The text of the Sermon, from which the following extract was taken, wasthe seventh verse of the second chapter of Paul's Second Epistle toTimothy: "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in allthings."
After contrasting the views and maxims of the worldly-minded with those ofthe Christian, and stating the claims of the Young Men's Christian Union,the Discourse closed with the following tribute to the character andmemory of one who was the early patron and devoted friend of that Society.
Among the warmest friends of the Young Men's Christian Union was one,whose departure from among us this community has recently been called tomourn,—one who was beloved by all who knew him; whose wide, expansivebenevolence and Christian charity won the admiration of those of everyname and sect; who so truly loved the Saviour, and was so truly baptizedinto his spirit, the spirit of divine and heavenly love, that he becamethrough it his blessed messenger; so that all rejoiced who came within hisinfluence, as "he went about doing good," ready to take each believer bythe hand, saying, "One is our master, even Christ, and all ye arebrethren."
As we saw him on his errands of mercy, just on the verge of threescoreyears and ten, how, as his benignant smile beamed upon us, did he remindus of "the disciple Jesus loved;" who, when so feeble[6]from the infirmitiesof age, could only say, in addressing the people, "Little children, loveone another"! That smile, shadowing forth a happy Christian spirit within,was a benediction indeed, when it beamed upon us! May it prove anincentive to us, to show our love to God in our love to man, which was thewhole tenor of his example; remembering that "by this shall all men knowthat ye are my disciples," not in any name ye may adopt, or church ye mayjoin, but "in your love one toward another."
Long has it been my privilege to know this good man. In a letter to me afew days before his death, he signed himself "A friend of long yearspast." Yes! he was an old friend to me, and, as I well know, a long-triedfriend to the poor, the forsaken, and suffering, as he was also a friendto those "whom the Saviour took in his arms and blessed;" for h