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rata

»elure.

32X

fii

OUR SCHOOLMASTER :

A SEBIES OF

LECTURES

ON THE

COMMANDMENTS,

BY THE

REV. D. LUTHER ROTH, M.A.,

Pastor of Z/'.on's Gfnirchf Lunoilmrg, Nova Scotia,

"Wherefore tiik law waa OlK SCHOOLMASTER to bring us

unto CHRIST, tliat we niiyht lie .n stifoi) iiy faith."

GiOatians Hi: O*. (See pitfjc IJU.)

HALIFAX :
NOVA SCOTIA PRINTING COMPANY.

1880.

•

VENKKAliLE

AND

WELLBELOVKD

JjiUhci* anil ^Hoilicv,

THIS BOOK
18

■■*■>

INDEX.

A Bad Bargain, 126.
Acadia, S. S., 22.
Adultery, Sin of, 81.
Africans, 67.
Ahab, 123.

Animals, Cruelty to^ 78.
Army Regulations, 132.
Arndt, John, 68.
Augsburg Confession, 71.
Augustine, 9.

Baptism, 29.

Bargain-maker, The young, 139.
Battle-field, the world a, 133.
Baxter on Baptism, 29.
Blasphemy of Scripture, 32.
Blessings undervalued, 53.
Blue Laws of Connecticut, 46.
Bought with a price, 84.
Burns, Robert, 86.

Cannibalism, 67.

Catechism, The Larger, 50.

Cattle, 45.

Caution against profanity, 23.

" Charming," 32.

Christ the end of the Law, 136.

Chrysostom, 26.

Come to Jesus, 135.

Commandments, all broken, 129-

, One Law, 66, 130.
Communists, 98.
Conformity, Outward, 28.
Conjuring forbidden, 31.

INDEX.

Consumption, 81.

CoutHge, Sham, 7.i. -^

Criminais made criminal, by degre... 100.

Diphtherif 77.

Duel, The, 72.

Duty, Highest, of Man, 7o.

English Statesmen, 44.
Egyptian idolatry, 14.
Eye, The, 7.

Farmer and Tenant, 99.
French infidelity, 4:i.
Frenchman, The old, 47.

r.ardens, The two, 125.
God, Fear of, 16.

, Gifts of, 96.

, In nature, 10 nq.

,1b there a? 3 ««?.

, Love of, 17.

, Thy, 6.

, Trust in, 18.

, Worship of, 20.
Government, Authority of, 60.

Home, Authority of the, 52.
House, The falling, 131.

Idiocy, 85.
Idolatry, 15.
Image worship, 14.
Immortality, Desire of, 8.
Inanimate nature, 10.^
Irving, Washington, 53.

Jezebel, 124.
Jokes, Vulgar, 87.
Jot and Tittle, 13;?.

Judicial oaths, 30.

Justification, 135 sq.

Key-note of Luther, 16.
King's evil, 84.

INDEX.

VII.

Litdy at party. 77.
Lhw, of the Family, 59.
, of Labor, 40.
, of Property, 70 sq.
, Tlie Perfect, 1.12.
, Tables of the, .51.
Law of God, in our hearts, 6.
, in the Bible, 12.
, in the world, 8.
, universal, 6.
Life, Valae of human, 68.
Louis IX. of France, 2.5.
Luther's Key-note, IG, 29.

Man, a vuia. Hi,

Marriage, Law of, 81.

Melanct/tion, 35.

Mexico, S7. «,

Ministers, Respect for, 63.

Mob law, 72.

Moon's changes, 42.

Morgoa, Gen., 74.

Mcbher love, 52 aq., 56 nq.

Murder, 65.

** MystoriouB providences," 77.

Naboth and his Vineyard, 123.

Name of God, Command to rightly use the, 27.

, Jewish reverence for the, 21.
Nature, Animal and spiritual in man, 82.
Nerve of the Commandments, 35.
Novels, 86.

Obedience, 62.

Old folks. Don't forget the, 61.
Omission, Is there any ? 65.
Orphan, 54.

Parents, Aged, 60 aq.

, in God's stead, ,52.
, to despise, 55, 57.
, to displease, 58.
, to esteem, 62.
, to honor, 59.

Vlll.

INDEX.

Parents, to love, 59.

, to obey, 59.

, to serve, 59.
Pelagian Error, 71.
Peru, 67.
Poverty, ReagouB foi, 94 sq.

, of our Saviour, 103.

, and Wealth, 93.
" Pow-wow-ing," 32.
Prayer, 105.

, is the Music of the Soul, lOG-7.
Profanity, Schools of, 22.
Promises of God, 54.
Property, L»w of, 90.

Quakers, 3a

Raid, Incident of Morgan's, 74.
Kulers, Abuse of, 56.

, Treatment of, 56.

Sanotifloation, 136.
Saturday night. 42.
Scrofula, 84.
Seceders, 30,
Self-defence, 73.
Self-love v». Selfishness, 92.
Sigourney, Mrs., 11.
Sin, a fact. 8,
, Marks of
Singing, 108.
Sitting up at night, '^7.
Slave, The old, 134.
"Snobbery," 57-8.
Soeial evil. The, 80.
Speech, Power of, 104.
Spiritualism, 15.

Stage-driver, Conversation with, 24 aq.
Stealing, Subtle forms of, prohibited, 101 sq.
Stranger, The, 45.

, in school, 97.
Sunday, Observance of, 40 aq.
Suicide, 76.

•3

INDEX.

ix.

Swearing, 22 tq.
Syphylia, 84.

Teacher, Christ our, 134.

Teaohent in the room of parents, 63.

The Two Batteries, 120 tq.

Time, Division of 37.

Tongue, The, 109.

Truth vs. Falsehood, 110 aq.

Value of p good charcicter, 113.
Virtue, the key-stone of character, 87.

War. Is, forbidden ? 74.
Webster, Dr., 71.

Wet feet, 78.

Word of God for Sunday, 48.
Words, Murderous, 72.
Wordsworth, 10.

Zwingli, 92.

;lk.

}

PREFACE.

'■■a

AMONG the ^'inat powers of the world's development is
the power of nurture. Like electricity, gravitation, or
the currentH, it \n a Hilent, yet ceaselesH and mighty force hi
the natural world around uh we .see its working.s conbtantly,
and if our eyes l>e not holden we may as clearly discern its
operations in the spiritual world. What makes tt Christian
community differ from a pagan ? It is the Gospel nurture.
A brief statement of the true divine system is set forth in the
Proverb (xxii. 6), " Train up a child in the way he should go :
and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

It is trne, some men come out from sin to grace without
this nnrture ; but these are the exceptions. Those who are
nurture<l, who are cultured in the fear and love of God, form
the great majority of active Cliristians, worthy Church mem-
bers, and good citizens. They illustrate and make up the rule.

If a grove is to be planted it is not formed out of the giant
old oaks, and pines of the forest ; but from tha little saplings
springing at their base. The massive roots, high-towering
trunks and gnarled branches of the former are fitted in their
])Iaces and fixed in their forms so inflexibly, that it is death to
remove them ; bnt the latter being full of life, and pliancy,
and youthful vigor, readily adapt themselves under the training
hand, to new conditions. And as in the forests so in the
Church we may behold God's system of nurture, culture,
training and development.

About those persons who come into the Church as exceptions
to the rule, like old trees transplanted, there is usually somO'
thing which shows the lateness of their coming. They rarely
grow into exact harmony with their new environment. There
is usually something disjoiutetl, something wanting, something
which speaks of the misspent portion of their lives. The

if^

Xll.

PREFACE.

^ beauty of completeness is lacking in their Christian character.
But the symmetrical Christians, in whose characters the graces
grow and the works abound on all sides equally, are the ones
who have been taught from childhood, and brought up in the
fear, and nurture, and admonition of the Lord. /

Why is it that we all are so long in the hands, and under
the authority of others 1 As children, we are* under the care
of parents, then of teachers, then under the masters of various
arts and trades, and this for long years, and why f It is
because nurture is the law. St. Paul speaks of the child
Timothy as having been brought up in the Scriptures. (II.
Tim. iii. 14 seq ) He counsels fathers to bring up their
children thus. (Eph. vi. 4.) Christ says, "Suffer the little
children to come unto Me." (Mark x. 14 seq.) And Christ
meant the invitation for all time. The Old Testament is full
of shining examples of great Patriarchs, Prophets, and holy
men of God, who were trained from youth to become such.
As a tree is nurtured, so is the Christian life. The most beau-
tiful and fruitful are the ones cared for most faithfully , And
unless they are beautiful with the splendor of the blood and
righteousness of Christ, and fruitful unto good works in Uis
name and for His glory dune, these human trees have no place
and no right in the garden of God. But God promsies grace
and blessing upon obedience to this divine law of nurture.
And children are to be given to Christ early ; taken up out of
the barren clay of the world and transplanted early into the
rich soil of the Church ; removed by Holy Baptism from the
Kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Christ while young.

A frightful condition is that in which some families are.
Some men say, as though they were pursuing a very wise and
commendable course, " I never endeavor to give my children
any bias in religion. I leave them free to choose for them-
selves." It sounds very plausible and very liberal, but it is
practically handing the children over to Satan during the
most tender and helpless years of their life. No man who
really knows the blessedness of the true religion would dare to
follow such a course. The children must not be left uninflu-
enced. £ven pagans do better, according to the light they
liave, than these exceedingly judicious and liberal men, for
they carefully aud studiously educate thdir children in the

PREFACE.

Xlll.

mvsteries of their own belief. If we have tasted true relipion
we will be eager to impart it, and least of all will we permit
those who are dearest to us to perish from the lack of know-
ledge.

The Christian Home is the chief nursery of true religion.
It is, by divine right, the Cradle of the Church. And in the
home every orr may be a helper in imparting instruction. A
congregation with only one minister is a miserable congrega-
tion ; fur every father, mother, and teacher in the Church
should be a teaching minister at home.

But the nurture of the youth must be carried on in the
Church also, and the important question then is, how should
this nurture be given 1 What is the best method ? We think ,
catechization the best. In the ancient Church this was the
method by which Christians were trained in the precepts of the
Gospel. The catechumens were kept apart from the commu-
nicants. They were taught at first only a part of the plan of
salvation. The Lord's Supper was not administered to them.
The deeper things were kept back until, by teaching, they
were prepared to understand them ; and until they had been
carefully instructed in the Commandments, they were not
taught the Apostle's Creed, the Lord's Prayer, nor concerning
the two Great Sacraments. Efforts were constantly made to
systematize the course of instruction, and out of these efforts,
very early in the history of the Church, grew Catechisms,
arranged after certain forms. But Luther's is the first one
ever made with the substance in which we now know them.
Eminent men of the sixteenth century confessed that they did
not know the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, &c., in their own lan-
guage, until they learned them from that Catechism. They
rhymed over them in Latin but did not understand them. And
if such was the condition of the learned, what must have been
the state of the common people ! The ignorance which prevailed
was beyond comprehension. But this was the state in which
Home w'^hed to bring and keep the people, for the Romish
priests say " ignorance is the mother of devotion." The state
of affairs showed the need of instruction for the people.

Rome boasts of her antiquity — her catechism is a generation
younger than ours. The Lutheran Church is the true oM

XIV.

PREFACE.

Church, for iu it we find the old creeds, the ohl forms of worship,
the old Bible, and the old Sacraments, just as Christ and the
Apostles had them, and therein we find the Lord Jesus Himself,
the Chief Corner Stone. But the Lutheran Church is no sect.
God made the Church one and man divided it. Grod founded
one Church but man has founded many sects. This sectarianism
is a deplorable evil, but Luther and his followers are not
responsible for it. They had to give up God's Word and the
true faith or be thrust out along with it. And they chose nobly
and well. And wheu Luther and his followers were thus cast
out of the Papal establishment their first move was to raise the
people from the depths of superstition and ignorance into
which long ages of Romish teaching had plunged them. To do
this the first work of the Great Reformer was to furnish them
with the pure Word of God. This he did by translating it
entire into their own language, gathering from it the sum
of doctrine needful to salvation, and arranging it iu simple form
in the Catechism. The immediate reason of the arrangement
and publication of the Catechism was to supply the want he
found in his visit of Electoral Saxony in 1527-29. He yearned
to give spiritual food to the people, and pity for them moved
him to the work. For this cause he wrote the Catechism and
placed in it the Gospel nutriment for young and old in simple
language. Old forms of words were retained which had come
down from Moses, the age of the Apostles, and from the 5th
and 8th centuries ; but now placed before the people in their
own tongue, in a wonderfully precise and simple manner, they
came like a sunburst in the gloom of night. It was a golden
thread through the labyrinth of divine wonders.

The importance of the system of catechization begun by
Luther, as a means of bestowing the needful culture upon the
young, has since been recognized by the Church. The more
faithfully it has been practised in setting forth the pure truth
the more bountifully has the Church been blessed. To help on
this hely work, to increase interest in it, to nurture, admonish,
strengthen and edify in the most holy faith, along with, after,
and as subservient to the time honored system of catechization,
but not to take its place or usurp its authority, this course of
Lectures, ou this particular portion of the Catechism, has been
prepared.

PREFACE.

XV.

;un by
m the
le more
|e truth
Help on
lonish,
L, after,
lization,
^urse of
been

It is further intended to help those who have been instructed
to call to mind, bj reading herein, the substance of the teaching
they have received upon the law. An old man once said to a
reverend father who had instructed him : " Sir, yon never
taught me anything ab<»ut the Holy Ghost. Your doctrine is
not scriptural." The truth was, the old man had forgotten the
instruction he had received upon that subject. To excuse
himself he censured his faithful instructor. It is to help those
who are instructed to not forget, that these Lectures are here
set forth in order.

Our work here has Iteen to take up and amplify Luther's
explanation of the Commandments ; they being the first of the
five parts into which the Catechism is divided. It was a work
hegun without any thought of publiciition, a labor of love,
which has grown and fashioned itself in the form here presented*
It was the privilege of the Author, while a student in the
Theological Seminary, to attend two partial courses of lectures
in St. John's Church, Race Street, Philadelphia; the first by
the Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Seiss, I). D., now Pastor of the Church
of the Holy Ctmimunion, and the second by the Rev. Dr. Charles
P. Krauth, D. D., LL. D., Norton Professor of Theology in the
Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, Philadelpliia, and Professor
of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy in the University of
Pennsylvania. To these high sources the Author acknow-
ledges his indebtedness, for in their M'ords of wisdom founded
upon, drawn from, and harmonized with the only rule of Chris-
tian faith and life, the Holy Scriptures, the foundations of
this little work are laid. To these esteemed and reverend
Teachers the Author begs to tender thanks. As they have led
him through the maxes of the Law, may the Law lead many,
through this humble exposition, as the true Schoolmaster, to
the feet of Christ.

And now, with a fervent in vocation of our adorable
Saviour's blessing upon this humble iittempt to promote Hi^
glory and win souls to Him, we send Tub Schoolmaster
upon his mission. May he lead many to Jesus. God speed
his going to the good of souls.

August, 1880.

Hfl

N',

r I

■mM

%\\t %t\\ €ommaubimnt0.

FIEST TABLE:

OF IDTTTIES TO

a-or>,

And the Tables were tU Worh of God, and the
Wrdmg teas the Writing of (?od— Exodus xxxii. 16.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and
what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justlu,
and to love mercy, and to icalk humbly with thy God?
— ^vlicah VI. 8.

Thou Shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
jndwdh all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This il
the first and great comnmmlment. And the second is
hkeunto d, thou shall kwe thy neighbour as thyself
—Matthew xxu. 37-39.

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.

I am the Lord tl.y God. Thon shalt have no otlier jjods
before me. [Thou shalt not make unto thee any grfven
image or any likeness of any tlnng that is in heaven above,
or that .s ,n the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth ; thou .slialt not bow down thyself to them, nor

iHlii

OtTft SCHOOLMASTteK.

•• .'

i'! I

i"!

If'

serve them : lor I the Lord thy God am a jealoas God, yhk'
ffDg the hirqmty of the faitheTS npou the children unto the thiri^
and fourth generation of them that hats me; and showing
Hiercy ttnta thousands &i them that love mv, asd ksep my
commandmeu t». }

What 19 meant hj iliis Commandment ?

Anmffer. "We should fear, love, aa<ifc kust in God
above all tbiiigSk

CHAPTEK I.

Tliree pofnts aie here presented : —

I. The Command: Thoii shalt have — a Goit.

II. The Annmmtement : I am the Lord thy God,

III, The Prohibition : Tbo« sliali have no other
god» before mcv

■'■$'.

THE COMMAND.

ItbeTe Ts a neeessitv for this coromamL " The fool
hath said in his heart, There is no God.'* He says so'
because he is a fool. Then there are those who do not
care to be classihed with the persons thus mentioned
in the vigorons lanpjuage of the Bible, who make ai
denial of God npon what they are pleased to ternj
" scientitic gronnd»." And beside» these, there is
that far greater class of men and women who admit
the existence of a Supreme Being, in words, while in
tlieir everyday life, they practicaUy declare by actions,
■which speak louder than words, that they do not
believe in a God. This class of persons makes ifc
liecessary to present this truth over and over again,
and in many ways. So many people do what they
profess not to dOj and do not do what they profess to
do.

THE PIRST COMMANDMENT.

•I

This ^re.'it question concerning the existence of God
is too often treated too Hglitly. It is taken for granted
<that r»en lK4kjve theve i« &(ich a Being, and then the
other articles of i\\\\\ arc i>reseiited, while in reality
the thing assiinie«i is not there; the belief in the
True (^iod is wanting. It is true, indeed, that almost
all admit the existence of a God of some kind, sonio-
whero, but the neUdous, urnlefined and shadowy
t'Xj)res8ions through which some define their faith,
fihow clearly only one thing, aud that is, liow shadowy
:and vagne their fiiitfa is. Tlie idea olf a Personal God,
revealed from heaven for tliemselves personally, is not
grasped. Therefore the neceeeity ot' the command,
Thou shalt bavie a God.

There is a necessity for presenting it here. Among
all the many objects to which our attention can be
■directed, there is none, and there «an be none, higher
than God. It is not possible to «seape from the
inquiry coRoerning Him. And this inquiry is the one
oipon which is based every other question which caR
occu^jy our thoughts. Everything in the course of our
whole lives depends upon our own individual answer
to the question : Is there a God % Our view of the
siatural wcfld around us, as well as of the spiritual
world within us, the tendency of ^ur lives and the
<lestiny of our future, will be shaped, influenced and
determined by our answer. And because of this, it
ciust at all times be tlic most important question, the
foremost question, and the one of all others in its
interest supreme. And because of its importance, not
less than because it is answered in the negative by
many, arises the necessity of presenting it and enforc-
ing the affirmative. This, then, is the foundatioa
^question .: Is fchoj-e a God? Let us try to lay the
foundation answer deep, broad, and strong.

On this command rest all the others. In Uiis com-
mandment God reveals Himself to man. Here the
voice of Deity sounds from heaven, while from eartk
the voice of huiuanity replies " I Ijelieve iu God the

OirR SCHOOLMASTKR.

li I

i'.i

' :■ i|

1 tl!

I I

fiii

Father Almi<^lity." On the face, it i.s more an
announceniont and a ])r()hibiti()n than a command ;
"but the (jommand is tliere, — Thon shalt have a God.
This is the law of the world. Atlieism is a sin. It
is breaking the law. The atheist is a sinner because
he has no God. And the deist is a sinner. He has a
God, but not the right one. He fulfils the first part of
the commandment. He has a God. But he breaks
the other part. He has the wrong God. Only he who
has the God here set forth, and none other, fulfils this
law.

Hero the existence of God is made known, pro-
claimed to the world. And this commandment which
contains the proclamation is the basis of all the others.
If it is right, all are. If we are right to l^elieve and
obey this, then we are right to believe and obey the
other nine. If this is not binding, then nothing can
bo strong enough to make us keep the others. Here
God shows His claim upon us, and as all the other
commandments rest upon this claim, then they must
stand or fall together with this commandment, upon
which they are founded. Jesus says: "The first of
all commandments is, Hear, O Israel ; The Lord our
God is one Lord : And thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
•with all thy mind, and with all thy strength : this is
the first commandment. And the second is like,
namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these."
There is none greater, because these set forth the char-
acter of God ; and the power of religion rests upon
the character of God. If He is not such a Being as
we can love, serve, fear and trust, then He is as nothing
to us, then the religion of which He is Author and
Centre, and the power of that religion in our hearts
and lives, both fall together. But if He is such a Being,
then the whole structure based upon this command-
ment, stands along with it, unshaken and intact.

1
1

■¥

THK FIKST COMMANDMKNT,

CIIAPTElt ir.

our
thy
and

nis is
like,

lyself.
lese."
char-
upon

sing as

•'<■■(,

THK ANNOUNCKMKNT.

Now consider tlio Announcement. There nro per-
sons who say (Jod made tlie univc'rs«i, they admit that
He is a (Iicat and Mi^dity lieing ; hut they argue that
wlicn creation was tiiiished, when the world was, like
a clock, made, wound up and set a-going, He takes no
further notices (»!' it, and is not concerned for the love
or worsliij) of such insignilicant creatures as men.
Ihey point to the sky, gemmed with its myriad stars
and glittering constellations, in proof of th(;ir assertion.
These stars, say they, aro worlds peopled with heings
as much superior to us as their worlds aro to ours, and
if the Creator takes note of any, it is of these. Ho
has no time to spend upon us. I5ut no one is justified
in such assertions. The Almighty Himself answers
them. He will not allow any to escape the law-
through insignilicance. In the words of the revelation
before us, we see Ihav j>laiidy and how pervsonally He
l)rpsents Himself. He lirst declares His existence, " I
AM." In these mysterious words He made Himself
known to Moses, '' I AM THAT I AM." Then ho
declares His sovereignty, "I am the Lord " — the
Kuler, the Master, the Centre of the universe. Then
He asserts His personal interest in men, " I am the
Lord thy God,"— THY God,— Thine, as much as
though the announcement was made to thee alone, and
thou alone didst live and ""move upon earth ; thine, as
much as thou art mine ; thy Lord, thy God. Do not
trust to insignificance to save thee. The Lord is thy
God as much as thou art His creature. Mark well His
words, " THY God." They declare His personal
interest in thee. Just as the sun shines for all, so God
is for all. '* The sun does not shine for a few trees or
flowers, hut for the wide world's joy. The lowly pino
on the mountain top waves its sombre boughs, and
cries, ' Thou art my sun ;' and the little meadow-

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

III

'1 .[.

III I

til;
!!llm

violet lifts its cup of hluo, and whispers with its per-
fumed breath, * Thou art my sun ;' and the ^rain iu a
thousand ticids rustles in the wind, and makes answer,
* Thou art my sun.' So God sits effulgent iu the hea-
vens, not a favored few, but for the universe of life ;
and there is no creature so poor or so low, that he may •
not look up with childlike confidence, and say, * My
Father, Thou art mine.'" It is as the God of the
universe and of individuals that He here reveals Him-
self, so that each one should mark honr ho is included,
when God says to him, " I am the Lord THY God."

This brings us to the consideration of the universal-
it}/ of God*s law. It was not given to any part or
portion of mankind, to the exclusion of any other.
And this is a fact often overlooked. Many think that
if they do not acknowledge the authority of God, they
are not bound by it ; that if they do not become pro-
fessing Christians, they are not under any obligations
to perform the duties of Chi -Jans. But God's law is
given for all alike. The man who does not acknow-
ledge the existence of a God is as much under the law
as the man who tries to discharge all his known reli-
gious duties. According to each person's opportunity,
his responsibility before God is the same. The differ-
ence is with men, not with God. That difference is
that some choose to obey and some to disobey. One
is a freeman, because his will is in harmony, with the
Supreme Will ; the other is a slave, because his will
is in opposition to the Will of God. All alike are
responsible, all alike created to obey, all alike in the
favor of the Law-Giver ; some obey, some disobey, —
which is the better off ) which is the slave 1

The law is in our hearts. Therein God has planted
a deep conviction that we ought to love and worship
Him, and that our reverence is sweet and precious.
This is a proof of God's existence and of man's respon-
sibility which the so-called scientists of the present
age have never, with any show of reason, attempted to
^eny« We have no dispute with true science. W«:

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.

law
reli-
nity,
iffer-
ce is-
One
the
will
are
L the

y>—

accept the facts which it presents and thank science for
tliem. They liave broken down niany old superstitions,
lint science must accept the facts which we present,
and in particular, these facts of our own inner con-
sciousness. (Jod has filled us with lonj^ings after Him,
and we are niade to desire njoro intimate communion
with Him. All the great heart ot humanity in some
way echoes the voice of the i)8almist : " Whither shall
1 go from thy Spirit] or whither shall I flee from thy
])resenc(!l Jf I ascend up into heaven thou art there ;
if 1 make my bed in hell, behold thou art there ; if
I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the
nttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand
lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." We bear
witness of God in our own hearts, a witness which
must s v'( ly be true to our own selves. As St. Augus-
tine has beautifully said : " Our hearts, O God, are
made for Thee, and are at unrest till they rest in "J'hee."
Think of the heart that does not rest on God. What
peace is there 1 What peace does the unbeliever know 1
He may strive to smother the deep yearnings of his
soul, he may dwarf his spiritual energies, he may
paralyze the living forces of conscience, ho may even
deny the facts of his own consciousness ; but what a
peace .s this ! He dares to venture upon moral suicide,
ho seeks to slumber in the apathy of sin, he courts the
lethargy of death, ** he cries peace, peace, when there
is no peace," for away from God, man cannot be at
peace. His nature demands communion with its
Creator.

As the eye was made for the light, so is the soul of
man made for God. As the eye is sightless without
light, so is the soul restless without God. As the light
is communicated to the eye, so is God communicated
to the soul, as fully, as freely, as clearly. It requires
no more science to believe in God than it requires for
the eye to see. It is natural. It is unnatural for the
heart to not believe. Just as God has created us with

an appetite for food, and this is proof that we are to
take food, so it proves also that He has created food

I! I

I i i!{

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

to supply that appetite. And so with all the innocent
tendencies with which wo are horn into ihe worlil.
All are created to bo satistied. It is so with this love
and deep j'earning in onr hearts, for these hearts are
made to iind peace in God, and in Iliui alone can they
find peace.

Here the great and dreadful fact of sin meets us.
Sin is a fact, both in the world and in every human
being in the world. It has disrupted things in heaven
and things on earth. All our ills, and aches, and
sorrows, and sicknesses, tears of grief and deaths at
last, come from sin. We ought to know this, to realiz(i
it, so we could know how much we ought to detest
sin. It came to ns through the fall of our first parents.
33ut in spite of the terrible corruption brought upon
man's nature by sin, still he turns with longing toward
liis Creator, the Supreme Being. Man was created,
and is still, in spite of his fall, a naturally religious
being ; and there is not a nation or race of men any
where on earth who have not a religion of some kind.
The reason is, simply, that the original purpose of
human existence is to love, serve and glorify the
Creator.

Love of life and desire of immortality are two of the
most deeply planted tendencies of our nature. They
are widely distinct from each other. The first can bo
destroyed, as the history of the martyrs tells us, and as
those who have often stood by sick-beds can abun-
dantly testify. AVith all the hold which the love of
life has upon us still we not infrequently sing the sad
song of the patriarch, — " I would not live alway."
But the second — the desire of immortality — in any
right-minded person can never be destroyed. Sin may
subvert it, but this seldom. And what is the desire of
immortality] It is the desire of the soul for com-
munion with God.

The law Is in the world. The existence of the world
proves the existence of God. Man could not have
created it or he could create another ; fur what man
has done man can do. But this is impossible. Man

THE FIKST COMMANDMENT.

id Ihe most poworful boing we know, yot if he cannot
(Teiite .1 world tli(!ve must b(5 ono still more powerful.
And that Ijiiinj^ is God. These evidences are not
})r()Uglit forward in order to prove what we cannot
holj) but beli(!Vo, not to make us sure of what we are
already certain, but to teach our minds what our hearts
already know of the truth of (Jod, namely, that He is,
that lie is the Lord God, Creator, Ruler and 13enc-
factor, that He is my God. The intuitive conviction
of every human being is steadfast and ])rofound that
these are facts. But look in the M'orld. On every
side are traces of His stately stoppings ; all around iia,
over us, and under tis, are the marks of His handi-
work. The invisible things of God, even His eternal
power and divinity, may be understood by the things
He has made. All nature speaks of God. Everything
around us breathes of Him. " In Him we live, and
move, and have our being." Coming to the study of
nature with the idea of God in cur hearts we find it
eloquent concerning Him. " Day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge " of
Him. There, is no speech nor language. Their voice
is not heard. But their government is gone out through
all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
(Ps. 19.) 8o unmistakably do we find the invisible
nature of God, His power and deity in the world, that
St. Paul declares those to be without excuse who do
not recognize Him in His works. (Kora. 1 : 20.)

" I asked the earth," says Augustine, " it said, I am
not He ; and all that therein is made the same acknow-
ledgment. 1 asked the sea and the depths, and all
that live and move therein, and they answered, We
are not tliy God, seek higher. I asked the winds, but
the air, with all its inhabitants answered, I am not thy
God. I asked the heavens, the sun, the moon, the
stars, and they answered, Neither are we the God
thou seekest. And 1 said to all things that surround
me, Ye have told me concerning my God that ye are
not He ; speak then to me of Him. And they all
cried with loud voices, Ho made us."

'n^^

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

Wis

Inanimate nature, through the j^eological formations
of the earth, speaks with a marvellous voice of ( rod
the Great Designer. Tlie very rocks and stones make
Buch revelations te the believing scientist that he

" Finds tongues in tlie trees, sernrjons in stones,
Books in the running brooks, and God in everything."

Om step farther up we find in plants and flowers
and trees the evidences of God's handiwork. Not a
bud is formed nor a leaf framed without His regvdating
power. The smallest flower that blooms in the forest
teaches the same great truth concerning Him. Jesus
said, " Consider the lilies." Why ] Beciuse no power
on earth can fashion the tender little roots, or put
veins in the leaves, or fragrance over the petals, or
give life to even as small a plant as the lily of the
valley. " Consider the lilies," for even they in their
humility are teachers sent of God, even they are of
those " things that are made," which from the creation
of the world tell of God's eternal power and divinity.
But they must be regarded as the work of God, and
not with such an eye and understanding as that brought
to the study of nature by Wordsworth's idiot, lor

"A primrose by the river's brim
Only a primrose was to him."

To you let the roses and lilies be something more.
Each plant or even leaf among them is, or ought to be,
enough to demonstrate the jwwer divine, and settle
once for all the fact that there is a God.

Rising from these to survey the countless hosts of
evidences which are growing on every side, we must
say with David, " Truth shall spring out of the earth."
Yes, the truth of God out of the very earth ! Look at
the vegetable kingdom. The theory of the floral
structure Avhich we see reveals the harmony, beauty
and simplicity of the plan on which the Creative
Hand is exercised to bring out all the regularity, and
at the same time the infinite diversity for which the
vegetable kingdom stands unrivalled. Springing from
the deep, brown soil of the meadow, or struggling fur

'St

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.

ts of
must
rth."
ok at
loral
aauty
ative
ami
the
from
for

existence by the dusty roadside, towering on the moun-
tain top, or waving on the boundless prairie, grasses
and mosses, flowers and forests, all over eartli's surface
wherever we go, tell the same eternal story, wave in
tlie wind or slumber beneath the snow, appearing and
disappearing tc re appear again, and still repeat the
miracle of divine creation, and point with every
towering tree-trunk, and every slender grass-blade, up
to the Divine Creator.

Another step upward brings us into the animal
World. What variety ! What instincts ! What a
world of wonders ! God made these all ; fowls in the
air, fishes in the sea, creeping things and beasts of the
forest and lield. And God takes care of them as we
shall further see.

And the sun and moon and stars of night, rolling on
in the calm silence of their unchanging orbits, in
])eaceful and complete obedience to His will, declare
the same eternal truth, bear testimony to the power,
the presence, the divinity of God. "The heavens
declare the glory of God ; and the firmament sheweth
His handiwork." All over the great pages of the
outspread sky the orbs that blaze and glitter in glory
there are so many revelations of fire ; as it were " words
that burn " with the great, the tremendous truth which
God is teaching to man, declaring the power and God-
head of the Great Original.

" What though in solemn silence all
Move round this dark terrestrial ball.
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found ;
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing as they shine,
'The Hand that made us is Divine.' "

And coming from these inferior works of God
'* lord

rr
o

to
man, the ** lord of creation," who can doubt the
existence, power and divinity of the Creator? In the
psalm-like language of Mrs. Sigourney, that superior
work of the Almighty is ])ortrayed as being truly "only
a little lower than the angels." " I have seen man in

OUR SCHOOLMASTfin.

the glory of his days and in the pride of his strength.
He was built like the strong oak, that strikes its roots
deep in the earth ; like the tall cedar, that lifts its head
above the trees of the forest. He feared no danger ;
he felt no sickness ; he wondered that any should
groan or sigh at pain. His mind was vigorous like
his body ; he was perplexed at no intricacy, he was
daunted at no obstacle. Into hidden things he searched ;
and what was crooked he made plain. He went forth
boldly upon the fice of the deep ; he surveyed the
nations of the earth ; he measured the distance of the
stars, and called them by their names. He gloried in
the extent of his knowledge, in the vigor of his under-
standing, and strove to search even into what the
Almighty had concealed. And. when I looked upon
him I said, 'What a piece of work is man! how
noble in reason ! how infinite in faculties ! in form, and
moving, how express and admirable ! in action, how
like an angel ! in apprehension, how like a God !' "

But nature, even in man, its highest form of develop-
ment, does not clearly reveal God. While it reveals Him
in part it still conceals Him. It is a veil by which our
mortal vision is kept from penetrating the deep, hidden
mysteries of the Eternal. Man needs something more
than even this to teach him all he is to know concerning
the Lord his God. Therefore we find the law in GotVs
Word. Here is the clearest revelation. Here men
learn to know God as their own i)ersonal God — thy
God. The Holy Bible is the inspired record of His
dealings with niiin in the past, of His intentions toward
man in the future, of his eternal attributes of goodness,
power, justice and mercy, through which men may
approach Him as their holy, heavenly Father. As in
this first commandment, so throughout the Word of
(rod, we are enjoined to fear, love, serve and trust
Him. To this end the world and they that dwell
therein, and all other worlds and their inhabitants,
were created. The loving Father desired to make His
creatures happy. And if not why then do they oxiat,

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.

mg
ucVs
iiieii

THY

His

tvard

iiess,

may

s in

I of
trust

well
ants,

His

xiat,

■•if

or why does the world exist ? There is no other reason
invalidating this. Yet with all the sin, sorrow, suffering,
affliction, wretchedness, woe, gHef, pain and death, that
happiness is not found here alone. It is something
above and beyond. It all sliows that God is loving
and kind, but that man's highest and only real happi-
ness is in loving, serving and trusting Him here, in tho
hope of a more perfect love and service and trust
hereafter. And this desire after God U really the
aspiration of the soul to enter into the fullness of its
joy with him who loves and attracts mankind.

CHAPTEH III.

THE PROHIBITION.

Consider now the Prohibition. In what arises its
necessity ] It is in that tho longing after God has
been perverted. Man has fallen. Travelers tell Us of
the beautiful ruins they see, and man is nothing more
than a ruin, a moral wreck. He stands like some
noble temple, — its altars profaned, its shrines fallen,
its '^ lumns overthrown, its walls broken, — yut still
showing traces of its former grandeur. Kuins some-
times give evidence of beauty, and are in themselves
surpassingly grand. And so it is with man — a mag-
nilicent ruin ; although the trail of the serpent is over
it all, marring the beauty of its every part, still tho
beauty and sublimity clinging around man after the
fall gave proof of the noble Original after which he
was fashioned. A ruin he is, like some ruined temple,
overthrown, cast down, destroyed, yet still a grand
and imposing ruin. And so man restored to the ori-
ginal, yea, higher than tho original grandeur, is a noble
work. But since the entrance of sin, man perverts
everything, and the religious feeling is, as being the
best, the most tender, the finest workmanship, tho
most susceptible to perversion, the most perverted ;

Ol/n SCIiOOLMASTfiR.

i'ir

just as in a fallen temple the most delicate workman-
fihip is the most dreadfully ruined. This command-
ment aims against this perversion, which has taken the
form of idolatry, saying : " I. am the Lord, &c." The
Israelites, when led out of slavery, looked back and
remembered the idolatry of the Egyptians. Theso
ICgyptians were the most highly cultivated people of
their age, yet they practised the grossest idolatry.
They worshiped oxen, crocodiles, serpents, and even
inanimate things, as, for example, onions. They wor-
shipped almost everything, indeed, as God, except God.
They had shrines and altars erected all over their land*
They had religion everywhere, but nowhere the true
religion. They recognized everything as God but the
true God. So when Moses was sent to call His people,
it was with the significant command to tell them, " I
AM hath sent me unto you." " I AM THAT 1
AM," was the word of God, the Eternal Jehovah, to
Moses. He found them contaminated. Again and
again they fell into idolatry in the journey to Canaan.
They could not grasp the spirituality of God. They
wanted something they could see, touch and handle, —
a palpable, tangible something to worship as their God.
So they made a God. It was in the figure of a c.df
or ox — the symbol of strength. And yet, at the foot
of Sinai, while worshipping the calf, they viewed it
only as the symbol of deity, and did not design that
it should take the place of God. It is just so with
Koman Catholics now, who say that through the imago
they worship the Virgin. Any one who watches them
closely, however, canjiot deny that many of them do
worship the image. They may say it reaches the
saints or the Virgin through the image ; yet still it is
forbidden. This first commandment is against it.

This commandment condemns polytheism. The
lieart is so constituted that it must have a God, and
when faith is taken away, then credulity comes to
satisfy the heart's desire. We may wonder that any
nation enlightened as Egypt could practise such gross
idolatry ; but take up the papers in any large city to-

KtJWHJiW'VI

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.

day. 8[)intualism is fis low a form of credulity as that
in the worshij* of tlio E|^yptiaiis, or of the h)vvest
African with iiia little imaf,'e of baked clay. Super-
stition is not respectable, and men try to hide it. yet
when t}»o mask is torn away, we are surprised to seo
how many persons are under its influence. And still,
in spite of all the unmasking, impostors flourish and
pain the means of living and paying for costly adver-
tisements. Those who believe in or worship chance,
fate, returned spirits, and the like, believe in and wor-
ship the lowest kind of low gods. They violate this
commandment. Hut beside these lowest, gross forma
of idolatry, there is a subtler, mightier form. It is
man worship. Men worship their own power, skill,
talents, attainments, interest, wealth, advancement, etc.
They might as well worship an image, for their worship
is idolatry. And men often worship others, as, e. gr.,
parents their childien, husbands their wives, wives
their husbands, etc. Christ says, " He that loveth
father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me :
and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is
not worthy of Me." God is supreme. Idolatry in
any form is abhorred, whether it be of this kind or of
pride, lust, fashion, and sinful pleasure. Consider the
little companies usually assembled to worship God in
a week-day service, and then think of the crowded
theatres and places even more disreputable and of more
questionable enjoyment. In how few minds are
thoughts of God now ; in how few hearts the worship
of Him. How many even now are violating this first
commandment.

Pray God, beloved, that from the sin of placing in
your heart any other God, you may be delivered.
Remember that the cup which is full can hold no
more. Be filled with the knowledge of the goodness
and glory of the Lord ; fill your heart with holy
thoughts concerning Him, and then there will be no
place in it for that which is against His command.
" Otter the sacrilices of righteousness, and put your
trust in the Lord."

OITll SCHOOLMASTER.

CHAPTER IV.

il^:''

■■!!

i:.y '

iWi

■\ |;

THE EXPLANATION.

We should fc>. love and trust in God above all
things.

Luther strikes the key-note of the whole catechism,
full and dear in this beginning. The commandments
are given in the form of a prohibition, probably
because sin was already in man ; but the explanations
are set forth in the opposite form. They are positive.
In this first one there is nothing negative. It teaches
us how we can acceptably serve and worship God ;
and the first attribute of service is fear. Many say
there is nothing in God to fear ; that He is a God of
love, kindness, pity and infinite mercy ; and that Ho
loves His human creatures so much that He will make
no distinction among them, but will treat them all
alike, with unbounded grace. It will make little
difference to us, however, what men say ; we are not
governed by human opinion. What does the Bible
say ? Most clearly that God is to be feared, ^'ot
because His nature or feeling toward man is a harsh or
revengeful one. On the contrary, God's disposition
toward the race is one of supreme love and compassion ;
but man's character, as an individual, establishes differ-
ent relations between himself and God. As all men
do not act alike toward God, so He cannot, in His
eternal justice, deal alike with them. So each man
for himself establishes his own particular relation
toward God. And as every one has gone out of the
way to do evil, so ther^ is cause for every one to fear
the punishment of his guilt ; so his self-made relation
to God is one in which he has need to fear. And yet
the fear here spoken of is not a servile, abject fear,
such as a beaten slave might have for a cruel master ;
it is rather that which proceeds from the deep and pro-
found reverence of our hearts. We are not taught to

THE FIRST COMMANDMKNT.

lear,
kter ;
I pro-
it to

I
I

fear tJod as w(3 inij,'ht if He were onhj just, or as if Ho
■were a merciless tyrant ; but as a dutiful son fears a
wise, grave and austere, yet iaitliful and tenderly lov-
ing father. When a father has no more influence over
.nd with a sun than a j)laymate, then something is
wrong. Parents slinuM learn the lesson that when
reverence dies then love dies. Wrong must bo
rebuked, it dare not be allowed to pass unnotice<l and
unpunished, if they would preserve the reverence and
love of their chihlren. A father's look ought to bo
powerful with the child ; and to secure his approval
ought to be its deepest joy. It is easy to distiiiguisii
between a slavish and reverential fear. It can be seen
in the homes of all in one form or the other. Some
children are unhappy when in their father's presence,
and others never more happy. l>ut these latter havo
no less fear than the former, only that it is of a differ-
ent kind, for true reverential fear, instead of decreasing
liappiness, serves to make it greater.

The second attribute of a proper service is love.
Love is entirely consistent with fear, as the foregoing
illustration serves to show ; indeed, it is always joined
with it, for true love cannot exist without fear, or real,
reverential fear without love, from child to father, or
from man to God. What we fear in God is what wo
love in Him. We love and fear yet so that the two
are blended in harmony so perfect, that we know not
when the one emotion ends or the other begins. Like
the delicate shades ot coloring which blend themselves
upon the petals of a blushing rose, they merge them-
selves in one. AVe ought to love God because He first
loved us. If this fact is rightly appreciated — the great
fact of God's love for us — we cannot help but love
Him, for love begets love. We love our fathers and
mothers, yet they are but the instruments, the willing
instruments of God's love for us. Everything comes
from Him ; — the powers of body and of mind ; the
affections which make life bright ; the hopes which
lead us with gladness into the future ; — all come from

rs^

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

i m

\M:

Him. Think of wliat, and how much He gave up for
our sakes wlien Ho left heaven witli its glories and
delights; of how much ho sulfered when He took upon
Himself our human nature, that we might bo raised to
a union with His divinity.

"Love divine, all love excelling,

Joy of heaven, to earth coino down !
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling,
All Thy faithful mercies crown.

Jesus, Thou art all compassion,

Pure, unbounded love Tliou art ;
Visit us with Thy salvation,

Enter every trembling heart !"

But if God had done nothing for us, if the sending
of His only Son to die that we might live, if all had
never been, we still should love Him because Ho is
supreme. If we read of a lovely character, sketched
by the hand of some masterly author, although we do
not know either author or subject, we can love the
beautiful and lovable character. And when we thus
read of God in His natural and revealed Word, shall
we not love Him for all the lovable attributes we there
discern in His character ] But above and beyond all
this we ought to love Him because He has given His
Son to save us. His Spirit to lead us, and His Word to
illumine our pathway to Him.

And we are enjoined to also tnist in Him above all
things. Trust means a belief in something unseen ; it
is simply another word for faith. For example, a
father says to his son. My son, to-moirow I will make
you a present. If the son believes he will get the
present, he trusts his father. It is upon our trust in
God that our present and future happiness depends.
The little child, which knows not how to provide for
itself is happier than the man lull of busy cares. The
little child, if left to itself, could not find shelter from
the roaring storm ; if thrown upon its own resources it
could not provide itself with necessary clothing ; it
could not prepare its next meal. It is entirely
dependent. But does its weakness, poverty, and

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.

all
it
a
lake
the

Afa

(lepciuliince give it any trouble ? Not the least. It
never thinks about it ; or if it does, it is with the
trust, simple and profound, that if it cannot provide,
Father can. It beliuves in and trusts its father, there-
fore it is hai)py. And m God wants ns to trust Hiui
for the things of this life ; and goes so far as to make
our trust, faitli, or belief iu Christ the one condition
of our happiness in the life which is to be. We are
like loving children to trust and have confidence in the
great merciful heait of the unseen (liod. Life is full
of hard places, and it has gi"eat difficulties. Who is
to help us ov«'r and lead us through them 1 God.
This is a blessed assurance to the young who have all
of lite before them. Who will sustain in sickness?
God. And when death comes to lead us down through
the dark waters to the other shore, who then will go
by our side to cheer and encourage ? God. Sweetly,
from the depths of his trustful heart the Psalmist sings :
" Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no ♦'vil, for Thou art with me."
lielieving that He is such a Being, tender, merciful,
ready and able to lead, to comfort, and to sustain ;
this is trust. In all life's duties, trials, conflicts, and
temptations, present and future, in all that pertains to
our well-being in this life and in the life to come, God
is our stay and portion, and in the light of this Com-
mandment, let us fear, love, and trust Him until we

see Him as He is.

rely
and

2()

f)\\\ srnooi.MASTKH.

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.

1'lion «li:\U not tako flio Njmmo of the l.nril iliy (!o<l in vniii ;
for llio 1 on! x\ill not hoM liiiu niii'tl<'st« thut (nKi'lli His Nitnic
in \:\in.

]]'hof is mrnvf hi/ iht's (Jommmidmo)}! f

Avy/rrr. \V(> shiMiM so lour nnd lovo (Ic^il mm i)n|,
1i> (Mirse, swotU'. ('(Mijuns li«>, or tlocoivp l»y His niiinc ;
bill «m11 \ipoi\ Him in t'ViMv time ol" need, iunl woisltip
Him will* |M';\yor, iMviso. Mn<l th;\iikso;iviii}4;.

Thivo |>;\rlio\il;\rs iwo how, set forlh : —

1. A Prohihilion : 'V\\o\\ slialt not, (;iko Hip Xiinio
oi tlio l.onl Ihy (mmI in vain.

IT. .4 Ciivliov : For llio Lon! will nol lioM liiiu
guiltless that takoth Ilia Name \\\ vaiti.

111. A C\m}m<(yi(L- To rightly use (nnl's holy Naiu(>,

CHAPTKU V.

THR rvomniTioN.

This Comniandmont, i.\k< i\ as a Mholo, is «lcsignod
l(> n\g\;kt<^ tho lii-st aii<i holiest duty of man, nanu'ly,
the worship of God. It n-'ganis llini assuimMuoin tho
world of our alTooti<">ns, rational emotions, dcsiros, hopes,
fears and volitions, as lie is in the world of providence.
It is t \planat*iry ofllu" lirst t\)nunandnient. The lirst
holds up to view who He is: the Givut I A^^, tlie
Suj^i-eme, Omnipot4?nt, Omniscient, Omnipresent
Jehovah. liefore Him ang<^ls and areh-angels,

Illl'; SKCnNM « nMMANI»)Mi;NT,

rliniiltiiii find sprn|»liiiM, Hie imiiinM'niMf r(irri|ifiny
nl Imlv inlt'lliiii'iiccN mihI liiuli nt'iilidiiM ol" luiivfii v* il
llii'ir I'lin'H mill Imiw <I(i>vm. TIh'V wImi know lltiii
Itt'llrr rt'vrn' Hint more, show j^'H'iilfr Imiumi' nml (idoro
\\\[\\ iniii'i' iniiiilH iiiid Idtliir imtist' tliftn ntilli Ixuii
niitrliilM. r><it il, hIioiiIiI Im) liin HUprciMCHl joy of liin
viilioniil n«'iil tin's, (Jim mmii iind woum'Fi who havo
IciiriH'd to know llini, lo one tiny m'c* llini and \tv with
Hini in Ili< Impl'.V honir. Il<> i?? oiir Crnitor; iho
Hcini,' wlio hiis^ all rif^ht to uh and i<» <»iir m;rvic,c, tho
soli' riaim lo 'M onr powriH.

lit' wh(» hnH fp'ali'd, hfMt» fioniffl rfmifs io na as " iho
Lord thy (lod." Not satiHiioil with «»nr cri-ation only,
lit' ronlitntt'M 1(» tako riiio of tm. And in thin ( 'oni-
niantlnirnt llo tt'achcfl ti« how lltt iH it» ]») worHhijtpfd.
Iiiit is it not a|)|iiillin^r 1,0 think Rindi a Connriandiiicnt
HH this, in Hitch 11 I'orin td W'»'dH, Hhoiild \iv nt'CL-HHaiy ?
What would hi) Ihonght of a chiltl that would Rpoak
li,i,ditly atul irnwrn'ntly of itH |)ai'ont8'l YvX }»y tho
thi'fat adtU'd liortj M'ti kimw that men do iako Hnch
\mlmly lihiTticH with the nanio of their Creator. Wo
arc tohl that Iho anoiont dows wonid not proisfHinco
Iho nanio at all, IcHt thoy should in'ofaiio it. Whon,
in rcadini:^', tho nanio of tho »lohovali occhit.nI, tho
dovoiit dow would atop, paustj a nionient at tho Nanio
in silnnco, and omitting it, would then read on. If,
in walking, a pieco of itapor lay ii|)on tho path, tho
.low Htt^pptid carefully around it, lowt, it tho Narno
ahttuld 1)0 written thereon, it would bo thus profaned.
Ifwoavsk, why theso precautions? wo nood but stop
and think in order to find tho answer in our own
hearts. Think of tho majesty, tho power, tho holiness,
tho purity, tho eternal love, tho divine sj)lendor and
everlasting glory of tho (Jreat (jrnator ; and then think
of man, the lowly creature. God long ago complained
by the mouth of Isaiah, — " My peojdo doth not con-
si«ler." Thoy perish for tho lack of knowledge. Ah !
if men would only stop and think Through care-
lessness and simple thoughtlessness thoy often go to
ruin. If they would all stop and think they would

r •'

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

ilili...

see that God has a right to them in every or<i;an, sense,
and part ; head, heart, hands, speech and reason, liut
people forget that. God's right in them is an inalien-
able right, That, too, is forgotten. And Gotl's name
is then, through forgetfulness, held less sacred than is
right. People do not think, and then take God's holy
name "in vain,*' that is, uselessly. We hear swearing
wherever men come together ; in the streets of the city
and the fields of the country, in the cars, in business
places, on the wharves, and away out on the broad
ocean, where men ought to feel (iod's presence, God's
power and their own weakness, if anywhere they feel
it ; there, with God's blue sky over them and the blue
sea under them, in the very hand of the Lord, and
everywhere, men swear profanely. The most horrible
and disgusting profanity it has ever been my misfortune
to hear, was on the steamer Acadia, when bound from
Boston to Halifax, and in the midst of a temble storm
which threatened to sink her. Swearing, which is
generally the utterance of passion, was in this instance
the refuge of the coward. It was used, with a show
of great bravado, to cover up the alarm and terror in
the near prospect of death which filled the hearts of
wicked men. But as heard everywhere it is an awful
token of human depravity. Why, we sometimes
hear children, not yet able to talk plainly, swearing
the oaths they have heard from older persons.
In the city of Philadelphia a veritable school of
profanity was discovered, where some boys of larger
growth, gathered their younger companions into a
vacant house "^nd gave them instructions in the art of
evvearing. It was promptly broken up. But how
many such schools of vice are gathered nightly on
tlte streets ! Alas — that parents will hand their chil-
dren, in their tender and susceptible years, bodily to
the devil, by allowing them to run at will in the com-
pany of swearing men and boys J The evil is spread
all over the land until the English-si>eaking people of
the American continent can almost be, in justice,
£tji;uiatijzed as a nation of swearers It is a sin vt'liiich

V'l-

V '

sense,

. liut

nalien-
5 name
uhan is
l'« holy
veartiig
he city
lusiness
J broad
, God's
ley feel
he bhie
rd, and
hiorrible
jibrtune
ad from
le storm
'hich is
nstance
a show
srror in
arts of
awtul
letimes
^vearing
lersous.
liool of
larger
1 into a
art of
[\t how
itly on
ir chil-
lily to
^e coni-
j spread
|ople of
justice,
v'hicU

fnt StCOKi) COMMANDMENT.

shows man's corrupt nature. Nobody »wear.s without
thinking unless he has long indulged in the habit.
iSonic times it is done as a habitual thing, Avithoufe
thinking ; and if checked for the sin the swearer ig
apt to excuse himself by saying " I did not thhtk.'^
IJut that d(X'S not make the crime any the less dreadful,
or the swearer any the less guilty. To not think is lui
excuse ; tor a man is responsible for his habits, and
has reason given him in order that he may think. Not
thinking makes it all the worse for him. God add»
caution to command, that men may understand clearly
their positioii, " The Lord will not hold him guiltless
that taketh His name in vain," whether he thinks or
d(je9 not think. Men msiy ibink He tjikes no notice of
this transgression, but His Commandment does not
teich us so. JNIen can see the force of other moral
laws and commandments, because breaking them does
injury to others. They can understand the nse and
force of such ctmimandments fis, " Thou shalt not kill"
— '* Thon shalt not steal," and the like, but cannot sec
the force of this. They think it a light thing to shape
breath into light words, even if tiiey l>e oaths and
curses. Ijut is it a light thing? No. It is an awful
crime. Hence the prohibition. They think it does
not injure others. But it does in so far as that ifc
blunts their moral perceptions, hardens their conscience,
and teaches them to sin iu the same dreadful manner.

CHAPTEli VI.

THE CAUTION.

It is of God's infinite goodness that He adds fhc
caiiftou, and reveals His purpose to men when He says
the swearer shall not be held guiltless. Many think
that because it is a small olfence and docs no harm to
anybody it will go unnoticed and unpunished. If
it were so^ or if there were any hope that it might bo

i :i!.'

lil'

■m

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

SO, we may be sure that this caution would not have
been placed as a part of thfj Commandment, It would
be a sin against God's truth to suppose otherwise. But
the reason men try to think this way is because they
want it to be so. That is their only real reason and it
is no reason at all.

Hiding in a stage-coach from Halifax to Lunenburg,
1 once had a conversation with the driver upon this
very subject. The occasion of it was on this wise.
"When wo drove up to one of the stations where the
horses were changed, before we stopped, a man came
out with the fresh horses, cursing and swearing and
pouring forth a stream of profanity that was blood-
curdling. The drive hastily alighted and by signs and
motions gave tlie hostler to understand that a clergymi n
was within hearing. Casting a surly glance up at m^ ,
the man was silent. But what stupidity, what sensele ss
and unnatural folly for a man to fear and be silent in
the presence of God's servant, his fellow-man, and yet
to rush boldly before God Himself with his oaths and
imprecations. After the coach started again the driver
attempted to excuse the swearer by saying he was so
in the habit of swearing that he didn't know when ho
was doing it. He demurred at my remark that it was
all the worse for him, and then wanted to know
whether I thought swearing was as great a crime as it
was represented.

" Of course it is. The Bible says so."

" But it surely is not as bad to swear at the horses
as it is to kill a man I"

** Who told you so 1 The Lord made no such
distinction."

'' Xo. But T do it myself sometimes when I get
angry ; and I do not think it such a dreadful sin."

" You may think il a liglit matter, bnt God does not.
He will not hold you guiltless."

" But I would not be as guilty as if I killed a man V*

TlIK SECOND COMMANDMENT.

Isuch

get

not.

lull

If yon killed a man and were really sorry for it,
you would be on your guard, as long as you lived,
never to kill another, wouldn't you V

" Yes, but what has that to do with swearing f

" Just this ; that if you believed it to be a sin against
God to swear, and were really sorry for it, you would
be on your guaixl never to swear again.*'

"" I never think of it until it is too late."

" You do not think because you do not realize th-o
evil of it, because you are not really sorry when you have
done it. And if you make * not thinking' an excuse,
why may not every sin Ije excused in the same
way 1 It would be no excuse, no lightening of the
crime of stealing or murder, for the offender to say,
* I didn't think.' On the contrary, the man who
could be guilty of such crimes and think nothing of
them would be ref'arded as so much more dangerous
than he who believed it a crime and thought of it
seriously, that he would be punished all the more
severely."

" Well," said the driver, " I never saw it in just
that light before."

But, more than that, the law of God is all of equal
value. One commandment is juvst as binding as
another, and therefore, no matter how we may regard
it, a sin against one is as wicked as a sin against
!'!U)Uier. Swearing is, by this rule, as great a crime as
hilling a man. And among all the commandments,
'licre is none in which the punishment is so forcibly
I'roclaiMied as in this one, against taking God's name
Ml vain. If any diiference exists in the degrees of
guilt incurred by breaking the different command-
nionts, it wcnild seem, from the language used, that
1 lod meant the guilt to be greater, instead of lighter,
tor taking His name in vain, than for any other sin
prohibited.

I.duis the IX., the pious King of France, caused

*.\ic lips that took the name of God in vain to be
o

»^^p

OITR SCflOOLMASTPiR.

ill

I i

I ,ji

\%i

scared with a hot iron. If the heart and conscience
is seared with a bnrniiig crime, wiiy should not the
lips which utter the oath be also burned ? Chrysostoni
laid down a rule which mij^ht lielp check the evil if
it were enforced. Hi» rwle was : Miss a sieal for
every oath. If this v/ere the law, many would j,'(>^
hungry to-day, and we fear that some would come nigh
starvation. Luther translates and explains the term
" in vain," to mean " useles&ly," *' needkssly." There
is much of this needless Bse of God's nan.e that is not3
f^enerally considered to be profanity, yet is sucli none
the less. It may be called " indirect profanity."
"Who that is accustomed to attend prayer-meetings,
has I ^ hnnrd men from lack of thought and b-arren-
ness of . \9, repeat the Holy Name over and over
again, nu'i y to gain time and fill up blanks? Our
8aviour cautions against this abuse when Ho warns
His disciples to *' use not vain repetitions as the
heathen do." Often the name of the Great God is
thus used in public prayers by persons whose hearts
are not stored with the materials for true worship. Ifc
is sin, it is sacrilege to 1.hus use, simply for relief, the
Holy Name. Those who do it have need to humble
theuiselvea in their closets and ajk pardon for their
senseless prayers. They hatl better fpiit praying in
j)ublic. God will not hold them guiltless.

And so in anecdote often, too, n)en re])eat conversa-
tions they have hear*! in which profanity occurs.
They repeat the oaths and think it no sin, because
somebody else used them before. Lnt that does not
change their cnaracter. Unnecessary repetition of ))ro-
fanity is profanity. Connecting the Name with that
which is useless, empty, false and vain, is a violation
of the command. Whoever does so, should remember
the caution — " God will not hold him guiltless that
taketh His name in vain."

JSf-x

Tira SECOTTD CO:>rMANDMENT.

OHArXEK VII.

THE COMMAND.

The cmnmwul which is given, allhough in its form
'Only an implied one, is, that God's nanus shall be
lightly used. Th^ first eoniinandnient brings us to
the spring of life and true worship ; this one dips from
that sjn-ing. It is ])leasing to the Lord when men use
His name in worship, iJi prayor> in jwaise, and iii
thanksgiving, with a due sense of its holiness, and
suitable thoughts therewith connectf-d. The minister
an the pul[)it may use it in explaining His Word and.
setting forth His will. Tlte people in singing His
praises, may use it, if their thoughts are with the
2)salms and hymns, and spiritual songs they sing. In
j)rayers, which are the real language of the heart, that
Holy Name may be rightly used. There i^ in the
aiature of man the desire to worship awd adore : he is
ix religious being ; he will worship something ; and to
guide this worshipful desire aright in this particular,
Ood gives to man this commaud. And when we learu
to hallow His name as Christ has tauglit us in the
Prayer of prayers, to worship Him who is a Spirit in
spirit and in truth, we shall then discover how to use
and not abuse His ever-glorious naiiic. Tlien we shall
learn that no (jloasure is so constant, so rich, and so
pure, none so kallowing in its deep and abiding influ-
■ences, none m ixirennial in its supply, as the pleasure
wliicli flows from the true and spiritual worship of
(Jod. As cool water-brooks are to thirsty travellers,
tio pleiisaut and refi^eshing will it be for us to take
ti|M)u our lij»s the nanw of the adorable and ever-living
<Iod, and eall upon Him in prayer, praise, and thanks-
giving. Tiius may our Father in iieaven teach, move,
aud help us evermore t^ do, — A.men.

I •<■

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

1 li 'i

■if'1

CHAPTER YIII.

THE EXPLANATION.

We should SO fear and love God as not to curse,
sioeary conjure, lie, or deceive, by His name ; hut rail
ujwn Him in every time of need, und worship IJim
with prayer, praise, and t1ianhi>(jivhi<j.

Before going further, notice the chief points coni-
prehcnded in Luther's ex})lanation, under the " fear
and love *' of God. ]\ren ni.iy outwardly conform to
the letter of the law, but still break it in the sight of
God. A sense of refinement and regard for the eti-
quette of polite society will keep any gentleman from
swearing ; but this is not exactly keeping the law.
This particular thought is worthy of notice, however,
that no gentleman swears. Times have changed since
it v»a'' th^aght manly to take the mouth full of sound-
ing oaths, and now a gentleman would as readily bo
seen staggering from intoxication as to be heard curs-
ing and swearing. Let him be whom he may, dress
as showily as he please, deport himself faultlessly as
to his manners, use the very best language in other
i-espects, and have millions of money at his command,
if he swears he is no gentleman. Let him who aspires
to the name and rank of a true gentleman remember
this, and for this, if for no higher reason, " swear not
at all."

But there is the higher reason, that out of fear and
love of God, no one should swear. If the command-
ment is kept for any other reason, it is not kept
properly. For example, if you knew a man looked
upon you with hatred and contempt, yet did not say
harsh things to you or about you, would that make it
right as between yourself and him ] Certainly not.
So only that man keeps this commandment who fears
and loves God. Outward conformity is not enough.
God's morality goes deeper. It is different from the

]• III": S ECO N 1 ) COM MAN DM KN T.

21)

lar and

iiUcand-
|t kept

looked
lot say
lake it

not.

fears
liouj^h.
in tlio

morality of the world, whicli only looks at the outside
of man, and to the good ot society. If a man gives
a beggar something simply to gain the good opinion of
those who may be looking on, God sees that in his
heart there was no charity, no love. But the world
sees only the gift. TIjo man may be satisfied with him-
self, but God is not satisfied with him. And even if
he should give all his goods to feed the poor and have
not charity, it profiteth him liothing. Men have
already given all they had, and even life itself, for
lK)ly or unholy purposes, but all iheir gifts availed
notliing for their salvation. What the Bible insists on
is a new nature, a new heart ; and this only can bo
obtained from God the Holy Ghost by a faithful study
of the Word and firm faith in the Lord Jesus. With
the penitent King of Israel, we must pray :

" Create \vithin me a clean heart, O God ;
And renew a right spirit within me."

This prayer must arise from every real seeker after
the truth and the way of salvatio. , Even a man as
wise, learned, woalthy, honored and venerable as
Nicodemus must become as a little child. And Christ
would have taught a little child the same lesson, —
"Ye must be boru atiniii." The sign of the new birth
is the water of holy Baptism. And faith must grasp
the truth and hold it fast, that thus and so God
ordained the blessed sacrament for the regeneration of
the sinful being. Baxter says that all religion, in all
its developments, can be reduced to keeping the bap-
tismal vows. But, alas, how many forget them ! The
si\bstance of this saying is that the heart is renewed,
the affections are turned about in their channel and
henceforth flow, not away from, but toward God.

Luther's key-note hero resounds again with deep,
full harmony in the " fear and love." Any other
motive for keeping the commandment is of no use.
No one is keeping it ii he would rather not do so. It
must not be kept from fear of human opinion, but
from a renewed heart ; from fear lest anything should

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

\ii

itiliii'i:

!:1

"be done contrary to God's holy will, and from love to
him who hath so freely and tenderly loved us.

Now observe what is forbidden. Wo are not to
<* curse, swear, conjure, lie or deceive." The command
implies that these all are wrong in themselves ; but are
made worse if God's nime be called upon in connec-
tion with them. It is wrong to imprecate or curse, to
desire to take revenge ftu* real or fancied injuries, for
" vengeance is mine ; I will ri'pay, saith the Lord.'*
It is wrong to abuse God's name in any way, and
therefore wicked to swear by it. It is criminal to
make use of appeals to confirm our words, swearing, as
many do, by their heads, by Jerusalem, tSjc. Men who
will not take the name of (Jod, as such^ vainly, will
swear by other things most needlessly and senselessly,
and think to escai)e by wrapping it up. But it is all
sin. And all the more sinful when the name of tho
Lord God is associated with it.

Judicial oaths are not wrong, although the Quakers,
the Seceders, and some others think they are. At first
sight it might appear that such oaths are like others^
"but when we examine more deeply, we shall discover
that their character is essentially difl'erent. The judi-
cial oath is necessary to the preservation of govern-
ment, law, and order, and is not a curse or impn^ca-
tion like the profane oath. Tho judgment of Luther
and of most Christians is that under the legitimate
call of a magistrate, or other proper officer, the judicial
oath is not wrong. Christ took an oath. Nay, more,
although He had been silent before, yet when He was
adjured by the living God He made answer. But oijly
God, or authority constituted by Him, is to be sworn
to. Therefore it is wrong for any voluntary associa-
tion, any lodge, clvib or society, for the siike of secrecy
or for any other reason, to put, force, exact or receive
oaths. Governments have a right to do so, because
the powers that be are ordained C)f God, and that is tho
ojjily reason that governments have such authority.

( \

THK SKCOND COMMANDMENT.

CHAPTER TX.

SUrRIlSTlTION.

Tt is forljiddcn to "eonjuro." Conjuring is prac-
ticing niagiciil arts, and calling upon a sacred name in
a solemn manner, as if some snperi.atural power wero
engaged. We are not to employ God's name for this,
which covers every form of snperstition in which God's
name is used. The Israelites were forhidden to learu
tlie ahominations of the lieatheu \\\ these ])articulars.
There should not be found among them any one " that
maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the
lire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times,
or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a con-
suiter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necro-
mancer. For all that do these things are an abominca-
tion unto tlie Lord." And they are as abominable in
His sight now as ever they were, although the world
is full of them. The extent of tlie evil in the days of
the Apostles may be conjectured from the statement
made in the 19th chapter of Acts, v. 19, "Many of
them, also, which used curious arts brought their
books together, and burned them before all men, and
they counted the price of them, and found it fifty
thousand pieces." And in many cities at the present
time this sin is as enormous in its magnitude as it was
then in Ephesus. It usually goes under the name of
spiritualism. The appeal is made to spirits. One of
two things is done in every such appeal; either good
or evil spirits are invoked. Either God performs the
wonders, or some other power opposed to Him. If
the first, then they conjure by God's name ; if the
second, then they call upon a j)ower in opposition to
Him. And either way, being a violation of this com-
mandment, is wrong. " iielieve not evei;y spirit,"
says 8t. John, " but try the spirits whether they are of
(lod." This teaches us that there are spirits not of

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

I. li

:«iE ■::,..;!

God, spirits of evil, spirits in dark conipanioiisliip with
the devil. And then tlie Apostle places in our possession
the test which is to be applied in trying the spirits :
" Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God ; and every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of
God." But what manner of people are these v/ho deal
with the spirits] The very worst and wickeclest
among men, as a rule. They do it for gain. Not for
the love of God, not with the fear of God before their
eyes, not in order to conless Christ, for one and all,
by word and action, they deny Him ; but simply ior
filthy lucre they deal with their familiars. And those
■who go to fortune-tellers, clairvoyants, and spiritualistic
mediums of whatever name, associate themselves with
them and become parUikers of their sins. There are
many such in every community, for the crime prevails
down in the dark, hidden from the casual eye, to an
alarming extent.

The author of evil is at the bottom

of it all.

Another form of it is known as " pow-wow-ing." In
this some old hag of ill repute is called in to lay her
hands upon the sick and muuible jargon over them to
effect a cure. It is a practise also called " charming ;"
but under whatever name it comes it is the devil's
work and is to be utterly deprecated and despised. In
carrying out these insane and blasphemous practises
the Scripture is often made use of, and sometimes por-
tions of it are recited. When the flow of blood from
a wound is to be checked the procedure is to recite the
6th verse of the 16th chapter of the prophecy of
Ezekiel three times over the wounded person, substi-
tuting the person's name each time in the verse for the
pronoun " thee." Is it not the rankest blasphemy to
travesty this glorious parabolic prophecy to such
usages "i It were better to die, than to live by such
misrepresentation of the Word of God. Blasphemy,
in most of the United States, has been ranked as an
offense punishable by statutory provision ; and in

THE SF.COND COMMANDMENT.

Kiif^'liuul also, blasphoniy of tlie Holy Scriptures is
l)unislmljle liy indictment ; but this pliase of the sin
fie«^nis to be overlooked. It is nothinj^ less than a
blasphemy to use CJod's Word, or any part of it, to
superstitiously cloak a fraud, throw mystery over sin,
and inspire a poor victim with awe and fear. Who
practise such things? The wicked. Who patronize
them 1 The weak. Let them "o in their blindness to
the Word of God for light. Let them study 1 John
4 : 1-3; Deuteronomy 18: 10-14; Leviticus 19: 31;
Acts 19 : 13, 19, 20; and similar passages.

Lying and deceiving are forbidden, because they are
wrong at all times ; but when joined with God's naniCj
as <?. g.f in hypocritical worship, the guilt is augmented.
But we have a special commandment for these, hence
need not more than refer to them here. The positive
part of our explanation teaches us that we should " call
npon God in every time of need, and icorship Him with
p}'ai/er, praise and thanksgiving." " Call upon Him
in every time of need" — and when is that? At all
times, for there is not a moment in our lives that wo
do not stand in need of His power.

I need Thee eveiy hour,

Most gracious Lord ;
No tender voice like Thino

Can peace afford.

I need Thee, oh ! I need Thee,
Every hour I need Thee ;

bless me now, my Saviour,
I come to Thee.

1 need Thee every hour ;
Stay Thou near by ;

Temptations lose their power
When Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour,

In joy or pain ;
Come quickly and abide,

Or life is vain.

When we have no life to sustain, no fears to allay,
no hopes to fulfil, no soul to redeem, then we may

I.'

III!

(n;ii sc'iioouiASTKU.

cniiso to call u]»()n Hiin. V>\\t until tlifii wn arc in lovo
a.s well iis duty bound to *< worsliip irini with i)ray('r,
jtruiso and tliank's,i,'ivin^' ;" witli prayer for what we,
need, with praise lor what we have, and with thaidcs-
f,nvin<^ for what wc liavo already had. Ho who takes
God's nanio thus, antl for su(;h purp(»ses, in the sweet
assurance of faith, shall, in tho blessedness of full
fruition, change prayei* to thanksgiving, and faith
everlasting praise. This may God help iis to do.

Amkx.

11^'

I'jl^

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liii

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i i:^l

■h':.

TFIE Tiriun CIOMMANHMKNT.

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

Ucmembct' tlio Sabbath day to keep it holy. [Six days
slialt thou labor, aud do all thy work ; but the Hevcnth i8 tho
nabbath of tho Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work,
tbon, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy
maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within
tliy gates: for in six days tho Lord made heavtn and earth,
the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day ;
wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. J

What 18 meant by fhfs Commandment ?

Annccr. \Vc ehouM so fear and love God as not to
dc'S[)ise lILs Word and the preaching "f the Gospel, but
deem it holy, and willingly hear and learn it.

Tiiree items hero claim attention : —

I. The command rjiuen.
ir. A division of time specified,
III. Its use dcsiijnated.

CHAPTEK X.

THK COMMAND.

It was a happy and pertinent remark of Mclancthon
that this Commandment is the nerve; of all the others ;
the source of their life, activity and strength. Tho
nerves are those fibres which establish communication
between the various parts of the human body and tho

OUn SCHOOLMASTER.

' .

"brain, so the observance of this commandment keeps in
union and operation the others. The nerve conveys
impressions from without to the centre of intelligence,
and again from the brain to the members of the body.
It is the life centre. So this commandment may be
said to stand, for since God has appointed a special
day in which the spiritual energies are quickened and
infused with new life, the keeping of it is the source
from which all the others will be vitalized. If vou
touch your hand against a hot stove the nerve will
instantly give the danger signal by sending the pain
shooting to the brain. But if the nerve be killed there
is 130 feeling of pain, no danger signal, and no com-
munication, liut quick as thought can fly from the
brain to the hand, the order goes out to draw it away
and save it from danger. So with the Third Com-
mandment and its influence extending through the '
whole Decalogue. As men give themselves up to the
influence of God's Word in the observance of this
Commandment they will keep the others. The gift of
this day is the evidence of God's good will to men,
and most of all to those who weary themselves in any
honest labor. It is God's present to the workman, and
one of its chief objects is to preserve his life and keep
it in good working condition, liut the Commandment
does mtt stop with the regulation of one day in the
seven. It involves the use of all time. It does not
teach how the Lord's Day only shall bo used, but it
directs the umploymcDt of all the days.

-:\ ■ ''■ ■ \

111.,

l^Hi^^^

THE THIRD COMMANDiMENT.

CHAPTER XI.

TUB TIME SPECIFIED.

ThQ div Is ion of all thuR is hero specified. One 'vy
in seven is set aside for rest, and six days for labor.
The primal division was made when the world was
created. God finished the creation aftyr laboring six
days, whether days of twenty-four hours or ot indefinite
length it matters not ; and then " He rested on tlio
seventh day Irom all His work which He had made.
And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it."
This is the origin of the day of rest. Up to the time
of the giving of the Comniandments it was doubtless
observed by all who tried to fulfil God's will ; in proof
of which we see the Commandment beginning with
the significant word ** Ilemember," as speaking of
something already known hut partially forgotten.
From thcit time forward until the Christian Era the
seventh day was hallowed by God's people. There is
iio command given in the Bible to replace the seventh
day by the first as a day of rest. But our Saviour
arose from the tomb on that day ; the Apostles met
together for worship on that dfjy, as did the other
believers ; the Holy Ghost descended upon them, and
the Church was born that day ; and even in the life-
time of 8t. John it was already considered holy, and
the name was given to it, the Lord's J )ay ; and for
these reasons it, instead of the seventh day, is now
hallowed and observed. But, as has been observed, the
Conjmandment directs the employment of all our time.
Exi)erience shows the necessity of labor as well as of
rest ; and of resting one-seventh of the time, both
among individuals and among nations. Show me how
Sunday is kei)t, and I will show you how the rest ot
the week conforms with the law. Show mo the
family that keeps the day holy, and I will show you
where obedience and love, and honor of i)areuts, and

OUR SCrtOOLMASTI^R.

\'i'

•V!

all the other Christian graces grow. If Sunday is
wrongly si)ent no doubt much of the secular time is
also wrongly spent ; for Sunday is the nfgulating day
of the "Nveek.

When I was a child at my dear mother's knee I
learned a little stanza which has had a powerful influ-
ence upon my life from that time until now, because it
teaches the essence of the truth upon this important
subject. It is a simple little verse as follows : —

A Sunday well spent

ISrings a week of content,

And strength for the toils of to-morr ,

]>Ht A Sunday profaned,

AVhiitever is giii.ied,

Is a certain forerunner of sorrow.

St. John the divine writes : — " I was in the Spirit on
the Lord's Day," and heavenly-minded saint of God
that he was, bsing in the Spirit on the Lord's Day,
doubtless he was also upon the other days of the week ;
for whoever is ruled 1^3'^ the Spirit on that day is on all
the days. No person can be the Lord's on Sunday
and the devil's on Monday habitually. As the Bible
is the best of books so Sunday is the best of days ; an<l
when projierly spent, extends its influence througli the
Week. Whoever spends it aright can look forward to
it with joy, and the language of his glad heart at its
coming will be : —

|h ;

Welcome sweet day of Rest
Tliiit saw the Lord ari.se ;

Welcome to this atipiring breast
And these rejoicing eyes.

The King Himself comes near,
And feasts with us to day ;

In His dear piesence we appear.
And love, and praise, und pruy.

My willing soul would stay
In such a frame as this.

Till called to rise and soai away
To everlasting bliss.

TITK THIRD COMMANDMENT.

CirAPTKK XII.

THE DKSIGN.

Tlic first ConiiiKindmoiit looks to tlio condition of
the heart ; tlie sect)nil to tlio use ot the tongue ; and
the tlnrd is the coniniandnient of the hands, the regu-
hitor of labor and rest. This is its i)articr.Lir use and
design. It protects men from themselves in keeping
them from overwork. It Ixjgins with the Avord
" remember." We should often thiidc of it. To
remember means, to bring to mind again ; to think of
again ; to recall to mind what is already known. Wo
are to thus remember the holy day. liemember, says
the Lord ; and how dillerent life would be if wo would
oidy remember. ^Icn do remember the things which
hinder or help on their worldly interests, if they are
wise, but too often also they forget this, which is one
of their very best heli-Wirs. They remember where
they will have an opportunity to gain a few dollars,
but, too often, they fail to remember death, and the
judgment, the call of Christ, the invitations of God,
and the eternal life of joy or pain, liemember to
keep the Lord's Day, remember to make right use of it,
and memory will keep the other days of the week
bright and pleasant. Sunday is a day in which
to gather up the loose ends of holy thought which
buttered across our pathway through the week,
to remember what we have beamed about God, to
remember to rest, to worship God in the church, to
serve him in the sick-room or the Sunday-school, to
remember the things that pertain to our eternal peace ;
the j)assion and the death, the resurrection and ascen-
sion of our blessed Sr.viour, and our need of justifying
faith in Ilim. The word "remember" njay have
reh.'rence to a 8ab})atii j)reviously instituted, but that
is not the j)rincipal use of tiie word for us. We are to
remember the day "to keep it holy." Men often
j'emember in order to desecrate it ; they lay plans for

OUR scnooLMASTrn?.

>t^,^*

If-

^lil

i-io..

Suiulay amusement, for Sumlav business engngemonts,
for Sunday sin, an«l excuse themselves by repeating
tiie tlireadbare, shallow lie, — " the hotter tho day, tho
better the deetl."

Is it not awful to remember tho first half of the
Commandment, in order to break tho other half !
AVhat would be thought of a child remembering
a parent's command only to di8ol)ey'? Certainly it
would bo deemed worthy of punishment, tho more
severe because of the evident wilfulness of its sin.
And God will justly ])unish the more severely those
who wilfully remen»ber to desecrate His day. And
many do this. They look forward to Sunday as a day
when, at the street corners and crossings, they can go
to meet idle companions to spend tho time together in
filthy conversation and low bufloonery ; or gather
in some meeting-house for sport and curiosity, and
when night comes couple off in pairs to go still deeper
into the depths of nncleaimess. Oh ! ye young men
and women, who thus remember to defile God's day,
know ye not that ye defile your souls and condemn
them to endless wool A deep and mortal sin stands
against you at the judgment bar of the Eternal. lUit
alas !

" Vice repeated is like the wandering wind,
Blows dust in others' eyes."

In the next part we see why this is the command-
ment of the hands ; not that the commandment of the
liands can be separated from the commandment of tho
lieart ; but why this one, in particular, applies to tho
liandb. " Six days shalt thou labor." This means
that every man has a work to do. Some persons who
are rich think that, because they have enough to pro-
vide for all their wants through all their lives, there is
no necessity for them to labor. But there is. They
are just as nnich under t\u^. law as the man who must
work or starve. God's commanuments do not exempt
the rich. The law is for all, — " Six days shalt thou
labor." Kvery person born into tho w^orld has a call
or vocation to some kind of labor, rich men and

■.^

THE TIllUI) COMMANDMKNT,

Avomen, as well us others ; and that labor they are in
duty bound to perform. The rich must work for the
};lory of God, — and woe to him who thinks ho is made
only for leisure.

The ftict is, none can ke(>p Sunday right uidess they
keep the other days of the week right too ; that is, as
a rule, by spending them in hard and earnest labor.
Eiieh one, in his own sjdiere, has work to do, and he
ought to so labor at it, that when Sunday comes its
rest will be welcome.

This resting when the work is done,
This golden leisure after toil endured,
Yields an enjoyment sweeter far than all.
Only the bow that luis been bent can spring,
Only the hands that toil enjoy thoir rest.
Only the minds that have been strained relax.
Freedom from labor only is not rest,
For naught to do when nothing's done is work,
The hardest work, which wears without a pause.
Inaction throws a canker over life,
Consumes the very marrow of the bones.
And blights the fairest flowers of the soul
With pestilential mildews to the death.

If at school, the work of a child, or of the student,
is to study. If laboring in any of the trades, the
workman's duty is, not to "soldier" at his employer's
ex[)onso, or slight his work, not merely to put in the
time, but to honestly labor to gi"e a fair equivalent for
wages expected or received, i. at home, there are
numberless little duties constantly demanding attention.
Well is it for the person, or the family, given to
attending to these minor duties as they present them-
selves They will help themselves along where others
will fail. They will be ready for the more important
duties when they come up. AVhereas if they do not,
things will fall into inextricable confusion, home will
become a bedlam, antl life be rendered miserable.
Many do not realize the importance of their prompt
and careful attention to the little labours and duties
constantly arising about home. They esteem them as
80 lowly that they may be safely overlooked. But the
mistake is evident to any one who goes to the home

OUU SCHOOT.MASTKH.

%«»*•■'

\>i '.■•'

4; :'l^

;5i, '!■ ;.

"wliero such a rule is followi'tl, for tlioro " conlusiou
worse conloundod " roi:::;ii8 suprcUK'. And ainon^'
woiiuMi tlicrc, arc iiiMiiy wl»o si<j;h to 1ki rdoascd from
llio liuinhh'r duties of lionuvlifc lu'causo tliry aro licld
to lie low aud coiniuon. Many make tliemselves
miserable liy dcsjjisinLj tlie common cures of the house-
hold. Let them remember that altho>ij;h houu; toils
may be seemin^dy lowly, yet they becoiiu'. holy iu the
si}j[l.t of (h)d when d(tne in tlie ri<^ht s|)irit ; for His
hiw is to bo fulfilled throuj,di the week at our daily toil
as well as on Sund-iy.

Saturday uij^ht is llio time for i>reparntion to spend
Sunday ]>ro|>erly. Let tlmre be no erowdin|j; of duties
upon it. All the week, indeed, is a ])re|)aration ; for
the law is, six «lays of labor and one of rest ; but when
Saturday's sun sets it would In; well to have everything
in readiness for the unbroken enjoyment of our rest.

God asks ua to make this day peculiarly His so that
it may be peculiarly our own. (Jod wants all our
time to bo devoted to our own njood and His glory ;
for what subserves the one purpose subserves the other
also, (lod wants all and gives all to men, and no day
does He give so entirely as this. There is no selfishness
aboiit it on His part, in asking that it be kept holy. It
is the best day for men when it is the best observed.
And the more it is given to God the more it is their
own. He takes it from the toils of the other days and
keeps it intact for us. So it is called the Sabbath, tho
rest day.

It is recorded in the heavens by the changes of the
moon, four times changing in every four days of rest.
And nations who marked these changes always kept
account of the Lord's Day without knowing Avhy.
This has been observed of various tribes and Uijtions of
heathens, and shows the mysterious correspondence
which exists between the laws of (Jod and the nature
of man, for whom the laws were made. Ages might
have failed to settle the measure of rest necessary for
the human system, if God had not once for all settled
it in this law.

TUK TIIIHI) COMMANDMENT.

CHAPTKR XII r.

TIIK 01J8KRVANCK.

Tlio KitikOi nation iitirniittcd to cliivnj^'c tlu! law
it) (k'fiiinoo of tli(( Alnii_t;hty, but tlio history of
tlioir (ixpcrionco oti^'lit to lomvcr (lol)iir imy other
Iroin attoinptinf,' to dcloiit it. WIumi in the tinio
of tlio Frcnoli Kevohititjn thu inlidols had gained con-
trol of th(! (Jovcrnment, and nearly the whole of the
nation was inlidcl, the tenth «lay was nnhstituted lor
th(! seventh as suflieient for rest. *'l*ui)lic wurship
was utterly abolisheil. The churches were (tonverted -
into 'temples of reason,' in which atheistical hondlies
were suhstituted for the j)roscrihe<l service ; and an
ahsurd and ludicrous imitation of the pagan niytho!o,';y
was exhibited under the title of * the religion of rea-
son.' In the principal churches in each town a
tutelary goddess was installed with a ceremony e(jually
pedantic, frivolous and profane ; and the lemahis,
si'ltM^ted to j)crsonify this new divinity, were mostly
])rostitutes, who received the adorations of the attend-
ant municipal officers, and of the multitudes, whom
fear, or force, or motive of gain, had collected together
on the occasion. Cinitcmpt of religion or decency
bcc.ime the test of attachment to the government \
and the gross infraction of any moral or social duty
was deemed a ])roof of civism, and a victory over pre-
judice. All distinctions of right and wrong were con-
founded. The grossest debauchery triumphed. The
reign of atheism was the reign of terror. And ' then
proscription followed ui)on proscription ; tragedy fol-
lowed tragedy, in almost breathless succession, on the
theatre of France. Almost tlie whole nation was con-
verted into a horde of assassins. Democracy and
atheism, hand in hand, desolated the country, and con-
verted it into one vast Held of rapine and blood.' In
one part of France, the course of the river (the Loire)
was impeded by the drowned bodies of ministers of

<>t |{ srM(V>|,M AsTI'.H.

ii'

ils \vat<>v« ; chiMriMi wim-c scnttMUMMl 1i> tlrnjli lov IIh'
\m\\\ ^^^\\\ ]o\:\\\.\ o\ \]\\'\\ |>;nMMi1s ; i\iii| llicy, wlinsi«
>nf';in<'V li:\<l slit'lti'i>Ml tluMn <V<Mn llic lire of' tlic si*l
(litMv. \V(Mi^ Iviyonttod n^^ they I'liniLi; nl»ont ihc luit'i"^
o1' thoii i1ostroy(>r,'». ' FmuM', ilnvinu; llvii pi'vioil, \vns
n Oh\\<ri' <>1' cvimo'^. whifli. nlYrv ,\\\ )>v<M'i>ilin<; prrpi'-
liwliovis. Ivwo o\('it<M] in tho numl nl t<\rry 8|)i'i'|;\tnr
.•inin/ouK nt Mud liiMTin-. Tho nn^<'vii'^ snll'M't'd hy lli.il,
sini^lo n.ilion li;\\(> r]\,ni<X(^<l nil ll\t' histovicM of jhi' pri'-
rodinu snlV<Miii«}:« of ni;\i\kiti<l into W\\v Inlcs, jind Imvo
Ivoii on1\:uitv'«l ;in«l ni\illi]>liotl williont prctMvh'nt,
>vit1i»>nt ,1 nnnilvM', ixwA \vill\i>n1 n iinmc' Wcvo llio
worM to ;n1<>]>( ini<l b<» irovornrd hv tin' !\llu>isin nl
Vi*nno(\ \vlv\t <Minit\« wouM not ni;\nkinil |>t>rp(»li!»t(> 1
\\"li;^t njjonit^s wonM t1\«\y not snlV»M '?"

An.1. ns it wont witli tlint v;\y\\\ nation \vln>n it
oprnly «1tMi«'«i i^oA ;in«l forsook His hy^y, so it, will !»<»
also witli th(' ninn win) attonipt'^ th.- smno tliitiir. hy
ivfusing to ol>sovvo ono «liy in sovimi its tho tlijy o\'
Yo»t. It if i\ ]''livsi,Ml inipossihility to prrsiat in »lis-
r»\ir-in^ini2: tlio l,\w of tio.l wit(io\it incnniiiu; j nnisli-
inont.. riio V'j>Mi<'li oxporinnnit nnnx'ly 1<m1 to thn
iv ost.iMisbniont oi (i.^.V^ v.i'o \n t^io ti.ilion. (>no day
in jsovon is tlio tinio which (5o<i. who ni;\<lo tin' lio.ivcn.s
nnd tho f»;irth. tnnrkod in tho sky for tho inh;»hitnnt,s
of oftvth to know .uul io ivnionihor ns fho limit
oivl-iinod rts divino. Mon w]\o go boyoiul, sntlV'V as
iiations d.\

A oort.^in oniinont Kni^lish st<^tosnv\n onro triod to
ig^nore tho law an*i tlio limit, hy workin,u[ «'vory day
alika At lirst whon lio hogan tliis praotioo ho oonM
«coomplish a littlo moro than tormorly ; ptvaontly ho
found that in tho .sovon days ho diti only as ninoh aa
he had boon aoonstoniod to do in six ; and lator on ho
toll U-iok nitMV. so that ho »lid loss with constant lahor
than ho had dono whon hon\stod on tho Sahhath. Ihit
inst<\hi of ivlnrning to tho way of (tod's o«>niniands he
workod on \niooa singly until, drivon to insmity hy
overwork, lio committed suioido. ^tany poi-sons aro in

IIIM Umil) COMMANUMKNT

4r,

llii' iiisiMin iisvliiin, nr in Hie Kiiici^lc's roiivc, liccfni^fi
IIm'V lt<'p' "" ''^'iiiiliiy. rii'V UfiiUi} (I |;iw r»f Mi<ip
tiiihiri', H liwv til' IipmIHi, m?i(I ;i I;i\v nl" (}mi|, fni(| foiirt((
llic wny nl llu- ♦ntii'j^rcHHnr IimmI. I'AM'ry ntfirT nrini i«i
like Mini l'',ii<.'lis|i MffilcHmfiM ; if lif wnik.'^ Kf-vn rlnyM
nf IIm' \V)mI< IriliiiiKilly, Im^ will kill liiniHolf or kill Iii4
niiml. Tlic Ihwh dl' Ond i\r» IIh- I;i\vh of liftiltli, nn'l
slit'H^ili, mill wf'ir jtrcRcrvMlinri ; Mtiil viokilion rd' tlnTri
luin^3 sniveling. rroplc nUcn cnfrijilfiiri Mifif ilu-y do
iiol I<nn\v wliy llicy " led fjo Imdly," vvliil«i ilin n(fd
iPiiHiin is I hey Imvf Im'c?i lnod^iii^ sdiiK^ (>{' tlio Idws fd'
lln'ir < 'iTidnf, cilln'i' fliin oim' or momic oth'-r «'fjiifdly
Itindit!^'.

Ilnl uliHcrvr liow s|ir('ill(! Iliis Ifiw \h. Ft, rdirunfifidq
IlittI iM» Wdik. Iliid. in, tiiiiM'«'('«s(iry kilor, 1»m (h/iic on
IJH' l,nrd'H hnv.

" 'riioti " Mit not, to l!di(»r, " nor thy
sttn, »HH iliy diint^ldcr," nor tiny ov»r whom thoii liMHfc
nmlrnl. 'I'ho incinin^ Miinply \» l]\td wf nrn t,o keep
\]\v connnmidiiH'nt nni'H(dv«'M find hmm our irdJiM'Tu-o with
ollicrs to H('i> IIimI. thfy kocp it fdso. ft forl»ids t)if>
ini)Hisilion of nniiPft'HHfiry hihor upon oIImts ontsido of
nur own I'ninily, iind innkcH nicidion (d' " the sirnri^or."
" The r.'dUn " idso urc inrliidcd. 'Chink of t,hj> lovo and
iMii> id 111"- Alniif^^ddy who, finiid tln' ilnindfr?; of Sirini,
hiia ri'^'urd for Mm' dnnih i';\\,\]h. What, diviiiM solici
Imln! AVIial, finirhinL; hi-nidircnnn ! (f(»d thinks of
till' hi'URts. On tho holy Sahhath hay lid, nioii renioni-
ItiT this. Tliia conwruindfnnrdp nphoIdH th»i lavy of hf»a-
pilalily, l»ut it dors not uphold lawIfssiMiss. Thfi
" Hlrnn<4;('r" hi>rn nu'tdlonrd \» not to )m nllowod
liciMiHC. »Soni(^ proph^ think that if thoy havo f;oni-
pany in ilM» hmiHn wh»>n Sunday comoa, that is all tho
yxrnsn tlu'y need to kci'p tlii'in IVorn th dr (Mistoiriary
rcli^MoUH dutii'H on that day. Thi^y do not attfjnd
idi'Midi horjinsn tliry huvr fi Kti."ji,L';*f ir) tho liotisfi.
They do not rrud (IoiTh Word nor .sin^^ Ifis [)rai-<f'.s,
lu'i'aiiHP th(\y have n f^tranijfr. ThiH is all wrorif^. In
the lii'Mt plu(;« p<M»pl(! on^ht to Ix; at honif. and not
visitini^ th('irnei[,dil>orH on that day; hut whfin th^y
avf actually strangrrM, away from hoim-, tho- dsdy of

oiin scn(K)i,MASTEn.

m''

thv'w li(>st is to invite tlunn to <^o with Liin to rlmrch,
to unite in all tlu; holy duties iind holy itrivilcf^'cs of
tho iliiy. 'I'he stnui^for is not to \vt rk ; nor is he to \w
allowed to interfere with tho worship of tho day.

'J'lie eonimandnuMit closes M'ith tho declaration of
th(! HMsoji M'hy (lod priuiarily hles>;ed au(i halloweil
the Sahhath IXiy. lii the crtsitioii lie had respect to
the future. Here the foundation of this law was laid.
He cejised from creating on the seventh day, and hal-
lowed it forever.; whereibro His peo[»lo should ever
juiore observe it.

" This »lay the lij^lit of heavenly birth,
J'irst Btreanied .across the new-born earth :
<) Lord, this day upon us shine.
And fill our soulii with light divine.

This day the Saviour left the grave,
And rose oniniimtent to save,
<0 Jesus, may we raised be
From earth and siu to life in Thee.

This day the Holy Spirit came,
"With fiery tongues of cloven flame :
<) Spirit, fill our hearts to-day
With grace to hear, and grace to pray.

O Day of Light, and Life, and Grace 1
I'rom earthly toils, sweet resting-place.
Thy hallowed hours, best gift of love
IVo give again to ' Jod above."

William Walsham Howe.

CHAPTEli XIV.

THE EXPLANATION.

Wc should SO fear and Jove God as not 1o despise
His Word and the preaching of the Gospel, but deeitt
it hott/, ami willintjly hear and learn it.

Luther says the root of obedience is the fear and
love of God. The Coniniandnient nuxy be kept, as to
its outward fonn, from many other reasons. It may
be ke]it dimply irom habit. This is well enouyh an

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT.

fur as it j^'oos, but ])CO|)le wliould, at tlio same time,
tliiiik wliy tliis coiniiuuulincnt oii^lit to be kept. Aiiy-
thiiij,' ol' Mucb vital imj)oitimcu should iM>t hn uHowimI
to fall ii»to so littlu n!j,'av«l aa io Ixi kept thougbtlessly
from tlie sbeer force of habit.

It may bo kept 8ini|)ly to eoiiforin to the eiystom
of ti»e eommuuity, wliieb, while it is far better than to
desecrate it in delrancc of custom, is still not observing
it frf>m a proper motive. A certain old Fremdimaii
who had much copipuny in his house, spent most of the
week-dayB with his f^uests in playin*,' billianls and ton-
]>ins, but on Hunday ho would not allow any more
noisy j^anie than checkers or ciiess ; and this he thought
was keeping the day. The absurdity of such a con-
formity is too evident to need oven a word of condem-
nation. It condemns itself.

IJut there is another way of externally conforming
to tho law which merits severe rebuke. It is the
])hariaaic compliance with tho letter while violating
the spirit of tho conmiand. Many homes are desolated
by it. Houses which stand in the shadow of death
are they, which make one shiver to enter them. The
doors are closed, the blinds arc drawn, the children
under the eye (A an austere parent are condemned to
memorize pas.>«ages of Scripture, or selections from
itouse's burlesque of the J\salm.s. Tiiey dare not
laugh. If they move it must be on tiptoe and in
feilence, as though sickness Wltc in the room. And
when the day is done they are glad. Monday is
hailed as a day of release, for Sunday has been a
j)unishment from beginning to end. lint they comfort
themselves, or rather the author of their sorrows com-
forts himself, with the idea that they have been very
good Christians, for that one day at least. But such
an idea of the observance of the day is narrow, false,
and injurious. It makes children grow up with a
dread of the day ; which is exactly the opposite of tho
way they should regard it. It is the old Puritanical
idoa in harmony with tho spirit which framed tho

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

lUue Laws of Connecticut, among other things con-
demning a man to a fine for kissing his wife, and a cat
to death for catching a mouse, upon the Sabbath Day.
God's day ought to ho a joyous day, a day for tlie
proper use of all a child's faculties. And it would bo
iar better to let the children walk and play than to
mew tliem up and make them learn to hate the day.
There may bo the fear of God in this pharisaic mode
of observing Sunday, but it is fear without love ; it ia
slavish, base, unworthy fear, which looks upon God as
a task-master and tyrant, and teaches the little ones
falsely so.

The way to keep the day holy is to give it to holy
uses. Clirist said the Sabbath was made for man, and
not man for the Sabbath. Man is to profit from, not
suffer by it. And the great thing for God's day ia
God's Word. As the explanation of Luther declares,
" We should so fear and love God as no*- to despise
His Word and the preaching of the Gospel." God's
Word should be studied and read on this day, but not
as a punishment. It should be made a glad and
joyous duty. It should this day bo sweetly meditated
upon and earnestly prayed over. The Gospel is to bo
listened to in the sanctuary, and the day should bo
piously devoted to reading it, feeling it, and hearing it
preached and taught. To do this the mind must be
controlled from such things as do not harmonize with
the spirit of the Gospel, and the hands must be kopt
from such occupations as distract and lead away the
mind.

There must be no summary dismissal of the subject
Let me, therefore, beloved, counsel you to try to keep
the Lord's Day after this manner. Try it ow<^, if it
has not been your rule, and feel its bless' ^ ' ts.
Such keeping will make earnest teachers an .iihtul
pupils in the Sunday-school, pious ministei in tho
pulpit and godly hearers in the pew. The day of t le
Lord has its life, is vitalized from the Word of the
Lord. The two must necessarily be kept holy together.

TttE THIRD COMMANDMENT.

4!)

And when it is thus improved it becomes an actual
foretaste, as it is the real emblem, of the eternal day of
the Lord in heaven. Such may it be to you. Amen.

O day of rest and gladness,

O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and Badness,

Most beautiful and bright ;
On thee, the high and lowly,

Bending before the throne,
Sing, Holy, Holy, Holy,

To the Great Three in One.

To-day on weary nations

The heavenly manna falls ;
To holy convocation

The silver trumpet calls.
Where Gospel light is glowing

With pure and radiant beams.
And living water flowing

With soul-refreshing streams.

New graces ever gaining

From this sweet day of rest,
We reach the rest remaining

To spirits of the blest :
To Holy Ghost be praises.

To Father and to Son ;
The Church her voice upraises

To Thee, blest Three in One.

—Bishop Wordswobtb,

T^T

i':

i' i

SECOND TABLE:

OIP 3DT7TIBS TO I^iflCA^I^-

CIIAFTER XV.

INTRODUCTION.

The introdtiction given in " Tlio Larger Catecliisin '^
to the Second Table oi the I^aw, is hero presented a»
follows :

"We have hitherto treated of the first three command-
ments, which have express reference to God. Firdj
that we should trust in Him with onr whole heart,
feaf and love him in all our life. Second^ that we
should not misuse His holy name in lying, or in evil
deeds, hut use it to the praise of God, and to the
benefit and salvation of our neighbors and ourselves.
Thirds that we should hear and make a diligent use af
the Wo»d of God, on [Sundays] festivals «r holidays,
in order that all the deeds of our life may harmonize
with it. And now the other seven follow, which
relate to our conduct towards our fellow men, and
among which the first and greatest is The Fourth
Commandment.

TIIE FOURTH C03CMANDMENT.

THE FOUnW GOMMANDMENL

IIoDor thy fa(:hor and thy raotlier, that thy days may be
loug upoa the laud which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

What is meant hij this Commandment t

Amwer. We should so fear and love God, as not to
despise nor displease our parents and superiors; but
honor, serve, obey, love and esteem them.

Two divisions are here given :

I. The Command.
II. The Promise.

CHAPTEE XVL

THE COMMAND.

Wo are accustomed to see the coramandracntt
roprcaented in the hands of Mosea, as ho desfteiida
from the top of Mount 8iuai, M'titten upon two tables
of stoive. In «ome of these pictures there are upon
<.'ach table live commandments ; in others three upon
one table, and seven on the other. The lirst is an arbi-
trary, numerical arrangement. IJy the division we have
liero followed, this Fourth Oommr.fidment is placed ou
iJie second table. IJy dividing them according to the
objects to which they ref«ir, it pr()|)erly belongs there.
The first three teach duty toward God ; the others,
ilulies to fellow-men. IJy tiiking dillerent principles
ui division it thus can be phiued in diil'ereut tables.

OUR SCHOOLMASTnr;.

mm\^

SO that the only question to be decided is, which prin-
ciple of division is the correct one. The arrungement
which has been here followed shows which is believed
to be the proper one. The commandment belongs to
the first table because onr parents rejiresent God to us.
They embody His authority. The Larger Catechism
declares it necessary that young persons be impressed
with the idea thsit they should repjard their parents as
" in God's stead." The Bible teaches that " the powers
that be are ordained of God," and most of all the
domestic relation and the powers therein. The autho-
rity of the home is the most directly ordained of Him,
the most ancient and the most to be revered. It is of
Him without any intervention of thirl parties, and out
of it all other powers grow. If the authority vested
in the Church be closely looked into, it will be found
growing trom the family as a natural outcome ; and
the same is true of the State, and of all authority. All
grow from the authority instituted by God in the
domestic relation, just as the matured fruit grows from
the tender bud and fragrant blossom. Ind for these
reasons this Commandment has been thought to belong
to the first table.

Nevertheless, it belongs to the second table because
our parents along with us are the creatures of God, the
same fiesh and blood as we are, and being of us and wo
of them are rightfully considered and classed among
our fellow-men.

If any other part of the law of God is resisted by
any heart, yet it would seem that no one could be so
lost to all good impulses as to resist this. It comes
homo so clearly to the heart, affections, consciance, and
n;-.tural desire, that it has special beauty and force.
Think of all we owe to father and mother ! Where is
there a love so pure, a love to which our little efforts
were so much, a love that watched over us in the
helplessness of infancy, and tenderly ministered to us
through sickness when life trembled in the balance
and all but hope had fled ; where is there a love like
mother-love 1 Think of u mother's sacriiices, constant

THE roURTH COMMANDMENT.

and uncomplaining, cheerfully given out of her most
intense love ; the deepest, the most pure aftection one
human being can bestow upon another.

"Washington Irving has beautifully portrayed the
constancy of a mother's devotion when ho says : " The
love of a mother is never exhausted ; it never changes ;
it never tires. A father may turn his back on his
child ; brothers and sisters may Itecome inveterate
enemies ; husbands may desert their wives ; wives
their husbands. But a mother's love endures through
all ; in good repute, in bad repute, in the face of the
world's condemnation, a mother still loves on, and still
hopes that her child may turn from his evil ways, and
repent. Still she remembers the infant smiles that
once filled her bosom with mpture, the merry laugh,
the joyful shout of childhood, the opening promise of
his youth ; and slie can never be brought to think hiiu
unworthy." It is sweet to meditate upon such tender,
constant love.

And think, too, of a father's devotion to his child.
How can his cares, 'and labors, trials and anxieties,
ever be repaid 1 Never, because they have not been
given and endured for any recompense or reward but
tl)at which love itself affords.

Disobedience to the commandment is cruel, dis-
honorable, and base. But the great blessing of having
a father guiding by his counsel, and a mother watch-
ing over us in love, both blessing us with their tender
solicitude and fervent prayers, because we have always
been accustomed to it, is too often undervalued. Like
the pure air, the fresh water, and the clear sunshine,
so common, so plentiful, so precious yet so free, so
valuable yet so necessary, the dear boon of love is
never thought of until it is missed. But ask the
prisoner languishing in some loathsome dungeon, what
he would give t(j broatho the bracing ait of freedom ;
ask the shipwrecked sailor what valuation he places
upon a draught of pure, fresh water ; ask the man
deprived of sight whether the light of heaven is not
sweet; for those who need, know best the value of

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

these common blessings. So ask the one who has no
parents, the lonely orphan, among unfeeling strangers,
living a darkened life, in a world without the sunshine
of love, no father guiding, guarding and providing, no
mother watching, sympathizing and praying, and if
you can enter into the woful depths of the heart of
such an one, you can realize the greatness of his loss
and know how deeply thankful you ought to be that
your father and mother are spared to you. Or if one
be taken and the other yet remains, a desolate husband,
a mourning v*ife, then ought you, with a double ten-
derness of love bestow upon the one whom God has
spared, the affection whicTi would have been otherwise
given to both. Think of these things before the inex-
orable laws of nature shall have removed forever from
your sight the only ones who can ever be to you your
parents. Look upon the teaching of the holy law of
the Lord and hasten to obey, before it bp too late, lest
grief that is vain, remorse that is fruitless, and sorrow
unayailing shall seize upon you for the disobedicnco
vhich can never, never, never be undone.

CHAPTEK XVn.

THE PROMISE.

God's promises are sure. They stand fast They
shall never be broken. A human promise is good or
■worthless according to the character of him who gives
it. If a beggar should make a promise to pay a large
sum of money it would be quite a different thing from
the promise of a wealthy man to do the same. The
one has not the ability, the other has, to make the
promise good. But who so able to keep in sncrud
honor, and make good to the very utmost, every breath
of promise ; who so divinely omnipotent to fulfil, as
God? A human promise is, in ninny cases, good or
worthless accoring to the willingness of the giver.

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.

When the heart is in sympathy with the promise given
it is more gen rally kept, than when it comes unwill-
ingly. But who has sliown more hearty willingness to
do, and to bear, to promise and to fulfil for man, than
the Almighty] His promises are of o'd. They have
boon tried and have stood the test. He keeps them.
Not one of them shall fail. They **are from everlast-
ing to everlasting." And when God adds to a command
so sweet, a promise so precious, it must be a madman
who doubts of its fulfilment. The design of this
promise indicates to us that the commandment to which
it is attached, is peculiarly j)leasing to Goil. He shows
us by this that, while it shall be wt-ll with us to obey,
because by obedience we shall secure the rich blessings
of temporal life ; at the same time Ho has delight in
its proper observance.

8t. Paul, in the Epistle to the Epehsians, 6 : 1-3 —
has special reference to this as " the first command-
ment with promise." There is, indeed, a blessing
implied and a promise included in the other com-
mandments, but in none of them is it so clearly set
forth as in this. To please the Lord our Creator, to
delight our parents whom He has placed over us, and
to gain for ourselves the promised blessings, let us, in
the fear and love of God, strive to give honor to father
and mother.

CHArTEK xvni.

THE EXPLANATION.

We should so fear and lore God, as not to despise
nor displease our parents and superiors ; hut honor,
serve, obey, love and esteem them.

Luther's explanation gives first the negative, and
then the positive side, of the duties enjoined. Let us
go wilh him at onco to the consideration of what this
cou'inandment forbids.

The first oflenco prohibited is to " despise " parents
or suiieriors. Can it bo that any one tlespises father

!:r

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

or mother ! To despise means to look clown upon with
contempt, to scorn, to have a low opinion of, to disdain ;
and is it possible for any to thus regard their parents !
It is true there are some parents unworthy the respect
of their children ; some who are full of faults which
every one else detests and even their children cannot
fail to see ; yet even such parents, tliough hard to
respect, should receive all possible love and honor for
the sake of this commandment. They are still father
and mother, and even to vard unworthy ones, this
should never be forgotten.

And the same holds good in our treatment of the
rulers of the land. They are, by virtue of the offices
they fill, for the time being, our superiors, and as such
are entitled to obedience and respect. This is a truth
which, in these last evil times of malfeasance in olfico
and betrayal of high public trusts should be particularly
regarded, lest, in the wid(vspread corruption of morals
flowing down from the high places in the land, the
regard for God's holy commandment be engulfed in
ruin too. Even though our rulers do wrong we should
still do our best to honor and obey.

But this is not the main meaning of the injunction ;
for, even in the deep sinfulness of human nature, it is
a very rare thing for children to despise their parents,
because they seldom have real reason for despising
them. A father may be bad, very bad, yet he rarely
forgets his duty to his children. The father who is
an exception to this rule is rightly regarded as a
monster of iniquity. And a bad father, wicked and
irreligious, weak and utterly selfish, even if he does
nothing, still wishes well for his offspring. Cases are
not so rare as may be supposed in which an infidel
father wishes his children to be Christians ; and says,
" I want my children to be like their mother and not
like me." God is the author of the affection of a father
for his child, and so deep down in tlie heart has He
■written that law of love, that if a father has it not he
is a rarity. And if tliis be true of the father, how
much more true of a mother and her love. When she

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.

its,

ihu

is sunk to tb(i lowest depths of crime and degradation,
wlien no other virtue lingers, this blessed one of lovo
for her child still reigns in her heart. When that
heart is hard, and dry, and loveless to all other human
beings, still she loves her child. The child, therefore,
has no reason for despising the parent. Even when
parents are contemptible in the sight of others, unjust
in their dealings, rude in their manners, despising the
laws of God and man, and the child cannot fail to see
their faults, yet while he may protest against them, and
mourn over them, he dare not despise the parents
because of them. It is contrary to this commandment
so to do.

And yet it is not this to which attention is particu-
larly called. It is something much more common. It
was common when Luther wrote the explanation of
the commandment and is growing more and more so
every day. It is the manner in which children who
desire to assume in society a higher position than that
occupied by their parents, look upon them with con-
tempt for what they are and for what they do. For
example, when a young man goes to the city and there
acquires more polished manners, wears finer clothing
and learns to talk more freely though, perhaps, less
sensibly than formerly, and then is ashamed to be
known as the son of his plain and unassuming father ;
or when a young man in the city goes into some other
occupation than the one engaged in by his parents, and
then because his calling is supposed to be more
respectable than theirs, looks down upon them ; or
when a bov who has been sent to school and there
supported by the hard-earned savings of self-sacrificing
parents, conies back to show himself lazy, idle and dis-
obedient at home, and ashamed of parents when on the
street with them : these are the f^ins particularly
aimed at in this commandment. A similar sin is com-
mitted wlien a fashionable woman IVels a weak and
miserable shame for those very elements of simplicity
and solicitude which ought to make her reverence her
mother, ^fay, more, even the very sacrifices which

i
I

m '

Ir i

II.

i »'--..

OUR SCIIOOLMASTEB.

parents have made to fit childivn for a higher position,
are made tlie ground for despising them. The hard
hands and the bent form, worn with hibor for the sake
of the children, are looked upon by thorn with most
cruel and despicable disdain. The sin manifests itself
again M'hen the young man, in the company of his
associates, speaks contemptuously of his father as " the
old man," the " governor ; " and with such belittling
expressions shows his lack of honor and resjiect for him
whose title of nobility is the Anglo-Saxon name, father.
But of all the sins which deserve the opprobrium of
sensible young men ; of all that hold young persons up
as fit subjects for ridicule, and place them in a position
to be laughed to scorn by sensible people ; of all that
give proof of lack of brains, display ill taste and weak-
ness of judgment ; to say nothing of the sin as sin ;
this vain and empty despising of honest parents, this
disgusting " snobbery," stands pre-eminent in its need
of condemnation. It ought to be scorned by every
manly man and hated by every womanly woman.
And the person who is guilty of despising his parents
ought to be cut off from decent society.

Again, we are forbidden to " displease " our parents
and superiors. The German word here tmnslated " dis-
please," is a little stronger. The word is " erziirnen,"

and means, literally, " to anger one," or " to irritate "
and " provoke." Children often do this heedlessly and
thoughtlessly. By hasty words and reckless actions
they wound the heart and anger the feelings of even a
mother. Often when told to perform some duty they,
from nothing but forgetfulness and thoughtlessness,
fail repeatedly to attend to the command. Boys and
girls in this manner too often wound a loving heart
more deeply than they know. They cannot ieel the
fearful cutting pain of their hot, hasty words until,
pehaps, when the gentle heart of the dear mother has
ceased to beat in love throbs for them, and the dear,
familiar form is laid in the silent tomb ; long after-
ward, their own words may come back to strike and
stun them with the lightning-stroke of their own cruel

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.

soverity. Hut thon it will be forever too late to recall
tlicni. Then it will be too late to repair the injury
done and to save that loving heart from the needless
pang. O, that the boys and girls would only think !
Then, we make no doubt, out of the natural, deep and
tender love which God lias j)laced in their hearts for
father and mother, they would strive both in manner
and substance, in loving words and faithful acts, to
show their regard for their parents.

Luther then tells us what wo are taught to do, the
first tiling being to " honoi'" our parents. To honor is
to hold in high esteem, to reverence, and treat with
deference and submission.

The most natural way of showing that honor is in
serving, and, therefore, the next duty named in the
exi)lanation is " to serve."

]Jut how can true service be given without obedi-
ence 1 It is a recognized impossibility as between tho
parent and child, and hence we are told that to
properly honor parents, we must " obey '* them.

►So all these duties link themselves together and are
united in one, like precious pearls upon a cord of gold j
and that golden cord is " love"

Children ought to feel that their parents rule at
home. If they should see a man seized and dragged
to prison for violating the laws of the land, they
would shudder to think that they might ever be in a
similar situation. They would shrink back in horror
from such a violation as would bring upon them such
a punishment. Their soul sickens at tlie very thought.
Or they hear that a man, lor violating the nmral law,
is thrust out from the communion of the saints in the
Church. And they think it dreadful to be thus stig-
matized and disgraced. J]ut they do not think sis far
as they should, nor do they reason that the law in the
family is even more binding than the law of either
Church or State. It was instituied before either of
them. It is supreme. It is as completely God's law
as tho law of their country. They »nve allegience to
this law, and arc bound by it to honor, serve, obey,

OUR SClTOOUtAStEn.

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lovo and esteem their parents. They should servo
their parents by rendering to them all the little and
great offices lovo prompts, and to the child who
looks for them there are a thousand ways. Especially
should they do this when they grow old. Alas, how
often is this divine law neglected ! The parents oft-
times grow old and, unable to labor as in their younger
years, are led to sell what they have and divide it
among their children, leave the old homestead and go
to live with them. They stay a while with one but
cannot feel at rest. Perhaps it were better with
another, and, so thinking, they go to another. One
dies, and the other one, left desolate, keeps up this
saddest of all funeral marches to the grave. The aged
father goes to this son, and then to that, to this
daughter and then to the other, never welcome any-
where, finding no home, because he finds no love with
any of his children. They all look upon him as hav-
ing outlived his usefulness, and he soon begins to look
for death as his only hope for peace. The worn body
has only one resting place remaining — that is the
grave. God forbid that I should outlive the love of
my children ! Kather let me dio while my heart is a
part of their own, that my grave may be watered by
their tears, and my memory linked with their hopes of
heaven. God forbid that conscience should ever
accuse one of you for any sin of ingratitu(ie or mur-
muring against your iiged parents because of the care
they may have been to you. You have shared their
love and care, you know how well you have requited
them. IJe careful that you never say before your own
children that your aged parents have outlived their
usefulness and are become a burden to you, for you
shall surely reap the fruit of your sin when you your-
self totter on the brink of the grave. No ; when the
parents can no longer labor for the children, when
they can no longer care for themselves, they ought then
to be received as precious and blessed burdens upon
their bosoms, to call forth by their helplessness all the
good and generous impulses of their souls. But these

tttK FOURTH COMMANDMENT.

poor word . (;;iniiol save from tho hardness of ingrati-
tudo the many wlio suffer and who die unloved. To
these wo can only say : Adieu, ye toil-worn, patient,
suffering ones. In the grave there remain no sleepless
nights, no days of pain for thee. In the land of tho
immortals the broken links of the severed past shall
he re-united in undying love. Feeble as thou wert
on earth thou wilt bo no burden on the bosom of the
Infinite Love which shall enfold thee, for there shalt
thou discover tho longed-for rest, there take up thy
dwelling in the mansions eternal from which no base
ingratitude shall drive thee, there enjoy the sympathy
of Jesus and the sweet companionship of Uis hosts of
tho redeemed.

•• Don't forget the old folks,

Love them more and more.
As they with unshrinking feet,

Near the " shining shore."
Let your words be tender,

Loving, soft and low ;
Let their last days be the best

They hiWe knows below !

Don't forget your father

With his failing sight,
With his hair once thick and brown,

Scanty now and white ;
Though he may he childish,

Yet do you be kind, —
Think of him as years ago,

With his master's mind.

Don't forget dear mother,

With her furrowed brow,
Once as fair and smooth and white

As the driven snow !
Are her steps uncertain ?

Is her bearing poor ?
Guide her gently till she stands

Safe at heaven's door !

Don't forget the old folks.

Love them more and more.
As they, with unshrinking feet.

Near the " shining shore."
Let your words be tender,

Loving, soft and low ;
Make their last days thu^ liie best

They have known below."

fif

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Ol/ll SCHOOLMASTER.

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IB".''..! ;

CirAPTEK XIX.

OUEDIENCR AND ESTEEM.

T5ut if wt) look into a home where tlin .igod father
nnd mother are properly regarded, — what a joyful
8ceno. If father wants anything, all wish to got it for
liim. If mother expresses a wish, all fly to fullil it.
And among all there is loving competition as t'^ who
shall ho allowed to servo. But v/hen the case is
reversed, as it unfortunately sometimes is, who can
picture the unutterable hopelessness of the one who
calls upon father or mother to do those things which
children should do for their parents ! Think of it !

A scene like this presents itself : Two children are
at the table. To one a command is given. Ho hesi-
tates and appears reluctant to obey. His little sister
says ; " Jirother, Father says, * slow obedience is dis-
obedience.* " It is disobedience when the child would
rather not do what is commanded. The little girl's
words are worth remembering. Prompt, cheerful, loving
obedience is what God commands.

To ** esteem*' means to "put a value on." To
esteem your parents is to value them. Is anything
easier? Jjut if you are in danger of not esteeming
your parents, then pray. Take the connnandment and
pray: **0 God, grant me Thy blessing, that I may
truly honor, servo, obey, love and esteem my parents."
Children sometimes wish they had not to do this or
the other little duty and service for their parents.
They would not think so if they prayed thus, and
highly esteemed them. They would love to do all
they could lor those Avho have done so much for them.
They would, when asked to do anything, fail not to
remember the love which bore without impatience all
their infant and childhood days and watched in all
their sicknesses.

TIIK FOURTH COMMANDMFXT.

Luther extends tlio meaning and enlnr<,'cs tlie
tliou^dit of this coniuiiindnient to enihraeo our " supe-
riorj*." In spirit it (hu's extend to every possihh) rela-
tion in life that is paniilel to the fiiniily, and guides in
Church, and State, and Sehool. Its .spirit covers every
]);irental relation, and, while the parents are supreme,
all these others are rightly involved.

If in school, do wo rightly obey the command 1 Too
often children look upon their teachers as their ene-
mies, and only find out when too late that they were
tlieir best well wishers atid dearest friends, whom they
have been wounding by their disobedience. Teachers
should bo reverently regarded as occupying, in some
sense, the parent's place. " It is rightfully said by
aged and wise persons : * Deo^ parentibus et magistris
noil potest satis gratim repeudi ;' that is, It is impos-
sible for us ever to sufHciently compensate God, parents,
and teachers." In view of this, children should act
toward their teachers in the most loving, teachable and
obedient manner ; and teachers should try by kindness
to win this regard from every pupil.

One of the commonest crimes of this ago is tho bit-
ter, almost fiendish hatred and abuse of rulers. Apart
from honest differences of opinion this is all wrong.
How can Christian men take part in partizan abuse ?
We should, irrespective of party, in duty to this law
of God, reverence those who have tho rule over us,
even while differences of opinion prevail and remain.
We should not forget, even when they do wrong, that
they are our rulers. Wo should let our conduct toward
them be characterized by uniform Christian dignity,
and not forget our duty toward them as children to
parents.

Tho commandment applies with equal force to every
true and worthy minister of the Gospel, but most
particularly to him whom God has placed over you as
your own spiritual father. I make no plea for niyself
in this, for none is needed. The uniform kindness,
respect and ailection shown by those to whom my

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OUR S(!HOf)LMASTKR.

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iif!i

ministry has heen givon, proves that thoy have laid
the truth of tliis sweet law in their hearts lon^ since.
May God bless tlieni in their fnlfilnient of this holy
duty, and keep them faithful in it to the end.

It is easy to see how this commandment must bo
enlarged to embrace the other members of the fandly.
lirothers and sisters must love one another in order to
rightly honor their parents ; for what honor to n father
and mother can there be in a family of children
quarrelling continually, backbiting and devouring one
another ]

And St. Paul says, as has been observed, this is tho
first commandment with promise. It is the foundation
of usefulness, of respectability, of christian character,
and of the noblest, highest, and best blessings of life.
Experience teaches as observation shows that wherever
there are prosperous and ancient families of good
character, and possessed of the blessings included in
the commandment under tho term "long life" — such
as good hi.'alth, means of subsistence, peace, good
reputation, and the like — that some of them have
gained the blessing for the family to tho third and
fourth generation by dutifully honoring this law of
God, in obediently serving, loving, and esteeming
their parents.

Let parents begin early to inculcate these lessons in
the minds of their children. They cannot begin too
early, and while they should not use undue severity,
they should not from a mistaken kindness, spare
punishment when it is required, if nerd i»e ev^^'i with the
rod. But let tho children (snly be taught to honor
and obey. At the mother's knoc; are instilled tli'j
pregnant leusons which so jiowcrfully control the alter
lite. IIa))py is he who learns tiiem and fulfils this
inst commamlment witli proiuisr, for the blcsHinj., and
the promise brightens all the rest, and he who iuUils
this t»ne can th<' better carry uut all the others, and
fulUl God's holy will thereby.

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT.

Thou Shalt not kill.

What is meant by thin Commandment?

Answer. Wo should so fei\r {iiul lovo God as not to
do our neighbor any bodily hiirm or injury, but
rather assist aiid couifurt him in dan<{or and want.

C lAPTER XX.

MURDKR.

If thpr<' wore any pos.sibio doubt bcforo now ms to
whcn^ tlie scrond table of tin* law bc^^iiis. tliero cui
(X'ltainly be none aft«(r this C'omniandmont is entered
upon. We undoubtedly find ourselves her.i in the
scf'ond table. The fourth may bo rej^anled as the con-
necting link between the two, but here is uuniistak-
ably the law eoncernint,' «luty to man.

Yet rij,'ht here we mif;ht stop in our study and ask
whether there has not been a ^;reat onussion, ,\ defect, a
fatal blank lelt in the ten comniandineuts ? (}od ^'ives
us one table to teach us our duty to Him. and one to
teacli «s our duty to our fellow-men ; but wiiero is the
table which lonches duty to ourselves'? Has Crod
forgotten tliis? Where is the conimuiKhuent teaching
duty > • 31 1 1 Is it possibly left out] No. I^'rom
first to last it is implied. It is a duty to self to worship
Clod because no true spiritual develiM)ment can bo
made without euch worship. TL is a duty to self to
use the gift of speech to praise II im The Lord's Day
is devoted to rest in order that wo may bo ".'freshed
and better able to fuHil thii, duty. It is duty to s»'lf
to iionor parents ; and wliile pii rents are li »in)r(;d by
the love, obedience, and atlectionate service ot chihln^n,
the children honor themselves by such tuliilment of
tlio law. And so it is through the whole decalogue,

i
I

IS 'I

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

for each commandmunt involvcj; some <liity to solf.
which can be discharged only by fulfiilinfj the duties
wo owe to others as set forth in the commandments.
In fact, all duties to God an<l to men are duties to
self, inasmuch as we are responsible to God for their
fulfilment. Christ says the lirst j^roat commandment
is : Thoii shalt love tlie Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength." This is the sum of all the
Liv/. The second is like it in that its e.ssence is love :
" 'I'hou fihalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Than
these there is no commandnsent greater. They are the
summary of the whole law to God, to our fclluw-nien,
and to ourselves. The ten commandments are the
exnosition of these. 'J'liey are knit together by an
indissoluble bond, and the golden cord which binds
them togetlier is again tlie golden cord of love.

King David, in dec^p repentance before God for a
great crime eiies out, " Against 7V/t't', Theo (m/f/, have
I sinnt'd," ulthcugh the c»ime was against a fellow-
man. And this is an instance in ])oint to show that
(rod's law is all so woven together that to offend against
one point is to do violence to all. People often think
and speak about the Ten ^'ommandments as if they
were ten laws, and sujtpose if they break one of them
they break only one of the ten laws; but the fact is
the Ten Commandments are Oiie Law, and if one is
broken the Law is broken. Suppose a ship is lying
in th? har))or and her hawser lias a chain of ten links
next the anchor. If one of the ten links breaks tho
vessel floats free at the mercy of the winds and waves.
To brciik one link is to break the chain. In St.
James's exposition this truth is clearly set forth, for
he says : " Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one jtoint, he is guilty of all. For he tliat
said. Do not commit adultery, said also. Do not kill.
Now if tliou commit no adultery, yet if tliou kill, thou
art become a transgressor of the law." Neglecting tho
observance of one is neglect of all, for all have their com-
mon root in tho fear, and love, and trust we owe to God.

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT.

Wo all feel M.o importance of this connnandmont.
A glance at it reveals its character, and its character
demonstrates its necessity. It seems almost like a
waste of time to spend time upon it. It is so evident
a necessity that all niur.t agree to it. Our hearts
slirink from such cruelty as is forbidden liere. Wo
shudder to think of ourselves as guilty of breaking
this commandment. Yet the law is all necessary for
us, even this part ; an«l before we arc done we may
iind oursselves guilty of breaking even this.

This Commandment keeps the value of life before
us. Onr Saviour, in teaching men to pray recognized
in the first petition which looks toward their bodily
wants, the necessity of sustaining life, in the oft-
repeated words : "Give us this day our daily bread."
80 far as we are concerned everything depends upon
our natural life. Take it away and all is taken. It
It would seem as though man could reach a just appre-
ciation of the value of life by unaided reason, if he
could reach any just conclusion at all ; but can ho 1 No.
'JVavellers tell us of many instances in which they
discovered tribes of savage people who came to them with
skulls and bones of human beings to deal in as mer-
chandise. Tribes of Africans are known who lor
trifling reasons ; to swell the pomp of some petty king,
to atone for some trivial offence, take away human life
without pity and without remorse. Even the early
iidiabitants of Mexico and Pern, the most religious and
inoffensive races found in the New World, wero accus-
tomed to sacrifice thousands of human beings to their
gods. And the.se poor heatluai were outdone in murder
by the so-called christians who conquered them. So
horrible were the murders and cruelties exercised ])y
the invaders of those countries, that they can never be
remembered without blusliing for religion and humanity.
In the South Pacific islands, as well as in Africa, wars
have been waged for the soh? purpose of killing human
lieings that their flesh might bo devoured by their
butchers. And these dreadful facts teach us that it
needs u revelation of God to give anything, even

r^.i

OUR SniOOLMASTEU.

human life, so dear and precious to all, its true and
reasonable value.

Info is regarded as the most precious of all things
earthly to its possessor. Take it away and you tike
away the j)erson'8 power of enjoying happiness on
earth, of doing useful things here, of heneliting 8(!lf or
others ; and it is for this that murder is considered the
liighest crime. It involves man in the deepest guilt.
It brings down upon him the severest penalty of tho
law. But there is a deejier reason why killing is most
hateful in the sight of the Lord. God created m:in in
His own image. In the language of the venerable
John Arndt, of Vdcssed memory, " It was (jriHl's chief
pleasure to look on man, in whom He rejoiced, and
rested, as it were, from all his labor; considering him
as the great junnfevftirre of creation, an<l knowing that
in the perfect innocence and beauty of man, the ex-
cellence of His own glor}' would l)e fully set forth.
# # #• # There was an image of the wisdom of
Cfod, in the vndcrsttimliini of man " as he was origi-
nally creatoil ; "of His goodness, gentleness, and
patience, in the sftirit of man ; of His divine love and
mercy, in the affi'dions of man's heart. Tiiere was an
image of the righteousness and holiness, the justice
and purity of God, in the will of man ; of His kind-
ness, clemency and truth, in all the words and ndions
of man ; of His almighty power, in man's dominion
over the earth, and inferior creatures ; and lastly, there
was an image of God's eternity, in the immortality of
tho human soul." Therefore, whosoever lifts up his
hand against a fellow-man, lifts it against tho imago of
tho Eternal. To touch man is to touch the majesty of
Jehovah. An<l tho heart that is wicked enough to
take away the life of a human being has the vill, if it
were possible, to take away the life of (Jod. And this
is treason, murder, and tiie deepest guilt and crime
against tho very Lt>rd iukI Mast^ir of Life. This is
what makes murder so doubly hateful to the Almighty.
Sinning against His created image, murder sins openly,

THK FIFTH COMMANDMENT.

vJMibly, and with lii«,'h-]»and('«l troaclu?ry, ajijainst lliin-
8i;lf, tho Divine Oiii^inul, tiio Bcinificont (Jirator.

But some may ask, are not rulers and ^'i)vernme!»ts
going too fur, then, in taking the life of criminals.
The argum(5nt is sometinu's l)roiight against capital
punishment timt, for this reason, no man or set of men
have any right to execute a murderer. It is a plausible
argument. There might seem to ho a show of reason
in it ; hut reason further and reason itself teaches that
the murderer should die. A stronger argument against
capital punishment lies in the fallibility of human
justice. If hunian methods were unerring then every
murderer should die. God Himt*elf declares that lla
h:«s delegated this power to man, ((Jen. i.\., 0), "Whoso
sheddeth man's Idood, by man shall his blood be shed;"
anil in tho execution of this order government stands in
the stead of God, armed with His commission, llecauso
of this command it has the right to inflict capital puish-
ment, and only because of it. God is the Sovereign of
Life, and he has authorized governments to take that
life when it becomes necessary to take it, in onler that
life may be kept sacred — and so much, reason itself
would teach.

Depart from evil and do good,

And dwell forevermure ;

For the Ijord loveth judgment,

And forHakctli not His Haints :

They are preHorved forever ;

Hut the seed of the wicked 8hn11 bo out off.

The rigliteouB simll inherit tho land,

And dwell therein forever.

The mouth of the righteous aneakcth wisdom,

And his toi.gue ttdketh of judgment ;

The law of (Jod is in his heart ;

None of his steps shall slide.

The wicked watcheth the righteous,

And seckcth to kIhv him.

1'ho Lord will not leave him in his hand,

Nor condemn him when he it* judged.

Wait on the Lord and keep His wsy,

And he siiall exalt thee to inherit the li\nd ;

When the wicket! ari> cut otf, thou Nlmlt see it.

I have seen the wicked in great power,

And Hprcading himself like a green buy tiee ;

Yet he piiSHed awHy, ami io, h<> was not ;

Yea, I sought hiui, hut lit* eoidd not l>e found.

tim

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OITR SdHOOLMASTER.

ClIAPTKK XXL

TlIK EXPLANATION.

III
If W^

We should 80 fear and love God, as not to do our
neighbor any badify harm or injury^ but rather ussid
and comfort him in danger and want.

In this explanation there are set before us tlio two
fii<les ot our tluty ; namely, the positive and the nej^a-
tive, or, reversing the terms: teaching lirst, what is
forbidden, and second, what is enjoined.

It is forbidden to do our neighbor any bodily
harm or injury. This strikes at thn root of the evil,
for it forbids a wrong state of 'he heart, since it is
injury to our neighbor to think evil against liini.
This teaches that men cannot conintit murder as a
deed betbre they commit it as a thought. They can-
not do it with the hand until they do it with the
heart Men think muixler before they act it. St.
John declares this plainly when he says: "Whosoever
hateth his brother is a murderer." The command,
therefore, forbids wrong passions, as hatred, malice,
envy, and revenge. It is easy to bo seen why this
must be the case, for the heart that is given up to the
control of such unholy jiassions, the heart that is full
of them, needs but little provocation to make man
murder. Even so wary a form of passion as envy may
lead to it as it did once, when as it is said of our dear
Lord and His murdeivrs : " Pilate knew that tor niwy
they had delivered Him."

It cannot be argued that education, or a happy en-
vironment, will so guard us as to keep us from l»reaking
this commandment. Some of the most 'Ireailful murders
have been committed amidst the most happy surround-
ings, by highly educaUid m<in. In Uoston recently niy
attention was called to a murdi^rous knifis on exhibition,
under a glass ca.se, and the information given in regard

THE FIFTH t'OMMANDMENT.

to it wa.s, tliat with this knifo, a K^arned colh'X<5 J>T(>-
fussor, Dr. Wuh.stur, had killed a rellow-uu'iiilxjr oi tiio
<;()llego faculty in th« lecturo room of tho institution.
Ho much for education and circumstances. Men can
ho guilty of murder without committing an overt act,
au«l are g\iilty when the heart harhors tho wrong
thought. This makes nttirdererR cTen under the law
of tho land ; for when malice, or an cjvil mrtive, is
proven in connection witl) the killing of a person, ift
can be held in no sense a less crime than murder.
The jury in a murder trial are bound to consider the
motive, and to ascertain, so far as ,»o8Hible, the diwposi-
iion of the lunirt of the accused. Guilt arises from the
moral condition of a man. The law likes to avoid sucli
an issue, and to decide a case upon outward circum-
stances, but malice prepense, which shows the sin to
have been planned, contrived and thought out before-
liand, is always lield con<lcmnatory in the highest
degree. Therefore the law cannot escape tho considera-
tion of it if it is shown, for it is bound to acknow-
ledge the motive which prom])ted the deed. Ou^
Confession says, (Augshnrg Confession, Art. XIX.,)
" The cause of sin is the will of the wicked." A!nl
this is hut another form of words for declaring that the
cause of sin is in the heart of man, aeijonling to tho
wu'iptural assertion, '* The Innirt is deceitful above all
iiungs and desparately wicked." The sin lies not in tho
knife, pistol, or poison, but in tlie desi)arately wicked
heart. Hence we ought always to pray tliat our hearts
KJiould he kept pure. Our muYn\ natures are wicked.
'J'he l\'lagians teach that }>y the power of nature alono
we can purify our hearts and love Ciod supremely, but
they teach what Holy Scrijtture and tho assent of our
own liearts alike condemn as a falsehood. Our Saviour
mentions murder by name as one of the sins proceeding
from tho heart, — " For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications," etc. Matt.
XV. 19.

But there are other outlets for the passions beside
actual murder by the hand, as the i)a8sage here referred

i'l;

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OUR SCnOOLMASTfiR.

to allows. Chrifit's interpretation of the law is moro
exact than ours is disposed to be. The sins He
enumerates does not bring us up yet to His stahdpoint.
Words of anger and scorn, even words, make us liable
to the penalties of the law as He interprets it. Men
can use murderous words ..s well as murderous weapons.
You have perhaps felt them, and if so no doubt would
have felt it a slight punishment to take a blow instead.
Let us avoid words that betray unholy passions. This
Commandment forbids them, for while it specifically
declares against the act, it prohibits the word and the
thought which precede, accompany, or stand in the
stead of the actual deed.

The Commandment forbids and condemns the duel.
The principle which underlies the duel is a good and
noble one. Strange that from a good root such evil
fruit should grow ! But dueling is an abuse of a
true principle. It is a sacred truth, and a proper rule
of action, that honor should bo dearer than life ; but
this divine law, not rightly understood, has been made
as hurtful as though it, in itself, were bad. The expo-
sition of the law is simply that life should bo given up
rather than to do a dishonorable deed. But the so-
called *• code of honor " is the foulest abuse of the real,
underlying principle. It is the honor of gamblers,
thieves and cold-blooded scoundrels to draw in defense
of an honor which they do not possess, the pistol or
dagger tliirsty for human blood. Woe to the man
who prefers to bo bound by such a code rather than by
the laws of God.

Mob law, so prevalent in newly settled districts,
and often breaking out under high provocation in
populous cities, is hereby forbidden also, when it
becumtis the occasion of bloodshed, as is usually the
case. Men have no right to take the law in their
own hands and, influenced only by their passions,
proceed to its execution. Mobs are always dangerous
things. They are simply wild, ungovernable, headless
monsters; the horrid Gorgous of society. All the

TllK FIFTH C(3MMANnMKNT.

violence of mobs aiul iiiol) law, tae executions ordered
anil perfornKul by the so-called Jiulf^e i^yneb, and
.similar lawless proceedings, are Ibrbiddeii by ibis
Coniniandnicnt.

But does it forbid tbe taking of life in aelf-dcfenco 1
No. Tbe law specilies certain cases in wbicb tbe Uik-
in^' of life iu self-delence, or in tbe defence of otbcrs,
is beld to bo justiliable. Yet even tbis is awful to
contemplate. No good man would do it only as a last
resort. Any tiling sbort of it, ratber, even to tbo
suHbring of injury, sliould bo cbosen as j)referable.
'J'lie tbougbt of taking a life is an awful tbougiit tu
liiive u))on tbe soul, and would leave sorrow upon it to
ilic end of lile.

CHAriEK xxir.

SHAM COUIlAGIu

Rome young nion are trained to tiiink it noble and
manly to resent ollencea to tbeir bonor, and are con-
tinually upon tbe lookout for tbeni. J'bey carry
<l(';ully wcajxins concealed upon tbeir persons, in
ilelianc(i of tlie law ; and ".vben tbe occasion f<»r wbicb
tliey bave ])een on tbe watcb ])resents itself, tbese
daggers and pistols are drawn, and in tbe beat of tbo
laoniont an act is committed for wbicb years of sorrow
ami r(4)entano.(5 cannot ato «e. 'i'bis evil is encouraged
by tbe manner in wbicb sucli young men are accus-
tomed to boast, witb great swelling words, of wbat tbey
woidd do if tbey were insultetl. Tbe word foresbadows
tlu; act. Tbere is notbing noble or manly in eitber.
Tbere is notbing bonorable in tbe word or in tbe act.
A young man must bave exceedingly little bonor if bo
must bave recourse to sucb desperate metbods to defend
it. Tboso wbo carry or depend upon tbe weapons of war
iu times of i)eace, are generally tbe greatest cowards.

Otrn SCHOOL»fAST]EU.

In illustration — When General Morgan, the fjuerillii
chieftain, fai<leil arroas the Ohio river am! wm JForcin^
Ilia way np the valley, in tlra hint American war, all
the inhabitant» of a certain WoRteni Pennsylvaniiv
•village were roosctl np an^l tlKirou«^l?ly alarmed onu
quiet Snmlay night by tlie i>cw» that Morgan was
coming. Tlio ehnrdt belfc were ning, gnna lirod and
drums beaten. The whole p)aco was in a bla/e of
excitement. Companies wen) formed, anus gsxtheretl
np, rations funiished, and by n)id night all the avail-
able force was on the march to iiw^ct MorTgan. In that
town wan a young nwn notetl for his fighting proprn-
sities. He rwrely went into company withont having
a (juarrel. He wa» always on the lookout for an
insult, alway» bltuxl-thiri^ty. But that night, wImmi
there was da>»g(^r, that young num wa» nowlwru seen,
his voice waH not heard in thn land. When the iih-u
returned after Morgan's ai|»tTTro tlie query wjw — where-
■was yom>g ■ ■■ — 1 His answer was — ** \ was ask'ep."
Of course all couM see througli his suUerfnge. The
noise had Iwen enoufjh to wake tin; Wnven Hlee|>ei's.
The ears of the ass ap^Mtared through the lion's skin
beyond the possibihty of conreahng them. And ho ii
is as a rule with the blnstiirt-rs who swear and boast
what they will do. When danger con>es thi-y arc the
first to fly. There is nothing nohh; or manly in their
loud talk and rowdy acts • for there i>» nothiikg truly
noble or manly oidy what is tndy good.

But here the question may arise — Is war forbid«leii
by this Connnandment ? No. War is always the resutt
of human depravity, but (Jod will always use war, as he
has done heretofore, while men areas they now are, as
the most terrible weapon to chastise nations. There-
fore, war will remain a necessary evil. It is an evil in
whatever way it is regarded ; an evil to the victors arxl
also to the vanquished. The vice and crin)e and bloody
scenes which go along make the very beat disciplined
army a school of iniquity. The best governed army is
a teacher of lawlessness. The most quiet camp or
garrison is a stronghold of sin. The most humane

.■i

THE FIFTH fOMMANDMKNT.

w'ur \» (Ire.'vdftil iti iti cnielly. We o\i«^ht always t<i
pray that our land should bo dt>liverc><l trom war, and
that never in «ur nii<lHt should t\w phiuf^hsharo be
bnafcen into the «\vord or the piuniiig '.look be fasiiioiiod
into the spear.

Do*t ttiou know t\w fate of So1di«n?

Th«y'ra tutt iKiibttioira tool*, to out a w«gr
To Iter unlawful emls : and wiien they're worn,

HnckM, liewn with conHtnnt seiviue, tin own fttitW,
To ruat iu Peace, aod rot ia HotpiUiLL— Southern,

CHAPTER XXIIL

DUTfKS ENJOINED.

Now observe the positive side of this expliination im
tliu coaaidoratiou of the duties enjoined. W<3 are
(ir<{ed to assist and coAifoit our fellow-iuen iu danger
and want.

Man'j greatest, higlicst duty, is not to attend to hi
family, or business, or the pleasures or wants of others*
The lirst, the greatest, the most pressing duty, and tlio
one which with all well-balanee<l minds takes pre*
oedonco of all others, is to prepare for the future life.
This being the case, those persons who lead others
into temptation, to the ruin of tlx^r immortal souls,
are the wor^ murderers. Whoever touches spiritual
iiie is the most guilty of all. Those who make this
their business, iu the slums, and groggeries, and dens
of infamy hidilen from the light of day and the gaze
of honest men, are {jreparing themselves for the tires
of eternal hell. 1'hoy are the murderwrs of soula. liut,
Jiorrible tu the thought may seem, fotul, foolish parents,
by misguided indulgence of their children, may lead
tiienn astray, set their feet on the road to ruin, and
thus become their murderers. The fact is, S(» rooted
and groumled is the evil in the human heart, that
uJioever in not sti'ivijjg agaiiist ii, is aUo ilie murderer

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OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

of his fellow-Tnan. Well does the Psalmist say " Thy
Conimaiuliiient is exceeding broad."

We are here enjoined to comfort our neif,d)bor. We
may ask — Who is our neighbor ? The answer is hero
set forth — All who are in need, all Avho are in want,
all to whom we can minister, all to whom we can bear
comfort in alliiction, consolation in sorrow, help in the
time of trouble, and assistance in the day of adversity,
by the fact of thoir need, are made our neighbors.
And the King of Heaven upon His throne of judg-
ment pronounces sentence — " Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye
have done it unto Me." But, " Inasmuch as ye did it
not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to ^le."

Considered in relation to ourselves it enjoins upon
lis to be faithful to our own lives. It prohibits that
weakest ami most dreadful form of murder — suicide.
" Thou ahalt not kill " thyself, or any other. We do
not know how long or short our days are to be ; but
this we do know, that duty to ourselves, to God, and
to this Commandment, requires us to wait in calmness
and patience, until He who bestowed life on us shall
be pleased to recall the gift. Like sentinels who
must keep guard where they are stationed until they
are relieved, we, too, must wait. Cowards only tly
from their post, but brave men keep their ground. It
is a coward's trick to run away. liut to run away
from the transient ills of this life, which God can cure,
which we ourselves can rectify, and which at the most
will end when we are called hence, by rushing head
long into an unknown world, where, by the act of
suicide we are foredoomed to punishment, is madness,
frenzy, gigantic folly, which stands unparalleled in tho
annals of man.

O ! (leaf to nature, and to Heaven's command !
To lift against thyself the muiderei's iiand !
O blank dcsimir !— to shun the living light,
And plunge thy guilty soul in endless night.

But while suicide is emphatically forbidden, all other
forms of self-destruction are prohibited. All gluttony,

»g-

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

over-eating, over-drinking, and the like, Iw wliich
apoplexies are engendered, and life sliortened, arc
forbidden. A law of h(;altli is a law of CJod. Feast-
ing upon rich, indigestible cdces, i)astrie.s and confec-
tions, is a viol ition of the law ; for nature herself
protests by headaches and sickness against it. Any
indulgence which is followed by a headache you dare
not repeat with impunity. God says it is wrong. It
is killing you. And nuirder by dt-grees is murder
whether by slow i)oi.son or by eating and drinking.
And even if the effects of a wrong habit are gradual,
its result in the end is a weakened body and impaired
health. We are placed here to serve God, but what
kind of a service can we render with broken-down
bodies and systems deranged by sensual indulgence?
We fail to fulfd our destiny. People often talk of the
" mysterious providences " of God. A family has sick-
ness, and at the funeral of some member, people gather
and the friends roll up their eyes and exclaim — " O
how mysterious !" But go and drink water from their
well — Pah ! The refuse of the kitchen, the drainings
of the stable are in it. The smell is villainous. Go
into the cellar. Rotten cabbage and decaying vegetables
emit damp, filthy, unwholesome odors which fill the at-
mosphere. The dew-drops of disease are distilling in the
rotting timbers, and the mould of death is gathering
on the stones. Talk atbout the mystery of providence !
It's the rotten cabbage and potatoes !

Diptheria has ravaged the land of late, and from the
Queen's household to the family of the peasant, it has
liad its way. And yet, knowing the deadly and active
character of the disease, knowing how readily it could
be carried about, people went where it was as though
it were nothing. Then when their children died they
lamented and mourned. Many of them were them-
selves to blame. Their duty to their helpless children
was to stay away, to shun the disease as they would
the far less fatal small-pox.

A lady goes to a i)arty, thiidy clad, with paper soled
shoes, ribbons and' flounces, dances, comes out iu the

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OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

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cold, invites sickness, contracts disease, and then when
it comes, they say " how mysterious !" But if a man
rows out into raid-ocean, smashes his oars and staves
the bottom out of his boat with an axe, and then
drowns, would there be any mystery about if? No
more is this. A large part of the mystery assigned to
God's providences is only the mystery of human folly
and frailty.

How often do we see j^eople trampling about with
leather soaked through ; and how often do such ])eople,
when they return home, sit down by the lire siile, and
permit their feet to dry without changing either stock-
ings or shoes. Can we then woiidur at the coughing
and rheumatism and inflammations, which enable the
doctors to ride in their carriages? Wet feet most
commonly produce affections of tlie throat and lungs
— and when such diseases have taken place " the
house is on fire " — danger is not far off ; therefore, let
lis no matter how healthful, guard against wet feet.

Let us watch over our life as something for wliich
we have to give an account. And lot us, so far as in
■us lies, watch over others, and in particular the children
"who are entrusted to us to watch over.

This law extends also to animals. "VVe have already
gotten a glimpse of the tenderness of the great Heart
of God, when we see Him remembering the cattle in
the Sunday law. Here He includes them too. They
are not to be unnecessarily killed, beaten, or tormented.
Children sometimes catch and torment helpless insects
and small animals, for the amusement they find in it.
This is a most wicked and cruel practice. God will
punish them for so doing. And in order that they
shall not fall under the judgments of the Almighty,
parents and older persons who find them engaged in
such wickedness, should punish them severely. They
should be taught to pity and protect the helpless,
weak, and innocent creatures of God because they are
God's creatures. Killing animals for food should be
done, when necessary, without cruelty or unnecessary

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT.

pain to them. The law is meant to protect all life,
Hnd life that must be taken must bo' taken without
cruelty.

And now, in its wide application, to hearts as well
as to hands, to self as well as to others, to children and
families, to even the little insects and the dumb
cattle, can we honestly say wo have never offended
a<,'ainst this Commandments We can only acknow-
led;^'e our guilt before God, and ask Jfim, for Jesua'
sake, to pity and forgive.

** And now the sweet day ia dead ;
Cold in his arms it liea ;
No stain from its breath is spread
Over tlic gltissy skies,
No mist or stain !

Then, too, the Old Year dieth,

And the forests utter a moan.
Like the voice of one who crieth

In the wilderness alone,
* Vex not bis ghost ! '

Then comes, with an awful,roar,

(jHthering and sounding on,
Tlie storm -wind from Labrador,

The wind Euroclydon,
The storm wind !

Howl ! howl ! and from the forest

Sweep the red leaves away !
Would, the sins that thou abhorrest,

O Soul ! could thus decay,
And be swept away !

For thers shall come a mightier blast,

There shall be a darker day ;
And the stars, from heaven down -cast
Like red leaves be swept away !
Kyrie, eleyson I "'
Christe, eleyson \-~LongfellQV3.

iAm)

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OUR SCHOOLMASTKll.

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

Thou shalt uot commit adultery.

What is meant hij this Commandment ?

Answer. We should so fnar and love God, as to bo
chaste and pure in our words and deeds, eacli one also
loving and honoring his wife or her husband.

CHArTEK XXIV.

m ;[

THE SOCIAL EVIL.

The subject under consideration here is one of the
gravest importance. The evil rebuked and forbidden
by the Lord, for fear of giving oiience to delicacy, is
often suffered by nieji to pass on in silence, when of
all others in this present age it is working most dread-
ful ruin to the bodies, characters and souls of mankind.
To speak of this class of sins before a mixed audience
is not a pleasant task, and people are ready to frown
upon the preacher who has the courage to show them
their iniquities. For these reasons tlie pulpit is silent
Avhen its thunders should be heard in denunciation of
adultery, fornication and all uncleanness.

The Commandment has reference to both man and
woman, and must be considered in this comprehensive
sense. By reference to Leviticus XX : 10, it will bo
seen that the punishment for infraction of the law was
to bo visited upon both the guilty parties. The law
speaks of the crime of adultery in particular, ])ecause
this was the comnionest form of its violation among
the Jews, who were every one commanded to enter
tho state of matrimony. Among the people of that
nation a life of fornication and obscenity was. not per-
mitted to go unpunished, as is so often the case in
these last evil times. God created tho iiuman race

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT.

male and fonialc and, with His divine hencilittioii,
commaiuled tliein to ** J5e fniitl'ul, and multiply and
ivi»lenish the earth. " "For this eaiise," says our
Saviour, ".shall a man leave father and mother, and
.shall cleave unto his wile; and they twain shall be
one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together,
let no man put asunder." And for the same cau.se, it
may be truly said, what God hath j)ut a.sunder, let no
man join together. As He has united ono man and
one woman lie has, by the same ordinance, divided
and separated them from all others so long as life
endures. This negative part of the Commandment is
truly contained in the marriage vow, so that whoever
does violence to the one also violates the other. Kow
marriage is an honorable estate, as the Holy Scriptures
teach, and being enjoined by the Creator, it is natural
and right that those whom God has fitted for matri-
mony should be found living in that state. Human
nature, as implanted by the divine Creator, is so
powerful that it is well-nigh impossible to live singly
and chastely. Flesh and blood remain flesh and blood,
and the natural inclinations maintain a constant and
powerful influence, as every one sees and feels. In
order to make it more easy to avoid iinchastity, God
has instituted marriage ; although the grace, which He
will give unto whomsoever asketh, is still needful to
keep the heart pure.

By the sin of adultery the whole system of govern-
ment among men, in the home and family, in the
common-wealth and nation, is poisoned and destroyed.
Upon the sanctity of the marriage vow are built the
hai)piness of individuals and of nations. Everything
which pertains to the welfare of men is ruined by its
desecration. Adultery is not one but many crimes.
It involves sinful and brutal lust, the commission of
perjury, the stealing of that which is another's by the
most sacred rights, the injury of the innocent, the
destruction of peace in the family, and the disgrace of
all concerned. It throws open a wide flood-gate
through which pours forth a wild torrent ot impurity

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Oil 11 SCIIOOLMASTEH.

and pollution to tlic destruction of everythinf^ pure,
noble .and good. It undoriuiues so(3ioty and destroys
the very existence of civilization. God's law was not
too severe when it decreed that the adidterer should
be stoned with stones till he die.

Man is created with an animal and a spiritual nature
inseparably conjoined. When he was in the state of
innocence b<?fore the fall, we may well beliwvo that the
spiritual nature had supreme control. But it has not
been so since ihen. The animal nature strives for the
mastery. The stronger a person is, physically, the
more powerful is this lower nature ; or, reversing the
law, the Weaker, proportionally, the person is 8i)iritual-
ly, the stronger the animal nature. ])ivine grace,
united with an enlightened respect for the laws of
health, comes in to aid man to recover the last ascend-
ency of the spiritual over the animal. There is and
•must be, in the Christian, the strife of St. Paul, to
keep the body under. And even then it will be found
that his experience was the experience of humanity —
That " what T would, that do I not ; but what I hate,
that I do." I am no believer in the "perfect holiness"
people. St. Paul was not such a christian, nor was
King David, nor any other honest saint of God ; but
if St. Paul and King David had not striven for the
mastery of the animal nature in them they had not
been christian men nor saints of God. Our hearts are
all alike ; our natures all strewn with the same satanic
sowing, of the same fruitful seeds, of the same debasing
sins ; and duty to God, our fellow-men, and ourselves,
demands of us to labor ever, and pray without ceasing,
for their eradication. We cannot change our nature.
We cannot change our hearts. Ihit by the help of
God we can give ourselves up in obedience to His
commandments, and let Him renew us with a holiness
begun here and finished hereafter. To this may our
Merciful Father help us !

•' My God ! permit me not to be
A stranger to myself and Thee ;
Amidst a tliuusand thoughts I rove,
Forgetful of my highest love.

^^MJ^'

TliK SIXTH COMMANDMENT.

Why sliould my passions mix with earth,
And thus dehase my heavenly hirth ?
AV'liy sliuuld I cleave to tilings below,
And let ray God, my Saviour go.

« I

Our flesh and sense must be denied,
rsission and envy, lust and pride ;
"NVliilc justice, temperance, truth and love
Our inward piety approve.

Call me away from flesh and sense }
Thy 80vereij,'n word can draw me thence ;
I would obey 'J'hy voice divine,
And all inferior joys resign."

CHAPTER XXV.

'•\

THE EXPLANATION.

Wp shoiihl SO fear and love God, as to he chasfe and
pure In our words and deeds, each one also lovlmj and
honor Imj his wife or Iter hiuband.

It will be hardly nocessnry to say tliat, in writing
upon the meaning of this Coniniandnient, other classes
of sins must be treated of, and other persons addressed,
besides those in married life. The Commandment is
for the unmarried also ; and in its spirit and intention
forbids all sorts of im{)urity in thought, word and
action, by whonisoever indulged or committed. Out
of fear and love to God, we are, therefore, counseled
"to be chaste and pure in our words and deeds." It
is enjoined upon us here, as by St. Paul also, to
l)rcserve our bodies pure and chaste. ** Know ye not
that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which
is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your
own 1 For ye are bought with a price :" Bought with
a price — Stop ! Think of the price which your Sayiout
l)aid to redeem you, to buy you back from the power

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OUIl SCIIOOLMASTEU.

} 11

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of sin. Clirist died on the crosSj endured its siiiU'rinj;
and despised its slianio "for tlie joy that was set befurH
Him " — that joy was — your salvation. KoIj Tlini not
of His joy. Consider the price He paid in sull'ering,
tears and blood, to redeem your body and yi ur soul.
** l>ou<,'lit with a price : therefore glorify God in your
body." It is GodV^ by creation, preservation and
purchase. Defile it not. Turn from the uncleanness
of sin to the purity of Jesus. Pause in the commis-
sion of the secret, nameless sins and think of your
dyinp;, loving Lord.

If love of God will not cause men to obey the spirit
of this law, the knowledge of the consequences which
follow upon its continued infraction ought to have
some weight in restraining them. God threatens to
visit '* the ini(piity of the fathers npon the children
unto the third and fourth generation," and in no
instance is this more terribly fulfilled than in connec-
tion with the breaking of this Commandment. Parents
who are guilty of an itnpure life, and young persons
■who have planted the seeds of disease in their bodies
by unclean and unchaste practices before marriage,
bring upon their offspring the weight of a terrible woe.
Half the diseases with which humanity U cur.sed have
their roots in these vile and debasing sins. Impurity
brings in its train all manner of syphilitic troubles
which are transmitted to the children. The bones are
made weak, brittle, and sometimes are seized Avith a
rottenness which destroys then). Scrofula is another
of the evil effects of the sin of uncleanness. This disease
otherwise known as struma, or king's evil, is hereditary
and, once in a family, generally clings to it until thai
family becomes extinct. It is constitutional, affecting
the whole system, but showing itself as a local disease
oftenest in the glands of the neck; but no organ of the
body is free from it, and it often develops into that
most fatal disease — Consumption. Where does so
much consumption come from? Is it the climate ? Is
it the -want of nourishing food ? Is it exposure that
produces ifi No! It is sin. The sins of impurity,

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THK SIXTH COMMANDMKN'T.

soiiictin. 'S of the very porson dying with the disease,
ofk'iier of the paivnts, or of ancestors furtlier removed,
are bringing forth their awful fruit. As you lovo
health, happiness, peace of conscience and long life,
avoid the sins of uncleanness which breed consumption
in the system and rottenness in tiie bones.

Idiocy is another form of disease brought on by
impurity. (Jo into an asylum wliere idiots are gather-
ed. INjor, degraded, pitiable cr(;atures ! With faces
like beasts and blank, staring, exjtressionless eyes,
they tell the tale of the sins of their parents in lan-
guage more forcible, more terrible than words.

Go, look into tlie gay circles of fashion, where tho
vicious and the fallen mingle their hollow laughter.
Look ! the jiallor of that cheek, painted and powdered
though it be, is telling the tale of a life of sin. 'J'ho
sores, and s])ots, and blotches which mark the face and
mar its beauty, are the o|)eu sign, which will not bo
hidden, that the person is leading a life of impurity.
'J'hese scabs of sin, like a leprosy, ought to be enougli
to drive a young man out of the company of his fellow-
men ; but every day we see them. Shame ! shame
upon such a union of ignorance with sin. Young
nien, young woman, "mortify yourmenibers which arc
upon earth ; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affec-
tion, evil concupiscence, and covetousniiss, which is
idolatry." ])o not disgrace yourself in the opinion of
all intelligent and decent people whom you meet, by
bringing the unsightly blotches and marks of your
secret sins on your face before them.

r>ut the most terrible consecpiences of this class of
sins are those which follow hereafter — ** lie not deceiv-
ed ; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor eifeminate, nor abusers of themselves ■with man-
kind, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

The causes •which lead to them are many. In tho
first place, sins of impurity have their stronghold in
our human nature — hence can never be entirely eradi-
cated. They are tho outcome of an abuse of the

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Oiill SCliOOLMAStr-iH.

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Oo(l-<,'ivL'n Hoxual iK-Hire. For tlio continuation and
l»erpctuity ol tlio Innnan race God gave njankind tliu
lower tppotitea and tlie lawi'ul means for their ^rati-
Jication. The devil prostituted these desires to ainlul
ends. And tl»e person who gives up to tlie guidance
of unbridled lower passions, appetites or desires, is I'.m
devil's lawlul ])rey. Our fallen nature is, therefore, to
1)0 considered as the chief cause (jf our sin. It waa
llobert Jiurns, the Scottish poet, who sang ;

Thou knowest Thou hast formed me

Witli pnaHiuiiH wild and »trong,
An<l liuteniiig to their witching vuico

Hhs often led nie wrong.

But that is giving uj) the whole case to the evil one.
That is throwing all tht! blame and fault <»f sin upon
(iod. A heathen could give utterance to such a
sentiment, but never a Christian. Wliiie we see and
acknowledge tlie evil and corrui)lion in our nature, we
should behold in it not God's fault but our own
debasement. We are conceived in sin and born in
iniquity and in tlds fact, which ever clings to us, we
lind the iirst cause of all tiie sin which follows.

]Jut there are special temptations and incitements to
sins of inn)urity against which the youth of our land
should be warned. One of the first of these is the vile
literature, in the shape of yellow covered, cheap novels,
sensational story-papers and indecent pictures. Avoid
these, young men and woman, avoid them boys and
girls, shun them as you would the grip of the devil.
It presented as they ought to be when ihey appear at
all, they should have the picture of the black devil
on their covers, in all the hideousness of hoofs and
horns and tail, and be scented with the fumes of
brimstone. These low novels are the means of plant-
ing moral cancers in your souls. These horribly
illustrated, vulgar newspapers taint your imagination
find fill your minds with plague-spots. Do not read
them, do not look upon them.

THK STXTK C'dMMANPMKNT.

CHAPTER XX YL

PAHTICULAR DAXGKUS.

Another great evil, from winch (,'rows much of the
scandalous and ahamefid sin hy which the fair fame of
young women is tarnished forever, hy which ]>arents
are disgraced, hearts are hrokeii, souls are ruined, and
forced marriages hrought ahout, is the custom so much
in vogue in certain communities, of a young man and
a young woman sitting alone in the darkness Ironi
early evening far on into the hours of the night.
Opportunity niakes the thief; so does such opportunity
make the fornicator. These late, lone, hours are a
terrible evil, and not until young women cease to
invite and lead men into temptation, will they ";iso
to fall. Not until young men learn to regard with
suspicion, as lackiii^' virtue, the girls who permit sucU
freedom, v.'M virtuous marriages be formed as the ride,
■where now they are the exception. Not until young
women learn to look upon the men who make improper
advances to them as the would-be wreckers of their
happiness and the destroyers of their honor, and treat
them as they would thieves «nd murderers, will they
escape the peril which encompasses them. A young
woman who permits undue familiarity in any form, at
any time, is in danger. Her virtue is the keystone of
her character. When that is lost no words can describe
lier degradation. And yet there are men who plan and
study to work such ruin upon unsuspecting girls. But
both parties are guilty, God will judge them. l*arents
shoidd interfere in this matter to protect their sons and
daughters from shame and disgrace. It is their duty
to do so.

Some persons form a habit of telling little jokes and
stories that are vulgar and obscene. This is one of the
ways of giving poison which human law do;3 not reach,
l)ut which ({oil's law condemns. " But fornication, and
all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not once bo

I !

OUR SC'TTOOLMASTKn.

named among you as bccomoth saints; m-ither iiltlii-
iic'ss, nor foolisli talking, nor jesting, "wliicli are not
convenient." It is not intended here to })rolnl)it
harmless, mirth-provoking humor ; hut the jest whose
l)uint is in its uncleanness, the joke in wliich the
laugh turns upon some filthy dauhle-enlente, the story
dirty throughout ; these are the things forbidden.
The.se things once heard are sometimes never forgotten.
They come up under solemn circumstances to distract
the mind. They destroy devotion. They lodge iu
tlio natural sinfulness of the heart and there they stay.
Prayers and tears will not remove them, and they
remain as a source of most unwelcome annoyance
sometimes through a long life. The best plan is not
to listen to them. Fly from the person who retails
them, as you would from a leper. The leprosy they
bear is to })lant a plague spot upon your soul.

Upon a level with these and equally harmful, though
not so general, are the vile songs and obscene ditties
heard among the vulgar and impure. It becomes us
as Christians, as clergymen and as laymen, as fathers
and mothers, to throw the whole weight of our in-
fluence against all these various methods of Satan and
his followers, and to save our young people while wo
can from their contamimiting, soul-destroying effects.

The great and only hope and help against the dread-
ful evils which an impure life brings in its train, is to
not live such a life. The only way to avoid it is to
guard the heart, in the beginning, to strive to keep
the mind free from debasing thoughts and the im-
agination clear of corrupting fancies. To do this both
work and prayer are needful. Activity of the mind
and hands, keeping both engaged with needful labors,
and earnest, iniportunate prayer for the grace and
strength which God will bestow upon all who claim
it; these are the best means of preserving the heart
and mind unspotted frouf the evil. The adage so old
is equally true — that

"Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hinuls to do."

old

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT.

The iini»uro thouglit leads to the vulgar speech — for
here as elsewhere — " out of the abundance of the lienrt
the mouth speaketh." And from vile speech to like
acting is but a short step. Avoid then the small
beginning of sin. Tiie thought which you would not
have your mother know was in your heart, drive out.
The word you would not have your motiier hear from
your lips, do not speak. The action you would not
wish God to see, do not commit. But from what has
been said upon the Commandments preceding this, it
M'ill be readily inferred that the sum and essence of
the keei)ing of this one is only to be found in a right
disposition of heart and mind toward God and toward
our fellow-men. And this right disposition is oidy to
])e gained by tiie grace of the Lord J(;.sus, through the
I'ight use of the AVord of God and the Holy Sacraments.
To these blessed means of grace 1, therefore, direct you,
ju'aying that with the divine blessing you may be
enabled to present your bodies u?ito God, a living
sacrifice, now, in your youthful days, which is but
your reasonable service. Have your hearts filled with
the love <^f God and the love of sin will be driven out.
The blood of Christ cleanseth from every stain. Come
to that Fountain and wash and be clean ; go forth into
the battle of life and strive in every action, word ?nd
thought to reflect the imago of the Eternal Father.

" O Lord ! who seest, from yon starry height

Centred in one the future and tlie ijast,

Fiisliioned in Tiune own image, see how fivst

The worhi obscures in me what once was bright !

Eternal Sun ! the warmth which Thou hast given,

To cheer life's April, fast decays ;

Yet in the hoary winter of my days,

Forever green shall be my trust in Heaven.

Celestial King ! O let Thy presence pass

Before my spirit, and an image fair

Shall meet that look of mercy from on high.

As a refiecled image in a glass

Doth meet the look of him who seeks it there,

And owes its being to the gHzer's rye."

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OUR SCHOOLMASTEIl.

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.

Thou shalt uot steal.

What is meant hi/ this Commandment ?

Answer. Wo should so fear and love God, as not
to rob onr neighbor of his inonoy or i)roi)erty, nor
bring it into our possession by unfair dealing or
fraudulent means, but rather assist him to improve
and protect it.

CHAPTER XXVII.

TIIK LAW OF PROPERTY.

In the Fourth Commandment the two tables of the
law may be said to be united. The Fifth protects life.
The Sixth guards chastity and preserves the sanctity
of the marriage relation. It enjoins us as St. Paul
does, to present our bodies to God, a living sacrifice,
lioly and acceptable, which is but our reasonable
service. "What!" says the Apostle, "know ye not
that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are
not your own ?" Bought with the blood of the Son cf
God, we are His ; and Him we are to glorify in our
bodies and in our souls, for they belong to Him.

This Seventh Commandment tends to the conserva-
tion of luiman property. Without such protection
Society would be impossible. Among those savage
tribes which have no law that forbids stealing, there is
no such thing as social unity, no organization, no
system, no society. He whi is strongest for the time
being steals from others, only to be robbed in turn
■when a stronger than he appears. His fish-spear, bow

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.

and arrows, and the few rude utensils which can all
be gathered np and removed on the back of a pony,
these constitute the property of the savage. He owns
no land except with such a title as the wild beasts
have ; he has no house except the few skins which are
spread to protect him ; he lays up nothing for the
future because he has ^.o encouragement to do so.
Even the few trifles which he dues call his own ; his
tenure of the fishing waters and iiuuting grounds; yea,
liis very right to live, he has to protect by force and
arms, at the imminent risk and danger of his life, from
those who would dispossess him. His life is in con-
tinual danger ; war and bloodshed occupy his time
and thoughts. Without the law which commands
that property and its rights shall be held and respect-
ed, civilization and morality would be inii)ossible.

Society would sink into barbarism without this law.
Murder, arson, bloodshed and ruin would be the actual
consequences of its abolition. The father and mother
could not provide for their family without it. The
farmer would not sow because he knew not who would
reap. Saving and economy would never be considered,
for why should any one save what he had no reason to
believe he should be allowed to enjoy. But with this
law all the various elements of moral itv are rendered
])ossible. Thus it will be seen at a glance that on its
least spiritual side it is important. As God has created
us we have need of many things, as e. <?., clothing,
shelter, food and the like simple bodily necessities.
Then the mind has its needs also, which may be summed
up in the word, education. Society must be educated.
And God designs that all these wants shall be supplied.
He has given us the means for their supply, or
rather placed in our han(i3 the power of procuring those
means. And Ho designs that all these means sh .11 bo
secure. This is the sum of the teaching of this Com-
mandment. The liible, although full of warnings
against forsaking the Creator and looking solely to tho
thing created, teaches plainly that these are also of
great value. And it is only when we make money,

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OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

and the things it will buy, the end instead of the
means to a higher end, that we violate the spirit of the
Commandment, that is, when we lay up our treasure
on earth but lay none up in heaven : " For whore your
treasure is, there will your heart be also." When we
forget to lay up the higher treasure':? God warns us of
our sin and peril. Kiches take witigs and lly away,
but the salvation which is in Jesus can never bo wrested
from a believer. His treasure is on high and his
affections are with it. 13ut while we are in the world
we must of necessity have to do with the things of the
world. We cannot escape from our environment any
more than we can escape from ourselves. AVe nnist
accept our situation. And in doing this we are obliged
to take into account the necessaries, the comforts,
the luxuries of life. •The JJible lays down many rules
for our guidance in doing this, and they are all good
ones. Almost the entire IJook of Proverbs teaches the
value of care, diligence, economy and similar virtues,
in carrying out the great ends of life. But while this
great law of property is a law of God, and herein
guarded as such, by this same Commandment selfishness
is guarded agiiinst. It selfishness, which has no regard
for the rights or happiness of others, were allowed to
bo the controlling element, this law against stealing
could not endure.

But here we must carefully draw the line which
separates self-love from selfishness. The principle of
selfdove has often been confounded with selfishness,
even by many learned men. Zwingli, Barrow, the
English moralists, and many of the early American
divines, have been led astray by the idea that self-love
was the root and origin of evil, the cardinal principle
of original sin. But the Bible does not forbid, it
enjoinij self love upon us. " Thou shall love thy
neighbor," is the injunction, — and the measure of that

love is to be our self-love, " as thyself." But self-love,
carried to the extreme of disregarding and tresi)assing
on the rights of others, violates all principles of justice,

TTTE SEVENTH COM^rANDMENT.

for ono mail's libcuty ends whom another man's he<:,Mns,
one mun's riglits extend no fnrt.ljer than to tlie liglits
of another. If selfislmess would lead to .stealing, self-
love should withhold tliereiiom.

As we look about us to the end of the wide horizon,
we see Ingii hills, low hills, plains and deep valleys,
vast inequalities in the arrangement of the earth's
surface : so it is also in looking over society. Here wo
see a man on the high mountain-top of wealth, the
owner of millions ; and men are reaily to almost worship
him — the more shame for them ! Uut it is not to him,
it is to his money they bow — ignoble seifs ! We see
others moderately wealthy, standing, as it were, upon
the lower heights of fortune. And we see others down
in the dark valleys of poverty, some by painful labor
scarce able to keep soul and body together ; some to
whom it is a sad, hard question — " What shall I
wear V " What shall I eat V " Where shall I sleep
to-night ]" And this state of affairs, which we can all
observe in greater or less distinctness of contrast about
lis, is something which may seem to some to be incon-
sistent with the benevolence and fatherly goodness of
God. It is something which they cannot adjust with
the attributes of love, justice and power in which he is
enthroned.

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CHAPTER XXVIII.

POVERTY AND WEALTH.

TJeforo we agree to lay the blanio wholly upon the
Almighty, let us exercise the faculties we have for the
solution of the troubles. Here is a man, poor, very
poor. Why? JJecause God made him so? No!
His father left him a fortune, but he was careless, too
careless to keep it, and so it is gone. Here is a beggar ;
how did he fall so low 1 Did God make a beggar of
him 1 No ! He is too lazy to work, He hatl a farm
once, " and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and

i, ill.

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OUR SCHOOLMASTP:n.

nettles had covered the face tliereof, and tlic stone wall
thereof was broken down." Now look npon that beg-
gar and receive instrnction from him. The man who
always says to himself in effect, " Y<!t a little slee[), a
little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,"
upon him poverty and want will come like an armed
man. Here is another in a battered high hat and the
rags of a former splendor of attire upon him. Did
God make him the genteel mendicant he isf No!
It was his own extravagance, lie formerly led the
fashion, sustp^ned a large establishment, dressed gor-
geously and fared sumptuo^isly every day, and all upon
a very mwlerate income. Then the crtish came, and
he found out s[)ending one thousand dollars while
earning only nine hundred was something which could
not go on forever. And here is a young man wiih a
shot-gun on his shoulder and a pair of half-starved
dogs at his heels. Who is he 1 A candidate for the
poor-house. He has spent nil his earnings for the last
three months in buying the old shot-gun and his pre-
sent stock of ammunition-, and now he means to shoot
his time away. Here is a man who was born in the
image of God, but the marks of Satan's work are on
him. Clothed in rags, with a bleared eye and bloated
face, poor drunkard ; his once ample fortune went into
the rumseller's till. And here is yet one more speci-
men, a long-visaged man, with a nose like a knife and
lips like wafers, a threadbare coat wraps his shivering
form. Who is ho ? That is the man who went to law
with his neighbor about a trifle. The cormorants of
modern society confiscated his patrimony.

And as we can account for the poverty of many,
seeing that they act as though they had made up their
minds to be poor, so can we also account for the wealth
of others. Franklin haa well said *' the way to wealth
is as plain as the way to n^arket. It dej)ends chiefly
on two words, Industry and Frugality ; that is, waste
neither time nor money, but make the best use of
both. Without industry and frugality nothing will

rut: SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.

do, and witli them everything. Sloth niid^es all thin^a
diflicult, bnt industry all easy ; and he that riaeth late
must trot all day, and shall swjarce overtake his busi-
ness at night j while laziness travels so slowly, that
poverty soon overtakes him." Here is a nian who is
wealthy and we can see why. He is an early riser ;
the crack of his whip or his cheery whistle may he
heard in the field or shop before neighbor Slothful lia»
his morning nap out. He is industrious ; having
respect to the Commandnient which says **six days
phalt thon labor," he makes labor the rule of his Hie,
not the exception ; he is not ready to stop and spend
a day or half a day with whoever con»ea in search of
company. He is economical ; and when he buys any-
thing it is for use, not for show, nor to please a passing
liincy ; it is because ho needs it and not Ijecause he
thinks it cheap. He knows the truth of the old say-
ing that *' a penny saved is a penny earned," He i»
enterprising ; and where a man without an eye to
business would not find anything turning up, he
would roll up his sleeves and turn up something. He
is industrious, enterprising and economical; he is
■wealthy, and is entitled to his wealth. Another ia
indolent, extravagant and litigious ; necessarily he ia
]K)or, and he deserves to be poor ', he has determined
beforehand to be a beggar, and his poverty is the work
of his own hands.

But after we apply these rules, and by them account
for a great many of the ineipialities we see, ati/l there
is much that is mysterious. We find some men
wealthy by successful villainy. Almost every com-
munity has its great scoundrel living in oimlence.
And we lind also industrious, hurd-working, saving
men, who with the steady exercise of all these virtues
still remain poor. We might account for more of
these cases than we do if we were let into the secrets
of the man's whole life ; for a little leak will sink a
great ship. Lut we do not know all. In spite of our
speculation we have to take up the language of Job
and, although we cann<>u explain it, believe that " He

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OUR SCIlOOLMASTKU.

is wise ill licart, and mij^'hty in strcngtli," and as llo
is wise so is Ho also loving and good. " My thouglits
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than
tlic earth, so arc my ways higher than you*, ways, and
my thoughts than your thoughts." We can see only
a little ])art of God's i)lan. If this were all there was
of it, the little we can see ; or if this life included all
the plan, we might well he perplexed. T>ut the Bible
teaches us, as the revelation which God has made to
satisfy us and help us to be patient, that this life is
not all, that which we see is not all, that we are,
indeed, only a little part of the stupendous whole. If
we could understand all the CDunections of things
l^resent with things past and things to cojue, if we
knew how to fit the present properly into the infinite
future and the inlinite past, then we would know why
what we see is as it is. As Jesus said to the disciples
so God says substantially to us : ** What I do thou
knowest not now ; but thou shalt know hereafter."
There will come a time when all these mysteries shall
be solviid, and wIkmi we sh;dl understand all, so far as
the finite mind is able to undersUmd.

CIIAPTEU XXIX.

GODS GIFTS.

And we sliould ever bear in mind, in the midst of
all our lofty asking and earnest seeking, that God is
under no obligation to tell us why tilings are thus and
so ; He is in no way bound to ex])lain to us what wo
do not understand. All the earthly goods we possess
are ^ifts to which we can establish no claim above His
claim on them ; they are all His gifts ; they are all
the results of His love ; but most of all, they are all
(jiffff. This great truth, or series of truths, is illustrated
by the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, in
which parable the householder, who represents God,

■k;^.

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.

says to the miinuurers : — " Is it not lawful for mo to do
what I will with mine own V Suppose that a rich
stranger came into a school and gave to each child
something, to one a piece of gold, to another a silver
j)iece, and so on, giving to each what he chose upon his
own principle of division, which could not be grasped
by the mind of the children ; would the child who

received the least have any right to say, ** I am ill-
treated?" Would it not be ungrateful for any one to
complain t But let us remember that our relation to
God — humiliating as it may appear — is that of depend-
ant creatures. And there is no merit in being dependant,
as though that should entitle us to what we receive.
We have all sinned and gone astray, and while still
dependant have been rebellious. Our position aa
pensioners upon God's bounty is the more humiliating
because we have been enemies. Because lie has given
us life and all we have, and made us what we are ;
that all is no reason why He ought to bestow other
gifts upon us.

And yet we are free to admit that God's dealings
with men are not arbitrary. He has His ends in view
at all times, and it is with constant reference to these
ends He works. He is God and Father of all.

" Mighty God, while angels bless Thee,
May a mortal lisp Thy Name ?
Lord of men, as well as angels,
Thou art every creature's theme.

Lord of every land and nation,

Ancient of eternal days !
Sounded through the wide creation

Be Thy just and lawful i>raise.

For th« grandeur of Thy nature,

Grand above a seraph's thought;
For created works of power,

Works with skill and kindness wrought.

For Thy Providence, that governs
Through Thine empire's wide domain,

Wings an angel, guides a spairow :
Blessed be Thy gentle t9ign,"—JRubinson,

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Otm Sf'iroOT.MASTflft.

11-:

The ineqiialitifis wo see are the results of Iiifitiitc
Wisdom and liouiidless Love. The pecniiiaFy circuni
stances of a man are no clue to his relation toward
God. Iliches are sometimes a blessing to a man ; and
poverty is sometimes a greater blesHing. Men who
have wealth thrust upon them suddenly are often
ruined by it. ** Hearken, my beloved brethren/' says
8t. James, " Hath not God chosen the poor of this
■world rich in faith T' Spiritual blessings are oftenest
given to the poor. With every new acquisition of j)ro-
perty comes a new weight of care. The man who has
much of this world's goods has much of this world's
anxiety in his heart. And our Saviour teaches us
that it is the cares of this life, and the deceitfulness of
riches, and the desire of other things, which entering
in, choke the good seed of the Word of God that it
becometh unfruitful.

Now Christians sometimes think it would be well to
make a general elivision of property, that all men
should have an equal portion. If the wealth would
give, being equally' distributed, to each man one thou-
sand dollars, let it be so apportioned. Then no man
wotild be poor, none immensely rich. Suppose it
were so. If done on Monday, by Saturday following
some would have two thousand dollars and others
would have nothing. This idea is the basis of com-
munism and the hope of nihilism. It is an utterly
impracticable scheme. Once in the history of the
Church all things were held in common ; but tliat
state of things did not long endure. In modern times
societies modeled after this primitive community have
arisen, but like it have passed away. It is a theory
impossible to apply, in an^' wide extent, to human
society. Were men endowed with angelic natures,
incapable of selfishness and above all thought of fraud,
then it could be carried out perhaps ; but as mankind
is constituted the scheme is Utopian, impossible. And
yet we are, as Christiana and as men, in duty bound
to be considerate to one another. A community of

^'il

THE SF.VEXTTI COMMANDTVIENT.

goods is not practicable ; yet still wc must not forget
that all things we have arc held only in trust.

This thought is one which ouglit to come homo in
the consideration of henevolont operations. Asks the
prophet Malachi, " Will a man rob CJod 1" He dare
not. Stewards of God's bounty, we must give Him
His own. If we misuse what (jod has committed to
\is, waste it by extravagance or apply it to bad jmr-
poses ; 01 if we withhold His goods when He calls for
them, we are guilty of a breach of trust. If a man
•allows another to have the use oi a farm, ho expects
the tenant to pay over the stipulated shares of the
products when he calls for them. If the tenant has
wasted and destroyed them, or if he refuse to pay
them over, ho is equally guilty, and punishable by the
laws of the land. And shall mortal man be more just
than God 1 No ! We are to use all that God gives
us under a solemn sense of our responsibility to Him.
We are to spend and be spent for God, And when
we are called upon to help ou His cause in the IJhurch,
or in any of its lawful operations, we have no right to
refuse. We steal from God if we withhold our share,
and givo not, according to tlie Scriptural rule, as Ho
iiath prospered us.

*' We give Thee but Thine ow«,
Whate'er the gift may be :
Ail that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, f lom Thee.

May we Thy bounties thus

As fitewards true receive,
And gladly, as Tiiou blessest u«.

To Thee our offerings give.

And we believe Thy «rord,

Though dim our faith may be ;
Whate'er we do for Thine, O Lord,

We do it ujito TLee." — Williaai Walshavi JIowc

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OUU SCnO(7LMASTMK.

ClIArTEK XXX.

TUB EXPLANATION.

W«^ should m fear and love God as not to roh our
nnighhour of his money or proiyertij, nor hrimj it into
our possession lnj unfair dealintj or fraudulent meansf
hv.t rather assist him to improve and protect it.

We now see that this Comraaiidmcnt, liko all the
others, " is exceoding broad." It does not conio to
warn us against those forms of thoft that would bring
the penalties of the law upon us. Onco for all it for-
bids these and then goes far beyond. It strikes the
root of the evil. As the explanation shows, it deals
■with the thought of the heart. Our Saviour has com-
pared the kingdom of God to the mustard bced. The
kingdom of Satan may be compared in the same way.
Satan has his evil seed, and the seed he so busily sows
does not fail to grow. Its development is seen in the
violation of this Commandment. No great criminal
becomes such by one act. His great crime, which
startles the community, and brings disgrace upon
bimself and ruin upon others, when the daylight
bursts upon it, is found to be the final act in a series
of crimes. The great defaulter has been making false
entries for years, the highway robber has been stealing
less boldly many times. Usually the criminal began
as a child, when he stole the pennies, the marbles, and
like trifles from his playmates. From these ho went
on to stealing money from his parents and from his
employer's drawer. Parents who discover a child en-
gaged in such petty thieving and allow hiii to go
unpunished commit a terrible sin against the offender.
They may look upon the thing stolen as a trifle, and
overlook the offense. The thing stolen may be a trifle,
but the stealing is not. The principle is the same for
much or little, for pennies or for millions. Petty

THK SKVKNTII f'OMMANDMKNT.

101.

things inny bo stol(!ii, ])nt thero i.s no such thing as
petty stealing. And tliis (.'oninmndnKJUt meets every
viohUioii wh(ai it tleelares, " Thou .shftlt nut stciil," a
great thing, a little thing, anything.

The C()ninian«lni(!nt also furhids every form of subtle
dishonesty hy which |)eoi)lo are wont to defraud each
other. A few f»f those common forms of stealing, not
generally considered as such sliull be enumerated
briefly :

Over-reaching in a bargain by means of false impres-
sions thrown out on the part of dealers. Often seen
in horse trading and the like.

Cheating^ by selling an inferior article for one of
better quality. Almost universal in trade and mer-
chandizing.

Belittling the value o^ an article previous to pur-
chasing. Often seen in shopping, when the customer
"jews down" the shopkeeper from a fair price.

Arbtlteration of articles to be sold as genuine. Prac-
tised largely by grocers and other dealers, wholesale
and retail.

Exorhitant charges for professional services. Com-
mon among lawyers, whom people, as a rule, would do
better to shun.

Slovenly performance of dutg, of whatever nature, on
the part of servants and officers.

Not returning equivalents to the full value of wages
taken. Often done by hired men, workmen not under
the eye of their employer, and by all who work as
men-pleasers, with eye-service, and not as the servants
of God.

Keeping what is found without making all reason-
able eiForts to discover the owner of the lost property.
A temptation to sin in which all share alike.

Gambling with cards, dice, or other games of chance.
Practised in many places where the Christian world
does not suspect it.

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Lotteries, whether in behalf of the Lord or the
devil ; at church fairs, bazaars and the like, or at tho
rendezvous of professional swindlers in a rum-shop ;
whether under the auspices of the State of Louisiana,
tho Bishop of Montreal, or of the managers of a church
fair.

Refimng to pay loages after a stipulated service has
been performed.

Refusing the paijment of wages when due. vSome-
times done thoughtlessly, to the great injury of poor
people, whose earnings are their all.

BoiYOwing and not returning the lx>rrowed article
according to agreement ; or borrowing and returning
articles in a damaged condition without paying for tho
damage ; or excessive borrowing, whereby you become
a nuisance and a burden to your neighbours.

Misplacing things that they may be lost or for-
gotten.

Omission of duty to the Government, as in the
refusal to pay taxes, or in the evasion of them when
lawfully levied.

Charging more for time spent or services rendered to
Government than is equitable, or what would be con-
sidered out of reason as between man and man. A
common thing among petty politicians.

Indolence and laziness at school. Children are often
Rent to school by self-denying parents, but from tho
indelence of tho child the self-denial of the parent is
thrown away.

Destruction of books and clothing, and all such
carelessness on the part of children in regard to those
things which the hard-earned money of their parents
was spent to provide for them, is contrary to the spirit
of this Commandment.

The truth, which by this time ought to be plain to
all, is that we every one have need to keep a strict
■watch over ourselves lest we transgiess. Kveu such a

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THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.

103

seeming tritle as building " castles in the air " in which
trains of fancy we picture to ourselves what we would
do if wealthy, is wrong. It may seem like pressing
the spirit of the law too far. It may seem a littlo
thing But is it 1 No ! For the heart cannot be too
closely guarded. We are taught that it is " deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked." And the
thoughts which, if carried out, will lead to theft, must
not be allowed to remain, however often they may
enter there.

But the Commandment goes further than this. It
does not stop with the mere abstaining from evil ; it
brings love to the benefit of others. We are taught
to promote- and rejoice in the welfare of others, and to
be content with what God gives us. Without any
fault-finding or murmuring we should thank Him for
what He permits us to call our own. And in gratitude
to Ilim we ought to use His gifts in the manner best
pleasing to Him. The great matter is not to tjet the
things of this world but to iise properly what we have.
We ought so to pass through the things of this world
as to finally not fail in receiving the blessings of
heaven. And if ever we are tempted to repine because
of our poverty let us remember that Jesus upon earth
was the poorest of the poor. " For ye know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet
for our sakes lie became poor, that ye through His
poverty might be rich." Remember in thy \>overty that
it was He who said, " The foxes have holts, and the
birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of Man hath
not where to lay His head." 80 let us cheerfully
receive what God doth send and our poverty here may
bo sanctified to brighten our crown in the golden
hereafter.

" Lord, give me such a faith as this,
And then, whate'er may come,
I'll taste, e'en here, the hallowed blisa,
Of my eternal home."

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THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.

Thon shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

What ts meant hy this Commandment ?

Answer. We should so fear and love God as not
deceitfully to belie, betray, slander, nor raise injurious
reports against our neighbor, but apologize for him,
speak well of him, and put the most charitable con-
struction on all his actions.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE POWER OF SPEECH.

This Commandment has to deal in particular with
two things, namely, the power of the tongue and tlie
value of character. While it teaches us the value of
our neighbor's good name and honor, it also sets forth
the power and use of the tongue. In the third Chapter
of the Epistle General of St. James we have the estimate
of the Apostle upon the power of the tongue. In it is
located the gift of speech, hence its power for good or
evil. It is a God-given power. Without speech how
helpless would we be ! Reason would be frozen in its
spring and source. Deprived of speech man would be,
to a great d(!gree, wretched and helpless. As pitiful
as it is to behold the efforts of those who cannot speak
to make their wants known, yet how much more helpless
would they be if they had not the benefit of instruction
from those who can speak. If all were like them,
dumb, their situation would be infinitely more pitiable.
Had none of ua tliis power we would be unable to rise
above the condition of savages ; indeed, we would fall
below those savages who live in society. We would,
by a mighty descent, approach nearer the level of the
brute creation. The tongue conveys much of the

THE EICiHTH COMMANDMENT.

105

sweetness of our heart and life from ourselves to others,
and from others to us. It is something unexplained
how it is so, no one can say why it is so, but that it is
so no one can doubt. When I speak to you the
motions of my tongue and the sound of my voice cause
to rise in your mind an image, a thought, corresponding
to that which was in my mind. Nothing is seen,
nothing is felt, but something is understood, and our
minds come together in that understanding and act as
one. The mystery of speech I leave to philosophers,
the fact of speech let us briefly consider. Think of the
gift of the power of language, in which, among the
myriads of earth's created beings, we stand alone.
Written language, beside the spoken word, is cold and
to a degree lifeless. It is pleasant for me, far away
from the friends of my childhood, to receive their
letters, but could I meet my friend, stand face to face
with him, and hear the tones of his familiar voice, how
much more pleasant^ how much more animated and
refreshing our interchange of thought would be. And
now, as to the proper uses of this gift of speech, it is
evident that the Giver means that wo shall be upon our
guard.

And what, we may inquire, are the proper uses of
speech. It is proper to praise God with it ; and this
should be one of its first and chief employments.
While the white-robed angels and the spirits of the
redeemed around the throne praise, and bless, and
magnify His Name, man should raise the echo from tho
wide circumference of earth, for God is the Lord of earth
and men as well as of Heaven and tho redeemed. Man
ought to praise God with his powers of speech for them.
How sweet it is to make use of the power of language
in prayer ; not merely to think our prayers over in
silence, but in solitude or in the fiimily circle to talk
with the Father, God, in prayer. Tliis is one of the
ways in which we properly use our power of speech,
giving glorj'^ to God and benefitting our own souls.
The exhortation of the Apostle to " Pray without
ceasing," is, I conceive, simply a forcible way of saying

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tliivt the Christian should live in a state of prayer. To
illustrate this prayerful stiitc think of the rain clouds.
When the sky is clear, the sun shining, no clouds in
sight, we should be surprised to see rain tailing. Where
does it come from 1 It is unnatural. The atmosphere
is not in a condition to give torth rain. But when the
low thunders mutter, the dark clouds cover the sun,
the lightnings flash, and the oppressive weight of
moisture which charges the air is felt, then we sec the
rain begin to fall without surprise. There are the clouds
from which it pours. All the conditions for the
production of rain-drops are fultilled and are present.
Now make this illustrate the truth first presented.
When the human heart is full of prayer, prayer comes
easily. It is a natural thing. The person is in a
prayerful state, living in prayer, in an atmosphere
surcharged with it so that he verily breathes it, and
thus continues " instant in prayer," yea, })rays " without
ceasing." Prayer is neither the cold and formal service
that some make it, nor is it yet the wild, disorderly,
ragged agony into which others distort their service of
prayer ; but it is simply talking with God as a loving
child does with a loving father, in fear, love and trust.
Thus praying we use our powers of speech aright. And
yet there may be times when holy meditation leads the
lieart too far into the deep things of God to need the
help of words. The Spirit speaks then to the spirit and
human speech is inadequate. The words of Hannah
JVIore appropriately clothe this thought :

*' Fountain of Mercy ! whose pervading eye
Can look within and read what passes there,
Accept my thoughts for thanks ; I have no words.
My soul, o'erfrauglit with gratitude, rejects
The aid of language — Lord ! behoUl my heart."

PRAYER la THE MUSIC OF THE SOUL.

Above the plane of human strife

Two unseen watchers hovering move,
Twin guardians of my better life
The willing handmaidens of love,
And these deep-veiled fiom mortal ga/e
Arc known alone as Prayer and Praise.

'tllh: KlGfiTH COMMANDMENT.

107

When low y»efore Tliy throne I kneel,

My orisons to bring to Thee,
O Lord, what joys Thou dost reveal,
What blessings Thou dost pour on me ;
Harmonious chords around me roll —
Prayer is the Music of the soul.

Pnyer and sweet Music thus unite,

In harmonics that ravish mc,
And till my soul with great delight —
How can my God so lavish be ?
These two from His own choir arc sprung
Where Prayer is said and Praise is sung.

These heavenly ones, archangels twain,

On pinions tireless, hand in hand,
Outstretching over earth anil main
From sea to sea, from land to land.
Flying, repeat from pole to polo.
Prayer is the Music of the soul.

And many a weary pilgrim here.

And many a faint, pursuing one.
They stoop to help, refresh and cheer
An<l lead the way that Christ has gone.
For Prayer and Praise make heaven the goal.
And thither guide the wandering soul.

When joy is deepest words are vain
And language only frets its flow,
But tears fall like the Summer rain
While prayers to God in silence go,
And only Music tells the whole —
Prayer is tlio Music of the soul.

As sweet, harmonious, breathing chords.

In pain or bliss, in grief or joy,
Exjtress the thoughts too deep for words.
The suppliant's wish his prayers convoy,
And Hia Good Spirit pleads in these
And helpeth our infirmities.

When love to God inflames my heart.
Come down, yo angel pair, to me ;
When peace and love their smiles impart
O help me with Thy minstrelsy.
With choral Prayer His name extol
And sing the Music of the soul.

And when I draw my closing breath

lie ready, friends and angels, come.
Help me with Praise to meet my death.
And seek with Prayer my heavenly home.
With hynms of Prayer and Praise console.
Prayer ib the Music of the soul."

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CHAPTER XXXIL

SINGING.

How sweet it is also to sing praises to God, and upon
tlie wings of language in holy song rise with the mind
and soul into the very presence of Jehovah. Music is
a gift of God to man which, used in connection with
the power of speech, becomes, as it were, an avenue to
God and heaven.

But in the regular meeting together for the worship
of God in the church, too many Christians forget that
the organ and the choir cannot worship for them. They
sit with closed mouths and sealed lips when God wants
them to open their mouths and take part in the service,
and especially in the singing of the hymns. What is
more calculated to warm the heart of a worshipper and
prepare it rightly to receive the seed of the Word of
God, than to I-.eartily sing God's praises. What more
inspirits the minister who is to sow the seed than to
know by the singing of earnest voices throughout a
vast congregation that ho has hearers before him who
are awake and interested in theif worship ; and what
incense more pleasing to the Lord than the hearty
singing of his assembled worshippers. God loves good
music. It is a part, and probably a great part, of the
service in heaven. And as He loves good music, no
doubt He hates bad music. The awful, awful, horrible
noises so often perpetrated in His holy temples and
called singing, will have to be accounted for like other
sins. They need to be repented of. And people need
not leave the singing to a few persons ambitious to
hear their own noise. Let all who come into the
church, men, and women, and children, sing, sing for
th«* glory of God, for the good of their souls and to
'.ime the devil, who hates good music ; and thus, in
Lm:) multitude of the voices, harmony shall be secured

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109

and discord drowned. This is the secret of good
singing, — let eoerijhody sing.

** Praise ye the Lord.
Praise God in Hia sanctuary :
Praise Him in the firmament of His power.
Praise Him for His mighty acts :
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet i
Praise Him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance :
Praise Him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise Him upon the loud cymbals.
Praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals :
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.
Praise ye the Lord."

And yet in the face of such an exhortation from thfl
l*salmiat, Cliristians can sit in silence while hymns of
praise are being sung around them. All ought to sing.
The voice of the Almighty calls upon every one, " With
heart and voice, ' Praise ye the Lord.' " In no other
Way can we conceive of the power of the tongue being
rightly exercised in all its proper uses.

And yet, although the power of speech transcends
so many of our other rich stores of gifts from God, still
there is none other so mucii abused. The Apostle
James rightly calls it a " world of mischief," " an
unruly evil, full of deadly poison." But it is not so
because thus created. God did not make it so. It is
only so dreadful an evil when made so by us. It is
powerful and terrible to make mischief, to inflict pain,
to circulate slander, and cause misery by repeating the
evil imaginings of wicked hearts, by voicing suspicions,
by magnifying trifles and by telling lies. Unworthy
things are often, though small in themselves, carried
about and broadened and deepened from almost nothing,
into the means of working unparalleled and irreparable
mischief and misery. Many a reputation has been
blackened, many a character ruined by the breath of
calumny and the lies of false witnesses. Hence it was
like God, and the work of infinite and compassionate
goodness and wisdom, to give this Commandment. It
places us on our guard. It guards us at the same time.

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OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

It enjoins truthful speftking. And what is the most
heaiitiful thing the tongue can utter t Truth. In some
form or other it must be the trutli or it is idle and vain.
Truth is always a part of every beautiful thing the
tongue can utter, for without it t^'^ most finely worded
jdiraso or sentence is an empty i. urance. And what
is the most dreadful thing the tongue can utter? A
lie. The very word has in it « sinister sound. It
prates upon our ears. Hold up truth against falsehood.
What a contrast !

CHAPTEK XXXIII.

TRUTH.

If there be one word in our good Anglo-Saxon
tongue, worthy to bear compan^'' with that golden trio
" faith, hope and love," that word is truth. No
synonym conveys the depth of meaiiing, the living
grandeur, the moral sublimity, bound up in this word
and its associations. Dear may be the name, precious
the casket, sacred even in our eyes ; yet as compared
with the thing itself bearing but the proportionate
value of a name to its reality, a casket to its hidden
gems. Touch the secret spring and behold, in truth,
the wealth of honor, the pearls of virtue, the jewels of
integrity which lie enshrined within. Shorn of none
of its beauty by any synonyms, blazing in the light of
its associations, truth stands before us like Jesus on
the Mount of Transfiguration, clad in garments of light,
beloved of the Lord.

Think of the troth of a maiden, considr^ the truth of
a man, for the rajs emanating from such truth, heaven-
born, make women angels and make men divine. Show
me the woman, habitually truthful, with no element of
hypocrisy, no love of slander, no deep though petty
deceitfulness in her character, and I will show you,
encircled with the halo of glory which lights up her
pure life, my ideal of an angel. Show me the man,

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.

Ill

the strong, stern man, who, scorninjf? a lie hives trtith
more than untohl <,'ohl or lil'o itself, who dares to prove
his truth hy his endeavor, whose life in words and
actions is a uni*^^, and I will show you in every lineament
of his roble face, the elements of that which is divine.
There are those who with sneering Pilate say :

" What is truth," but wait not for the answer. These
arc they who scorn any system of belief, wIk> have no
creed, who will not commit themselves to any definite
snnimary of what is believed, hearing in each solemn,
affirmation the clanking of the chains which bind them
to the truth — sweet, golden bonds to noble men, but
to these craven souls the iron fetters of a hated bondage.
Thus would they, miserable nonentities, throw off the
responsibilities of life in a negation, flee as did the
prophet of old from their sacred duties and flatter
themselves that all is well ; until one day the still
small voice whispers the inquiry which reverberates
like the thunders of Sinai through their terrified souls,
" What doest thou here V

Flying from duty makes no one the less responsible,
taking refuge iu lies is vain for safety, for

Evading truth makes truth no less divine.

There are those again, who, in the pride of their
deceitful hearts build up airy fabrications which they
call truth. Taking the black wings of a miserable
imagination they swoop down to the realms of darkness
and there gather the material for their hideousstructures;
or fluttering far away from the clear light of revelation,
choose the gaudy transparencies of fiction, flaming in
false and fanciful lights. With these they erect the
altars of their devotion and there bend down and pour
out the homage of their souls. But once, in the midst
of their revelings, upon the inner chambers ol these
temples of vanity, whether they be fair or frightful to
the sight of men, the mysterious Hand will trace the
flaming characters wliich seal their doom and strike
terror to the hearts alike of busy builder and deluded
devotee,— Mene,Mene,Tekel, Upiiausin, — "God hath

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OlfR SCHOOLMASTER.

numbered thy kingdom, and finished it." " Weighed
in the balances, and found wanting." What mountains
of sorrow, what floocJs of remorse, will then overwhelm
the vain believer in the vain philosophy of man. How
impotent their endeavors, how unavailing their regrets,
•when once the voice of the Deity has thundered in
their ears the " Fiat lux " which shows to them their
dear, their loved, their vaunted lies, in all their hideous
monstrosity. Too late ! Their day of grace is gone.

Hold up the shining truth in contrast with falsehood
and what have ye ? Night against day, darkness against
light, Jesus contrasted with Judas, heaven with hell.

Mix truth with falsehood and falsehood with truth.
A pleasant combination. Do ye doubt ? Then listen
to the speeches, weigh the actions of men. Take from
them their vain opinions, flattering hopes, false
valuations j leave them nothing but the naked truth,
and how many inflated minds and gaudy characters
become poor shrunken things, punctuied bubbles, fading
into thin air.

Not the lie that passes through the mind, but the
lie that sinks and settles, and burns, and brands itself
there, does the harm. Satan may sow the seed of lies
broadcast over the soil of the heart, but unless the soil
is fitted to receive it there is no germination, no springing
up, no crop of sin. Things are ever thus in the depraved
judgments and aflections of men ; yet truth teaches that
" the search after truth, which is the wooing of it ; the
knowledge of truth, which is the presence ot it ; and
the belief and confession of truth, which is the enjoy-
ment of it, is the sovereign good of mankind." And
yet men love truth less than falsehood.

In the works of the days God's first creation was the
light of sense ; the last, the light of reason ; and His
resting work ever since is the illumination of the human
soul by His Spirit, sent to lead men into all truth.
First He breathed light upon chaotic nature ; then Ho
breathed light into the heart of man ; and still He
breathes the light of His eternal truth upon the face
of His chosen. Whosoever values not the truth thus

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113

given is stupidly audacious against God and base toward
his iellow-man ; for the liar faces God and shrinks
from man. Serpent-like he climbs the dizzy, dangerous
Isabel-like heights of mockery and defiance of God, and
there

" Hangs hissing at the nobler man below."

Go, miserable liars and dcfamers of men, trace in the
slimy, sinuous folds of your character the likeness which
ye bear to the father of lies. Hiss out your venom upon
the foibles of your moral and intellectual superiors, men
who tower above you in everything manly as Mont
Plane above the foot-hills at its base ; go, scoffers at
the virtues of humanity, revilers of religion, mockers
of friendsliip, enemies of liberty, fraternity and equality,
haters and calumniators of heavenly truth, go whero
these disseminate none of the benign influences of their
holy light, and there gather into your bosom the reward
of your doings. Ye have sown the winds of falsehood ;
go, gather the whirlwinds of torment.

This Commandment means to strike not merely at
false testimony given in a court of justice, but takes it
as the representative thing involving the moral idea
which the prohibition is intended to convey. In this
it is like ail the other Commandments. It gives us a
concrete thing, upon which the mind can readily fix,
in order that we may not view it as a merely abstract
thing. The idea taught is no departure from the truth.
And this aggravated form, false witness, has been chosen
to better impress this fundamental idea.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

f I

VALUE OP A GOOD CHARACTER.

The Commandment teaches the value of a good name.
It is a great blessing to have, and a greater truly to
deserve, a good name. It is a rich inheritance. But
sometimes circumstances arise when there is no honor
from men bestowed upon him who is striving after a

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OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

really good character. Men are liable to mistako his
luotives, to inipuj^n his desires and to view his actions
uncharitably. Then the honor must be committed to
God. Men judge a man's motives by his actions, but
God judges liis actions by his motives. Let the heart
be right, the motives good, tell the truth though the
heavens should fall, .and leave the issues calmly in the
hands of the Almighty. While we know and thoroughly
ai)i)reciate the desirability of being well thought of and
well spoken of by our fellow-men, let us not forget Who
it is that says : " Woe unto you when all the world
shall speak well of you." We know the sinfulness of
our own hearts. Our deep inward consciousness makes
us aware of our failings, therefore we should not bo
dogmatic and positive when we feol a doubt as to our
position. But when we know we are right let us go
on. Let men censure us when we do wrong, a})plaud
us when we do well, but ever give us room to move on
in the way of truth. The world is full of sin. If we
strike hands with it and agree to go along in the sinful
ways, we shall be well spoken of in the w^orld. But
woe, woe unto lis when we do so. If, on the other
hand, we strive to rise above all the wickedness of
men and come nearer to God, and particularly if we aro
in public office where the eyes of many are on us, thou
animosity will be excited. It cannot fail. There is
too much sin in the world for it to be otherwise. Even
good men sometimes, from a mistaken notion of our
motives, may take position along with our enemies.
But a good man cannot swerve on that account if he is
satisfied that he is right. A good man cannot be active
without having enemies, and such a thing as a passive
good man, one who does not act, is sornyiliing unnatural
and unknown. A good man must have enemies. It
is a^ part of the reproach of the cross he is to bear,
Jesus had enemies. The Apostles had enemies. Luther
had enemies. Read Scripture, read history ; the con-
clusion is inevitable. The enmity of the world is the
unfailing portion of the truly good. It cannot be said
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THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.

115

unless very olwcurc, tliat he or she had not an enemy.
It is often sui<l, as though higli pmiso were given in it,
hut it is at hest equiv(jcal nnd oftener not the truth.
Woe, " woe unto you when all the world shall speak well
of you." Give me the man or the woman who has
enemies. It may not sound right to say it, but it is
right. Your milk and watei people, who content
themselves with doing no harm, at the same time never
do any good. They are mere negatives. Your man of
forceful character d(^es not wait for a stone to get out
of his heaven-appointed wav, but he manfully rolls it
over, even though he ma} unintentionally hurt some-
body's toes in the act ; and thousands who will travel
that way after him will thank him for clearing it. The
man who has no enemies is generally a sleek, cowardly,
creeping creature, an Uriah Heep of humility, caring
for nobody but himself, ever apparently asking the
world to excuse his presence in it, smirking and smiling
his selfish way unchallenged into his merited obscurity.
He adds nothing to the common stock, does no good
in the world, and is lowered away into his six feet of
earth at last without a regret from any one. Ho has
no enemies, not he ; and he has no friends. God forbid
that we should be so characterless, so lost to friendship,
action and positive endeavor, through fear of making
enemies.

And yet it is true that a good name is precious. And
that good name, in order to be desired must be deserved ;
it must be based upon what we really are ; it must bo
the just estimate of friends and the extorted praise of
enemies ; and then it is precious. If a man say, " I
rise above the estimate of men," he is right. But if ho
say, " I care not lor their estimate," he is wrong. A
good name is beyond price and no one dare be unmindful
of it. For this cause God in His goodness spreads His
shield over it. He raises above your good name, and
mine, and our neighbor's, the ajgis of the law. He
wants the truth spoken aracmg His children. He
forbids false witness to be boine.

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Tell the truth. It is hard to do, not because of itself,
but because of the habits and education of society.
Men and women have grown so accustomed to telling
faiciehoods, that to do otherwise would appear awkward
and rude. Conventionalism demands that straight-
forwardness and honesty be sacrificed to complacency.
Much of what men, and especially women, say to each
other has no meaning, simply because it is the utterance
of polite mockery. They are *' glad to see each other,'^
" attached to each other," and otherwise friendly in
polite phraseology, while in reality they are only able
to endure each other so as to speak and be amiable. To
speak and act the truth is a duty, and if it were
practised in all the details of life, society would be
infinitely more healthy. Many a reputation has been
ruined by a party of old ladies over a cup of tea. This
society small talk is a direct infringement of this law.
People should guard against it. A good rule and one
which we most heartily commend to all, and particularly
to young people in society, is to talk less about persons
and more about things. This will at least cultivate
their minds and keep them free from the sin of trans-
gressing the law against their neighbor's character and
good name.

" Good Name, in man and woman.
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.

Who steals my purse, steals trash ; ^tis something, nothing ;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands :
But he that filches from me my good Uhme,
Robs me of that, which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed." — Shakespeai'e.

A good name is lathor to je chosen than great riches,
and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Proverbs
xxii. 1.

THE ETOTITH COMMANDMENT.

117

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CHAPTER XXXV.

THE EXPLANATION.

We should so fear and love God as not deceitfully to
hdicy betraij, slander, nor raise injurious reports against
our neighbor f hut apologize for him, speak well of him,
and put the most rharitable construction on all his
actions.

Luther's answer to the question of motive is, as of
all the others, " fear and love of God." Men may keep
this Commandment frcm a natural desire that them-
selves may be protected, or from any other motive,
such as natural delicacy of mind, tenderness of feeling,
moral sentiment of right, and the like ; and it is better
kept from such a motive than broken. It is better
kept from any motive than broken. It were better
that a man from any reason would not slander his
neighbor than to slander him. But if he keeps the
Commandment from any other motive than the fear and
love of God, that motive is unworthy and not sufficient.
It satisfies neither God nor His '.aw. Our highest joy
should be to please Him whom we love and fear.

The Commandment/orftms that we deceitfully belie,
betray, slender, or raise injurious reports against our
neighbor. There may be truths which at certain
times and under certain circumstances it is breaking the
Commandment to utter, eveit though they be the truth.
Even though we are commanded to speak the truth
without fear, still the law sometimes demands silence.
There are things which, although the truth, should be
kept secret as the grave. A tale-bearer who goes about
tearing rpen old wounds by telling o/er things long
forgott'uii, even though they be the truth, may be guilty,
before God and in the sight of just mei*, of violating
the spirit of the law. The fact that what he says is
true is not an excuse for his inhuman, base, blii«;k-
hearted proclamation, but rather a condemnation ot it.

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OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

Much of the ovil of .slaiider arises from tliis very source,
from the retailing of the truth from unworthy motives.
Tlie law of tlie hind even visits punish u»ent upon shinder
whicli may be based on truth, because the trutli told
was wantonly told and hati the essence of lies in it.
The worst counterfeit is the one most like the f^enuine.
The worst lie the one most like the truth, or with truth
in it to give it substance and coloring. We arc
forbidden to invent, circulate, or even listen to malicious
reports. They savor of the bottomless pit They arc
of their father the devil.

The Commandment urijes that we apologize for our
neighbor, speak well of him, and put the most charitable
construction on all his actions. I/oes thivS, in its broad
generalization, mean that we are to look upon criminal
actions and apologize for them as though they pleased
us 1 Are we to speak well of the crime for the criminals'
sake ? No. This is not the meaning. Luther trusted
human nature so far, in this explanation, knowing that
so evident a misconstruction of the motive would not
be placed on it. He did as Christ does frequently, —
tells only what we need, — knowing that the caution of
our own nature guards against any such wrong interpre-
tation. But tie idea evidently is, look for the good
while the evil is censured, and do not forget the best
fiide if there is one. This is to apologize for and speak
well of our neighbor. Two persons may be very difterent
in this respect. One may move through life putting
the worst motives upon the actions of men, the other
apologizing for their defects and looking for the good in
them. One looks for beauty in a rose, the other for the
thorns. And each will find what he looks for. For
one's own peace of mind it would be well to cultivate
the habit of looking for the good. There is much in
human life that is noble, pure, lovable aad sweet ; let
ns open our eyes to discern it. Let us learn to love
our fellow-men for Christ's dear sake^ and then we can
understand the good in them, then their beauties will
aj)p(ar. The world is full of beauty when the heart is

nfE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.

t
a

full of love. We should, moreover, be just. We should
be fair. We should be willing to give to another as
much as we ask for ourselves.

Suppose, for exami)lc, a man is a drunkard. Wo
ought not to say that therefore thcic is no good in him.
lie may have qualitiea of heart and mind superior to
our own. Let us seek for what is good in him and
strive to make that become the leaven that sh^lliinally
influence him. Speak well of whatever good ho has.
And so of all other evils. We are not to smooth them
<^ver and make believe we look upon them as line things.
Not so, but with a hind heart, with a heart full of that
kind of charity so beautifully portrayed in the 13th of
Fiist Corintliians, the love that '* sulfercth long and is
i<nitl," that " vaunteth not itself," that "is not easily
provoked," that "beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things, endureth all things ;" and witli tho
power of the Holy Ghost working with us, strive to
turn our fellow-pi'griui from the error of his ways, save
his soul trom death, and hide the multitude of his sins.
This we are to endeavor to do as long and whenever it
is possible. And even when it is hopeless to look for
good, do not forget that *' charity endureth all things,"
and never fails. There is something good in almost
everything. Let us follow the example of Christ in
looking. He found some good in all.

*' iiotter trust all and be (lecei\ etl,

AnJ weep that trust and that deceiving,
TliiP doubt one heart that if believed
Wi)Vi)d blesa one's life with true believing."

— C. P. Crane ft.

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120

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

THE NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS.

•jfhou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.

What is meant by this Commandment f

Answer. "We should so fear and love God as not to
desire by craltiness to gain possession of our neighbor's
inheritance or home, or to obtain it under the pretext
of a legal right, but b« "oad v to assist and serve him
in the preservation of Li u.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-
servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any*
thing that is thy neighbor's.

What is meant by this Commandment f

Answer. We should so fear and love God as not to
alienate our neighbor's wife from him, entice away his
servants, nor let loose his cattle, but use our endeavors
that they may remain and discharge their duty to him.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

THE TWO BATTERIES.

If we look at the first three words of these two
Commandments we shall find them the same, and
aiming at the same sin : therefore we consider them
unc'er the same general head. But why does God give
us two commandments uguinst one sin, and it, to our
human understanding, net so wicked as those which
are prohibited by only one ? Surely it is not so great
a transgression to covet anything as to steal it, say we ;

THE NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS. 121

\> 1

surely covetousness is not so dreadful as murder. And
yet God says only once, " Thou shalt not steal," " Thou
shalt not kill ;" whilst twice he says, " Thou shalt not
covet." God either had a design in repeating this
warning or He had not. If He had no reason or design
in doing it then He has done a foolish, misleading and
unnecessary thing ; which we can never be led to
believe of Him. Seeing it is contrary to all that we
know of Him elsewhere that here He should lay Himself
open to the charge of folly, we must conclude that He
did it designedly. AVhat then was His design 1 Why
does He say twice — Thou shalt not covet 1 While we
cannot know the hidden things of Him, nor attempt to
explain his secret purposes, yet we can reason by
analogy to show that in this instance He has not been
arbitrary but has with good reason repeated the Com-
mandment against coveting.

*' Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up His vast designs,
And works His sovereign wUl.

Blind unbelief is sure to err

And scan His works in vain !
God is His own interpreter.

And He will make it plain."

But we may, before ])roceeding further, define
covetousness. The word •* covet " has nothing evil in
itself. It may be used in a good sense and is, indeed,
so used in 1 Cor. xii. 31, by St. Paul, when he tells
the brethren and admonishes them to " Covet earnestly
the best gitls." But so prone is man to use everything
in a wrong and sinful manner that the very word has
been degraded until it has become the name of a sin.
" To covet " means to wish for with eagerness, to desire
to possess ; and if this wishing and desiring w^re only
after that which is good, and if no unlawful or unjust
means were made use of, and if the wish and desire
were allowed to go only so tar as was right, then there
would certainly be no sin in coveting. But these
TCbtraints are constantly overstepped ; wrong things are
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122

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

wiahe<l for, wrong iiieans are used to gain desireil ends,
and without reganl to the. rights and liberties ot others,
each pursues his will as far as he can. This is what
makes coveting sinful. The fact is, one n)ati's liberty
ends just where another's Ixjgins. It is a sin to wish
for anything which goes beyond that line. One man's
right does not encroach or go beyond anothei's ; it is
coveting to desire to exten<l it beyond to his injury.
And this is the sin which the Coinmandnienta aim at.
It is the unlawful and inordinate wishing for that which
is another's.

And why are the two CommandniPints aimed at the
one sin ? Why are the guns ot two batteritjs trained
upon one point ? JJecauso the point covered by them
is important. If you go into a fortitied city you will
tind that the part of it naturally e,asiest to approa(;h is
the ])art most effectually guarded. Take the City (vf
Halifax for example ; the guns of the Citadel are not
so arranged as to conotjntrate their fire on any one of
the rocky hills behind the city, they guard the harbor.
And it is not along the ravines and gullies of the
neighborhood, through which no enemy could come,
but it is along the shores of the beautiful harbor, and
on the island which stands sentinel at its mouth, it is
in short where the city is easy to approach that the
embankments rise and the cannon scowl down from the
embrasures upon every comer. And so it is with the
city «)f our soul. Where it is easiest to approach, on
the side most likely to be entereil by the enemy, there
this double battery of God's artillery sends its shot and
shell. Where nature has done the fnost for the enemy
the fortitications do the most for the city. Where our
human nature is weakest, there God's strength is
exercised for us in a double measure. As the cannon
of the city guard the approaches to it, so the Command-
ments guard the approaches to our hearts. As the gftns
of a well-fortified jilace sweep round its whole environ-
ment but have their deadliest fire concentrated on the
spot that is most important and easiest to assail, so all
around the city of the soul God's Conimaudmcnts draw

THE NINTH AND TENTH C'OIVIMANDMENTS. 123

a viuff of fire, luit Maze the li»Tcost where tliey stniul
hetwiM'U us and sin to sjjv, **Tho« shalt not covet."
"^'hiK, then, is nnother reason for tlie double prohibition;
it is given to guuix.1 the approacli to tliti heart.

CHAPTER XXXVIL

WATCH THE HEART.

It may be, further, because tliis Coniniandraent against
coveting is the jiafdest to keep, that it is repeated. If
you were to ask nie, which is the sweetest Coinmand-
luenf? I should say, the Fourth, and which are the
hanlest to keep? I should as readily say, the Ninth and
Tenth. It is easy to understand why it is difficult
Think of the [xx)r who see their neighbor with plenty of
goods, grain, cattle, clothing and money while they sulier
in poverty from cold, hunger, nakedness and the like.
How can they see these things without wishing inordi-
nately for some of them? And the possessi^^n of this
world's goods makes the possessor wish for more. Where
is there true contentment ? Alas ! the rich arc even more
given to covetousness than the poor. He who has little
covets something, he who has much longs for more.
And so, if we may ju<lge from our observation, an<l the
tendency ot our own hearts, we may w^ell believe that
this, of all the Commandments, is the hardest to keep.
In fact, we go not too far to say, we think nq person,
keeps it.

It is hard to keep bceause while it leads us along by
very gradual steps, it s^epis to us all t|i^ while a trifle,
a mere wish or desire but no sin. Ah I the sin which
can make itself appear in its own light as no sin, that
must be truly dangerous. Yiit such is this. Who
thinks it a sin to wish for what he sees, and to express
that wish t Nobo<ly. And yet this is the beginning
of covetousness. When followed up and persisted in
it Ijeconies sin. It was in this that Ahab first sinned
when he desired the vineyard of Naboth. In that
twenty-lirst chapter of First Kings we have a graphic

nil

124

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

picture of the miseries of the covetous man. Rich,
titled and honored as he was, the great king becomes
supremely wretched through covetousness, and Jezebel
to satisfy his inordinate desire, commits a bloody
murder. Is it a trifle which leads to such ends? No.
Things must be measured by their power ^o influence
others. Nothing stands alone. Evcrythin^; is united
in the chain of events with everything else. And thus
each act must be judged, not as detached but as
influencing other acts. But the first step in sin is
usually the breaking of this Commandment, so little,
such a mere apparent trifle in itself, that it is not
regarded, and yet it is the crossing of the boundary line
into the domain of sin. Is it any wonder that God
gives two Commandments to forbid it 1 It would rather
bo wonderful if God, in His infinite wisdom, had not
taken some special means to guard this special weakness.

We can then see in this Commandment the kindness
of our Heavenly Father in putting us doubly upon our
guard where our liability to sin is greatest, and at the
point where we are the most readily approached by the
enemy of our souls. He here intends that our right to
that which is our own should be still further secured
to us than it has been by the other Commandments.
Viewed in this manner it will be seen that this prohi*
bition sheds light upon the others. It takes hold upon
the very root of evil. It begins at the heart and shows
the great duty of keeping it right. Well has the wise
man said of man, " As he thinketh in his heart so is
he." Our Saviour tells us that " out of the heart
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies/' but a good man out
of the good treasury of his heart bringeth forth that
which is good. And now God shows us that we must
have things right there to begin with. All outward
acts come from inward thoughts, and if the heart is
good the life will be good. God wants us to know that
great truth and to act on it ; i^o watch our hearts and
keep out bad thoughts by cultivating good ones, and
thus to maktt our lives pure, and noble, and good, and

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THE JJiNTH AND TENTH OOaftlANDMENTS. 125

true. And this is the light which this prohibition
sheds upon the construction of all the other Command-
ments. There is to be not only no adultery or false
witness, but also nothing in the heart which, if it were
expressed, would lead to or cause them. We are
commanded not only not to steal but not to permit
unhallowed and covetous desires to remain in our hearts
which if executed would make thieves of us. We are
not only not to kill, but not to form, cherish, or allow
thoughts and feelings of murder. And the sum of
these several Commandments is the injunction of the
proverb, " Keep thy heart with all diligence ; for out
of it are the issues of life."

But alas ! these i-estless hearts of ours are sown with
the seeds of sin. They bring forth a harvest of evil.
Aye, one man's garden is full of weeds and another's
close beside it is full of valuable fruits, choice vegetables
and beautiful dowers. And yet both are alike. The
soil is the same and the evil seed is in both. Then
whence the difference ? It is in this, that while one
" keeps " his " with diligence," the other does not.
So are our hearts ; all full of natural depravity. It is
sin which has its seeds planted there. And sin is
to our souls as disease is to our bodies. Disease is not
natural to us, neither is sin. Sickness and sin are both
abnormal in us. And yet we cannot free ourselves
from either. In the sickness of our body we send for
a physician ; in the soul-destroying pestilence of sin
which has seized upon us let us go to Uim who is
*' mighty to save," to the Dear Physician and Healer
of Souls, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ He will
cleanse heart and soul. He will give us a new heart.
And He alone Las power to do so

*' Create my nature pure within.
And focni my soul averse to sin ;
Let Thv good Spirit ne'er depart.
Nor bide Thy presence from my heart.

I cannot live without Thy light.
Cast out and banished from Thy sight ;
Thy holy joys, my God, restore.
And guard m« that I fail no more<"

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OUR SCHOOLMASltfiti*

CHAPTER XXXVltl.

THE EXI*LANATIOIC.

We should so fmr and love God as not to desire by
craft hiess to gain possession ofottf neighbor's inheritance
or hoirle, or to obtain it under the pretext of a legal rights
hut be ready to assist and serve him in the jireservation
of his oton.

A BAD BARGAIN.

This brief explanation strikes hartl at a class of men
'who do not think themselves (leservin<^ of punishment.
These are the crafty persons who in the parlance of the
day are called * sharp,' or ' smart.' They think it no
sin to cheat a man out of everything he has, provided
they do it under the cover of the law. Sometimes they
appear to be successful in their trickery and their
honest neighbors are tempted to complain at the success
of villainy over honesty. But let honest men consider
the price jmid for such success. T^et them think of the
inward dishonor, the degnidation of soul, and the
mental baseness of the corrupt trickster. What peace
of mind ot teal happiness can he enjoy ? None at all.
Envy him not ; pity him rather. Be not seduced from
the path of honor by his ill-gotten gains. A clear
conscience, a pure mind, and a heart void of offence,
are worth more than the defraud er's thousands. Neither
let it be taken for granted that the covetous cunning
of the ' smart ' man is always successful. There are
thousands of men now under the heel of poverty who
would be well off in this world's goods if their principles
had been good and their dealings upright. And these,
without the gilding which success spreads over dis-
honesty, are the meanest objects of society. Nobody
favors or courts them because of their possessions and
everybody shuns them because of their known dis-
honesty. Nobody trusts them because they have proven
themselves not trustworthy. Nobody wishes to have

THE NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS. 127

anything to do with them unless it be the unscrupulous
successful scoundrel who has use for such pliant tools
in carrying on his own nefarious schemes. Let not tho
glamour of wealth entice any one to do what is not just
and right. Remember that a well-deserved reputation,
built up by a course of honorable action, is worth moro
in dollars and cents, as well as in the higher emoluments
it brings than all the fruits of legal robbery and gains of
double dealing. The ' sharp ' man who thinks it no sin
to covet and to steal under the shadow and pretense of
legal right, may in his life drive many good bargains, but
be has made one bargain so bad that it counterbalances
all the rest. He has paid honor, integrity, self-respect
and happiness for the sake of luiing rich. He may not
have gained his end at last ; but allowing that he has
gained. it, his bargain still is bad. He dies rich and.
goes to the devil. Is that the proper end of life ] God
forbid ! " For what ahull it 2^r''fil « man^ if he shall
gain the whole worlds and lose his men soul /"

" Great God, the power of sin control,
From its dominion set us free ;
O let Thy grace renew the soul,
And fashion it alone for Thee.

May we obey Thy heavenly voice,

He ever upright and sincere.
Make holiness our constant choice.

And shun all sin with constant fear."

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CHAPTER XXXIX.

THE EXPLANATION.

We should 80 fear and love God as not to alienate
our neifjhbov's wife from him, entice away his servants^
nor let loose his cattle, but use our endeavors that tli^y
may remain and discharge their duty to him.

( (

Little more need be said concerning *".je explanation
to this Commandment. As in the former explanations
so in this, all turns upon the fear and love of God.
Who keeps not his heart subject to that rule cannot

128

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

even begin to keep the Commandments properly. And
that many do not even try to do so for any reason, the
conmionly repented crimes which are being continually
reported, bear sufficient witness. And among these
common infractions what is more frequent than this sin
of alienating the wife irom her husband. Infidelity to
marriage vows has been already s{)oken of under the
Sixth Commandment, hence we will not refer to it
again. But that this and the succeeding violation of
the law herb named should spring from covetousneas,
who would suppose ? And yet we can here see how
closely the one sin is allied with the other. If then
we do not wish to be led on by insidious advances to
the open infraction of the law of God and of the land,
let us be careful not to take the first little step in sin
by giving way to the lordship of covetous desires. Let
us heed the voice which says to us so tenderly : " Come
unto me ;*' " My son, give Me thine heart." This is
our only hope, our only salvation. And when our
hpTts are put in the care and keeping of Him who
created us, then they will be filled with that love for
our fellow-man that will cause us to be ready ever to
" assist and serve him in the preservation of his own."
And to this may the Eternal Father of us all assist us.

" Down the dark future, through long generations,
The echoing sounds grow fidnt and then cease ;
And like a bell with sweet, solemn vibrations,
I hear the dear voice of the Saviour say, ' Peace !' "

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THE CONCLUSIO]^^.

Wfiat does God declare concemhig these Command'
ments ?

Answer. He says : " I the Lonl thy God am a jealoua
God, visiting tlie iniquity of the fathers upon tho
chihiren unto the third ami fourth generation of them
that hate Me ; and sliowing mercy unto thoustuids of
them that love Me and keep My Commandments."

What is meant by this declaration f

Answer. God threatens to punisli all those who
transgress these Commandments. We should, therefore,
drdlad His displeasure, and not act contrary to His
Commandments. But He promises grace and every
blessing to all those who keep them. We should,
therefore, love and trust in Him, and cheerfully do what
He has commanded us.

CHAPTER XL.

ALL GUILTY.

There is a sad fact which must he admitted by every
one who faithfully studies the Ten Command nients,
and that is that he has broken every one. What !
Guilty of theft, murder, and the gross sins lorbiddeu la

OITR SCHOOLMASTER.

the decaloauo 1 " No," you may say, " I am as good
as other mc-u." Dt-ar frij'iid, tliat is not disputed. You
may be as <^ood as other men ; you may be better ; you
Hiay have done less evil and more good tlian any oiie
of a thousand, and still be lost. You do not take the
proper standard to measure yourself by. You may be
better than other men and yet not good enough to
satisfy God and His law. You may have kept all the
Commaudments from your youth up, like the yoang
bargain-maker of tiie Scripture kept them, an<l yet you
need something more. Why did he come to Chri«t
asking what good thing he must do that ho nn'ght have
eten.al life? Why dixjs he ask, " What lack I yetl"
if he does not feel that there is still something wanting,
even alter he has kept all the Commandments 1 It was
because he felt the need of something moi-e than his
own works. And as his good works woulcj not save
liim, neither will yours sjtve you. You may measure
yourself with men and stand, but man in his imperfection
is not the proper standard. Measure yourself with
God and you will fall short. Measure yourself against
a perfect law and you behold your imperfection. The
law admits of no grades in perfection. Christ says :
** Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heave^i
is perfect." An<l St. J:;mes says plainly that " WHioso-
ever shall keep the whole law, and yet oifend in one
point, he is guilty of ail." Now, taking the ])ible rule
as here laid down, are you guilty of breaking every
Commandment ; or are you not guilty ] But while you
must admit that in this sense you ai-e guilty you may
say that is not a fair way ol pntting the test. You
want the Commandments taken sepamtely. \'"ou say,
" Is it not better for a mar to be chaste than to bo an
adulterer?" Certainly. "And isn't it better for a
man to not steal than to steal 1" Of course it is. Bui
you miss the point that wsiy. The heart that is guilty
of one breach of the law has sinned against the heart
of God and the spirit which is in all the law. Yoti
can talk of the Ten ComnihndnuT.ts as if they were
ten laws. Thry ai-e otil}' one. If one Con.man<lment

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131

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is broken the Jjivv is broken. Suppose a vessel lies in
the offing with a chain ot* ten lii:ks next her anchor.
If one of. those ten links breaks the chain is broken ^
and the vessel is at the mercy of the gale. One sin
breaks the law and when Adam committed that primal
sin the law of God was broken and His curse fell upon
the guilty riice. Tlic;t is how it comes that there is no
difference among meUj and why the liible says we must
all repent or perish. And the sin of Adam born in you,
as you well know, is noii your only sin. Then, you
argue, " "*Ten are not all alike, some are honest and
others are dishonest ;" and you would like to separate
the Commandments and apply them separately. That
briugs us to where we were before. You miss the point.
Supj)()8e I am afraid my house will fall. Do I go over
it all and exaniine separately and conmicnt on all its
excellent (pialiti'^sl Do I admiixi the painting and
decorations, the size of the rooms and their convenient
armngement? No, I go to the foundation ; all the rest
depends on that. So in this case. See what foundation
your house stands on. What is the basis of your
morality? By nature it is the old Adam foundation,
shivered by sin, totteri.ig to its fall so that not a soul
tan vstand on it securely. Whoever will stand in the
day of judgment must get off that old, falling foundation
autl sUmd on the llock of Ages. There is no use in
any human being trying to prop up the old shattered
foundation, hoping, by being as good as other i)eople,
that he can make it safe. l>o not try by morality to
?rtc;><f your sinful !^ature, but have it mndn new by faith
in Christ.

You cannot keep this law. It is a perfect law and
you are an imperfect lx;ing. The breach between the
two is immeasurable. Then, you may ask, " Why does
God give us a law we cannot keep V

He gives it to keep you from being injured.
He gives it to keei» you from injuring others.
He gives it to measure men by.
He yivcs it to lead you to f'O Saviour,

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OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

People have a habit of measuring themselves by each
other, and generally make themtolves out a little better
than they are and a little bettor than their neighbors ;
but such partial measurements will not do. When God
begins to measure us by the law every mouth will be
stopped, every tongue will be silent. Not a soul will
come up to the requirement of the law. Every mortal
will be guilty, for, saith the Scripture, " there is none
righteous, no, not one." And the trouble is that not a
soul can got into heaven unless it does come u| «o the
full measurement of the standard required by the law.

CHAPTER XLI.

tHE PERFECT LAW.

When the army of the North was being recruited to
put down the Southern Eebellion in the United States,
I wanted to volunteer. I was too young. There was
a regulat-on that every man must have reached a certain
age. I was not up to the standard. I could not go.
Another regulation was adopted that every man must
be a certain height, — five feet f<mr inches. Men came
to volunteer and were psiased in to the examining
officers. To each one thtty would say : " How tall arn
you 1 Stand up to that mark until we measure you."
And if he was an inch, or half an inch, or only a quarter
of an inch short, he could not pass. He had to walk
out. And so it is with the measurements of the divine
rule. If you come short, over so little, you are lost.
You must come up to tlie divine standard or perish, —
fur " without holiness no man can see the Lord."

But perhnps you may think God is so good, and kind
and loving, and merciful, that he will not so rigorously
execute the law. Yon say, " God is love," and upon
this you hxm your hope that you may yet be savoJ.
God is love, but for that very reason your hope is vain.

THE CONCLUSION.

133

-**ll.

God loves justice too well to connive at any omission
or nial-administration of liie law.

In the llOtli Psalm there are twenty-two sections,
of eight verses each, and "ch section is marked with a
letter of the Hehrew alpiiahet. The tenth of these
sections has at its head the letter jod, or jot, as it is
otherwise pronounced, and this letter is a little character
much like a comma ; it is the least of all the Hehrew
letters. AiiotlK^r character in Hebrew writin<^ was
called a " tittle," a mere point it was, not larger than
the hole where a pin has been thrust. And Christ, the
(ireat Expounder of the Law says : " Till heaven and
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass
from the Law, till all be fulfilled." Who dares to come
to such a perfect Law, with such a close and rigorous
execution of it, to give the measure of his life and
actions? AVho dares to stand before the All-seeing,
All-knowing Cod and say lie has kept this perfect law
to the last jot or tittle ?

"What then shall you do 1 Ask yourself the question

as a solemn matter of life or death, as the deciding

point lietween heaven and hell, and then read on.

What shall you do ] Of yourself you can do nothing

until Ood does for you. The world is a battle-field on

which the forces of sin have been fighting against the

human race. Walk out on a battle-field after a fiisrce

fight and what do you sec 1 You see some making

their way to the hosi)itiii slightly wounded, some borne

there mortally vroundi^d, and some with a bullet through

heart or brain, stone dead. Whi-di represents you as

after ihe conflict with sin 1 The dead. What 1 The

dead, for when the Holy Ghost comes to you He finds

you not slightly wound<'d, not mortally wounded, but

" (fead in trespasses and in sins " Now 1;eiiold in your

last extremity how God is exalted. The lower the

dejith from which He raises you the greater His ]»ower

and glory. Dead, you cannot re-create yourself. Dead,

your fellow-sinner cannot save you. Your pastor, your

friend, your parents cannot restore you. The devil has

f .

■fa

^**%^

134

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

put his fatal bullet through your heart. You are his
lawful prey. " All thinj^'s iire possible with Go I."
He works a miracle. He calls the (h ad to life. He
<(ives the cold corpse power to hear and power to act.
Now " what shall you do ]" You hear— NOW ACT !

The grace of God is ready. You need it. We all
need it. God wants us all to find it. He gave us the
Law that we should be led to it, that we should under-
stand the need of it. We cannot kefej) the I^iw
unbroken. It will not save us. He gave it to bring
us to the Saviour.

CHAPTER XLiI.

THE OLD SLAVE.

In Galatians the third chapter and twenty-fourth
verso we are told : " The Law was our schoolmaster to
bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith," It is yet. In ancient times it was customary
for each family to emj)loy a trusty slave or servant to
take the children to the school. It was made his duty
to take charge of them at tlie door of his employer and
lead them in safety along the street, taking care that
they fell into no trouble or mischief, nor idled their
time on the way, and thus he led them along to the
door of the school-room, where he gave them over into
the charge of the teacher. And this old slave was called
the schoolmaster. He represents here the Law. The
Law, restraining us from evil, leads us children id(»ng
the way until it brings us to our Teacher, who is Christ.

And what does He teach? That wo are "Justitied
by fiith." In other words, th.at we must be born
again. That we must have renewed hearts. That we
must believe in Him. The way is simple. Are yon a
sinner? Yea, Lord, Thou knowest. Do you wish to
be freed and saved from the consequences of your sin ?
No one who feels what a dreadful thing sin is does not
wish this. Well then ask God to free and save you

ir#

#■'

THE CONCLUSION.

135

for Christ's sake. At^k (lod to convert you. What is
conversion 1 It is turning, turning away from some-
thing, turning to something. It is turning away from
sin ; turning to God. It is asking Him to receive you.
Ask forgiveness for Clirist's sake. The way is simple.
The whole plan of salvation is simple. Let us say,
" Wo come."

" Just as I am, without one plea.

But that Thy Blood was slietl for nie, >

Ami that Tliou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come !

Just as I am, and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot.

To Thee, whose Blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come !

■#

Just as I am , Thou wilt receive,

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,

Bccnvxe Thji Promise I bc/iere :

O I<amb of God, I come, I come V—C/utvlottc KlUuH.

CHAPTER XLIII.

COME TO JESUS.

Come for the sake of what Christ has done. A child
could understand how to couje. You are to come
asking Crod to fulfil His own promise to you and to
every sinner who comes. And if you come thus God
will jiardon you. For your faith you will be justified ;
because God's pardon is justiiication. And the pardon
which is in the mind ot God is made known to
you by the Word of CJod. You ask, " Father, wilt
Thou forgive?" And then how shall you know that
He will do it? He says He will. Lay down thi>5 book
happy in that knowledge. Every one who asks pardon
is forgiven. That is the law, therefore, if you ask
pardon, you are forgiven. The Holy Ghost takes you
up dead, puts life into you, illuminates the truths of

13G

OUR SCHOOLMASTER.

tl>e Bible, brink's tlieni home to you with a new and
wondrous power, leads you in the pathsof holiness, and
makes yoi. better. And this is your sanctification. It
is juatitication finished. Justification is God's judicial
act, finished in an instant; sanctification is your life
work in connection with the Holy Spirit. Youjnust
do your part in it. You must go on from strength to
strength. You must f/row in grace. You must press
forward t(»ward the mark for the prize. And at last
God will oall you from strife to victory, from earth to
heaven, from sweat, and toil, and tears, and blood, to
holiness and glory, to eternal joy and peace. And this
is glorification.

Xo trifling, for vour soul's sake. ]ie in earnest.
Christ says, " Ask,""" Seek," " Knock." Do your part
in asking, seeking, knocking, and He will do His part
in giving. Though you ask with the simplicity and
artlessnesf. of a child, God w^U understand. He will
know what you want whenever you really want
anything. And Christ M'ill give you all you need for
salvation. The law will not save you. The conclusion
of it is the same as the beginning. The circle is now
complete. You may walk on that circle to eternity,
but you will find no end. Jt has no end. There's no
salvation in it. Salvation is in Christ alone. And
the end of the law is to secure your salvation.

Jjoi* Christ 10 the ^nb oi the $iiii)
Sot 3pi(3hteow0ne»0 io (Kbcrj) (Due that ^elictocth.

Romans x : 4.