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die!" Four of these twelve were but little below and | little above the mid term of life; but to each of them the destroying angel whispered also, though in a whisper that was not heard by us," This year thou shalt die!" Five of these twelve numbered more than fourscore years, yet have they also been cut off!—they have passed away! Nine of these twelve were heads of families, so nearly the ninth of all the families we met in health and comfort within the twelve months Two of these nine formed, at the beginning of the year, but one family, the father of which stands the first, and the mother the last on the same list of the year. Their children are enrolled with themselves, and are numbered among those who have gone down to the land of forgetfulness.

are gone.

Now, when we call up these and other recollections, which may be particular to particular individuals, have not these words a meaning an awfully important meaning to some of us, "This year thou shalt die?" Have not the words of Job an awfully emphatic meaning to us all: "When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.' Bring back but the beginning of the past year, and the brawny, muscular arm which lifted the ponderous hammer from the clang of the anvil, forced the iron to assume a shape, and left on its surface marks which indicate that life, and strength, and design were there, that arm is now unstrung by death; and the man of art, with his tender and helpless family," being dead yet speaketh." "When a few years are come, then ye shall go the way whence ye shall not return."...... The hoary-headed chronicler, whose memory was a journal of the life and acts of your fathers, has ceased; and has for ever ceased to publish them. Death has closed the quick eye,-stopped the once ready tongue; and all the daughters of music have been brought low-even to the dust...... The aged patriarch, whose face was once so familiar to you in this place, (the house of God,) seems yet, though dead, to sit before me in all the sincerity and delight of heavenly devotion. The reflection is pleasant! but he has "gone the way whence he shall not return.".. The shepherd, that once tended his fleecy flock,-winded up and around the steep hill with activity and vigour that returned in the evening to the bosom of his family is now no more:

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"One day I miss'd him on th' accustom'd hill,
Along the heath, and near his favourite tree
Another came-nor yet beside the rill,

Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he!"

The tenant of the soil, whose face and appearance is still fresh to you, and calls up all the qualities you would ascribe to an open-hearted friend,-whose name is associated with whatever is honest and honourable among men, the tenant of the soil has ceased to be; no longer do we meet him on the road where we have met him so often; and no more shall we hear him saJute us with the voice of welcome, and in his own peculiar tone of kindness. Oh! in a short time it will be said of us, as it is now said of him, and of all these, they are not;" for when a few years shall have come, we shall go the way whence we shall not return. Though one generation passeth away another cometh. The subject is, therefore, doubly important to us; for there have been nearly double the number of births that there have been of deaths amongst us; and when a greater number is introduced, and intrusted to our care, a greater degree of zeal, activity, and labour, is necessary. Those that are no more, preach to us in the dumb language of death, and urge on us to apply it personally in the words of the patriarch, to which we have already alluded. While I have mentioned the decrease and increase of our numbers for it is somewhat remarkable that there have been six marriages in the course of the year,-double the number of deaths that there have

And

been marriages, and nearly double the number of births that there have been deaths; while I have mentioned the increase of our numbers, let me also express the increase of my hope toward you and for you. These young strangers have all, as far as I can at present recollect, their parents, and brothers, and sisters dwelling in families together in unity. They are growing up with these parents as their lawful and beloved offspring, having been baptized into the Church of Christ, our Lord and Redeemer. While our numbers have increased in the family, they have not decreased in the house of God; for though we may complain with a venerable servant of God, whose name and writings are familiar to many of you, (Boston,)" that there may be some who, if they would come little more than half way from their own house, they would hear the sound of my voice," yet our usual audience, taking it in the general, has increased in its number. while God alone can judge the heart, and does judge it, I have also to express my satisfaction and delight on the becoming decorum, decency, and devotion you manifest in this place, the house of God-the gate of heaven! And lastly, those who joined with us, for the first time, in celebrating the dying love of Christ at our last solemnity, were about four times more than what have so joined with us on any former occasion, the average being four or five, but the number of this year amounted to seventeen. These outward marks and tokens are an encouragement to perform our reciprocal duties. And they are an anticipation to me that the subjects which have been before us have not been disregarded, and that they have not been in vain in the Lord. "The treasure is in earthen vessels." "But we preach Christ crucified." "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Oh! "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

"This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." Exod. xii. 2. This month is the first month of our year; and our year is like a circle; from this, indeed, it has its Roman name. Round this circle we move, and move quickly, all the days of our life. There is no standing still. We start when we first breathe. Let us start anew this day, with fresh resolution, to run the way of God's commandments when he shall enlarge our heart. O let us so run that we may obtain! This month on the circle-or at the beginning of the year—has its name from a pagan god, (Janus,) emblem of the beginning of the year, have one face, represented with two faces. Let us, like this heathen with keen piercing eyes to look backward, by reflection, on what we have been! and another, to look forward, of our blessed Lord and Redeemer, to what we expect with faith and hope through the merits and mediation

to be!

REMARKS ON THE HUNDREDTH PSALM. BY THE REV. JOHN CORMACK, D.D., Minister of Stow.

THIS psalm has ever held a high place among the sweet songs of Zion, so dear and so refreshing to the pious Israelites of old; and so much dearer, and so much more refreshing still to the spiritual Israelites of Gospel days, as they pass on through the weeping valley of Baca, to the higher songs of the Zion above, where weeping is unknown, God himself having wiped away every tear from every eye. It is the last in order that has been ascribed to Moses, and was considered by the Hebrews as referring to the Messiah's days. Its title merits attention. It is called a " Psalm of praise," a

title attached to no other psalm, though many of them | able translators of the Bible had to encounter, in probreathe nothing but praise and thanksgiving.

ducing a literal translation of the Inspired Volume, we may advert to the manner in which they addressed themselves to the task. And here it may be summarily

This sacred poem begins with setting before us the sentiments and feelings with which we should enter the house of God. We are exhorted to "make a joy-stated that, as faithfulness was their first and great aim, ful noise unto Jehovah, and to serve him with gladness, and to come before his presence with singing.' And the call to do so is universal" all ye lands,' and so must be understood of Gospel times, and of all in every region that own the name of Jesus.

to me.

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their next appears to have been to put their readers in possession of their doubts and difficulties, and the means of helping them to detect inaccuracies, where, as in all uninspired efforts, they may be expected sometimes to creep in. In this scrupulous carefulness oriBut some sad and sorrowful soul, under painful suf- ginated the marginal readings in our Bibles, as well as fering, privation, or bereavement, or it may be under a the adoption of the Italic character in particular cirsense of sin, the cause of all suffering, feeling deep cumstances. Thus, when a word or phrase appeared abasement and anguish from conscious guilt, may be susceptible of two meanings, each of them good, and apt to say, joy and gladness, and singing, are not suitable consistent with divine truth, they placed what they reIt is sighing, and sorrow, and smiting on the garded as, upon the whole, the most probable, in the breast, while not presuming to lift my eyes to heaven, text, and the other in the margin. Again, when the that are becoming in me, the chief of sinners. To elliptical nature of the original, or some peculiar idiom such an afflicted soul we would say in the language of required a word or words to be supplied, to bring out another of the songs of Zion, "It is a good thing to the full meaning in the English language, they inserted give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praise unto thy the words so supplied in the Italic character, that every name, O most High; to show forth thy loving-kindness reader might be instantly aware of the difficulty they in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night." Ps. had to encounter, and of their best endeavour to surxcii. 1, 2. Sorrow and sighing may have their appro- mount it. priate period; but there is also an appropriate period for their termination. When the sinful child of mortality feels that he is sunk in "the horrible pit," and sticking fast in "the miry clay," it is not possible that he shall be joyous and glad, and come with singing. But let the man of anguish and sorrow obtain deliverance from the horrible pit, and from the miry clay, and let his feet be set upon a rock, and his goings established, is it not then appropriate that there should be a new song in his mouth, even praise to our God? Ps. xl. 2, 3. Has not God shown that his darkest and most afflictive dispensations are sent to his children in love and mercy, to exercise their faith and patience, and render them meet for the inheritance of the saints in light? And if so, what but praise and gratitude are due to the Giver of good? Now, it is to persons in these circumstances that this divine poem is addressed; and surely "praise is comely" for those who can say (as verse 3,) we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture."

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But this verse, in the original, bears a higher and more peculiar import than merely that those, who here celebrate Jehovah's praise, are in the happy state of being his people, and the sheep of his pasture. The cause of their being so is distinctly recognised as originating in his own free and sovereign grace. To make out this to the satisfaction of every reader was what first suggested the remarks on this psalm. Now, while matters of curious, critical discussion are unsuitable and to be avoided in such an article as the present, a simple remark or two on the nature and difficulties of translation may be of importance to the mere English reader, as they will put him in a capacity to comprehend intelligently the proposed amendment.

Persons of learning know that it is extremely difficult, and often impossible, to transfuse the full meaning and spirit of a composition from one language into another, and that the difficulties are greatly increased when the version, as in our translation of the Bible, is required to be literal. Suppose a translator to be perfectly master of the language out of which he translates, as well as that into which he translates, and that he is never at a loss as to the meaning of his original-qualifications not to be always expected, and of which the imperfection of human language forbids the hope—still it often happens, that in the one tongue there is a want of words and terins of precisely equivalent import in the other; while the idiom is sometimes so different, that the literal translation of a phrase would actually misrepresent the original author's meaning. Such being a mere glance at the difficulties which our vener

However familiar these things are to the learned, it is presumed that they may be of some importance to others, who will now be able distinctly to appreciate the remarks to be made on the third verse of this psalm, of which the substance has been already hinted. Look, then, to your English Bible, and by simply omitting the words in Italics, you have the following:-" Know ye that the Lord, he God; he that hath made us, and not we ourselves, his people, and the sheep of his pasture.'

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Here, then, those who are God's people and the sheep of his pasture acknowledge, with adoring gratitude and praise, that they were made such by God himself. It was He, and not we ourselves, that made us his people. How like the language of the redeemed above, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood!" Well, then, may this sacred poem be called a " Psalm of praise," since the deliverance is secure and perfect, and God himself the author of it. There is no weeping in heaven, and there should be none among those who are on the way to it. The tear of tenderness will, indeed, sometimes fall, and instead of being forbidden, it has been hallowed by Him who is the Just One and the perfect, when at the grave of Lazarus "Jesus wept.' But there could be nothing in our tears allied to murmuring, repining, or dissatisfaction, if the love of God were perfect, and our faith in him perfect. For if so, every thing, whatever were its present aspect, would be delightful to us, as coming from the God of love, who is ever making all things work together for the good of those who love him, and are the called according to his purpose. Who could be sad under the full conviction, that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding, even an eternal weight of glory?" Shall the wretch that lately lay pining under mortal disease, give way to anything else than transports of joy, when restored to the full buoyancy and elasticity of confirmed health? Will not the lame man, in similar deliverance, leap as an hart, and the dumb sing for joy? And shall not the slave of sin and Satan, restored to the liberty of the sons of God, exult with singing? Yes; and it is but the anticipation of what shall be finally realized, when "the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; when they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.' Isaiah xxxv. 10.

That we are the sheep of God's pasture is a cause of unspeakable rejoicing; and that God has made us such-for we ourselves could never have done it-is

cause of unutterable thanksgiving to HIM, the fountain of all this unutterable beatitude.

There are many other important remarks suggested by this "Psalm of praise," which such a paper as the present will not admit. We conclude it, therefore, with a literal translation of the whole psalm, in the manner of the Hebrew distich, for the nature of which we refer to the elegantly classical works of Bishop Lowth on Hebrew poetry, and his translation of Isaiah. We shall just remark that the word LORD in capitals in the Old Testament corresponds with Jehovah in the original, and that this last is adopted in the following translation:

Shout joyfully to JRHOVAH all the earth.
Serve JEHOVAH with joyfulness.

Come before him with singing:

Know that JEHOVAH he (alone) is God.

He. and not we ourselves, made us his people

And the sheep of his pasture.

Cone into his gates with praise:

Into his courts with thanksgiving.

Give thanks to him and bless his name.

For good is JEHOVAH for ever (is) his mercy, And froin generation to generation his faithfulness. Many remarks suggested by this beautiful Psalm are necessarily left to the reflections of the Christian reader. At the same time, the following stanza, corresponding to the third verse in our metrical version, is humbly and diffidently submitted to harmonize with the view of the passage already given. The necessity of extending it to four lines, renders it more paraphrastic in appearance than would be desirable, though nothing is introduced of which the idea is not in the original :—

Know that the Lord, not we, us made
His people and his pasture's sheep.
"Tis he that chose us, he that feeds;
'Tis he protects, and will us keep.

CHRISTIAN TREASURY.

Our responsibility in reference to our Fellow-men.—— O my friends! is there at this moment any one among you, who is cherishing and indulging a single human affection, however innocent, however laudable, unsanctified by religious principle and religious hope ? Is there a single bond of union between you and a dear brother, or sister, or spouse, or parent, or child,—a bond formed independently of God and the Gospel of his grace, and the prospect of eternity? Do you love your friend, your relative, dearly, fondly, after the flesh? Do you share with him all your feelings, and fancies, and pleasures, and pursuits? Do you take him along with you in the path of science, in the flights of lofty imagination? Do you bid him welcome to your home, your hearth, your heart? And do you find every day's endearing fellowship and intimate familiarity only knitting you the more closely together in perfect confidence, and harmony, and love? And yet with all this communion and interchange of affection, can it be that there is no communion of attachment to God, no recognition of heaven, no regard to eternity? Is it, after all, for the purposes and enjoyments of this earth alone, that you are united, and united O how tenderly? Alas! and have you no fear, that when the utter vanity of these pursuits and enjoyments comes to be known and felt, when the dream of worldly happiness is over, and you are awakened to a sense of all the guilt of your ungodliness; when you are made aware that every thought, however pure, which has not reference to God is sin, and are enduring the torments of a conscience now quickened and alive to the criminality of a life spent without God; O! have you no fear, that in the very attachment you are now forming, in the very affection you are nov indulging, in the friendship, the love which every day is rendering more intense as you lavish all proofs and tokens of tenderest regard, You are but treasuring up the very instruments of wrath gainst the day of wrath? The time may be fast com.

ing, when the most bitter agony of a lost, and ruined, and undone eternity will be the recollection of some kinsman, some friend, some brother beloved, whom you once encouraged as a partner in your sin, whom alas! however earnestly and anxiously you pray, you cannot hinder from becoming a partner in your doom. You might have warned him once. You might have told him of a God above, and a judgment before him, and a Saviour near, even at the door. Once his mind was open, his heart tender. The spirit of the Lord striving with him, seemed to be beginning a good work in him. Alas! did you, by cold neglect, quench the smoking flax? Does conscience remind you, that among all your interesting topics of daily familiar converse, religion had not its due place? that on one subject, even the one thing needful, you discouraged confidence, and left your friend to take his chance alone,left him to fall back into deeper slumber? And now it is too late. Once, but for you, he might have heard Moses and the prophets, now he will scarcely be persuaded though one were to rise from the dead.—REV. R. S. CANDLISH.-[Sermon preached on behalf of the Society for the Relief of the Destitute Sick.]

The best mode of Reproof.-Reprove mildly and sweetly, in the calmest manner, in the gentlest terms, not in a haughty or imperious way, not hastily or fiercely; not with sour looks, or in bitter language, for these ways do beget all the evil, and hinder the best effects of reproof; they do certainly inflame and disturb the person reproved; they breed wrath, disdain, and hatred against the reprover; but do not so well enlighten the man to see his error, or affect him with a kindly sense of his miscarriage, or dispose him to correct his fault. Such reproofs look rather like the wounds and persecutions of enmity, than as remedies ministered by a friendly hand; they harden men with rage, and scorn to mend upon such occasion. If reproof doth not savour of humanity, it signifieth nothing; it must be like a bitter pill wrapped in gold, and tempered with sugar, otherwise it will not go down, or work effectually.-BARROW.

True Beauty.-Beautiful is that soul that hath put on Christ; beautiful is the place thou dwellest in, and all the parts thou comest into; beautiful is the table thou sittest at, and beautiful is the company thou art among! O beautiful is the soul that wears that long white robe of the righteousness of Christ! And beautiful is the soul and conscience that is washed in the blood of the Lamb! So faith can make a man or woman beautiful before God, beautiful before the sight of both men and angels!-JOHN WELCH.

Is God not in all your thoughts? Why did you not think of God? One would deem that the thought of him must, to a serious mind, come second to almost every other thought. The thought of virtue would suggest the thought of both a law-giver and a rewarder ; the thought of crime, of an avenger; the thought of sorrow, of a consoler; the thought of an inscrutable mystery, of an intelligence that understands it; the thought of that ever-moving activity that prevails in the system of the universe, of a supreme agent; the thought of the human family, of a great father; the thought of all-being, of a creator; the thought of life, of a preserver; and the thought of death, of an incontrollable disposer. By what dexterity of irreligious caution did you avoid precisely every track, where the idea of him would have met you, or elude that idea if it came? And what must sound reason pronounce of a mind which, in the train of millions of thoughts, has wandered to all things under the sun, to all the permanent ob. jects or vanishing appearances in the creation, but never fixed its thought on the Supreme reality; never approached, like Moses, "to see this great sight."FOSTER'S ESSAYS.

SACRED POETRY.

A CANTICLE OF THE COVENANTERS.

Ho! Watcher of the silent hill,

What of the night? What of the night? The winds are hushed-the earth is stillThe voiceless stars are sparkling bright— From out this heathery moorland glen, By the shy wild fowl only trod, We raise our hymn, unheard of men, To thee, an omnipresent God!

Jehovah! though no sign appear

Through earth our aimless path to lead,
We know we feel thee ever near,

A present help in time of need;
Near as when pointing out the way,
For ever in thy people's sight,
A smoke-wreathed column in the day!
A fiery pillar in the night!

Whence came the summons forth to go?

From thee came down the warning sound: "Out to your tents, oh Israel-Lo !

The heathens' warfare girds thee round:
Sons of the faithful, Up! Away!

The Lamb must of the wolf beware;
The falcon seeks the dove for prey;
The fowler spreads his cunning snare."
Then all was seeming peace around,

Was seeming peace by field and flood,
We woke and on our lintels found,

The mark of death, the sign of blood; Lord! in thy cause we mocked at fears; We scorned th' ungodly's threatening words; Beat out our pruning hooks to spears;

And turned the ploughshare into swords. Degenerate Scotland! days have been

When freemen o'er thy pathways trod, When mountain rude and valley green Poured forth the loud acclaim to God! The fire, which Liberty imparts,

Refulgent in each patriot eye, And graven on a nation's hearts

The Word!-for which we stand or die.
Unholy change! the scorner's chai..

Is now the seat of those who rule;
Tortures, and bonds, and death, the share
Of all except the tyrant's tool;
The faith in which our fathers breathed

And had their life,-for which they died-
That priceless boon, which they bequeathed
Their sons,- -our impious foes deride.

And we have left our homes behind,
And we have girded on the sword,
And we in solemn league have joined,
Yea, covenanted with the Lord-
Never to seek these homes again,

Never to give the sword its sheath,
Until our rights of Faith remain

Unfettered as the air we breathe!
Oh, Thou, who reignest in the sky,
Encircled round with heavenly thrones,
Cast down thine all protecting eye
Upon our wives and little ones;
From Hallelujahs surging round,

Oh for a moment turn thine ear,
The widow prostrate on the ground,
The famished orphan's cries to hear!

And thou wilt hear it cannot be,

That thou wilt list the raven's brood,
When from the nest they call to thee,
And, in due season, send them food;
It cannot be, that thou wilt weave
The lily such superb array,
And yet unfed, unsheltered leave

Thy children as if less than they!
We have no hearth-the ashes lie
In blackness where they brightly shone;
We have no home-the desert sky

Our covering, earth our couch alone;
We have no heritage-depriven

Of these, we ask not such on earth; Our hearts are sealed; we seek in heaven, For heritage, and home, and hearth. D. M. MOIR.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Adherence to Principle.-In the unrivalled usefulness and celebrity of his sons, Mr Samuel Wesley beheld the providential reward of his own inflexible attachment to principle, and his courage in resisting the machinations of power, when he thought that the cause of religion and the welfare of his country were at stake, When that misguided and unfortunate monarch, James the Second, endeavoured to subvert the Protestantism of England, and to render Popery the dominant power, Mr Wesley was strongly solicited by the friends of the king to abet his arbitrary measures, and high preferment was held out to him to induce his compliance. But he positively refused to read the king's declaration; he protested against the infamous policy of the times, and though surrounded with informers, and threatened by soldiers, he delivered a memorable sermon against the object which James had in view, founded upon the words, "If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image thou hast set up." This bold and honourable man was the father of John and Charles Wesley, the founders of modern Methodism. A Countryman.-Collins, the freethinker, or deist, met a plain countryman going to church. He asked him where he was going. "To church, Sir." "What To worship God." "Pray, whether is your God a great or a little God? "He is both, Sir." "How can he be both?" He is so great, Sir, that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him; and so little that he can dwell in my heart." Collins declared, that this simple answer from the countryman had more effect upon his mind than all the volumes which learned doctors had written against him.

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to do there? 64

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THE FEAR OF THE LORD, THAT IS WISDOM."

No. 49.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1837.

CHRISTIAN FRIENDSHIP ILLUSTRATED IN THE
RECIPROCAL CONDUCT OF PAUL AND
ONESIPHORUS.

BY THE REV. D. DAVIDSON,
Minister of Broughty Ferry.

PRICE 1d.

and her sister, and Lazarus," illustrious instances of friendship? and how can his disciples fail to perceive in these a recommendation of it, more instructive and alluring than any precept can convey?

Out of many examples, let there now be selected, for contemplation, that which is exhibited in the conduct of Onesiphorus to Paul, and Paul to Onesiphorus, (1 Tim. i. 16-18.) They were Christian friends, and their behaviour to each other, while sanctioning friendship, illustrates the manner in which, according to the varied circumstances wherein Providence may place us, its part should be performed.

Önesiphorus was the friend of Paul, and how did he manifest his friendship? When the apostle sojourned in Ephesus, preaching the Gospel, he "ministered to him in many things," assisting, probably, both in the supply of his temporal wants and the furtherance of his spiritual labours. And when the apostle was a prisoner, the second time, at Rome, treated with peculiar severity by his enemies, and wounded yet more deeply by the defection of professed friends, so constant was that worthy, that he still remembered him,—so courageous that he "was not ashamed of the apostle's chain," nor afraid to own him though a reputed felon, awaiting his execution, so zealous that he

THE absence from the code of Christian morality, of a specific command as to the cultivation of friendship, has been made by infidels the matter of objection against our most holy faith. But that objection, while their preferring of it betrays their malignant hatred of Christianity, and discovers the difficulty they feel in framing even any plausible allegation against it, it is easy to repel. True it is, indeed, that we cannot point out any precept that requires us, in express terms, to cultivate friendship with our fellows. And this may seem a great omission to those whose sensibilities or circumstances have led them to attach peculiar value to the possession of a true friend, and whose experience, either bitter or blessed, has taught them what it is to want, and what to have one. But then, while this omission is explained and vindicated by the considerations that friendship, in its highest style, is to be ranked rather among the privileges than the duties of life, and that from its very nature it admits not of precise inculcation; there are enjoined in the New Testament, the acquisition and exercise of those dispositions which" inquired diligently" for him, and traced him out naturally give birth to friendship, and lay the surest basis for the discharge of its obligations, and the enjoyment of its pleasures; and there are presented there, also, the most engaging examples of individuals, whose breasts reciprocated the sentiments and emotions of the purest friendship, and whose lives were the very model of its expressions and achievements. Has not the Gospel inculcated bumility and veracity, tenderness and gratitude, sympathy with the afflicted, and esteem of the excellent? And how can these graces fail of originating, between those who possess them, that respect and endearment which friendship implies, if they be brought into contact and be congenial in their tastes? Has not the Gospel also set forth, in the regard and preference of our Lord for John, who is described as "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and for the happy family of Bethany, concerning whom it is said, "Now Jesus loved Martha, VOL. II.

to the dungeon where he was lying as one utterly forsaken, and so affectionate, and liberal, and sympathetic, that he "refreshed him oft," and cheered his heart by the gifts of his hand, and the light of his countenance, and the communications of his tongue; thus earning for himself that highest commendation which the Judge will bestow at the last day on those whom he rewards for their kindness to his people, "I was in prison and ye came unto me."

Paul was the friend of Onesiphorus, and how did he manifest his friendship? Incarcerated and enchained, poor and destitute, he could not requite, in kind, his benefactor's generosity. But another mode of expressing friendship was left him, and as he was shut up to it by circumstances, so he turned to it with fondness. As the waters of a spring, when prevented from flowing forth in their natural channel, mount forcibly up towards heaven,

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