than ten days or a fortnight. It is known to many of the poor whom I visit, that I act as the almoner of some of my friends. But it is quite as well known to them, that I will not, in any way, minister to their vices. I must indeed, in this office, either impoverish myself or have my Poor's Purse supplied by others; for I cannot daily, and from morning till night, be passing from one to another of the abodes of sickness and want, and witness distress which it would be cruel not to endeavor to relieve, and pray with, and for these suffering families, and leave with them nothing but my advice, and exhortations, and prayers. I cannot say to virtuous and industrious widows, whose whole earnings of the week will barely pay their rent, and who sometimes cannot obtain the employment by which they may earn a shilling, but who yet have children that look to them for bread; or to the aged poor; or to the feeble and sick poor, who are but partially covered from the cold, and who are without fuel, and without food," be ye warmed, and fed, and clothed," while I give them none of those things that are needful for the body. I am ready, as far as it may be done, to maintain, and to act upon, the principle, " if a man will not work, neither shall he eat." But if he cannot work, or cannot obtain employment,-and strange as it may seem to some, this is a very possible case,-nor eat, except he obtain the bread of charity, shall it be withholden? There are cases too, requiring indeed great caution, in which, however, we must not leave the unoffending family of a base man to suffer without mitigation all the miseries to which his vices may expose them. I would therefore propose, that the minister at large be the almoner of those, who cannot themselves visit the poor;

and that he shall always hold himself accountable for the Purse, to those who shall

He who has not a judg

disbursements of his Poor's contribute to the supply of it. ment and caution that can be trusted in this work, is not qualified for the office of a minister to the poor. If a man is so easily to be deceived, that he is not to be trusted with the bestowment of alms, is he fitted, I would ask, to be a spiritual guide?

But it is not alone by alms-giving, that he is to seek the immediate and the temporal good of those to whom he ministers. He is to be to the poor, emphatically, and in all things, a christian friend. And innumerable are the cases in which his advice, and personal assistance, may do much to save them from dependence on charity. I need not descend to examples. It is enough on this topic to say, that whatever may be the circumstances in which the poor may want the direction, or the encouragement, which a christian friend can supply, in this exigence I would have them feel, that they may find this friend in the minister who visits in their families.

The question may arise, whence is to be obtained the support of this permanent ministry for the poor? I reply, that if three or four of our churches will unite in the cause, or if the benevolent societies in three or four of our churches will cooperate for this end, they will, I think, do more good, and render a more useful service to Christianity, than by any other direction which they can give to their charity. The support of a minister for a quarter of the city, in which, as far as shall be practicable, every poor family shall be brought within the pale of christian sympathy, and under christian influences, will

not be a great burden upon three or four of our churches. Let the minister be responsible to those from whom he receives his appointment and support, and let him give periodical reports of his labors, and of the condition and wants of those to whom he ministers, and the beneficial results of this establishment, I believe, will be as favorable upon these churches, as upon the poor to whom they shall thus be instruments of extending the knowledge and blessings of the christian salvation.

At all events, let the actual condition of the poor in cities, and the character and objects of the ministry which I propose, be well understood, and it will not long be found difficult to make provision for this ministry. It will be felt to be of at least equal importance, with any mission to the heathen world; while it is exposed to no one of the objections which are brought against the cause of foreign missions. It will, I am confident, call forth the affectionate interests of many, whose hearts are open to the demands of human want and suffering; and donations will be made, and there will be legacies, to permanent funds for this object. I heartily wish that any who are at once blessed with abundance, and who feel their responsibility for it as stewards of God, would accompany me for a few days, or a week, in my pastoral visits; and I will engage, in return, never to ask of them any patronage of the cause. It shall be left with every

one's conscience. Nor indeed should I doubt whether a man, who loves the city in which he has accumulated his fortune, and who has known by his own experience the blessings of christian institutions, and is desirous to do the greatest good which he can do with the means of good which God has given him, will consider this service

as deserving either of slow, or of stinted bounty.-I speak freely, for I ask nothing for myself. But I am greatly solicitous to see a commencement made of the work, which I may hope will be continued as long as our city shall be blessed with a ministry. The example will be followed by other cities, and we shall thus do good far beyond the narrow limits of our own borders. It is manifestly the design of Providence, that the poor, for whom Christ died as well as for the rich, shall be made the charge of the rich, in the great concern of their spiritual instruction and salvation. And if on us devolves the accomplishment of this design, let each one determine for himself his responsibility in regard to it.

To the benefactors of my Poor's Purse, I render my hearty and best thanks. They have done much to gladden me in my work, as well as to bless the poor; and they have been instruments of relieving a great amount of want and suffering. I have kept, as I believe, an accurate account of my receipts und expenditures for the poor, from the beginning of my service as a minister at large; and my books are open for the examination of any one, by whom any money has been committed to my charge. May I be allowed to say, that although much less is demanded for charity in summer than in winter, there yet still are, and will be, many among the poor who are sick; many who are too feeble, and too much broken, for entire self-support; and many in various circumstances of affliction, to whose pressing wants I must occasionally contribute. As, therefore, very little remains with me of the contributions of the winter, I shall very gratefully receive whatever any may be disposed to bestow.

Be not weary in well doing; for in due season ye will if ye faint not.

reap,

In the several departments of the service of a city minister at large, to which I have called your attention, I have wished and endeavored to do my duty. Within the last six months I have made a few more than thirteen hundred visits. Am I asked, what have been the results of these pastoral visits? I answer that of very many of them I have nothing to say, but that they were intended for good. I do not doubt, however, in the greater part even of these cases, whether some good was done. The good accomplished is not always to be determined by the good which is to be seen. It is very possible, and by no means improbable, that some may thus have been awakened, convinced of sin, and brought to humiliation before God, and to better endeavors than they had ever before made for christian virtue, of whom no report can be made, till the day in which the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed. Nor is it improbable that some may thus have been encouraged and strengthened, and carried on in the way to life eternal, of whose greatest trials, and conflicts, and conquests, we may have but little knowledge, till we and they shall see the end of our faith, in our final salvation. I have, however, the happiness to know, that there are those to whom this ministry has been, and is, a great and most essential blessing. There are those to whom it has brought a great improvement of their condition, even as regards their means of self support and of comfort in this world; and there are those whom it has brought to a greater contentment with their condition, even where