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upon the concerns of other people; while the busy are vigorous and chearful, neither provoked with the follies of private life, nor foreboding visionary evils from the administration of the state. Upon the whole, there is not a more contemptible being in the creation than an idlet man: which leads us to make a comparison between the honour of giving, and that of receiving. The givers are the rich, the honourable, the merciful, the devout, and the industrious: the receivers are the poor, the sick, and the needy; to whom we may add, the covetous, the idle, and the useless: Therefore, if the givers are better than the receivers, it is on this account also, more blessed to give than to receive.

Here we are to lament, that the possession. of wealth, while it confers the ability of doing good, too often takes away the inclination. In some it foments an effeminate principle of self-indulgence; in others a sort of churlish pride, which hardens the mind, and shuts up the heart instead of opening the hand. Married persons, who have no children, and with whom wealth is more easily accumulated, are frequently observed to be more attentive to their economy than those who have large fami

VOL. V.

X

lies;

lies; and age is more avaricious than youth, because it is generally richer.

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If all men were rational, he that becomes rich would congratulate himself in some such words as these: Now I am happy, in that I have a farther opportunity of doing good unto others; for this is the honour and the pleasure of man." He that becomes old as well as rich, would be ready to say within himself, " Man wants but little, and I shall want that little but for a short time: while I have the opportunity which I am shortly to lose, let me do good unto all men, especially unto them that are of the houshold of faith." Thus would men reason if they reasoned right: and thus they will reason, when true religion hath shewed them the brevity and vanity of life, the claims of their fellow creatures and fellow Christians, the uncertainty of possession, the certainty of retribution in a better state, where it shall at last be blessed to receive. Nothing shall be given, nothing will be wanted: all shall receive of the fulness of God: the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, shall be replenished together: they who have been able to do good shall be happy to find that its reward is eternal; and they who have suffered want and weakness shall triumph that the evil days are to return no more.

I am now to intreat your attention, while I apply some of the past doctrine to the occasion of our present meeting, for the support of the widows and orphans of deceased clergymen ; a noble and pious institution, which does honour to those who promote it, whether of the clergy or laity, and will, we trust, give them a title to the blessedness in the text.

Some say the clergy think of nothing but receiving, and are more attentive to their worldly profits than all other men. But from whom do such censures come? Generally, either from those who have a sordid interest in defrauding them of their dues; or from those who wish there were no clergy, because they wish there were no religion. Uncharitable and ill-disposed minds endeavour to cover their own atheistical disaffection to the service of God with the faults and weaknesses of the clergy, whether real or imaginary. But if such an accusation is brought against the clergy in general, it is not true. The institution and support of charitable societies by the clergy themselves in almost every diocese of this province, for the benefit of their poorer brethren and their posterity, is a sign that they have views beyond their own present advantage. Consider them at large as an order of men, or profession, and it will be found that they are as little

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*

little guilty of coveting other men's goods, and making a property of their neighbours, as any order of men whatsoever. For it may justly be said of them, that they expect nothing but what is their own. The tithes or tenths allotted for their support, were freely granted on a religious principle by the crown, with the consent of the Lords and Commons of the realm, in the Saxon times, when the king was proprietor of all the lands in the kingdom; and the charter is still extant in our ancient historians They were not purchased by any owner, nor are they paid for by any occupier of the land; if they were, the rents would be at least one seventh part higher than they now are. The tenant only surrenders what the land has been charged with for nine hundred and twentyseven years; and so little can be laid to the account of the clergy for exacting it with rigour, that I believe there are few amongst them, who will not readily acquiesce in the terms made for themselves by the neighbouring lay-impropriators. It is hard upon them, that in some instances, where the tenths have been surrendered peaceably to laymen, confederacies have been formed and illegal assemblies convened, to prevent the taking of the tenths in kind by clergymen.

As

* See Monast. Angl. Vol. I. p. 100, and Collier's Eccle. Hist. Vol. 1. p. 156, &c.

As this evil arises only from the corruption of the times, the reformation of the times would be the natural and the best remedy. To change the tenure of clergymen's property, may be found the worst remedy of all; for their present tenure as owners of tithes is wiser and safer, more agreeable to the laws of God, to the practice of all ages and all religions, Patriarchal, Jewish, Heathen and Christian; and consequently better with all its inconveniences than it could possibly be in any other form, or on any other authority than that of their ancient charter and for those inconveniences, time may bring forth some remedy which we cannot now foresee.

I am very sensible, the mode of receiving tenths was once more agreeable than at present. There was a time when the people dedicated their tithes with gladness*, and made their offerings on a principle of devotion; as knowing that God is not an indifferent spectator of what passes in his church; that he could either send a blessing upon their fruits, according to his promise †, or punish their fraud and $acrilege with a temporal curse upon their affairs. This was once the persuasion of the people of England; and then there was a

• Ecclus xxxv. 9.

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+ See Mal. iii. 10.

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