(2) Bountifulness should distinguish beneficence. The crumbs which fall from the rich man's table, the scraps which are doled out at the servant's door, are not to be here accounted of. " The
^ J. Robertson, Lady Blanche Balfour, 25.
ECCLESIASTES xi. i 397
liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand." "Cast thy bread." Let it not be extorted from you. Let it be given " heartily," " not by constraint, but willingly." The "cheerful giver" is the acceptable giver. "Freely ye have received, freely give." Even when our own " daily bread " is scanty, we are to cast some of it upon the waters whenever there is a Divine call to do this. A poor widow, who had been reduced to penury, acted thus one day at Zarephath, a town in the region of Tyre and Sidon. She shared with the prophet Elijah what she thought might possibly be her last meal, and she took him home with her as a guest " for many days." The reward of her hospitaUty, after perhaps nearly two years, was the restoration to life of her dead son in answer to the prophet's earnest prayer.
^ Miss Pipe's whole attitude to beneficence of action and ex- penditure was characteristic. She believed in practical benefit rather than in charity commonly so called. Her gifts in money were numerous and generous, but she took great pains to learn how the money would be used, and often, when some individual or society was doing what seemed to her valuable work, she would send to either an unexpected cheque in assistance of what she approved. The work was just as often scientific, pedagogic, or artistic, as conventionally charitable, and sometimes took the form of help in publication in order to preserve the author's aim from inter- ference ; of help in establishing schools, when she approved of those who ventured ; of money sent for travelling when the need was educational. These and similar gifts did not interfere with a constant liberality to missions, church-schemes and expenses, to hospitals, work amongst the poor, and especially to such work as Miss Octavia Hill was doing, in which she warmly welcomed the high intelligence, the educative processes, the seeds sown for the future. To her own personal friends she was always and continuously generous, delighting to find out what they needed or wished, and to supply it. Some memoranda of her personal expenditure have escaped destruction, and indicate the splendid proportion of her giving to others compared with her purchasing for herself. For instance, in one year she gave away £288, and spent £14 on dress ; in another, while dress cost £90, giving reached £363 ; in a third, dress amounted to £58 and giving to £406 ; in a fourth, dress had grown more costly, reaching £100, but giving had increased to £485 ; and by 1880, dress had sunk to £71, while giving had grown to £789.^
^ Life and Letters of Hannah E. Pipe, 194.
398 GIVING AND RECEIVING
2. The Bread of the Gospel. — Though liberality and kindness are the primary lessons of our text, it may well suggest, as in our ordinary conversation it does suggest, every kind of work for God. There is in the world an ever-increasing amount of work done in the spirit of Christian benevolence, efforts on behalf of the young, the outcast, the victims of drink, the criminal, the poor, the afflicted ; efforts that at times seem to be fruitless, and often meet with lack of appreciation, often with ingratitude, and at times even with wrath. Those for whom we may have done our best take a base advantage of kindness, or say to us, like the evil spirit of old, " Let us alone," and, after all our efforts, are not any the better, but rather the worse. We are inclined to lose heart and hope because we see no fruit of our labours. It is to those in such a condition, who are depressed and think it not worth while to continue, that such words as the text may apply. Our bread is to be cast upon the waters. We are to render service — service that often costs much — to thankless people. We must be content to work when our work is unacknowledged, unrequited — even when it is despised. If we serve men in material things, indifference and ingratitude may be the return ; but this is still more likely to be the case when we seek to do them the highest good. People appreciate gold, bread, or raiment sooner than they appreciate efibrts to raise their mind and character. Much of the highest, painfullest service wrought for the good of men — work of brain and heart — is least appreciated. So many a sincere worker is sad because of the lack of apprecia- tion, and ready to renounce his self-sacrificing work, seeing it is so disregarded.
But let us remember how God's work and gifts are imappreci- ated. The multitude crowds into the music-hall and gazes with rapture on some vulgar stage scenery painted in glaring ochres, whilst God's bright landscapes full of perfect beauty solicit their eye in vain. There is a great crush in the public gardens to witness an exhibition of fire- works — small tricks in saltpetre ; but the eager crowd turns its back on the moon walking in brightness and God's heaven sown with stars. And men treat God's govern- ment and grace as they do His handiwork, ignoring Him who is wonderful in counsel, excellent in working. Yet for all this He does not suspend His beneficent action ; He continues His glorious