for a state of eternal enjoyment, abstain from seeking occasions to cheer and assist the destitute among their fellow creatures?

It seeins impossible that Christians can deny, or set aside, the force of this important precept. Taking it, then, for granted that it is the duty of Christians to visit their poorer brethren, the question next arises, by whom, and in what manner, this can best be done in the present state of society; for all our duties must be modified in their performance, according to the situation and circumstances of individuals. And this is, in fact, the practical view of the subject intended to be brought under consideration by the present observations.

It is asserted by some that peculiar talents are requisite in those who go among the poor, to enable them to discover imposture, to declaim against vice, and to soothe virtuous suffering. This may be the case where an agent is required to act for a society, where many are to be visited, and a constant supervision kept up in remote places. It might, however, with equal truth, be asserted that peculiar talents are requisite in every woman that marries, to enable her properly to discharge the various unknown and highly important duties she is called upon to perform. Yet women of very moderate abilities venture to marry, trusting to their wits for guidance in all cases of difficulty. Now, I am disposed to believe that every woman who marries, or who thinks herself fit for matrimony, is perfectly qualified to visit the poor, to whom kindness, common sense, and Christian sympathy, are more valuable than either learning or talents.

Again; it is asserted that respectable females could not possibly enter the dirty hovels, and disreputable abodes of poverty. Merciful Providence! and are not the inhabitants of these our fellow-creatures-living among usmade of one flesh and blood with ourselves, and redeemed by the same Saviour, and where they eat and drink and sleep we dare not cross the threshold! Oh, Christians, this ought not to be so. If such haunts were more frequently entered by the rich, they would soon cease to exist in their present state. And what is the amount of inconvenience to be feared? a little dirty walking, perhaps, and the endurance, for a short time, of filthy sights and smells. And to avoid such temporary annoyances as

these, a Christian woman draws back from the performance of a positive duty; she will choose some less disagreeable way of serving God, she will give her money to be dis tributed by others who can endure such sights, and returning to the comforts of her own home she will soon forget the suffering which she neither sees nor feels, and it will probably never occur to her that she is neglecting the best possible opportunity for cultivating the benevolent affections in her own heart.

Another excuse for not visiting the poor is, the fear of catching some contagious disease. Latterly, however, there is little to be feared on this score, as the poor now use all their efforts to get their sick into hospitals; at all events, previous inquiry could ascertain that point. The fear of insult, or of entering improper houses, is equally groundless, as here, too, previous inquiry could be made. Besides, a quiet, virtuous woman carries about her in every place a look and a manner which command respect, and she will invariably be received by the poor with kindness and courtesy.

"But why," it may be asked, "speak of females only as performers of a duty equally binding on all Christians?" Because they are decidedly the best qualified for this service of love; and, therefore, it is the difficulties which are supposed to be in their way that should be examined. When visited by sickness or affliction, the humbler classes have always found more or less of sympathy and assistance from clergymen, medical men, and a few pious exemplary men who delight to go about doing good; and this has given rise to the feeling, that men are the only persons competent for such duties, and that women step out of their sphere by offering to take part in them. This is a very erroneous notion. The duties of females are all, properly speaking, domestic. The management of a family, rearing children, making, mending, buying,— in short, every occupation of a lady in the middle rank of society qualifies her for being a judicious observer and useful adviser to a poor woman; and, without encroaching on the paramount claims of home, she might exert a highly beneficial influence in many a poor dwelling. Much good has, in this way, been done among poor tenantry; and where the landlord has failed to accomplish the amelioration he expected, it was chiefly from the

want of female exertion co-operating in the interior of the household.

Take two districts as nearly as possible under similar circumstances as to the wants and resources of the poor: in one let schools be opened, and annual prizes offered for the greatest improvement in cleanliness and orderly habits in the rooms and families of the poor, by a society acting merely by paid agents; in the other, let a small society of ladies form a school for poor female children, connecting, perhaps, with it a clothing fund, and let them visit constantly the parents of these children, and take an interest in their improvement. At the end of three or four years which district, do you think, would be found to have changed most for the better? And this reminds me of a conversation, which, during tea-time at a temperance soirée, I had lately the opportunity of overhearing between. two rather fashionable-looking ladies. "I wonder, Mrs. T-, you allow your daughters to go to our charity school to teach little bare-footed dirty brats to hem and sew. Do we not pay a mistress for that purpose? How can the girls spare time from their masters? Mary, too, has such a fine voice, and Mr. B.'s lessons are so expensive, she should spend every spare moment practising." Her companion replied: "I value my daughters' time most highly, yet I was delighted when Mary and Jane proposed to spend each two hours a-week in the school. This is a very small portion for them to give, yet it does great good. They take one or two children beside them, who learn much more quickly from them than they would from the monitresses; for you may suppose one mistress can give but a small share of personal instruction to each of sixty children during the hour and half which is allowed for needle-work. But what, in my mind, is still more important, I consider it the best possible training for the girls in patience, perseverance, and kindliness, to the poor; for the little animals are sometimes amazingly stupid and tantalizing, yet somehow the girls talk to them, and by degrees get fond of them, and even ask me to take them with me when I visit their parents."-" What! my dear Mrs. T. you do not mean to say that you actually go into the places where these creatures live? Why the school-mistress told me that some of them are little better than beggars, and inhabit cellars and garrets, and such

unapproachable haunts."-" It is true, indeed," said Mrs. T," their dwellings are often very dirty and wretched; yet I have sometimes found a clean floor, table, and stool, where there was neither bed, bedding, nor other furniture."-" But," inquired the wondering lady, "what took you first among such people? You are no saint, as the word is used now-a-days; you dress as gaily as I do, you take your daughters into fashionable company, and, though I know you are rather precise about the manner of spending Sunday, you are generally as fond of amusement as most persons; how then would you ever take the fancy, or spare time, to visit the poor? I am willing enough to send them relief, and to speak kindly to them, and all that; but, in sober earnest, I can see no necessity for ladies entering their dwellings. Do give me a hint of who converted you?"- "What will you say," answered Mrs. T-, "when you hear that Mrs. W- and Mrs. Sand several more of your friends share my delinquency, and that we have actually resolved to know, from inspection, the homes and families of all the objects we relieve?" -"You will have a busy time of it then," remarked the other lady. "Oh, not quite so bad as you imagine; besides, I hope to get you to help us," rejoined Mrs. Tplayfully. "I will convert' you, my dear. But this is no place for settling the question; the first evening we can get quietly together, I hope to prove to your satisfaction, that ladies may, without contamination, or without abandoning the duties or amusements of life, visit the poor; that in so doing they obey a Christian precept, and often receive lessons of resignation, and awaken sentiments of piety seldom felt in the luxurious homes of the rich." Here the colloquy ended. I was rejoiced to find Christian principle, apparently unaccompanied by fanaticism, leading to the performance of this important daty.

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Among your fair readers, Mr. Editor, there may, perhaps, be found some who will stigmatize the preceding observations, as common-place and uncalled for. "Every one," they say, acknowledges it to be à Christian precept to visit the poor, and those who can practise this duty." Now here is the main point at issue quite overlooked. What is meant by "those who can!" Look through our Unitarian congregations in Ireland, and see how many of them are still deficient in schools and insti

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tutions, calculated to call forth and concentrate benevolent exertion. Then look individually at those which have done something, and see how partial and how puny are the efforts made. Sometimes the minister is cold and inactive; sometimes the people are apathetic, and unwilling to be roused from their quiet indifference to the wants of others, and both would fain escape any new claim on their purse or on their time; while some less amiable persons venture to insinuate, that there is more of fanaticism and sectarian bigotry than of religion, in the wonderful exertions now making for ameliorating the condition of the lower ranks.

Under these circumstances, can it be asserted that “ all who can visit the poor? or can be deemed unnecessary the endeavour to awaken attention to so important a subject?-important to the individual from its powerful influence on the Christian character, in making the love which every where breathes through the Gospel a vital operating principle of action; and important to society, by bringing our best powers to assist in cheering and Christianizing those who sit in darkness.

There is no doubt we often approve in theory, where our practice is deficient. We indolently pursue our usual course, dreading the difficulties attendant on a change. But this is not the conduct of a true Christian;

He holds no parley with unmanly fears,

Where duty bids he confidently steers.

I hope, and am persuaded, there are many such among your female readers. I entreat of them to consider this subject with serious attention, above all, to search the Scriptures for support and encouragement in this labour of love; and then to come forward, in the spirit of the Gospel, to act, to assist, to stimulate, to encourage, and in every way to prove themselves worthy disciples of a Master whose delight was "to go about doing good."

Sept. 1839.

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SUNDAY-SCHOOL ADDRESS. [The following are extracts from an address delivered by Dr. M'Kittrick, at the half-yearly distribution of premiums in the Sunday-school of the First Presbyterian Congregation, Holywood, on Sunday, Sept. 29.]

MY YOUNG FRIENDS, I have been requested to address a few observations to you, as Sunday-school scholars, on this third half