the occasion of a frequently recurring, and continually increasing tax. The intercourse between them was closed, or if it ever did take place, it was renewed for the purpose of detecting imposition, and aggravated the feelings of alienation.

There were perhaps still a select few; chosen from the general mass of pauperism, who shared in something like Charity from the rich; but they were too often needy sycophants, who made their way by flattery, and who were used to keep up the delusion, which the rich found necessary to their peace. The progress of the knowledge of political economy, quickened no doubt by a sense and sight of the overwhelming evils growing out of the original poor law system, has led recently to very important changes, The legislature have made a noble effort to retrace their steps, and to undo the mischief, which two centuries of error have entailed upon us; and it will be no slight proof of the internal strength of our constitution, if it be able to support the transition. Its power to do this, to endure the change from a state of forced and artificial Charity, to that which we may call natural, must materially depend on the assistance lent by individuals. All those whom God has blessed with any degree of plenty, must now remember, that as under the Gospel, no man liveth to himself, and all are taught to seek, not their own good, but that of others also; the very circumstance that they possess the means of relieving poverty, proves that it is their duty to do so; while the change effected in the existing system makes it manifest that that relief is necessary. The administration of the new system has been conducted, we verily believe, with as much of tenderness for the poor, as could have been expected; but no such change can ever take place, without occasioning a vast amount of distress, and the most pernicious systems are never laid aside, without painful struggles, arising from the discontinuance of former habits.

In the mean time the public mind itself has been undergoing a gradual but very extensive change on the subject of pauperism. We have all learnt the language of philosophy. We have all caught a little of political economy; and the claims of the poor are now discussed in a manner, which is very different from that of our forefathers, and perhaps still wider from the truth. The claims of the poor are now not sifted, but denied they are not noted for enquiry, but refused on principle; and men whose mildness of character would lead us to expect a very different mode of acting, are found arguing against the giving of relief, as if it perpetuated the evil which it attempts to lighten. Behind these reasoners, stands the multitude of the selfish and the stingy, who re-echo these arguments as a plea for their own avarice; and at the moment when the poor are being deprived of the assistance they used to draw from rates, and are being told that they must struggle for themselves into independence; there is infinite danger that a scheme which involves the welfare of the country, may be ruined through the niggard spirit of those, who have the power of assisting the poor in this crisis of their state. We must not then conceal the matter; we must not hold back the truth, but we must proclaim from our Beacon's top, and, if we could, we would lift up our voice like a trumpet, and say, that the Charity of the richer

classes in England, is disgracefully and scandalously low; that it falls infinitely short of what it ought to be; and that unless it be, and speedily, raised to a higher standard, it will work out its own chastisement, and leave the scattered ruins of our enormous wealth as a monument to those who shall come after.

We have been so much accustomed to flatter ourselves with a different view, that this charge will no doubt appear to many, unreasonable and unjust. We should rejoice to think that its boldness excited inquiry, but we feel no question as to the result-for we have no doubt as to the truth of the assertion. We admit that there are some great and noble exceptions to this sweeping charge. We admit again, that the sums yearly contributed, for what may be called charitable purposes in this country, are very great; and perhaps greater than those that are so employed in any other. All this we may admit, and willingly would do so; but having admitted this, and allowed it all its weight; we must still continue to assert, that there is in England a mass of wealth which pays nothing, or a fraction hardly assignable to Charity, such as exceeds all that is possessed by any other nation under Heaven. We argue also on the principle, that a man's liberality is to be measured, not by the amount of his gift, but by the proportion it bears to his property; and that the gift of the mite which, as given by the widow, proved the widow's love, would, if it had formed the rich man's present, have convicted him of the most sordid avarice. We look then, not to the amount of the sums contributed to charitable purposes in England, for we might be dazzled by the statement; but we look to the wealth that is accumulated in England, and to the lavish expenditure of England. We look not to that which is collected from the few who are accessible to such intrusion, by the importunity of those who plead for Charity; but to the sums which are squandered by our men of wealth, and by our women of wealth, on selfish and frivolous indulgences.--We look not to that which is given towards the relief of the poor, but we look at that which is spent by the rich upon themselves; and we come to this humiliating conclusion, that as a people, there are few points in which we fall more below the standard, than in that where we thought ourselves most secure from blame.

We are more willing to name this, because we believe that our delinquency arises in some degree from ignorance and from want of thought; and every voice that is raised against the general practice may do something towards dispersing the general delusion. But people of wealth have been so long accustomed to refer the consideration of the poor to the parish, that they have ceased to consider their case as in any degree referable to themselves. They have perhaps their pet pensioners; they have the few who are fed by the crumbs which fall from their table: they are willing to think that the calls of duty are discharged in the relief that is thus offered, and which literally costs them nothing; and they do not like to disturb their own composure by hearing of sorrows of a deeper kind, nor to listen to claims which may require a sacrifice of private comforts.

In this way they shrink from inquiries which would lead to painful investigation, and dismiss the case of the poor from their thoughts. The

next step is, that they are constrained to yield to the innumerable calls which the world does not fail to make on their spirits and their purse; till they are left at last exhausted of all resources, and are compelled to close their ears against the sound of wants, because they have forfeited the power of relieving it.

If this were not the case, we can hardly imagine that the sums which we know to be wasted in the pursuit of the world's amusements, would be spent as they are spent; or that human nature would not suggest a different employment of the resources that are possessed.

There was a time, and that time may still be time present with some, when four hundred a year could be paid for the hire of an opera box during the season; and a sum which might have changed the moral character of a parish, and made thousands happy, was deliberately paid by those who merely had hired with it a resource from ennui. A friend of our own, who once thought it sufficient to do as those around him did, and who as such was accustomed to throw away his half guinea for the price of an evening's amusement, was led, while residing in the country, by the application of a poor family in distress, to offer them that sum as an assistance in their difficulties. The transport expressed by the mother of the family at the sight of a piece of gold, opened the eyes of our friend to the value of money; and he turned away with the conviction that an evening's amusement was no longer to be purchased by a sum, which could make a widow's heart sing for joy.

But beyond this, we would remark that Charity is not to be an impulse but a habit. It is not to be a figure wrought upon the surface of the character, but it is to be a warp which runs through it; and its benefits would be very questionable both to the rich man who felt the impulse, and to the poor who received the gift; if it shewed itself in sudden gushes of bounty, and in those alone. To meet this danger, let us add, that no man can be consistently charitable, who is not consistently economical; and that the only way in which conscience can be satisfied, and Charity exercised with ease, is by assigning a certain portion of income to the purposes of Charity, and by making that sum the minimum of our bounty. The man who on due deliberation has come to a conclusion on this subject, knows at once what he can do, and what he cannot do. The extent of his resource is ascertained; and all that he has to do is to determine the destination. He is spared therefore from the fluctuations which arise from doubt as to the limits of duty; and he gives with cheerfulness or refuses with cheerfulness, while he is satisfied as to the measure of his liability.

It would be impossible to state what this proportion ought to be, where the cases of individuals are so various. We might suppose that where the family was large, and the expenses of education heavy, it would be sufficient if a twentieth part of the income were assigned to Charity; that a married couple might reserve a tenth; that a single person might reserve a fifth; but we feel, that if all would but consider the nature of the duty, its indispensable obligation, and its immediate great reward; and make some specific appropriation of a part of their income; a large and unexpected increase would instantly be observed in our contributions -"Waters would break out in the wilderness, and streams in the

desert; the parched ground should become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water." The pain of asking and the pain of refusing would be avoided. He who gave would do it with cheerfulness; and they who received, would receive with more gratitude what they saw was bestowed with willingness.

A paper on the subject of Charity can hardly be concluded more appropriately than by a brief notice of Mr. Reynolds, of Bristol.

Mr Reynolds, at the outset of life, entered business as an iron master, and his capital being small, his mode of living was adapted to his income, and was calculated at three hundred pounds a year. His integrity, his intelligence, his activity enlarged his business, and increased his gains, but no change was made in his habits. He lived on in the same small house, in the same simple manner, while his income grew larger every year; but the surplus, which other men would have expended on articles of self indulgence, he devoted to charitable purposes, and applied the profits of the year to the relief of the distresses which occurred in it. His Charity was as discriminating, as it was extensive. He gave nothing without inquiry, but when he did give, he was able to give liberally. At last old age came on, and found Richard Reynolds possessed of an income of £10,000 a-year, but living still on £300 a-year, and giving away £9700 in the course of the year that passed.

It is obvious that there were two ways in which Mr. R. might have employed his profits. He might have added his whole yearly gains to his principal, and might have accumulated in this manner an immense fortune, by the savings of a long life. Or, he might have enlarged his expenditure in proportion to his increase of property, might have removed into a house of different dimensions, and drawn round him the various means of enjoyment which can be purchased by money. He did neither, and we believe he acted wisely; for we cannot think that his happiness, even his private comfort, would have been promoted by either of these plans. An increase of property must have increased his anxiety; and a change of habits seldom leads to comfort; while he must have forfeited on either plan, the most delightful enjoyment which is known on earth, the indulgence of the benevolent affections.

Even in this world then, on the mere economical consideration of present enjoyment, the man was a gainer by his Charity.

The question need not be asked with regard to eternity. It there needs no reply, and none will be expected.

R.

If all mankind could be persuaded to say, Not as I will, but as thou wilt, as sincerely as Christ said it, sin would that moment cease to exist in the world, God and men would be perfectly reconciled, and His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. Yes, let every human being only say to God with his whole heart, Not my will, but thine be done, and holiness and happiness would instantly fill the world; men would be embodied angels, and earth would become a sublunary heaven.—Payson's Remains,

MEMOIR OF SARAH JANE ALEXANDER.

Continued from p. 374.

IN one of her letters she gave an interesting account of a Missionary meeting:

"On the 18th instant there was a meeting at the Town-hall for the Church Missionary Society; some of us went, and I had the pleasure and privilege of being of the number; it was very interesting. The Hon. and Rev. B. Noel and the Rev. J. W. Hanna were the deput es. One of the gentlemen that spoke said, that he had been a missionary in the South Sea Islands, and that he knew a king there who had burnt all his idols, and he had read in the Bible about Solomon's temple, so this King had a church built that was said to be as large as Solomon's temple; it could hold 6,000 persons, it had three pulpits, because it was so large that one voice could not be heard at the other end, that the people flocked from all parts of the island, and the missionaries preached to them; and then they all sung a hymn-the whole of the 6,000 people. One of the other gentlemen said he knew an old man in Jamaica who had been an idolater, but was converted, and cast away all his idols and acted entirely from principle; that when his master left the house in his charge he always found it in the greatest order when he returned. This poor man used to be most regular in his attendance at the chapel every Sunday, which he was in the habit of spending with the missionaries. But these gentlemen told us a great deal of the cruel barbarity practised amongst the Hindoos, who are heathens and know not God. What a blessing that they should have the Gospel preached to them. One of the missionaries said, that he went to a place that looked like a pig-sty, where he saw a little girl who was actually being fattened that she might be offered to the gods! He interfered on her behalf and released her. Oh, how thankful should we be that we have been delivered from such cruelties, and that we have the light of the Gospel!"

In this manner she frequently sent accounts of what she saw and heard.

The following is an extract from another letter, dated Dec. 1, 1837: "Mr. Elliott gave us a very instructive lecture on Tuesday last, on the 15th of the 1st Corinthians. On Sunday week there was a missionary sermon, and on Tuesday, Mr. Elliott gratified us by reading some very interesting journals of the Rev. Mr. Tucker, who was missionary at Madras, where there is a grammar-school, in which there are six boys who are truly pious, and of whom it is hoped that they will some day be called to labour in the Lord's vineyard. The entry of the Bishop must have been very affecting. The seminary boys all standing at their posts. Mr. Tucker said that it reminded him very much of the parable of the ten virgins, the entry of the Bishop so unexpected, the bustle of preparing the torches, all being asleep. There is one family

to whom the Roman Catholics often come to ask them to join them, but the children call out, Join us! Join us!' we are so happy in the nice grammar school." She then makes her simple but forcible