Let the spirit of benevolence be the warmest aspiration of the youthful
breast. Let it be the early, the earnest, the daily inquiry, "What can
I do for my race?" Good to others should be your aim when means are
small. True, its light at first may be no more than the feeble
glimmerings of the glow-warm by the pathway of the benighted traveller;
yet it will be genial, soothing many a sad and torn heart. In the very
commencement of business, then, cherish a Christ-like spirit; and,
adopting a system of accordant action, maintain it all along the path of
life; so that when you arrive at its close, it will be seen, a line of
light stretching around the world, with many a flower of Paradise
blooming on its borders. But wait till you obtain the means before you
begin to seek in earnest the benefit of others, and, unless Divine Grace
powerfully interpose, by the time, in your own judgments, the means are
procured, your hearts will have become like the nether millstone.

Be persuaded, then, to lay your youth a victim on the altar of charity.
Let your whole being burn there till life is extinct; and when you enter
upon the peaceful rest of heaven, you will find multitudes there, aided
thither by your timely munificence, with whom you may unite in
transporting hallelujahs forever.

Finally, let me entreat readers of every class deeply to ponder the
subject here unfolded. No rational being, with any sense of his
responsibilities, can treat it with indifference. I beseech you, pass
not over these pages with a hasty glance, and then throw them aside.
Meditate upon them till your hearts burn within you. Pray over them
till you feel a harmony of soul with Christ; and, in this spirit, come
to a solemn determination whether you will adopt or reject this system
of views, of affections, of resolutions, and of accordant actions. Do