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From general good will to all, it extends its influence particularly to thofe with whom we stand in neareft connection, and who are directly within the sphere of our good offices. From the country or community to which we belong, it defcends to the fmaller affociations of neighbourhood, relations, and friends; and fpreads itself over the whole circle of focial and domeftic life.

I mean not that it imports a promifcuous undiftinguishing affection, which gives every man an equal title to our love. Charity, if we fhould endeavour to carry it fo far, would be rendered an impracticable virtue; and would refolve itself 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 those who befriend, and those who injure us. It referves our esteem for good men, and our complacency for our friends. Towards our enemies it infpires forgiveness, humanity, and a folicitude for their welfare. It breathes univerfal candour, and liberality of fentiment. It forms. gentlenefs 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 faithfulness 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 social 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 commandeth the bleffing, even life for evermore."

SECTION VIII.

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PROSPERITY IS REDOUBLED TO A GOOD MAN

BLAIR.

NONE but the temperate, the regular, and the virtuous, know how to enjoy profperity. They bring to its comforts. the manly relifh of a found uncorrupted mind. They ftop at the proper point, before enjoyment degenerates into difguft, and pleafure is converted into pain. They are

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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 felfith 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 intercourse of domestic affection, in the attachment of friends, the gratitude of dependents, the esteem and good will of all who know him, he fees bleffings multiplied round him, on every fide. "When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye faw me, it gave witness 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 perish 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 himfelf alone. He flourishes, not like a tree in fome folitary defert, which scatters 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 shelter, 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 suftenance it hath given. t BLAIR.

SECTION IX.

ON THE BEAUTIES OF THE PSALMS.

GREATNESS Confers no exemption from the cares and forrows of life, its fhare of them frequently bears a melancholy proportion to its exaltation. This the monarch of Ifrael experienced. He fought in piety, that peace which he could not find in empire; and alleviated the dif quietudes of ftate, with the exercises of devotion. His valuable Pfalms convey thofe comforts to others, which

they afforded to himself. Compofed upon particular occafions, yet defigned for general ufe; delivered out as fervices for Ifraelites under the Law, yet no lefs adapted to the circumstances of Chriftians under the Gospel; they prefent religion to us in the most engaging drefs; communicating truths which philofophy could never investigate, in a ftyle which poetry can never equal; while hif tory is made the vehicle of prophecy, and creation lends all its charms to paint the glories of redemption. CalcuJated alike to profit and to pleafe, 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 all 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 accustomed to them, ftill more and more beautiful; their bloom appears to be daily heightened; fresh odours are emitted, and new sweets extracted from them. He who has once tafted their excellences, will defire to taste them again; and he who tastes them ofteneft, will relish them best.

And now, could the author flatter himself, 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 tafk; the filence of the night invited him to purfue 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 uneafinefs but the laft: for then he grieved that his work was done, Happier hours than those which have been spent in thefe meditations on the fongs of Sion, he never expects to fee in this world. Very pleafantly did. they pafs; they moved frothy and fwiftly along for when thus engaged, he counted no time. They are gone, but they have left a relifh and a f the mind; and the remembrance of them is fweet.

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SECTION X.

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 prefent 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 feeing it reduced. to practice: fo happily were all his virtues tempered together; fo juftly were they blended; and fo powerfully did each prevent the other from exceeding its proper bounds.

He knew how to conciliate the most enterprising spirit with the coolest moderation; the most obftinate perfeverance, with the eafieft flexibility; the most fevere justice, with the greatest lenity; the greatest rigour in command, with the greatest affability of deportment; the highest capacity and inclination for fcience, with the most shining talents for action..

Nature alfo, as if defirous that fo bright a production of her skill should be fet in the fairest light, had bestowed on him all bodily accomplishments; vigour of limbs, dignity of shape and air, and a pleafant, engaging, and open countenance. By living in that barbarous age, he was deprived of hiftorians worthy to tranfmit his fame to pofterity; and we wish to fee him delineated in more lively colours, and with more particular strokes, that we might at leaft perceive fome of thofe fmall fpecks and blemishes, from which, as a man, it is impoffible he could be entirely exempted.

HUME.

SECTION XI.

CHARACTER OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.

THERE are few perfonages in hiftory, who have been more expofed to the (calumny) of enemies, and the adulation of friends, than Queen Elizabeth; and yet there fcarcely is any, whofe reputation has been more certainly determined by the unanimous consent of posterity. The unusual length of her administration, and the frong fea

tures of her character, were able to overcome all prejudi ces; and, obliging her detractors to abate much of their invectives, and her admirers fomewhat of their panegy. rics, have, at lat, in fpite of political factions, and what is more, of religious animofities, produced a uniform judg ment with regard to her conduct. Her vigour, her con ftancy, her magnanimity, her penetration, vigilance, and addrefs, are allowed to merit the highest praises; and appear not to have been furpaffed by any perfon who ever filled a throne: a conduct lefs rigorous, lefs imperious, more fincere, more indulgent to her people, would have been requifite to form a perfect character. By the force of her mind, fhe controlled all her more active, and ftronger qualities; and prevented them from running into excefs. Her heroifm was exempted from all temerity; her frugality from avarice; her friendship from partiality; her enterprise from turbulency and a vain ambition. guarded not herfelf, with equal care, or equal fuccefs, from lefs infirmities; the rivalfhip of beauty, the defire of admiration, the jealoufy of love, and the fallies of

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Her fingular talents for government were founded equally on her temper and on her capacity. Endowed with a great command over herself, fhe foon obtained an uncontrolled afcendant over the people. Few fovereigns of England fucceeded to the throne in more difficult circumstances; and none ever conducted the government with fuch uniform fuccefs and felicity. Though unac quainted with the practice of toleration, the true fecret for managing religious factions, fhe preferved her people, by her fuperior prudence, from thofe confufions in which theological controversy had involved all the neighbouring nations; and though her enemies were the moft powerful princes of Europe, the most active, the moft enterprifing, the leaft fcrupulous, fhe was able, by her vigour, to make deep impreffions on their state; her own greatness mean, while remaining untouched and unimpaired.

The wife minifters and brave men who flourished during her reign, fhare the praife of her fuccefs; but, inftead of leffening the applaufe due to her, they make great addition to it. They owed, all of them, their advancement to her choice; they were fupported by her conftancy; and,

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