úerni: LXXXit Of doing God. And it procures for. us a110 the Bletïings and Prayers ofchore, to whom weex- tend our Charity; their Bleffing I fay, upon us and ours, and all that we have.; and is it afmall thing in our eye, to have (ás yob fpeaks) the BleJing of them, who are_readyto perifti, to come upon us The,fervent Prayer of the poor for us availeth much; for God bath a fpecial regard to the Prayers ofthe deJlitute, andhis Éar is open to their cry. Few Men have Faith to believe it,. but certainly Charity is a great fecurity to us in the times of.Evil, and that not only from the fpecial Promife ánd Provi- dence of God, which is engaged to preferve thofe from want, who are ready to relieve the Necelrty of others, Prov. tr. 2s., The liberal Soul fhall be made fat :and he that watereth (hall hewatered afo himfelf; and .Prov. 28. 27. He that gi veth to the poor(hall not lack ; he(hall not k afraid in theevil time, andin she days of .J earthhe(hallbefatisfaed, fays the Pfalmift. ,But befides the Promife and Provi dente of God, our Charity and Alms are likewife a great fecurity to us, from the Nature and Reafon of the thing it felf. Whofoe'er is charitable to others, does wifely befpeak the Charity and Kindnefs of others for himfeif, agamft the day Ofneceflity; for there is nothing that makes a Man more, and Curer Friends than our Bounty ; this will plead for us, and ftand our Friend in our greateft Trou- bles and Dangers ;,,For a good Man, faith the Apoftle, that is, for one that is' ready to oblige others by great kindnefies and Benefits, one woúld even dare to die., It has fometimes happened, that the Obligation which a Man hath laid upon o- thers by a chearful and feafonable Charity hath in timeof Danger and Extremity donehim.. more kindnefs, thin all his Eftate could do for him. Alms, faith the Wife Man, hath delivered from Death.. And in times of publick Diftrefs, and when we are befet with cruel and pow- erful Enemies, who, ifG61 were not on ourfide, wouldfwallow us up quick, the pub- lick Charity of a Nation dóes many times prove its belt Safeguard and Shield: There. is a möft remarkable PafTage to this purpofe, Ecclus. 29. ix, 14I3: Lay up thy Treafure according to the commandment of the moll high, andit(hall bring thee moreprofit, than, Gold; (but up thine alms in thy Store -houfe, and it fhall deliver 'thee from all afic`lion, it /hall fightfor thee agaihJl thy enemies, more than a mighty Shieldand a(iron Spear. And of this I doubt not, but we of this Nation, by the greatMercy and Good- nefs of Almighty' God, have had happy experience in our late wonderful De- liverance, under the ConduCt and Valour, of one of the belt and braveft of Ptiti- ces, and to whom by too many among us, the molt unworthy and unthankful Returns have been made; for the un,vearied pains he hath undergofe, and for the defperate hazards he hath expos'd fiimfelf to for our fakes, that ever were made to fo Great and Generous a BenefaCor; fo great a BenefaCOr I fay not only to there Nations but to all Europe, in afferting and vindicating their Liber- ties againit the infolent Tyranny and Pride of one of the greateft opp'reffòrs of Mankind, of whom I may fay, as Id does of the Leviathan, lob 4f. 33, 34. Upon the earth is not his like, he beholdeth all high things, and is the King of all the -Children of Pride. And beyond all this, the Bleffing of God does defcend upon the pofterity of ,thofe, who are eminently Charitable, and great Benefaétors to Mankind. This Davidobfervesin his time; Ihave been young (fays he) and now amold; yet have I not feen the righteous forfaken, nor his feed begging Bread ; dud what he means by the righteous Man, he explains in the next Words, he is ever merciful and lendeth. I (hall only addupon this Head, that the praéticeof this Virtue will be One of our belt comforts at the hour of Death; and that we shall then look back upon all the goodwe have done ih our life with the greateft contentment and joy imagi= liable. Xenophon in his Cyrus, which he defign'd for the perfeá Idea of a good Prince, reprefents him in the laft minutes of his life, addreffng himfelf fo Grid tò this purpofe,. Thou knawefi that I have been a lover of Mankind ; and now that I arri leaving this World, I hope tofind that Mercy from thee, which I have Jhewed to others: 'i'hfe Words that excellent heathen Hiftorian thought fit tO come fronl the rlló'uth Rrrrx. of
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