The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-26
.L0o.E. THANKSGIVING SERMONS.
IContinued from the Eighth Page.l
THE LUXURY OF BENEVOLENCE.


by Rev. DIR. NadRl.
III is more blessed to give than TO recefUe."-
Acts Xxx, 30.
All our activities in relation to others are
made up of giving and receiving, ana the same
Is true of everything else that has life as IL IS
of man. The trees are the recipients OF llgnCi
and air, and moisture, which they drink IN li, aIo
blossom. fragrance. beauty. Tue birds take
nouTishment from brook ana nelu, anu u, sive we
buman care and labor, and in turn meet our
higher and lower wants. Ine WnOIe CosTluuu CoIu,,.
nion OF nature is giving and TAKING neiplus
But the Apostle here makes comparison pes
between the blessedness OF gtUruGB G Iin II
receiving and declares In iaVor OF glyInHg. II
we look further we shall De aDle 10 gaCuGt g "
hint of this from nature; S,eH oS t5e vsSetabie
kinpdom? When you look AT q 1ruit Tree, tor
instance, does it look more noble ana dighi,ned
among its branches, when IL sucks IN moisture
from the drenching shower, when you Top OIL
is snrnIns branches aud kill its ugly insects, or
when IN spreads out its boughs to offer you
shelter in summer, and fills your cellar with
luscious fruit in the autumn? When does
rnse tree seem noblest? When you are giving
IL care or when it is giving you beauty and fra
prapce? When does your horse seem grandest?
r. It when you lodge him and feed him, or is 10
when he bears you forward, sharing with you
the pomp and pride OF the hour? The answer
is plain. Trees, flowers, animals, all seem
prouder and nobler in giving than in receiving
Indeed, in receiving we see their necessities,
their weakness, their obligations to us, but in
giving they present. themselves as rich, power
full, munifcent.
The Apostle asserts the same fact as to men,
He says in the text IL is more blessed to give
In this assertion it is not denied that there
is pleasure in receiving; it is only asserted
that the pleasure of receiving is inferior to the
pleasure of giving.
The simple fact of receiving is blessing in
itself. What is received may have been
grudg gingly bestowed-only given to meet the
demands OF public Opinion-and yet, If the re-
ceiver is in circumstances of needi is blessed to
receive But the blessing Is only material. The
recipient OF the charity can eat and wear what
is even given grudgingly. SO much bread and
meat, however gotten, If put into a healthy
stomach, will produce so much blood, muscle,
and strengths; and much cloth, put into
coats and pantaloons, will keep out so much
cold. And this is The view apparently taken by
many of their benefactions. But what a mise
rable naked skeleton blessing such a person
receives! His brother has treated him like
hungry horse; he has regarded him merely
his stomach and limbs, but in the manner of
the gift has had no respect to his soul. In this
case something is bestowed, but more is with
held. That gentle and brotherly consideration
for the poor which awakens gratitude, and
opens the heart to good and pious counsels, is
withheld; that blessed, heavenly sympathy
with human suffering, which makes the suf-
terer feel that you have shouldered a part of
his trouble, is withheld. You have put bread
into his mouth, but have given no food to his
higher humanity. See that orphan boy! When
rich and stingy uncle should take him home
with him. In that family the boy eats his
grudged meals, and grows outwardly sturdy
perhaps but that sunshine of sympathy, those
fond caresses that are lavished upon the chill
dren of the family, and which, bestowed on
orphan, are not his to enjoy. Without heart
nourishment, he grows up crushed, dwarfed,
indurated. With worse food and poorer cloth =
ing, but more smiles and more love, he would
have thriven much better, for the soul un-
Wilted would have grown.
You call on Il merchant for q subscription
FOR the cause of missions, and he gives, but
does it with isurly look, and with i'm
dollar note, and, poor, innocent, unconscious
note that 1t is, it does not know how miserably
1T has been given, and in the treasury 1t will
count just as much as that other note which
was prayed over and given with glad and cheer
full heart. But how does it affect the collector? I?
Don't you feel in some sort paralyZed and un-
prepared TO go to the next place? You have
dislocation. Ifwith the gift you had received
smile and q fervid good wish for your success,
you would have been lightened and winged for
your next visit, but, as 1t is, the gift has made
your heart, and your step, and your counte-
nance heavy. And when that money is sent
out to the foreign field If the spirit in which it
was given could be sent with it, if could carry
the giVer's grumble and frown, IL would make
the missionary's heart to sink within him.
But, God be praised, the blessing of receiving
need not be merely physical, poisoned by the
superciliousness and pretension ofsthe gtver,
1t need not be mere bread and meat
blessing, to be measured by the amount
of muscle to be manufactured out of it,.
Gifts need not be like the honey which
we get from an old dead tree-the honey
is pure, and the comb white and beautiful, but
the tree is worse than nothing: we wish to
cleanse the sweet prize from the smell of the
rotten wood, and TO brush off the filthy pow
dered fibre. SO, with grudged favors, we would
brush and ruo irom them the canker of stingi-
ness, and forget the vile spirit in which they
We're given. But a favor almost becomes
another thing, siXpence grows into a dollar
nay, into thousands, when it is cheerfully
bestowed. 1t is as when we have gathered the
ripe and luscious apples from living tree
whose bending boughs stoop and laugh In the
glorious sunlight to make the cheerfuloffe an d
seem TO say, "RelieVe me; IL will accom- modate
me. Don't you see am burdened with riches p
We are ready to answer, Beautiful good
humored, benevolent creature, your spirit is
Sweeter and better than even your fruitp
We have been so fortunate as to be acquainted
with men who, by the spirit of their benehcence
made receiving pleasure, knew a man who
made his own fortune
"Whose soul proud science never taugbt To stray
Far as the solar walk or milky way;''
"a man of no broad views on general questions
The money had come in fast, but NOT fas
enough TO ruin his heart. 1t came not into mi
heart, but into his chest When he was aslIeC
for a gift for the poor, he usually handed
over the amount needed, and returned thank,
for the privilege, and then, with heartiness n
manner which showed how deeply and simpl,
sincere he was, he expressed a hope that hI
might be hOnored with many such calls
remember another instance, which will illus
trate our point. clerical friend had com
from the country TO beg for poor church,
had taken him to the counting house of a mer
chant, who had scowled at me for bringin
him, and had left upon his small gift and upo
our spirits the spell OF his meanness. With
sad heart l led my begging friend up the stree
10 another establishment, We now found OuI
selves in quite another atmosphere. IL wa
like passing from the north pole 10 the balmie'
Nav day of our own climate. In this plaC
giving was a regular part of the business an
apparently the most pleasant part. The fri
had formal account Win me LORD. Inc me cas-
given by the principal, ana the book handed
two brothers, who gave In the same spirit Tn
done, l was thanked for the opportuni
nf n