It is upon this ground that I am encouraged to solicit your liberal assistance to the school of Langbourn Ward. I seldom say much upon these occasions, having had repeated proofs of the generosity of my stated auditory, and no reason to doubt the good will and concurrence of the rest of my hearers. Let the sight of the children before you plead in their behalf. The institution I am now to recommend will, I hope, preserve these children, and many more in succession, from those habits of idleness, intemperance, and profligacy, which too frequently mark the character of those who are destitute of instruction and education in their early years. By the benefit of our public charity-schools, and particularly of this, many boys have been trained up to honesty, sobriety, and usefulness, who might otherwise have been nuisances to society; and some have not only obtained a good character as apprentices and servants, but, by their integrity and industry, have reputably risen to affluence and influence. Could all the children of the poor be thus cared for, be taught the first principles of religion, and habituated to respect the Lord's Day, and to attend on public worship, it is probable that the number of depredators who infest our streets and roads, or break into houses, and end their unhappy lives on the gallows, would be much diminished. The awful times in which we live, render these institutions pe culiarly worthy of attention and encouragement. I cannot speak positively from my own knowledge, but I have reason to believe that the abettors of the French principles of infidelity and anarchy have seminaries where children, of all descriptions, find ready and welcome admission. It is even said that they are paid for their attendance. It is, however, certain, that a spirit of insubordina tion, and a defiance of all laws, human or divine, have rapidly spread, and are still rapidly spreading, among the lower classes of our people. The liberty and equality inculcated in these schools is not like that which, under our mild and equitable laws, gives every person an equal advantage for rising in life, by the proper and diligent improvement of his talents; but is adapted to confound all order and distinction, and to reduce us to the common level of a savage and barbarous state. It is therefore the common interest of all, and especially of persons of property, to exert themselves in their places to counteract this baneful design. But I have a higher consideration to propose to you, who know the worth of souls, and have felt the power of the constraining love of Christ. When a child is born that is heir to a title or a great fortune, it usually causes much joy to the family, and much congatulation from their friends. The birth of poor children is less noticed; but the birth of any child, whether of a prince or a pauper, is an event of great, yea, of equal importance, if we form our judgment by the standard of the unerring word of God: when a child is born, a new existence begins, which will never end. The present life of the children before you is precarious, but their souls are, by God's constitution and appointment, immortal. Perhaps you may see them no more upon earth, but you will surely meet them again at the great day, when you, and I, and they, must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. Though education alone cannot convert them, it is in the number of those means which God has enjoined us to use, and which he has promised to bless for that purpose. Happy are they who are instrumental in saving a soul from death! Happy and honoured will you be, from a sense of his love, who, when he was rich, made himself poor for your sakes,* you, according to your abilities, imitate his example, in promoting the welfare of your fellow-creatures. You may do much in this way, by contributing to the instruction of poor children, and thereby shielding them from the snares and temptations to which ignorant and neglected youth are exposed. You know not but, in the day of final award, some of these children may stand with you on the right hand of our Saviour and Judge, and you may hear him Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, ye did it unto say, me!t Thus much in behalf of the school. But my heart is too much impressed by the sight of this numerous and respectable auditory, and by my sincere regard for the true happiness of every individ ual before me, to permit me to conclude till. I have addressed you on a subject of more general concern. I am not preaching to Jews or Mahometans, but to professed Christians. I am willing to take it for granted, that we all agree in acknowledging that the Scripture, the whole Scripture, is a revelation of the will of God. I hope there is not a person here, however immersed in the business, or drawn aside by the amusements and pleasures, of the world, who, if he were desired to throw the Bible, with deliberation and contempt, into the fire, would not be shocked at the proposal. I think he would say, If I have not paid that attention to the Bible which it deserves, yet surely I am not so wicked and presumptuous as to burn it. But permit me to ask you, in love, If it be indeed the word of God, why have you not paid that attention to it which it deserves? The same reasons, which would deter you from wilfully throwing it into the fire, should induce you to study it carefully, to make it the foundation of your hope and the rule of your life; for, if it be indeed the word of God, it is the rule by which your characters will be decided, and your everlasting state fixed, according to the tenour of the Gospel, which proclaims salvation to all who have repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to those only. *2 Cor. viii. 9. + Matt. xxv. 40. It is painful to a serious mind to observe how much the Bible is neglected. I have known some great houses in which this book could not be found. In others, if it has a place in the library, it is seldom removed from the shelf. Perhaps there is no book so little read, understood, or regarded as the book of God, by multitudes who are not unwilling to be called Christians. What an affront is this to the Almighty! A message from the king, or an act of parliament, engages the attention of those who are interested in the subject-matter, while the revealed will of God, our Creator, compared with whom all the kings, nations, and inhabitants of the earth, are but as a drop of water to the sea, or the small dust upon a balance, is treated with indifference; though every person who can have access to it, is deeply and equally interested in its contents. Should there be but a few of my hearers who, through their engagements and pursuits in life, have hitherto been remiss and negligent in acquainting themselves with the principal facts and truths recorded in the Bible, neither my conscience nor my compassion will permit me to close till I have briefly expostulated with them; as it is possible I may discourse my never have another opportunity, and perhaps the providence of God has brought them hither this morning for their good. Whatever difference of opinion there may be amongst us in other respects, we are universally agreed as to the certainty of death and the uncertainty of life. We are sure that all must die; and, after death, if the Scriptures be true, we must appear before God in judgment. Nor have we any warrant to assure ourselves that we shall live to the end of the present year, or even week. "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."* We often read or hear of sudden deaths, and sometimes of those who, after a lingering illness, die as suddenly, to their own apprehensions of the event, as if they had died by a flash of lightning. It is no less a proof than a fruit of that deprayity which the Scripture charges upon the whole human race, that men, who are so active and solicitous in managing the temporal, transient affairs of time, to promote what they conceive most to their advantage, should be totally indifferent to what may be their allotment in a state unchangeable and eternal! Permit me briefly to remind you, that the Scripture concludes us all under sin, and exposed to the just displeasure of our Great Creator, Proprietor, Lawgiver, and Benefactor. He formed us for himself, and gave a thirst and capacity for happiness which only himself can satisfy. Our relation to Him, as intelligent creatures, who live, move, and have our being in Him, and cannot subsist a moment without Him, binds us to love Him supremely, to devote all our powers and faculties to his service. This is the law of our nature. This law we have broken; we all of us have lived too long, and some of us are still living, without God in the world. We have made our own will and our own gratification the rule and end of our conduct, instead of his will and glory. We have incurred the penalty annexed to the breach of this law. We are sinners the wages of sin is death, and the extent of that sentence is everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. How shall we escape? What shall we do to be saved? To those who are sensible of their desert and danger, the Gospel points out relief and a refuge. Jesus invites the weary and burdened sinner, and says, "Him that cometh, I will in no wise cast out." You have heard something of his glorious person, power, authority, and love. He is able, he is willing, he has promised to save, to the uttermost, all that come to God by Him. Oh that to-day you may hear his voice, and comply with his invitation! If you cordially receive the record which God has, by his own voice from heaven, given, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!" He will, for his sake, be well pleased with you; if you approve of this way of salvation, in which justice and mercy harmonize, which ascribes all the glory to God, teaches us to hate sin, and inspires the love of holiness, as essential to happiness, then this Saviour, and all the fulness of his salvation, will assuredly be yours. You will then renounce every other hope, you will no longer trust or boast in yourselves, but you will have a good warrant to boast and glory in your Saviour, and to say, In the Lord I have righteousness and strength. The Lord is my shepherd, therefore I shall not want, I need not fear; he will support me by his arm, cheer me with his presence, protect me by his power, guide me by his counsels, and afterwards receive me to glory! |