Nor can any support their burthens alone —
[The king upon the throne needs the assistance of others, as much as the beggar upon the dunghill. The very necessities of our nature call for mutual aid. No one could support himself alone. It is by the division of labour that society is kept together, and every individual that composes it is made happy. All, taking on themselves some one office for the benefit of others, promote, at the same time, both their own welfare, and the welfare of the whole community. The artisan, the man of science, the practitioner in any useful line, supply the wants of others in common with their own; and, whilst depending on their employers for their own support, administer support in return to them. It is thus that the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed, and the weak protected in their rights.]
But, not confining ourselves to the duty of our own particular station, we should endeavour, as God may enable us, to bear the burthens of all —
[This may be done in a way of sympathy, and in a way of succour. As members of the same body, we ought all to care for each otherb, and to sympathize with each other under our several circumstances, whether of joy or sorrow. The Divine command is, " Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weepc." But sympathy must shew itself in deeds, and not in words only. It will be to little purpose to " say to our destitute and naked brother, ' Be warmed,' or, ' Be filled,' whilst we withhold from him what is needful for his support'1." True, indeed, we cannot all administer relief to others in the same way, or to the same extent : but what we can do, we should with alacrity and joy. The eye, the ear, the tongue, the hand, the foot, cannot all render the same service to the body : but, if they improve their respective energies and powers for the good of the whole, they answer the end for which they were formed. Thus we should consider what service we are best capable of rendering to every afflicted brother : and to that we should address ourselves with all dili- gence; blessing and adoring God, who has put it into our power to shew love to our fellow-creatures, and fidelity to Him. The word which St. Paul used, to express the assistance which the Holy Spirit affords to us in our necessities, marks the precise office which we are to occupy in assisting all who stand in need of help from us : we should take hold on the opposite end of their load, and bear it together with them6. And this
t» Phil. ii. 4. 1 Cor. xii. 25. c Rom. xii. 15.
ri Jam. ii. 14 — 1G. e Rom. viii. 26. dvravTiKafxptavtTai.