minds are being aroused to the importance of action for the general good. It also shows a growing determination among men, that when the intolerance of party strife will not suffer an individual to speak, or will not listen to him if he do speak, they will make common cause in the work of philanthropy;—that hand in hand, and shoulder to shoulder, they will stand against the tyranny of the world, and that in masses at least, the voice of humanity, of justice, and of right, will speak, and shall be heard. Of this class are the Societies for mitigating the sufferings which have disgraced prison discipline all over the world; the Temperance Societies, in which men have banded together to exterminate the hideous fiend who is carrying desolation through all lands; and lastly, the Abolition Societies. You will observe that I do not mention these Societies for the purpose of passing any judgment upon them, nor do I offer any opinion as to their character or aims; I simply allude to them as illustrations of the position I have laid down, viz: that the principle of association for the general good, is evidently beginning to be recognized in the world.

The advocate of individual effort will perhaps object that this united action of the many is no more than the result of the activity and mental power of individual minds; that in all these associations, the few guide the many to their resolves, and carry out these resolves in action; and that, after all, it is no other than individual effort by which the desired result is brought about. It is true, that in all these enterprises, as in society, the few do thus give impulse and direction to the many; but it is also equally true, that the few "leading minds" are themselves influenced by the circumstances and interests of the world around them, and take their tone from the influence of the place and time in which they live; they are but the mirror from which the predominant spirit of the age is reflected back upon itself.

There are moreover many obvious advantages attending the system of associated effort. No one mind grasps the whole of any truth in all its relations; each sees it with more or less perfectness and entireness, as it appears to his individual mind, and it requires the varied action of many minds, to develope the universal bearings of any truth upon the world at large. Again, when united together for the furtherance of the same object, men can venture upon a plan of action broader and bolder than the aggregate efforts of even a larger number of individual laborers could ever accomplish; and accordingly a success, which would be incredible on other principles, often crowns their efforts.This action of many minds upon all questions of human interest, which is necessary to the full developement of any given truths, and the mechanical facilities which this plan of union affords in the practical carrying of them out, are among the greatest and most obvious of the advantages connected with associated effort. Along with these advantages, however, we think we can trace VOL. VIII.-63

many tendencies which are wholly evil. In the first place, bigotry is an almost necessary attendant upon the action of these large organized bodies. They are all based upon a creed, and the spirit of bigotry inseparable from the holding of a creed which is considered to be the highest and only truth upon that particular subject, by those who hold it, inevitably comes in here.In the next place, these Societies give rise to great intolerance— each Society holds its own creed to be the standard of truth and excellence, and those who approach it most nearly, will, of course, be held in the highest repute; while the character which is attributed to a man by those who are enlisted in these bodies, will always be unfavorable, in proportion as his views of truth and duty, with regard to each particular enterprise, differ from, or fall below, the standard of those engaged in it. Another of these disadvantages is the limited duration of these Societies.No sooner is the contemplated end accomplished, than they are disbanded, and the association of effort ceases with the exigency which called it into being. Again, the tendency of these Societies is to produce a distorted idea of truth and duty in the minds of those who compose them, from the exaggerated importance which they attribute to the end at which they aim. Thus the advocate of the Temperance Society feels and speaks as though nothing conld save the country from utter desolation, unless the whole nation can be persuaded or driven into signing the Total Abstinence Pledge; while the Abolitionist believes and asserts that nothing but the universal adoption of his principle can preserve us from the direst horrors.

These various disadvantages are the natural, and, I think, inevitable results of these modes of action; and yet I look upon them nevertheless, as the one bright gleam of promise for our time.What but associated effort can enable the friends of religion to withstand the obvious tendencies of the age to skepticism, anarchy and every form of selfishness? In order to avoid the evils which we have been considering, the associations which I would advocate, must be formed, not in the manner of the large bodies of which we have been speaking, but upon that simple plan of Christian brotherhood, in love and good works, to which your thoughts have been directed. I do not hesitate to affirm, that it is from the members of a Non-Orthodox communion, and especially from the liberal spirit of that body as concentrated in these associations, that the moral renovation of our time must come. In every town and village throughout the land, let these little bands of Christian brethren be formed, and from them let the spirit of true religion go forth; by libraries, by Sabbath schools, by the diffusion of general knowledge on all subjects, by the services of the sanctuary, by the labors of the minister at large, by the active untiring efforts of all good men in the cause of truth and humanity-let the spirit of Christianity be brought into every de

partment of human interest, and be made to pervade the whole framework of society. In no other course can private happiness or public safety be found; nothing but Christianity in the heart of every living man, can secure a sufficient basis either for individual well-being, or for the stability of our political institutions. Religion the social principle, is the only, the all-powerful agent, on whose action the renovation of the world depends.

A TRUE STORY.

Now closing is the wintry day,
And clouds have veiled the sky
So thick that not a single ray
Can reach us from on high.

Nothing is seen below, around,
As far as sight can go,

But snowy houses, snowy ground,
And mounds of dusty snow.

The very air seems full of snow;—
How comfortless the sight!
May Heaven especial pity show
To the poor this bitter night!

If want and poverty are sad

In the bright summer weather,
Oh! sadder still it is when they
With cold are met together.

The scanty fire,--the tattered dress,—
The broken window-pane,-

Cold couch, and hunger's keen distress,—
Oh, well may they complain!

How can the spirit thrive and grow
Amid these chilling cares?

For the soul must sympathize, we know,
In the ills the body bears:-

And do we not too often find

That the rough rasp of life

Does grate so harshly, that the mind

Seems ruined in the strife?

Too often-yet sometimes we see,
(And it is beautiful,)

How midst it all the heart can be
To charity still dutiful.

How kind, when outer things are cold,
The heart's deep streams may be,

(Though the chilling world may freeze them soon,) If the fountain's warm and free!

For she an orphan's grief has known,
Left friendless, shelterless, alone;
And sad, in sooth, had been her lot,
If the grey-haired dame had found her not.

Poor, very poor the dame indeed,

Scarce for herself sufficed her crust,

Yet she had pity on its need,

And took the child in love and trust.

How many rich in worldly gear

Have frittered wealth and life away,

Whose deeds of mercy come not near
This poor old woman's act that day!

She took her home, her all to share;

With generous love unseen, unheard, She bears the burthen; yet can spare Kind pity for a hapless bird!

For love and kindness, day by day,

Deepen and widen as they live;
The more of these we give away
The more we still shall have to give.

Surely our sympathies should be

Toward all God's things a flowing stream,
Reflecting all, star, flower, and tree,
In the clear water's loving gleam!

Blessed, thrice blessed human love!

Oh, would that thus thy power might bind, Like the broad bounty from above,

In charity all human kind!