cient Divinity. They fupply the Place of an extraordinary Providence: They are inftead of God to their indigent Brethren; and, if they take Care to give every one his Portion of Meat in due Seafon, their Reward fhall be commenfurate to their Talents. And fo we proceed to the Confideration,

II. Of fome of the Methods and Measures of performing this Duty. When thou doft thine Alms, fays our Bleffed Lord, do not found a Trumpet before thee, as the Hypocrites do, in the Synagogues and in the Streets, that they may have Glory of Men; but, when thou doft Alms, let not thy Left-Hand know what thy Right-Hand doth, that thine Alms may be in fecret. And, indeed, he that relieves the Neceffities of others out of a virtuous Principle, out of Gratitude to God and a tender Compassion for human Nature in Distress, as he will efteem the divine Approbation more than all the Applaufes of Men, fo will he be very tender of making his Bounty a Reproach, or expofing the Poverty he relieves, by divulging his Charity; and will therefore give it Jecretly and privately. He will confider, that, as God has made him a Steward and Dispenser of his Bounty to the Poor, after his own Conveniencies, and thofe that depend on him are ferved, the Remainder belongs to them; and, in ftating this Account, he will not extend his Conveniencies beyond their juft Dimensions, but abate what he decently can of his fuperfluous Expences, and of that needlefs Pomp and Ceremony, which his Station and Character require not, and will thereupon give liberally and bountifully. He will be thankful to God for the kind Diftinction of his Providence, for having made his Cup to overflow, and given him Lands which he laboured not, and Vine-yards and Olive-yards, which be planted not, whilft others remain in Poverty and Want. He fees their Wants prefs them hard, and that, the longer he delays their Relief, the longer

longer he continues their Griefs and Miseries upon them, and therefore he gives readily and chearfully. He confiders his own Mortality, and the Uncertainty of human Affairs, whereby he may be deprived of the Opportunity of doing the Good he defigns; and, being not fo well fatisfied that postbumous Deeds of this Kind will please the living God, he watches all Occafions, fuch as Times of Sickness, Scarcenefs of Work, Dearness of Provision, &c. when Mens Wants and Neceffities call loudeft for Relief; and thus he gives timely and feafonably. And, laftly, because the Number of miferable People is too great for one to relieve, he confiders where the greatest Neceffities and the greatest Obligations are; and, confequently, gives the Preference to Chriftians before Heathens; to thofe of his own before thofe of a different Family and Communion; to good Men rather than to the Wicked; to thofe whom Sickness, real Misfortunes, or Oppreffion hath made Objects of Charity, rather than to those whom Idlenefs and Luxury hath reduced to Mifery and Want.

These are the Conditions that make the Sacrifice of Alms both grateful to the Receiver and acceptable to God. But, befides the Duty of Almfgiving, there are feveral others, fuch as affifting the Oppreffed, releafing the Infolvent, and lending freely, and without Ufury, upon fome Occafions, that are included in our Mercy to the Poor, and are very proper and fignificant Expreffions of it. Our affifting the Oppreffed is enjoined by Solomon, in thefe Words: If thou forbear to deliver them who are drawn unto Death, and thofe that are ready to be Alain; and fo of any other Injury or Oppression occafioned by the Violence of lawlefs Men, if thou feyeft, behold we know it not, excufing an uncompaffionate Careleffnefs by a pretended Ignorance,

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doth not be that pondereth the Heart confider it? And be that keepeth thy Soul, doth not be know it? And fball not be render to every Man according to his Works? Our releafing the Infolvent from their Debt or Confinement, is what our Bleffed Saviour has fufficiently intimated in the Parable of the unmerciful Servant, who, when his Lord had frankly remitted him a Debt, which he was by no Means capable of paying, laid hold on his poor FellowServant for a trifling Sum; and, notwithstanding his Submiffions and Intreaties, hurried him to Prifon, for which he is reproached by his Lord; O thou wicked Servant, I forgave thee all that Debt, because thou defiredst me; shouldst thou not also have bad Compaffion on thy Fellow-Servant, even as I had Pity on thee? Our lending freely, and without Ufury, is an Injunction likewife of our Saviour's; for, love your Enemies, fays he, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your Reward fall be great. But, becaufe fome Difputes have rifen among Divines, concerning the Matter of Ufury, it may not be amifs, in this Place, to determine the Point, and fettle its proper Limitations.

That the Jews were forbidden to lend to the Poor upon Ufury is manifest from this one Passage, among many others; If thy Brother be waxen poor, and fallen to decay with thee, take no Ufury of him, nor Increafe; but fear God, that thy Brother may live well with thee. Nay, that the fame Prohibition was extended to the Rich, as well as the Poor, so long as they were Ifraelites, is evident from that remarkable Paffage in Deuteronomy: Thou shalt not lend upon Ufury to thy Brother; Ufury of Money, Ufury of Victuals, Ufury of any Thing that is lent upon Ufury. Unto a Stranger thou mayeft lend upon Ufury, but unto thy Brother thou shalt not lend upon Ufury, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou fetteft thine Hand unto. We may obferve, howe

ver,

ver, that there can be no moral and intrinfick Evil in Ufury, because God allows them to require it of Strangers, though they were not to do it in any. immoderate or exceffive Manner, in which Sense we may understand that Prohibition fo frequently repeated, Thou shalt not vex a Stranger, nor oppress him; for ye were Strangers in the Land of Egypt.

Now, the true Reafon why the Jews were permitted to take Ufury of Strangers, and not of their Brethren, is this, that their Heathen Neighbours, as is plain of Tyre and Zidon, were Merchants, that improved their Money by Trade, and therefore it was fit that they should pay a moderate Interest for it; but the Jews, maintaining no foreign Commerce with other Nations, had no Occasion to borrow Money but to fupply their present Wants and to take Advantage of the Neceffities of the Poor, to increase their own Fortunes by increafing their Neighbour's Poverty, was against all the Laws of Goodness and Charity; and therefore this Ufury, which was the only Ufury known in those Days, is ftrictly forbidden. All other Kinds of

Ufury are introduced by Trade and Commerce : And though it is against Charity to lend upon Ufury to Men, who borrow to fupply their Wants, yet, if Men borrow to increase their Trade and Fortunes, there is Juftice and Equity in it, that the Lender fhould make some Increase of his Money, as well as the Borrower: And, accordingly, our Blessed Saviour, in the Anfwer he gives to the Servant, who hid his Talent in a Napkin, feems to justify this Procedure: Thou oughteft to have put my Money to the Exchangers, and then, at my Coming, I fhould have received mine own with Ufury.

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The Sum of our Enquiry is this, though Ufury is exprefsly prohibited under the Jewish Law, and comes fometimes in Company with many grofs Enormities; yet having no moral

Turpitude in it, and being not forbidden by the Gospel, being accounted expedient in Matters of Trade, and to many, that have no other Way of fubfifting, abfolutely necessary (whatever the Jews, who had no Opportunities of Trafficking with Money, might be required to do) in Countries, whose whole Wealth and Support depend upon Commerce, and the Produce of their Money, it can never justly be deemed an Iniquity to make a moderate Gain thereby, provided always, that fuch as are in Poverty and Neceffity be not concerned. To these we must lend without Ufury, nay, to these we must lend, hoping for nothing again: The plain Sense of which Precept is this, that where a Perfon, under the Preffure of great Neceffity, fhall come to us, and defire to borrow fuch a Sum of Money, as his preffing Circumftances require, provided we can spare it, and, if the Providence of. God render the Perfon unable to repay us, we can difpenfe with the Lofs of it, we ought not to refuse fuch a reasonable Charity as this, or be afraid of lending, because we run probably a Hazard of never being paid again; but, on the contrary, fhould freely and chearfully fupply him, with a Refolution to lose it, if God never enables him to repay us. This is the Duty; and we come now,

III. To fome of the Motives and Encouragements to it. And, to this Purpose, let it be confidered, that, of all the good Things we do, there is none that gives that true Comfort and Delectation to the Mind, as a reasonable Refreshment to the Wretched and Neceffitous. For, when I fee a Man struggling with Want, and groaning under a heavy Burthen of Poverty, if I relieve him, I ease and refresh my own yearning Bowels; and the human Nature within me, which is common to us both, by a Kind of Sympathetick Motion, exalts and raises up itself, and fwells with a gene

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