To the hrifti in fi eader. tinnedworpe bath been anocca/ion of confidera- ble expense toyou ; yet Imuch beleeve that it will not prove any thing of lofe to any of you. There is (faith Solomon) that fcattereth and yet increafeth , and there is that withholdeth more then is meate and it tendeth to poverty. They thatflatter to doe good, fow what they fcatter ; and that which isTowne ina rightfoyle increafeth to a harveft. They that withhold what they have, more then is meete, (hall not hold what they have, but meete with poverty. As that which isgiven in charity,for the reliefe ofthe poore, fo that which is given in a due tempered liberality for the ufe of the publicke, is lentto the Lord, and he willfurely repay all that be bath borrowed. Therefore give a porti- on tofeven and alto to eight ( whether indi- gent perfons, or pious ufes) for ye know not what evill íhall beupon the earth. Ifevil come upon the earth, they will be found theheft Intl- bandsoftheirgoods, who have laid up mogi in heaven ; and ifgood continue upon the earth, they will notfinde any mife of what is fo laid up. Iwrite this, not as eitherfearing an abate- ment ofmyowneprivate interef, nor as hoping or looping after an increafe o f it : but only as a gate fn teflimony ofwhat ye havefreely done for
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