nitor, down to the present hour, with
all their skill, and all their eloquence,
and all their piety, to do justice to
my text. Yea, could I be allowed-winter. Yes, you sought out, and

such near our own doors; and thanks
be to God your Christian charity found
and fed many such during the last

you relieved many of your poorer bre-
thren in their distress; and held out
to them a brother's hand, and showed
to them a brother's love. Your mi-
nister will not, cannot forget those
works of faith and labours of love, and
(not in his own name, but in his Great
Master's name) he blesses you for it.
Nor he alone, for the blessing of many
who were ready to perish came upon
you, and shall be upon you.

poor, wretched, sinful man as I am—
to address myself to angels, and hum-
bly to present to them my suit and
service, that they would take this
glorious text-that they would let
us hear from heavenly voices, and in
heavenly language, those things that
are felt in another world, connected
with this subject, sure am I, that not
one among them all, not only the sons
of the earth, no, but of the sons of hea-
ven, could do justice to such a theme
as this. Here, then, is the glory of
GOD, and the love of God in its mani-
festation. It was shown in what it
suffered-it was shown by what it
gave up-it was shown by what it
endured-it was something more than
words-as if to teach us all, that when
we talk of the love of GoD we should
be overwhelmed, and overpowered,
and cast into the dust, and made to
acknowledge, and made to feel, that
GOD only knows the love of God. He
only understands, or can understand
it, in its length, and breadth, and
depth, and height; and it is mystery,
an unfathomable mystery into which
the angels themselves desire to look.

But having noticed the love of God and its manifestation, I come, in the Second place to consider

THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR BROTHER
AND HOW THEY ARE TO BE MET.

You will notice that the Apostle goes directly and joins these two things together, "Hereby perceive we the love of GOD, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him." In a world like ours we need not go far to find a suffering brother. We may find

And yet there are some extraordinary occasions when extraordinary exertions are called for. Of such a description is the present distress in Ireland. I know not what would have become of our Christian character, if we had refused to have a sermon for our poor starving brethren, in the sister country. Yet was it some little time before this thing could be fully determined upon. We heard of other Christians exerting themselves, and at length we listened to the call which many of you made upon us, some in one way and some in another, to collect your Christian alms to our poor starving Irish brethren. It is proper, however, that you should be informed that the only cause of our delay was our having fixed for sermons for another work of charity. We were intending about this time to have made our annual appeal on behalf of the National Schools in this parish. Those National Schools, and our appeal for them, we now set aside, though but for a short time. British mercy and Christian feeling demand that we should. With this demand we have complied, and we come this day to bring before you our suffering brethren in Ireland, and the claims which they have upon our Christian sympathy. Could I this morning bring into this church some

litic, have a mutual and tender care the one for the other, that the body receive damage in nothing. Does any limb of this great empire suffer? Let all the body feel the pain, and share the suffering; or if possible, relieve, and at length, by GoD's blessing, remove it. And this brings me directly to that appeal which I have this day to make on behalf of poor suffering Ireland. You are, perhaps, ready to require of the preacher, that he should give you a short statement of the matter, together with some of the facts of the case, that you may know how to act, and what to do on this occasion? Your request shall no sooner be known than complied with. Hear then-the facts are few and simple. They are these :-" The accounts which are daily arriving from the sister island present a picture of aggravated suffering which loudly calls upon us to stand forward in behalf of the starving population. The almost total failure of the potato crops, through the incessant rains, and a succession of violent gales of wind; the partial loss of the oats as well as of the hay, and these calamities aggravated by the destruction of the turf, and the consequent scarcity of fuel, have united in producing a degree of misery which it is appalling to contemplate." Mark the extent of this evil and suffering. "The distress extends more or less along the whole of the northwest of Ireland, from Galway Bay to Loch Swilly, including the counties of Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal, comprising a line of two hundred and forty miles of coast, and in many parts penetrating into the interior. The po

My dear brethren, if Christianity universally prevailed throughout this great kingdom, you would see men united far more closely to one another in holy compacts, in bonds of Christian brotherhood, such as nothing on earth could break. It is the glory of the Gospel, at least one point of its glory, that it makes every member of Christ's church to feel an interest in the other-pulation of these counties may be estiif one member suffer all the members mated at six hundred thousand souls; suffer with it-and if one member be and in Mayo alone it appears, by very honoured, all the members rejoice recent returns made on oath to the Cenwith it. Now we are members one of tral Committee of that county, by intelanother, and as such let each part of ligent and respectable persons, that the the body spiritual, or of the body po- greatest distress prevails in forty-two

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wretched Iris amily, in their destitution, and in their misery, scarcely covered with clothes, and manifestly in a state of starvation, some (though I hope but a few) might possibly be ready to exclaim, "do you call us to acknowledge, as a brother, that poor wretched creature in his rags and degradation ?" Yes, verily, I do so call upon you. I demand that you do so consider and regard him. The same GOD who made him made you. The same atoning blood which redeemed you redeemed him; and if ever either you or he attain to glory everlasting, it will be owing to the pity and grace of that God who is no respecter of persons; whose tender mercies are over all his works, and who hath made of one blood all the nations of men which dwell in all the world.

But I think there are not a few among you who, were you to behold such a wretched family, would be ready instantly to recognize its connexion with yourselves, not merely by the ties of nature, as made by the same GOD, and by those of grace as redeemed by the same Saviour, but as living under the same laws, as subjects of the same crown; and though in a distant part of the empire, yet united to you by bonds which ought never to be broken.

parishes, and that no less than one hun- | hundreds round my house seeking re

dred and forty-eight thousand and forty-
one persons are now suffering under the
agonies of hunger. The total number
in a state of actual want and starvation
must therefore, at the most moderate
computation, be three hundred
sand; and when it is remembered that
the new crops will not begin to come
into use for nearly two months, it is
obvious that there is a loud call for the
most prompt and energetic exertions."

lief. I cannot describe adequately the depth of misery and utter destitution that almost covers the whole face of Conemara: two-thirds of the population are in actual want-several prothou-tracting existence on the shell-fish and sea-weed they pick up on the strand; I know not where to turn, that the most agonizing distress does not stare me in the face,-some old men, who have once been in decent circumstances, are crying with hunger, as I sit down to write this letter. The people are quite patient, to a degree beyond all praise; here, in the midst of starving people, my outward doors are not locked or barred at night. I cannot but admire the resignation with which they bear their sufferings, though, I must admit, my own patience is often put to a severe trial.”

Here, then, you have the origin of this distress-you have further, the places where it is felt-the line of country or coast along which it extends and you have further, the returns made on oath to the Central Committee, of the number of persons in one county alone in a state of destitution and starvation. Let me bring forward further testimony on this point. The Inspector General of the Coast Guard for Ireland is the next authority I would quote. He observes, in a communication recently made, that "at this moment there are hundreds of human beings nearly dying from starvation; many are living on sea-weed, and such shell-fish as they can procure; and should warm weather set in, I have little doubt but that fever will follow, and carry off thousands. The snow remained an unusually long time on the ground, the fodder was soon exhausted, and the cattle are now dying by hundreds; one person I know lost the week before last twenty-five head of black cattle."

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But let me for a moment alleviate your sorrow by stating, that in one case a communication was addressed to the committee, which stated as follows: " Hundreds, by your bounty, have already been saved from death!”* Do any ask, then, this day, where is the collection going? We reply, going to save from death our poor starving brother. And, verily, my beloved flock, it is worth all that you will give this day, to feel a good hope, that not a few, by your bounty, also shall be saved from death. And yet it must be mentioned, that though much already has been done, yet unless British Christians exert themselves upon an increased scale, and that without delay, the difficulty and danger cannot be met; for it is expressly stated, "Let it be remembered, we have two months of the worst time to come." This letter, indeed, is dated June 9th, and let us hope that only one month of this worst time still remains. It may serve further to encourage you, and ought, that, as special mercy from God, in those parts where

Another person, a minister of our holy religion, writes thus-and awful indeed is that scene of wretchedness (the wretchedness be it remembered of our brethren) which he depicts :-" I am placed in a situation of extreme pain; from an early hour in the morning until late at night, my time is wholly occupied in this cause. When Iget up in the morning, I have some

the greatest distress abounds, the crops seem particularly fine, and likely to be singularly productive. And does not this circumstance seem to speak and to say, silently but pointedly, “Ah, cruel man! whether you care for your starving brother or not, I care from heaven, my dwelling-place; whether you think of him or not, I behold him in his sufferings, and will send him, after a while, corn to eat, and to be thankful, and to bless the name of the Lord. Your suffering brother shall not cry to heaven in vain."

It is, however, incumbent upon me to point out to you the care with which your alms will be administered, and to show that nothing will be lost, but that every thing will be made to go as far as it can. In a letter from the Rev. Sir Francis Lynch Blosse, secretary to the Mayo Relief Committee, he says, "If we can get only twopence ahead daily for our wretched people, none shall perish from famine."

often cheered the heart of your minister in moments of despondency; nor will I conceal from you, that this is a most anxious day to him who now addresses you, for he has this day to see whether your Christian principles are producing their legitimate effect-in other words, how far your faith worketh by love.

CHRISTIANS, WHAT DOES ALL THIS SAY TO YOU? It speaks for itself. Our brother has need. But what if we shut up our bowels of compassion from him? or refuse to help him? or treat it as only a fiction ? and turn away our eyes from seeing our brother's misery in this the day of his calamity. Why, then, the text declares we have not the love of GoD in us. It does not say, we have not common humanity; we may have that, but yet not have the love of GoD in us; even that love which led to exertion, and to enterprize, and to sacrifice.

But I press not the matter further. Oh, well is it declared in the text, that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. I never found you needed pressing; if I had, I should always have stood before you an unwilling advocate on charitable occasions, and should have delegated that task entirely and exclusively to others. Your Christian liberality has

I have but one thing more to state, and that by way of conclusion, and then after mentioning one single fact, I shall leave you to do as the Lord may put it in your hearts to do. I have indeed ventured to express my confident hope concerning you, that through God's mercy, you will this morning reach one hundred pounds at least. I may have been mistaken-I may have miscalculated either your means or your inclination, or both: though I am not ashamed to say, I believe I have not miscalculated neither, and, in truth, have the fullest confidence in you all. I trust you will show this day that you have not forgotten the words of that text on which I have grounded my appeal on this occasion.

The fact I promised to mention is, if well authenticated, as I believe it to be, one of the most distressing things, I will not say that I ever read of in modern times, but that I ever remember to have heard of in times either ancient or modern. In a poor Irish family during this misery, the father awoke in the morning, and what did he see in his wretched cabin? His wife dead beside him, and his little child at her breast sucking, instead of a mother's milk, a mother's blood, but unconscious that its mother was dead, and wondering that it could not obtain its usual supply from the breast, yet glad to obtain anything. Oh, for a father to see a wife and a mother's breast bleeding, and his child sucking its mother's blood!! It is enough to melt a heart of stone, and I am de

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ceived in you if you can send away | joy and with a lively air, and with a

poor wretched Ireland, when poor Ireland appeals this day to your Christian mercy. "Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of GOD in him? My little children, my beloved people, let us not live in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth." We began this service* with

It being the King's accession, the people were played into Church with the National anthem. The organist, however, shewed

prayer for our gracious Sovereign, (whom GoD preserve to us!) but methinks we may now retire from this place, rather with feelings of sorrow and mourning, when misery and death seem thus painfully presented to our notice.

his good taste in playing them out with a solemn and mournful air, which seemed completely in unison with the feelings excited by the distressing anecdote with which the sermon concluded. The collection exceeded one hundred and twenty-two pounds.

A Sermon

DELIVERED BY THE REV. W. DALTON, M.A.

AT ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL, BEDFORD ROW, IN AID OF THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS, JUNE 10, 1831.

Acts, x. 34-44.--" Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that GOD is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the chil dren of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ; he is Lord of all; that word, I say, you know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached: how GOD anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil: for GOD was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him GOD raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of GOD, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of GOD to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”

THIS is a very short but a most comprehensive sermon delivered by the special power of the Holy Ghost, and blessed to many souls, both those who heard him then, and those that have read it from generation to generation. May the Lord give us this night the same Spirit, and we shall be able to value and rejoice in this message of peace by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The sermon of Peter ought to be specially valuable to us, as Christians, as Gentiles, and as persons occupied in the missionary work;-as Christians, because it contains a short epitome of

the Gospel, presenting in a few verses every truth important to the souls of men ;-as Gentiles, because it was the first sermon preached to the Gentiles. Cornelius was the first fruits among the Gentiles, and then, and not till then, the Apostles saw for themselves that Gop was no respecter of persons, but that He had his chosen people in every nation, tribe, and tongue, and that every one who feared GoD and worked righteousness by his grace must be accepted of Him. And the sermon is valuable to us, as persons engaged in the missionary work, be