prayerfully bestowed. The condition of the churl and the liberal, how
different then! He who hoarded most will then be found the poorest; and
he who gave most with the greatest sacrifices, the richest.

17. The brevity of the period allotted us to labor and to make
sacrifices for the salvation of men. "A point of time, a moment's
space," is all we have. What we do in charity, the labors we perform,
the privations we suffer, must all be accomplished or endured soon. The
distress we relieve, the souls we save, the joys we inspire, must feel
the quickening hand of mercy without delay. Time is on his rapid wing.
Thousands who need our help are perishing daily; the entire generation
now occupying this stage of toil and probation, the great Destroyer will
speedily sweep from the scene. Almost "in the twinkling of an eye" we
shall stand together before the judgment throne. He who died to save
the poor as well as the rich, the heathen as well as the evangelized, is
now speaking from heaven; "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with
thy might."

These are some of the intellectual views and obligations which should be
_systematized_ in the mind, forming both inducements to, and a
constituent part of, systematic beneficence. They should lie like
blazing fuel on the heart, kindling their appropriate feelings and
affections. I have briefly unfolded them, as a specimen of that process
of reasoning and personal application, which, according to our mental
laws, when attended by the Holy Spirit, is fitted to soften and
harmonize the mind preparatory to benevolent action; a process which
all, as rational beings, are bound to engage in and carry out. I know
this part of the system requires unpleasant work. Most are willing to
feel, but they would feel without principle; and if they act, they would
act only from the impulse of the moment. They shrink from