we have contemplated, and of whom, as a class, we now take our leave, have witnessed to us, in every condition and age of life, that Christ is worthy to be believed, and to be loved; that he deserves all the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.

The wise men have travelled in our sight from the distant east, to worship Christ. Aged Simeon has held him forth to us in his arms. John the Baptist, than whom there is no greater among men, has rejoiced to perceive the light of his glory become pale before his Emmanuel and ours. The wedded pair at Cana have spoken to the young that they remember Christ in the season of their espousals. The twelve apostles of the Lamb present their names to us in the foundations of the new Jerusalem, as witnesses for Jesus. The children in the temple have called upon children every where to sing hosannas to the Son of David. A woman that was a sinner presses by you to the Saviour's feet, her repentance and her love contending for the mastery. Martha has turned at his rebuke, from being careful and troubled about many things, and has joined her sister, at Jesus' feet, in choosing the good part which shall never be taken away from her. Simon the Cyrenian, that African, staggering under the ignominious cross which he bore for his Saviour, has said to you, Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. The penitent thief has reproved the unbelief of every,

even the greatest, sinner, and has gone with Christ from the cross to a more than earthly paradise. The relenting crucifier has rebuked those who, familiar with the Saviour's sufferings, are crucifying him afresh. Joseph of Arimathea, once a secret disciple of Christ, and Nicodemus, who also came to Jesus by night, have instructed those who are intellectual and cautious, how to be bold, and to confess Christ before men. Once more, that love to Christ, which is stronger than death, is represented to us again in those women sitting over against his sepulchre and manifesting an ardor of love, which many waters could not quench, nor floods drown.

Our feelings and our lives may be such that, in heaven, when angels speak of the friends of Christ on earth, honorable mention can be made of us as the sincere and ardent, though it may be, as in some of these instances before us, humble, friends of the Redeemer.

Friend or enemy, each of us soon will meet Christ. Life, then, as a season of preparation for eternity, life, in all its precious privileges and opportunities, will seem to have been of infinite value. That life we enjoy to-day; and this day we may repent, believe, and have a friendship formed between ourselves and Christ, the history of which, on earth and in heaven, may be such as to make angels lean upon their harps, to learn new wonders in redeeming love

By his manger, his infancy, his interest in our happiness, his efforts for our good in his life; by his betrayal, and sufferings, and death; by his cross and by his tomb; by his resurrection and by his second coming, he invites us to be his friends. Jesus, the Saviour, should never be left to ask a second time for our friendship. His friends are multiplying. His cause is advancing, till it shall fill the earth. No one of us professes to be among his enemies; yet this is his own decision: "He that is not for me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." Many are leaving you for the service and the kingdom of Christ; will you forego the privileges and blessedness of being his friend?

Beloved brethren in Christ, these words, which may appropriately close these histories and appeals, are addressed by the Saviour himself to all, in every age, like you: "YE ARE MY FRIENDS, IF YE DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU. HENCEFORTH, I CALL YOU NOT SERVANTS; FOR THE SERVANT KNOWETH NOT WHAT HIS LORD DOETH; BUT I HAVE CALLED YOU FRIENDS."

THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT :

THIRTEEN DISCOURSES;

BY NEHEMIAH ADAMS, D. D.,

PASTOR OF THE ESSEX STREET CHURCH, BOSTON.

FIFTH EDITION.

JOHN P. JEWETT, AND COMPANY,

117 Washington Street.

Price, One Dollar. pp. 295.

The object of this book is to illustrate faith in Christ, and love towards him, by the examples of those who befriended him when he was on earth.

CONTENTS. 1. The Wise Men from the East; 2. Simeon; 3. John the Baptist; 4. The Bridegroom and Bride at Cana; 5. The Twelve Apostles; 6. The Children in the Temple; 7. The Woman with the Alabaster Box; 8. Martha and Mary; 9. Simon the Cyrenian; 10. The Penitent Thief; 11. The Relenting Crucifier; 12. Joseph of Arimathea; 13. The Women at the Sepulchre.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

Puritan Recorder, Boston.

A rare combination of various learning, forcible reasoning, graceful diction, felicitous illustration, beautiful simplicity, and pertinent application.

Boston Traveller.

Every way worthy of the fine taste, superior scholarship, and unaffected Christian spirit of the author.

Boston Christian Watchman and Reflector, (Baptist.)

The volume belongs among the best.

Christian Witness, (Episcopal.)

They will be read with pleasure and profit.

Zion's Herald, (Methodist.)

Conceived in a delightful spirit, and written with rare ability both of thought and style.

Boston Congregationalist.

Those who neglect to place this volume upon one of the selectest shelves of their library will miss doing justice to the most original, most affluent, and most useful volume of sermons which the American press a long time has given to the world.

Notice of the second edition, from the same.

at least for

It is a volume that will live, and not die, and as long as it lives will nourish and develop the germs of piety. The portraitures of Christian character are so accurate and finely wrought, lifelike and natural in their conception and finish, that they thrill the soul continually.

Boston Christian Examiner, (Unitarian.)

The

We have received from it edification and instruction of the most precious kind. We have noticed many admirable features in this volume, expressing some noble truths in chaste and eloquent language. earnest and devoted zeal of the Christian minister to commend the character and offices of the Saviour to the love and faith of human hearts is apparent in the whole volume.