fion for himself; for no Evil can approach him. Sin and Wickedness are attended with Guilt as well as Misery, and therefore also Objects of Justice and Punishment; and it may, perhaps, be a Cafe attended with Difficulties, when we attempt to reconcile the Operations of Juftice and Mercy, with Respect to the fame Subject. But if God be a God of Mercy, as undoubtedly he is, the Conclufion must stand, that Misery, viewed by the Eye of Reason, is an Object of Compaffion; and the Confequence must be, that, in the Reason of Things, Mercy is as extenfive as Mifery; and not to be confined, by any particular or partial Confiderations, to Mifery of one Kind, or of one Man more than another. If we confider ourselves, therefore, merely as reasonable Creatures, no Reason can be affigned for excluding any Object of Mifery from our Pity and Compaffion. But if we confider ourselves as Men, there is another and perhaps a more fenfible Inducement to the Practice of the Works of Mercy, and which upon Examination will be found, as far as our Power of doing good goes, of like general Influence. And this arises from reflecting, that there is no Mifery we fee, to which we are not our

felves liable. The Cafe therefore of the Miferable is a common Cafe, and in fome Senfe every Man's own. If we find ourselves better than others, fo as to avoid the Calamities which Sin and Iniquity bring upon many; or wifer than others, so as to shun the Evils which Folly and Indifcretion draw down upon Numbers; this is fo far from being a Reason why we should defpife or neglect their Sufferings, that it daily reminds us to afk of ourselves this Queftion, Who made thee to differ from another? And if we anfwer it as we should, it will furnifh us with another Reason for the Exercife of Charity, which will extend to all Men.

For, if all Men are the Sons of one common Father; if all Conditions of Life are the Appointment of one common Mafter; no Man can be reckoned a Stranger to us, who is Son of the fame Father, and Servant' of the fame Master; however he may, for Reasons unknown to us, be placed in a lower Condition of Life, and called to serve in a meaner Station, endowed with less and fewer Abilities.

Carry these Confiderations with you into the World, and view the Wants and Neceffities of the Poor; liften to the Cries of

Widows and Orphans, to the Moans and Complaints of those who fuffer under the Torments of Body or of Mind: take into your View the Follies and the Weakneffes of Men, who are perpetually struggling with the Inconveniences, which a little Prudence might have prevented, but which require a great Deal of Care and Sorrow either to cure, or to bear them; and think a little, what Reason, what the Senfe of your own Infirmities, what the Regard due to the common Father and Mafter of all, require at your Hands. One duly attentive to these Reasons, could never fall into the little Confiderations, whether this miferable Man was his Countryman or Townfman, whether the other was of the fame Party or Opinion with himfelf; for the great and true Reasons on which Mercy and Charity are founded, exclude all fuch little Respects and Relations.

As the Cafe ftands thus upon the Foot of Reason, and the natural Sentiments of Men, fo likewise have the Precepts of the Gospel bound thefe Duties upon us in the fame Extent.

Honour, Efteem, and Reverence, are due to those who deferve Honour, Efteem, and Reverence;

Reverence; but Love is a Debt due to all Men, and is a Debt never to be fully paid and exhaufted. Therefore St. Paul commands, that we render to every Man his Due, Fear to whom Fear, Honour to whom Honour is due but when he comes to speak of Love, he varies his Style, and confiders us in this Respect as Debtor to every Man : owe no Man any Thing, but to love one another. As if he had faid, all other Debts due to particular Perfons, you must take Care to discharge; but Love is due to all, and you must never think of paying or clearing the Debt of Love to each other; for that is a Debt which will be owing as long as you live; it is a perpetual Duty, and can never have an End. In the fame Manner are the Precepts of Love and Mercy enjoined by our bleffed Saviour in general Terms, not confining them to particular Objects, but leaving them at large, and open, to be applied to all Men: Blessed, fays he, are the Merciful, for they shall obtain Mercy. Had this been a Duty owing to any Perfons, as they stand particularly related to us, our Lord would not have left this material Duty imperfect, by neglecting to fpecify the proper Objects of it; but having directed our

Love and Mercy to no Men in particular, we must conclude that all in general are the Objects of it.

If we confider thefe Laws as derived from the Author of Nature, and of the Gospel, we shall find that they proceeded from a Love as univerfal as that which they enjoin; the general Good of Mankind is the End provided for in thefe Laws. The Miseries and Calamities of Life are many, and not to be avoided; and perhaps wife Men, though they complain leaft, feel them moft. It is a melancholy Thing to reflect how much of this Mifery is of our own making, and what a great Abatement might be made in the Sorrows of Life, if every Man would but lend his Hand to make himself and the reft of the World happy. The unkind Offices we daily receive from Malice, Illnature, and Revenge, from Envy, and caufelefs Refentments, make a much greater Figure in the Calamities of Life, than all the Evils which the Providence of God and the Condition of human Life bring on us. And even the Calamities which cannot be avoided, might be mitigated by the kind Offices of our Brethren. And therefore to oblige Men to Charity and Mercy, is to unite them

in