compliance therefore with this neceffary injunction, we fhall not only obey his falutary precepts, but likewise follow his divine example. Our bleffed Saviour came to bring peace upon earth, and good-will towards men; that peace and good-will he perpetually endeavour. ed to increase, and went about doing good.

The firft miracle he performed was at a feaft of joy, where he rejoiced with them that did rejoice, and not only partook of their mirth and happiness, but exerted alfo his divine. power to promote them.

And as he rejoiced with them that rejoiced, fo alfo he wept with them that wept; he thought it not beneath his dignity to mourn and lament for the afflictions of thofe he loved. In that most affecting fcene, defcribed by St. John, of raifing Lazarus from the dead, we fee him exerting the virtue of humanity in the highest degree towards objects most deserving of it.

When Mary was come where Jefus was, and faw him, fhe fell down at his feet, faying, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

And when he faw her weeping, and the Jews alfo weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled; and he said, Where have ye laid him? they fay unto him, Come and fee; and Jefus wept.-Here we have the great model of perfection, the example of Jefus Chrift the righteous prompting us to this duty.

To conclude:

One virtue doth naturally beget another. Benevolence is always fucceeded by beneficence;

he

he who rejoices in another's profperity, will make it his business to promote it, because, while he increases his neighbour's happinefs, it is an addition to his own; and when the heart is open to the wants and diftreffes of the indigent and oppreffed, the hand will be ready to relieve them. Let us then comply with the injunction of the holy apoftle. Let not the force of prejudice or fashion warp us from our duty, nor an inordinate defire of worldly poffeffions extinguish in us the fentiments of love and humanity. Let us then rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. If fortune fmileth on our neighbour, if profperity fhould crown his wishes, let us not repine at his fuccefs, or envy his happinefs, but let us chearfully fit down with him and partake of the banquet. If, on other hand, the rod of adverfity fhall chaftife, and the fword of affliction fall upon him, let us kindly endeavour to footh his forrows, and by partaking, mitigate his diftrefs.

Nature points out to us these great important duties, Religion commands us to perform them, God the Father enjoined them, and God the Son himself practifed them. If then we expect to live eafy and happy ourselves, let us encourage the focial affections, let us rejoice in the happiness of others, remembering it will infallibly promote and increase our own. If we expect to be comforted in our afflictions, let us vifit the afflicted, and weep with them that weep, remembering that whatever endears us

to

to our fellow-creatures, will make us alfo amiable in the eyes of our Creator: as it should be our pleasure, it is our intereft alfo: 'God will give us more enjoyment of life for it here, and reward us for it with eternal happiness hereafter.

ON FRIENDSHIP.

SERMON XII.

ECCLES, VI. 16.

A faithful friend is the medicine of life; and they that feek the Lord fhall find him.

AMONGST all those pleasures which

have the fanétion of reafon to warrant, and the feal of innocence to guard and protect them, there is not perhaps one, whofe sensations are so exquifite, and whofe joys are fo refined as that of virtuous friendship: there is not, in all earthly gratifications, one fo becoming the dignity, fo fuitable to the frame and difpofition, fo productive of the happiness of our natures. With the most elegant propriety, therefore, doth the wife man ftile it the medicine of life: a fafe, a sweet and pleafing remedy: not like thofe medicines which the art of man hath discovered to preserve and

reftore

refore our bodies, which, how falutary and efficacious foever they may be, are almost always naufeous and unpalatable.

The pleafures of human life, or thofe enjoyments which conftitute our ideas of happiness, may, I think, be divided into the rational and the fenfual: to convince mankind that they joys of the former are, (contrary to the prevailing opinion) not only equal to, but even far fuperior to the latter, is a task worthy the best heads to plan, and the beft hearts to execute; and it has indeed been the fuccefslefs endeavour of the wife and good in all ages, To enhance the charms of virtue, and unite our happiness with our duty, would perhaps be of greater fervice to religion, and entitle us to a larger fhare of the divine favour, than any other act of piety whatfoever. I cannot but be of opinion that amongst the many duties of a minifter of the gofpel, there is one which, though too often neglected, is equally useful and neceffary as any of the reft: and that is, to have a watchful eye over the reigning manners of the times we live in; to mark and to encourage the rife of growing virtues, and to check the progrefs of advancing vice; to speak with becoming freedom and decency against popular prejudices and prevailing follies; to point out the want or decay of every truly christian and moral perfection; and to propofe every probable means of making men more humane, benevolent and affectionate to each other, and more devoted to the fervice of their great Creator. With this view, and in this light, I fhall beg leave to confider that partial

and

particular connection between man and man, which we term friendfhip, fo generally commended and fo little practifed amongst us, and which I would gladly enforce as a duty; a duty incumbent on every man, as the law of nature, of God, and of our Saviour, who did himself not only recommend and enforce it, but also frequently perform it.

A faithful friend, fays the fon of Sirach, is the medicine of life; and they that fear the Lord fhall find him. A great and glorious treasure no doubt the wife man thought it, when he confidered it as a bleffing which nothing but a life spent in the service of God, could entitle any man to the participation of; they that fear the Lord, they only who obey his commands, and walk in his ways, fhall find him. They shall meet with this fweet reward of all their toil; and when they do meet with it, they will never repent of their labour in the fearch of it.

There cannot be a ftronger proof of the real and intrinfic value of any thing, than the pains which are taken to counterfeit it. The more excellent the original is, the greater will be the number of poor and imperfect copies. To this, doubtlefs, are owing the many faint refemblances and falfe appearances of this great and noble virtue. Fraud, the better to carry on its defigns, affumes her form and garb; hypecrify mimicks her gefture; malice and hatred put on a mask to reprefent her; good-breeding, which is in reality nothing but a kind of artificial good-nature, and complaifance, which is

ingenious