be cleaned, lest they should be worn out the sooner, but still, with all this self-denial, he thought he was too profuse, and would frequently say, "he must be a little more careful of his property." His disquietude on the subject of money was now continual. When he went to bed, he would put five or six guineas into a bureau, and then feel of his money, after he had retired to rest, and sometimes in the middle of the night, he would come down to see if it was there. Money was now his only thought; he rose upon money-upon money lay down to rest. He would carefully wrap up a few guineas, in various papers, and deposit them in different corners, and then run from one to the other, to see whether they were all safe; then forgetting where he had concealed some of them, he would become as seriously afflicted as a man might be who had lost all his property. During the last winter of his life, he would frequently be heard at midnight, as if struggling with some one in his chamber, and crying out, "I will keep my money; I will; no body shall rob me of my property." At length, on the 26th November, 1789, expired this miserably rich man, while absorbed in his avaricious propensities, leaving to the world a most striking and melancholy example of the miserable and debasing effects of covetousness. At his death, his property amounted to above eight hundred thousand pounds, which were soon dispersed throughout all parts of England.* Such examples may be considered as intended by Divine Providence to show us the wretched and degraded condition to which avarice reduces the soul of man, and to serve as beacons to guard us against the influence of this debasing and soul-ruining propensity. For it is impossible for a soul thus absorbed in the accumulation of money to love its Creator or its fellow creatures, or to submit to the requisitions of the gospel; and consequently it must be altogether unfit for engaging in the sublime exercises of the heavenly world, and for relishing the enjoyments of that "inheritance * Selected from Topham's "Life of John Elwes, Esq." which is incorruptible and that- fadeth not away." The service of God and Mammon are absolutely irreconcilable; and the man who devotes himself to the latter by his own act, renders himself unfit for being a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Than such a man there can scarcely be presented a more pitiable picture of human depravity and degradation. An immortal mind grovelling in the dust, and having for its highest aim to heap up treasures which are never to be enjoyed! and despising those incorruptible riches which shall endure forever! what folly can be compared to the conduct of such an infatuated mortal! "Oh, cursed lust of Gold! when for thy sake Who that ever tasted the pleasures of knowledge, or felt the sweets of beneficence, or the comforts of religion, can but pity the poor wretch whose soul is chained to earthly treasures, and tortured on the rack of avarice? And, let it be remembered, that although the examples related above are extreme cases, yet the principle of covetousness is the same in every individual in whose heart it predominates, and it is owing only to certain restraining circumstances, that it does not carry them to the same stage of misery and degradation, as in the instances I have now related. Let this depraved principle be let loose to operate without control, and it is impossible to depict the miseries and degradations of human character that would follow in its train. The world would soon become an immense aceldama, and its inhabitants a society of fiends, fit only to be the companions of the prince of darkness, and his infernal legions. 2. Another way in which Covetousness operates, even among professed Christians is, in gratifying a desire for ostentatious display, and a spirit of pride and ambi tion. The Creator evidently intended that his creatures should be suitably clothed and accommodated with comfortable habitations; for he has replenished the earth with every thing requisite for those purposes; and were proper arrangements made in the social state, and benevolence as frequently displayed as the principle of avarice-all the ranks of mankind would be comfortably clothed, and conveniently accommodated. A spirit of covetousness is not necessarily connected with a desire after decent apparel and comfortable dwellings, nor with those exertions which are requisite to procure them. But when I behold a professed Christian decking himself and family with gaudy attire, replenishing his dwelling with the most expensive furniture, erecting a huge mansion, superior to those of all his neighbors, and sufficient to accommodate three or four families contenting himself at the same time with subscribing half a guinea a year for a religious or philanthropic institution, and so eagerly engaged in the pursuit of wealth, that time is scarcely left for mental improvement or family religion—I cannot help drawing the conclusion, that covetousness is a principle which rules in such a mind for the purpose of fostering a spirit of vanity and pride, and a desire for worldly ostentation and parade. I have seen in the house of a professor of religion, whose income did not exceed £150 a year, an article of furniture, of no great utility which cost twenty or thirty guineas, while a sixth part of this sum would have been sufficient to have procured a neat article to have answered every purpose for which it was intended. Yet if the individual had been urged to subscribe a guinea for a benevolent institution, it would have been refused as a most extravagant demand. I have seen a single flat of a house furnished, at an expense of seven or eight hundred guineas, where there was scarcely a family to occupy it, and where the proprietor, in all probability,never gave the tenth part of this sum to the purposes of religion or human improvement. Without calling in question the right of those to whom God hath given wealth and riches, to adorn their mansions with splendid furniture or decorations, it may still be proper to enquire, if the paltry sum generally given by many such persons for the purposes of philanthropy, be at all proportionable to the expenses incurred in procuring such costly articles and decorations. Is it the part of a Christian man to be so liberal and even extravagant in his external trappings, while he can scarcely be induced to put his hand into his pocket to supply the means of propagating the gospel through the world, and while the one half of his superfluities would be hailed as a precious boon for this purpose? To such persons we might apply the words of the prophet Haggai, "Is it time for you, O ye," fashionable Christians, "to dwell in your decorated houses, and this house of the Lord lie waste. Therefore, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways. Ye have sown much and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is no warm; and he that earneth wages, earneth wages to put them in a bag full of holes." In the course of his providence, God frequently causes such persons to behold their sin in their punishment, by blasting their hopes of worldly gain, and sweeping away their treasures by unforeseen accidents and adverse dispensations. Such was the case in the days of Haggai, when the people refused to exert themselves in rebuilding the temple. "Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and, when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of Hosts; because of mine house which is waste; and ye run every man unto his own house." With how much propriety may such declarations be applied to many religionists in our times, when there are so many urgent calls to arise and build the New Testament Church, and extend its boundaries-and who yet run every one to his "decorated houses," to indulge in ease and luxury, while the extension of the house of God and the reparation of its desolations require their most vigorous exertions? The money which is wasted in unnecessary decorations, in regard to dress and furniture, and other superfluities, even by Christians were it collected into one sum, would amount to far more than the whole of the funds belonging to all the Religious and Philanthropic institutions of the British Empire, and may be considered as nothing less than a robbery of the Most High of his "titles and offerings." 3. Covetousness manifests itself under pretence of providing suitable portions for children. ་ This is a very common apology for the keen prosecution of wealth, and the anxious care which is exercised in securing it. In most instances, however, it is nothing more than a cloak to cover the vile principle of covetousness, when it is beginning to sway its sceptre over the mind. But, supposing a regard for the temporal interests of children to mingle itself with a covetous affection, the practice of laying up fortunes for children, so as to make them independent, is both injudicious, and immoral in its general tendency. Every parent ought to give his children a good education, so far as in his power, and above all things, "train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." So far as his circumstances permit, he should indulge them in every innocent enjoyment; and when they are beginning business or setting up in life, he may afford them as much money as he can spare for enabling them to conduct, with success, the professions or employments in which they engage. This is nearly all that a Christian parent should be anxious to accomplish, in reference to the temporal condition of his children. For, when a young man has received an education suitable to his station, and adequate allowance for the commencement and prosecution of his business, and is, at the same time, given to understand that the whole of his future happiness and success in life will depend upon his own prudence, exertions and moral conduct, he will more readily apply the powers of his mind to his profession, and attend to the dictates of prudence, than if he had a constant dependence on the wealth and support of his parents, whatever conduct he might pursue. Every young person should be taught that he has a certain part to act in the world, for which he is accountable to the Great Lord of all-that his happiness or misery in this world, (under God) is dependent upon himself and the course he pursues-that he ought not to live merely for the gratification of his own humor or pleasure, but for the good of mankind-and |