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letter ; but they whose friendship religion has consecrated are daily one , ill that God whose vital presence is felt always and every where , ' in the void waste , as in the city full / Think you , my friends , that the pious mother , when she sends the children of her love into a world beset with difficulties and dangers—when she accompanies them , perhaps , with lingering steps to the confines of the paternal home , the shores of the green and peaceful spot of their nativity—when she gives them the parting- blessing , and marks , with
tearful eyes , the receding vessel that bears them from her view to distant , it may be barbarous and inclement climes—when she resigns them from the bosom of domestic purity to a society , the influences of which are so often found fatally destructive—think you that , in that trying hour , she derives na comfort from her piety—from the reflection that when she cannot see them , God will see them , that when she cannot know their absent sorrows , God will know them ; that when her hand can no longer minister to their pains
and sicknesses , the God of their fathers , a God of mercy and loving-kindness , will still be theirs ? ^ Yes , my friends , these reflections do bring peace and comfort to the Christian mother's bosom . As she returns to her dwelling , she lifts up her heart with gratitude , and commends her treasures with faith to the care of the great Comforter . With assured and joyful confidence , her heart implores upon the objects of heF love the fervent blessing of the patriarch : c God before whom ray fathers did walk , the God who fed me aft my
life long , unto this day , the angel who redeemed me from all evil , bless the lads ! ' Are sueh comforts , then , peculiar to the mother or the father ? Are they to be tasted only in the parental relation ? Far from it . Every one who has absent friends , and believes in an omnipresent God , may enjoy them if he will . When the apostle concluded ^ each epistle to his converts with such breathings of pious love as these—* Peace be to the brethren , and love , with faith , from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ : ' ' Grace be with all
them that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ;* * Now , the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means : The Lord be with you wl ;'when , I say , he thus concluded his admirable epistles , his fervent soul acknowledged the power of religion to soothe the regrets and calm the anxieties of absence /'—The Union of Religion with Friendship recommended , p > . 253 . Friendship thus hallowed is sanctioned by the example of Christ , and by the spirit of his religion :
" The character af Christ , as delineated in the New Testament , beautiful and perfect aa it unquestionably is , is human all over : the sympathies of the man break out on every occasion ; refined and sanctified by the spirit of God . Nor , in thus conceiving our Saviour to share in the gentle and kindly feelings of our nature , am I aware of introducing any idea derogatory to the greatness of his misskro , and the excellence of his character . On the contrary , in all this I see only a bitter censure on those false philosophers who would fain make us perfect , by suppressing the natural movements of the heart ; who would substitute a cold and calculating estimate of duty , for the warm and living morality of the religion of Jesus ; who would proscribe the partialities of friendship and the tenderness of affection , as inconsistent with universal benevolence ^ and the dignity of our nature . "—The Example of Christ , &c , p . 218 .
In the next class we comprehend those discourses which teach plain truths in the plainest manner , and which may , therefore , be profitable to all , and should come amiss to none ; though , as they depend for-their in * terest on their truth alone , they are apt to be listened to with less attention than their importance deserves . It is well that the style of such sermons should be familiar—almost colloquial ; as every degree of formality goes far towards weakening their effect . There are several excellent discourses of this class in the present volume , which cannot but be useful to each
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Sermons / or Families . 455
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1829, page 455, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2574/page/7/
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