Every man, to whom is committed power, wealth, learning, or any other talents, should remember, that he is a steward of the gifts of God; and that it is required of stewards, that they be faithful. We think that men in high office should act for the good of mankind. But the obligation to do good is not confined to distinguished characters. To whom much is given, of them, indeed, much is required. But to whom little is given, of them something is required. Benevolence is a principle, which ought to govern every man, whether in a public, or private station. Every man is to do good, as he has opportunity, and according to the ability, which God has given him. "If there be a willing mind, a man is accepted according to that he hath, and not according to that he hath not." "And whatsoever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be" rich or poor, "bond or free." "He who soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly, and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. Therefore be not weary in well doing, for in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not. Always abound in the work of the Lord, for your labor will not be in vain.”

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Abstaining from Evil.

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

GOD has placed men in a state of mu

tual dependence, that there may be occasion and opportunity for mutual beneficence. If there were no need of good to be done, and no ability to do good, benevolence would not be a virtue. There is no man so selfsufficient, but that he needs help from others; and no man so impotent, but that he can give some help to others. And Solomon, in our text, prescribes a rule, by which we may judge, when and how far we are bound to assist one another,

We are first, to inquire, " to whom good is due ;" and then to consider "the power of our hand to do it." Good is due, not to those only, from whom we have received good, or to whom we have made promises, but to those also who are in want. "Labor with your hands the thing which is good, that ye may have to give to him that needeth." The

man who needeth, is one, who cannot supply his wants by his own labor; for he who can labor is required to give to such as need. There are indeed, reciprocal courtesies and kindnesses, which ought to take place among them who can labor; yea, among the wealthy and opulent, for no man can subsist by himself alone; but good is especially due to the indigent and helpless. And such we may find every day, for the poor we have always with us, and when we will, we may do them good."

If good is due to such, then the question is, “from whom it is due. Is it due from us?" And here we must inquire," Is it in the power of our hand to do it?" There are, perhaps, others, whose power is greater than ours. But their But their power excuses not us. They may not know the case, or may not attend to it, or may think of our comparative power, as we think of theirs. And if every man leaves it to his neighbor to do the good, which ought to be done by somebody, it will never be done by any body. If we see the case which calls for relief, the only question, in which we are concerned is, whether we have power to relieve it. "Say not to thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give thee, when thou hast it by thee." "Give to him that asketh, and from him, that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away."

There are two things implied in this advice of Solomon; one is that we do not evil to any man; the other is, that we do positive good according as we see occasion, and feel ability.

1. If we aim to do good, our first care must be to 'do no evil.

This branch of goodness is certainly in every man's power. Many plead inability in excuse for not bestowing benefits; but no man can plead inability as an excuse for not abstaining from mischief.

If you cannot help your neighbor, yet, at least, you can forbear to hurt him. If you cannot contribute to his relief in trouble, yet you can be silent; you need not dissuade other people from relieving him. If you cannot afford direct aid in the promotion of a good cause, yet you are under no necessity of opposing the cause, and diverting the honest intentions of better men.

With respect to this branch of duty, we ought to exercise particular caution, because it is always more in our power to do hurt, than to do good. It is easier to inflict a wound, than to heal it-easier to destroy property, than to replace it-easier to injure a fair reputation than to repair it easier to corrupt good manners, than to restore them.

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Besides: The injuries which we do to a man are more sensibly felt, than our kindnesses. diminution of his substance or reputation gives him more pain, than an equal addition to either of them would give him pleasure. We can more easily detract from his enjoyment, than we can increase it. The former may be done in a moment, by a single word or action; the latter is ordinarily a work of time, attention and diligence.

For this reason the Author of our nature has put into our constitution stronger restraints from injuring others, than excitements to help them. We sympathize with the distresses of our neighbors more feelingly, than with their felicities. Our compassion for a man, who has suddenly lost half his substance, even though he has enough left, is much more powful, than our joy would be at an equal addition to his substance, though even then it might not be too large. This natural compassion for human misery is designed, not only to prompt our endeavors for its relief, but also to restrain us from actions which would cause, or increase it.

Hence to do evil is more criminal, than to omit doing good, because it is a more direct violation of the constitution of nature.

Solomon not only exhorts us, in the text, to do good; but cautions us, as in the following words, not to do evil: "Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. Envy not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways; for the froward is an abomination to the Lord, but his secret is with the righteous."

We will here mention some of those ways in which we are liable to hurt our neighbors, and which we must cautiously shun, if we intend to do them good.

1. It is possible, we may injure them in our thoughts, and do them evil by indulging a bad opinion of them,

You will say, "Whatever thoughts I have of my neighbor, if I keep them to myself, what hurt is done him?" Less, besure, than if you published them; but still some hurt is done him. He values the good opinion of others, and yours among the rest. And if you think evil of him without cause, you so far injure him, though you never should speak a word against him.

Besides: "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." If you indulge evil thoughts of him, these thoughts will grow into hatred; and it is a wonder, if, in some companies and on some occasions, you do not let them out, and throw them into circulation. No man's reputation is safe, while it depends on the caution of one who hates him.

But though you should keep your thoughts to yourself, they will, at least, influence your own conduct toward him. You will not be so forward to help him in trouble, to defend him against slander,