denied her,—the affecting loss of him as soon as he was grown up, and his restoration to life by Elisha, after he had been some time dead; the whole of which, though extremely interesting, and forming such incidents as would afford sufficient matter for instruction, yet, as it will not fall within the intention of this discourse, I shall beg leave at this time barely to consider those previous circumstances of it, to which the text confines me; upon which I shall enlarge with such reflections as occur, and then proceed to that practical use and exhort. ation which will naturally fall from it,

We find that, after Elisha had rescued the distressed widow and her two sons from the hands of the creditor, by the miraculous multiplication of her oil, that he passed on to Shunem, where, we read, was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread; and so it was that, as often as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. The sacred historian speaks barely of her temporal condition and station in life, "That she was a great 66 woman," but describes not the more material part of her (her virtues and character) because they were more evidently to be discovered from the transaction itself; from which it appears, that she was not only wealthy, but likewise charitable, and of a very considerate turn of mind; for after many repeated invitations and entertainments at her house, finding his occasions called him to a frequent passage that way, she moves her husband to set up and furnish a lodging for him, with all the conveniences which the simplicity of those times required: "And she said unto her husband, "Behold, now I perceive that this is an holy man "of God, which passeth by us continually, let us “make him a little chamber, I pray thee, on the "wall, and let us set for him there a bed, and a "table, and a stool, and a candlestick; and it shall

"be when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in "thither.". She perceived he was a holy man; she had many opportunities, as he passed by them continually, of observing his behaviour and deportment, which she had carefully remarked, and saw plainly what he was: - that the sanctity and simplicity of his manners, the severity of his life,his zeal for the religion of his God, and the uncommon fervency of his devotion, when he worshipped before him, which seemed his whole business and employment upon earth, all bespoke him not a man of this world, but one whose heart and affections were fixed upon another object, which was dearer and more important to him. But as such outward appearances may, and often have been counterfeited, so that the actions of a man are certainly the only interpreters to be relied on, whether such colours are true or false, so she had heard that all was of a piece there, and that he was throughout consistent; that he had never in any one instance of his life acted as if he had any views in the affairs of this world, in which he had never interested himself at all, but where the glory of his God, or the good and preservation of his fellowcreatures, at first inclined him: that, in a late instance, before he came to Shunem, he had done one of the kindest and most charitable actions that a good man could have done in assisting the widow and fatherless; and, as the fact was singular, and had just happened before her knowledge of him, no doubt she had heard the story with all the tender circumstances which a true report would give it in his favour, namely, that a certain woman, whose husband was lately dead, and had left her with her children in a very helpless condition, very destitute, — and, what was still worse, charged with a debt she was not able to pay; that her creditor bore exceeding hard upon her, and, finding her.

little worth in substance, was going to take the advantage which the law allowed of seizing her two sons for his bondsmen; so that she had not only lost her husband, which had made her miserable enough already, but was going to be bereaved of her children, who were the only comfort and support of her life: that upon her coming to Elisha with this sad story, he was touched with compassion for her misfortunes, and had used all the power and interest which he had with his God to relieve and befriend her, which, in an unheard-of manner, by the miraculous increase of her oil, which was the only substance she had left, he had so bountifully effected, as not only to disentangle her from her difficulties in paying the debt, but withal, what was still more generous, to enable her to live comfortably the remainder of her days. She considered that charity and compassion was so leading a virtue, and had such an influence upon every other part of a man's character, as to be a sufficient proof by itself of the inward disposition and goodness of the heart; but that so engaging an instance of it as this, exercised in so kind and so seasonable a manner, was a demonstration of his, and that he was in truth what outward circumstances bespoke, a holy man of God.

As the Shunamite's principle and motive for her hospitality to Elisha was just, as it sprung from an idea of the worth and merit of her guest, so likewise was the manner of doing it kind and considerate. It is observable, she does not solicit her husband to assign him an apartment in her own house, - but to build him a chamber on the wall, apart; she considered, that true piety wanted no witnesses, and was always most at ease when most private; that the tumult and distraction of a large family were not fit for the silent meditations of so holy a man, who would perpetually there meet with something either to interrupt his devotion,