Blair Collection > Practical grammar of the antient Gaelic, or, Language of the Isle of Man, usually called Manks
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A SERMON.*
For the poor shall never cease out of the land ; therefore, I com-
mand thee, saying, Thou shaltopenthinehand wide unto thy brother ^
to thy poor, and to thy needy in thy land. — Deut. xv. 11.
TO the superficial observer of the Divine lawSj it may appear
unaccountable that the Almighty, in His intended partition
of the land of Canaan among the twelve tribes of Israel, should
not have adjusted the portion of each individual, and guarded
against the alienation and abuse of property in such a manner
as to have precluded the necessity of appealing to the humanity
of man to remedy and supply the inadequacy of the benevolence
of God ; but that, at the instant He was introducing them to a
good land — " a land flowing with milk and honey,"t He should
pronounce the severe sentence, that " the poor should never cease
out of the land."
A small degree of attention to the dispensations of God and
the nature of man, will remove this difficulty. To produce a
perfect state, or perfect men, was not in the contemplation of the
Deity. His laws under the Jewish economy were for the most
part general ; they placed before the children of Israel blessing
and cursing, good and evil ; they restrained not absolutely the
human will, but in every instance left man a moral agent. It
[• The above is the sermon referred to in the Biography, page xx.] f Exodus iii. 8,
For the poor shall never cease out of the land ; therefore, I com-
mand thee, saying, Thou shaltopenthinehand wide unto thy brother ^
to thy poor, and to thy needy in thy land. — Deut. xv. 11.
TO the superficial observer of the Divine lawSj it may appear
unaccountable that the Almighty, in His intended partition
of the land of Canaan among the twelve tribes of Israel, should
not have adjusted the portion of each individual, and guarded
against the alienation and abuse of property in such a manner
as to have precluded the necessity of appealing to the humanity
of man to remedy and supply the inadequacy of the benevolence
of God ; but that, at the instant He was introducing them to a
good land — " a land flowing with milk and honey,"t He should
pronounce the severe sentence, that " the poor should never cease
out of the land."
A small degree of attention to the dispensations of God and
the nature of man, will remove this difficulty. To produce a
perfect state, or perfect men, was not in the contemplation of the
Deity. His laws under the Jewish economy were for the most
part general ; they placed before the children of Israel blessing
and cursing, good and evil ; they restrained not absolutely the
human will, but in every instance left man a moral agent. It
[• The above is the sermon referred to in the Biography, page xx.] f Exodus iii. 8,
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Early Gaelic Book Collections > Blair Collection > Practical grammar of the antient Gaelic, or, Language of the Isle of Man, usually called Manks > (33) |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/81513818 |
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Description | A selection of books from a collection of more than 500 titles, mostly on religious and literary topics. Also includes some material dealing with other Celtic languages and societies. Collection created towards the end of the 19th century by Lady Evelyn Stewart Murray. |
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Description | Selected items from five 'Special and Named Printed Collections'. Includes books in Gaelic and other Celtic languages, works about the Gaels, their languages, literature, culture and history. |
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