more blessed. The conduct of a man, whose expenditures are large and his donations small, is literally monstrous. I will not act so out of all proportion. If I must retrench, I will retrench from my expenditures, and not from my benefactions. 6. The time for giving is short, and therefore I will give liberally while I have the opportunity of giving at all. Soon I shall be compelled to have done giving. 7. A blessing is promised to liberal giving, and I want it. The liberal soul shall be made fat. Therefore I will be liberal. And he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." Then I will water. "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth." Therefore I will scatter; and not sparingly, but bountifully; for "he which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." 8. I will give liberally, because it is not a clear gift, it is a loan. "He that has pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord;" lendeth to the best of paymasters, on the best security, and at the highest rate of interest; for he renders double, aye, a hundred fold in this life, to say nothing of the life to come. I will lend him liberally. 9. I will give liberally, because the times are hard where the Gospel is not. 10. I will give liberally, because there are many who would, but cannot; and many that can, but will not. It is so much the more necessary, therefore, that they should who are both able and inclined. I used to say, "I will not give liberally, because others do not. There is a richer man than I am, who does not give so much as I do." But now, from the same premises, I draw the opposite conclusion. Because others do not give liberally, I will. 11. I have sometimes tried giving liberally, and I do not believe I have ever lost any thing by it. I have seen others try it, and they did not seem to lose any thing by it; and, on the whole, I think a man is in no great danger of losing, who puts liberally into the treasury of the Lord and possessor of all things, and the giver of every good and perfect gift. 12. And finally, when I ask myself if I shall ever be sorry for giving liberally, I hear from within a prompt and most decided negative, "No, never." Wherefore I conclude that I will give liberally. It is a good resolution, I am certain; and now I will take care that I do not spoil it all by putting an illiberal construction on liberally. I will understand it as meaning freely, cheerfully, largely, whether the lexicographers say so or not; or, in other words, as meaning what I ought to give, and a little more. I will tell you how I will do. An object being present. ed to me, when I have ascertained what justice requires me to give, I will add something, lest, through insidious selfishness, I may have underrated my ability; and that, if I err, I may be sure to err on the right side. Then I will add a little to my donation out of generosity. And when I have counted out what justice requires, and what generosity of her free will offers, then I will think of Him, who, though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we, through his poverty, might be rich; and I say not that I will add a little more, but, how can I keep back any thing? "Were the whole realm of nature mine, 24. The Calls are so Many. This is one of the most common complaints of those who are called upon to contribute to charitable objects: "The calls are so many," they say. Now, let us inquire into this matter. 1. Are there really so many? Reckon them up. Perhaps they are not, after all, so many as you imagine. Any thing which annoys us, at intervals, is apt to be considered as coming oftener than it really does. When a man has rent to pay, how frequent.y quarter day seems to come round! But it is not so with him who is the receiver. The calls are not, in fact, so many as you imagine. I asked a wealthy lady once, who thought she gave a great deal away in charity, to keep an accurate account for one year of all she gave away, particularly to the religious charities; (which are those that are most complained of;) and I predicted that she would find, at the close of the year, that her donations had been less than she imagined. She did so, and at the end of the year came to me and said she was perfectly ashamed to find that she had spent so much and given so little. She found that the calls were not "so very many." 2. If the calls are so many, yet do not make that a reason for refusing them all. I fear that some do. But surely that the calls are so many, is no reason that you should not comply with some of them. It is only a reason why you should not comply with all. Meet one-half of them generously, if you cannot meet them all. You acknowledge that there ought to be some calls, when you complain that they are so many. That 3. If the calls are many, are they more than the wants? Ought they not to be as many? Would you have the calls fewer than the wants? would never do ;--then some wants would never be supplied. Besides, you should consider who makes or permits the wants-and therefore the calls-to be so many, lest your complaint cast a reflection ou God. If the calls are so many-too many, and we must dispense with some, which shall they be? Widows and orphans, and the poor generally, you dare not, as you fear God, except from your charities. Will you refuse the call of the Bible agent, or the Tract agent? Will you withhold from Foreign Missions, or from Home Missions, or from both? Or will you say, "We will contribute to send out and support missionaries both at home and abroad, but we will not aid in their education? Let them get that as they can. Let them make their way through the academy, the college, and the theological seminary as they can. And let Sunday schools establish and support themselves; and temperance agents see, since they are so much in favor of abstinence, if they cannot get along without the staff of life." For my part, I do not know what calls to except, and therefore I judge the safer way to be to receive none. 4. If the calls are many, the expenditures are more; and we not only spend, but waste, in more ways than we give. Turn 5. If the calls you receive are so many, suppose, in order to avoid them, that you make some. agent for some society, and you shall see how much more pleasant it is to make calls than to receive them. We will excuse you from contributing, if you will solicit. But that you would not like at all. "You cannot bear begging. It is the most unpleasant thing in the world to apply to people for money." Very |