heart, no philanthropy stimulated his inactive hand for the honour of human nature, and for the relief of human wretchedness. 'We will suppose that the glorious Judge, seated on his great white throne, supported on the wings of cherubims, is about to deliver the exhilarating invitation, (St. Matthew, chap. xxv,) "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom, &c. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat, thirsty, and ye gave me drink, a stranger, and ye took me in, naked, and ye clothed me, sick, and ye visited me, in prison, and ye came unto me." I would ask, which of the antecedent persons would the Judge address the above language to? I anticipate your answer. Undoubtedly the philanthropist. That man must be either a knave or a fool, who can suppose that God would tell a notorious falsehood, by applying it to the indolent, inactive professor. The address applicable to them is, Go, ye cursed, &c. Is it not truly astonishing, that many indolent, and at the same time pompous professors of religion, can read the above passage and not feel interested therein; though they live in the habitual neglect of these social virtues, can spend their substance in the foolish decoration of their families, without appropriating one dollar per annum to the above purposes; or visiting in that period even once (except it is by accident) the sick, the prisoner, the fatherless, and the widow! Surely such people must be deluded by the devil, not to see the futility of their punctuality in attending the means of grace, while they neglect the mercy and morality intended to be encouraged and promoted thereby. I would not upon any account invalidate the means of grace; it is our indispensable duty to attend them with reverence; they are of infinite advantage to the sincere inquirer after truth, and will be a witness against the nominal professor through eternity; because they that know their Master's will and do it not, will be beaten with many stripes. Religion does not consist in plain clothes and a sanctified countenance, which too many assume on Sunday and relinquish on Monday. Indeed, the body has no other share in religion, than merely to discover by actions the bent of the mind, not by gestures; for if I see a brother in want and will not relieve him, if it is in my power so to do, how can my soul be animated with the love of God, or Christian philanthropy? It is impossible. But something more is required than merely

the external acts of relieving; I mean internal, social, and sympathetic commiseration. View the Pharisees: who gave alms more than they? who fasted and prayed more than they? who attended the outward ordinances of God more than they? and yet Christ has expressly informed us, that unless our righteousness exceeds theirs, we shall never inherit eternal life. Well might he say, many are called by my name, but few are chosen imitators of my divine philanthropy. But why need I bring forward the ancient Pharisees to prove the force of my arguments? The Mahometans themselves are as exemplary in the outward ceremonies of religion, as any people for instance, there are no less than five stated times of prayer in the twenty-four hours, all of which are fixed as indispensable, and the fervency of their prayers exceeds even their frequency. When the notification for prayer is heard, (which is generally by the tolling of a bell,) the true Mahometan, let him be where, or doing what he will, whether in his shop, on the road, in the market, or even walking through the mire, instantly falls down on his knees and worships, by repeating his periodical prayers. Even charity, that glorious doctrine I am endeavouring to vindicate, as well as inculcate, is enjoined by the Koran, under the most terrific denunciations of Divine vengeance in case of neglect; and no bounds are set to religious hospitality and liberality. Hence, some good Musselmen give half their property to the poor, nay, some give all and live themselves upon alms; because poverty is no where respected so much as among the Turks. Abstinence is also particularly enjoined as a religious duty among them, especially in the month of Ramadan, during which they neither eat, drink, sleep nor converse with their wives, from sun-rise till the stars appear in the evening; and they are punished with death who break this fast. If, therefore, the formalities of religion entitle sectarians to an inher itance incorruptible, though they are destitute of the internal fruit of the spirit, surely the Mahometan will stand a better chance for heaven than the lukewarm nominal professor of Christianity; inasmuch as the apparent devotion of the one is more warm, energetic, and consistent than that of the other. It astonishes me to reflect, that any man of common sense does not at once see how preposterous it is to profess religion, and not practically feel for the miseries of the human family.

Even leaving religion out of the question, can he be a man (I will not say a Christian) who is destitute of humanity? It is impossible! He is a monster in the shape of a man. Can we be so unreasonable as to suppose, that God will hear the prayers of the person who shutteth up his bowels of compassion against his brother? God could abundantly enrich every individual of the human race without impoverishing himself; but it is his will to try the poor, by suffering them to be such, and in order to send them to the rich man's door, to prove to him in time, as well as in eternity, what kind of a soul he possesses; and I may add, the sons and daughters of misfortune are especially ordered by Providence to stand in the path of the professors of religion, to prove to them the steril or the sterling value of their piety, for God knows it already; but it is his will that they should know it also, before it is eternally too late for remedy. Witness the conduct of the Levite and the priest, who beheld with the side glance of inhumanity the man who fell among the thieves; I will be bold to say, the devil had as much real philanthropy as these two unfeeling devotees, and if the person who acts in the same manner is not wilfully blind, he would at once see that he is no better in the sight of that God, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. But admitting our liberality knows no bounds, yet there is no room for vanity or venality, because we are only liberal with what we are merely intrusted with, for the express purpose of feeding the poor, clothing the naked, &c. But, says one, "I cannot afford to bestow charity; moreover, there is sufficient provision made for the poor in our country already." I answer, the furniture in your houses, the superfluous and absurd appendages on your children, the luxury of your tables, all will rise up to give you the lie, as it respects the first excuse; and the poor families, wretched individuals, and souls perishing for lack of knowledge, in miserable hovels, and in different parts of your town or neighbourhood, give you the lie in form as it respects the second subterfuge. You may depend upon it, these trifling excuses will not do in the day of judgment, when even the righteous man, i. e. the real charitable Christian, shall scarcely be saved, and "when consternation shall turn even the good man pale."

We will suppose a professor of religion is worth eight hun

dred dollars per annum, and four hundred dollars will support him and his family in a comfortable and decent manner; we will suppose he reserves one hundred dollars a year for ex. traordinary emergencies, such as sickness or bodily imbecility. Three hundred dollars therefore remain unappropriated, which may be of infinite benefit or injury to the owner, his family, and his neighbours. If he employs it in promot. ing the temporal or spiritual good of the poor, he lays up a treasure in Heaven, which will be eternally accumulating interest, and will produce the most exquisitely tender and pleasurable feelings in the human breast, even in this life, paramount to all the imaginary and delusive gratifications of the epicure, the sensualist, or the miser. But a contrary line of conduct will not only counteract the will of God, by rendering that useless which he intended for a blessing to his creatures, but will be much worse than useless; it will be rendered extremely pernicious, for the following reasons: it is sacrificed at the shrine of Satan; it is constituted his auxiliary to corrupt mankind; it is spent to support wrong tempers, bad habits, and evil desires, which eventuate in man's perdition. It was not the righteous, (I again repeat,) but sinners Jesus came to save. Yes, Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, and his language to his faithful followers is, Go ye and do likewise. For another excuse, the selfish Christian will say, "You had better attend to your other duties of religion, and particularly to the means of grace more regularly, before you attend to charitable associations.' I would in return ask, for what purpose was the means of grace instituted? I answer, for the express purpose of stimulating to the conscientious fulfilment of all social and sympathetic, filial and fraternal virtues. If, therefore, they do not answer this salutary purpose, they are of no utility, except it is to keep people out of present mischief. Would it not be ridiculous for a soldier to spend all his time in learning his manual exercise, while his comrades were fighting the enemies of his country; or a mariner to spend all his moments in the harbour, preparing his vessel for her voyage, without ever attempting to proceed to sea? Equally as ridiculous is it, to be scrupulous in the performance of the ceremonial duties of religion, while we neglect to practise charity; to do as well as say, to watch as well as pray, and to pity

and relieve God's poor from day to day, in imitation of Jesus. We can give nothing but what has graciously been bestowed upon us; and "it is more blessed to give than to receive." Do we mean to insult the God we worship, by entreating him to bless and relieve the poor, the sick, and the afflicted, the fatherless and widow, the stranger and prisoner, and at the same time, not only neglect to perform these social and sympathetic duties in our own persons, but even oppose those desirous of literally fulfilling the petitions continually ascending every Sabbath from every Christian church. When you pray to the Almighty to "Defend and provide for the poor and the needy, and all that are desolate and oppressed," whom do you expect he will send to relieve and provide for these children of affliction? You cannot expect he will send the devil, neither his mortal nor immortal auxiliaries; nor can we suppose that God will send his angels from heaven to fulfil the duties of philanthropy, (though it would be their highest ambition to do it,) at least while he has sons and servants (or if you please saints) on earth; and those who are indeed his saints take supreme delight in obeying his mandates in this respect, while his professional votaries will make a thousand excuses to avoid the charitable duties of religion. In short, religion without philanthropy is the religion of Hell. But there is another hackneyed excuse which will be used by the uncharitable. They will say, we cannot relieve that stranger, because he may be an impostor; nor that beggar, for it will be an encouragement to their fraternity; nor that man whose house has been recently burned, because he may be a bad man: nor will we encourage the Benevolent Society, because they will peradventure relieve such vile wretches. And I would ask, if they do, is it not what God does every day, by letting his sun shine upon the evil and the good? If God acted towards such persons as they act to their fellow-creatures, how soon would they be swept from the face of the earth. We should carefully relieve the stranger, lest we should not see him again in this world, and relieve all the poor we see, either with food, clothes or money, (or even a sympathetic tear,) as our prudence may direct; and thus imitate God, who sendeth rain on the just and unjust.

A sick bed will preach a more useful and salutary sermon, than a thousand divines put together. Is it not laudable for