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If therefore we find that our Sentiments of Tenderness and Humanity are confined to certain Persons, to our Relations or particu lar Friends, to the Men of our own Sect of Party; we may be sure that fuch Sentiments are the Product of fome partial and narrow Views, and not the genuine Offspring of true Charity, which is in its Nature extenfive and univerfal, and reaches as far, nay much be yond the Power we have of doing good: Or, if we find that in fome Instances we are apt enough to deal juftly and mercifully with our Neighbours, but that in others we are regardless of Mercy and Justice, and value not the Credit, or Reputation, or Contentment of our Brethren, but are ready to facrifice them all to our own Paffions and corrupt Inclinations; our being vile in fome Inftances is a certain Indication, that our being good in others is not owing to a Prin ciple of Charity, but to fomething elfe, which we may call by any other Name rather than Virtue. If you love not the World, and the good Things of it, fo much as to injure your Neighbour for the fake of making a Gain to yourself, it is well. If you can part with your own for the Relief of the Neceffities of fuch as are indigent, it is

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better. If, befides this, you have a friendly Temper and Difpofition, and love to see all about you eafy and happy, it is a great Step towards being perfect. But still if Luft prevails, and leads you to violate the Wife or the Daughter of your Friend, how dwells the Love of God or of your Neighbour in you? For Charity is the fulfilling of the Law: For this, Thou shalt not commit Adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not fteal, Thou falt not bear falfe Witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other Commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this Saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself.

The Rule which I am endeavouring to establish, in order to enable Men to judge of the Principle upon which they act towards others, is the very fame which the Apostle to the Corinthians has in effect described in the thirteenth Chapter of the first Epistle; where, fpeaking of fpiritual Gifts, and fhewing that without Charity they are of no Use to the Poffeffors thereof, his Subject led him to give the certain Marks and Characters of that Charity, which he fo highly exalted. What then is it? Is it Almfgiving? No, fays the Apostle; Though I beftow all my Goods to

feed

feed the Poor, and though I give my Body to be burned, and have not Charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity is not a particular Virtue, nor is it confined to any Kind of good Works, but it is a general Spirit of Life influencing all the Actions of a Man; it is the very Soul of Virtue, and shews itself in the Functions of it: Charity fuffereth long, and is kind,-envieth not,-vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itfelf unfeemly, feeketh not her own, is not eafily provoked, thinketh no Evil; rejoiceth not in Iniquity, but rejoiceth in the Truth; beareth all Things, believeth all Things, hopeth all Things, endureth all Things.

Thus, you fee, the Scripture Rule of judging ourselves in this great Point of Charity, is to compare our Conduct with the Precept, and to confider whether our Actions are uniformly fuited to the Principle we pretend to act by. We are not directed to confider only particular A&tions, or the immediate Motives which induced us to do this or that particular good Office; from whence we can argue but with little Certainty, and little Comfort to ourselves: For a general Principle is discoverable only by a general and uniform Influence over all our Actions. Men may be good by Starts; may be tender L 3

and

and compaffionate more at one Time than another, according as their Minds are foftened by accidental Misfortunes happening to themselves: But Charity moves in an higher Sphere, and views all the Creatures of God with a constant Benevolence: It is, as the Text calls it-ἀγάπη ἐκτενὴς —an uninterrupted Love, and which exerts itself uniformly in all our Actions.

When we find this conftant Benevolence in our Minds, and that we act conformably to it within the Rules of Reason, why should we doubt of our own Sincerity, or fcrupulously examine into the special Motives which attended on every Act of Charity? For, where we are confcious of no ill Defigns, no private Self-intereft, and yet find that what we do is agreeable to Truth and Equity, why should we doubt that we do amifs? It is therefore an unreasonable Burden to put Men upon this Sort of Selfexamination; and more unreasonable to fuggeft to them, that the Good they do is of no Value, unless in every Inftance it be extorted from them by an anxious Confideration of the fpecial Motives of Religion. You may as well tell a Man, that he means not his own Nourishment in what he eats

and

and drinks, unless he has before his Mind an Aphorism of Hippocrates to justify every Bit he puts into his Mouth: For, as the Principle of Self-preservation directs us without much Reflection, and often without any, to feek our own Good; fo a general Principle of Charity will make it, as it were, natural to us to feek the Good of others, without the Trouble of Choice and Deliberation.

To conclude: You fee the extenfive Nature of Charity; and you fee a plain and a natural Way of judging, whether this excellent Gift works in you or no. If you allow yourself in any Instance to injure or opprefs your Neighbour, how can you be faid to love him? fince all Ways of Injustice and Oppreffion are equally inconfiftent with Charity. Whatever therefore is the darling Paffion, which makes you tranfgrefs against your Brother, that, that is the Thing which destroys in you this most excellent Grace of the Gospel. What have you then to do, but to root out this Evil from your Heart; to expel this Weed, which over-runs the Ground, and choaks the good Seed? Here therefore let us point all our Examination to discover wherein we offend; let us truft the Good

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