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Many of you, my Brethren, recollect when your interest for the deaf and dumb was first excited by a single individual of their number, thus afflicted, as it were, by Providence, for the very purpose of turning her calamity into the source of blessings upon her fellow-sufferers; -- and now, when about six years only have elapsed since she was regarded as almost a solitary instance of this calamity among us, I see her in the midst of a considerable circle of those whom she was destined to relieve, many of whom, with herself, have already completed the fourth year of their education, while they this day are assembled in their own house, reared by the charities of individuals and the munificence of both state and national bounty, with means of comfort and instruction far surpassing the most sanguine hopes that were indulged by the friends of the asylum at its commencement. -- My Brethren, such unexampled prosperity is dangerous, and those to whom the guardianship of this institution is entrusted, will do well to watch against its insinuating effects.

Man, whether in his collective or individual capacity, is a fallen and degenerate being. He is always prone to look at the things which are seen and are temporal, and to neglect those which are not seen and are eternal. And this explains a most singular problem of human nature. You will find individuals whose hearts overflow with all the charities of life; kind, gentle, amiable, honorable, -- willing to practise almost any self-denial and to expend almost any bounty in the furthering of plans for the relief of the temporal distress of their fellow-men. -- And they will erect the most princely establishments to furnish the sickness of poverty with a couch of ease, and to afford the wandering stranger a home, and to soothe the sorrows of the widow and supply the wants of the fatherless, and to control or mitigate the worst of all human evils, the maddening diseases of the mind, and yet they can do all this and think nothing of the souls of these sufferers; make little or no provision for their spiritual necessities; and while every thing is done to render the earthly house of their tabernacle convenient and comfortable, they are not warned that they must soon leave it; they are not urged to secure a residence in a better home, "in the building of God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." -- In saying this, far be it from me to decry the offices of Humanity; but why not blend these offices with the nobler charity which the gospel inspires. -- While men will lavish all the skill and experience that their bounty can procure to heal the diseases of the body, why perform only half the cure, why leave the patient to languish under a more dreadful malady, the corruption of a depraved heart; why not take advantage of the composure and self-reflection, which his very hour of bodily suffering brings with it, to soothe the pangs of his conscience, to allay the torments of remorse to ease him from the burden, of sin, to refresh his parched soul with the well-spring of eternal life, to point him to that physician in whose gift is immortal health and vigour. -- My Brethren, look at this fact -- it is to be found on the pages of all the histories of mere Philanthropy; and shows the danger to which all establishments of benevolence are exposed. Forgive me, then, for dwelling on this perhaps unwelcome topic. But I do feel that the solemnities of this day, if they have any meaning, call upon all who are interested in the welfare of the establishment, to keep steadily in view its simple, original design, that of making it the gate to heaven, for these poor lambs of the flock; for, without such means of instruction they must continue to sit in darkness, and in the region of the shadow of death, ignorant of the immortality of their souls, of their accountability to God, of their future state of being, of the destinies which await them, of the corruption of their own hearts, of the necessity of repentance towards God, and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the influence of that Holy Comforter, which can alone renew them in the temper of their minds and prepare them for the inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

Besides, by thus making the spiritual benefits of the institution paramount to all others, its temporal advantages will be best secured. For the former afford the surest foundation of the latter. If it is thus devoted to the cause of Christ and to the building up of his kingdom among the deaf and dumb such a feeling of dependence on God, of accountability to him, and of reliance on his providential support, will be produced among those who manage its concerns as to give the most consistency, energy, and success to all their measures and operations for its welfare. It will then be placed, if I may so speak, under more immediate protection of the Saviour, it becomes entitled to His covenant promises, it forms a department of His vast and increasing empire in this lower world, and He stands pledged to overshadow it with the arm of His mighty and irresistible protection.