tion. He has it in his power to give, but not in his heart. He is enriched with abundance, but not with liberality,

Done giving!" well then, if he will not give his money, he must keep it. And yet how short the time he can keep it! Had he not better freely give away some of it, than to wait for it all to be torn from him? The thought that he has given, will be at least as agreeable a meditation in his dying moments, as the reflection that he spent, or that he laid up.

I hope that gentleman who said "I have done giving," will recall his resolution, and taking revenge on himself for having made it, give more liberally than ever.

23. "I Will Give Liberally."

It is a good resolution, founded on good reasons, some of which I will state, in the hope that others may be induced to come to a similar determination.

I will give liberally, for the following reasons, viz. 1. Because the objects for which I am called upon to give are great and noble. It is the cause of letters and religion, of man and God, for which my donations are wanted. The interests of time and eternity both are involved in it. Now, it is a shame

to give calculatingly and sparingly to such a cause, and for such objects. If one gives at a.., he should give liberally. Nothing can justify a person's putting in only two mites, but its being all his living.

2. Liberal donations are needed. The cause not only deserves them, but requires them. It takes a great deal to keep the present operations a going; and we must every year extend the works. Do you not know that we have the world to go over, and the millennium is just at hand? Look, the morning of that day is getting bright. We can almost see the sun peering above the horizon.

3. My means either enable me now to give libe rally, or, by economy and self-denial, may be so increased as to enable me to give liberally. I will give liberally so long as I do not resort to economy and self-denial; and if I do resort to them, that will enable me to give liberally.

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4. I will give liberally, because I have received liberally. God has given liberally. He has not only filled my cup, but made it run over. He has given good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over." I will imitate him in my gifts to others, and especially in my donations to his cause.

5. I am liberal in my expenditures, and therefore I will be in my donations. Why should I spend much and give little? It is not because spending is more blessed. No, it is giving that is said to be

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.

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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, ayc, 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 presented 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,
"That were a present far too small :
"Love so amazing, so divine,

"Demands my soul, my life, my all."

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 frequently quarter day seems to come round! But it is not so