wishes not your death; that," for the great love wherewith he loveth you," he has planned a way for your salvation. To this end, he has not withheld from you his Son, his only Son, but has given him up for you; has given him up to death, even the death of the cross; that thus, by the ransom of his blood, he might redeem you from eternal misery, and open to you the kingdom of heaven. Nay, that nothing might be wanting to complete your salvation, or to show forth the riches of his grace, to the unspeakable gift of his Son, he has added also the gift of his Spirit, to dwell in you, to be your Sanctifier, your Comforter, and your never-failing Friend. Hath God done all this for you, and does he not justly claim your services? Is it not the most base ingratitude to refuse to serve him, who has thus bought you with his own blood, who has ransomed you at such a price? What claim can the world have on you equal to such a claim as this? What has mammon done to deserve your services? Instead of furthering your happiness, it has only brought on you trouble and sorrow, sin and shame. Instead of doing any thing to save you from perishing, it has done all in its power to ruin and destroy your soul. Far therefore from being entitled to your favour, it deserves your just abhorrence. "Choose you then, this day, whom ye will serve." Life and death are set before you. May God give you grace to choose that better part, which shall never be taken away from you! May every one of you be enabled from the heart to say, "As for me, I will serve the Lord!" 315 SERMON XVII. CHARITY SERMON FOR THE IRISH. COLOSSIANS, iii. 14. Above all things, put on charity. CHARITY is a principle of prevailing love to God, and good-will to men, which effectually inclines one endued with it to glorify God, and to do good to others; to be patient slow to anger-and ready to forgive wrongs to show kindness to all-and seek the good of others, though with prejudice to himself. A person endued with charity does not interpret doubtful things in the worst sense, but in the best ;-is sorry for the sins of others, but rejoices when they do well, and is apt to bear with their failings aud infirmities; and, lastly, this grace is never lost, but goes with you to another world, and is exercised there. As it falls to my duty to encourage in you this day the virtue of charity, I know no method in which it can be more effectually done among a religious people, such as I am sure I am now addressing, than by showing you, from repeated quotations of Scripture, the prodigious importance attached in Holy Writ to the spirit of charity. The very essence of the Christian religion is charity: without it, all other virtues seem to be of little use; and, where it exists, many and grievous sins are forgiven." Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels," says St. Paul, "and have not charity, yet am I nothing worth."-" Follow after charity;faith, hope, and charity, but the greatest of these is charity.". "The end of the commandment is charity." -"Be an example in charity, in spirit, and in faith." "Have fervent charity, for charity covereth a multitude of sins."-" They shall be saved, if they continue in faith and in charity:" - and a multitude of other passages in Holy Writ, with which, I am sure, your own reading of the Scriptures will supply you as effectually as any exertion of mine can do. Passing from the general subject of charity to the particular circumstances which will be the subject of the present day, I have to inform you that the subject to which your attention is now called is the calamities of Ireland. They are suffering from famine!—a whole people absolutely wanting food! - No common subject of appeal this!-no ordinary topic for exciting compassion!-Which of you ever heard it before? Does the oldest person here present ever remember such a thing? - You have seen single persons suffer;-you have entered cottages where the whole family seemed to be badly supported-where you said the hand of poverty is upon them: God has not blessed them with abundance; but did you ever hear of a famine in the land? Did you ever hear of whole villages-nay, towns, and counties, and provinces, groaning and complaining for the want of food? Can you imagine such a thing? Did you ever hear of it before? Can you picture it to your eyes? I thank my God it is new to you! I rejoice that your ears never heard it. I am glad that your kind hearts were never wounded before by such a terrible history! I hope that the youngest child here present who hears me will never hear such things again; but that years and years hence, long after I am dead and forgotten, he will tell it to his children's children as a most memorable instance of human misery and affliction! And if he tells of the wretchedness, I hope also he will tell of the compassion. When he mentions to the listening children about him, that dead bodies are daily found in the fields, the old and the young, the famished child and the famished mother;when he tells of these things to children yet unborn;when he says that he heard these things in the Church (where no man dares say what is false)-I hope he will add also that the wretched Irish asked relief from England and found it! that he saw the poor man bringing that which he had earned with the sweat of his brow, the widow putting in her mite, a deep feeling pervading all ranks and descriptions of people; that they were called upon, by all that is good and honourable in our nature, to do their utmost to minister to this great affliction. That you may not suppose I have the slightest inclination to make the story worse than it really is, I shall lay before you, however painful it may be to you and to myself, a few details of the present shocking state of Ireland: circumstances, not hastily collected, not unadvisedly believed, but stated by those who have actually observed them — cool men — wise men men of wealth and rank-Christian men- giving themselves up to the care and protection of the sick, dying, starving people around them. It appears, from the Central Committee of the County of Cork, that near one hundred parishes in that district, containing 92,800 persons, were at that period in the most urgent distress. From the Rev. Henry Paisley it appears, (I quote names, in order to show you that the greatest pains have been taken to procure accurate reports,)-from this gentleman it appears that, in the three parishes near him, there are 9700 individuals; - that, from the inadequacy of the supply, spotted fevers had broken out among them; and that several of the poor creatures lay all night in the churchyard, unable to move, from pain and hunger. A letter received from Ennis contains the afflicting account of a man, his wife, and nine children, perishing from want of food! At Ballyhauin it is mentioned that many of the starving creatures drop down at the place of distribution, and the fever rapidly increases. From Bingham Castle it is mentioned that thousands have for weeks past subsisted upon sea-weed and wild vegetable substances. This bad diet has brought on a typhus fever!. If we have not speedy relief, the living will scarcely be able to bury the dead!-For instance, about two days ago, four men could not be collected to bury a poor creature that died for want of food. The clergyman of Ennistimon says, "My parish is inhabited by the most wretched class in society; there is not an individual among them able to call attention to his melancholy situation; and, unless something is done to afford them immediate relief, it is my firm conviction that more than half the parish will fall victims." So that the minister who has exhausted his own little means, perhaps, in supporting his poor parishioners, is bound to see them dropping, one after the other, into their graves! every day to lose some old friend! - to miss some countenance which was familiar to him!to take leave of the flock that he has cherished, not in their old age, not in the fulness of years, not at the common time in which we must all part, but before their day, long before their day,, stretched out on the bare earth, dying for the lack of a morsel of bread! If such scenes are ever to happen in this country, God grant that I never may see it! - God grant that I may be called to my long home before I am called upon to witness the misery of you and yours! But I cannot stop my narrative here; it is my duty to proceed.. I have it in command from my sovereign; I have it in command from my ecclesiastical superior; I have it in command from my own conscience and my own feelings, to tell you the whole truth to hide nothing from you- to multiply upon you the pictures of these calamities till you cry out, "O God, spare our poor brethren; spare these wretched people! Let |