cation of blessings to his indigent brethren. I would not judge any rich man, and decide what he ought to do in any given case of charity. Nor would I condemn any rich man, as wanting the spirit of the gospel, because he seems not to do what our religion plainly declares that he should do. Let every one judge himself, and act from the convictions of his own mind. But I may ask, if Jesus Christ does not require of the rich, equal humility as he requires of the poorest of his followers? And, can a rich man possess the humble spirit of the gospel, and not be brought by it into a closer and more fraternal union with the poor? Or, if Christian self-denial be understood, and faithfully maintained by a rich man, the denial as well of all unchristian love of his possessions, as of every other forbidden passion, and every other form and mode of selfishness, will he not in each exercise of this denial, at once be prepared for the exercise of a larger and a wider benevolence, and feel a nobler and a higher freedom in maintaining it? Or, can a rich man bring his heart under the power of the words of Christ," inasmuch as ye have been for succor to the tempted, for comfort to the distressed, and for the supply of want to the necessitous, ye have shewn this kindness unto me," and not esteem it the highest privilege of the distinction which his possessions give him, that he may be God's almoner to those who need his bounty; and who, but for this bounty, must suffer, and will even probably fall into the still greater miseries of sin? Yes, I repeat it, let the rich be Christians, and the poor are blessed. Let the rich be Christians, and there not only will be no oppression, but, in all the transactions of life, there will be the most generous consideration of the poor. Let the rich be Chris

tians, and not the mere temporal wants only of the poor will be met and relieved, but their spiritual necessities will be felt and provided for. In every rich man, the poor will then have a friend; a friend in the best sense of the term; one interested in him as a spiritual and an immortal being; one whose aim, and privilege, and joy it will be to make his poor brother, to the greatest extent practicable, a partaker of the blessings of the gospel. And under these happy influences, poverty would no longer be comparatively, an evil; for the poor would be brought into the kingdom of heaven,-to the piety and virtue of Christians. Is not Christianity, then, a religion which is adapted for the poor; which is suited to bring to the poor an inestimable blessing.

From the condition of the poor, as Christianity would make it, to that in which we see it amidst, and around us, let us for a moment turn our attention. Is it not, to a great extent, a condition of dreadful degradation and wretchedness? It is dreadful, even when viewed in regard alone to its outward aspects. I speak not of the religious part of the poor. There are those, and I thank God that I know it, among whom we are permitted to see something of what our religion religion may do for the poor. But I can carry you from family to famly, in which the first thought excited in the mind will be, is it possible that this should be a residence of my fellow creatures? Here you may see half clad children, often thriving indeed in spite of the dirt with which they are encrusted; but often, also; sickly and withering from the same cause. And here are children, who should be in our schools, or our work shops, living in idleness, already perhaps intemperate, skilled in petty

gambling, obscene, profane, false, dishonest. And here are female children, already nearly lost to the sense of shame, and soon to be irrecoverably lost to virtue. Here you may see the remains of the last meal, which was obtained by beggary, lying for hours as it was left by each one after hunger had been satisfied,-because it was thought not worth while to remove what would soon be wanted again. The wind passes freely through the broken windows; the unmade bed you might suspect to be a lair for some unclean animals; and each article of the crippled and broken furniture, is in keeping with the condition of the bed. Here, too, you may see in the countenance, in the manners, in all that is visible, the effects and evidences of a disorder, a confusion, a debasement of the mind, a thousand times more dreadful than any mere outward evil. And all that you hear, also will but confirm the conviction, that this outward wretchedness, great as it is, is yet as nothing, when compared with the degradation of the soul. Sit down in this apartment, and trace back to the soul the causes of all that you see and hear. Look at the mind, and heart, as they are to be seen in these circumstances. Look into the soul, and see there the causes and consequences of intemperance, of profaneness, of unbridled lust and passion, and of the violation, under any excitement, of any and every personal virtue, and of every duty either to God or man. Here, indeed, you may perhaps say, that vice, or sin, loses much of its aggravation, its guilt, because it is so much the result of ignorance, and of the circumstances under which it is committed. True, it may, and it does lose its guilt, in the sight of God, in proportion as these circum

stances are inevitable. But are they inevitable? Are they inevitable even with respect to ourselves? Have we no accountableness with regard to these debased, and lost fellow creatures? Is this condition of our fellow beings a necessary consequence of any of the laws of God's providence? Is it God's will that these poor creatures should live as they do, and be as they are? And, have we nothing to do for their rescue from this wretchedness? These are solemn inquiries in respect to those of us who are rich, who are enjoying the blessings of Christianity, and who profess to receive it as a revelation from God. Beside these, there are others less degraded, but who are still in almost utter ignorance of our religion, and who have scarcely the faintest, conception of the good, which it is intended to bring to them. Need I describe to you their frequent sufferings, and the moral dangers to which these sufferings expose them? There are still others, who are brought in some degree under the beneficial influences of Christianity. And their outward, as well as their inward condition, is proportionally improved by it. It often supplies even their temporal wants, by the wisdom and energy which it gives in the direction of their industry for the supply of these wants. And there are still other cases, in which its influence on the mind and heart, even under the continuance for years of want and suffering, has produced and maintained a purity, a consistency, a strength of principle, an excellence of character, and a true and solid happiness, certainly not surpassed by any thing which I have seen among those who have been favored with the greatest outward prosperity. But look at the poor around us,-in our very neighbor

hoods, and say, in proportion as they are ignorant of Christianity, and uninfluenced by it, what is their condition? What is the condition of the poor in our country? Is it what Christianity would make it? Look at the poor of Europe; of Christian Europe. How vast is the multitude of our fellow beings, who are there, by their very condition, shut out from the light and happiness which our Lord Jesus Christ intended for all his followers! What have they for excitement, for restraint, for support, for comfort? What, indeed, is the world to him, who is without religion, and who can call nothing in the world his own? What is government, or what are laws to him? What to him are his fellow creatures who are above him? What to him is right and wrong? What to him is his soul? Thus look at the poor, and then consider, what are the objects of Christianity respecting them? What would be the ameliorating influences of our religion among them, if its objects were accomplished in the rich; if the rich were what Christianity would make them to the poor?

Bear with me, for a moment longer, while I say a word for those, who are also near to you, and greatly indigent. Bear with me, while I remind you, that when you shall be enjoying all the comforts, and the abundance, of your homes, in the cold winter that is.before us, there will be many who are not to be gathered into our churches, who will be brought to the extremity of suffering; many who will hardly know where to look for food, and fuel, and clothing; many who will be enduring the aggravated sufferings of poverty and sickness Need I state facts to convince you of the wretched condition of some of these poor families? Is it doubted