ceed not from Mercy, but Self-love. They are a fordid Traffick for Applause and Profit, as has been already obferv'd; and hence our Saviour cautions us, Take heed that you do not your Alms before Men, to be feen of them, otherwife you have no Reward of your Father which is in Heaven. Therefore when thou doft thy Alms, do not found a Trumpet before thee, as the Hypocrites do in the Synagogues, and in the Streets, that they may have Glory of Men: Verily, I say unto you, they have their Reward.

There are too many, who lay too much Strefs on the outward act of Giving, and do not fufficiently regard the inward act of Mercy, which must always be attended with Juftice. Some Men think to compound with Heaven, for certain Vices which they will not part with, by certain Virtues which come cheap to them. A Man of a weak Conftitution flatters himself, that his Continence and Temperance make amends for his Avarice. He who gives part of what he gets to the Poor, thinks it mends his Title to the other part, no matter how he came by it. But to do Alms is to give away fomething of our own, to remedy another's want or Misery; wherefore to give away one Man's Right to supply another's Neceffity, is not fo much an Alms as a Robbery. By this Rule, Debtors who owe more than they can pay, are oblig'd in Conscience, not to intrench upon their Juftice by their Mercy; nor to disable them from being just to their Creditors, by being merciful to the Poor: For tho' to relieve the Poor be nakedly and abstractedly good; yet it is to be confider'd, that particular Actions are good or bad, according to the Circumftances which adhere to them; and when that Action which is nakedly good, happens to be cloth'd with an evil Circumftance, it is so far evil and unlawful; and therefore, when my relieving the Poor is accompany'd with this evil Circumftance of defrauding my Creditors of their Due, I am fo far bound in Conscience not to relieve them; because if I do, I muft relieve them unjustly; and we are especially to take care, that our Alms be just and righteous. It is true, those unhappy Perfons, who

cannot

cannot propofe to themselves, to pay their Creditors any thing more of their just Debts than would almost be taken for Charity, and yet can spare fo fmall a Dole from their own Neceffities; these we have before shewn, to be under an equal Duty of helping the Needs of others, as if they did not want themselves to answer what they owe to their Creditors.

I cannot but again reflect on the Pleasure there is in the chearful Practice of this Virtue, Human Nature within us, by a kind of fympathetick Motion, exalts and raifes itfelf up. If Mercy be the Spring of our Alms, they will flow with a free Current; because all the while I am watering others I shall feel the Refreshment of my own Streams. When we beftow our Alms with an unwilling Mind, 'tis plain it is not Mercy, but Shame, or Fear, or Importunity which moves us; there is then no Virtue in them, nor can we expect that any Reward fhould attend them. To contribute towards another's Relief, because we are asham'd or afraid to do otherwise, is rather paying a Tax than giving an Alms; and when nothing can be wrung out of me, but what is diftrain'd by Importunity, I give not for the Poor's Relief, but for my own Peace and Quiet. What Virtue is it for a Man to give, only to get rid of a Dan? To render Alms virtuous they must be generous, and to deferve Reward we must expect none! They must flow, like Water from the Spring, in natural and unforced Streams, and not be pump'd from us by Importunity or Shame. That our Charity fhould be extensive, as well in the Portion as in the Object, we have fhewn in the foregoing Pages: To which may be added, That the Defign of Alms, which are the Fruits of Mercy, being to redrefs the Poor Man's Mifery, to fatisfy his craving Hunger, and rescue him from the pinching Neceffities under which he groans and languishes; it measures its Alms accordingly, and proportions them to the Wants it fupplies: Its aim being not only to rescue the Miserable from extreme Mifery, but also, according to its Power, to render them happy. It does not think it fufficient to

deliver

deliver the Needy from extreme Want and Famine, but covets also to render their Lives happy, and give them a comfortable Enjoyment of themselves: For merely to keep a Man from famishing, looks rather like a Defign to prolong his Torment, and fpin out the Duration of his Mifery, than to contribute to his Eafe and Happinefs. If we intend this Happiness, as we must do, if we have a merciful Intention, we fhall endeavour, not only to enable him to live, but to live comfortably, and accordingly proportion our Alms.

In times of Sickness, or scarceness of Work, in dearnefs of Provifions, or in the beginning of Arrests of poor Men, before the Perfon has devour'd them; or, after a great Loss when their Fortunes are finking, and a fmall Support may keep their Head above Water: In a word, when they are young and capable of Instruction, and their Friends are not capable of difpofing of them; when the placing them out to fome honeft Trade may prevent their turning Thieves or Beggars, and render them useful to their Relations, their Friends, and the Publick: When they are fetting up with an infufficient Stock, and a little Help may encourage their Diligence; thefe and fuch like are Seafons of Alms, in which, by lending a helping Hand, we may rescue many a poor Wretch out of a deep Abyss of Misery, and make their future Condition easy and profperous. We must not referve our Charities to our laft Will and Teftament, but embrace all Opportunities while we are living, to give timely Relief to the Neceffitous; otherwise we shall at our Death vainly pretend to give of our Subftance, because we then can keep it no longer, and it will be only a throwing over the Lading when the Ship is ready to fink. He who defers his Alms, when proper Seafons are prefented, is fo far the Cause of all the confequent Calamities which the Poor fuffer by the want of them; and fince the Defign of Alms is to relieve the Sufferings of the Poor, 'tis doubtlefs a Degree of Cruelty to prolong their Sufferings, by needlefly delaying to relieve them. You would think

her

her a cruel Mother, that having Bread enough and to fpare, fhou'd rather choose to afflict her Child with a long unfatisfy'd Hunger, than to content its craving Appetite, by giving it its Food in due Seafon; and fure 'tis a great Defect of Compaffion unneceffarily to prolong the Sufferings of our indigent Brother, tho' it be but for a Day or an Hour, when we have a present Opportunity to relieve him. And fince, whatever Relief we defign him, he muft neceffarily lofe fo much of it, as the Time of our Delay amounts to; Mercy obliges us to relieve him quickly, and not fuffer him to pine away while our Charity is growing.

In giving of Alms, as well as other Christian Duties, Discretion and Prudence ought to be observ'd, for thus the Royal Prophet tells us, A good Man fheweth Favour, and lendeth, and will guide his Affairs with Difcretion. Unless then Prudence be the Difpenfer of our Alms, Mercy will miss of what it aims at and defigns by them, which is to do good to the Poor, to fupply their Neceffities, and give them a comfortable Enjoyment of themfelves Inftead of which, if we do not manage ourfelves with Prudence, we fhall many times create Neceffities by fupplying them, and increase and multiply the Miseries of the World by an unskilful Endeavour to redress them. It being with Alms as with Eftates, where half of the Riches confifts in the Discretion of the Owner, and those very Charities which are distributed by a blind Superftition, or a foolish Pity, do many times do more hurt than good. What Harvest can the World reap from this precious Seed of our Alms, when they are fown with a careless or unskilful Hand? When they are either thrown on a Heap to useless or fuperftitious Purposes, or fcatter'd at all Adventures, without any Distinction of the cultivated from the fallow Ground. Thus the Birds of Prey, useless Vagrants, Drones, and Beggars, devour and eat them up, while the modeft, impotent, and laborious Poor, are utterly deftitute and unprovided.

We

We ought to exercise our Prudence and Discretion in the Method of providing our Alms, in the Nature and Quality of them, as to the Proportions of them, and the manner of bestowing them. To this end, Prudence will direct us not only to be frugal in our Expences, to pare off our Superfluities, and to be diligent and industrious in our Callings, that we may have to give to them that need; but also to appropriate a certain Part of our Revenues and Profits to those pious Uses, that fo we may not be to feek for Alms upon fudden and emergent Occafions, but may always have a Fund ready to supply our daily Diftribution; and if we take care not to alienate and embezzle this Store, we fhall always give with Chearfulness, which doubles the Value of the Charity, both as to the Pleasure we have in giving it, and the Poor in taking it.

Our Prudence is alfo to be exercis'd in the Choice of the Objects of our Charity, taking care that they be fuch as do truly need and deferve it. For unless we do so, we shall often encourage Vice instead of relieving Poverty, and be tempted by the clamorous Importunites of idle and vicious Perfons, to prostitute our Alms to their Sloth and Intemperance. How frequently do we see the imprudent Charities of well difpofed Minds pour'd into thofe Sinks of Filthinefs, and, like the Sacrifices of Bel, devoted to the importunate Lufts of idle Beggars and Drones, that are not fo properly the Members as the Wens of the Body Politick, as being utterly useless to all its natural Ends, and only serving to discover and bring Diseases upon it, drawing away the Nourishment of it from its ufeful Parts and Members. Now what a Shame and Pity is it that thefe precious Fruits of Mercy fhou'd be thus abus'd and mifemploy'd, to pamper a Company of devouring Vermin, whose Business it is to croke about the Streets, and wander from Door to Door, while many a poor induftrious Family, that has more Mouths to feed than Hands to work, lies drooping under its Wants and Neceffities P