The whole duty of man epitomiz'd: for the benefit of the poor. With select prayers suited to every partition. By Edm. Stacy, a minister of the Church of England.

PARTITION XVI.

Other Branches of our Duty to our Neighbour. Of Charity to Men's Souls, Bodies, Goods and Credit.

THE next Duty to our Neigh∣bour is Charity, this is a Duty which the Blessed JESUS himself has solemn∣ly enjoyn'd in his Holy Gospel, and may be considered two Ways, ei∣ther in our Affections, or Actions; and First, The Charity of Affecti∣ons, is such an universal Kindness, that inclines us to wish well to the Soul, Body, Goods, and Credit, of all Mankind.

To their Souls in the first Place, and to them we cannot sure but wish well, when we consider, that Christ thought their Ran∣some worth the Price of his own

Blood; we owe next all the good we can to the Bodies of Men; this is an high Article of our Charity, and without it, we can never come up to that golden Rule, of loving our Neighbour as our selves. His Goods, and his Credit, are like∣wise to be very dear, and precious to us, and we are bound to propa∣gate his Interest, and Reputation, and to esteem them upon all Ac∣counts equal to our own.

This kind of Cha∣rity naturally begets in us a quiet and peaceable Mind, and a Compassion and Tenderness towards others; it cre∣ates in us a Joy for their Prosperi∣ty, and excites us to Pray for 'em, and to importune Al∣mighty God in their behalf; besides all these too, it guards our Minds against all sort of Envy or Re∣venge, keeps down our Pride, and im∣presses

deep upon us the Grace of Humility; it destroys Censorious∣ness, and curbs the rashness of our Judgment, suppresses Dissimulati∣on, and banishes, and subverts, all feign'd, and pretended Kindness; it casts away all Self-love, and mer∣cenary Designs, and intirely roots out of our Minds all manner of Ran∣chor and Malice.

Nay, this Charity goes further, accord∣ing to the Doctrine and Example of our Blessed Lord, it ex∣tends it self even to our Enemies; and what can be a greater Motive to it, then to find it so solemnly com∣manded and enforc'd by God's own President.

This is a Subject well becoming our serious Consideration, and should put us in mind methinks, to ballance our Sins a∣gainst God, with the Offences of our

Brethren against our selves, and would we do that, we should find the first so much outweigh the last, that from a fair Comparison, we must needs judge our selves very unworthy to expect God should Pardon us for so many great of∣fences, and yet at the same time we refuse to forgive our Bre∣thren for some, per∣haps, trivial faults; besides this too, there's a great deal of Plea∣sure and Satisfaction in the forgiving our Enemies; 'tis true, this may seem a Paradox at first sight, but then, if we examine the Truth of it by Experience, we shall find it really so, and this sort of forgiving Tem∣per, the most delightful as well as the most Christian.

Beyond this likewise, there is a∣nother Consideration strong enough to engage us to forgive our Ene∣mies, I mean the danger of it; God

has made our Com∣passion to others, the Standard by which he intends to measure his to us. If ye for∣give not Men their Trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses, nay, he has made it a part of our daily Prayers, so that when a revengeful Person says this Prayer, he lays up∣on himself a Curse, and does in ef∣fect beg God not to forgive him.

This is a Duty we are oblig'd to in Point of Gratitude too; God has shew'd us wonderful Mer∣cies, and can we be so base to think, we are not oblig'd to some returns. Peace and Unity was one of the last things our Sa∣viour recommended to the World, and indeed he has press'd no single Pre∣cept with greater con∣cern than this of uni∣versal Charity and forgiving Enemies, a

Consideration methinks, that should engage us to suppress all Degrees of Ranchor and Revenge, and to check and curb them in their very first Motions.

I come now to the Charity in the Acti∣ons, which is the tru∣est way to prove the former, I mean by a sincere and cordial Love, distributed without Hypo∣crisie, or Reserve, to the Soul, Bo∣dy, Goods, and Credit of our Neighbour; to his Soul and Mind, we should acquit our selves with the utmost tenderness and concern, and omit no means that might any ways promote the Happiness or Ad∣vantage of either; to his Body we should exercise all the Offices of true Christian Friendship and Kind∣ness and upon all occasions be con∣stantly ready to promote his Inte∣rest, and defend his Reputation.

Notes

• Charity in the Affecti∣on.
• To Men's Souls, Bo∣dies, Goods, and Credit.
• The Effects of this Cha∣rity.
• It casts out Envy, Pride, Censorious∣ness, Dissem∣bling, Self∣love and Re∣venge.
• The Motives to it, Christ's Commands, and the ex∣ample of God
• This Charity to extend e∣ven to Ene∣mies.
• The Dispro∣portion of our Offences against God compar'd with Men's against us.
• Pleasantness of this Duty.
• If we forgive not, God will not forgive us.
• Gratitude to God.
• The first ri∣sing of Ran∣chor to be supprest.
• Charity in the Actions, to the Mind, Soul, Body, &c.