Another consideration to be borne in mind is that, in this country,
there is much less real need of charity in supplying physical
necessities than is generally supposed by those who have not learned
the more excellent way. This land is so abundant in supplies, and labor
is in such demand, that every healthy person can earn a comfortable
support. And if all the poor were instantly made virtuous, it is
probable that there would be few physical wants which could not readily
be supplied by the immediate friends of each sufferer. The sick, the
aged, and the orphan would be the only objects of charity. In this
view of the case, the primary effort in relieving the poor should be
to furnish them the means of earning their own support, and to supply
them with those moral influences which are most effectual in securing
virtue and industry.
Another point to be attended to is the importance of maintaining a
system of _associated_ charities. There is no point in which the economy
of charity has more improved than in the present mode of combining many
small contributions, for sustaining enlarged and systematic plans of
charity.
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