Com.5.0fthe honour due to thole that excel ingifts,&c.Chap.9. 389 the Levites: and in the Woman that moved her husband toprovide and fùrnifh a 4 Kings ç. ro. Chamber for the manof God, which they could not have done,unlefs they had been Mark 6. and in thole that caft in their wealth into the T'reafury for the ufe of the Temple.Thus rich menmay and ought tobe helpful to the Church,to the Prophets, to Schools, Colledges, &e. Anfwerable to this, the care of rich menought to be as well good as great ; when Elymar fought to pervert Sergius Paulus the Deputy, a great man in the Countrey, Saint Paul withftood him, and laboured to keep the Deputy conftant in the faith. And the fame Apoftle, after many leffons to Timothy, tells him, that the love ofmoney it r Tim, 4. rc, the root ofall evil, and that by lofting after it many err from the faith ; and thereupon bids him take fpecial care about rich men, intimating the danger ofrich meo , and the fpecial care he fhould take about fuch, that they may be inliruments ofgood to others. The Heathenman Paid, if he were to make Amphiont harp, he would take greater pains about it, than in making a harp for a common Harper. Again, the Duty ofthe Rich, as is there further urgedby the Apoftle is not to be Tim. 6. 17 . high-minded, nor trait in their riches. The Wife -man obferved, that they count their Prov. x8.11. Riches their ftrongTower. And hence it is that when they have anycaufe or controverfie with another, though they have no right, yet they will think to carry all by their wealth , none muft oppofe them. Such a one was Nabal, fo proud and furly , that no body could r Sam. 25.19, (peak to him. But fuch fhould remember, that,as Solomon faith, the rich andpoor meet, and the Lordis the maker ofboth this fhould makethem humble. And if they be thus towards others; then their Duty is likeDavid, to account themfelves their Sons, and them their Fathers. 4. The laft kindofExcellency, for which men are to be honoured, is Excellentia beneficii, the excellency ofa benefit. Benefaliors are called Fathers. Job faith, He mar a Job. ;y. 16. father to thepoor : and whatfoever isfob ration beneficii comes within the compafs of this Commandment : and he that receives abenefit,is bound to honour them from whomhe receives it. There are three Duties of the Benefactor, and as many required ofhim that re- ceives a benefit. r. Richmen mull be Benefactors, they mutt do good to fome or other. It's true, they are not bound to any particular perfon, none can challenge any thing ex debitó,from them : for this is the difference between officiuno and beneficium, they may bebound to particular perlons inofficio, but not in beneficio ; for here they may make their choice to whom, but they mutt do good wherefoever they are. They mutt not mark mens Ingratitude, though their benefits be ill beftowed upon fuchs for as the Heathen man Paid, Melius eft ut pereat beneficium apud ilium, quartz apud te. It is better thy benefit be loft in his hands than in thine. A benefit muff be freelybellowed, though theparty deferve it not ; we muff not look at his de ferts to us, for dignas e/I decipi, qui de recipiendo cogitavit cum daret; he is wor- thy to be deceived, that when he gives, thinks upon receiving again. Like to thofe that in thecourfe of giving benefits , looknot, ubi optime, but ubi qusfluo- ffine; not where they may place them upon the worthieft and molt deferving, but upon them that will be molt beneficial to them. Such a Benefactor is as .a man to his Gelding, that when he means to ufe him in a Journey, gives him fo muchProvender, becaufe he is to ufe him, and he will not otherwife hold out in his Journey. And this takes away the honour of the Phyfitian and Lawyer, that laves a mans life, or his elate, when they do it propter quettum, for a Reward. Perdit bonoremgratie, qui dat propter premium, he lofes the honour of the benefit, that looks at fame reward. It's true, hecannot fufficiently be recompenced, that fa- vetha mans life,but ifhe prolieute his Arefor gain, he doth buyand fell, and fo lofeth his honour ; yet this is the courfe of the world, that it may be feared that in fhort time men will make Indentures to bind men to be thankful,when theybellow their benefits. a. Another Rule is, they mutt do it fpeedily. It mutt not flick between their fingers : for, Ingratumeft beneficiano pod don inter mans darns befit ; Gratifma funs beneficia parata, facilia, occurrentia, ubi nulls morefuit, nifi in accipientis ve- recundia : It is a benefit little worth that flicks long in the givers hands ; and they
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