SERMON or distress. Too many there

XVII. world, whose attachment to

are in the those they

call their friends is confined to the day of

their prosperity.

As long as that conti

appear to be affectionBut as soon as their

-

nues, they are, or
ate and cordial.
friend is under a cloud, they begin to
withdraw, and to separate their interests
from his. In friendships of this sort, the
heart, assuredly, has never had much con-
cern. For the great test of true friendship,
is constancy in the hour of danger, ad-
herence in the season of distress. When
your friend is calumniated, then is the
time, openly and boldly to espouse his
cause. When his situation is changed, or
his fortunes are falling, then is the time of
affording prompt and zealous aid. When
sickness or infirmity occasion him to be
neglected by others, that is the opportu-
nity which every real friend will seize, of
redoubling all the affectionate attentions
which love suggests. These are the im-
portant duties, the sacred claims of friend-
ship, which religion and virtue enforce on
every worthy mind.-To show yourselves
warm, after this manner, in the cause of

your

XVII.

your friend, commands esteem, even from SERMON those who have personal interest in opposing him. This honourable zeal of friendship has, in every age, attracted the veneration of mankind. It has consecrated to the latest posterity the names of those who have given up their fortunes, and have even exposed their lives, in behalf of the friends whom they loved ; while ignominy and disgrace have ever been the portion of them, who deserted their friends in the evil day. Thine own friend forsake not.

BEFORE Concluding, it must not be forgotten, that the injunction of the Wise Man in the text is accompanied with this remarkable expression; not only thine own friend, but also, thy father's friend, for.... sake not. These words bring back to our remembrance the days of former years; and suggest a sentiment which cannot but touch every feeling heart. Thine own friend may be dear; thy father's friend ought to be sacred. As long as life remains human breast, the memory of

in
any
those ancient ties should remain, which

connected

SERMON connected us once with our father, and

XVII.

our father's house. Thy father has perhaps, long ago, gone down to the dust. But when you recal the innocent days of childhood and youth; when you think of those family transactions, which once gladdened your hearts; your father's friend, in the midst of these, will rise to your remembrance. There was a time when you accosted him with respect, or looked up to him with fondness, and was made happy by his kindly notice. Does such a one now survive, and shall he not receive from you some portion of filial reverence and honour? To disregard and neglect him, is to spurn your father's memory; is to insult the ashes of him who now sleeps in the grave; is to transmit yourselves to those who shall succeed you, as unfeeling and base. Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not.

I HAVE pointed out some of the chief duties which belong to virtuous friendship; and some of the principal means by which this sacred bond should be preserved unbroken; this holy flame should

be

The SERMON

be kept alive in the human breast.
spirit, and sentiments, which I have studied
to inspire, are such as virtue breathes,
and such as true piety should increase.
It is thus we fulfil that great law of love
which our Divine Master taught. It is
thus we prepare ourselves for those happy
regions, where charity never faileth; where,
in the presence of the God of Love, eternal
and invariable friendships unite together
all the blessed; friendships, which, by no
human infirmity disturbed, by death never
separated, shall constitute, throughout end-
less ages, a great and distinguished portion
of the celestial felicity.

XVII.

SERMON XVIII.

On the CONDUCT to be held with regard

to FUTURE EVENTS.

SERMON

XVIII.

PROVERBS, XXvii. 1.

Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

FROM these

these words I purpose to discourse of the proper conduct which we ought to hold, with regard to futurity, amidst the present uncertainties of life. Time and life are always going on, and to each of us are preparing changes in our state. What these may be, whether for the better or for the worse, we cannot tell; as it hath pleased the wisdom of Providence, to cover futurity with a veil which

no