Eastern times., 1850-11-07

You seem,' said MT. Urville, TO have
been aboring, for years, under very serious
error
How 50 y quickly inquired the merchant.
In imagining, that because you gave a
tenth Of your income for pious and cI,arita>
BILE purposes, the Lord Prospered you as a
reward. But, depend upon it, my brother,
no such bargain with Heaven can be made.
You hold your wealth ty far different ten
ure. The earth is the Lords and the ful-
ness thereof. His are the cattle upon a
thousand hills. He stands not, therefore, in
such need Of mans service us to give him
nine-tenths Of all this, in consideration Of his
faithful distribution offs tithe.
Your spiritual good is as much regarded,
as the spiritual good Of the doorkeeper of the
house of God, and your wealth is given for
your spiritual weiI-beiug, as much as the
poverty Of the other is given for his. In the
progress of life aud in the development Of
state, if reversed circumstances will be best
for each ofyou, change will come. 1t is
not because man abuses his wealth that il
is sometimes taken from him; nor because
he uses it charilably that it is left in his pos
session. But he retains or loses il according
as it best serves The ends Of Divine Provi-
dence in saving him from lower evils, or
raising him into higher states Of good.
'One individual, be he poor or rich, is as
much under the command Of Heaven as an
other. His external condition is nothing,
only so far as it affects bis internal state
As The Bible says, The earth is the Lords
and the funess thereof; and he can always
cause such distribution of the bounties of
nature, in all individual cases, as will hest
serve His great and good designs in saving
men eternally. Be assured, Mr.. Palmer,
that if the possession of wealth hurt your
spiritual state, you will not be permitted to
retain il, though you distribute one-half in
stead ofone-tenth of your income; and that
il does hurt you thus, pardon me for saying,
with all plainness, believe.'
Mr.. Orville = exclaimed the merchant in
surprise.
j only give utterance TO my solemn con-
victions.'
will you explain what you mean?'
'Your present conversation illustrates this.
You seem TO consider that you have made a
bargain for a certain amount of worldly
goods, TO which you have an absolute title,
even against all the claims Of Heaven itself.
For. it is plain, that il you were to lose your
property, you would feel that you had been
dealt with unfairly. Under the system you
have pursued, active beneyolence has not
flowed from spring Of good will TO man.
kind issuing from your heart; but your
charity has been regular business lransac.
lion, in which you were most largely inter.
esIed. Therefore, it has not, in your case,
borne with it double blessing. How much
do you think under your present system you
have given away?
Il have kept the account accurately. In
twenty-,hree years have distributed over
forty thousand dollars. Last year, my bust.
ness paid fifty thousand dollars, and gave
away FIVE thousand. 1t was the best year
have had. Every yea, there is an increase.
Over forty thousand dollars offered on the
shrine of piety and charity said the minis.
ter, 'and yet, the giver OF all this unblessed
by truly generous impulse! All matter
of contract! All done for selfish and
worldly end. Mr.. Palmer, my heart aches
at the thought"
1t is not strange that the merchant was Of.
Tended; nor that he replied in language thai
closed the subject at once But he did moi
feel confident as before. The language o.
Mr.. Orvile carried with it the force Oftrutf
and. as the words fixed themselves in hi:
memory, the truth thus conveyed, d:mly
though it shone in the darkened chamber o.
his mind, made enough of error plain to Gre
ate doubt and consequent uneasiness. iii
were indeed as the minister said, then he die
not hold his wealth by the unalienable righ
he had supposed. His feet were not planted
upon an immovable rock. His bargain will
Heaven was far from being valid. Will
more anxious eyes he surveyed the approach
ing storm, and marked the progress it made
He was no longer certain that Heaven wa.
on his side, and, therefore, felt bound to lool
out more carefully, after his own interests
A a.f tbnr aLo. .r
the sail he carried. His chart was examined
more frequently, and his observations taker
with greater care. Yet for oil, he felt un'
safe and when the storm began 10 break
and his vessel to feel some Of its violence
his heart was oppressed with anxiety. Not
withstanding he had paid forty thousand dol
lars to Heaven as q kind of premium, fo
which he was to be insured against all adver
sity, he was conscious Of flaw in his policy
and therefore, deeply troubled.
At last failures began daily to occur in al
the commercial cities Men who had beer
considered as strongly rooted as the century
old oak, bent and broke like willow sap
ling. A panic pervaded all business circles
Chartered money institutions, and private ban
kers and money lenders, taking the alarm, in
creased the evil by restriction Of the line o
discounts. For some weeks not failure aGec
ted Mr.. Palmer, and his bank account showed
handsome surplus. He was gaining con6denc'
and beginning to feel the rock, upon which hi
feet had rested SO long, steadfast under hin
again, when he was started one day by pro
test on discounted note of ten thousand dol