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SERM. selves: when our riches, houses, friends VIII. will no longer attend us; when our country and our home must entirely cease to us, us, and a very different scene will open upon us in another life, substantial, unchangeable, and eternal.

When the tenure of our fortunes is so loose and fugitive upon earth, what vanity does it shew, what vexation of spirit will it produce in consequence, to set our affections on the things of earth, to place our confidence on such transitory friends! Instead of such a choice, religion dictates to us the only true wisdom, that we set our affections on the things above, and that we dispose of our perishable wealth on earth, in making to ourselves a never-failing Friend in heaven, in providing for ourselves an everlasting habitation in that blessed inheritance, where alone our joys will be full, and where alone we shall be completely satisfied.

IF these considerations have a claim to regard in all Christian States, more especially should they have an influence on the People of this Land; as being blest above other na

tions with a larger portion of the gifts SERM. of Providence, both Natural, Civil, and vIII. Religious.

If we look to our Natural gifts, an indulgent Providence has cast our lot in a fair land, and given us a goodly heritage. We are placed in a temperate climate, where the sun and the rain in their general influence are ministers and dispensers both of health and nutriment; where the earth supplies us liberally with all the necessaries of life; while an ocean rolls around our land, which brings us the various produce of other climes, at the same time that it guards us effectually from all hostile annoyances.

If we look to our Civil advantages, we are placed in a realm, unannoyed like all the neighbouring nations with the miseries of battle, insurrection, and anarchy; though there is war in the gates, there still is peace in Israel: and we enjoy the inheritance of a Constitution, which extends to high and low, to rich and poor, to Master and Servant, to Prince and People, the benefits of mutual protection and support, and the

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SERM. blessings of true liberty beyond all other VIII. nations.

If we look to our Religious endow-. ments, we are blest with a knowledge of religious principles above most of the nations who profess the true Catholic Faith. And while a perfect liberty of conscience is extended to all the people of the land to worship God in the way which they believe is best, we are provided with an excellent form of worship; wherein we are called in the presence of God "to acknowledge and "confess our sins, to render thanks for "the great benefits that we have re"ceived at his hands, to set forth his "most worthy praise, to hear his most

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holy word, and to ask those things "which are requisite and necessary as "well for the body as the soul."

Now according as Providence has been more indulgent to us in the several endowments both of nature and of grace, there is a greater claim upon us for a liberal and discreet application of them. As we have more abundant means both of knowing and of practising our duty, it is the more incumbent on us that we be grateful to the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy:

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enjoy; and that we express our gra- SERM. titude by doing good; that we be rich in vIII. good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate".

It is not for us to take merit to ourselves in complying with any branch of the Christian law. For even when we are most active in doing what is appointed us to do, we are no better than unprofitable servants; when we are most liberal in the exercises of benevolence, we are doing no more than refunding a portion of those good things, which the providence of God hath lent us as a trust, for which he will hereafter call us to account. Yet while we are taught to think humbly of ourselves, we are also taught to think charitably of others, especially when their actions exemplify the precepts of the gospel. Surely therefore our satisfaction is in harmony with a truly Christian temper, when we reflect with delight on the national character of our Countrymen for deeds of benevolence. Of this character there are abundant examples in all cases of distress, whether domestic or foreign. If we look for memorials

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SERM. among ourselves, we see Schools aboundVIII. ing for the gratuitous instruction of

poor youth, and Alms-houses for the reception of distressed and indigent old age: we see Hospitals endowed for the relief of every want, and Infirmaries established for the cure or solace of every malady, whether of body or mind: for every natural distress or accidental calamity the hand of British charity has been ever open, whether it proceed from tempest, shipwreck, flood, or fire.

The compassion of our Countrymen has not been confined to the mitiga tion of domestic evil, but has been extended as liberally to the distresses of Foreigners, whether groaning under afflictions in their own country, or driven by misfortune to seek a refuge in another. I might instance the relief at different times administered in the case of those calamities, to which in our more favoured clime by an indulgent Providence we are strangers; such as famine and earthquake and hurricane. More especially would I notice that soothing and protecting aid, which our Countrymen have supplied to those that suffer for their principles,

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