drawn her last prop; thou hast taken away her child, the only stay she had to rest on.'-" And "Elijah cried unto God, and said, O Lord my God, "I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him "again."

The prayer was urgent, and bespoke the distress of a humane mind deeply suffering in the misfortunes of another; moreover, his heart was' rent with other passions. He was zealous for the name and honour of his God, and thought not only his omnipotence, but his glorious attribute of mercy, concerned in the event: for O! with what triumph would the prophets of Baal retort his own bitter taunt, and say, "his God was either talking, or he "was pursuing, or was in a journey; or, peradven"ture, he slept and should have been awaked!”— He was moreover involved in the success of his prayer himself:-honest minds are most hurt by scandal ;—and he was afraid lest so foul a one, so unworthy of his character, might arise among the heathen, who would report with pleasure, Lo!

the widow of Zarephath took the messenger of 'the God of Israel under her roof, and kindly entertained him, and see how she is rewarded! surely the prophet was ungrateful; he wanted power, or, what is worse, he wanted pity.'

Besides all this, he pleaded not only the cause of the widow, it was the cause of charity itself, which had received a deep wound already, and would suffer still more, should God deny it this testimony of his favour. "So the Lord hearkened unto the "voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came "into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took "the child, and brought him down out of the cham

"ber into the house, and delivered him unte his "mother; and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth."

It would be a pleasure to a good mind to stop here a moment, and figure to itself the picture of so joyful an event. To behold, on one hand, the raptures of the parent, overcome with surprise and gratitude, and imagine how a sudden stroke of such impetuous joy must operate on a despairing countenance, long accustomed to sadness!-To conceive, on the other side of the piece, the holy man approaching with the child in his arms,-full of honest triumph in his looks, but sweetened with all the kind sympathy which a gentle nature could overflow with upon so happy an event! It is a subject one might recommend to the pencil of a great genius, and would even afford matter for description here, but that it would lead us too far from the particular purpose for which I have enlarged upon thus much of the story already; the chief design of which is to illustrate, by a fact, what is evident both in reason and scripture, that a charitable and good action is seldom cast away; but that, even in this life, it is more than probable, that what is so scattered shall be gathered again with increase. "Cast "thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt find it "after many days. Be as a father unto the father"less, and instead of an husband' unto their mother, ❝so shalt thou be as a son of the Most High, and ❝he will love thee more than thy mother doth. Be "mindful of good turns, for thou knowest not what " evil shall come upon the earth; and when thou "fallest, thou shalt find a stay. It shall preserve thee "from all affliction, and fight for thee against thy "enemies better than a mighty shield and a strong " spear."

The great instability of temporal affairs, and constant fluctuation of every thing in this world, afford perpetual occasions of taking refuge in such a security.

What by successive misfortunes, by failings and cross accidents in trade, by miscarriage of projects: what by unsuitable expenses of parents, extravagances of children, and the many other secret ways whereby riches make themselves wings and fly away, so many surprising revolutions do every day happen in families, that it may not seem strange to say, that the posterity of some of the most liberal contributors here, in the changes which one century may produce, may possibly find shelter under this very plant which now they so kindly water. Nay, so quickly sometimes has the wheel turned round, that many a man may live to enjoy the benefit of that charity which his own piety projected.

But besides this, and exclusive of the right which God's promise gives to protection hereafter, charity and benevolence, in the ordinary chain of effects, have a natural and more immediate tendency in themselves to rescue a man from the accidents of the world, by softening the hearts, and winning every man's wishes to its interest. When a compassionate man falls, who would not, pity him? who, that had power to do it, would not befriend and raise him up? or, could the most barbarous temper offer an insult to his distress without pain and reluc tance? so that it is almost a wonder that covetousness, even in spite of itself, does not sometimes argue a man into charity, by its own principle of looking forwards, and the firm expectation it would delight in of receiving its own again with usury.--So

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evident is it, in the course of God's providence and the natural stream of things, that a good office, one time or other, generally meets with a reward. Generally, did I say?-how can it ever fail?-when, besides all this, so large a share of the recompense is so inseparable, even from the action itself. Ask the man who has a tear of tenderness always ready to shed over the unfortunate; who, withal, is ready to distribute and willing to communicate,-ask him, if the best things which wits have said of pleasure, have expressed what he has felt, when, by a seasonable kindness, he has "made the heart of the wid"ow sing for joy." Mark then the expressions of unutterable pleasure and harmony in his looks, and say, whether Solomon has not fixed the point of true enjoyment in the right place, when he declares,that he knew no good there was in any of the riches or honours of this world, but for a man to do good with them in his life. Nor was it without reason he had made this judgment.-Doubtless, he had found and seen the insufficiency of all sensual pleasures; how unable to furnish either a rational or a lasting scheme of happiness! how soon the best of them vanished! the less exceptionable in vanity, but the guilty both " in vanity and vexation "of spirit." But that this was of so pure and refined a nature, it burned without consuming: it was figuratively "the widow's barrel of meal, which "wasted not, and cruse of oil, which never fail"ed."

It is not an easy matter to add weight to the testimony of the wisest man, upon the pleasure of doing good; or else the evidence of the philosopher Epicurus is very remarkable,-whose word in this

matter is the more to be trusted, because a professed sensualist; who, amidst all the delicacies and improvements of pleasure which a luxuriant fancy might strike out, still maintained, that the best way of enlarging human happiness was, by a communication of it to others.

And if it is necessary here, or there was time to refine upon this doctrine, one might farther maintain, exclusive of the happiness which the mind itself feels in the exercise of this virtue, that the very body of man is never in a better state than when he is most inclined to do good offices :-that as nothing more contributes to health than a benevolence of temper, so nothing generally was a stronger indication of it.

And what seems to confirm this opinion is, an observation, the truth of which must be submitted to every one's reflection ;-namely, That a disinclination and backwardness to do good, is often attended, if not produced, by an indisposition of the animal as well as rational part of us :—so naturally do the soul and body, as in other cases so in this, mutually befriend or prey upon each other. And, indeed, setting aside all abstruser reasoning upon the point, I cannot conceive but that the very mechanical motions which maintain life, must be performed with more equal vigour and freedom in that man whom a great and good soul perpetually inclines to show mercy to the miserable, than they can be in a poor, sordid, selfish wretch, whose little contracted heart melts at no man's affliction,-but sits brooding so intently over its own plots and concerns, as to see and feel nothing'; and, in truth, enjoy nothing beyond himself and of whom one may say what that