James Galloway Cowan

“ Hence the richly endowed are to hold their possessions in common, and to distribute them liberally according as every man has need; hence the burden of the suffering and oppressed is to be borne by the free. ”

“ There are certain burdens which every man must bear for himself, which none can bear for him. Such are the burdens brought upon him by sin—fear, remorse, punishment. Such again are the burdens of responsibility which belong to his gifts and opportunities from God. Of these it is not the Divine will that he should be relieved by others. Rightly is he made to eat the fruit of his own wilful doings; rightly is he accountable to God for all that has been lent to him, for all that he has been commanded to do. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ If he must go forth bearing the cross even unto death, let us bear it with him, like Joseph of Arimathea, and give him the precious peace of knowing that he is not alone. At the worst this shall keep his soul alive while the body is perishing; it shall make him walk calmly in the valley of the shadow of death; it shall bear good fruit in eternity, if not in time. ”

“ If Christ, by and by, will reject with indignation those who have left the least of his brethren unfed, unclad, unvisited, how will He treat those who have neglected these sufferers? For, assuredly, they are not the “least” of His p. 10brethren. It is no vicious or imprudent course that has brought them to this pass. It is the deliberate policy of our nation which has forced upon them, all helpless, their grievous burden. It is what we have done in self-love which has made them miserable! And how nobly, how heroically, how religiously, are they bending to the burden! ”

“ Thousands and thousands of able, active, industrious men and women are thus, with their families, deprived of the means of subsistence. Theirs is not the case, remember, of men who will not work, and who, therefore, according to the Apostolic rule, may justly be left to bear their own burden: “If any man will not work, neither shall he eat.” ”

“ It is true indeed that the co-operation or opposition of other men may, in some measure, affect the bearing of these p. 4burdens; but still mainly, if not entirely, is it a question between him and his God—with which a stranger intermeddleth not—what he shall suffer, what reckoning shall be made with him: “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father;” “Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own work;” “Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ They want to work. They are compelled to be idle; the door of the factory is shut against them, and were they qualified for other kind of work, it could not be found for them. What, then, is to be done for them? ”

“ No man ever came into this world, certainly none was ever incorporated in the Christian Church with license or power to live to himself or by himself. Christ has constituted us all in Him members one of another. ”

“ 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 ”