Even in her early years, she is sometimes compelled to pass through the gloomy vale of misery; and the loss of a mother at an age, when she requires the attention and love, which a mother only can bestow, overcloud her mind with the darkest sorrow. The afflictions of the young however, if they were to end with youth, might in time be forgotten; but they are the preludes of griefs, which are still more poignant. She commences the career of domestic life, united with a man whom her heart and reason approve; the prospect before her is pleasant; but in a moment he is snatched from her sight. She has reared up a daughter, and enriched her understanding with many accomplishments, and her soul with many virtues; but when the beautiful flower is expanding to the sun, it is nipt by the frost of disease, and all its sweets and all its glory are laid in the dust. She has a son, of whom, if it was lawful for a human being to be proud of anything, she would have cause to boast; for he is manly and brave, generous and discreet, and above all affectionate and obedient to her; but neither her tears nor prayers can retain his breath: he falls; and with him all worldly hope expires. Sometimes death is so merciless, that he extinguishes the lives of all her children; and though one darling child may be spared a few years after the rest, yet at last, to adopt the pathetic language of the sacred Scriptures, the only coal which remains is quenched, and she is left without a name or remainder on earth. These representations, distressing as they may be, are not high colored paintings; they are events, which happen every day.

But the woman, who professes and believes the Christian religion, whose soul rests on God, stands firm amidst the wreck of all her earthly bliss; and the more she en

dures the collisions of adversity, the brighter do her virtues shine. For she beholds the hand of a Father and Friend, all whose dispensations, however dark they may appear, are wise and gracious; and she believes that she is immortal, and that in a better world she will find ample compensation for all her sufferings. We have seen her, when sorely bruised, look up to heaven with hope, with patience, and with resignation; and whilst she has humbly prayed, that God would remove his hand from her, she has been ready to receive a still deeper wound, if it was the will of him who made her. A heart thus meek and pious, which so sincerely and ardently loves the Supreme Being, is the place in which charity takes up its favorite abode. Of the woman, Of the woman, who possesses it, it is the desire and delight to do good. Whilst the noise of mirth passes unheeded by, her ear is opened to the notes of grief. She listens to the plaintive sound, and repairs with ready feet to the object from whom it proceeds. She imparts to the afflicted the light, which the gospel has shed into her own heart. She calms, and comforts, and supports, the mourning widow; she weeps with, and soothes, and consoles, the bereaved parent. In her the poor, the sick, and the distressed find a constant friend; and fatherless children are the objects of her tenderness and care.

I know not how far the portraits, which I have drawn in this discourse, may suit the characters of any persons who are present; but as the last, my beloved sisters, is most applicable to your situation, I would hope that it is also a just picture of your hearts. In contemplating the faces of the members of your society, though I perceive some, whose prosperity has yet been without interruption; ye

I see many more, who have passed through adversity. I behold the widow; the daughter, whose parents are in the tomb; the mother, whose child is dead; the sister, who cannot discern among the youths of this assembly the face of her beloved brother. That you should seek for consolation in the practice of good works, is what might be expected. A sight of the tender orphans whom you have rescued from want, misery, and temptation, must in particular soothe your agitated bosoms. Their helpless age must interest your compassion; and sweet must their infantile voices sound in your affectionate ears. May the best of beings reward you for your kindness to them; and may you derive from your charitable exertions a remedy for your own sorrows.

But you must not terminate your labors here: you must persevere in well doing without relaxation. As you profess yourselves the children of the God of love, you are bound to imitate his unlimited goodness; as you call yourselves the disciples of the benevolent Jesus, you are obliged to copy every part of his merciful example. When he was on earth, he constantly went about doing good. He not only took up young children in his arms and blessed them; but he healed the sick; he expelled from the mind the demons of doubt and despair; he bound up the broken-hearted; he opened the prison doors to them who were in chains; he comforted all who mourned, As far as you can, you should go and do likewise, Wretched objects surround you on all sides; but with the means and talents, which you possess, it is in your power to lessen the evils, which they endure. You have only piously and courageously to resolve, that you will forget yourselves; that you will not live for yourselves, but for others; that wherever the sound of

distress strikes your ears, you will fly to its relief; and that you will not voluntarily add anything to the mass of wo, which may load the earth. This as Christians you ought to do; for the great object of the Christian religion is to promote the love of God and the love of man. This is the point, in which all agree; and which has been acknowledged to be important in all ages of the church, as well in those which have been dark, as in those which are enlightened. This, if we may credit St Paul, will never fail. Prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge will vanish away; but charity, or love, will continue forever. Faith, it is true, abideth; and hope abideth ; but love is the greatest of the three. For when misery sprang up out of the earth, the Father of the human race, who pitied his erring offspring, and graciously determined to restore them to happiness, sent from heaven these three angelic messengers, faith, hope, and love. Faith sang the wonders of redemption; and resounded through the air, Glory to the Most High, for the Saviour is come; peace on earth; forgiveness to the penitent! Hope expanded wide the gates of immortality; and disclosed to the enraptured eye of man the regions of everlasting bliss. But love, the most potent of them all, seized his willing hand; and ascended with him, on rapid wings, to the throne of God.

Before the Boston Female Asylum, Sept. 1808.

SERMON XXIV.

NECESSITY.

JOSH. XXIV. 15.

CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY WHOM YE WILL SERVE.

THE most difficult question in metaphysics is, whether man is a necessary agent, that is, whether all his thoughts and actions are of necessity what they are, being parts of a chain, not one link of which he can break. This question has in all ages perplexed the human understanding, and it is probably one, which man cannot answer; for the wisest and most learned philosophers, who have written on it, have not been able to render it clear, or to remove the principal difficulties and contradictions, in which it is involved. When, by their aid, we have pushed our inquiries as far as possible into the subject, and have been both puzzled and vexed with the doctrine, we are obliged at last to stop, with the conviction that the mind of man is dark, and his faculties extremely limited; that we know very little, and that we see objects, only as they are reflected from a rough mirror. The doctrine of necessity not only transcends the human understanding; but some suppose that it is above the comprehension of any finite being. This is the bold