the Holy Ghost
intended to require of all christians in all circumstances and in all
ages, to contribute a portion of their substance in charity every
Sabbath, the passage most distinctly shows that God is pleased with
systematic benevolence--with stated appropriations of income to objects
of munificence. As order is nature's first law, so it is of the
Scriptures.

System in our benefactions is thus clearly a duty devolving on all. It
is alike the voice within and the voice from heaven. It cannot be
neglected without imminent peril. It is a subject of vital interest.
It must be deeply pondered. It must be earnestly prayed over. The
great idea must enter, like a consuming fire, into the very heart's
core, and inflaming it with zeal, bring forth fruit an hundred fold to
the Lord.

One thing more. Every man is bound to make the most of his being. All
his powers, both of body and of mind, are to be taxed to the utmost, and
exerted in the most _effective manner_. Each duty, without intrenching
on others, should be performed in such a way, as best to secure the end
aimed at in the obligation. Manner may not be disregarded. If there is
reason to believe that the end contemplated in the obligation to
beneficence may be best reached by a course of systematic effort, the
very fact should lead to its immediate adoption. At the close of the
preceding arguments, without reasoning in a circle, this may be adduced
as a consideration of no small force, inducing every one to cast about
him, and solemnly consider whether he is conducting his charities in the
most efficient method; _manner_ and _spirit_ being as binding as the
generous deed itself. And on this principle, every precept, promise,
and example of revelation, enforcing benevolence, is really a precept,
promise, and example, arousing to systematic benevolence. The same is
true of the various incentives to this glorious work, offered in the
ensuing pages; and in this light let the reader regard them.

_In the second place, what is the Nature of a Scriptural System of
Beneficence_? This is an important inquiry. Every system, as we have
seen, must be founded in principle--a principle rooted in the active
powers, resting down upon the main-springs of the soul, so as to be
moved forward by all the mental energies combined. But it must not only
rest on principle; it must rest on right principle. The moral character
of a system depends on the character of the mor