of conduct, which are denominated virtuous. It may not, indeed, comprehend all the aspects, under which man is regarded by us, as worthy of our moral approbation, but it comprehends by far the greater number of them,-his relations to his fellow-men, and to all the creatures that live around him,—though not the moral relations which bind him to the Greatest of all beings, nor those which are directly worthy of our approbation, as confined to the perfection of his own internal character.

That benevolence, the moral link which connects man with man, is, in itself virtuous, may, indeed, appear to some very rigid questioners of every feeling, to require proof; but it can appear to require it, only to those who deny altogether the very moral distinction of virtue and vice, in that general scepticism, which has been already fully considered by us. Of those who allow virtue to be more than a name, there is no one who will refuse to benevolent exertions, the praise of this excellence,-no one who can read the history of any of those heroes of the moral scene, whose life has been one continued deed of generosity to mankind,-without feeling, that, if there be virtue on earth, there has been virtue in that bosom, which has suffered much, or dared much, that the world might be free from any of the ills which disgraced it, The strong lines, with which the author of the Botanic Garden concludes his praise of one of the most illustrious of these heroes of benevolence, scarcely express more, than we truly feel on the contemplation of such a character. It does seem, as if man, when he acts as man should act, is a being of some higher order, than the frail erring creatures among whom we ourselves pass a life, that, with all its occasional acts of generosity and self-command, is still, like theirs, a life of frailty and error:

And now, Philanthropy! thy rays divine

Dart round the globe, frem Zembla to the Line;
O'er each dark prison plays the cheering light
Like northern lustres, o'er the vault of night.

From realm to realm, with cross or crescent crown'd,
Where'er Mankind and Misery are found,

O'er burning sands, deep waves, or wilds of snow,
Thy Howard, journeying, seeks the house of wo.
Down many a winding step to dungeons dank,
Where anguish wails aloud, and fetters clank,
To caves bestrew'd with many a mouldering bone,

And cells, whose echoes only learn to groan;
Where no kind bars a whispering friend disclose,
No sunbeam enters, and no zephyr blows,
He treads, inemulous of fame or wealth,
Profuse of toil, and prodigal of health,
With soft assuasive eloquence expands
Power's rigid heart, and opes his clenching hands ;
Leads stern-eyed Justice to the dark domains,
If not to sever, to relax the chains;

Or guides awakened Mercy thro' the gloom,
And shows the prison, sister to the tomb;
Gives to her babes the self-devoted wife,
To her fond husband liberty and life.

The spirits of the good, who bend from high
Wide o'er these earthly scenes their partial eye,
When first, array'd in Virtue's purest robe,
They saw her Howard traversing the globe ;
Mistook a mortal for an Angel-Guest,

And ask'd, what Seraph foot the earth imprest.
-Onward he moves. Disease and Death retire,-
And murmuring Demons hate him and admire.*

The benevolent spirit, as its object is the happiness of all who are capable of feeling happiness, is as universal in its efforts, as the miseries which are capable of being relieved, or the enjoyments which it is possible to extend to a single human being, within the reach of its efforts, or almost of its wishes. When we speak of benefactions, indeed, we think only of one species of good action; and charity itself, so comprehensive in its etymological meaning, is used as if it were nearly synonymous with the mere opening of the purse. But "it is not money only which the unfortunate need, and they are but sluggards in well-doing," as Rousseau strikingly expresses the character of this indolent benevolence, "who know to do good only when they have a purse in their hand." Consolations, counsels, cares, friendship, protection, are so many resources which pity leaves us for the assistance of the indigent, even though wealth should be wanting. The oppressed often continue to be oppressed, merely because they are without an organ to render their complaints known, to those who have the power of succour. It requires sometimes but a word which

Bot. Gar. Canto II. v. 439-472.

they cannot say; a reason which they know not how to state,-the opening of a single door of a great man, through which they are not permitted to pass, to obtain for them all of which they are in need. The intrepid support of a disinterested virtue is, in such cases, able to remove an infinity of obstacles: and the eloquence of a single good man, in the cause of the injured, can appal tyranny itself in the midst of its power.

It

If, indeed, there be in the heart those genuine wishes of diffusive good, which are never long absent from the heart of the virtuous, there will not long be wanting occasions of exertion. will not be easy for an eye, that has been accustomed to the search of objects of generous regard, to look around without the discovery of something which may be remedied, or something which may be improved; and in relieving some misery, or producing or spreading some happiness, the good man will already have effected his delightful purpose, before others would even have imagined that there was any good to be done.

It would be a waste of time, to attempt to examine, with any minuteness of analysis, the various ways in which benevolence may be usefully exerted. In considering the species of injury, that give rise to our duties of a negative order, I have, in some measure considered our positive duties also; since, to abstain from injuring, and to wish to promote the good which we have thus forborne to lessen, are, in spirit, results of the same species of benevolent regard, and of the same moral principle, that commands us to further the happiness, which it would be vice, by any conduct of ours, to diminish.

To pass slightly over these objects of social regard, then, in the order in which they were before considered-the benevolent man will be eager to relieve every form of personal suffering. Public institutions arise, by his zeal, for receiving the sick, who have no home, or a home which it is almost sickness to inhabit, and for restoring them in health, to those active employments of which they would otherwise have been incapable. In the humblest ranks of life, when no other aid can be given by the generous poor, than that which their attendance and sympathy administer, this aid they never hesitate to afford. When their own toils of the day are over, they often give the hours of a night, that is to terminate in a renewed call to their fatiguing occupations,-not to

the repose, which their exhausted strength might seem to demand, -but to a watchful anxiety around the bed of some feverish sufferer, who is scarcely sufficiently conscious of what is around him, to thank them for their care, and whose look of squalid wretchedness, seems to be only death begun, and the infection of death, to all who gaze upon it. The same benevolence, which prompts to the succour of the infirm, prompts to the succour also of the indigent. Though charity is not mere pecuniary aid, pecuniary aid, when such aid is needed, is still one of the most useful, because one of the most extensive, in its application, of all the services of charity. Nor is it valuable, only for the temporary relief which it affords to sufferings, that could not otherwise be relieved. It has a higher and more comprehensive office. It brings together, those whose union seems necessary for general happiness, and almost for explaining the purposes of Heaven, in the present system of things. There are everywhere the rich, who have means of comfort, which they know not how to enjoy, and scarcely how to waste; and every where some, who are poor without guilt on their part, or at least rather guilty because they are poor, than poor because they are guilty. All which seems necessary for the comfort of both, is, that they should be brought together. nevolence effects this union. It carries the rich to the cottage, or to the very hovels of the poor ;-it allows the poor admission into the palaces of the rich-and both become richer in the only true sense of the word, because to both there is an accession of happiThe wealthy obtain the pleasure of doing good, and of knowing that there are hearts which bless them—the indigent obtain the relief of urgent necessities, and the pleasure of loving a generous benefactor.

ness.

Such are the delightful influences of positive benevolence, in their relation to the personal sufferings, and to the pecuniary wants of those, who, if they have no property to be assailed by injustice, have at least necessities, the disregard of which is equal in moral delinquency, to injustice itself. In its relation to the affections of those around, who are connected with each other by vari ous ties of regard, benevolence is not less powerful, as a producer, or fosterer of good. Wherever there are causes of future jealousy, among those who love each other at present, it delights in dispelling the elements of the cloud, when the cloud itself, that

has not yet begun to darken, scarcely can be said to have arisen. If suspicions have already gathered in the breast of any one, who thinks, but thinks falsely, that he has been injured; it is quick, with all the ready logic of kindness, to show that the suspicions are without a cause.-If it find not suspicion only, but dissension that has burst out, in all the violence of mutual acrimony, it appears in its divine character of a peacemaker, and, almost by the influence of its mere presence, the hatred disappears and the love returns—as if it were as little possible, that discord should continue where it is, as that the mists and gloom of night should not disappear, at the mere presence of that sun which shines upon them.

The virtuous man," it has been beautifully said, "proceeds without constraint in the path of his duty. His steps are free; his gait is easy; he has the graces of virtue. He moves along in benevolence, and he sees arising in others, the benevolence which is in him. Of all our virtuous emotions, those of kind regard are the most readily imitated. To feel them is to inspire them; to see them is to partake them. Are they in your heart?—they are in your looks, in your manners, in your discourse. Your presence reconciles enemies; and hatred, which cannot penetrate to your heart, cannot even dwell around you.'

If benevolence is eager to preserve the affection of those who love each other, it cannot fail to be careful of their character, on which so much of affection depends. The whispers of insidious slanders may come to it as they pass,-with a secrecy, which has nothing in it of real secrecy, but mere lowness of tone,-from voice to voice in eager publication; but if there be no other voice to bear them farther, they will cease and perish, when it is benevolence which has heard. It is not, indeed, that senseless and indifferent praiser of all actions, which cannot be said to applaud any thing, when it does not know what it is right to condemn. Benevolence itself can despise, can hate, can raise a voice of terrible indignation, when cruelty has been inflicting bodily tortures, or oppression torturing the soul. It is love, however, which is the principle of its very hatred. It hates the oppressors of those whom it loves, and it hates oppression everywhere, because it loves all human-kind.