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DISCOURSE VI.

THE DUTY OF CONSIDERING THE POOR.

PSALM XLI. 1.

Blessed is he that considereth the poor.

As the world was made by wisdom, it requires wisdom to understand the frame of it. The more a man increases in wisdom, the more he will understand it; and the more he understands, the more he will approve. The full perfection of a complex machine in all its parts, with their respective bearings and mutual dependencies on each other, is best comprehended by an artist. Superficial thinkers see little, and blame; deep thinkers see much, and commend.

In viewing the constitution of the moral system, there is scarcely a phenomenon that strikes so forcibly upon the mind, or occasions so much perplexity in it, as that of the inequality of mankind, or the state and condition of the poor. In the passage of Scripture which has been just read, we are invited by the promise of a blessing, to employ our thoughts on that subject: "Blessed is he that considereth the poor;" that giveth himself thoroughly to study and understand their case, and why it is as it is; to see the reason of the thing, and his own duty resulting from it.

The inequality of mankind is a plain and undeniable matter of fact: nor does it happen occasionally, in this or that age, in this or that country: it is universal and unavoidable, at least in the situation of affairs which has taken place in the world since the fall. From that period, it ever has been so, it ever will be so, it ever must be so, till the time of the restitution of all things. What, then, will be the first consideration with a rich man, when he sees a poor man? If he be endowed with a clear head and a good heart, will he not reason in some such manner as the following?

God has given the earth to the children of men, for the support of all. While I abound, why does this man want? Plainly, that we may bear one another's burdens; that my abundance may supply his need, may alleviate his distress, may help to sustain the affliction under which he groans; that I may take off his load of woe, and he take off the superfluity of my wealth; that so the stream, now broken and turbid, may again find its level, and flow pure and tranquil. Otherwise, if he be suffered thus to carry on his shoulders through life the weight of all this accumulated misery, should he murmur and complain, would it not be with some colour of justice, and must not I in some measure be answerable for his so doing? We are formed, by the same Artificer, of the same materials; our trust is in the same Saviour, and we must stand before the same Judge; yet there are, on my side, health, affluence, and joy; on his, sickness, indigence, and sorrow: I have enough to supply every want that luxury itself can

fancy; while he has not wherewithal to support his family, or to satisfy his own hunger. Surely, for this very end were riches bestowed upon me, and not without a design is this poor object thrown in my way, that I might use them aright, and justify the ways of Providence. The inequality of nature shall be rectified by religion. This man shall have as He much as he needs; and I can enjoy no more. shall not want, while I have to spare. God, who has given to man, delights that man should give; and he who gives most, does most resemble his Maker.

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Nor let the rich imagine, that what they thus give is thrown away, or given to those who can make no return let them not grudge to bestow some part of their wealth on the poor-they bestow it on those, to whom, under God, they owe the whole. For what, I beseech you, is the nature of society? Is it composed only of the noble and opulent? Did you ever hear, or read, of one that was so composed? Such a society could not subsist for a week. As the members of it would not work, they could not eat. Of what value were your estates in the country, if the poor did not cultivate them? Of what account the riches of the nobleman or the gentleman, if they must want the comforts, the conveniences, and even the necessaries of life? "The king himself is served "by the field," and, without the labours of the husbandman, must starve in his palace, surrounded by his courtiers and guards. The world depends for subsistence on the plough, the sickle, and the

flail. To what purpose warehouses of merchandise in the city? Who but the poor will submit to the drudgery of exporting our own commodities, and importing others in return? Nay, by whom but by the poor could they be prepared either for consumption at home, or exportation abroad; could they be manufactured from first to last; could they be brought, and lodged in the warehouses of the merchant; could such warehouses be built, and fitted to receive them?

Mankind, in short, constitute one vast body, to the support of which every member contributes his share; and by all of them together, as by so many greater and lesser wheels in a machine, the business of the public is carried on, its necessities are served, and its very existence is upholden. And in this body we may truly say, that the lowest and least honourable members are as necessary as any others; indeed, they have, in one sense, a more abundant honour; for though the head be, without all doubt, a more noble part than either the feet or the hands, yet what would soon be the fate of the best head in the world if these its servants should cease to minister to it? The rich, therefore, cannot live alone, without the poor; and they never support the poor but the poor have first supported them. And should they be permitted to perish by whom we all live? Forbid it prudence and gratitude, as well as philosophy and religion!

From hence it appears, that the inequality of

a See M'Farlan, p. 236.

mankind is not the effect of chance, but the ordinance of Heaven, by whose appointment, as manifested in the constitution of the universe, some must command, while others obey; some must labour, while others direct their labours; some must be rich, while others are poor. The Scripture inculcates the same important truth, and the inference to be deduced from it-"The poor shall never cease "out of the land; therefore I command thee, saying, "Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy bro"ther, to thy poor, and to thy needy in thy land"." Such is the method directed by Heaven of balancing the account between the different orders of men. Any other scheme of equality would destroy itself as soon as formed. And politicians should be extremely cautious how they propagate principles tending to render the subordinate ranks in society discontented with their condition, and desirous of aspiring to one for which they were never designed by Providence, of whose arrangements in the moral, we may say, as the Psalmist does of those in the natural world, "In wisdom hast thou made them all!"

The foregoing consideration will suggest another to the mind of every one, whose meditations are turned towards the subject. For since there is, and, to answer the purposes of society, there must be, such inequality among men, it is but natural to ask the man who finds himself in a situation preferable. to that of his neighbour, and yet refuses to have compassion upon him in his distress-How came

Deut. xv. 11.

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