religiously, are they bending to the burden! There is no bitter outcry against the blockaders, no intemperate act or speech against the mill-owners, no riotous agitation for national intervention, no lawless depredation, and desperate helping of themselves, no clamour for relief, no greedy grasping of what is offered. Their very failings lean to virtue’s side. They have struggled to be independent. They have drawn from the savings’ bank the little fruits of their prudence and frugality: “one by one they have parted with their few luxuries, their half-dozen books, and their musical instrument, whatever it was; then the old clock ceased its familiar ticking; then, lingeringly left behind, the old family Bible, with its little family record, and its many associations with the past; and then their very clothing and bedding.” While they could help themselves, they would not ask, they would not _have_, help from others, and even now, when all is gone, the spirit of independence, the abhorrence of pauperism, the desire to bear their own burden, will hardly let them receive, on much persuasion and entreaty, the miserable pittance which is called “relief.” My brethren, shall such men with their wives and little ones be hungry and naked, and lie on bare boards, and shiver, and starve, and die, while we have aught of money, food, or raiment that we can send them? I should do you much wrong, if I feared that you would not respond to such an appeal, if I did not feel confident that you would make now the very largest offering you can, and go home with the burning resolution to repeat it and surpass it if possible. Your hearts must be touched, your hands must be ready. You would not be _human_, much less _Christian_, were it otherwise. But, brethren, zeal and love often burn themselves out without affecting much around them, for want of direction and management. Let me, therefore, offer you a few practical suggestions whereby you may be helped to sustain and make productive the feelings now aroused. Regard, then, the offering which you make to-day as the pledge that you will give again and quickly, and at once set about redeeming the pledge. Resolve to waste nothing, to spend nothing on amusement, on luxuries, on what is not absolutely necessary, till the hungry are all fed, and the naked all clothed. Infuse the same spirit into your household and all that approach it. Be a mouth to plead for those who will not ask for themselves. Let no one meet you and part from you without being stirred to respond to this most imperative call. Hold out a ready and eager hand to receive what he will give, and what you receive be prompt to hand on. When you have scraped all that you can by direct means, look about for by-ways. Part with everything that you can do without; ask your friend for the _cost_ of his proffered hospitality (be sure he will generally give you more); calculate what you have saved by “good” bargains, and hand on the gains.