Mercy, and Humility, against which he himself had fo notoriously tranfgreffed in fmiting his Afs three times. To ftrike the beast, that never before fince fhe was his unto that day was wont to stumble or start *, because now fhe ftarted for the first time, was INJUSTICE. To ftrike her a second time; and the third time to beat her with a Staff, and to wifh for a fword in his hand to kill her, was CRUELTY. And to fuppofe, because the Afs was his own, that he had an abfolute and unaccountable power over her to use her as unjustly and as cruelly as he pleafed, was taking too much human nature; it

upon

was contemptuously ill treating

* Num. xxii. 30.

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one

one of GOD's creatures, a useful and an innocent creature, and a beast whose fimplicity and natural ftupidity, (peculiar to the Afs, that it may go through its drudgery with less reluctance), should have recommended her to her master's mercy and forbearance: it was overvaluing Himself; it was under-rating his Beast; and in fhort, it was PRIDE. Balaam therefore neither did Juftly, nor loved Mercy, nor walked Humbly. But no fooner was he brought to a fenfe of his crime, than he confeffed, I HAVE SINNED: and, as if that were not enough, at the hazard and expence of all his hopes of preferment, he moreover preaches in the Court of Moab the great duties of Juftice, Mercy,

and

and Humility. Haft thou finned then with Balaam? with him confefs that Thou haft finned. Perfect thy confeflion, and fulfil thy repentance, by taking every opportunity affiduously to inculcate into others these great and neceffary duties. You will thereby give a more sure proof of thy repentance, and better please the Lord, than with thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil: for, the Lord defireth Mercy and not Sacrifice, and the Knowledge of GOD more than Burnt Offerings*. If thou wert to give thy first born for thy tranfgreffion, or the fruit of thy body for the fin of thy foul, it would avail thee nothing; it would be worse than

* Hofea vi. 6.

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+ Micah vi. 7.

nothing;

nothing; it would be adding one fin to another: But the Lord hath fbewed thee, O man, what is Good, what in this cafe thou ought to do, and what he will accept and require of thee; viz. to do JUSTLY, and to love MERCY, and to walk HUMBLY with thy GOD.

Are Juftice, Mercy, and Humility, the criterions of righteousnefs? Then, Injustice, Unmercifulness, and Pride, which frequently go together, and point to each other, and are all comprehended in the idea of Cruelty to Brutes, muft be fure tokens c fin and wickednefs. And in pa:

ticular is the Love of M

Mean whereby to kno

teousness of the I

which the Lord will require of thee, and according to which thou wilt be accepted? Then, as you would avoid the imputation of unrighteousness, and as you desire to fecure the favor of thy God, let Mercy be fhewn in the treatment of thy beaft. But it is not the counsel of Balaam only; it is likewife, as was before obferved, the judgment of the wife King of Ifrael, that Mercy and Cruelty are the figns whereby to distinguish a righteous man, and a wicked man. (Prov. xii. 10.) A Righteous man regardeth the Life or HAPPINESS of his BEAST; but the tender Mercies or BowELS of the wicked are cruel. If a man is cruel to his Beast, he must be a Wicked man. If he is

not cruel to him, yet if he regard