glory; and which, amid all the guilt and all the miseries of society, testify to Heaven and Earth, that there is yet one throne which is founded in justice, and one people who can honour virtue. You have now, my friends and fellowcitizens, performed the solemn duty of this day ;—you have obeyed it as men, by presenting the offering of your united thanksgiving upon the altar of the " King " of Kings ;"-you have hallowed it, I trust as Christians, by making the wretched partakers of your joy,―by visiting the prisoners in their affliction,-by "undoing the heavy burdens, and letting the oppressed go free." 66 66 - You are now to return into a happy world, to meet the multitude of your brethren and fellow-citizens, and to partake in the diffusion of the general joy. Go then, with these high remem brances in your bosom, and open your hearts to the sublimity of that sentiment which unites the feelings of a free people, and add your voices to that prevailing song, which never wakens without bidding the British heart beat high with thoughts of patriotism and triumph;—go, ere yet the day closes its proud festivity, and assemble your children about you, and, while the voice of thankfulness is yet loud and long around them, seize the auspicious moment to impress upon their glowing hearts the love of their country. Tell them, that these are the honours due to a patriot sovereign ;-tell them, that the purest breath which Heaven lends to awaken the virtues of the throne, is the gratitude of the people ;-tell them, that while the adulation of slaves is vice, the loyalty of free-born men is virtue ;—and while you raise their youthful hands in thankfulness to God, that their inherit ance is given them in a free country, teach them, in that sacred moment, to pledge their youthful hearts to love, and their youthful arms to defend it. "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth ;—And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?-Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” AMONG the questions which were proposed to our Saviour by his disciples, there is scarcely any one of a deeper or more interesting nature, than that which is related in the words of the text. Wherever we pass through life, we see scenes of melancholy, of misfortune, and of wretchedness; and the great question of every human heart, is, What is the end or pur pose of these afflictions of our nature; and upon what principle are we to account for them, in the administration of a benevolent God? It is a question which has been asked in every age, and which has received various solutions, according to the knowledge and capacity of those who examined it. But it is in the power of the Son of God alone to give the satisfactory solution; and it is one of the greatest privileges of his followers to know the reply. All the evils or calamities with which human nature is afflicted, are reducible to two great classes, or divisions; and in |