e. I know there is much
suffering even among the virtuous poor. Sickness and misfortune often
bring distress upon deserving people.

The only way we can realize the sufferings of the poor is to suppose
ourselves in their situation. Let a wealthy gentleman and lady, with
five or six small children, be suddenly deprived of all their property,
and compelled to obtain a support for their family by daily labor, and
the lowest employments. Would they think they could live comfortably
upon perhaps no more than seventy-five cents a day, as the proceeds of
the husband's labor? Yet such is the situation of thousands of families,
even in this land of plenty. I have myself recently met with families of
small children, in the severity of winter, destitute of clothing
sufficient to cover them, and without shoes. And, upon inquiry into
their circumstances and means of support, I could not see how the
parents could make any better provision. Again; ever supposing that the
wretchedness of the poor is brought upon them by their own vices, is it
agreeable to the spirit of Christ to refuse to relieve their distresses?
Has not sin brought upon us all our wretchedness? If the Lord Jesus had
reasoned and acted upon this principle, would a single soul have been
saved? But, he has commanded us to be merciful, _even as our Father
which is in heaven is merciful_. And how is he merciful? "He is kind
unto the _unthankful_ and to the _evil_." Again; "If any man have not
the spirit of Christ, he is none of his." And are we to suppose that the
poor in our day are any worse than they were when Christ was upon earth?
Yet we find him frequently exhorting the rich to give to the poor. This
is one of the most common precepts of the New Testament. Indeed, our
Lord has greatly honored the poor, in appearing himself in a condition
of extreme poverty. At his birth, his parents could provide him no
better bed than a manger; and while wearing out his life in the service
of a lost world, he had no place to lay his head! Yet, poor as he was,
he has set us an example of giving. At the last supper, when he told
Judas, "That thou doest, do quickly," his disciples supposed he had sent
him to give something to the poor. From this we may safely infer that he
was in the habit of frequently doing so. For what else could have
brought this thought to their minds?

A Christian has nothing that is his own. He is but the steward of God's
property. By withholding it, when the