the mighty energy He once wrought for the miserable sons of men, is still, and for aye, to be exerted for saving the bodies of humanity.
The evidence of the merciful action of our Lord is clear and distinct; for it is He who has broken the fetters from captive limbs; He who has freed the slave; He who, in multitudinous almshouses, asylums, infirmaries and hospitals, in every Christian land, has healed the bruises, sores and lacerations of men; given sight to the blind; hearing to deafened ears; made the lame to walk, and cured the dropsical and the paralytic.
2. Mercifulness then is an organic feature of the Christian religion. We see it everywhere, and from the earliest times, in every Christian Church. However much they may have departed from the lines of exact truth, yet the Christian instinct of benevolence has not been lost by any of them. Institutions for the curing of disease, for the care of the widow and the orphan, are seen in every Christian land, and in every organized form of Christianity. They characterize all the great Churches of Christendom. They have sprung up, during long centuries, in the Abyssinian, the Coptic, the Greek, the Roman and the Anglican Communions. And in England, Germany and America, since the Reformation, they are seen in the Lutheran, the Presbyterian, the Congregational and Methodist bodies, as prominent features of reformed religion, as of the older systems.
3. The religious systems of the black race in America are the most modern of any of the religious societies; and hence it is not a wonder that defective features are discernable in them. But, in order to the rectitude and perfection of these systems, it is a matter of vast importance, that these defective features should, first of all, be sought out; and then, rectified as soon as possible.
My impression is that the great defect of colored Christianity, in this country, is its lack of institutions and houses of mercy. If we confine ourselves to this immediate neighborhood, we shall, I think, light at once, upon this point of weakness.
There are, in the city of Washington, no less than 57 houses for the care of widows, orphans and diseased per-
