1. It is by no means evident that you have absolutely _nothing_ that can be applied to the purposes of a pious charity. In order to prove this, it would be requisite to show that all your labour is scarcely sufficient to procure your subsistence--a subsistence that does not require or admit the smallest redundancy or the least indulgence. You must prove that you never pamper one appetite or gratify one lust; and that, in compliance with the exhortation of Christ, you "take no thought for the morrow." This is a case of so extreme a nature that its occurrence seems a bare possibility, and will not surely exonerate those who, if they are but scantily supplied in comparison with the ample abundance which enriches the condition of others, have nevertheless the means of a sufficient and perhaps a comfortable support. From those who possess much, much is required; and of those who have little _something_--to prove that the spirit of benevolence is not extinct, nor the claims of humanity and religion disregarded. You may be unable to pour in gold and silver, but surely you can contribute _two miles_'. It is an excellent piece of advice, "If thou have but a little, be not afraid to give according to that little; for thou layest up a good treasure for thyself against the day of necessity." 2. Whatever may be our estimate of the merit or utility of a small donation, the most trifling addition is of some importance. The seed which is sown in the field of benevolence will bear some fruit and help to swell the harvest. The immeasurable extent of sand upon the sea-shore is made up of grains, and the loftiest mountains are composed of diminutive particles of dust. If the millions who are able to contribute their mites could be induced to do so, the treasury would soon be full; but if they withhold them, the uncertain, capricious, and ostentatious, though large contributions of the opulent, may fail to replenish it. 3. The _habit_ of giving, however small the sum, is inconceivably beneficial to the contributor himself. It is an important means of cherishing in the breast that divine principle, which without exercise and use would be likely to languish: for whatever sentiments we feel, whatever theories we adopt, and in whatever eloquence of language and warmth of spirit we expatiate upon the excellences of liberality, unless we _give_ to the necessitous ourselves, the heart will become hardened and cold; and a _theoretical religion_ can never preserve us from a _real impiety_.