of humanity, whereof each human being is a living member. All men are united by a common bond, a common interest, a common welfare. There are, indeed, innumerable varieties of men. There are diversities of appearance, of complexion, of intellectual and moral strength and attainment, of culture and refinement; in no one of these several particulars do any two individuals entirely agree; the distinct members of the great body of humanity count by many millions, and all have not the same office; and yet all men are one-as regards their highest welfare, their interests are" one and inseparable," the happiness of any human soul is in some measure, immediately or remotely, the happiness of every soul, and the wretchedness of any one in equal measure, and in the same way, the wretchedness of all. What Paul says of the church, may with equal pertinence be said of mankind at large, "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it."

It is true, that this vital unity or oneness of all human interests, is not obvious to every one. Very selfish men, who see only the immediate and palpable results of human conduct, will perhaps find it difficult to believe, that the welfare of any single human being is as vitally and literally bound up with the welfare of every other human being, as is the health or comfort of any eye, a hand or a foot connected with the health or comfort of every other member of the human body. That the well-being of an obscure individual in London is as truly and inseparably connected with the well-being of an obscure individual in New York, as the well-being of one hand is connected with the wellbeing of the other hand of the same body, is a statement which possibly not a few will promptly dispute.

It must be confessed that the unity of interests is not as palpable to sense, in the one case as in the other. The several members of the physical body are connected by ligaments which the eye can see and the hand trace. The arteries and veins through which the life-sustaining element is distributed over the system, all reveal themselves to the eye of the anatomist. And even the nerves which, ramifying over the whole system, disseminate pain or pleasure to every sensitive part, and so keep up a sympathy between all,

may, to a great extent, be laid bare by the hand of science. and skill. The great body of humanity-the body whereof each man and woman and child is a lively member-does not indeed have this physical connection of parts. The material eye cannot see its ligaments, the material hand cannot trace the arteries and veins of its common life; nor does the hand of skill expose a system of material nerves, whereby the weal or woe of one member of the race, is communicated to the sensitive soul of every other member.

But what of this? Is nothing real that is not material? Does nothing exist except the eye can see, and the hand feel it? Can we have knowledge only of those things which the senses reveal? Will any one dispute the reality of every statement which cannot be verified by material tests? No physical eye ever saw, no physical hand ever touched, friendship; is there, therefore, no such thing as friendship? No eye ever saw, no hand ever touched, kindness, or justice, or brotherly love; is there therefore no such thing as kindness, justice, or brotherly love? The truth is, every moment of our conscious existence we are trusting in the reality of things and of principles which no material sense can ever perceive. Christianity itself its essence, its spirit, its virtues, its joys and rewards-is a reality which no eye can see, or ear hear, or hand touch. It cometh to every soul without observation. God reveals it only by his spirit. The best, the noblest, the most durable things, are superior to the senses, and always elude their sight. The things that are seen indeed, are temporal; the things that are not seen, are spiritual and eternal.

The ligaments which unite in one body all the individuals of the human family are not physical-they cannot be perceived by any bodily sense. They are, however, none the less real. The spiritual eye can see them-the spiritual sense feel them. No one can see or touch the cord which binds in one the members of a family, and which makes the happiness of one the happiness of all. Yet no one presumes to deny that there is such a bond of union. The family tie which brings the sanctities, and affections, and sympathies of home, is felt and acknowledged by all, yet it is a tie which no material sense can ever detect. Now it is a distinctive doctrine of Christianity, that the human race is a family

-that all men are brethren-that God is the common Father. The tie which binds the great family is not less real than that which binds the small family, and in neither case is the tie less real than the material one which holds together all the various members of the physical body. However it may seem to a selfish and a short-sighted view, no proposition is more susceptible of proof-we might with more propriety say, no proposition has less need of proofthan the fact that man is made for society, and this in such a sense that his true interest is always in harmony with, and so promotes, the happiness of his brother man. No one can live by himself, isolated from all connection with other beings, without violence to his nature. There is, and can be, no such thing as an individual interest wholly dissevered from the general interest. No man can harm himself who does not, by the very act, harm his neighbors; no man can harm his neighbors who does not, by the very act, harm himself. We cannot confine the effects of our conduct to ourselves. The instant a deed is done-no matter whether a good or an evil deed—that instant it begins to diffuse itself far and wide, and no precaution can circumscribe its influence. When a poison is taken into the system, it does not confine its deadly effect to the part with which it came in immediate contact. It darts its baneful effects in every direction; and every fibre and nerve of the system is made to suffer the common pain.

Says Bishop Butler, in his First Sermon on Human Nature," Men are so much one body, that in a peculiar manner they feel for each other, shame, sudden danger, resentment, honor, prosperity, distress; one or another or all of these, from social nature in general, from benevolence, upon the occasion of natural relation, acquaintance, protection, dependence; each of these being distinct cements of society. And therefore to have no restraint from, no regard to, others in our behaviour, is the speculative absurdity of considering ourselves as single and independent, as having nothing in nature which has respect to our fellow creatures, reduced to action and practice. And this is the same absurdity, as to suppose a hand, or any part to have no natural respect to any other, or to the whole body." The slightest analysis of human nature shows that one class of man's propensities aim directly at his individual advantage; and

that another class of propensities aim directly at the public advantage. And yet these diverse propensities are so harmonized-are made so to interpenetrate and work together, that he who wisely seeks his own good, is really promoting the public good; and he who, from the promptings of his disinterested nature, seeks the public good, is really, though unintentionally, benefitting himself.

Human welfare is not so much an individual as a corporate affair. In every corporate body, the interest of each member is interlocked with the interests of all the members. There is in fact but one interest, for there is but one body. If stocks rise or fall, if dividends increase or decrease, in whatever case, the good or bad is shared mutually. No member of the corporation can single out and isolate his particular share. The interest is one and inseparable; and if any one member suffer loss, all the members suffer with him; and if any member realize success, all the members prosper with him. It is true that the mutuality of human welfare is not always immediate nor always appreciable. It may take, in many cases, a great length of time before an injury suffered by a single individual can diffuse itself over the community and the world. And even as regards injuries to the physical body, it is not unfrequently the case that much time is required to make the injury general. There are, for instance, poisons which are many years in diffusing their deadly virus through all the members of the physical frame. It may be a long period before a crime perpetrated in London shall be felt in New York-it may be almost a geological period before the success of an atrocious measure in Russia, can produce its natural effects in American society. These are extreme cases, but they cannot affect the operation of great principles. The largest river is made of drops, so that a single drop increases the whole bulk. The effect is not appreciable, but is none the less real. The body of humanity is one, and with this body all men are connected as organic members; and it hence follows, as a principle,-whether we can perceive the effect or not, that no one member of the race can suffer, in the remotest degree, without all the members ultimately participating in the calamity.

The general truth which we have thus endeavored to

elucidate finds its most distinct expression in the New Testament. The common bond of sympathy underlies and suggests the precepts and the doctrines of Christ. We must distinguish a few points as examples illustrative of our general assertion.

1. First of all, those duties enjoined in the New Testament which make the nearest approach to originalitywhich are more peculiarly Christian-rest directly upon the great law of sympathy. The Christian disciple is commanded to cultivate sociable dispositions and is frequently reminded, that he lives not for himself, but for others. Hence the injunction, to "rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep." The essential command is," Thou shalt love thy neighbor"-a command resting directly upon, and deriving its force from, the doctrine, that human beings are "members one of another"-are one body with Christ for the living head. Hence the Christian obligation to be "courteous," to "look every man not on his own things only, but at those of others also;" the strong are reminded that they should bear the infirmities of the weak, and "so fulful the law of Christ." The character of Christ beautifully illustrates the social features of his religion. Sympathy was among the strongest feelings of his nature. Every reader of the New Testament will recall a special occasion, the death of Lazarus, and the sorrow of his sister Mary and her friends, when Christ "groaned in spirit also." The Apostle Paul enforces the exhortation, "Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification," by reference to the example, "For even Christ pleased not himself."

An historical reference shows how naturally such an exhortation flowed from the spirit of Christianity. The heathen religions, which prevailed in civilized countries in the time of Christ, enjoined, in some sense of the term, love to God-the love of God, or of that multiplicity of deities which stood in the place of God. But with this love, paganism was exhausted. It made no provision for the love of man. The social, the sympathetic element was wanting. The pagan worship was for most part a ritual service a service recognizing God, in a sense that excluded man. Forms and ceremonies of worship extending to the most minute particulars, regulating the dress, the posture