and respectable audience from carrying into effect the truly benevolent purpose, which I doubt not has brought them together. Of the numerous charities for which our times are distinguished, I know of no one more unexceptionable, than that to which I now have the honored privilege of inviting your attention. Having been long, officially, concerned in the appropriation of the charities of this Convention, I have had occasion to know much of the circumstances of those, in whose behalf we now solicit your charitable aid. They have seen better and brighter days. From the important stations which their departed guardians were called to fill, they have been conversant with the most refined society, and have been surrounded, not only with the necessaries, but with the comforts of life. The removal of those on whom they so confidently leaned, has thrown them into obscurity, and, in many instances, withdrawn that pecuniary aid which was necessary for a decent and comfortable maintenance. Living, now, in great seclusion and retirement, they have little other earthly resource, than the annual charity of this Convention, to which they habitually look forward with confiding trust, and always receive with heartfelt gratitude.

In this charity we can all unite. The appeal

which we now make in behalf of the poor and lonely, and, in many instances, infirm and aged widows of our departed brethren, I am persuaded will not be in vain. No liberal, ingenuous mind will withhold or lessen his contribution, because their cause is advocated by one of a different faith. The thought cannot-shall not be indulged for a moment. In the appropriation of the funds of the Convention, and of the Congregational Charitable Society, I take great pleasure in stating, from personal knowledge, that the most perfect impartiality has ever been observed. It has never been made a question, and I trust it never will be, to what religious party the recipients of this sacred charity belong. It is enough, that they are widows and need our aid. On this broad ground, my beloved friends, we can meet, if on no other. On this altar of charity, then, let us unite in offering our gifts,—and let the only strife and controversy be, who shall do most to make the widow's heart sing for joy.

ON occasions like the present, when we behold our civil fathers and our military guardians assembled in the temple of the Most High, it has been usual for the preacher of the day to avail himself of the political relations of this country with the powers of Europe, to furnish an appropriate subject of discourse. Nor has it been

difficult in times past, from the peculiar and interesting state both of this and other countries, to select such themes as were calculated to stimulate the soldier to the discharge of his duty, and to interest the citizen in the defence of his

liberties and rights. But, blessed be the God of peace, no such themes now present themselves

for our consideration.

wars and rumors of wars.

We no longer hear of
The individual, whose

name once spread terror through the nations, is forgotten in the distant isle of the ocean, and, were it not that he lives to publish to the world the record of his deeds, we should almost have imagined his bloody career to have been but a terrific vision of the night, so completely has the sun of universal peace dissipated the darkness and gloom, which but lately overspread the political horizon.

The state of our own country does not now, as on former occasions, excite any other emotions than those of gratitude and praise for our inestimable privileges and unparalleled blessings. We have not now to burnish our arms for war, nor to dread the disruption of our rising empire by any unhappy divisions among ourselves. One heart and one soul now animates our republic; party spirit exists in no greater degree than, perhaps, is necessary to the security of our political institutions; and the days of Washington seem to have returned, when the chair of the national executive is filled by the man whom the people delight to honor.

Such being the pacific state of the world, and what benevolent heart does not pray that it may be perpetual, may I be permitted to select a subject, more adapted to the period in which it is our happiness to live, and more congenial to the feelings of the friends of peace and of Zion.

We will not enlarge upon the connection in which the words, prefixed to this discourse, stand in the chapter from which they are taken. It is sufficient to observe that they are capable of an interesting application to the occasion of this meeting. While they recognize the military character, they direct our attention, by the type to which they refer, to the true Zion, the church of God.

It is not our purpose, like the Hermit in the eleventh century, to stir up the flame of a holy war, and to induce you to carry your arms to Palestine for the recovery of the city of God. It is to a nobler warfare that we would stimulate you, to a higher prize that we would direct your attention, a better cause in which we would engage your efforts. Let it be, then, the delightful business of this morning, to consider the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom as well deserving the attention of military men. Let us set up the standard toward Zion.