danger of death for famine to be feared, will rather cast doubts and perils of unlikely penury, than you will part with any piece of your superfluities, to help, feed, and succour the poor, hungry, and naked Christ, that cometh to your doors a begging. This poor and silly widow never cast doubts in all her misery what wants she herself should have, she never distrusted the promise that God made to her by the prophet, but straightway went about to relieve the hungry prophet of God, yea, preferring his necessity before her own. But we, like unbelieving wretches, before we will give one mite, we will cast a thousand doubts of danger, whether that will stand us in any stead, that we give to the poor; whether we should not have need of it at any other time, and whether here it would not have been more profitably bestowed. So that it is [not] more hard to wrench a strong nail (as the proverb saith) out of a post, than to wring a farthing out of our fingers. There is neither the fear nor the love of God before our eyes; we will more esteem a mite, than we either desire God's kingdom, or fear the devil's dungeon.

Hearken therefore, ye merciless misers, what will be the end of this your unmerciful dealing. As certainly as God nourished this poor widow in the time of famine, and increased her little store, so that she had enough, and felt no penury, when others pined away; so certainly shall God plague you with poverty in the midst of plenty. Then, when other have abundance and be fed at full, you shall utterly waste and consume away yourselves, your store shall be destroyed, your goods plucked from you, all your glory and wealth shall perish: and that, which when you had you might have enjoyed yourself in peace, and might have bestowed upon other most godly, ye shall seek with sorrow and sighs, and nowhere shall find it. For your unmercifulness towards other, ye shall find no man that will shew mercy towards you. You that had stony hearts towards other, shall find all the creatures of God to you-ward as hard as brass and iron. Alas, what fury and madness doth possess our minds, that, in a matter of truth and certainty, we will not give credit to the truth, testifying unto that which is most certain! Christ saith, that if we will first seek the kingdom of God, and do the works of righteousness thereof, we shall not be left destitute, all other things shall be given to us plen

teously [Matt. vi. 33]. Nay, say we, I will first look that I be able to live myself, and be sure that I have enough for me and mine; and, if I have any thing over, I will bestow it to get God's favour, and the poor shall then have part with me.

See, I pray you, the perverse judgment of men; we have more care to nourish the carcase, than we have fear to see our soul perish. And, as Cyprian saith, "whilst we stand in doubt lest our goods fail in being over liberal, we put it out of doubt, that our life and health faileth in not being liberal at all. Whilst we are careful for diminishing of our stock, we are altogether careless to diminish ourselves. We love mammon, and lose our souls. We fear lest our patrimony should perish from us; but we fear not lest we should perish for it." Thus do we perversely love that we should hate, and hate that we should love; we be negligent where we should be careful, and careful where we need not.

This vain fear to lack ourselves, if we give to the poor, is much like the fear of children and fools; which, when they see the bright glimmering of a glass, they do imagine straightway that it is the lightning; and yet the brightness of a glass never was the lightning. Even So, when we imagine that, by spending upon the poor, a man may come to poverty, we are cast into a vain fear; for we never heard or knew, that by that means any man came to misery, and was left destitute, and not considered of God. Nay, we read to the contrary in the Scripture (as I have before shewed, and as by infinite testimonies and examples may be proved) that whosoever serveth God faithfully and unfeignedly in any vocation, God will not suffer him to decay, much less to perish. The Holy Ghost teacheth us by Solomon, that the Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to perish for hunger (Prov. x. 3). And therefore David saith unto all them that are merciful, O fear the Lord, ye that be his saints, for they that fear him lack nothing. The lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they which seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good [Ps. xxxiv. 9, 10].

When Elias was in the desert, God fed him by the ministry of a raven, that evening and morning brought him sufficient victuals (1 Kings xvii. 5, 6). When Daniel was shut up in the lions' den, God prepared meat for him, and sent it thither to him. And there was the saying of

David fullfilled, The lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they which seek the Lord shall want no good thing. For, while the lions, which should have been fed with his flesh, roared for hunger and desire of their prey, whereof they they had no power, although it were present before them, he, in the mean time, was fresh fed from God, that should with his flesh have filled the lions. So mightily doth God work to preserve and maintain those whom he loveth; so careful is he also to feed them, who in any state or vocation do unfeignedly serve him.

And shall we now think that he will be unmindful of us, if we be obedient to his word, and according to his will have pity on the poor? He giveth us all wealth before we do any service for it: and will he see us lack necessaries when we do him true service? Can a man think that he that feedeth Christ, can be forsaken of Christ, and left without food? or will Christ deny earthly things unto them, whom he promiseth heavenly things for his true service? It cannot be therefore, dear brethren, that by giving of alms we should at any time want ourselves; or that we, which relieve other men's need, should ourselves be oppressed with penury. It is contrary. to God's word, it repugneth with his promise, it is against Christ's property and nature to suffer it, it is the crafty surmise of the devil to persuade us it. Wherefore stick not to give alms freely, and trust, notwithstanding, that God's goodness will minister unto us sufficiency and plenty, so long as we shall live in this transitory life; and, after our days here well spent in his service, and the love of our brethren, we shall be crowned with everlasting glory, to reign with Christ our Saviour in heaven: to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory for ever. Amen.

[Suitable Prayers after reading the foregoing Homily.

O ALMIGHTY God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist; Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate love of riches, and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.-Collect for St. Matthew's day.

ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who by thy holy Apostle hast taught us to make prayers, and supplications, and to give thanks, for

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all men; We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our alms and oblations, and to receive these our prayers, which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty; beseeching thee to inspire continually the universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord. . . . And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour all them, who in this transitory life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity. Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

...

Prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church militant here in earth.

CURSED are the unmerciful,

covetous persons...*. Amen. Commination Service.

ALBEIT that good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's Judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known, as a tree discerned by the fruit.-Article xii.

EVERY man ought, of such things as he possesseth, liberally to give alms to the poor, according to his ability.—Article xxxviii.

M. Can we not, therefore, prevent God with any works or deservings, whereby we may first provoke him to love us,and be good unto us?

S. Surely, with none. For God loved and chose us in Christ, not only when we were his enemies, that is, sinners, but also before the foundations of the world were laid.

M. What thinkest thou of those works which we, after that we be reconciled to God's favour, do by the instinct of the Holy Ghost? S. The dutiful works of godliness, which proceed out of faith, working by charity, are indeed acceptable to God, yet not by their own deserving, but that for he, of his liberality, vouchsafeth them his favour.

M. How dost thou say that they please God?

S. It is faith that procureth God's favour to our works; . . . that is, he will not, in valuing and weighing them, use severity, but remitting and pardoning all their corruptness, for Christ's sake and his deservings, will account them for fully perfect.

M. Doth not this doctrine withdraw men's minds from the duties of godliness?

S. No. For good works serve both to the profit of our neighbour and to the glory of God; and they do, as by certain testimonies, assure us of God's goodwill toward us, and of our love again to Godward, and of our faith, and so consequently of our salvation.

Abridged from Nowell's Catechism, pp. 82, 83.]

AN HOMILY OR SERMON CONCERNING THE NATIVITY AND BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

AMONG all the creatures that God made in the beginning of the world most excellent and wonderful in their kind, there was none, as the Scripture beareth witness, to be compared almost in any point unto man, who as well in body as in soul exceedeth all other, no less than the sun in brightness and light exceedeth every small and little star in the firmament. He was made according to the image and similitude of God, he was endued with all kind of heavenly gifts, he had no spot of uncleanness in him, he was sound and perfect in all parts, both outwardly and inwardly, his reason was uncorrupt, his understanding was pure and good, his will was obedient and godly, he was made altogether like unto God, in righteousness, in holiness, in wisdom, in truth; to be short, in all kind of perfection.

When he was thus created and made, Almighty God, in token of his great love towards him, chose out a special place of the earth for him, namely paradise, where he lived in all tranquillity and pleasure, having great abundance of worldly goods, and lacking nothing that he might justly require, or desire to have. For, as it is said, God made him lord and ruler over all the works of his hands, that he should have under his feet all sheep and oxen, all beasts of the field, all fowls of the air, all fishes of the sea, and use them always at his own pleasure, according as he should have need (Psalm viii. 6-8). Was not this a mirror of perfection? Was not this a full, perfect, and blessed estate? Could any thing else be well added hereunto, or greater felicity desired in this world? But as the common nature of all men is, in time of prosperity and wealth, to forget not only themselves, but also God; even so did this first man Adam, who having but one commandment at God's hand, namely, that he should not eat of the fruit of knowledge of good and ill, did notwithstanding, most unmindfully, or rather most wilfully break