cence are left undefined, every man necessarily determines for himself whether he has contributed his share to the necessities of others; and, amidst the general depravity of the world, it can be no wonder, if there are found some who tax themselves very lightly, and are satisfied with giving very little.

Some readily find out, that where there is distress there is vice, and easily discover the crime of feeding the lazy or encourag ing the dissolute. To promote vice is certainly unlawful; but we do not always encourage vice when we relieve the vicious. It is sufficient that our brother is in want; by which way he brought his want upon him, let us not too curiously inquire. We likewise are sinners. In cases undoubted and notorious, some caution may be properly used, that charity be not perverted; but no man is so bad as to lose his title to Christian kindness. If a bad man be suffered to perish, how shall he repent?

Not more justifiable is the omission of duty, which proceeds from an expectation of better opportunities, or more pressing exigencies. Of such excuses, or of such purposes, there can be no end. Delay not till to-morrow what thou mayest do to-day!

A good work is now in thy power; be quick, and perform it! By thy refusal, others may be discouraged from asking; or so near may be the end of thy life, that thou mayest never do what is in thy heart. Every call to charity is a gift of God, to be received with thankfulness, and improved with diligence.

There are, likewise, many offices of kindness which cannot properly be classed under the duty of commiseration, as they do not presuppose either misery or necessity; and yet are of great use for conciliating affection, and smoothing the paths of life: and, as it is of great importance that goodness should have the power of gaining the affections, the apostle has not neglected those subordinate duties; for he commands Christians,

Fifthly, To be courteous.

For courteous some substitute the word humble: the difference may not be considered as great, for pride is a quality that obstructs courtesy.

That a precept of courtesy is by no means unworthy of the gravity and dignity of an apostolical mandate, may be gathered from the pernicious effects which all must have observed to have arisen from harsh

strictness and sour virtue; such as refuses to mingle in harmless gayety, or give countenance to innocent amusements; or which transacts the petty business of the day with a gloomy ferociousness that clouds existence. Goodness of this character is more formidable than lovely; it may drive away vice from its presence, but will never persuade it to stay to be amended; it may teach, it may remonstrate, but the hearer will seek for more mild instruction. To those, therefore, by whose conversation the heathens were to be drawn away from error and wickedness; it is the apostle's precept, that they be courteous, that they accommodate themselves, as far as innocence allows, to the will of others; that they should practise all the established modes of civility, seize all occasions of cultivating kindness, and live with the rest of the world with an amicable reciprocation of cursory civility; that Christianity might not be accused of making men less cheerful as companions, less sociable as neighbours, or less useful as friends.

Such is the system of domestic virtue which the apostle recommends. His words are few, but their meaning is sufficient to fill the greater part of the circle of life. Let

us remember to be all of one mind, so as to grieve and rejoice together; to confirm, by constant benevolence, that brotherhood, which creation and redemption have constituted! Let us commiserate and relieve affliction, and endear ourselves by general gentleness and affability: it will from hence soon appear how much goodness is to be loved, and how much human nature is meliorated by religion.

192

SERMON XII.

ECCLESIASTES, CHAP. I. VERSE 14.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

THAT all human actions terminate in vanity, and all human hopes will end in vexation, is a position from which nature withholds our credulity, and which our fondness for the present life and worldly enjoyments disposes us to doubt, however forcibly it may be urged upon us by reason or experience.

Every man will readily enough confess, that his own condition discontents him, and that he has not yet been able, with all his labour, to make happiness, or, with all his inquiries, to find it. But he still thinks, it is somewhere to be found, or by some means to be procured. His envy sometimes persuades him to imagine that others possess it; and his ambition points the way, by which he supposes that he shall reach, at last, the station to which it is annexed. Every one