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equal title to our love. Charity, if we should endeavour to carry it fo far, would be rendered an impracticable virtue; and would refolve itfelf into mere words, without affecting the heart. True charity attempts not to fhut our eyes, to the diftinction between good and bad men; nor to warm our hearts equally to thofe who befriend, and those who injure us. It reserves our esteem for good men, and our complacency, for our friends. Towards our enemies it infpires forgivenefs, humanity, and a folicitude for their welfare. It breathes universal candour, and liberality of fentiment. It forms gentleness of temper, and dictates affability of manners. It prompts correfponding fympathies with them who rejoice, and them who weep. It teaches us to flight and defpife no man. Charity is the comforter of the afflicted, the protector of the oppreffed, the reconciler of differences, the interceffor for offenders. It is faithfulnefs in the friend, public fpirit in the magiftrate, equity and patience in the judge, moderation in the fovereign, and loyalty in the fubject. In parents, it is care and attention; in children, it is reverence and fubmiffion. In a word, it is the foul of focial life. It is the fun that enlivens and cheers the abodes of men. It is "like the dew of Hermon," fays the Pfalmift, "and the dew that defcendeth on the mountains of Zion, where the Lord commanded the bleffing, even life for evermore."

BLAIR

SECTION VIII.

Profperity is redoubled to a good Man.

NONE but the temperate, the regular, and the virtuous, know how to enjoy profperity. They bring to its comforts the manly relish of a found uncorrupted mind. They ftop at the proper point, before enjoyment degenerates into difguft, and pleasure is converted into pain. They are ftrangers to thofe complaints which flow from fpleen, caprice, and all the fantastical diftreffes of a vitiated mind. While riotous indulgence enervates both the body and the mind; purity and virtue heighten all the powers of human fruition.

Feeble are all pleasures in which the heart has no fhare, The selfish gratifications of the bad, are both narrow in their circle, and fhort in their duration. But profperity is redoubled to a good man, by his generous ufe of it. It is reflected back upon him from every one whom he makes happy. In the intercourfe of domestic affection, in the attachment of friends, the gratitude of dependents, the efteem and good-will of all who know him, he fees bleffings multiplied round him, on every fide.

"When the ear heard me, then it bleffed me; and when the eye faw me, it gave witnefs to me: Because I delivered the poor that cried, the fatherlefs, and him that had none to help him. The bleffing of him that was ready to perifh came upon me, and I caufed the widow's heart to fing with joy. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame: I was a father to the

poor; and the cause which I knew not, I fearched out."-Thus, while the righteous man flourishes like a tree planted by the rivers of water, he brings forth alfo his fruit in its feafon : And that fruit, he brings forth, not for himself alone. He flourishes, not like a tree in fome folitary defert, which fcatters its bloffoms to the wind, and communicates neither fruit nor fhade to any living thing: but like a tree in the midst of an inhabited country, which to fome affords friendly fhelter, to others, fruit; which is not only admired by all for its beauty; but bleffed by the traveller for the fhade, and by the hungry for the fuftenance it hath given.

BLAIR.

SECTION IX.

On the Beauties of the Pfalms.

GREATNESS confers no exemption from the cares and forrows of life: its fhare of them frequently bears a melancholy proportion to its exalt-' ation. This the monarch of Ifrael experienced. He fought in piety, that peace which he could not find in empire; and alleviated the difquietudes of state, with the exercises of devotion. His invaluable Pfalms convey thofe comforts to others, which they afforded to himself. Composed upon particular occafions, yet defigned for general ufe; delivered out as fervices for Ifraelites under the Law, yet no less adapted to the circumftances of Chrif tians under the Gofpel; they prefent religion to us in the most engaging drefs; communicating truths which philofophy could never investigate, in a style

which poetry can never equal; while hiftory is made the vehicle of prophecy, and creation lends all its charms to paint the glories of redemption. Calculated alike to profit and to please, they inform the understanding, elevate the affections, and entertain the imagination. Indited under the influence of HIM, to whom all hearts are known, and all events foreknown, they fuit mankind in alt fituations; grateful as the manna which defcended from above, and conformed itself to every palate.

The fairest productions of human wit, after a few perufals, like gathered flowers, wither in our hands, and lofe their fragrancy: but thefe unfading plants of paradife become, as we are accuftomed to them, ftill more and more beautiful; their bloom appears to be daily heightened; frefh odours are emitted, and new fweets extracted from them. He who hath once tasted their excellencies, will defire to tafte them again; and he who tastes them ofteneft, will relish them best.

And now, could the Author flatter himfelf, that any one would take half the pleasure in reading his work, which he has taken in writing it, he would not fear the lofs of his labour. The employment detached him from the buftle and hurry of life, the din of politics, and the noise of folly. Vanity and vexation flew away for a feafon ; care and difquietude came not near his dwelling. He arofe, fresh as the morning, to his task; the filence of the night invited him to pur fue it; and he can truly fay, that food and reft were not preferred before it. Every pfalm improved infinitely upon his acquaintance with it, and no one gave him uncafinefs but the laft: for then he grieved that his

work was done. Happier hours than those which have been spent in these meditations on the fongs of Sion, he never expects to fee in this world. Very pleasantly did they pafs; they moved fmoothly and swiftly along; for, when thus engaged, he counted no time. They are gone, but they have left a relish and a fragrance upon the mind; and the remembrance of them is fweet.

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SECTION X.

HORNE

Character of Alfred, King of England.

THE merit of this prince, both in private and public life, may, with advantage, be fet in oppofition to that of any monarch or citizen, which the annals of any age, or any nation, can present to

us.

He feems, indeed, to be the complete model of that perfect character, which under the denomination of a fage or wife man, the philofophers have been fond of delineating, rather as a fiction of their imagination, than in hopes of ever seeing it reduced to practice: fo happily were all his virtempered together; fo juftly were they blended; and fo powerfully did each prevent the other from exceeding its proper bounds.

tues

He knew how to conciliate the most enterprising fpirit with the coolest moderation; the most obstinate perfeverance, with the easiest flexibility; the moft fevere juftice, with the greatest lenity; the greatest rigour in command, with the greatest af

fability

of deportment; the highest capacity and

inclination for fcience, with the moft fhining talents

for action.