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of a more favoured class of society , which , as they too often find , they yet oftener believe , to be supercilious , hostile , or heartless . It does not relieve the pressure ; of these facts upon the mind—it aggravates the pain , though it may lighten the disgust— -to reflect on the beautiful outbreakings of moral good , the touching instances of integrity , disinterestedness , kindness , self-sacrifice , which are sometimes apparent even
amid the worst of these scenes ; and to believe , as we may , that there are many more such instances which shall have no publicity till the day of retribution , and are nowhere written but in God ' s book of remembrance . These are but manifestations of those moral capabilities which , even among the vilest , are universal . They shew what precious materials are thrown down and trampled on in the streets , there to become so offensive that we call for coercive and even vindictive legislation to sweep away the pollution , when it were better to employ the moral alchemy that should detect their inherent qualities , however obscured in this vile transformation , and reproduce them in their original lustre . Again , I ask , must these things be ? Is this sickening contrast to be everlasting ? Is there no remedy , no alleviation ? Is there no better order of things predestined in the plans of Providence ? And are we only to hope , and to wait ? Are we to do nothing ? Usually , what Providence decrees , man does . Good men ' s hopes , however femote , are a £ length realized by good men ' s exertions . If they " serve who only stand and wait , " it is because their quiescence is commanded . Else should they join those who by
" thousands at his bidding speed , And post o ' er land and ocean without rest . " The Christian inherits the motto of his Master , " My Father worketh hitherto , and I work . ** The prolonged existence of evil requires the continued energy of goodness for its correction . The one is a reason for the other , and implies its moral , though not its legal , obligation . la the Christian code , where there is misery , mercy is a duty . According to its dictates , charity is like prayer , * ' right , fit , and our bounden duty ; " not a
matter of spontaneous practice or neglect , which involves no responsibility . And whatever may be thought of theories of human nature and society , it is a practical certainly that to the evils of poverty , as it exists especially in cities , there are antagonist powers which the Christian may and ought to cajl into exercise . The occasion , the moral necessity , constitutes his obligation , and impels our enforcing the claims of the poor on the followers of Christ . I speak of the followers of Christ , if not exclusively , yet pre-eminently , because in the gospel is to be found the mightiest counteractive influence to the evils of man ' s condition on the earth , and that which includes , blends , and gives the amplest scope , the best direction , and the surest
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The Claims of the Poor on the Followers of Christ . 799
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1831, page 799, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2604/page/3/
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