"A clergyman states, that soon after he dedicated himself to the service
of Christ, he resolved, as Jacob did, 'Of all that thou shalt give me, I
will surely give a tenth unto thee.' Of the first $500 he earned, he
gave $130, and in such a way that it incited a wealthy friend to give
several hundreds more, including a donation of $100 to this clergyman
himself. For four years, the clergyman says, 'My expenses were small, my
habits economical, and the only _luxury_ in which I indulged was the
luxury of giving. In the two first of these years I was permitted to
give $500.' 'On a review of my ministry of about sixteen years,' he
adds, 'I find God has graciously permitted me to give to the cause of my
Redeemer nearly $1,200, by which amount about forty life memberships
have been created in various evangelical societies. During all these
years God has prospered me; has given me almost uninterrupted health;
has surrounded me with sweet domestic ties; and my congregation, by
means in part perhaps of a steady example, have given _more in these
sixteen years_ than in all their long previous history."