simonious. It was in this way of saving that he was able to be liberal.

Indeed liberality can seldom be maintained without economy. It does not give at all times and in all circumstances. It gives with discretion; and if an object can be shown to be good, it can patronize it. Prodigality, on the other hand, shovels out its possessions without regard to circumstances or objects. It can see nothing which it wants without obtaining it, if it has the present means of so doing; and therefore it has little left for the good of others. Or if it has any thing, it lays no contributions on the judgment to ascertain the quality of the object which offers itself for patronage; but gives from the impulse of the moment. It has no plans of giving; and therefore we can make no calculations of finding means at hand for those objects which claim the highest regard.

Liberality, on the contrary, is founded in intelligence and wise calculation. The wants of the community and of the world are taken into view; and some plans are laid for doing all we can towards meeting those wants. A liberal man does not sit down discouraged because he cannot do all things; but takes heed that he be not deficient in duty, and by his example as well as exhortation, leads others to fall into plans of benevolence similar to his own. In this age, when the principle of combined action has been so successfully applied, discouragement is quite out of place. And no liberal man can be ignorant of this principle, for that would argue the absence of those enlightened views which are the very foundation of liberality.

Nor does such a man wait for others to act before he can act himself in the cause of christian charity. There are many who withhold their names till they find whether or not some of their neighbours will give theirs. The plain meaning of this conduct is, that if they can have a face to do nothing, they will embrace the opportunity. If the proposed charity be popular they will give; but if not, they will withhold. The foundation therefore of all that such men do is selfishness-a regard to the building up of their own character, and consequently, to indirectly enriching themselves. But liberality takes a larger view than this. Her argument runs thus: If I give, I may provoke others to good works: if I withhold, I may put a plea into the mouth of covetousness, and defraud Him whose steward I am. My obligations are not measured by any thing but my ability and the proportionate value of the object proposed. This argument of course precludes all waiting except to ascertain one's duty.

Nor does liberality permit a man to rest satisfied in doing nothing for the cause of benevolence, because he is not as wealthy as he expects to be; or because his private expenses seem to be large. There are many who are so engaged in making money that that object engrosses all their attention. Their plan is to save every thing and give nothing. Hereafter they expect to accomplish their purpose of becoming rich, and then to be benevolent. But though riches increase, the spirit of benevolence diminishes. The habit of universal saving which such men form in the acquisition of their wealth stays by them after it is acquired; and they shut their ears to the cry of want and to the demands of the

gospel. They are never rich enough to give. Many a man whose cattle wander on a thousand hills, fancies himself poor because his conceptions of wealth have been graduated by a set of covetous desires, increasing with his acquisitions. As he accumulates property he enlarges his style of living; and therefore his daily expenses seem to eat up all he can spare. Instead of growing liberal, therefore, every acquisition of property which he makes, fastens him down closer to the love of it; and helps to shut up all the avenues to his heart which the calls of charity should find.-Such is the ordinary consequence of doing nothing with what we have, in expectation of doing something with what we may have. Liberality acts not upon such a plan. She considers her present circumstances, and makes appropriations to the cause of benevolence accordingly. It is a principle of common sense as well as of scripture, "Thou knowest not what may be on the morrow;" and therefore, "whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." And upon this principle liberality acts.

Nor do any of her sons fancy themselves entitled to that designation because they incur a few expenses that have some bearing on the public good. There is not necessarily any more virtue in this than in paying the taxes which the laws of our country impose. There are many who suppose themselves liberal because they pay their proportion for the support of the gospel ministry, when the law does not compel them so to do. But this is a mistake. A man may indeed demonstrate a narrow and parsimonious spirit by refusing that support; but in giving it he only complies with the highest dictate of enlightened selfishness. If he can trace ef

fects to their causes in any tolerable degree, he cannot but know that the safety of his dwelling and of his property and even his life itself depends, in various respects, on the influence of the gospel; and that that influence cannot be fully maintained without the ministry of the gospel. He cannot but know too that the moral character of his children, on which will depend the preservation of his property, cannot be favourably formed without the gospel. So that to support this is only paying for the benefit which a man actually receives at the time; and not to do it is to be guilty of enjoying the protecting influence of Christianity at the expense of others; and in no mean sense of the terms, of taking property out of the pockets of our fellow men for our own use. To support the gospel at home is at least no more than a negative virtue. It is like the quality of good spelling in literature, no credit in itself, but a great disgrace to be deficient in it. In the moral empire of Jehovah which he has established in this world, every man is under the highest obligation to this duty; and no other good quality can appear to advantage without it. Liberality then does not embrace this subject. It rather comes under that head of practical duty commonly denominated paying our honest debts.

In short, we may take our definition of liberality from the scriptures themselves. "The liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand." In opposition to the character which the prophet Isaiah had been describing, of a niggardly person who “deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right"-whose great ob

ject is to amass wealth for himself and make the most of his bargains, whatever may be the consequences to integrity and the general good: the liberal man takes large and benevolent views―he thinks and acts ingenuously, and holds his standing by such conduct. The habit of doing good with one's property makes a man ready to appreciate public objects. It gives him ability to look upon wealth in its proper light, as intended to be used. At every proposal which is made to him for benevolent purposes, he is not blinded by the mist of selfishness-a sordid calculation of a few dollars and cents. He can look at the subject with some impartiality, and see whether his money is needed or not. The mere fact of money being demanded, is not enough, as in the case of the niggardly man, to shut his eyes and his ears to the object before him. He looks at it with intelligence; and if it be an object worthy of patronage, his purse is, according to his ability opened. He may not be able to do much. Of that he must be his own judge. But something he can do; and that he does freely.

We never hear from such a man the stale objection to public charities-"We have poor enough at home." This is the man from whom the poor obtain their relief. It is agreeable to his disposition to afford it. As he loves to promote the public good-the good of his fellow men wherever they are; from the same principle he loves to assist the poor that cry before him. His mind is enlarged to the perception of every want; and so far as his ability extends, to relieve it. Many a man of liberality, after having exhausted his own means, has induced others to give; and thus spread the effects of his own nobleness over an extended circle of his acquaintance.