Man chamber and lonely habitation. And wherefore death? whether the death of ignorance or despair; whether of calm peace or holy rejoicing? ask the apostle! (Rom. v. 12.) "death passed upon all men for that all have sinned!" There is a first death, and a second death, and a third death-yea, there are many deaths; the soul surviving all, an imperishable, vivid, indestructible thing; it is ever dying and yet never dies in eternity, a paradox most true, most intelligible. War and captivity, at any time deplo- Of all living, fathers of families should know this and feel this; fathers "to children should make known this truth." A first death in which we are born, "yea are dead" saith the Apostle, not physically, not intellectually dead, but we are spiritually "dead." Let them speak of the second death, the severing of soul and body, the journey, the flight, the leap where man sees and knows what a dying malefactor called, THE GRAND SECRET!" The third death-that death everlasting, which is most enduring, cer 66 THE DEATH OF HELL-the life of pain and of exile from heaven; and in this death are included many deaths, for joy is dead, and peace is dead, and hope "that here comes to all," is dead there, and above all, the dead are for ever dead, and lost, and unknown to the dwellers in bliss, and light, and glory. The first death is now our chief concern. The Lord speaks to the dead, "arise, and Christ shall give thee light!" when he speaks, he applies the Spirit to its development and prosperity; let us those whom he calls, and the "dead sympathise in its disruptions and dissohear his voice." Then (the Spirit quick-lutions; our text reminds us of these, ening, and Christ revealed, and the we are bound not to turn a deaf ear Father reconciled) there is a change upon them, the voices of upwards of from death to life, from the bondage Three Hundred childred are lifted up of sin to the service of Christ; from this day, and their cry is gone up to the dominion of Satan to the rule of heaven, "We are orphans and fatherless Jesus. -our mothers are as widows!" These truths are most important to heads of families, for their responsibilities are multiplied, and encrease every day. The wide world is interested in the question of paternal and maternal sway, wisdom and admonition; the families of the land are the noblest, brightest, and strongest bond of union which the | land can show. In our families, is to be found the model as well as the origin of the purest government, from them spring social relationship, industry, economy, subordination, government, schools, and instructors. None so qualified to be public instructors as parents; none so wise and sympathising where children are concerned; none so possess the nameless art of communicating knowledge with kindly and acceptable process. It was worthy of the dark ages to be wiser than God, and to set shackles and restraints where God had left man free! I specially refer to the monastic legislation under which our Universities groan and reel at this day; peace and propriety being risked, and the best leaven of instruction (parental feeling) being voted unworthy of existence; an unscriptural bondage, a vicious temptation that bribes men to live solitary, amid the arid wilderness of speculative enquiry or in the unrefreshing alternations of literary acquisition to day, and of collegiate instruction to-morrow; let this restriction be banished, let our colleges be filled with men who shall feel as parents, and be touched with such sensibilities as draw men closer to each other and render them more dependant upon God. Let us then appreciate the family system in its prime and beauty; let us rejoice in It matters not to these desolate ones, whether the carnage of war devoured their parents or whether they died in humble beds, the tenants of peaceful domiciles; enough to them that they are orphans and fatherless-enough for my subject that God made them so, and that they are bequeathed by God and their parents as a legacy which we must not overlook nor reject. 1. Let us speak of their fathers. Their fathers were as we are this day, born to a common heritage with us, and subordinate to the destiny which belongs to us all. Man born in sin and clothed in infirmity is not always permitted to arrive at years of adolescence; ere he be so permitted, (if spared) through how many pains and sorrows does childhood reach puberty, and puberty manhood? While the generations are rushing onward from the womb to the warfare of life; many drop in the ranks, the ground opens and closes, and they are forgotten. Others attain to vigorous manhood; with susceptibility of years and desire of woman's affectionate companionship, man becomes an husband! happy husband! happy wife, if marriage have been made in the Lord. True, that God has placed four penalties—toil, sorrow, humiliation, and death upon man, but in religious association and sympathy, all these are alleviated; and though wit and ribaldry, jest and profaneness have been united against this "holy estate ;" though lying proverbs have gained currency against it's utility and happiness, still when examined it is here, (and here only,) we find the best bonds of social and public life strengthened and consolidated. It is true, there is and ever will be, in this estate," trouble in the flesh" yet is this to be over-rated or misprized, or its sanctifying influences to be forgotten? Many a father has had bitter anguish with his children, and the " grey hairs" of many been "brought with sorrow to the grave;" yea, many a pious parent has had to bewail the wickedness of his children; how many sighs of a sorrowful heart went forth from Jacob, under the cruel separation which his offspring produced between him and the darling child of his affections, the Son of his Rachel ? Who can forget the piteous exclamations of holy David over the fratricidal incestuous, and all but parricidal Absalom ? 2 Sam. xviii. 33. "O my Son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son !" It may be, that David in this trial was chiefly concerned for the presumed state of Absalom's soul; and if his dying, in the body, for his child might have been the means of giving him " space for repentance," he would even have died for his sinful child. Do all parents in mourning over their "lost and loved" ones, contemplate aught beyond the loss of their sweet companionship? do they bethink them of "whither has the soul fled?" Lift up thy heart, O bereaved and believing parent, thy child is in the blissful habitation which God has provided. While ingratitude, rebellion. and profligacy may wring the heart of a parent, is there no reverse illustration on the coinage of human currency and experience? Yes, many a beautiful picture may be exhibited of "fathers and children," of fathers "doubly" fathers and of children "twice born." If God have heard his prayers, if the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" have been duly attended to, and the father sees his child growing in grace as in years, then does he indeed rejoice, his child is now naturally and spiritually his, and he is enabled to say, in the language of Isaiah viii. 18, "Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel, from the Lord of Hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion." Such a father is blessed, in his children, while spared, and dying has no fears for them, of such a character as to shake his dependance in Jesus. He may have many children and no provision for them; of these, some may be helpless, delicate infants; he leaves them to God, and to the people of God; he may have heard of such a thrice-honored institution as this, and his last moments are soothed in the remembrance that you will not look coldly upon his beloved babes when he is no more with them. Many such have died and left to their dear children no inheritance but the blessing resting upon the seed of the righteous, and the unspotted reputation which they, through grace, enjoyed; the blessing was accompanied by that motto which you have prefixed to your statements, Jer. xlix. 11. "Leave thy fatherless children to me, I will preserve them alive; and thy widows, let them trust in me!" The fathers were Protestant men, and they, the orphans were Protestant born, and their fathers live not to testify in their behalf, and their mothers are widows and sit solitary, and the cry of the pitiful children is as that of the text, "we are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are widows." The value of such an appeal as the present, heralded by such a text as the present, is this, that it brings each segment of the family circle before you,— the "father," the "mother," and the "child." We have treated of the father, will you grudge some consideration to the mother, she is woman, and mother, and widow, and poor. Many a woman now present happy as wife and mother and knows no sorrow, (such be long distant and then be it sanctified!)Women of our land! when you think of your homes and husbands, of your babes smiling on a father's knee, or embraced by a father's fostering hand; remember, For though she be the wife of the rich the thousands who have no more a man and of the fondest husband, Scripture husband's arm to protect, and whose has manifested practical warnings for the children shall never more know a father's sake of all such. In Genesis xxx. 1, smile. we have the impatient and empassioned language of Rachel, " give me children, or else I die!" In Genesis xxxv. 16, we read that her fond wishes were gratified, but at a fearful cost-she died giving birth to Jacob's youngest son-and the dying mother called him "Benoni, son of my sorrow!" nor does the memory of this unexpected visitation depart from the memory of Jacob-many years had passed away, and Jacob, "full of years, and riches, and honours," was about to die, and was giving his last blessing to Joseph; ever at that solemn moment, the good old man's mind was unaccountably carried back to the loss of other years, (Genesis xlviii. 7), and without any seeming connexion with what he had been previously saying, the venerable father says, "and as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachael died by me, in the land of Canaan, in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath-the same is Bethlehem." This episode, with its anile and affectionate particularity, appears to have been introduced by one of those untraceable, yet finely-linked associations, which issue in man's heart— II. Let us speak of their mothers. Man's heritage, as we have described, is four-fold, that of woman two-fold; she is destined, in the first place, to pain and sorrow (see Genesis iii. 16), in the second place, to subjection. If man is to be humble-woman is to hold a subordinate place in the school of humiliation; she is to "reverence her husband," and he is to cherish and protect her. This difference of position when rightly understood, is scarcely felt-the "desire is unto the husband," and affection sweetens duty. If man have protracted and risksome toil for his portion, most bitter is the penalty put upon his cherished partner in the fall-the pangs of childbirth (the severest pangs that fall to the lot of mortality) are woman's dowry; her frail tabernacle is liable to many infirmities-is inadequate to fatigue, and is often bowed down by sickness; the mother is subject to manifold ailments, but these come not useless, and would fain leave a blessing behind them. The remarkable promise, 1 Tim. ii. 15, "Notwithstanding she shall be saved in child-bearing," points out to facts for its fulfilment; for it is unquestionable, that piety is more frequent among women than among men and in a proportion, probably, exceeding that of three woman to one man. Our churches are usually better attended by women than by men; and the disparity in number is particularly manifest at the Lord's table :-to those who give heed to the promise, we say, observe the fourfold requisition of the verse—the mother is called upon for 'faith' in the Lord Jesus-for 'charity' for 'holiness' for 'sobriety, or moderation.' Who can manifest these but the children of God? What mother living (as mothers do) amidst trials and perils, would not desire to be a child of God? | "Lull'd in the countless chambers of the brain, Our thoughts are link'd by many a hidden chain; Awake but one, and lo! what myriads rise, * * * And through the frame invisibly convey, Another testimony to a mother's pangs and peril, is given in 1 Samuel iv. 19; the wife of Phinehas expiring, dies with the peculiar national feeling of a Jewish mother; premature labour had followed the deadly tidings, that her husband and his father were dead, and that the "ark of God was taken;" with her dying breath she named her babe "Ichabod," ("where is the glory?") saying, "The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken," and she died. Here were many mental, as well as bodily pangs, and such are weak woman's heritage not always, nor often it may be-but such have been, and such may be and we know but one safe shelter for such sufferings, and that is the blood and righteousness of Christ, and one consolation for the mourner, and that is the visitation of the Holy Spirit. tional investigation, may give you some idea of the brevity and uncertainty of life, and urge many fathers and mothers who hear me, to enquire, whether, ere their happy young people may be presented for confirmation, they (the parents) may be withdrawn, and for ever! Whatever be the loss sustained by the husband in the removal of the mother of his dear children, as regards the children, greater, in the case of the poor, is the loss of the father: the mother, with several little ones, is suddenly plunged in want But woman is not as man, often prematurely removed from the precious objects the wages no longer bring their of her care; this is not sufficiently under- accustomed hebdomadal comfort-the stood, namely, that fathers are generally world is going on its busy round-the the first called away, and that the pro- children lack raiment cold and rain proportion of widows is very great; if I beat on their unsheltered limbs-they mistake not, the proportion of excess in are left often without education-they this case is nearly as three to two, if not cry for food-they stray into scenes more. It may be, that the life of man of temptation-they go forth-alas! is exposed to greater danger, and pro- oftentimes the boy becomes the plunbably to greater temptations. I would derer-tho girl the harlot; and who is be able to show this disproportion from so rich and so well circumstanced, and two calculations lately made, in the course of such high-born pretensions, that seof my own parochial labours. In 1835, curity of provision and protection is there were in my congregation one ensured for their children ? Great is hundred and twenty-four candidates for the fall which many a high-born wife exconfirmation ; of these nine had lost periences-great-specially great is the fall both their parents-twenty-six had lost of the clergyman's widow, for she finds the their mothers, and thirty-five had lost world and all around her speedily change their fathers; thus, out of one hundred-none loses caste and comfort so speeand twenty-four candidates, sixty-one had lost parents, (the majority of these so deprived having lost their fathers; this was nearly one-half the entire number of candidates.) This appeared more plainly in 1839; in the same congregation there were two hundred and thirty-one candidates for confirmation; of these nineteen had been deprived of both fathers and mothers, forty-two had lost their mothers, and eighty-one had lost their fathers! thus, out of two hundred and thirty-one (the entire number of candidates in 1839) one hundred and twenty-three children (more than half) had lost parents, and the loss of fathers was to the loss of mothers in the proportion of two to one. This congrega dily; but chief of all, the wife of the shopkeeper, or artizan, or poor labourer, is often truly desolate. Therefore, in protecting the orphan, you show kindness to the dead-you offer solace to the widow-you take a load of anxiety from her bosom-you leave her free to indulge industry-you prove your sincere servitude to Jesus, and honour him, who in Psalm lxviii. has assumed the title of "Father of the fatherless, and judge of the widow." May the widows, thus protected by your benevolence, be led to see their dependence on God who raised you up, and may they remember that the Lord is to be sought as their "husband,” their relative, and friend. III. Let us speak of the orphan-We |