News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-06-26
A SUNDAY SERMON.
RELATIVE VALUE OF GENEROSITY
AND LIBERALITY.
A Few Striking Notes From Bee che RS Sun
day Talk.

''That was the Wall street of those
days." said Mr.. Beecher as he read his
text Sunday, commenting upon the
passage, "And he fell among thieves.
The sermon treated of the relative value
of generosity and iberality. Mr.. Beech
er said in his sermon:
SIT is right for one to feel the influence
of nation, of family, of profession and OF
social circles. but it is wrong to neglect
all outside of it, as if the claims of hui
manity on us were confined in the ratio
of the nearness of persons to us. -
''Of all facile graces in Christian
expe- no, in religious experience, there
is no grace like that of hating. It is
called justice Notwithstanding for
the right; it is called proper discrimi-
nation of character and conduct; it is
called all sorts of things; but the Lord
knows and the devil knows that it is
right down good hating that is exercised
by calling themselves Christians.
"The good Samaritan is admired by
all sects and races-and occasionally is
initiated"
"a habit of generosity is like oil on
machinery, and makes life smooth; and
there is more in it to teach man to
love man than in all the preaching in the
world
s'There are thousand things that
might gradually be better for the inter-
probation of truth in it's larger sphere;
but, after all, an act of kindness brings
Gods angels nearer to man than almost
any other form of teaching"
81 recollect that the most painful
times in my life, and the least profitable,
were when folks were talking religion to
me. Oh did dread pious man who
was always'talking religion, and I made
up my mind that if I ever got pious-
which I never expected-that 1 would
never bore people with religion. There
isn't man, woman or child that can say
1 ever talked shop to them personally,
of my own accord, or that have ever
found me unwilling to talk religion when
they wanted to talk it. l never push
religion on anybody"
"Liberality endeavors to do more
than transient kindness. 1t is study
ing how to do kindness in such way
that it shall be wholesale one and not
retail one. 1t looks along the line of
probabilities and sees where mischiefs
will be likely to occur, or where benefits
will be likely to be appreciated or need
ed, and undertakes, by organization, to
extend a kindness down through the
generations.
Generosity works by sight, liberality
work better when they have both sight
and faith"
''It is good to relieve one orphan, but
it is better to establish an Institution
that will relieve ten thousand; it is n
much higher manifestation of true love
and benevolence.'
"Let not liberality cheat generosity;
let not generosity scoff at liberality; let
them go into an alliance one with the
other"
Don't do your good through commit
tees if you can do it personally; the face
of the giver is better than the thing
given often; but if you can do some
thing through committee besides what
you do personally do that.
"It is the selfshness of riches that is
its bane; it is the laying up for ones
self; but he that with constant, proper
regard for his own household, yet has an
ambition to go beyond that, and by his
life and in it to make men on every side
of him happy, how heroic is such a man
and such life -
''The man who lives for himself will
have the privilege of being his own
mourner when he dies.
81 hear men say, 'Ah! you are taking
collection to-day for foreign mission
aries; what are you church folks doing
in such and such aneighborhood 2 Now,
have taken notice that the man who
won't give to foreign missions generally
won't give to home missions. They are
the men who are always quoting Char
ity begins at home,' and with them it
always stays at home"