regular Chastity and Sobriety does not every Day, nor perhaps every Month, reafon himfelf into the Observation of thefe Duties, and exert the Motives in his Heart, upon which the Practice of these Duties is founded; nor can he answer, should he be examined to the Point, how far his Virtue is owing to this or the other Motive, or how far to his natural Temperament and Conftitution. And fince no one Virtue confists in a single Act, or in any certain determinate Number of fingle Acts, but in a regular and habitual Conformity to the Rules of Reason and Morality; which Conformity the more habitual it is, the lefs we feel of the Influence of any particular Motives; it is hardly poffible for Men to estimate the Good or Evil of their Actions, by confidering the immediate and fenfible Connection between each Action, and the Motives producing it. For, as many Motions of the Body, which depend on the Acts of our Will, are exerted with the greatest Reason, and yet the Reafon of exerting them is but seldom by any, and by fome hardly ever attended to; fo in moral Actions a Man of confirmed habitual Goodnefs does many things right, without recurring back by Reflection to the fpecial Grounds

and

and Reasons of Duty, in which the Morality of fuch Actions is founded.

For these Reasons, and for others which might be affigned, it seems to me to be a very distracting Method, to put People upon Inquiry into the Motives of all their particular Actions; and ftill more unreasonable it seems to be, to exclude Sincerity from all Actions that are not immediately influenced by a special Confideration of the proper Motives of Religion; because, in this Cafe, the more naturally and habitually Men do good, the more Reason they will have to doubt of their Sincerity.

We must therefore fearch after a more equitable and more practicable Way of judging of our Sincerity. Our Saviour tells us, we must love our Neighbour as ourselves ; making hereby that Love, which naturally every Man bears to himself, to be the Standard of that Love and Charity which we ought to have to one another. As therefore it is fufficient to love our Neighbour as ourfelves; fo likewise it will be fufficient Evidence of the Sincerity of our Charity, if we can give as good Proof of our Love towards our Neighbour, as we ordinarily can do of our Love towards ourselves.

Now

Now certain it is, that the Principle of Self-prefervation does generally act so uniformly in Men, that they do the Things most neceffary to their own Well-being, without much Thought and Reflection upon the Reafons for fo doing; nor do we ever fufpect Men fo far in the Sincerity of their Love to themselves, as to question whether the Things which they do rightly for their own Prefervation, proceed from proper Motives, and out of a due Regard to their own Well-being.

What the Principle of Self-preservation is with respect to ourselves, the fame is Charity with respect to our Neighbour: And the more real and vigorous this Principle is, the more eafily, and with the lefs Deliberation, does it exert the Acts of Love and Beneficence towards our Fellow-Creatures. Hypocrites and Diffemblers, and felf-interested Persons, have always a Design in what they do; and therefore they neceffarily deliberate, whether it be worth their while to do good to others or no; and can therefore afsign to themselves a particular Reafon for any good Office they perform to their Neighbour: And it is a great Prefumption, that a Man acts upon a general Principle of Charity and Humanity, when he lives well towards

others,

others, without having a particular Reason to affign in every Inftance for fo doing.

It is either a Principle of Self-love, or a Principle of Charity, that inclines us to do good to others. Where Men act out of Selflove, and feek to promote their own Interest, to gratify their own Vanity or Ambition by ferving others, there is fo much Design in what they do, that they cannot but be confcious of the Reasons which prevail with them: And where there are no fuch Reafons to be affigned, what Caufe is there for Men to suspect their own Sincerity, or to imagine, that the Love they fhew to others proceeds from any Thing but a good Principle?

It is therefore, if not a certain Rule, yet at least a very reasonable Prefumption, that we act upon a true Principle of Charity, when we feek the Eafe, and Satisfaction, and Comfort of others, without being conscious to ourselves of any selfish Views to our own Interest in what we do.

But to prevent Miftakes, I would not be understood, by laying down this Rule, to condemn Men always in the good they do to others, with a View to themselves: For furely, it is as reasonable to exchange good Offices, as other lefs valuable Conveniencies of VOL. III.

L

Life ;

Life; and, indeed, the Happiness of civil Life confifts in this mutual Exchange of good Offices: And therefore, where Men ferve others in an honeft Way, expecting only honeft Returns, this Justice must at least be done them, to own that they are fair Traders, and deal in a good Commodity. The Apostle to the Hebrews exhorts us to provoke one another to Love and to good Works; and the best Way to provoke others to Love, is to fhew Love towards them.

But the fureft Way to know whether we are influenced as we ought to be by a Principle of Charity, is to confider not this or that particular Action, for very bad Men may fometimes do very good Things; nor yet to confider our Behaviour with respect to particular Perfons; for the worst of Men are capable of ftrong Paffions of Love for particular Relations and Acquaintance; but to reflect upon our Carriage towards all in general, and in all Inftances: For, if the Principle of Charity be in us, it will discover itself in an Uniformity of all our Actions; as the Principle of Self-preservation makes Men seek their own Good, not at one Time more than another, or in one Inftance more than another, but at all Times and in all Inftances equally.

If