long as I live; or look on him as any other than one by whom humanity itself is debased and blemished. A very wicked writer, has yet found himself compelled by the force of reason, to publish this confession : "To love the public, to study the universal good, and to promote the interest of the whole world, as far as is in our power, is surely the highest goodness, and makes that temper which we call divine." And he goes on, "Is the doing of good for glory's sake so divine a thing?" (Alas, too much human, Sir!) " or, is it not more divine to do good, even where it may be thought inglorious? even to the ungrateful, and to those who are wholly insensible of the good they receive ?" A man must be far gone in wickedness, who will open his mouth against such maxims and actions. A better pen has remarked it; yea, the man must be much a stranger to history, who has not made the remark: "To speak truth, and to do good, were, in the esteem even of the heathen world, most godlike qualities." God forbid that there should be any abatement in the esteem of the Christian world for those qualities!

SECTION III.

The reward of well-doing.

I WILL not yet propose the Reward of well-doing, and the glorious things which the mercy and truth of God will do for those who devise good; because

He

I would have to do with such as will esteem it a sufficient reward in itself. I will conceive that my readers possess that generous ingenuity which will dispose them to count themselves well rewarded in the thing itself, if God will permit them to do good in the world. It is an invaluable honour to do good; it is an incomparable pleasure. A man must look upon himself as dignified and gratified by God, when an opportunity to do good is put into his hands. must embrace it with rapture, as enabling him directly to answer the great end of his being. He must manage it with rapturous delight, as a most suitable business, as a most precious privilege. He must "sing in those ways of the Lord," wherein he cannot but find himself, while he is doing good. As the saint of old sweetly sang, "I was glad, when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." Thus ought we to be glad, when any opportunity to do good is offered to us. We should need no arguments to make us entertain the offer; but we should naturally fly into the matter, as most agreeable to the divine nature, whereof we are made partakers. It should oblige us wonderfully. An ingot of gold presented unto us, should not be more gratifying! Think thus-Now I enjoy what I covet; now I attain what I wish for. Some servants of God have been so strongly disposed this way, that they have cheerfully made a tender of any recompense that could be desired, (yea, rather than fail, a pecuniary one,) to any friend that would think for them, and supply the barrenness of their thoughts, and suggest to them any special and proper methods,

wherein they might be serviceable. Certainly, to do good, is a thing that brings its own recompense, in the opinion of those who consider that any person who gives them information on any point wherein they may do good, is worthy of a recompense. I will only say, if any of you are strangers to such a disposition as this, and do not look upon an opportunity to do good, as a thing that enriches you, and that you are favoured of God, when he does employ you to do good, I have done with you, and I would pray such to lay the book aside; it will disdain to carry on any farther conversation with them. It handles a subject on which the house of Caleb will not be conversed with. It is content with one of Dr. Stoughton's introductions: "It is enough for me that I speak to wise men, whose reason shall be my rhetoric; to Christians, whose conscience shall be my eloquence."

SECTION IV."

Men might do more good than they do.

THOUGH the assertion should fly like a chainshot among us, and rake down all before it, yet I will again and again assert it, that we might, every one of us, do more good than we do. And therefore, the first proposal I would make is to be exceedingly humbled that we have done so little good in the world. I am not uncharitable in saying,

it

that I know not an assembly of Christians upon earth which ought not to be a Bochim, on this consideration. O! tell me in what Utopia I shall find it. Sirs, let us begin to bring forth some good fruit, by lamenting our own great unfruitfulness. Verily, sius of omission must be confessed and bewailed, else we add to their number. The most useful men in the world have gone out of it, crying to God," Lord, let our sins of omission be forgiven us!" Men that have made more than ordinary conscience about spending well their time, have had their death-bed made uneasy by this reflection, "The loss of time now sits heavy upon me." All unregenerate persons, are certainly, as our Bible tells us, unprofitable persons. It is not for nothing that the comparison of "thorns and briers" has been used, to teach us what they are. An unrenewed sinner, alas! he never did one good work in all his life. In all his life, did I say? You must allow me to recal that word. He is "dead while he lives;" he is "dead in sins;" he has never yet begun to "live unto God:" and as he is, so are the works of his hands"-they are "dead works." Ah! wretched unprofitable servant. Wonder, wonder at the patience of heaven, which yet forbears cutting down such a "cumberer of the ground." The best, and the first advice, to be given to such persons, is, immediately to endeavour to get out of their wofully unregenerate state. Let them immediately acknowledge the necessity of their turning to God, how unable they are to do it, and how unworthy that God should make them able,

"all

Immediately let them lift up their cry to sovereign grace to quicken them; and let them then try whether they cannot with quickened souls, plead the sacrifice and righteousness of the glorious Saviour for their happy reconciliation to God; seriously resolve on a life of obedience to God, and resign themselves up to the Holy Spirit, that he may possess them, instruct them, strengthen them, and, for his name's sake, lead them in the paths of holiness. No good will be done, till this be done. The first-born of all devices to do good, is in being born again.

But you who have been brought home to God, have great cause not only to deplore the dark days of your unregeneracy, in which you produced only "the unfruitful works of darkness:" but also that you have done so little, since God has quickened you, and enabled you to do the things that should be done. How little have you lived up to those strains of gratitude, which might justly have been expected, since God brought you into his "marvellous light!" The best of us may mourn in his complaints and say, "Lord, how little good have I done, to what I might have done!" Let the sense of this cause us to loathe and judge ourselves before the Lord; let it fill us with shame; and abase us wonderfully. How can we do otherwise than, like David, water our couch with tears," when we consider how little good we have done! "O that our heads were waters," because they have been so dry of all thoughts to do good. "O that our eyes were a fountain of tears," because they have looked out so little for methods and occasions to do good. For

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