a fpecies of liberality, which is not charity in any fense of the word: I mean the giving of entertainments or liquor, for the fake of popularity; or the rewarding, treating, and maintaining the companions of our diverfions, as hunters, fhooters, fishers, and the like. I do not say that this is criminal; I only say that it is not charity; and that we are not to fuppofe, because we give, and give to the poor, that it will stand in the place, or fuperfede the obligation, of more meritorious and difinterested bounty.

III. The pretences by which men excuse themselves from giving to the poor.

I. "That they have nothing to fpare," i. e. nothing for which they have not provided fome other ufe; nothing which their plan of expenfe, together with the favings they have refolved to lay by, will not exhauft never reflecting whether it be in their power, or that it is their duty to retrench their expenfes, and contract their plan, "that they may have to give to them that need;" or rather that this ought to have been part of their plan originally.

2. "That they have families of their own, and that charity begins at home." The extent of this plea will be confidered, when we come to explain the duty of parents.

3. "That charity does not confift in giving mon ey, but in benevolence, philanthropy, love to all mankind, goodness of heart, &c." Hear St. James. "If a brother or fifter be naked, and deftitute of daily food, and one of you fay unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not thofe things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit ?" (James ii. 15, 16.)

4. "That giving to the poor is not mentioned in St. Paul's defcription of charity, in the thirteenth chapter of his firft Epiftle to the Corinthians." This is not a description of charity, but of good-nature; and it is not neceffary that every duty be mentioned in every place.

5. "That they pay the poor rates." They might as well allege that they pay their debts; for the poor have the fame right to that portion of a man's property, which the laws affign to them, that the man himself has to the remainder.

6. "That they employ many poor perfons:". for their own fake, not the poor's; otherwise it is a good plea.

7. "That the poor do not fuffer fo much as we imagine; that education and habit have reconciled them to the evils of their condition, and make them eafy under it." Habit can never reconcile human nature to the extremities of cold, hunger, and thirst, any more than it can reconcile the hand to the touch of a red-hot iron: befides, the question is not, how unhappy any one is, but how much more happy we can make him.

8. "That these people, give them what you will, will never thank you, or think of you for it." In the first place, this is not true: in the fecond place, it was not for the fake of their thanks that you relieved them.

9. "That we are liable to be impofed upon." If a due inquiry be made, our merit is the fame: befide that, the diftrefs is generally real, although the cause be untruly stated.

10. "That they fhould apply to their parishes." This is not always practicable: to which we may add, that there are many requifites to a comfortable fubfiftence, which parish relief does not fupply; and that there are fome, who would fuffer almost as much from receiving parish relief, as by the want of it; and laftly, that there are many modes of charity, to which this anfwer does not rclate at all. "That giving money encourages idleness and vagrancy: This is true only of injudicious and indifcriminate generosity.

II.

12. "That we have too many objects of charity at home, to bestow any thing upon ftrangers; or

Y

that there are other charities, which are more useful, or stand in greater need." The value of this excufe depends entirely upon the fact, whether we actually relieve thofe neighbouring objects, and contribute to thofe other charities.

Befide all these excufes, pride, or prudery, or delicacy, or love of eafe, keep one half of the world out of the way of obferving what the other half fuffer.

Chapter VI.

RESENTMENT.

RESENTMENT may be distinguished into

anger and revenge.

By anger, I mean the pain we fuffer upon the receipt of an injury or affront, with the ufual effects of that pain upon ourselves.

By revenge, the inflicting of pain upon the perfon who has injured or offended us, farther than the juft ends of punishment or reparation require.

Anger prompts to revenge; but it is poffible to fufpend the effect, when we cannot altogether quell the principle. We are bound alfo to endeavour to qualify and correct the principle itself. So that our duty requires two different applications of the mind: and, for that reafon, anger and revenge may be confidered feparately.

BE

Chapter VII.

ANGER.

ye angry and fin not ;" therefore all anger is not finful: I fuppofe, because fome degree of it, and upon fome occafions, is inevitable.

It becomes finful, or contradicts, however, the rule of fcripture, when it is conceived upon flight and inadequate provocations, and when it continues long.

1. When it is conceived upon flight provocations; for, "charity fuffereth long, is not eafily provoked." "Let every man be flow to anger." Peace, long fuffering, gentlenefs, meeknefs, are enumerated among the fruits of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22. and compofe the true Christian temper, as to this article of duty.

2. When it continues long; for, "let not the fun go down upon your wrath."

Thefe precepts, and all reafoning indeed upon the fubject, fuppofe the paffion of anger to be within our power and this power confifts not fo much in any faculty we poffefs of appeafing our wrath at the time (for we are paffive under the fmart which an injury or affront occafions, and all we can then do is to prevent its breaking out into action) as in fo mollifying our minds by habits of juft reflection, as to be less irritated by impreffions of injury, and to be fooner pacified.

Reflections proper for this purpose, and which may be called the fedatives of anger, are the following the poffibility of miftaking the motives from which the conduct that offends us proceeded; how often our offences have been the effect of inadvertency, when they were conftrued into indications of malice; the inducement which prompted our adverfary to act as he did, and how powerfully the fame inducement has, at one time or other, operated upon ourselves; that he is fuffering perhaps under a contrition, which he is afhamed, or wants opportunity, to confefs; and how ungenerous it is to triumph by coldness or infult over a spirit already humbled in fecret; that the returns of kindness are fweet, and that there is neither honour, nor virtue, nor ufe in refifting them-for fome perfons think themfelves bound to cherish and keep alive their indig

nation, when they find it dying away of itself. We may remember that others have their paffions, their prejudices, their favourite aims, their fears, their cautions, their interefts, their fudden impulfes, their varieties of apprehenfion, as well as we: we may recollect what hath fometimes paffed in our own minds, when we have got on the wrong fide of a quarrel, and imagine the fame to be paffing in our adverfary's mind now; when we become fenfible of our misbehaviour, what palliations we perceived in it, and expected others to perceive: how we were affected by the kindness, and felt the fuperiority of a generous reception and ready forgiveness; how perfecution revived our spirits with our enmity, and feemed to justify the conduct in ourselves, which we before blamed. Add to this, the indecency of extravagant anger; how it renders us, whilft it lafts, the fcorn and fport of all about us, of which it leaves us, when it ceafes, fenfible and afhamed; the inconveniences, and irretrievable misconduct into which our irafcibility has fometimes betrayed us; the friendships it has loft us; the diftreffes and embarraffments in which we have been involved by it; and the fore repentance which on one account or other it always cofts us.

But the reflection calculated above all others to allay the haughtiness of temper which is ever finding out provocations, and which renders anger fo impetuous, is that which the gospel propofes; namely, that we ourselves are, or fhortly fhall be, fuppliants for mercy and pardon at the judgment feat of God. Imagine our fecret fins difclofed and brought to light; imagine us thus humbled and expofed; trembling under the hand of God; cafting ourselves on his compaffion; crying out for mercy: imagine fuch a creature to talk of fatisfaction and revenge; refufing to be entreated, difdaining to forgive; extreme to mark and to refent what is done amifs; imagine