will from the exercise of which we derive any substantial advantage. To fail in this duty is to discourage the generous and kind-hearted, whose happiness is increased in proportion to the amount of happiness they confer upon others. If we cannot make a return commensurate with the benefit we have received, duty forbids us to withold from benefactors the tribute of a grateful heart. The tear of gratitude is as amiable as the tear of pity. The ungrateful man is not only unfitted to perform the duties which he owes to his neighbour, but would appear to be insensible to the obligations which he owes to his Maker. The grateful man on the contrary, loves his generous and kindhearted neighbour, and traces every blessing through the Agent to the Disposer of all hearts!

CHARITY.

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."ROM. XIII. 8.

From the definitions we have of what charity is, and what it is not, we are irresistibly led to the conclusion that it comprehends, within itself, the whole of the Christian graces. It not only manifests itself actively, in acts of

tenderness, kindness, love, good-will, benevolence, liberality to the poor, and the like; but, passively, in chastity of thought and feeling. It is a state of mind in which all the affections of the heart are in subjection to the will of God, and yield a cheerful and undeviating obedience to His laws. And a condition of mind so exalted and spiritual as this, must necessarily discover itself in a universal love of the human family, and a tenderness towards all created things capable of being, in any way, affected by our actions.

"The soul, thus kindled from above,

Spreads wide her arms of universal love;
And still enlarged as she receives the grace,
Includes creation in her close embrace."- COWPER.

To be without charity, therefore, is to be totally unfit to perform any one of the Christian duties which man owes to his neighbour, or, in other words, to his fellow-creatures. St. Paul, in the 1. Cor. xiii. 3., says, "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." And in the four following verses he tells us, not only what this, the greatest of the Christian virtues is, but what it is not. Charity suffereth long, and is

kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." From uncharitableness spring all the evils which disgrace and afflict the human race - those evils only excepted which are unavoidable conditions of our being.

From envy alone issues a long train of mischiefs, for it is closely allied with hatred and malice. The consequences of rash judgment need not be dwelt upon. A rash judgment has broken the heart of many an innocent man, and sent him to an untimely grave. But to attempt to set forth the many bad fruits of uncharitableness would carry me far beyond the prescribed limits of this essay. I shall, therefore, conclude with the expression of a heartfelt hope and prayer, that as charity is Christian love, and Christian love the "fulfilment of the law," its requirements may be made the rule of our conduct towards our neighbour; so that, when our earthly being draws near to a close, and visions of eternity present themselves to our earnest meditation, we may contemplate the inevitable change of

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existence with a calm conscience, and with that cheering hope of future bliss which a consciousness of innocence and a well-spent life are best calculated to inspire.

ROBERT CRAKE.

ESSAY II.

INTRODUCTION.

ALL the duties and obligations under which we are placed are due to God and our neighbour; properly we owe all duty to God, for he is the great giver of all we enjoy. Our neighbours and all that they bestow of care or of kindness are given us by God, and God Himself hath been pleased to sum up all our duties in what we owe to Him and to our neighbour; these two branches include the whole sum of man's duty. To God we owe the chief part, as "in Him we live, and move, and have our being." He is the Father of us all; the Father of all mankind. God hath, however, placed us under obligations of duty to others who are our neighbours, because from them we receive great and important blessings. God has not only given to man to enjoy Himself, the great author and fountain of all excellence, but by the bounties of His wisdom and power hath raised up around us all the several advantages arising from our inter