Funds of Clothing Charities. 125 CALCULATION ON THE BEST WAY OF EMPLOYING THE FUNDS OF CLOTH ING CHARITIES. To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor. SIR, I BEG leave to suggest what seems to me to be an improvement upon the plan of your correspondent, E. E.* for the establishment of a clothing Charity. He proposes that the amount of the subscriptions should be laid out in articles to be sold to the poor at half-price, and that the sum thus received should form a fund in augmentation of the annual subscriptions for the same purpose. To avoid obscurity, let us suppose the subscription to be 10%. then the second year the amount will be 157. the third year 177. 10s. and so on, continually increasing, but yet it will never reach 201. as a little calculation will plainly shew. Now, sir, my plan is this; I go to market, and taking credit (which will always be given) till the subscriptions shall be paid, and the articles sold, purchase as many goods as with the expense of making cost 201. These, sold at halfprice, produce 107. the subscriptions 107. making up the whole sum of 20l. which I am thus able to expend every year, which your correspondent would never be able to do. In small villages it may without much difficulty be ascertained what articles are most needed, but in general I believe the greatest demand is found for the following, in the order in which they are placed; Blankets, Shirts, Shifts, Flannel Petticoats, Worsted Stockings, Sheets, Check-Aprons. Men's Flannel waistcoats with sleeves have also been found acceptable. In the Number for January. It is desirable that the shirts &c. should be made in the village, at the school if there be one, the parents of the children being paid for their work with such articles as they would, otherwise, have desired to purchase. Knitted are stronger and cheaper than woven stockings; and boys may with great advantage be taught to make them: as they will thus be supplied with active employment, while engaged in keeping cows, sheep &c. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, CLERICUS. GRATEFUL FEELING; OR THE YOUNG IRISHMAN. To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor. SIR, THE truth of the following anecdote may be depended on. The name of the Irish student is well known in the world, and I could furnish you with it, if it were necessary. "An enterprizing youth of Trinity College, Dublin, determined to seek his fortune amongst his friends in London. Upon landing at Liverpool, not having much money he resolved to pursue his journey on foot. Another young Irishman in humbler life, who had come over in the same ship, was also going to London; and they walked up together. The young gentleman's shoes, not being calculated for so much work, soon failed, and he gladly accepted the offer of a pair that were in his companion's wallet. After some years industriously employed, the student acquired both reputation and fortune; to On the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 127 which his constant habit of rising at day-break throughout a long life, mainly contributed. This young man was one day going to court, with Captain M. an officer of the Guards. As they passed the gates of St. James's Palace, one of the centinels, upon presenting arms to his Captain, became very much agitated; his musket fell from his hands and he dropped down. The Captain immediately ordered him to be relieved, and inquired the cause of his sudden illness. He found that the soldier was overcome with joy and surprize, at seeing his bare-footed fellow-traveller from Liverpool, walking arm in arm with his Captain. The soldier's promotion to the rank of corporal was the consequence of this happy meeting; and owing to his own good conduct, he afterwards obtained a still further promotion to the rank of a sergeant in the guards. Öften did the gentleman speak with pleasure of his having it so unexpectedly in his power to make a return for the kindness he had received, when these two travelled together over many a weary mile." J. A. C. ON THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor. SIR, I HOPE you will not think it too great a liberty for me, who am but an unlearned, plain-spoken person, to write a letter to your Visitor; but, as I am sure the advice and good words you print sometimes are very useful, and my neighbours mind them a good deal, I must make bold to ask you to write some thing about one of the most serious things that can concern us, and what I am afraid we all still want a great deal of advice about; I mean the Sacrament of our Lord's Supper. Now, although our minister often tells us that it is the duty of every person who professes to be a Christian to join in this sacrament constantly, yet a great many of my neighbours still say they could not presume to partake of it; that they do not think themselves good enough;-though they would grieve very much if they were told that they should not have an opportunity before their death, which they think quite necessary to their souls being saved hereafter. A few years ago, a woman of our parish sent to the clergyman, when she was very ill, to beg him to administer the sacrament to her; but he found, on conversation with her, that she seemed to be very ignorant about the proper object of it, and all holy matters, and he went to see and talk to her for some weeks before he thought she was fit to receive it. And when, at last, he spoke to her about it, when she was getting better, "Oh Sir," she said, "I am getting well again now, and I do not think I shall die, and so, if you please, I will put off taking the sacrament till another time." I have known some others too who, though all their lifetime they have only scoffed and laughed at going to church and taking the sacrament, yet, when they were taken ill, they have been very anxious to be allowed to do it, because they think it will make up at last for the time they have lost. Now, Sir, this seems to me, by what I read of the Catholics, to be just like their way of thinking, that they are to be saved by some outward religious act just at their dying hour, instead of partaking every time they can of this means of grace, and striving to become better and better each time, and then only to expect to be saved through the death of our Saviour: and I am sure you would be doing a great service if On the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 129 you would write on some of these things better than I can, and give us all some advice on this subject. I am, Sir, We think the letter of E. E. will serve to draw attention to this most important subject, and to point out some common errors, and we therefore prefer printing the letter to making any remarks of our own. We have, at different times, received innumerable applications to say something on this subject, and we have occasionally done so, besides printing the letters of our correspondents. To some people, no subject seems so easy as this; and they believe it to be the simplest of all things to set a mistaken person right upon this point. Hence the number of books that are written on the subject; and yet every one complains that something is wanting still. And, if that something were written, just as little effect would probably be produced as by all that is gone before. The truth is, that every Christian is required to partake of this sacrament, and nothing that can be said is a sufficient excuse for neglecting it; but then every Christian is also required to be in such a state that he may not be in danger of receiving it unworthily. A person who absents himself from this holy communion must be wrong. A person who attends it without repentance, sorrow for his sins, dependance on Christ for pardon, and a desire to lead a new and holy and a Christian life, is wrong also. And such a one is in imminent danger, whether he attend this sacrament or not; he is not in a state of acceptance with God. And, whilst he continues in this state, he must not suppose that merely partaking of this holy communion will act as a sort of atonement for his sins. This is a grievous error, and it is to be feared, a common one. But whilst we try to guard against |