will draw from them some little aid; but, as soon as the urgency of this necessity has passed, they discontinue their benevolence. Then the arid earth, the surface of which they had scarcely watered, is immediately dried up and parched. Generous benefactors who are not satisfied till you have perfectly finished your benevolent designs; you alone act like the Samaritan!

Jesus, having finished the parable, inquires of the teacher of the law, "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise."

From this parable, and the direction with which the Saviour concludes it, we are taught two important lessons:

I. That all men, without exception, are our neighbours, and, as such, have a claim to our love.

II. That all who are in need should experience from us a charity similar to that of the Samaritan. The first of these points we shall now omit, and request your attention only to the second.

The miserable and unhappy ought to feel the effects of our charity. Go, says the Saviour, and do likewise; that is, take for your model the charitable conduct of the Samaritan, and let no prejudice or inconvenience prevent you from succouring and relieving the unhappy. To render this truth more distinct, it will be proper for us to attend to these two points:

I. For what reason must we do good to the miserable? And,

II. In what manner must we perform this duty?

.

1. In the world we see many benefits conferred; but if we examine the different motives from which they spring, we shall find few that arise from Christian charity. Some of these motives are vicious; others, though good in themselves, are insufficient.

To give through ostentation, and in order to appear generous and beneficent, is to perform an action which cannot be good, because it proceeds from an evil principle. The most beautiful appearances of compassion are of no avail, if they spring from pride. Men may be dazzled by them, but God cannot be deceived. The action of the Samaritan is of a different kind. He expected no eulogium; he thought not of increasing his reputation by what he did; God alone was the witness of it; and this action would never have come to the knowledge of men, if Jesus had not revealed it. Happy they, whose good deeds are apparently buried in oblivion: the Supreme Judge will at last draw them from this oblivion in the presence of the universe.

Sometimes persons give through interested motives. They see a man in misery, but they know also that he has resources which will enable him to rise above this misery; they therefore bestow something upon him, with the hope of being hereafter abundantly recompensed. Such persons do not imitate the Samaritan: he delivers from death a man from whom he could expect nothing; and no sooner sees him in safety, than he continues his course, without making himself known.

There are motives more noble, I mean those of blood and friendship, which yet are insufficient to constitute Christian charity. For those who possess our affections, we will make great sacrifices; we will use every exertion to succour them in dis

tress, and relieve them in affliction.

But laudable

as is such conduct, something more is necessary, if we would act like the Samaritan. He is not impelled by the ties of blood; he does good to a Jew, to one with whom his nation never would contract any alliance whence consanguinity could result. It is not friendship which incites him: on the contrary, he sees before him a mortal enemy, one who detests him and his people. Nobody would have been surprised, if, like the priest and the levite, he had continued his course; and (what would have weighed strongly with many men,) nobody would have known it. Undeceive yourselves then, all those of you who applaud yourselves inwardly for having relieved this or that unhappy person; if you discover in your heart only some of the motives that I have mentioned, your charity is very far from equalling that of the Samaritan.

But what then were his principles

and motives? How must we act to "do likewise?" When you perform acts of charity, you must do them from a love to God, and a love to your neighbour. These are the two great foundations upon which our benevolent deeds must be supported, if we wish them to be acceptable to God.

A love to God ought to guide and determine us in the assistance which we afford to the miserable. He has most clearly declared, that he is pleased in seeing creatures reciprocally aiding each other: and to what higher happiness can a creature aspire, than to please this Supreme Being? To do good to others is to be in our measure on earth, the image of that merciful Creator and Benefactor of men, who continually showers down his blessings upon us. How glorious a conformity! Is there any thing which we shall not sacrifice to attain to it? Is there

any thing more worthy of the cares and solicitude of man, than to resemble God in one of his principal and most endearing attributes? Besides, is it not the property of God that we distribute? Does it belong to us by any other title than that of stewards? And is it not confided to us that we may distribute part of it to the indigent and afflicted? Do we make too great a sacrifice to God when we give for his sake what properly does not belong to us? And is it not the richest grace in him, that he condescends to accept this sacrifice when we make it with cheerfulness, and from a principle of love to him? Oh, how powerful is this motive of love to God! If our hearts were thoroughly penetrated by it, so many objects of charity would not in vain solicit our aid.

Another foundation of Christian charity, another motive to gospel benevolence, is the love of our neighbour. But if it be our duty to love them, we cannot refuse to them the assistance which they need. Works of beneficence and charity are not arbitrary; they are debts which we pay. Learn this, you who boast to the unhappy of the services which you render to them. Know, that you do but your duty; a duty that the Saviour recalls to you in those forcible words, "Go and do likewise;" a duty that is taught us by every thing that surrounds us; by the need which we have of the constant grace and benediction of God, of the succour and assistance of other men. Nature, reason, religion, every thing 'concurs. to show that misery has a lawful claim upon us. I know that it does not become the wretched to urge this claim, since God calls them to patience and humility. But still their condition speaks for them, and threatens with a condemnation without mercy those who show no mercy to them. To be true imi

lators of the Samaritan, then, we must act from love to God and love to our neighbour.

2. There still remain to be considered the principal rules of beneficence, and the manner of exercising it.

We can grant to the wretched three principal kinds of aid: assisting them with our counsels, with our property, and with our personal services. I shall consider only the two last, because the conduct of the Samaritan furnishes us with a model of them. To relieve the Jew, he exposes himself, by stopping in a dangerous place; with his own hands he stanches his blood, binds up his wounds, and. places him upon his beast. These are personal succours. He gives money for his support, and promises more if necessary. These are pecuniary suc

cours.

To follow the precept of Jesus Christ, and the example of this charitable traveller, we should be always ready to bestow part of our wealth on the unhappy. In making these gifts, we should use promptitude and gentleness. To give promptly, highly increases the value of the gift. There are extremities so great, that if we delay our aid, it comes too late. If the Samaritan had paused to consider the Jew weltering in his blood, if he had hesitated some time whether to approach him, he would probably have found him without motion or life. In similar cases, we are responsible for the accidents caused by our delay, and all our subsequent efforts to repair them are vain. Besides, by giving promptly, we save the wretched from one, of the greatest pains of their situation, that of pressing, urging, and soliciting. How pleasant is it to them. to see their desires anticipated, or to feel the effects