid crown which the earth could present to him he prefers the blessings of those who are ready to perish. Sacrifice every corruption before him, consecrate to him every talent, and devote to him every moment.

Remember the words of your Saviour, " If ye love me, keep my commandments." Let your love be displayed in the cheerfulness of your obedience, and in your compliance with those precepts which seem the hardest sayings to flesh and blood. And let your obedience be constant. Love is not a principle which operates in occasional bursts of rapture, which are succeeded by long periods of languor and indolence; but it acts with a steady influence on the heart and conduct.

It

Manifest your attachment to Jesus by love to the brethren. How is it that we shew our attachment to a friend who is gone ? It is by kindness to his connections, by aiding them if they are helpless, guiding them by our advice, and redressing their wrongs, if they are oppressed. And it is by similar acts to the disciples, that we must show our love to their Master and ours. This is the grand distinction of Christian beneficence, that it is done for the sake of Jesus. is love to Christ which has prompted those efforts of mercy by which so much misery has been removed, and so much happiness imparted. It hath raised up fathers for the orphan, provided an asylum for the outcast, brightened the gloom of the prisoner, and furnished the means of instruction to those "who were perishing for lack of knowledge." And what motive can be so animating to such conduct as this? "In as much as ye did it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." Consider the case of the poor, and be willing to distribute, and ready to communicate. The portion which is sent from your meals to poor neighbours, and the clothing which you give them will be no loss to you, and will be a great comfort to them.

Adhere stedfastly and zealously to the cause of

your Saviour. The contempt which is cast on those whom we love, and the injuries which are done to them, often affect us more than if we ourselves were their objects. When they are respected and flourish ing, the heart swells with exultation; and it tends to reconcile us to neglect and to hardships that they are happy. Thus you must feel with regard to your Sa viour. Let it be your prayer that every heart may love him supremely, that every pursuit may point to his glory, and that every tongue may proclaim his praise. With Christ on the throne, the pious man can welcome the dust, and is contented to be nothing where his Lord is all. In opposition to the blasphemy which profanes his name, the heresy which depreciates his merits, the pride which scorns his grace, and the enmity which impedes the spread of truth and virtue, praise ye the Lord, glory in his cross, and labour to promote the knowledge and the practice of religion.

Let young disciples beware lest their love wax cold. You think this is impossible, but it has been the case with too many. Shall the kindness of your youth, and the love of your espousals be all that can be said of your religion when you come to die? Let it be followed by the uniform piety of every future period; and let there never be reason to complain of you that you have not realized the promise of your early days, and that "you have left your first love." Let those in middle life beware of the love of the world. not its cares overcharge the heart, or impede its devout moveinents, and let not its intercourse unfit you for those exercises which are so necessary to cherish holy feeling. And let the aged be lively and ardent in pious affection. It is truly delightful to see the dim eye glistening at the praise of Jesus, and the failing heart swelling with the fervour of devotion.

Let

Finally, Carry the love of Christ with you wherever you go. In prosperity it will melt the heart and open the hand; in the scene of strife and debate it will maintain a generous forbearance, and prompt a soft answer; in the season of affliction it will make you patient and thankful, and lift the thoughts from the pain that is suffered, and the property that is lost to Jesus as the soul's rest and portion; in the house of mourning it will elevate the affections from the corse inclosed in its coffin, or corrupting in its grave, to a living Redeemer on high; and in the hour of death it will lessen the pang with which you separate from all that is dear to you on earth, and make you willing to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. This will be the grand principle which will actuate the blessed when repentance shall weep, patience shall suffer, and faith and hope shall anticipate no more. And when you shall see your Lord as he is, your love to him shall attain a strength, and a tenderness more suited than what it at present has to the worth, and the kindness of the Lamb that was slain. "Let us go on to perfection."

ADDRESS XXXVI.

1 PETER 1. 8.

In whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

How various are the feelings of which our blessed Saviour is the object! The emotions excited by any human being must be very limited, from the narrow

ness of his powers, and the imperfections which adhere to his best qualities; but such are the excellencies, and such is the influence of our Redeemer, that to him every principle of the renovated heart is directed, and finds in him an appropriate object. The man who is the object of our dread we can seldom regard with confidence and hope; and from the friend whom we love as our own souls, our bitterest vexations sometimes arise. Gratitude to an earthly benefactor is often attended with painful sensations arising from the inferiority which is connected with the receipt of favours, and from our inability to make a suitable return. But dependence on Christ is that state of mind in which the saint enjoys the most pleasing tranquillity; that majesty of his which excites so much awe, confirms his trust in a power before which all created might is less than nothing, and love to his name, is attended with joy unspeakable and full of glory. If there is a pang felt in the exercise of this love, it is because it is so inadequate to its glorious object, and so far beneath what the good man would wish it to be.

I trust that I may thus address you, ye are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh."

Christians rejoice in the excellencies of their Savi.

our.

Excellence produces joy in a virtuous mind, even where its display yields no personal advantage. The integrity which no prospect of gain can pervert, and no dread of loss can shake, the charity which opens its hand with wisdom, the purity which is superior to all the fascinations of sinful pleasure, and the fortitude which glories in tribulation, are contemplated with delight by the good, whether they are exhibited in real life, or in the page of history. This delight is always,