3. Would not this custom also bring into more general practice the other characteristic I mentioned of him who hath _a bountiful eye_,--giving his charities with benevolent feelings and kind looks? We should ever remember, my brethren, that poverty, though it may clothe a person with rags, does not always kill the sensibilities of the heart. The poor are of like passions with ourselves, they like ourselves, can feel the sting of unkind words, and the cruel piercings of an evil eye. If we are satisfied upon any occasion that duty to the general interests of society requires of us to reject their petitions, let it never be with a scornful countenance or angry words. Let our rebukes, if they are needed, be tempered with mild expressions--they will be felt with tenfold power. And when we feel called upon to relieve one who asks for charity, let us not do it as though our alms were extorted. There are those who in performing an act of kindness, yet do it so ungraciously, that it is felt to be no kindness. And there are on the other hand those, who in giving a refusal, yet give it without causing pain--sometimes even they communicate pleasure by showing sympathy where they cannot administer relief. The phrase in my text expresses admirably the influence of such amiable conduct. It is the eye that speaks cruel sentiments more powerfully than the tongue, and it is the eye also that reveals the movements of a noble and generous sympathy. The _bountiful eye_ then, is the evidence of a humane and benevolent heart, prompting its possessor to thoughts and deeds of charity.