But when the land was not able to bear them with their flocks and with their herds,they agreed to part,and Lot chose forhimself the plains of Jordan.When the offspring of Abraham settled in the land of Canaan,they continued the same modeof relieving the distressed,only with this exception,that in the seventh year the poor,who had sold himself,was to go outfree.This custom of exchanging their liberty for bread was followed by most of the nations upon earth,and was the generalpractice of the world,till Christianity prevailed,and became the established religion of the Roman empire.The mildergenius of this religion,which proclaims liberty to the captive,and the opening of the prison doors to them that are bound,abhorrent to slavery in all its forms,has almost banished that cruel custom from our world;and in its stead has made thebest possible provision for the poor,leaving them to be supported by the free bounty of the rich.It is true,the mistakenzeal of its first converts,inflamed by the expectation of that transcendent glory which the gospel had revealed to them,poured contempt upon their visible possessions of houses and of lands.These they sold,and being all of one heart,and ofone soul,they agreed to have all things common.(19)But no such community of goods received the sanction of divineauthority.When Peter reproached Ananias,it was for his falsehood only:"Whilst the land remained,was it not thine own;and after it was sold,was it not in thine own power?"(20)The positive injunctions of the gospel are clear and distinct,and should never have been forgot."Every man according ashe purposeth in his heart,so let him give;not grudgingly,or of necessity:for God loveth a chearful giver."(21)Thesevoluntary contributions were collected on the first day of every week,when they assembled at .their public worship.TheChristian dispensation gives the highest encouragement to the overflowings of benevolence,but at the same time leavesevery man at liberty to give or not to give,proceeding upon this maxim,that it should be lawful for a man to do what hewill with his own.Whilst however the followers of this religion are left to their own judgment and discretion,they areunder the strongest obligations to be liberal in their donations,and to relieve the distresses of their fellow creatures to theutmost of their ability.In the deion of the great and final judgment of the world,it is said,"When the Son of man shallcome in his glory,and all the holy angels with him,then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.And before him shall begathered all nations;and he shall separate them one from another,as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:And heshall set the sheep on his right hand,but the goats on the left.Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,Come,ye blessed of my Father,inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.For I was an hungered,and ye gave me meat:I was thirsty,and ye gave me drink:I was a stranger,and ye took me in:naked,and ye clothed me:Iwas sick,and ye visited me:I was in prison,and ye came unto me.For inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of thesemy brethren,ye did it unto me."(22)From this deion we must not too hastily conclude that the charity of Christians isto be indiscriminate and blind.Among the various objects of distress a choice is to be made,selecting first those which aremost worthy,and reserving the residue for those who have nothing but their misery to excite compassion.Let the virtuouscitizen be fed,then let the profligate and the prodigal share all that prudence and frugality shall have left behind them.Toreverse this order is neither politic nor just:for surely nothing can be more inconsistent with equity,than to give the breadof industry to indolence and vice.Christian charity was never meant to discourage diligence and application,nor topromote among men a wanton dissipation of their substance.The Apostle of the Gentiles,both by example and by precept,teaches a lesson which too many among the poor have yet to learn.We hear him thus appealing to his converts:"We didnot eat any man's bread for nought;but wrought with labour and travel night and day,that we might not be chargeable toany of you:not because we have not power,but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us.For even when wewere with you,this we commanded you,that if any would not work,neither should he eat."(23)For many centuries the nations of Europe had no other way of providing for their increasing poor,when occasionalbenefactions became inadequate to their wants,but by driving them out,like swarms,to seek new settlements.It was notthen difficult for warlike tribes,issuing forth in countless numbers,with their flocks and with their herds,to make animpression,when at any time they fumed their arms against the peaceable inhabitants of more cultivated countries.But nowthat all have quilted the shepherd life and taken to agriculture;now that each nation,although more numerous thanformerly,is hemmed in by nations equal to itself in numbers,wealth,and military ardour;it is become necessary to providefor their poor at home.This they have attempted by public hospitals and private benefactions.With regard to hospitals,they find that these only remove the evil for a time,and in the issue extend the bounds of extreme poverty andwretchedness.They at first pleased themselves with the idea,that they had put an end to human misery;but they soonfound it returning back upon them,and the vacant places,which had been left by those provided for in their publichospitals,filled up again by objects of distress.When at Lions they opened an hospital with forty beds for the reception ofthe poor,they could fill only half that number,but now eight hundred beds are not sufficient;and when they built thehospital of Saltpetriere,near Paris,it had few inhabitants,but now they lodge twelve thousand;and yet to theirastonishment they find,that instead of having banished distress and poverty,they have increased the number of the poor.
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