He, no doubt, might nourish them himself, as he formerly nourished Paul and Elijah in the desert; without your interference he might comfort those creatures which bear his image; he, whose invisible hand prepares food even for the young ravens which invoke him in their want; but he wishes to associate you in the merit of his liberality; he wishes you to be placed between himself and the poor, like refreshing clouds, always ready to shower upon them those fructifying streams which you have only received for their advantage.
Such is the order of his providence; it was necessary that means of salvation should be provided for all men: riches would corrupt the heart, if charity were not to expiate their abuse; indigence would fatigue and weary out virtue, if the succours of compassion were not to soften its bitterness; the poor facilitate to the rich the pardon of their pleasures; the rich animate the poor not to lose the merit of their sufferings.
Apply yourself, then, be whom you may, to all the consequence of this gospel. If you groan under the yoke of poverty, the tenderness and the care of Jesus Christ toward all the wants of a wandering and unprovided people will console you; if born to opulence, the example of the disciples will now instruct you. You will there see, first, the pretexts which they oppose to the duty of charity confuted: secondly, you will learn what ought to be its rules. That is to say, that in the first part of this Discourse we shall establish this duty against all the vain excuses of avarice; in the second, we shall instruct you in the manner of fulfilling it against even the defects of charity; it is the most natural instruction with which the history of the gospel presents us.
Part I. — It is scarcely a matter of controversy now in the world, whether the law of God makes a precept to us of charity. The gospel is so pointed on this duty; the spirit and the groundwork of religion lead us so naturally to it; the idea alone which we have of Providence, in the dispensation of temporal things, leaves so little room on that point to opinion or doubt, that, though many are ignorant of the extent of this obligation, yet there are almost none who do not admit of the foundation and principle.
Who, indeed, is ignorant that the Lord, whose providence hath regulated all things with an order so admirable and beautiful, and prepared food even for the beasts of the field, would never have left men, created after his own image, a prey to hunger and indigence, whilst he would liberally shower upon a small number of happy individuals the blessings of heaven and the fat of the earth, if he had not intended that the abundance of the one should supply the necessities of the other.
Who is ignorant, that originally every thing belonged in common to all men: that simple nature knew neither property nor portions; and that at first, she left each of us in possession of the universe: but that, in order to put bounds to avarice, and to avoid trouble and dissensions, the common consent of the people established that
