minds ; and you will have reason to bless God to all eternity for the occasion that has suggested to you so important and necessary a reflection.
To the occasional visitors who are here present, I would beg leave, also, to offer a seasonable sugges- tion. You will observe that Solomon, in the bene- volence of his heart, was especially mindful of strangers. " Concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake, when he shall come and pray toward this house, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling- place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for P." So would I now be mindful of you, and affectionately entreat you to improve the occa- sion which may have brought you hither. The improvement of your bodily health may be supposed to have had some influence in directing you to this place : in truth, many are brought hither, even from a great distance, for the promoting of this end. And shall not the soul, also, have a just measure of your regard ? Shall nothing be deemed too expensive or self-denying for the obtaining of bodily health, and no attention whatever be paid to the soul ? Con- sider, I pray you, of what infinitely greater import- ance the interests of eternity are than the concerns of time ; and how far more certain in its efficacy the fountain of salvation is, which is opened for us in the Gospel, than any which this place, or any other in the universe, can boast. And I thank God that this fountain of salvation is here opened to you, and is accessible to all. Here you may be cleansed from sin and uncleanness, so as to be made altogether pure, without spot or blemish. And O ! how rich a mercy will it be, if, when coming hither only for the restoration of your bodily health, you should find health also to your souls ! Then, when you have left this place, you will look towards it with affec- tionate remembrance, from the very ends of the earth : and, above all, you will look to Him whom
'^ ' p ver. 41, 43.