ers; his relations, his associates, his neighbours, his townsmen, his countrymen, his fellow beings extensively; what he should do for them; and in what ways and by what means, he should incite and help them, for their individual good, and for the furtherance of the common salvation.-Ever intent on doing good, on promoting the substantial and immortal interests of mankind, he studies to be ready to every good work, to give aid to every good design; to do what he can, by example, counsel, and influence; by plans, exertions, and distributions; to render himself and others truly wise and good, and happy and useful. Never weary in well doing; the more he does, the more he will desire to do. "He is like a spring of water, whose waters fail not."

The liberal deviseth liberal things. We have considered this sacred clause as a definition; we may now consider it as a prediction. It is a part of a section of prophecy, uttered, as commentators suppose, in the reign of the idolatrous and infamous king Ahaz; and looking primarily to the happier times of the good Hezekiah, but ultimately to the still brighter scenes to be realized under the benignant reign of his great antitype, the Messiah. The Messiah, most eminently, is the "King who reigns in righteousness ;" and "the man," the God-man, who is "a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." It is under the gracious influence of his reign that "the eyes of them that see are rendered not dim; that the ears of them that hear are made to hearken; that the heart also of the rash is caused to understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers to speak plainly."

The prophecy proceeds: The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the vile person shall speak villany, and his heart will

work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter errour against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry; and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil; he deviseth wicked devices, to destroy the poor with lying words." Selfish and deceitful tempers and practices, such as are here described, have always abounded in this depraved world; and they have been made manifest, from time to time, in proportion as the light of truth and holiness has been increased and diffused. In the predicted bright days of Hezekiah, the vile and the churlish, who, in the gloomy reign of Ahaz, had claimed to be honoured as liberal and bountiful, were to be stripped of their disguises, and to be seen in all the deformity and hatefulness of their real characters. In a greater degree, and to a wider extent, was this effect to be produced, under the still brighter and more glorious reign of the Messiah.

The prediction has been verified. How strikingly in the first age of the gospel, did the enemies of Christ, of his apostles and his cause, answer, in their tempers and practices, to the prophetic description? They spoke villany; their hearts worked iniquity; they practised hypocrisy ; they uttered errour against the Lord. They exerted their whole influence, to make empty the soul of the hungry; even of them that were famishing for the bread of life; and to cause the drink of the thirsty, of those who were ready to perish for the waters of salvation, to fail. They devised wicked devices: employed all their resources of art and stratagem to prevent the gospel from being preached to the people around them, and propagated among the nations. All the while indeed, they claimed to be regarded as most liberal and bountiful; as the friends of God and of men; as deeply concerned for the divine glory and for human happiness. Even Judas Iscariot could say, "To what purpose is this waste? Why was not

this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor." And the murderers of the Lord of glory, with high pretensions to piety and benevolence, could indignantly accuse him and his disciples of blaspheming God, and of deceiving the people. But their vile, and churlish, and deceitful characters were made manifest.

Similar characters, however, have in no subsequent period been wanting; and at different times, especially in times when the glory of the Lord has risen upon the church, and extraordinary exertions have been made for causing her light to shine, these characters have been clearly exhibited and marked. Nor would it be strange, if in a day like the present; a day such as the church and the world have never before seen, since the age of the gospel's first spread :-it would not be wonderful, if in such a day the enemies of the truth should, in no common degree, speak villany; work iniquity; practise hypocrisy; utter errour against the Lord; employ evil instruments, and devise wicked devices; to make empty the soul of the hungry, to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail, and to destroy the poor; to check the progress of divine truth, to obscure the light of undefiled religion, to repress the rising tide of christian beneficence, and to prevent the many thousands and millions, who are ready to perish for lack of knowledge, from being blest with the gospel of salvation.

The display of another and a better character is predicted in the words of our text. The liberal deviseth, or, as rendered by Lowth, shall devise, liberal things.-This prediction also has already been verified. After the example and in the spirit of their adored Master and Lord, who freely gave himself a ransom for many, the apostles and primitive believers unreservedly devoted themselves and their all to the momentous object for which he died. With one accord, they made a free will offering of all

their temporal interests. They sold their possessions, and turned the proceeds into the consecrated fund. They employed their time and their talents, in their several stations and spheres, for the advancement of the holy cause. They spread themselves throughout Judea, and afterwards dispersed themselves among the nations; every where seeking the salvation of men. "In much suffering, in affliction, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings," they pursued their benevolent design, with unconquerable resolution, with indefatigable exertion, with unquenchable zeal : "pressed on every side, but not straitened; perplexed, but not in despair; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich ;"-" counting not even their lives dear unto themselves, so that they might finish their course with joy," and "the gospel of the grace of God run and be glorified."-THESE WERE LIBERAL MEN, AND THEY DE

VISED LIBERAL THINGS.

Men of like spirit have arisen in succeeding times; especially in the distinguished periods of Zion's conflicts and triumphs.-Our own times are signally marked. In this eventful age, Infidelity has put forth all her strength, in a combined and desperate effort, to suppress the gospel; to abolish the church; and to crush her King! The conflict has been tremendous. "Michael and his angels have fought against the Dragon; and the Dragon has fought and his angels." The nations have been shak-en; the world has been turned upside down; every earthly interest has been put in jeopardy.

Amid the direful commotion, the friends of the Redeemer and his cause have been roused from their slumbers. Looking around them, and abroad upon the world, their eyes have affected their hearts. They have listened to the cry of the poor and needy; to the groaning of the prisoner and of the oppressed. They have visited the

retreats of want; have explored the habitations of cruelty; have extended their researches into the wide spread regions of darkness, corruption, and ruin. An irresistible impulse has been felt. Associations have been formed, and measures have been devised; not only to afford to our fellow beings of every nation, in the diversified cireumstances of want and of wretchedness, a temporary solace ; but also to set before them the bread of life, to open to them the wells of salvation, to put them in a condition to avail themselves of the sovereign remedy and the heavenly consolations, and to persuade them to partake, and live, and be blessed forever.-" Wisdom has cried without ;—has lifted up her voice on the top of high places, in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors." She has pleaded the cause of benevolence; of the merciful Redeemer and of perishing men. Monarchs and nobles have opened their treasures; the great and the mighty have presented their offerings; the rich have given of their abundance; and the poor widow has cast in her precious mites. The abodes of helpless want have been cheered; to bleeding provinces a healing balm has been applied; the habitations of cruelty have heard the voice of mercy; an outcast portion of our race, long doomed to outrage and slavery, have been restored to the rights and the charities of common brotherhood. Along with the temporal benefits conferred, immortal blessings have been solicitously offered; and the bounty for present relief has been accompanied with directions for durable riches and righteousness. Means of instruction have been multiplied, and brought home to the doors of them that are near, and of them that are far off. The lively oracles of heavenly truth and grace, published in many languages, have been widely dispersed among the nations. The heralds of redeeming love have been sent forth to the froz