Sympathy is especially a _Christian's_ duty. Consider what the Christian is, and you will say that if every other man were selfish, _he_ should be disinterested; if there were nowhere else a heart which had sympathy for the needy, there should be one found in every Christian breast. The Christian is a "king:" it becometh not a king to be meanly caring for himself. Was Alexander ever more royal than when, while his troops were suffering from thirst, he put aside a bowl full of the precious liquid, which a soldier offered him, and said it was not fitting for a king to drink while his subjects were thirsty; he had rather share their sorrow with them? O ye, whom God has made kings and princes, reign royally over your own selfishness, and act with the honorable liberality which becomes the seed royal of the universe. You are sent into the world to be saviours of others; but how shall you be so if you care only for yourselves? It is yours to be lights; and doth not a light consume itself while it scatters its rays into the thick darkness? Is it not your office and privilege to have it said of you, as of your Master--"He saved others, himself he cannot save?" "_Endure Hardness._" Soldier of Christ, thou wilt have to do hard battle. There is no bed of down for thee; there is no riding to heaven in a chariot: the rough way must be trodden; mountains must be climbed; rivers must be forded; dragons must be fought; giants must be slain; difficulties must be overcome; and great trials must be borne. It is not a smooth road to heaven; those who have gone but a very few paces therein, have found it to be rough and rugged. Yet it is pleasant; it is the most delightful journey in all the world; not because it is easy in itself, it is only pleasant because of the company; because of the sweet promises on which we lean; because of our Beloved who walks with us through all the rough and thorny brakes of this vast wilderness. Christian soldiers, expect conflict: "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you." As truly as thou art a child of God, thy Saviour hath left thee for His legacy--"In the world ye shall have tribulation." Yet remember that this "tribulation" is the way to "_enter the kingdom_;" therefore "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." _Usefulness._ Christ, my Master, _goes about doing good_, and if you would walk with Him, you must go about upon the same mission. _The Church and the World._