and brings them supplies without and beyond their expectations. And then in giving, prudence will direct us not to upbraid the want, or insult over the miseries of those we give to; for that would be to feed them with a bit and a knock, and to sophisticate our mercy with cruelty. And when any miserable creature would borrow or beg of us, prudence will advise us not to turn him away with scorn; nor yet to remove him at a distance, with signs of disdain or contemptuous violence; but if we see reason to grant him his request, to do it with ready and open hand, that so the freedom of our charity may raise and enhance the comfort of it; and that that which we design for a relief and succour, may leave no sting behind it in the mind of the receiver. And above all, we ought to take especial care, not to oppress the modesty of the humble, especially of those who have been wont to give, and not to receive; not to relieve them with lofty looks, or angry words, or a scornful and severe behaviour; not to expose their poverty by the divulging our charity, or conveying it to them in the open view of the world; but to hand our relief to them in such a secret and benign, courteous and obliging manner, as that they may receive it with cheerfulness, and without blushing and confusion. And then as for those whose constant necessities have habituated them to ask and receive with more confidence and assurance, our prudence will direct us to convey our alms to them with such a mixture of severity and sweetness, as neither to encourage them to grow upon our charity, nor drive them into desperation of it.

I now proceed to press and enforce the practice of this great duty with some motives and argu

ments, which are these that follow. First, Almsgiving is imposed upon us as a necessary part of our religion. Secondly, It is recommended to us by the examples of God and of our Saviour. Thirdly, It is a substantial expression of our love and gratitude to God and our Saviour. Fourthly, It charges an high obligation to us upon the accounts of God and our Saviour.

1. Consider that giving alms is imposed upon us as a necessary part of our religion; that is, when God hath furnished us with abilities and opportunities to do it. For where we cannot give money to relieve the poor, our pity and our prayers are accepted for alms: For if there be a willing mind, (says the apostle,) that is, a charitable heart, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not, 2 Cor. viii. 12. But where a man hath, it is his indispensable duty to do accordingly; for pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world, James i. 27. And that this visitation is to be performed with an open and a liberal hand, the same apostle informs us, James ii. 15, 16. If a brother or a sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? That is, if, instead of food and raiment, you only give him fair words and good wishes, what doth it profit him? or what advantage can you expect to reap by it? And to the same purpose, 1 John iii. 17. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need,

and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? That is, let him pretend what he pleases, he hath not one spark of love to God or true religion in his bosom. So that for men to pretend to religion, who are able to relieve the poor, and yet refuse it, is one of the greatest mockeries in the world: for howsoever men's covetousness may bribe their conscience to dispense with the obligations of almsgiving, as if it were only a carnal ordinance or useless relic of popery, a holy cheat, a devout drunkard, a pious fornicator, are not greater contradictions in the sense of scripture, than a hardhearted, a stingy, and a hidebound saint. For though our religion doth by no means warrant us in such a vain and fond opinion of our good works, as to think we merit heaven by them; or to presume to drive a bargain with God, by putting our good works into the balance with an infinite and eternal reward, our hopes of which we wholly owe to the infinite goodness of God through Jesus Christ; yet it requires them of us as a necessary condition, upon which God hath entailed all our future bliss, and without which we can never hope for admittance into the kingdom of God. So that if we are able to relieve the poor, and yet will not when we have opportunity; by shutting up our bowels against them, we shut the door of heaven against ourselves; and must one day expect to receive the same answer from God that we give to them; "I have nothing "for you, no mercy, no heaven for such unmerciful "wretches, as would rather suffer their poor bre"thren to perish, than part with a penny to relieve "them." For of this doom our Saviour himself hath fairly forewarned us, Matt. xxv. 41, 42, 43. Go ye

cursed into everlasting fire: for when I was hungry, ye fed me not: when I was naked, ye clothed me not. So that from any encouragement our religion gives us, we may as well hope to go to heaven without faith and repentance, as without giving of alms according to our ability and opportunity.

2. Consider that giving of alms is highly recommended to us by the examples of God and our Saviour. For as for God, the whole series of his providence is little else but a continued dole of alms and charities to his creatures. It was his charity that founded this vast and magnificent hospital of the world, that stocked it with such a numberless swarm of creatures, and endowed it with such plentiful provisions for the support and maintenance of them all; so that we do all of us live upon his alms, and depend upon his boundless charity, for every breath of air we draw, for every bit of bread we eat, and for every rag of clothes we wear. And indeed what are all the good things of this world, but so many effluxes and arguments of his almighty liberality? Look every where about nature, consider the whole tenor of his providence, survey all the works and actions of his hands, and you shall find them all conspiring in that amiable character the Psalmist gives of him, Psalm cxix. 68. Thou art good, and thou doest good. So that in relieving the necessities of others we act the part, and the best part too, of the almighty Father of beings; who sits at the upper end of the table, and carves to his whole creation. Hence St. Gregory Nazianzen, speaking of the charitable man, saith, that he is τῷ ἀτυχοῦντι Θεὸς, τὸν ἔλεον τοῦ Θεοῦ μιμησάμενος, οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως ὡς τὸ εὐποιεῖν ἄνθρωπος ἔχει Ocov i. e. "A God to the unfortunate, imitating the

"mercies of God: for man hath in nothing so much "of God as in doing good;" which is doubtless the most divine and godlike thing that a creature is capable of. What then can be more honourable, or more becoming a creature, than to tread in the footsteps of God, to transcribe his nature and actions, and be a kind of vice-god in the world? Surely did we but understand and consider how divinely magnificent it is to supply the necessities, and contribute to the happiness of others, we should court it as our highest preferment, and bless God upon our bended knees for deeming us worthy of such an illustrious employment, and that among the numerous blessings he hath heaped upon us, he hath vouchsafed to admit us to share with himself in the glory of doing good.

And as the example of God doth highly recommend to us relieving of the poor and miserable, so also doth the example of our Saviour. For it was for this that he left his Father's bosom, and came down from heaven into our nature, that he might relieve a poor perishing world, and rescue it from eternal ruin. And what a glorious recommendation of charity is this, that the Son of God chose rather to do good upon earth than to reign over angels in heaven! And while he was here, the sole employment he thought worthy of himself, was to relieve the miserable, to feed the hungry, to cure the blind and the lame, to restore the sick, to instruct the ignorant, and reclaim the rebellious. This was the drift of all his actions, this the subject of his miracles, and this the scope of all his doctrines: so that his whole life was nothing else but a continued train of beneficences; for the apostle tells us, Acts x. 38. that he went about doing good. Consider this