God is a respecter of persons: and they who think it or wish it so, are under a very unhappy mistake. Their idea of enjoyment is false and abject; it is contradictory to the noblest affections of the soul, and the truest notions of greatness, as well as to that memorable sentence of our Lord, It is more blessed to give than to receive. A generous mind never enjoys its possessions so much as when others are made partakers of them. In this, man is enabled most nearly to resemble God; who gives all things to all, but can receive nothing from any. Yet in one case, when we give to the poor for his sake, he is pleased to take it to himself: inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my poor brethren, saith our blessed Saviour, ye did it unto If there is a way of lending unto the Lord, as the Scripture hath expressed it*, he above all men must be blessed, to whom the proprietor of heaven and earth is a debtor. Hence it appears that what is given is not lost, as an usurer would reckon; it is more properly our own than it was before. It is as seed sown in the earth, which returns to the sower with an abundant increase. What is received is as the corn we bestow upon ourselves; it is eaten, and perishes. What is given, is as corn cast into the earth, which cometh to us again at the harvest.

me.

There is no better encouragement to an active and busy life, than this one consideration, that it puts us into a capacity of having more to spare for the wants of others. Industry, on this principle, is the first social duty, because it leads to the greatest, which is charity. Ye yourselves know, said the great Apostle, that these hands have ministered to my necessities and to them which were with me. Blessed is he whose labours

* Prov. xix. 17.

have furnished him with something to give! But what must he do who is idle? Where is his blessing? He can give nothing, for he has nothing: he must live upon other men's labours; which is a mean and servile condition. There ought therefore to be a curse upon idleness; he, who does no good, should receive none. And if we look to the dispositions of men, we shall generally find, that the slothful are never easy in any situation, but always complaining and discontented; neglecting their own affairs, and troubling themselves to no purpose with fretful remarks upon the concerns of other people; while the busy are vigorous and chearful, neither provoked with the follies of private life, nor foreboding visiona

ry evils from the administration of the state. Upon the whole, there is not a more contemptible being in the creation than an idle man: which leads us to make a comparison between the honour of giving, and that of receiving. The givers are the rich, the honourable, the merciful, the devout, and the industrious: the receivers are the poor, the sick, and the needy; to whom we may add, the covetous, the idle, and the useless: Therefore, if the givers are better than the receivers, it is on this account also, more blessed to give than to receive.

Here we are to lament, that the possession of wealth, while it confers the ability of doing good, too often takes away the inclination. In some it foments an effeminate principle of self-indulgence; in others a sort of churlish pride, which hardens the mind, and shuts up the heart instead of opening the hand. Married persons, who have no children, and with whom wealth is more easily accumulated, are frequently observed to be more attentive to their economy than those who have large families; and age

is

more avaricious than youth, because it is generally richer.

If all men were rational, he that becomes rich would congratulate himself in some such words as these: "Now I am happy, in that I have a farther opportunity of doing good unto others; for this is the honour and the pleasure of man." He that becomes old as well as rich, would be ready to say within himself, "Man wants but little, and I shall want that little but for a short time: while I have the opportunity which I am shortly to lose, let me do good. unto all men, especially unto them that are of the household of faith." faith." Thus would men reason if they reasoned right: and thus they will reason, when true religion hath shewed them the brevity and vanity of life, the claims of their fellow creatures and fellow Christians, the uncertainty of possession, the certainty of retribution in a better state, where it shall at last be blessed to receive. Nothing shall be given, nothing will be wanted: all shall receive of the fulness of God: the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, shall be replenished together: they who have been able to do good shall be happy to find that its reward is eternal; and they who have suffered want and weakness shall triumph that the evil days are to

return no more.

I am now to intreat your attention, while I apply some of the past doctrine to the occasion of our present meeting, for the support of the widows and orphans of deceased clergymen; a noble and pious institution, which does honour to those who promote it, whether of the clergy or laity, and will, we trust, give them a title to the blessedness in the text. Some say the clergy think of nothing but receiving, and are more attentive to their worldly profits than

all other men. But from whom do such censures come? Generally either from those who have a sordid interest in defrauding them of their dues; or from those who wish there were no clergy, because they wish there were no religion. Uncharitable and ill-disposed minds endeavour to cover their own atheistical disaffection to the service of God with the faults and weaknesses of the clergy, whether real or imaginary. But if such an accusation is brought against the clergy in general, it is not true. The institution and support of charitable societies by the clergy themselves in almost every diocese of this province, for the benefit of their poorer brethren and their posterity, is a sign that they have views beyond their own present advantage. Consider them at large as an order of men, or profession, and it will be found that they are as little guilty of coveting other men's goods, and making a property of their neighbours, as any order of men whatsoever. For it may justly be said of them, that they expect nothing but what is their own. The tithes or tenths allotted for their support, were freely granted on a religious principle by the crown, with the consent of the Lords and Commons of the realm, in the Saxon times, when the king was proprietor of all the lands in the kingdom; and the charter is still extant in our ancient historians. They were not purchased by any owner, nor are they paid for by any occupier of the land; if they were, the rents would be at least one seventh part higher than they now are. The tenant only surrenders what the land has been charged with for nine hundred and twenty-seven years; and so little

* See Monast. Angl. Vol. I. p. 100, and Collier's Eccle. Hist. Vol. I. p. 156, &c.

can be laid to the account of the clergy for exacting it with rigour, that I believe there are few amongst them, who will not readily acquiesce in the terms made for themselves by the neighbouring lay-impropriators. It is hard upon them, that in some instances, where the tenths have been surrendered peaceably to laymen, confederacies have been formed and illegal assemblies convened, to prevent the taking of the tenths in kind by clergymen.

As this evil arises only from the corruption of the times, the reformation of the times would be the natural and the best remedy. To change the tenure of clergymen's property, may be found the worst remedy of all; for their present tenure as owners of tithes is wiser and safer, more agreeable to the laws of God, to the practice of all ages and all religions, Patriarchal, Jewish, Heathen and Christian; and consequently better with all its inconveniences than it could possibly be in any other form, or on any other authority than that of their ancient charter: and for those inconveniences, time may bring forth some remedy which we cannot now foresee.

I am very sensible, the mode of receiving tenths was once more agreeable than at present. There was a time when the people dedicated their tithes with gladness*, and made their offerings on a principle of devotion; as knowing that God is not an indifferent spectator of what passes in his church; that he could either send a blessing upon their fruits, according to his promise †, or punish their fraud and sacrilege with a temporal curse upon their affairs. This was once the persuasion of the people of England; and then there was a more general good understanding and mutual affection between the minister + See Mal, iii. 10.

* Fcclus. xxxv. 9,