My glass is run, and yours is running,
Prepare for death, for judgment's coming.

Yes, be it remembered, that it is true wisdom to take warn ing by the decease of others-to act as persons who must die, and who may soon lie down in the dark and silent grave. Blessed are they to whom to live is Christ, of whom it may be truly said, the grace of Christ is the principle of their life, his word is the rule of their life, and his glory the end of their life; to such, come when it will, or how it may, death will prove certain, present, unspeakable, and everlasting gain. It is painful to think how few there are to whom this character is applicable! how many squander away their time as if it were never to end, and waste their lives in thoughtlessness, unbelief, and sin! If any such cast their eye over this paper, we would address them in the beautiful and impressive lines of Cowper :

Sad waste! for which no after thrift atones:

The grave admits no cure for guilt or sin ;
Dew-drops may deck the turf that hides the bones,
But tears of godly grief ne'er flow within.

Learn then, ye living by the mouths be taught
Of all these sepulchres, instructors true,

That, soon or late, death also is your lot,

And the next opening grave may yawn for you.

ABIJAN

THE AFFLICTED AND DESTITUTE RECOMMENDED TO GENERAL

SYMPATHY.

"REMEMBER," says the apostle, " them which suffer ad versity, as being yourselves also in the body." An exhortation like this can never be ill-timed, because there are always those who suffer adversity;" yet at the present inclement season of the year, it is peculiarly appropriate and necessary. With your permission, therefore, Mr. Editor, I shall present your readers with a few remarks, designed to explain and enforce it.

To suffer adversity is a phrase of very general signification. It denotes to bear evil of any kind. I need scarcely add that it is the consequence of sin; and is, therefore, endured by all men, since "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Perhaps, however, the apostle in the passage quoted above, refers particularly, if not exclusively, tobodily suffering, or rather to sufferings of a temporal nature. To those varied afflictions which befal us as men-not as christians; to those

external sources of pain and distress to which, as the fallen creatures of God, we are exposed-and not to those inward trials, resulting from the depravity of our own hearts, and other causes of a similar nature, of which, as the children of God, we may frequently complain. "Man is born to trouble," said one who well knew, as the sparks fly upward;" and universal experience accords with this declaration. It would be an easy matter to descant on the multiplied afflictions of this nature endured by our fellow-creatures, and to harrow up the feelings by many a tale of woe; but the object of the present essay is to alleviate them, by exhorting your readers to a faithful discharge of their duty. "Remember them which

suffer adversity," says the apostle, "Expend not," as though he had said, "all your feeling upon yourself; let others share in the generous sympathies of your heart. Be it your care to sooth the distresses of all around you-to dry up the tears from their eyes-to stretch forth your hands for their assistance-and, as far as the providence of God puts it into your power, contribute to their relief." It is one great proof of the divine origin of christianity, that it tends to correct the native selfishness of the human heart. It is natural to man, as a fallen creature, to care for himself, and for no one elseto confine all his sorrow and grief for his own sufferings, and to reserve all his rejoicing for his own advancement and prosperity but the religion of Jesus teaches us juster sentiments, and inspires us with nobler feelings. It teaches us to weep with those that weep, and to rejoice with those that rejoice. It removes the natural stoicism of the human mind, and implants a kind, and gentle, and sympathising spirit. This is one of its characteristic operations. It renders us, indeed, so susceptible at the sight of human woe-it causes us to enter so deeply into the circumstances and feelings of our afflicted brethren of mankind, that we may be said to bear a portion of that very suffering which they endure. Such is the sympathy, if we may be allowed to call it by that name, between the different members of the human body, that one cannot suffer alone; and such is the tenderness of heart implanted by the religion of Jesus towards the whole of the large family of God, the commen Creator of all, that when one member of the family suffers, all who have felt its influence suffer with it, and when one member rejoices, they all rejoice with it. No christian can contemplate the sufferings of his fellow-creatures with indifference. It is contrary to his nature to that new and holy nature that is implanted within him by the Spirit of God. It is left to infidelity, to view the miseries of mankind with a dry eye, and a hard heart. It is infidelity that has no bowels of mercies. Christianity is of a gentler spirit. She resembles her divine author, who felt so

strongly for the misery of the human race, in a state of apos tacy from God, "that, though he was rich he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich." Christianity is the good Samaritan who had compassion on the poor wounded man, while the tribes of infidelity passed by on the other side.

But while we speak of the compassion which the religion of the gospel inspires, we must not forget its practical rature and influence. To sympathise with those who suffer adversity is unquestionably our duty, but it is not the whole of our duty. The good Samaritan began with compassion, but he did not end with it. He went to the wounded and apparently dying man, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, set him upon his own beast, and took care of him. And we ought ever to remember, that our Lord added, at the close of the narration, "go, and do thou likewise." "Remember

them," says the apostle, that suffer adversity;" that is, practically do it. He could never intend merely that we are, to bear their distresses in our recollection without making a single effort to alleviate and remove them. No-Paul had not so learned Christ. He well knew that the spirit of a man who should act such a part, would be as far removed from the spirit of Christianity, as is "the centre from the pole."There is no difference between James and Paul on this point. "If a brother or a sister," says the former, "be naked, and 'destitute of daily food, and one of you say to them depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them hot those things which are needful for the body, what doth it profit "As therefore," adds the latter, "we have oppor'tunity, let us do good unto all men, especially to those who are of the household of faith." The spirit of christianity is a spirit of active benevolence. It not only fills the heart with compassion, and suffuses the eyes with tears, but it sets the hands and the feet in motion-the latter to carry us to the habitations of distress, and the former to do what is requisite for alleviating it; to wipe the cold sweat from the forehead of the sufferer to beat up and smooth the pillow on which it rests-to administer the medicine which the physician has prescribed, or to perform any other kind office which compassion may dictate, or necessity require. Thus we are to "remember them that suffer adversity." Are any of our fellow-creatures destitute of the necessaries of life? It becomes our duty to supply their wants. Are they suffering under the pressure of bodily pain, and deserted by their friends in time of need? We ought to take those steps which are calculated to rebuke their disorders, to remove their pain, to assuage their grief. We should do for them, if it be in our power, what their unnatural relatives ought to have done.

We

should be a father, and mother, and husband, and wife, and sister, and brother, and parent, and child, to them all at once. It may be proper to observe here, that though the most deserving characters have the strongest claims to this practical remembrance, yet that no degree of unworthiness can release us from the obligations under which we are laid to pity and relieve a fellow-creature in distress. The good Samaritan in his journey, fell in with a poor sufferer who was personally unknown to him, who belonged to another country, and professed a different religion, who was an object of natural antipathy, and who, for ought he knew to the contrary, was suffering at that very moment the righteous vengeance of heaven on accent of his crimes; yet when he saw him he had compassion on him, &c. and our Lord has said, "go thou, and do likewise."

"Re

Such is a short sketch of our duty to our fellow-creatures in this respect. Suffer me now to remind the reader of a motive or two, which should enforce attention to it. member them that are in adversity;" and one reason for do ing this is supplied by the concluding part of the verse from whence this exhortation is taken; as being yourselves also in the body, adds the apostle. And while we are in the body, we are liable to the same sufferings which we are commanded to alleviate in others. We are not secure against the inroads of poverty, or the ravages of disease. We possess, in short, no temporal good, the permanent continuance of which is certain.

Riches make to themselves wings, and fly away." Although at present we should enjoy abundance, we can have no assurance that it will remain with us a single day. We may, indeed, now be saying with Job, in language highly censurable for its improper confidence, "I shall die in my nest," but God may cause a tempest to arise and shake it down;-or with the rich man in the gospel, "Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry," but the rust may destroy them, or thieves may break through and steal them, or a fire may be commissioned to consume them. Similar remarks may be made with respect to the blessing of health. While it is continued, it calls for unmixed and adoring gratitude, but how long it may remain we know not. To-morrow may find us shaking with a palsy, or burning with a fever; to-morrow may find us stretched upon the bed of languishing-our spirits sunk-our strength decayed our appetite goue-our countenance changed-the lustre of our eyes extinguished-and our tongue sealed up in silence, a silence which shall be only a prelude to the longlong silence of the grave. Nay, even to-day, one or other of those winged deaths which float continually in the air, may seize upon some vital organ, and produce a disorder which

shall baffle all the skill of the physicians, and terminate, in a very short time, our existence in the present state. And sup pose we are now surrounded by a circle of affectionate friends and relations, how soon may death break the continuity of this circle! How soon may he take one and another from it, till at length he has removed all whose countenances were never fixed upon us but with smiles, and whose hearts had How soon may

never beaten but in unison with our own!

we find ourselves alone even in the heart of a city crowded with inhabitants! How soon may every face become strange to us, and in how short a time may we long to hide ourselves in the grave from the altered, cold, repulsive countenances, and bitter speeches of those whose tongues now utter nothing but praise and flattery. Surely then it must be our duty to remember them whose circumstances may, in so short a time, become our own. Remember them that suffer adversity, as being also in the body.

Another motive to enforce this exhortation may be derived from the compassion which the Lord Jesus has displayed towards us. And upon those who are sensible of their unbounded obligations to the Saviour, this motive cannot fail to produce its corresponding effect. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich," is a declaration which, when its meaning is fully understood, and its native influence powerfully felt, must awaken the tenderest sympathy for all who suffer adversity. There is no apology we can possibly make for neglect, which the compassion of the Saviour does not show to be utterly insufficient. Do we plead the worthlessness of those whose wants we are required to relieve? and will not our consciences condemn us when on our knees we bless the Saviour for the great love he has manifested to us, notwithstanding our pollution and guilt, and when we implore the continued bestowment of his mercy, though undeserving still? Or are we disposed to think or say it will require too great a sacrifice of time and property, to seek out, and relieve our fellow-creatures in distress? Ah! let us remember what it cost the Lord Jesus to redeem us from iniquity! He gave not ten thousands of gold and silver, but he gave himself for us! We were not redeemed from our vain conversation with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ! No comparison can possibly be instituted between a few shillings or guineas which we may bestow to feed the hungry, and to clothe the naked, and the wonderful gift of God's love to us-the gift of his only begotten Son. By all the love then that the Father has displayed in giving his Son, and by all the love that the Son has manifested in giving himself for us, let christians be stimulated to