ESSAY VII.' .Against UdcharitablenessW/ìereiit. the Secret Springs of that Vice are traced, and the Mischievous Effects of it briefly surveyed. " Written to Expose that most Unchristian Iniquity of Censures, Revilings and Church-Anathemas, on the Account of Smaller Disputables in Christianity. Rom. xiv. 3. Let not him which eateth not, judge him that eateth: For God hath received him. LUKE ix. 54, 55. His disciples-said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?But he turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of " Tanttene animis caclestibus irte? Tantum religio potuit suadere maloruml" CCHARITY INTRODUCTION. in the soul of man is the very picture of the god- head, taken as it stands in the fairest light. Wisdom and holi- ness, power, sovereignty and justice are various features of the Deity : They are indeed his very nature and essence ; yet the scripture rather chuses to express, that God is love, and that twice in one chapter, 1 John iv. 8. and 10. The beloved disciple that leaned on the bosom- of Jesus, took peculiar delight in the contemplation of God, under this character. This appears in his gospel, as well as in his epistle. 'l'he other glories of that infinite beauty shine with awful beams, and command my reverence : But methinks, I love to look upon so glorious a being, inhis most condescending air, and to converse with him in hismildest and most inviting aspect. Charity in man is a grace of that alluringsweetness, that my pen would fain be attempting to say something in favour of it : I find à strange pleasure in discoursing of this virtue, hoping that my very soul may be moulded into its divine likeness. I would always feel it inwardly warming my heart. I would have it look through my eyes continually, and it shouldbe ever ready upon my lips to soften every expression of my tongue. I would dress myself in it as my best raiment. I would put it on upon my faith and hope, not so as entirely to hide them, but as an up- per and more visible vesture, constantly to appear in among men. For our christian charity is to evidence our other virtues.
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