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ing a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow. His beneficence consists in giving to the wealthy, and flattering the powerful. A man may do good on Seneca's plan for fifty years, and not relieve the distresses of one poor man, nor contribute a particle to the happiness o of mankind. A man may do good in Seneca's way, and yet be a kidnapper, a slave-dealer, a thief, and a murderer. A man may do all that Seneca advises, and yet neither teach his servants, nor help his poor neighbours, nor take one single step towards improving the character or condition of mankind. A person might be one of Seneca's beneficent men, and yet be as selfish and hardhearted as the devil; and the world might be full of such benefactors, and yet be full of want and misery,

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Christ points out to his disciples quite a different course. Both by his instructions and example he calls attention first of all to the poor. He says not one word of giving to the rich; he regards it as a kind of selfishness, and forbids it.

Christ directs people when they make a feast, to invite the poor, and the lame, and the blind, and the friendless, and not their rich friends and neighbours. He commands us to love our neighbours as ourselves, and to do to them as we would have them do to us. He teaches us that all mankind are to be considered as our neighbours, and that we are to prove our love for them by endeavouring to relieve their distresses, and make thein sharers of our joys. The parable of the Good Samaritan, in Luke, and the exhibition of the Last Judgment, in the twentyfifth of Matthew, are as different from any thing in Seneca as light from darkness.

Christ requires every thing that can be spared to be given to the poor, and nothing to be given to those who are able to recompense us again; but Seneca's advice is just the contrary. Christ commands his disciples to look to the spiritual interests of their brethren. He commands them to instruct the ignorant, to correct the wicked, and to bring all men to glorify their Father which is in heaven. For this he teaches them to pray, and for this he commands them to labour. Seneca says

nothing about this. He seems never to have supposed it possible that the world should be any better than it was. He never seems to have had a thought of instructing mankind in truth, and turning them all to righteousness, His precepts go on the supposition that all things were to continue as they were; here and there a thoughtful man, and all the rest untaught, uncared for, and 1 blessed. He only aimed at regulating the intercourse of the rich and powerful among themselves; he left the rest of the world to perish.

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Christ proposes no less than the complete regeneration whole world. His object is to raise all mankind ignorance and depravity, and so to secure to person upon earth a full share of all good things.

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6 every Seneca promises no immortal blessings to those who do good, nor does he threaten any loss or sorrow to the unkind. He can give no assurance that the beneficent shall be rewarded at all, or that the want of beneficence shall in any way be punished. Seneca had no perfect example of beneficence to present, nor any such obligations to urge as those which are urged on us by the love of our Redeemer. He has no motive that can any way produce benevolence in the minds of his readers. Not so with Christ. Christ brings immortality to light, and offers to those who do good the riches of heaven, and threatens to the unmerciful, eternal death. He assures men that they shall reap as they sow; that their acts of beneficence shall produce a harvest of happiness. He exhibits the loveliest and the most perfect examples. He points his disciples to the conduct of their Father in heaven, and he furnishes another example in his own behaviour. Every comfort we enjoy is a motive to beneficence, and every hope of future comfort. The system of Christ is adapted to make us merciful and beneficent, and to spread the seeds of happiness through the whole family of ; but

Seneca tends to no such thin man.

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leaves the system sorrow, without the cure or the alleviation will men thus labour to

of a single evil. exalt what is evil, and to deprecate what is excellent?

Why will they thus make war against the loveliest and the kindest system in the world? Why will they not, with kind and honest hearts, adopt a system so full of love, and so fraught with happiness, and by its truth so well commended to the belief of every mind?

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TRUE GREATNESS; OR, THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST NOT INIMITABLE. zald

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TRUE greatness of character, greatness of the highest order, far from being repulsive and discouraging, is singularly accessible and imitable, and, instead of severing a being from others, fits him to be their friend and model. A man who stands apart from his race, who has few points of contact with other men, who has a style and manner which strike awe, and keep others far from him, whatever rank he may hold in his own and in others eyes, wants, after all, true greatness of mind. A great soul is known by its enlarged, strong, and tender sympathies. True elevation of mind does not take a being out of the circle of those who are below him, but binds him faster to them, and gives them advantages for gaining a closer attachment and conformity to him.. 2010 Greatness of character is a communicable attribute; I should say, singularly communicable. It has nothing exclusive in its nature. It is not a devotion has nothing peculiar, exclusive objects, but the adoption of public interests, the consecration of the mind to the cause of virtue and happiness in the creation. Greatness is not a secret, solitary principle, working by itself and refusing participation, but frank and open-hearted; so large in its views, so liberal in its feelings, so expansive in its principles, so beneficent in its labours, as naturally and necessarily to attract sympathy and co-operation. It is selfishness that repels men; and true greatness has not a stronger racteristic

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far from than its freedom from every selfish taint. So

far from being imprisoned in private interests, it covets nothing which it may not impart. So far from bring absorbed in its own distinctions, it discerns nothing so quickly and joyfully as the capacities and pledges of greatness

in others; and counts no labour so noble, as to call forth noble sentiments, and the consciousness of divine power, in less improved minds.

I know that those who call themselves great on earth are apt to estrange themselves from their inferiors; and the multitude, cast down by their high bearing, never think of proposing them as examples. But this springs wholly from the low conception of those whom we call the great, and shows a mixture of vulgarity of mind with their superior endowments. Genuine greatness is marked by simplicity, unostentatiousness, self-forgetfulness, a hearty interest in others, a feeling of brotherhood with the human family, and a respect for every intellectual and immortal being, as capable of making progress towards its own elevation. A superior mind, enlightened and kindled by just views of God and of creation, regards its gifts and powers as so many bonds of union with other beings; as given it, not to nourish self-elevation, but to be employed for others, and, still more, to be communicated to others. Such greatness has no reserve, and especially no affected dignity of deportment. It is too conscious of its own power, and too beneficent, to desire to entrench itself behind forms and ceremonies; and when circumstances permit such a character to manifest itself to inferior beings, it is beyond all others the most winning, and most fitted to impart itself, or to call forth a kindred elevation of feeling. I know not in history an individual so easily comprehended as Jesus Christ, for nothing is so intelligible as sincere disinterested love. know not any being who is so fitted to take hold on all orders of minds; and accordingly he drew after him the unenlightened, the publican, and the sinner. It is a sad mistake, then, to imagine that Jesus Christ is too great to allow us to think of intimacy with him, and to think of making him our standard.

I.

Bounds of Charity.-Lend not beyond thy ability, nor refuse to lend out of thy ability; especially when it will help others more than it can hurt thee.

If thy debtor be honest and capable, thou hast thy

money again, if not with increase, with praise: if he prove insolvent, don't ruin him to get that which it will not ruin thee to lose: for thou art but a steward, and Another is thy owner, and master, and judge.

The more merciful acts thou doest, the more mercy wilt thou receive; and if with a charitable employment of thy temporal riches, thou gainest eternal treasures, thy purchase is infinite: thou wilt have found the art of multiplying indeed.

Lending and Borrowing.-The most forward to borrow are often the most backward to pay; and careless lending is much more likely to make men rogues than to make them friends.

If thy friend will not help himself, it is in vain for thee to try to help him; and if he prove a true friend to himself, he will not often need the aid of others.

And many will help, when the demand is little and infrequent, who would be weary or afraid, if the demands were large and numerous.

It is sometimes cheaper to give than to lend a shilling will often clear you if given, as easily as a pound that is lent; and it will often do as much good to the receiver, as well.

I have known men ruined by having money lent them, who, if they had been left to their own resources, would probably have done well; though I doubt not but that others have been raised from wretchedness by seasonable help, who, if they had been left to themselves, would have perished.

As lending may produce effects so various, it requires no little wisdom to guide us in the practice.

"The righteous sheweth mercy and lendeth," says the Scripture; but it is always implied that necessity exists in the borrower, as well as ability in the lender.

And the righteous is left to his own discretion, both in reference to the method and the measure of his help. He who considers himself forbidden by the Gospel to sue his neighbour, has need to be careful how he lends; and he who expects to have to sue for his loan, has need to be wary also.

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