would otherwise have fed avarice. Yet, let me recollect myself, the charitable man doth not impoverish himself by his benevolence. He hath sent his fortune before him. These are scriptural ideas. "He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he hath given, will he pay him again. Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations," Prov. xix. 17. Luke xvi. 9. At death the christian beholds these friends opening their arms to receive him. I recollect here an epitaph said to be engraven on the tomb of Atolus of Rheims. He exported his fortune before him into heaven by his charities, he is gone thither to enjoy it. What a fine epitaph, my brethren! Happy he, who, instead of such pompous titles as the vanity of the living puts on the tombs of the dead, under pretence of honouring the merit of the deceased, instead of such nauseous inscriptions as feed pride among bones, worms, and putrefaction, objects so proper to teach us humility, happy he, who has a right to such an epitaph as that just now mentioned! He exported his fortune before him into heaven by his charities, he is gone thither to enjoy it. Happy he, who, instead of splendid funeral processions, and a long train of hired attendants, who seem less disposed to lament death than to increase the numbers of the dead, happy he, whose funeral is attended and lamented by the poor! Happy he, whose funeral oration is spoken by the wretched in sobs and sighs and expressions like these, I was naked, and he clothed me, I was hungry, and he fed

me, I lived a dying life, and he was the happy instrument of providence to support me!

A charitable man need not fear death considered as a time of account. What saith the scripture concerning charity in regard to our sins? "It covereth a multitude," 1 Pet. iv. 8. Daniel giveth this counsel to a guilty king, "Break off thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor,” chap. iv. 27. Not that our scriptures authorize a sacrilegious commentary, such as some sinners make upon these passages. Under pretence, that it is said, charity covereth a multitude of sins, or that it puts away our sins, (the sense of the first is disputed, and we will not now explain it,) under this pretence, I say, some christians pretend to make a tacit compact with God. The import of this contract is, that the sinner should be allowed by God, for the sake of his alms-deeds, to persist in sin. An unjust man, who retains the property of others, will give a trifle to the poor, and, under pretence that charity covereth a multitude of sins, will hold himself free from the law of restitution. A debauchee will give alms, and, under pretence that charity covereth a multitude of sins, will think himself authorised to lead an unclean life. Great God! is this the idea we form of thy majesty! If these be the motives of our virtues, whence do our vices spring? Shall we pretend with presents to blind thine eyes, eyes of purity itself! Would we make thee, O God! an accomplice in our crimes? and have we forgot that prohibition so remarkable in thy law, thou shall not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the

Lord?" Deut. xxiii. 18. It is, however, very cer tain that charity disarms death, in regard to that ac count which we are about to give of the manner in which we have disposed of our property, for charity is the least equivocal mark of our christianity, and the least suspicious evidence of our faith.

I do not know whether in the perfect enjoyment of health, and the pleasures of life, you enter into these reflections; but when you think yourselves ready to expire, you implore our assistance, and require us to comfort you. We seldom succeed much on these occasions. Miserable comforters are we all. Religion with all its evidences, grace with all its charms, the promises of the gospel with all their magnificence, are generally insufficient to administer consolation. Christians, you must certainly die: arm us then to-day against yourselves. Put into our hands to-day an argument against that fear of death which will shortly seize you. Give weight to our ministry, and by disarming death by your charities, put us into a condition to shew you death disarined at the end of your life.

4. Charity provides against the terrors with which an apprehension of the last judgment ought to inspire us. Jesus Christ hath furnished us with this idea, for thus he speaks in the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, he shall say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat; I was thirs

ty, and ye gave me drink. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me," ver. 32, &c.

There is another of the passages of which we just now spoke, and which ought to be understood in a sense altogether sublime. Jesus Christ personates the poor, and takes on himself, if I may speak so, all their obligations. What is the reason of this conduct? If the poor be so dear to him, why does he leave them to suffer; and if he leave them to suffer, why does he say they are so dear to him? My brethren, this is intended to exercise our faith, and to purify our love. Should Christ come to us in pomp and glory, surrounded with devouring fire, with all the ensigns of his majesty, attended by seraphims, and by thousand thousands ministering unto him; should he come in this manner to ask of us a cup of water, a piece of bread, a little money, which of us would refuse to grant his request? But this mark of our love would be suspicious. It would proceed from emotions excited by the splendour of his majesty, rather than from genuine love. No wonder a king is respected in his court, and upon his throne; majesty dazzles, and ensigns of supreme dignity excite emotions in all the powers of our souls. But should this king survive some disgrace, should he be ~banished from his kingdom, and abandoned by his subjects, then his real friends would be discovered, and he would prepare them a thousand rewards. This is an image of Jesus Christ. In vain prostrating ourselves at the foot of his throne, we say to him a thousand times over, Lord, thou knowest that we love thee.

Perhaps this profession of esteem may proceed more. from a love of the benefits, than of the benefactor who bestows them. Banished from his heavenly court in the persons of his members, forsaken by his subjects, covered with rags, and lodged in an hospital, he comes to try his real friends, solicits their compassion, presents his miseries to them, and tells them at the same time, that his condition will not be always thus despicable, that he shall be soon re-established on his throne, and that he will then recompense their care with eternal felicity; this is the meaning of the words just now read, "I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty and ye gave me drink." Grand motive to charity! Immense weight with a soul the least animated with ingenuousness and fervour! I am not surprised, however, that motives so strong in themselves are frequently ineffectual with us. Always confined in a sphere of sensible objects, taken up with the present moment, contracted within the limits of our own small circle, we never look forward to futurity, never think of that great day in which God will judge the world in righteousness, and fix our eternal doom. But who is there, who is there, that in the presence of all mankind, in the presence of all the angels of heaven, in the presence of the whole universe, and in the presence of God himself, can bear this reproof from the mouth of the Son of God, "I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat, I was thirsty, and ye gave me no

drink!"

5. Let us consider charity in regard to heaven itself. We say benevolence is a celestial virtue, and