sower, both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness." The seed sown is that which the faithful bounty of a Christian trusts liberally to God on the assurance of an abundant harvest; the fruits of righteousness, the reward of grace here, and of glory hereafter, to be plentifully returned for it. Again, Timothy is directed, "Charge them that are rich in this world that they .. do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” And of all works of bounty, that to which we are now called has the greatest promises; for it is not only a mercy to the poor for Christ's sake, but also a direct enlargement of His kingdom, and a furtherance of His glory; so that when we are laid in our graves, and our spirits are at rest in Christ, we may not only still speak, but in a manner still labour and serve here upon earth, being partakers in the labours of every faithful minister in every church which has been planted at our cost for the glory of God's holy name. Thus may we be classed among those, who having "turned many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever." How great then is our privilege, who are called to take part in a work so blessed; to be imitators of Christ, and

1 2 Cor. ix. 6.

conformed to His image, in giving of our own for our brethren; actuated by His love as our motive, by His promises as our encouragement, by His glory as our reward. And shall we grudge anything that we can give or do? surely one might rather expect, that the office of the Christian minister would be to restrain the eagerness of those who would press in to claim a share in the work that men would come as of old ', "every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, to bring the Lord's offering," that they would come both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and bring bracelets, and earrings, and jewels of gold, and "every thing which is needed for the service of the Lord," until more were offered than can be received, and until the bounty of the people were of necessity restrained. It might be expected that our nobles would be jealous even of the splendour which is one of the duties of their station, and would gladly abate something from their personal enjoyments, and part with their yachts and their racing studs, rather than miss this opportunity; that our women would choose to go unadorned here, that so they might shine the brighter in glory hereafter; that our merchants would diminish their capital and be content to leave less to their heirs; that our tradesmen would give up something of their gains

1 Exodus xxxv. 21, 22.

and their comforts; our very labourers something "of their necessities;" that so each and all might have treasure in heaven, and secure to themselves a portion of that inheritance, which is stable and firm as the word of the Most High. So be it, by God's grace! May we give up much for Him, may we venture much on His word; and then assuredly we shall receive much, and shall reap an abundant return for every risk and every sacrifice.

It may not be useless in closing the present section, to offer some suggestions on the mode in which those who desire to exceed the scanty measure of modern liberality, may most advantageously apply their bounty.

And first, let every man, instead of giving one large sum merely, and then suffering himself to remain contented, deliberately dedicate to God a certain measure of each year's income, to be set apart as soon as he receives it, and no longer accounted as his own. The exact proportion to be thus consecrated, each must determine for himself, after a solemn consideration of his own circumstances and duties, in the sight of God Almighty. "Let every man do as he is disposed in his own heart." There are some kinds of property which entail on their owners many expensive duties, and surround them with many dependants; from these less of course can be spared for any other object. Our Heavenly Father knoweth all these things; and if there be

first a willing mind, He will accept it, "according to that a man hath, not according to that he hath not." Again there are those whose income is almost unburdened with such calls. These things each man should weigh and consider for himself. Only let him resolve, that, whether he gives more or less, it shall be something which he will miss, which implies some self-denial; otherwise he does but deceive himself, and lays up no treasure in heaven. If we diligently labour to do so, we shall probably find ourselves able to set apart more the second year, than seemed possible at the beginning of the first. We are told that Bishop Wilson in this manner, gradually augmented the consecrated part of his income; until from one tenth it became five-tenths of his This he gave episcopal revenues 66 over and above a decent hospitality." And moreover we find an entry in his journal, in the following remarkable words. "To the glory of God, I dedicate the interest of all my moneys to pious uses, so long as I have wherewithal to live on besides. Blessed be God for giving me a heart and will to do so." Surely there are many among us who might do as much; and almost every one may begin by a tenth part, a measure recommended to us by a divine precedent. Let us do what we are able: "And if we do extend beyond our measures, and give more than we are able; we have the Philippians and many holy persons for our precedent, we have St. Paul for our encourage

ment, we have Christ for our counsellor, we have God for our rewarder, and a great treasure in heaven for our recompense and restitution 1."

When we have set apart our offering to God, we should determine what measure of it is due to the temporal wants of those to whom circumstances give the first claim upon our bounty. And after them, we can hardly have any call on our charity more urgent than the spiritual destitution of so many thousands of our own countrymen, which, as we have seen, can be fully supplied only by the complete developement of the parochial system. For this purpose, let us give largely and wisely. One most obvious method is that of supporting those societies which are already labouring in the work. This is the special duty of those who not having much to give, should be thankful to unite their own to the offerings of many of their brethren. Societies, as we have seen, are to the poor a great blessing: they afford to them the same opportunities of self-denial which are furnished to the rich by great and splendid works. They have moreover an important function of their own, in that they encourage great undertakings, by preventing that sense of hopelessness which often withholds men's hands. Thus, churchbuilding societies occasion the erection of many churches, to which they often contribute no

1 Jer. Taylor, Holy Living, ch. iv. 8.

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