A discourse : addressed to the gentlemen of the Faculty; the officers; the clergy; and the trustees of the Infirmary, at Liverpool, on their respective hospital duties; being an anniversary sermon, preached in May 1791 ... / by the Rev. Thomas Bassnet Percival.

  • Percival, Thomas Bassnet, 1767-1798.
Date:
1794
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A discourse : addressed to the gentlemen of the Faculty; the officers; the clergy; and the trustees of the Infirmary, at Liverpool, on their respective hospital duties; being an anniversary sermon, preached in May 1791 ... / by the Rev. Thomas Bassnet Percival. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. Vi¬ gour and perseverance are essential to every noble pursuit: And no virtuous effort is in vain. To be discouraged by opposition; to be alarmed by dan¬ ger, or overcome by difficulty, implies a state of mind unfitted for the Christian warfare. But the present interesting occasion calls for a specific application of the precept contained in our text. What is just and true, concerning the whole duty of man, must be equally just and true of eve¬ ry individual branch of moral and religious obli¬ gation. And it can require no deep research, no abstruse investigation, to work conviction on our minds, that the higher is the object we have in view, the more active and incessant should be our exertions in the attainment of it. The Institution, which now claims your most serious attention, is founded on the wisest policy ; adapted to the no¬ blest purposes of humanity; and capable of being rendered subservient to the everlasting welfare of mankind. The wisdom of such charitable foundations can admit of no dispute. On the lower classes of our fellow-citizens alone, we depend for food, for rai¬ ment, for the habitations in which we dwell, and for all the conveniencies and comforts of life. But health is essential to their capacity for labour; and in this labour, I fear, it is too often sacrificed. An additional obligation, therefore, to afford relief, springs from so affecting a consideration. He, who at once toils and suffers for our benefit, has a multiplied claim to our support ; and to withhold it