SERMON VI. PREACHED BEFORE HIS GRACE CHARLES, DUKE OF RICHMOND, PRESIDENT, AND THE GOVERNORS OF THE LONDON INFIRMARY, For the Relief of Sick and Diseased Persons, especially Manufacturers, and Seamen in Merchant Service, &c. At the Parish Church of St. Lawrence-Jewry, on Thursday, 1 PETER iv. 8. And above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves; for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. As we owe our being, and all our faculties, and the very opportunities of exerting them, to Almighty God, and are plainly his, and not our own, we are admonished, even though we should "have done all those things which are commanded us, to say, we are unprofitable servants."* And with much deeper humility must we make this acknowledgment when we consider in how "many things we have all offended."+ But still the behaviour of such creatures as men, highly criminal in some respects, may yet in others be such as to render them the proper objects of mercy, and, our Saviour does not decline saying, "thought worthy of it." And conformably to our natural sense of things, the Scripture is very express, that mercy, forgiveness, and in + James iii. 2. + Luke xx. 35. * Luke xvii. 10. general, charity to our fellow-creatures, has this efficacy in a very high degree. Several copious and remote reasons have been alleged, why such pre-eminence is given to this grace or virtue; some of great importance, and none of them perhaps without its weight. But the proper one seems to be very short and obvious, that by fervent charity, with a course of beneficence proceeding from it, a person may make amends for the good he has blameably omitted, and the injuries he has done, so far, as that society would have no demand upon him for such his misbehaviour; nor consequently would justice have any in behalf of society, whatever it might have upon other accounts. Thus, by fervent charity he may even merit forgiveness of men: and this seems to afford a very singular reason, why it may be graciously granted him by God; a very singular reason, the Christian covenant of pardon always supposed, why divine justice should permit, and divine mercy appoint, that such his charity should be allowed to "cover a multitude of sins." And this reason leads me to observe, what Scripture, and the whole nature of the thing shows, that the charity here meant, must be such hearty love to our fellow-creatures, as produceth a settled endeavour to promote, according to the best of our judgment, their real lasting good, both present and future: and not that easiness of temper, which, with peculiar propriety, is expressed by the word good-humour, and is a sort of benevolent instinct left to itself, without the direction of our judgment. For this kind of good-humour is so far from making the amends beforementioned, that, though it be agreeable in conversation, it is often most mischievous in every other intercourse of life; and always puts men out of a capacity of doing the good they might, if they could withstand importunity, and the sight of distress, when the case requires they should be withstood; many instances of which case daily occur, both in public and private. Nor is it to be supposed, that we can any more promote the lasting good of our fellow-creatures, by acting from mere kind inclinations, without considering what are the proper means of promoting it, than that we can attain our own personal good, by a thoughtless pursuit of every thing which pleases us. For the love of our neighbour, as much as self-love, the social affections, as much as the private ones, from their very nature, require to be under the direction of our judgment. Yet it is to be remembered, that it does in no sort become such a creature as man to harden himself against the distresses of his neighbour, except where it is really necessary; and that even well-disposed persons may run into great perplexities, and great mistakes too, by being over-solicitous in distinguishing what are the most proper occasions for their charity, or who the greatest objects of it. And therefore as, on the one side, we are obliged to take some care not to squander that which, one may say, belongs to the poor, as we shall do, unless we competently satisfy ourselves beforehand, that what we put to our account of charity will answer some good purpose; so, on the other side, when we are competently satisfied of this, in any particular instance before us, we ought by no means to neglect such present opportunity of doing good, under the notion of making further inquiries; for of these delays there will be no end. Having thus briefly laid before you the ground of that singular efficacy, which the text ascribes to charity in general; obviated the objection against its having this efficacy; and distinguished the virtue itself from its counterfeits; let us now proceed to observe the genuineness and excellency of the particular charity, which we are here met together to promote. Medicine, and every other relief, "under the calamity of bodily diseases and casualties," no less than the daily necessaries of life, are natural provisions, which God has made for our present indigent state, and which he has granted in common to the children of men, whether they be poor or rich; to the rich, by inheritance or acquisition; and by their hands to the disabled poor. Nor can there be any doubt, but that public infirmaries are the most effectual means of administering such relief; besides that they are attended with incidental advantages of great importance: both which things have been fully shown, and excellently enforced, in the annual sermons upon this and the like' occasions. But, indeed, public infirmaries are not only the best, they are the only possible means by which the poor, especially in this city, can be provided, in any competent measure, with the several kinds of assistance which bodily diseases and casualties require. Not to mention poor foreigners; it is obvious no other provision can be made for poor strangers out of the country, when they are overtaken by these calamities, as they often must be, whilst they are occasionally attending their affairs in this centre of business. But even the poor who are settled here, are in a manner strangers to the people amongst whom they live; and, were it not for this provision, must unavoidably be neglected, in the hurry and concourse around them, and be left unobserved to languish in sickness, and suffer extremely, much more than they could in less populous places, where every one is known to every one, and any great distress presently becomes the common talk; and where also poor families are often under the particular protection of some or other of their rich neighbours, in a very different way from what is commonly the case here. Observations of this kind show, that there is a peculiar occasion, and even a necessity, in such a city as this, for public infirmaries, to which easy admittance may be had; and here in ours no security is required, nor any sort of gratification allowed; and that they ought to be multiplied, or enlarged, proportionably to the increase of our inhabitants: for to this the increase of the poor will always bear proportion: though less in ages of sobriety and diligence, and greater in ages of profusion and debauchery. Now, though nothing to be called an objection in the way of argument can be alleged against thus providing for poor sick people, in the properest, indeed the only way in which they can be provided for; yet persons of too severe tempers can, even upon this occasion, talk in a manner, which, contrary surely to their intention, has a very malignant influence upon the spirit of charity-talk of the ill-deserts of the poor, the good uses they might make of being left to suffer more than they do, under distresses which they bring upon themselves, or however might, by diligence and frugality, provide against; and the idle uses they may make of knowing beforehand, that they shall be relieved in case of those distresses. Indeed, there is such a thing as a prejudice against them, arising from their very state of poverty, which ought greatly to be guarded against; a kind of prejudice, to which perhaps most of us, upon some occasions, and in some degree, may inattentively be liable, but which pride and interest may easily work up to a settled hatred of them; the utter reverse of that amiable part of the character of Job, that "he was a father to the poor." But it is un doubtedly fit, that such of them as are good and industrious should have the satisfaction of knowing beforehand, that they shall be relieved under diseases and casualties: and those, it is most obvious, ought to be relieved preferably to others. But these others, who are not of that good character, might possibly have the apprehension of those calamities in so great a degree as would be very mischievous, and of no service, if they thought they must be left to perish under them. And though their idleness and extravagance are very inexcusable, and ought by all reasonable methods to be restrained; and they are highly to be blamed for not making some provision against age and supposable disasters, when it is in their power; yet it is not to be desired, that the anxieties of avarice should be added to the natural inconveniences of poverty. It is said, that our common fault towards the poor is not harshness, but too great lenity and indulgence. And if allowing them in debauchery, idleness, and open beggary; in drunkenness, profane cursing and swearing in our streets, nay, in our houses of correction; if this be lenity, there is doubtless a great deal too much of it. And such lenity towards the poor is very consistent with the most cruel neglects of them, in the extreme misery to which those vices reduce them. Now, though this last certainly is not our general fault, yet it cannot be said, every one is free from it. For this reason, and that nothing which has so much as the shadow of an objection against our public charities, may be entirely passed over, you will give me leave to consider a little the supposed case above mentioned, though possibly some may think it unnecessary, that of persons reduced to poverty and distress by their own faults. Instances of this there certainly are. But it ought to be very distinctly observed, that in judging which are such, we are liable to be mistaken; and more liable to it, in judging to what degree those are faulty, who really are so in some degree. However, we should always look with mildness upon the behaviour of the poor; and be sure not to expect * Job xxix. 16. |