Imatges de pàgina
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by which ears prompt to charity, need not be afflicted. Suffice it to say, that the lowest conceivable depth of misery, is that, from which your merciful hands are extended, to raise those, who partake with you of the same nature, who are the offspring of the same God, the purchase of the same redemption. If motives are to be added, they forcibly present themselves; the earnestness, with which those victims of misfortune intreat admission; the patience, and perseverance, with which they wait for this ministration of mercy and that, frequently, in a situation, which exceeds in calamity every other imaginable situation; these are circumstances, which cannot but powerfully affect hearts, that have never yet been insensible to the claims of humanity.

On such scenes, it is not my purpose to dwell. Far more grateful is the office, of bearing testimony, as, from the deepest conviction of my judgment, I do bear the most unqualified testimony, to the internal economy of this Institution; cleanliness, decency, and regularity, pervade every part of it; the inmates are distinguished, by a patient submission to control, a prompt alacrity in business, and a degree of mutual kindness and good-will, which would be remarkable in any society of equal numbers ; but which, in females whose former habits were

so deplorably the reverse, is truly astonishing. Such as were ignorant of their very letters, at the time of their admission, have since, by the voluntary and laborious dedication of their few leisure hours, qualified themselves to read the sacred Scriptures. The happiest consequences are, even now, visible; and we may confidently predict still increasing effects, when these penitents (for they truly deserve the name), shall be restored to society, deeply impressed with the principles, and influenced by the spirit, of our holy religion. Nor is this mere theory. There is most solid, and satisfactory evidence, which we can, at any time, produce. Numbers, who have been restored to their families, or established in respectable services, not only conduct themselves in the most exemplary manner, but maintain a regular intercourse, personally, and by letter, with the truly respectable matron of the Institution.

And now, my brethren, there remains but this single consideration. We are told by the Apostle, that "the effectual fervent prayer, of a righteous man, availeth much;" and it is no less certain, that the effectual fervent prayer of a converted prodigal availeth much. There is an energy, a tenderness, a depth of feeling, in her devotions, which render them peculiarly acceptable to the

throne of grace. We learn, from our blessed Lord, that "she loveth much, to whom much hath been forgiven;" and who does not know, that love is the very soul of all true devotion? But if ever the prayers of such a penitent ascend with special warmth, it is when she addresses God, in behalf of her benefactors; to whom she is indebted for more than life; through whose bounty it is that she has been snatched from perdition; through whose benignity she has free access to the Father of spirits. And who is there among us, that has not need of mercy? Who is there among us, that would not rejoice, to have his name associated in such prayers, with the good, and gracious, and bountiful of the earth? Who is there, whose heart would not bound within him, if he were given to hear the last aspirations of a soul, everlastingly rescued, by the intervention of his beneficence, of a mortal, ready to be clothed by immortality, offered up in his favour to that God, before whom she is about to stand, and in whom she will have her perfect consummation and bliss, throughout eternal ages? My brethren, this is what you are called to this day. May the Inspirer of every merciful disposition, and the Perfecter of every good work, so influence your minds, so rule in your hearts, so animate you with his own blessed Spirit, that

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sinners may be reclaimed from the error of their way; that there may be joy in the presence of the angels of God; that your names may be written in the book of God's remembrance; and, in that day, when He shall make up his jewels, that you may be the acknowledged children of the Lord of Hosts! Amen.

170

DISCOURSE IX.'

SAINT LUKE xix. 10.

FOR THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO SEEK, AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST.

THESE words have a special claim on our attention, at this most holy season 2. They were pronounced by our gracious Redeemer, in his last journey to Jerusalem, a very few days before his death upon the cross. In common with every recorded utterance of his feeling at that most interesting period, they bear the impress of one great master sentiment; that He was about to die, and, by dying, to redeem that world, which He made. But his heart, though centrally occupied with this great concern, was alive to all the claims of humanity. His tenderness, his condescension, his affability, were then, if possible, more benignantly operative than at any former period of

1 Preached for the Magdalen Asylum, Dublin, 1811.

2 Lent.

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