THE TENDENCY OF CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS CONSIDERED, IN A SERMON, PREACHED IN THE CHAPEL OF THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL, LONDON, ON SUNDAY, MAY 19, 1833, WHEN SEVERAL YOUNG PERSONS, FOUNDLINGS, HAVING SERVED THEIR WITH NOTES, ON THE TENDENCY OF PUBLIC CHARITIES, AS STATED IN A WORK, ENTITLED " ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE REV. CHARLES LAWSON, M. A., OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND MORNING PREACHER AT THE FOUNDLING HOSPITA LONDON: JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND MDCCCXXXIII. 121. TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE, PRESIDENT, TO THE VICE-PRESIDENTS, TREASURER, AND THE GOVERNORS AND GUARDIANS OF THE HOSPITAL FOR THE MAINTENANCE AND EDUCATION OF EXPOSED AND DESERTED YOUNG CHILDREN, THIS SERMON, PREACHED AT THE REQUEST, AND PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE, IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THEIR MOST GRATEFUL AND OBEDIENT SERVANT, CHARLES LAWSON. SERMO N. PROVERBS xxvii. 11. MY SON, BE WISE, AND MAKE MY HEART GLAD, THAT I IT MAY ANSWER HIM THAT REPROACHETH ME. may appear a question of some difficulty, whether Religion has suffered more from the attacks of her open enemies, or from the indiscretion and the faults of her own children. It is, indeed, easy to perceive, that the unworthy conduct of the professors of Christianity tends to cast an imputation upon its holy doctrines, as being insufficient for the purposes for which they were intended. Such, at least, is the impression made upon the minds of those who are not favourably disposed towards Religion; such is the alleged excuse of many, for their neglect of doctrines, whose truth they have not the honesty to acknowledge, and of precepts, whose purity they have not the inclination to practise. Yet, is it not unjust to measure the worth of Christianity by that which is only the partial result of its principles? Is it not unjust to charge upon the truth, the consequences of an imperfect comprehension of its details, or the adoption of an erroneous estimate of its extent ? The fact is, that men are unwilling to admit the |