not the empty shadow of an imputation of his thus attempting to compensate for past sins, or of his thus wishing to purchase, by hypocrisy, a false and unmerited renown,

Before your attention is invited to this particular case, it may be of use to take a view of Charity in some of its operations and under their different modifications, in the course of which it will be made to appear when it is a pure and valid substance, and when nothing more than a false and empty phantom.

The first great division of charity and the most striking one is as it affects the body or soul, i. e., administers food and relief to wants of a corporal or spiritual nature. There are two modes of" feeding the lambs,"-yes, and the sheep too,of our Divine Pastor. But no one can doubt that, when he charged Peter to feed his lambs and his sheep, it was with the bread of Heaven-the manna that came immediately from God-manna more precious far than that which supported the children of Israel in the Wilderness.

This is a difference which relates not so strictly to the nature of the virtue, as to that of its object. The stream in both cases issues from the fountain of benevolence,-but one takes a nobler and sublimer course. That the interests of the soul far transcend in value those of the body, it is needless to remark. The day which now is, and to-morrow which is not, shall it stand in competition with eternity? But there are certain modifications of charity which merit notice, and which are alike applicable to both these cases. The aid imparted may be confined to a single act of momentary duration, or may have a continued operation;-in other words, it may be instantaneous or permanent, resembling what, in mechanics, is called an

impulse, or what is there defined a constant force. Of these two, the latter has a manifest and decided superiority.

Again, a charity may commence immediately, or at some future definite or indefinite time,-next year, for instance, or at some remoter but fixed day, or not till the decease of some now healthy individual, or perhaps the beginning of another century. It may also be confined to one person, or extended to a whole community;-nay, it may be extended to a community, or even to a nation, either for a limited or unlimited period:-for the benefit of the present generation alone,—or constituting a fund, a perpetual capital, the revenue of which expended from year to year, may be a support to the poor and needy to the end of time.

In what concerns the body, present wants are apt to occupy the chief attention; but even here, that relief, which is momentary, admits not, when duly examined, of any comparison with what is continued and lasting in its effects. The charity which endures but for a day, or a month, or a year, is, in one circumstance at least, inferior to that which is so wound up as to go on from generation to generation. Benefactions of this last kind, being for the most part posthumous, are undervalued; they have been attended, as many too rashly conclude, with no self-deprivation; and are, therefore, considered as a mode of purchasing celebrity by defrauding or disappointing the reasonable expectations of natural heirs. In this stage of my discourse, suffice it to hint that, wherever such is the real character of the testator, a clamour never fails to arise among the nearest akin whose hopes have thus been frustrated.

There is another mode of contemplating this important and vital question, which I will now propose to your consideration.

Suppose a certain sum be left to any parish or district, with a power vested in trustees to appropriate the annual proceeds in any manner they may think most expedient for the welfare of the community, and to do this at a regular season from year to year-on what plan would it be employed to greatest and surest advantage? The soul, it will be said, and with one accord, may claim a decided preference; but shall the body then be consigned to total and absolute neglect ? Certainly not they feel assuredly a mutual sympathy, and the real welfare of one conduces to that of the other. Though the life to come is the paramount consideration, yet is the life, that now is, beset with difficulties and troubles, and the helping and supporting hand is ever wanted by a large portion of our fellow creatures; nor can it be doubted that relief, seasonably administered to the body, has often saved the soul.

Many are the wretched parents, who are not only unable to furnish the bread of life, which endureth for ever, but who have it not in their power to satisfy the present urgent cravings of appetite, or to teach their poor helpless children any mode of self-sustenance or support. This, too, is most surely a deserving object of charity. Again: what father is there, who is not anxious in an especial manner for those of his offspring who are least able to provide for or protect themselves? for the daughters of his tenderest affection, of his unceasing solicitude? for those delicate plants, which trampling violation, or the noxious blast, may shrivel into premature decay? It is no despicable object of charity to hold the protecting shield over such as these, - to find them a partner and guardian through this vale of danger and of tears.

But of all the genuine objects of Christian benevolence, religious instruction takes the lead :-" Feed my lambs ;" "Feed my sheep;" are exhortations that might well proceed from the lips of Jesus to his disciple.

If, too, we advert to our blessed Saviour's answer to the messengers of John, we shall soon see the vantage ground on which religious instruction stands exalted. After recounting

to them all the wonders He performed,-how He restored sight to the blind, made the deaf to hear, and the lame to leap as the hart,-nay, how he cured all manner of diseases, and recalled the dead to life,-what was the grand conclusion?. Was it not "the poor have the Gospel preached to them ?" This was the mighty climax-the great all in all-this was the one thing needful.

To found a church, a school, to teach boys a trade, and portion out virgins in marriage, are good and salutary acts, which merit the gratitude of succeeding generations: but they may all be without merit in the sight of God, if they proceed from personal vanity or ostentation, and not from genuine heartfelt love to God and man. Too many have been courtiers of the public notice-mere time-servers, worshippers of Mammon, not of God, even when erecting temples, and bestowing all their goods to feed the poor; who have kept fast hold of their treasures while breath remained, and hoped to compensate for reiterated unrepented guilt by deeds of pretended charity, when consciousness has ceased to exist.

But not such was the case of your pious and venerable Founder, to whom, and to his truly parental bequest, let me now solicit your attention.

If there be a national charity, comprehending all the characters above enumerated, it is, as far as my knowledge reaches,

to be found in this hamlet. The worthy Dean was duly considerate, and neglected nothing that was needful for soul or body through time to all eternity. Beautiful indeed is the system he has framed; beneficent its object in all its branches; nothing highly important or desirable has been overlooked and omitted. This, his native spot, was remote from the parish church. To him the faltering step of age and the weak limbs of infancy are both indebted for a sanctuary at home-the edifice in which we are now assembled. Nor was this enough: in order to diminish the difficulties of approach even to a place of worship so near at hand, and that no stumbling block should remain on the way to the temple gate, another object of his care was an improvement of the then wretched and well-nigh impassable roads. He bequeathed, too, a salary to the curate, and, entrusting to him, also, the superintendance of the school, a power was lodged in the trustees to grant him, on that account, an adequate remuneration. Thus was made, by early religious instruction, by improved roads, and by a church and school in the immediate vicinity, every necessary provision and preparation for an easy and profitable approach to, and attendance of, the House of Prayer. So earnestly intent was the excellent patron of this charity upon everything conducing to a progress and proficiency in Christian attainments.

But, neither did he on this account despise and neglect things of comparatively minor importance; well convinced, that employment and usefulness in this life are nearly allied, and powerfully co-operating with religious exercises and the study of things divine; he treated not as contemptible those which are worldly. It was his endeavour, aim, and hope to supply, in future, his native spot with well-instructed fathers and mothers. It was his kind and prudent care that to the