HERBERT'S "CHURCH PORCH."
(Vol. ix., p. 173.)
I venture the following as the meaning of the curious stanza in George Herbert's Church Porch, referred to by your correspondent S. Singleton:
"God made me one man; love makes me no more,
Till labor come and make my weakness score."
If you are single, give all you have to the service of God. But do not be anxious to make the gift larger by toil: for God only requires that which is suitable to the position in which He has placed you. He bestows a certain "estate" upon every man as He bestows life: let both be dedicated to Him. For if you give first yourself, and then what He has given you, this is sufficient; you need not try to be more rich, that you may be more charitable. But if you choose a life of labour to gain an "estate" beyond the original position assigned to you in the providence of God, then you must reckon yourself responsible for the "one man" which God "made" you, and for the other which you make yourself besides.
I conceive the stanza to be a recommendation of the contemplative life with poverty, in preference to the active life with riches.
J. H. B.