A Sermon Preached at the Anniversary of the Devon and Exeter Hospital, August 25, 1818

A Sermon Preached At The Anniversary Of The Devon And Exeter Hospital, August 25, 1818 by Edward Copleston. In this sermon Copleston, then Provost of Oriel College and prebendary of Rochester, addresses the moral responsibilities of Christians toward those in distress. Drawing on 1 John 3:18, he argues that genuine benevolence must be exercised not only in word or tongue but in deed and truth, and warns against the ‘luxury of pity’—the tendency to delight in vivid descriptions of misery without converting feeling into action. He discusses the hazards of indiscriminate almsgiving, urging judgment, proper objects, and the avoidance of mere sentimentality. He extols the role of Christian institutions and charities as means to concentrate private benevolence, provide accountable relief, and involve donors in the lived experience of mercy. The sermon also advocates personal engagement—seeing, hearing, and sharing in the daily work of relief—as essential to the moral achievement of charity. Delivered for the Devon and Exeter Hospital, the work is published in a second edition in 1819 with respectful dedication to the Bishop of Exeter.