MEN A YIL 
 
 EL HAYIL 
 
 From Strength to Strength- 
 
 
 r;'*^:-5 

 
 " FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
 
 MEHAYIL EL HAYIL 
 
 "FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH" 
 
 LESSONS FOR 
 
 THE USE OF JEWISH CHILDREN 
 
 LONDON 
 
 GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET 
 
 COVENT GARDEN 
 
 1890
 
 cms WICK PRESS :-- c. WHITTINGHAM AND co., TOOKS COURT, 
 
 CHANCERY LANE.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 THE object of this little work is to give to Jewish 
 children a book designed for religious classes and home 
 reading. 
 
 It seems almost needless to dwell on the fact that 
 there is an extraordinary paucity of such books in our 
 community. Less fortunate than their Christian neigh- 
 bours, who are provided with an unfailing supply of 
 literature adapted for children, Jewish parents and 
 teachers have but a very limited choice of works suit- 
 able for spiritual and moral teaching. 
 
 In order to meet this want, however imperfectly, I 
 have compiled this little book, which will, perhaps, 
 prove the forerunner of others drawn on similar lines. 
 
 The lessons, or chapters, are from the pens of various 
 writers ; their diction is purposely very simple, but they 
 touch upon questions which lie at the very root of all 
 real education. 
 
 In the ordinary course of school-day life where the 
 teacher's attention must be absorbed by the subjects 
 which come within the range of the present severe ex- 
 amination tests, the purely spiritual and moral side of 
 education runs a great chance of being neglected or 
 pushed into the background. The Sabbath class, or 
 Sabbath home reading, must make up for this deficiency 
 if the child is to be educated, as well as instructed. 
 
 It is, therefore, most important that the teacher, often 
 
 2097117
 
 vi Preface. 
 
 a voluntary one, who devotes him or herself to the 
 child's religious instruction, should have some book 
 which lends itself to this branch of education. Such a 
 book will not be found in the ordinary school library. 
 
 Now, although this little work can be placed in the 
 hands of the children themselves, I should recommend 
 that where it is used in classes it should be reserved by 
 the teachers as a text-book from which to teach. And 
 to the teachers I venture to address a few hints. 
 
 (1) As to how a Sabbath class should be conducted. 
 
 (2) As to how this book should be used. 
 
 To begin with : the children should be brightly and 
 intelligently taught; their attention should be arrested 
 from the very beginning ; if they get tired and take a 
 dislike to their Sabbath class, the effect will be to make 
 them dislike all religious instruction, even religion itself. 
 The best teaching is demanded for our day schools ; why 
 should we not be equally exacting for our Sabbath 
 classes ? 
 
 The teaching should be very animated, but the time 
 spent in class should be short. The teacher should be 
 well prepared by having a complete knowledge of his 
 subject. Some good maps, especially one of Palestine, 
 should be placed in sight of the pupils, and it would 
 greatly add to the interest of the lesson if it could be 
 illustrated from time to time by any objects to which 
 the teacher may refer. Teaching through the ear should 
 always be supplemented by teaching through the eye. 
 The black-board, when the class is not held on the 
 Sabbath, would often be found useful for the writing 
 down of important words or difficult names, and in 
 some cases it would be well for the pupils to have paper 
 and pencil at hand for taking notes. The children should 
 commit to memory, each week, some text from the Bible,
 
 Preface. vii 
 
 which they should repeat faultlessly to their teacher, thus 
 storing their minds, not only with words of strength and 
 comfort, but also with some of the finest passages of 
 any existing literature. 
 
 The teacher should, if possible, claim the inspiriting aid 
 of instrumental music or song for the class, encouraging 
 the children to learn ennobling words, set to stirring 
 tunes. These can have a good, healthy, moral tone, with- 
 out being necessarily of a strictly sacred character; indeed, 
 it would be almost impossible to find sacred words in 
 English verse for our children, as we have no suitable 
 hymnal for their use. But there is no reason why they 
 should not also learn to sing both tunefully and expres- 
 sively the TW D7ly P"W, and other Hebrew chants. 
 
 After the children have been cheered by song, the 
 teacher would do well to read some very short chapter 
 or passage from the Bible, questioning the children at 
 the close upon what has been read. This might be 
 followed by another hymn, after which a chapter from 
 this book would find its place in the morning's work. At 
 the end of the reading I would suggest that the teacher 
 should recite the Vp^, taking due care that the children 
 not only follow, but also understand the meaning of the 
 words. 
 
 It is now time that I should give a few suggestions as 
 to how this little book should be used by the teacher. 
 
 Out of the thirty-six addresses or chapters that it 
 contains, eleven are entirely concerned with the Jewish 
 holydays or festivals, whilst the remaining twenty- 
 five bear more or less upon some spiritual or moral 
 lesson, generally illustrated by a Bible story or cha- 
 racter. 
 
 There is no reason why the chapters should be taken 
 by the teacher in the order that I have given them : the
 
 viii Preface. 
 
 teacher in this case, as in many others, must be guided 
 by his or her own judgment. 
 
 Between the chapters occur short poems, or verses, 
 not actually bearing upon the subject of the addresses, 
 but all suitable for children to commit to memory. 
 
 I will now suppose that the teacher is holding the 
 book in her hands, and is about to give a lesson on the 
 chapter entitled: 
 
 " An Open Window." 
 
 After the first sentence, the teacher will begin by asking 
 the pupils to describe a room ; they may, if they like, 
 take their own class-room for an illustration. 
 
 They should mention the objects which it contains, and 
 their use. The teacher should ask whether the children 
 have ever heard of houses or rooms without windows. 
 Of course, the reply might be : " Scotch or Irish cabins," 
 which reply would necessitate pointing out Scotland and 
 Ireland on the map. And then some account should be 
 given of the appearance of a cabin, and of the hole in the 
 roof which emits the smoke, as an open window would do 
 in one of our houses. The teacher, in telling the class that 
 we cannot exist without light or air, should be able to give 
 some definition of light and air. He should draw from 
 the children answers as to what gives light ; as to what 
 difference there is between sun and moon light ; as to the 
 length of daylight in summer and winter ; as to the diffe- 
 rence of the length of daylight in the extreme north and 
 south, and centre of the globe. He should then direct the 
 children's attention to the mines, where all work is 
 carried on by borrowed light the light of a lantern or 
 lamp, and where the sunlight cannot penetrate. 
 
 A description of a coal mine, and of the part that 
 children take in the work would interest the pupils. 
 The next subject would be factories, and work-rooms,
 
 Preface. ix 
 
 where the air often becomes vitiated from insufficient 
 ventilation. 
 
 The children should throughout give as many ex- 
 amples as they can for themselves, the teacher en- 
 deavouring to make them reflect. The lesson should be 
 suggestive rather than merely instructive, great pains 
 being taken to develop the children's reasoning powers, 
 and to quicken their love of information. They should 
 be led to read and search for themselves, and not to rest 
 content with what they are taught in class. 
 
 The teacher should never cram or over-load the 
 children's memories ; her lesson should always be stimu- 
 lating and rousing, rather than satisfying. 
 
 We will imagine that the teacher has now arrived at 
 the sentence : " I am going to tell you about some other 
 windows. They are invisible ones, but still they exist 
 for the matter of that, as so many invisible things do." 
 Here he should ask the children to give examples of in- 
 visible things, requiring such answers as Hope, Patience, 
 Courage, Faith. Let him dilate upon the meaning of 
 these qualities. Let him be very careful that the children 
 grasp the meaning of the sentence : "There are windows 
 in our own souls." He should explain how the soul 
 can be said to have its window, like the room, how it can 
 also, if it will, receive its supply of light and air. In quoting 
 from the Psalms that occur in the address he is reading, 
 he should ask the children to turn to the texts in their 
 Bibles, and then bid one of the elder pupils write the 
 words on the black-board. The children might be 
 encouraged to commit the texts to memory, which 
 would impress the lesson upon their minds. And here 
 I may say that, whenever a passage or text is quoted 
 from the Bible, the children should be told to look it 
 out for themselves, and, should a Scriptural character or
 
 x Preface. 
 
 event be mentioned, the teacher should never neglect to 
 question the children about it, drawing out all their 
 knowledge on the subject, and supplementing it with 
 his own. 
 
 The teacher, in reading the sentence "the word of God," 
 should ask the children if they can tell him the names of 
 some of the Biblical books. He might then give them 
 as much information as he can about the Bible; it 
 is the history of their ancestors, and contains the finest 
 literature of their race; its laws have become the ground- 
 work of the law of all civilized people; the Command- 
 ments are incorporated in almost every creed. 
 
 The teacher has now arrived at this question : " Have 
 you ever watched the rippling waters of a stream ? have 
 you seen how the surface is stirred?" Here the 
 children's memories should be well exercised. Have 
 they ever seen the ocean, a river, or lake ? Let them 
 describe any piece of water that they know ; let them 
 find it on the map. Ask them the names of any rivers 
 mentioned in the Bible. Let them think of any great 
 event which occurs in sacred history in connection with 
 a sea or river, such as the passage of the Red Sea 
 by Moses and the Israelites at the Exodus from Egypt, 
 or the passage of the river Jordan by Joshua and the 
 children of Israel. The teacher is now dilating upon the 
 passage concerning " the Spirit of God." " We can all 
 breathe it," he reads, "provided we can open the windows 
 of our souls wide. But no doubt, for some whose heart 
 and lungs may be weak, accustomed only to the impure 
 air of the dismal chambers of their souls, the strong fresh 
 air, when suddenly the window is flung open, is almost 
 too strong and too fresh." 
 
 Here the teacher should make the children under- 
 stand that those who are accustomed to lead ignoble lives
 
 Preface. xi 
 
 would find it hard to take in great and noble thoughts, 
 and that those who are satisfied with material plea- 
 sures would not care for higher pursuits, which may 
 require some struggle to attain, but which, once reached, 
 lift the heart and soul upward, often transforming weak 
 men and women into heroes and heroines. 
 
 There are both men and women who stand out con- 
 spicuously in all the pages of history, as having lived 
 this higher life, men and women " who have drawn into 
 themselves most freely and fully 'the Spirit of the Lord;' 
 they are the inspired ones, the prophets, and seers." 
 The children should now be asked to name some of the 
 prophets of Scripture. But there are others, whose names 
 do not occur in the sacred writings, and yet who seem to 
 have lived an inspired, holy, or spiritually gifted life ; they 
 belong to men of all ages and all nations. 
 
 It would be well to cite some names and examples, 
 such as Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, Maimonides, Moses 
 Mendelssohn, Sir Isaac Newton, Howard, and (coming 
 down to our own times) Mrs. Fry, Lord Shaftesbury, 
 and Sir Moses Montefiore. 
 
 The teacher might dwell with profit on some of those 
 examples, bringing the characters he describes well 
 before his class. 
 
 The teacher has now arrived at this passage : " Who 
 are those who try and teach us what is right and good 
 for us to know ? Those who put the best books before 
 us, who let us hear the grandest music, see the pictures 
 that teach us something noble, and inspire us to do 
 great deeds." 
 
 The children might here be asked to give an example 
 of some of their favourite books, or pieces of music, or 
 of any picture that may have specially taken their 
 fancy or imagination.
 
 xii Preface. 
 
 I think I have now thrown out sufficient hints to the 
 teacher as to the way in which the lesson should 
 be given. But, of course, there is no' reason why he 
 should adhere to my questions ; others of a more search- 
 ing nature may strike him, or he may find that mine are 
 too many in number, or too diffuse in matter to be 
 all brought within the area of one lesson. 
 
 Yet these will suggest to his mind the way in which 
 I intend the addresses to be dealt with ; they should 
 be vehicles, not only for supplying religious instruction, 
 but also for deepening and strengthening the devotional 
 feelings of children. The teacher should beware of using 
 stereotyped phrases ; he should vary his teaching by 
 ever-new and original questions, being never satisfied 
 with his own knowledge, but always adding to his 
 stores, treading fresh fields, and gathering in new 
 harvests. His task may be difficult, but it will be a 
 grateful one; let him turn to it hopefully and remember : 
 " That the right faith of man is not intended to give him 
 repose, but to enable him to do his work." 
 
 In order to do his work properly, whatever it may 
 be, wherever it may lie, he must have the strength 
 that is the outcome of well-developed moral quali- 
 ties. Right conduct is the result of character ; and it is 
 the character of the child that we are endeavouring to 
 build up by simple lessons on great subjects, leading 
 him on, by gradual steps, " From strength to strength," 
 
 MEHAYIL EL HAYIL.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PACK 
 
 ON THE FIRST AND SECOND COMMANDMENTS. i 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
 "And if I said, c I love Thee, Lord.' " C. F. RICHARDSON. 
 " A Psalm of Life." LONGFELLOW. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. THE EDITOR .... 7 
 " Father ! To thy kind love we owe." BRYANT. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. THE EDITOR . . . . i r 
 " Hushed was the evening hymn." J. D. BURNS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. THE EDITOR .... 19 
 " Speak gently." ANONYMOUS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 ON THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH COMMANDMENTS 25 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 " One by one." ADELAIDE A. PROCTER! 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. THE EDITOR .... 33 
 " Heroes." " SCATTERED SEED." 
 " Lie not ; but let thy heart be true to God." 
 
 GEORGE HERBERT. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ON THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. THE EDITOR .... 41 
 " They are slaves who fear to speak." LOWELL. 
 " Who by aspersions throw a stone." GEORGE HERBERT.
 
 xiv Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ON THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. THE EDITOR .... 45 
 " The Law of Love." R. C. TRENCH. 
 " Character of a happy life." SIR H. WOTTON. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE TREE. THE EDITOR 50 
 
 " Thou art, O God ! the life and light." MOORE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AN OPEN WINDOW. THE EDITOR 57 
 
 "Hymn." LADY LINDSAY. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 ON SERVICE. THE EDITOR 63 
 
 " The Elixir." GEORGE HERBERT. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM. THE EDITOR 72 
 " The soul thirsteth for God." MONTGOMERY. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON PART I. THE EDITOR . . 79 
 " What's hallowed ground ? "CAMPBELL. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON PART II. THE EDITOR . . 87 
 " Nature's Worship." WHITTIER. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 ON CONDUCT. THE EDITOR 93 
 
 " As ye sow, so shall ye reap." JONES VERB. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 "HEAR, O ISRAEL." L. DE R 99 
 
 " I would be still with Thee." JAMES DRUMMOND BURNS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HATRED OF EVIL. L. DE R 105 
 
 " The Purpose of Life." WHITTIER. 
 " The Sparrow." BARRY CORNWALL.
 
 Contents. xv 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SPRING. L. DE R in 
 
 " Remember thy Creator." ANONYMOUS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ON OBEDIENCE. L. DE R 115, 
 
 " My treasures." ADELAIDE A. PROCTER. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE GOOD WORKMAN. L. DE R 120 
 
 " To-day." THOMAS CARLYLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 INTEGRITY OF HEART AND SKILFULNESS OF HAND. 125. 
 
 L. DE R. 
 " He who walks in virtue's way." DR. BOWRING. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 "VANITY OF VANITIES." E. R 130' 
 
 " True Nobility." LONGFELLOW. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 ON THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN JONATHAN AND DAVID 135- 
 
 E. R. 
 
 " A love that gives and takes, that seeth faults." LOWELL. 
 " Hymn of Spring." ANONYMOUS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 ON WORK. E. R 139 
 
 " Life's Work." ANONYMOUS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE FEAST OF PASSOVER. PART I. L. C 144 
 
 "When Israel of the Lord beloved." SIR WALTER SCOTT. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE FEAST OF PASSOVER. PART II. L. C 151 
 
 " O God, by whom the seed is given." R. HEBER. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 PENTECOST. L. C 15$ 
 
 " Praise, and thanks, and cheerful love." ANONYMOUS.
 
 xvi Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE FAST OF THE NINTH OF AB. L. C 
 
 " King of kings, and Lord of lords ! " H. M. MlLMAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE NEW YEAR. L. C 172 
 
 " Close of the Year." GASKELL. 
 
 " Take thy New Year with thanksgiving." ANON. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE FAST OF GEDALIAH. L. C 178 
 
 " By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept." BYRON. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 DAY OF ATONEMENT. L. C 183 
 
 " We have no refuge, none on earth to aid us." 
 
 C. WlNKWORTH. 
 
 " Abou Ben Adhem." LEIGH HUNT. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. L. C 193 
 
 " We plough the fields and scatter." MATTHIUS CLAUDIUS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 DEDICATION, OR HANUCAH. L. C 200 
 
 " In the world's broad field of battle." LONGFELLOW. 
 " For a life undying." W. T. Fox. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 PURIM. PART I. L. C 210 
 
 " A Hymn." HARTLEY COLERIDGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 PURIM. PART II. L. C 217 
 
 " Make your Mark."" GOLDEN WREATH." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 ON CLEANLINESS. L. DE R 225 
 
 " Good Night." FRANCIS QUARLES.
 
 MEHAYIL EL HAYIL. 
 
 "FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH." 
 
 I. 
 
 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 I AM going to talk to you to-day about the twentieth 
 chapter of Exodus, containing the Ten Commandments, 
 all of which, I am sure, you are able to repeat. 
 
 They were given originally to the children of Israel, 
 but they have been claimed by most of the civilized 
 people in the world, and, whilst Jewish children are 
 taught to repeat them in their Sabbath classes, Christian 
 children learn to say them in their Sunday schools. 
 
 They are written up in the synagogue, as well as in 
 the Christian churches, and they find a place in the 
 religious services of the Jews as well as in the prayer- 
 books of our Christian neighbours. 
 
 I think it only right that we should note what we have 
 in common with other people's faiths, and also where 
 the difference lies, for it helps us to understand our 
 neighbours. 
 
 We will divide the Ten Commandments into two 
 columns, five on each side. 
 
 The first four teach us human beings our duty to God 
 Himself; they refer to the relationship between God 
 and man. 
 
 B
 
 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 They are directed against idolatry, against taking the 
 Lord's name in vain, and contain the Commandment that 
 touches on the seventh day, the Sabbath. 
 
 These are followed by the Fifth Commandment, which 
 is still on the same column, and concerns the duties we 
 owe to our parents. 
 
 It stands midway between the Commandments that 
 relate to God and those which relate to our fellow-men. 
 
 And this is the very position that our parents hold ; 
 they stand next to God as regards their children, and 
 when those children are very young, and do not know 
 right from wrong, or good from evil, they take the place 
 towards them of God Himself. 
 
 " Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days 
 may be long upon the land which the Lord giveth 
 thee." 
 
 Then follow the five last Commandments, which all 
 relate to the behaviour of man to man. 
 
 We are to respect each other's lives, property, good 
 name, and not even covet our wealthier or happier neigh- 
 bour's possessions. 
 
 Now let us return to the First Commandment. 
 
 It is as follows : 
 
 " I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee 
 out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." 
 
 This hardly sounds like a Commandment, 1 but more 
 like a declaration, a note of authority, as it were, for 
 the rest. 
 
 God having made us a nation, having given us the 
 priceless boon of freedom, now lays down those laws 
 which we must keep if we wish to lead useful and happy 
 lives. 
 
 1 The Hebrew word translated commandment, is really " a word," 
 an utterance, a declaration.
 
 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 We next come to the Second Commandment : 
 
 " Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." 
 
 This Commandment is entirely directed against 
 idolatry, the worshipping of images of gods, whether in 
 the human form or in that of animals. This seems 
 strange to us now, when we are in no danger of making 
 idols of stone, silver or gold, and bowing down before 
 them ; but, in the old days of the Bible stories, idolatry 
 was the recognized custom of the people amongst whom 
 the children of Israel were thrown. The Egyptians were 
 idolaters, so were the numerous tribes who dwelt in 
 Canaan, and with whom the Israelites were soon to 
 come into contact. 
 
 The one great distinction between the Hebrew people 
 and other nations lay in their worship of the one true 
 God, and this was the religion or faith to which they 
 had to hold fast, and which it was to be their honour 
 and glory to transmit, or hand on, to other nations. If 
 they had relapsed into idolatry, they would not have 
 been a distinct people any more ; they would very 
 soon have been lost amongst the tribes who surrounded 
 them. 
 
 Of course, people are prone to follow the habits and 
 customs they see around them ; so it was really very 
 difficult for the Israelites to keep from idolatry, as diffi- 
 cult as many other things have become to the Jews in 
 these days. 
 
 But if we are not inclined to bow down and serve 
 graven images, it does not follow that we have renounced 
 idolatry, for do we not make idols to ourselves of other 
 things ? 
 
 I think many of us have made, or are in danger of 
 making, an idol of money or of what it may bring us. 
 Consider how hard and reckless we must become, if we
 
 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 think of nothing but of growing richer and richer every 
 year, if we only care for rich people, if we neglect all 
 our plain and pressing duties for the purpose of getting 
 more money. We may grow richer in money, but shall 
 we not grow poorer in other things ? Poorer in real 
 friends, in simple happiness, in health, in all the joy 
 that quiet and wholesome pursuits can bring us ? 
 
 Can you tell me of any more idols that we are setting 
 up in high places ? There are many others. 
 
 First and foremost there is self. Only think how 
 absorbing all our own interests, pursuits and pleasures 
 can become to us ; they must, of course, play a very 
 large part in our lives, but they should leave us free to 
 think of others, and not only to think, but to act for 
 them. A really beautiful character must be an unselfish 
 one ; we must be prepared to give up. One of the most 
 difficult things in life is this, as you all know, but still, 
 if we wish to cast down the idol of self, it must be done. 
 Are you preparing to do this ? 
 
 Dear children, are you really learning to give up 
 idolatry for the worship of what is holier and better ? 
 You may find it as difficult now as it was in the days of 
 old to your forefathers, but still many of them succeeded 
 in resisting the bad habits and customs of their neigh- 
 bours, so may not you do the same ? 
 
 " And if I said, I love Thee, Lord,' 
 He would not need my spoken word, 
 Because my daily life would tell 
 If verily I loved Him well."
 
 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 A PSALM OF LIFE. 
 
 TELL me not, in mournful numbers, 
 " Life is but an empty dream ; " 
 
 For the soul is dead that slumbers, 
 And things are not what they seem. 
 
 Life is real ! life is earnest ! 
 
 And the grave is not its goal ; 
 "Dust thou art, to dust returnest," 
 Was not spoken of the soul. 
 
 Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
 Is our destined end or way : 
 
 But to act that each to-morrow 
 Find us farther than to-day. 
 
 Art is long, and time is fleeting, 
 
 And our hearts, tho' stout and brave, 
 
 Still, like muffled drums, are beating 
 Funeral marches to the grave. 
 
 In the world's broad field of battle, 
 
 In the bivouac of Life, 
 Be not like dumb driven cattle ! 
 
 Be a hero in the strife ! 
 
 Trust no future, howe'er pleasant ! 
 
 Let the dead past bury its dead ! 
 Act act in the living present ! 
 
 Heart within, and God o'erhead.
 
 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 Lives of great men all remind us 
 We can make our lives sublime, 
 
 And, departing, leave behind us 
 Footprints on the sands of time. 
 
 Footprints that perhaps another, 
 Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 
 
 A forlorn and shipwrecked brother 
 Seeing, shall take heart again. 
 
 Let us, then, be up and doing, 
 With a heart for any fate ; 
 
 Still achieving, still pursuing, 
 Learn to labour and to wait. 
 
 Longfellow.
 
 II. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 THE Third Commandment runs thus : 
 
 " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God 
 in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that 
 taketh His name in vain." 
 
 If you remember, the First Commandment teaches us 
 to believe in the existence of one God, Who is the great 
 parent of the world, our ideal of perfect goodness and 
 holiness, and the fountain of all our best and purest 
 thoughts. 
 
 The Second Commandment tells us how we are to 
 worship God, and the Third forbids us to use His holy 
 name in any way that may be connected with an 
 untruth. 
 
 The Rabbis of old relate, that this Third Commandment 
 is one of the greatest importance, and that the whole 
 world trembled when it was proclaimed. 
 
 There is also an old and beautiful tradition ; that no 
 Hebrew would ever step upon a shred of torn paper, for 
 fear he might place his heel upon the name of the 
 Almighty, and thus unknowingly commit an act of 
 irreverence towards God. 
 
 Now this Third Commandment is specially directed 
 against using God's name for unworthy purposes hence 
 against irreverence. 
 
 Taking the Lord's name in vain means swearing 
 falsely, or in other words committing perjury. 
 
 It means using the holiest name that exists, in order
 
 8 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 to prove that a lie is not a lie, and bycalling God Himself 
 as witness to the truth of what we know is absolutely false. 
 
 Clearly, those who commit perjury must be dead to 
 all sense of honour, and deaf to the voice of conscience. 
 We can hardly credit that the perjurer believes in the 
 existence of a God, for were he to believe in what is the 
 very essence of truth God Himself how could he attest 
 a falsehood in God's holy name ? 
 
 Let no cowardice on your part, no fear of men or 
 love of approbation, no offer of gain, nor shame of the 
 world's opinion ever tempt you to swear falsely. Better 
 stand confessing the truth, however bad it may be, than 
 shelter yourself behind a false oath. 
 
 God's name is a very holy one ; it should not fall 
 lightly from our lips at any time ; it should be spoken 
 with reverence and love, as we pronounce the name of 
 our father and mother. 
 
 We should not use that name as an exclamation, or as 
 a word to which no importance need be attached. 
 
 In fact, we should not swear at all, for as Ebu Ezra 
 says : " He who has once accustomed himself to use 
 superfluous oaths, swears in one day to an infinite 
 amount, and that habit at last becomes so familiar to 
 him that he scarcely knows that he swears, and if you 
 reproachfully ask him why he swore just now, he will 
 swear that he has not sworn ; so great is the power of 
 the habit ; and at last his almost every assertion will be 
 preceded by an oath." 
 
 The Arabs, who were so closely connected with the 
 Hebrews for many years, had a proverb which contained 
 these words : " Never swear, but let thy words be yes 
 or no." Oaths, used as, alas ! we so frequently hear 
 them, make speech hideous ; and think what a beautiful 
 thing the gift of language is !
 
 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 Think what we can express in words ; content, 
 admiration, love, joy, all that is holiest and best. We 
 can make the heart glad by words of kindness ; we can 
 comfort the sorrowful by words of pity ; we can raise 
 up the broken-heaited by words of hope. We try to put 
 our best thoughts into words ; we make our sweetest 
 songs by adding words to music ; we speak to God 
 Himself in words of repentance and prayer. 
 
 And those who are careless in speech soon grow 
 careless in action, for the two things are very closely 
 united, and carelessness of action means that we cease to 
 care about striving to attain towards the highest ideal 
 of what is holiest and purest, but are content with a 
 very easy-going standard and pattern for our daily life. 
 
 The Commandment says: "that God will not hold 
 him guiltless who taketh His name in vain." That 
 means that God Himself will punish the perjurer who per- 
 haps may never be found out by man, for a false oath is 
 not like a theft or murder ; it is less easily discovered, 
 it may be hidden away for ages in man's own heart. But 
 God will in His own time send His own punishment. 
 Possibly, the voice of conscience, stifled when that false 
 oath was made, may awaken later on and grow trouble- 
 somely loud and active, bringing its owner to a burning 
 sense of the wrong he has done when it is too late to 
 undo the consequences of one false word ; or, may be, the 
 voice of conscience, silenced for good and all, allows the 
 perjurer to become more and more entangled in false- 
 hood, until he cannot escape from the meshes of the net 
 he has woven, and stands branded with deceit before his 
 fellow-men. 
 
 At all events, my children, God will not hold him 
 guiltless who takes His name in vain.
 
 io The Ten Commandments. 
 
 " Father ! To thy kind love we owe 
 All that is fair and good below ; 
 Bestower of the health that lies 
 On tearless cheeks and cheerful eyes. 
 
 Giver of sunshine and of rain, 
 Ripener of fruits on hill and plain ; 
 Fountain of light, that rayed afar, 
 Fills the vast urns of sun and star. 
 
 Yet deem we not that thus alone 
 Thy mercy and thy love are shown ; 
 For we have learned, with higher praise 
 And holier ways to speak thy ways. 
 
 In woe's dark hour our kindest stay 
 Sole trust when life shall pass away ; 
 Teacher of hopes that light the gloom 
 Of death, and consecrate the tomb. 
 
 Patient with headstrong guilt to bear, 
 Slow to avenge and kind to spare ; 
 Listening to prayer, and reconciled 
 Full quickly to thy erring child." Bryant.
 
 III. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 I AM going to talk to you about the Fourth Command- 
 ment. 
 
 " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 
 
 The Sabbath was given to us : 
 
 (1) For the worship of God. 
 
 (2) For our own recreation. 
 
 It is all summed up in these two words, worship and 
 recreation, and we will begin by the latter, because, if we 
 understand that word properly, it will help us to know 
 what the proper worship of God means. 
 
 Re-creation of body, mind, and soul. 
 
 You all know how tired we get of any one kind of 
 work, or of play too, for that matter ; we should be very 
 poor creatures unless we could occasionally change our 
 work or occupation. 
 
 Perhaps if we had been left to ourselves, we should 
 not have given this a thought, and we should have 
 arranged nothing but week-days ; but I do not think 
 we should have led very healthy or useful lives, for, if 
 we want to be useful, we must not neglect our health. 
 
 Therefore are we given this one day of rest, master,, 
 and servant, mistress and maid, teacher and pupil, factory 
 girl and shop boy even the poor beasts are not to be 
 forgotten, and I am sure they want this day of rest 
 quite as much if not more, than we do. 
 
 For, you see our tired bodies need building up again
 
 12 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 or re-creating. Now, how is this to be done ? Not by 
 rest alone, but by change of occupation. 
 
 In the same way, the poor hard-worked brain that has 
 been puzzling day after day over long columns of figures, 
 or difficult desk work, or perplexing business .of any kind, 
 must also have its re-creation. 
 
 If it were not for the seventh day of rest, how muddled 
 and distraught that poor brain would become, and I am 
 sure that the worker's temper would suffer as well. 
 
 There are some people who think their laws wiser 
 than God's laws, and who cannot bear to put their work 
 by even for one day, until at last the work puts them on 
 one side, for the brain refuses to do it, and nature calls 
 out very loudly for rest and change. 
 
 It would have been better to have taken it in God's 
 appointed time, would it not ? 
 
 There are others who grudge taking a Sabbath's rest, 
 not from their work, but from their play, until it ceases 
 to be play, and becomes work of the dullest de- 
 scription. 
 
 Work and play would both be brighter and happier if 
 God's laws were more closely obeyed. 
 
 And now let us see how the spirit can be refreshed 
 and re-created the spirit that is of God Himself, the 
 link between the Maker and His creatures. 
 
 Dear children, the spirit can slumber pretty soundly, 
 when body and mind are both at work, and the re- 
 creation of the spirit means its awakening and not its 
 rest. This is very hard for you to understand, I know. 
 Perhaps you have not thought much about it, nor re- 
 flected that men and women can be toiling with their 
 poor bodies, and working with their weary brain, whilst 
 the spiritual life is at its very lowest ebb. 
 
 And now tell me, how do we awaken the spirit ? How
 
 The Ten Commandments. 13 
 
 do we rouse it, so as to hear the voice of God in our 
 hearts ? 
 
 We must bring it into communion or touch with God 
 Himself. 
 
 The child cries, the mother hears the cry, she takes 
 the child in her arms, and answers it. 
 
 So must our cry go up, until God hears us, and 
 answers us. 
 
 Fervent, heart-felt, sincere prayer will bring us into 
 touch with God. 
 
 " I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined 
 unto me, and heard my cry." 
 
 " Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock ; be not 
 silent to me : hear the voice of my supplication when I 
 cry unto Thee." 
 
 " Hear my prayer, O God ; give ear to the words of 
 my mouth. Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my 
 prayer." 
 
 " O Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh 
 come." 
 
 The Bible is full of such prayer, and of the answering 
 voice of God. 
 
 The re-creation of the spirit is thus inseparably con- 
 nected with the worship of God ; for worship consists of 
 prayer and praise. 
 
 Part of the seventh day, the Sabbath, should therefore 
 be consecrated to communion with God, or as it is gene- 
 rally called : Divine worship. 
 
 In a quiet and solemn building, filled with devout 
 and reverent worshippers, our spirit should receive its 
 Sabbath of recreation. 
 
 Noble words, set to fine music, cheer and refresh the 
 spirit in a way that nothing else can do. 
 
 Having talked to you so far, about the re-creation of
 
 14 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 yourself, body, mind, and soul, you must see how the 
 true carrying out of that one word re-creation leads to 
 the proper worship of God. 
 
 This Fourth Commandment is a difficult one to ob- 
 serve rightly for various reasons. Let us think of some 
 of them. 
 
 (i) We are living, not in a Jewish, but in a Christian 
 country, under Christian laws, where, of course, the 
 habits and customs of the people are made for the con- 
 venience of a Christian community. Thus, on Sunday 
 the Christian Sabbath, the whole country takes its rest ; 
 we are surrounded by what I may call a Sabbath atmo- 
 sphere Business is suspended, shops are shut, places of 
 amusement are closed, and the houses of worship stand 
 open for those who like to enter, with iron tongues pro- 
 claiming what day it is " from dewy morn to dusky eve." 
 
 But our people have to take their rest amidst the 
 work and amusement of those around them ; it is as 
 if we were trying to read a solemn book in front of the 
 Royal Exchange at mid-day ; you know how difficult 
 that would be ! The rich or the idle are enticed by 
 amusements of every sort, and the poor by necessity 
 for they are constantly constrained to spend their Sab- 
 bath day in completing the work of the week, thus dis- 
 regarding God's laws. 
 
 Better would it be for both if they could take their 
 pleasure and their work on another day. For you know 
 the old rhyme, that says, justly enough : 
 
 " A Sabbath well spent 
 Brings a week of content." 
 
 Now we come to another difficulty. 
 As I said before, we are told not to work on the seventh 
 day, but to rest.
 
 The Ten Commandments. 15 
 
 Well, this word has many interpretations. What 
 might be rest to one would be only unutterable tedium 
 to another. 
 
 For remember we do not merely ask for repose, such 
 as a night's rest gives us, but the rest of recreation. 
 
 An old person would take his recreation in sitting 
 still, a young one would want well, children, you can 
 answer this question ? 
 
 A walk, change of scene, a game, even a little work 
 about the house would not come amiss anything might 
 be better than sitting in an armchair, with your hands 
 folded before you. Do not let us think for one moment 
 that innocent recreation, which is not giving work to 
 other, whose Sabbath it may be, can be wrong, 1 and do 
 not let us all insist upon spelling Rest in one way. 
 
 For remember that if we feel very much bored with 
 ourselves, and all the world besides, we shall not be 
 obeying God's laws. 
 
 True re-creation, as I have said over and over again, 
 implies change of occupation, and I must insist that, 
 without true recreation, we cannot keep the Sabbath 
 properly. 
 
 Let us think of some of the means we may use for 
 change and recreation on the Sabbath day. 
 
 (1) Reading. 
 
 (2) Listening to music. 
 
 (3) Looking at pictures and works of art. 
 
 1 There is a very eminent statesman who has two tables in his 
 study ; one is his work, the other his play-table. All his books on 
 history and politics (which mean the history of the present day) are 
 on the one table the table of work and of the week ; whilst on the 
 other are books of poetry, very old poetry written in the Greek 
 language, which he turns to when he wants to take his rest and 
 recreation.
 
 1 6 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 (4) Congenial talk. 
 
 An innocent game of play. 
 
 If possible, a walk into the country, learning some- 
 thing about flowers, plants, and animals. 
 
 We have been only thinking of ourselves hitherto, but 
 what does our Commandment say : 
 
 " Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work : 
 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, 
 in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor 
 thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, 
 nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gate." 
 
 Jews are very kind to their Jewish servants, and give 
 them as much rest and recreation as possible, and I trust 
 they are equally kind and considerate to their Christian 
 servants. For remember that they, too, have a Sabbath- 
 day, although it is not our seventh day, and they, too, 
 want refreshment for body, mind, and spirit 
 
 Dear young Jewish girls, when you grow up, if you 
 should ever have a little Christian maid, let her rest from 
 work on her Sunday, or if you should be fellow-servant 
 with a Christian girl, do her share of work on her Sab- 
 bath, as she may very probably do yours on your Sabbath. 
 
 Remember the stranger within thy gate. God's laws 
 were not only made for His own people but also for the 
 stranger. 
 
 And do not think that you can be pleasing God by 
 neglecting to do your duty, or refusing to do an act of 
 kindness on the Sabbath day. Do not give up nursing 
 a sick friend, or helping an over -worked Christian 
 servant, or taking your turn in any duty which cannot 
 be left for another day. The mere keeping to the letter 
 of the law is not enough, waken your spirit, so that you 
 hear God's voice through the letter, telling you what you 
 should do when you are in doubt.
 
 The Ten Commandments. 17 
 
 Now, we will not close this little talk about the Sab- 
 bath without giving a thought to the poor animals. 
 
 Their recreation must mean bodily rest. 
 
 Let them have it, whenever they can. 
 
 In this Christian country most people try to give their 
 horses a rest on Sunday ; let us respect their feelings, 
 and not be always grumbling at the want of cabs on that 
 day, nor at the difficulty of getting about. 
 
 Dear children, remember that much play for us may 
 mean a great deal more work for others, and should we 
 not be considerate of those others, even when they are 
 only the poor, weary, patient horses, who for one day in 
 the week ought to be allowed to stand without their 
 harness ? 
 
 And, let us make the seventh day holy and consecrate 
 it to God by thinking some good thought, by saying 
 some cheering word, or by doing some kind action on 
 that day. 
 
 " Hushed was the evening hymn, 
 
 The temple courts were dark, 
 
 The lamp was burning dim 
 
 Before the sacred Ark ; 
 
 When suddenly a voice Divine 
 
 Rang through the silence of the shrine. 
 
 The old man meek and mild, 
 The priest of Israel, slept ; 
 His watch the Temple-child, 
 The little Levite, kept ; 
 And what from Eli's sense was sealed, 
 The Lord to Hannah's son revealed, 
 C
 
 1 8 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 Oh, give me Samuel's ear 
 The open ear, O Lord ! 
 Alive and quick to hear 
 Each whisper of Thy word. 
 Like him, to answer at Thy call, 
 And to obey Thee, first of all. 
 
 Oh, give me Samuel's heart ! 
 
 A lowly heart that waits 
 
 Where in Thy house Thou art, 
 
 Or watches at Thy gates 
 
 By day and night, a heart that still 
 
 Moves at the breathing of Thy will. 
 
 Oh, give me Samuel's mind, 
 
 A sweet unmurmuring faith, 
 
 Obedient and resigned 
 
 To Thee in life and death, 
 
 That I may read with childlike eyes 
 
 Truths that are hidden from the wise." 
 
 /. D. Burns.
 
 IV. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 TO-DAY we are going to have a talk about the Fifth 
 Commandment : 
 
 " Honour thy father and thy mother ; that thy days 
 may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God 
 giveth thee." 
 
 Do you remember my telling you that this Command- 
 ment comes midway between those relating to God and 
 those which concern our fellow-creatures ? pointing out 
 as it were the position in which parents stand to their 
 children ? 
 
 God Himself is called our Father in the writings of the 
 Bible, His love and tenderness towards us being com- 
 pared to a father's love and tenderness for his children. 
 
 Let us turn to our Bible and look in the Book of 
 Psalms : that beautiful collection of hymns and songs 
 which will, I hope, one day be very familiar to you. Let 
 us find Psalm 68 ; there we shall see in the fifth verse : 
 
 " A father of the fatherless is God in his holy habi- 
 tation." 
 
 And in Psalm 103 : "Like as a father pitieth his chil- 
 dren, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." 
 
 Now let us turn to a chapter in the Book of the Pro- 
 phet Jeremiah. It is the thirty-first chapter and the 
 ninth verse, and there we shall find : "I (God is speaking) 
 am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born," and 
 again in Malachi, the last book of the Bible, these words 
 occur :
 
 2O The Ten Commandments. 
 
 l< A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master : 
 if then I be a father, where is mine honour saith the 
 Lord of Hosts." 
 
 For His people, the children of Israel, were disregard- 
 ing His commandments. Again, in the same book : 
 
 " Have we not all one father ? " 
 
 " Hath not God created us ?" 
 
 I am telling you these verses, dear children, sending 
 you back to the Bible for them, so that you should see 
 that God Himself did not disdain being called by the 
 name of Father, one of the grandest and most beautiful 
 names that human tongue can shape. 
 
 A great American preacher, a very good and deeply 
 religious man, spoke of God as " Father and Mother of 
 the Universe," feeling that all the tender and loving 
 qualities which endear mothers to their children must 
 exist in the all-embracing love of God, so that in praying 
 to God, he must think of Him as Father and Mother 
 combined. 
 
 Let us think a little of what parents, good parents, are 
 to their children. 
 
 They are the first human beings the little child sees 
 and knows the mother especially, for it is she who 
 watches and cares for her helpless baby ; there are 
 times when it is never out of her arms, and if she leaves 
 it for a moment, its cry soon fetches her back. 
 
 Then comes the first step, when the baby tries to stand 
 alone ; its mother must be there to steady it when it 
 totters, to guide the little feet across the room, to take 
 it lovingly in her arms if it falls, to soothe it when it 
 cries, and to encourage it when it makes good progress. 
 
 Baby, dear children, is a terrible tyrant, and its throne 
 is its mother's lap. Then conies the child's education, 
 its first lesson is its parents' work ; they are preparing
 
 The Ten Commandments. 21 
 
 the little scholar for school. Oh ! how sad it is when those 
 baby lips learn naughty vicious words from wicked com- 
 panions, which words must be unlearnt as soon as pos- 
 sible. The home lessons are very precious. 
 
 Dear children, do not neglect them, and honour those 
 teachers given you by God Himself. 
 
 For parents teach their children to love and know . 
 God, and to follow his Commandments ; they are not 
 only helping their children in this life, but preparing 
 them for a life to come ; they are the first ministers of 
 religion that a child knows. The mother teaches it to 
 pray, to listen to the voice of conscience, to take plea- 
 sure in reading God's word, to commune with God 
 Himself, and the earthly father should be leading his 
 children to their heavenly Father. In olden times, the 
 father of the family was also the priest, he built the altar, 
 and offered up the sacrifice, as in these days he presides 
 over the family worship on Sabbaths and festivals. 
 
 If a child has good and loving parents, how much 
 more easily he will be led to follow God's Commandments, 
 which seem to be the written wishes of these parents. 
 
 Of course you love your parents ; you cannot help it, 
 what an unnatural child you would be if you failed in 
 affection towards them ! 
 
 For think what a parent's, what a mother's, love is ! 
 
 There is nothing on this earth like it, no love can com- 
 pare with it, for it is utterly unselfish and self-denying ; 
 it gives everything and asks for nothing in return. You, 
 that have good mothers spared to you, should thank 
 God every night and morning most devoutly and most 
 reverently for that blessing ; do not neglect their lightest 
 word, their faintest wish, or the day may come when all 
 the tears you can shed will not wash away your misery 
 at having ever disobeyed their word.
 
 22 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 If there are any poor children amongst you here, who 
 have never known a father nor a mother's love, or, having 
 known it, remember it now only as a thing of the distant 
 past, then think of all that is purest, tenderest, deepest, 
 most unselfish, and picture to yourselves what you have 
 lost, and what God, our merciful Father, will give you 
 in Heaven, for it could not be Heaven without our good 
 and loving parents. 
 
 There are many boys and girls, too, who want to be 
 quite grown-up and grand. They endeavour to prove 
 their independence by speaking disrespectfully of their 
 parents, by carefully trying to keep out of their company, 
 by never showing them the slightest attention ; do they 
 know that in doing this, they are breaking God's law, 
 and not only making themselves most offensive, but 
 actually committing a sin ! 
 
 For they are trying to dishonour, instead of honouring, 
 father and mother, are they not ? 
 
 There is a book in the Bible called a Book of Proverbs ; 
 it is full of very wise sayings, some of which we should do 
 well to learn by heart, so as to have them ready at a 
 moment's notice. 
 
 Listen, my children : "A wise son maketh a glad father ; 
 but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." And again : 
 
 " Hearken to thy father and despise not thy mother 
 when she is old." And this one : 
 
 " Children's children are the crown of old men, and the 
 glory of children are their fathers." 
 
 And again, comparing, as I said before, God Him- 
 self to a father : 
 
 " My son despise not the chastening of the Lord ; 
 neither be weary of his correction 
 
 " For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a 
 father the son in whom he delighteth."
 
 The Ten Commandments. 23 
 
 Now tell me, children, how can you best honour your 
 parents ? 
 
 By giving them your complete trust, your ready obe- 
 dience, and your devoted affection. 
 
 Parents want to see their children attractive in person, 
 intelligent in mind, and faithful to God's laws in all their 
 actions ; they want them to grow into useful and happy 
 men and women, for who can be happy who is not useful ? 
 And by striving to be good and useful you are honour- 
 ing your parents. 
 
 Children, you can honour your parents by being truth- 
 ful, honest, upright, obedient, unselfish, and God-fearing. 
 
 By honouring your parents you will be laying in store 
 many a quality, which will stand you in good stead when 
 you are grown men and women. 
 
 In the Bible, children are called an heritage of the 
 Lord, they are as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, 
 and the man is called happy who has a quiver full of 
 them. 
 
 But alas ! many are the unhappy parents who have 
 wicked and ungrateful children children who bring dis- 
 honour on their grey hair and make their old age desolate. 
 
 We cannot bear to dwell on the sorrow which such 
 children must cause their parents, but rather on the 
 loving son and tender daughter, whose greatest joy in 
 life is to return in some measure to their parents all the 
 care and affection that have been so lavishly bestowed 
 upon them in their childhood and youth.
 
 24 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 SPEAK GENTLY. 
 
 SPEAK gently, it is better far 
 
 To rule by love than fear ; 
 Speak gently, let no harsh word mar 
 
 The good we may do here. 
 
 Speak gently to the young, for they 
 
 Will have enough to bear ; 
 Pass through this life as best they may, 
 
 'Tis full of anxious care. 
 
 Speak gently to the aged one, 
 Grieve not the careworn heart ; 
 
 The sands of life are nearly run, 
 Let them in peace depart. 
 
 Speak gently to the erring ones ; 
 
 They must have toiled in vain ; 
 Perchance unkindness made them so, 
 
 O, win them back again. 
 
 Speak gently, 'tis a little thing, 
 Dropped in the heart's deep well; 
 
 The good, the joy that it may bring, 
 Eternity shall tell. Anonymous.
 
 V. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 WE have now to consider the Sixth Commandment 
 " Thou shalt not kill." 
 
 It will probably strike you that such a Command- 
 ment is hardly required for children, or young people 
 like yourselves, who can have no inducement or tempta- 
 tion to take the life of a fellow-creature. 
 
 It can only be intended for quite grown-up people, 
 who must be so different to yourselves. 
 
 A murderer ! 
 
 How impossible for you to understand, or even to 
 guess at the nature of such a monster. Surely his face 
 would betray his uncontrollable passions, so that you 
 might quickly run away from him, were he ever to cross 
 your path ! 
 
 That is an idea of your own. A murderer, even one 
 of the most brutal, must once have been an innocent 
 child. 
 
 He may not have been so very different to you, for 
 you all have one thing in common with him, and that is 
 human nature. 
 
 His young life may have passed, happily enough, 
 alternately between work and play ; he may possibly 
 have had good parents, and a respectable home, and, 
 perhaps, when he stood up to repeat the Sixth Com- 
 mandment " Thou shalt not kill " he may have smiled 
 in the strength of his innocence, and have thought to 
 himself: "These words can never apply to me."
 
 26 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 No, the murderer does not necessarily begin life like 
 a wild beast and a monster, a creature set apart to be 
 shunned. 
 
 There lived in the time of Cromwell a writer of reli- 
 gious books, Richard Baxter, by name. 
 
 One day, when he was walking with a companion 
 through the streets of his native town, he was met by a 
 dreary procession a man being led by his gaolers to 
 the gallows. Baxter looked earnestly at the prisoner, 
 exclaiming to his companion : " If it were not for the 
 grace of God, there goes Richard Baxter." 
 
 We might all say the same ; if it were not for God's 
 help and protecting arm, if it were not for the good 
 teaching we are given by our parents and teachers, if it 
 were not for happy home influences, might we not fall 
 into temptation, and end by a disgraceful death ? 
 
 Not one of us can stand up and say : " I am perfectly 
 safe from sin." 
 
 For murder itself, the act of taking another life, is 
 hardly ever premeditated ; it is the outcome of some 
 very fierce passion which has not been kept under con- 
 trol. And such passions we may all have. 
 
 Now let us turn to our Bibles, from which we can take 
 so many lessons if only we know how to look for them, 
 and there, in the fourth chapter of Genesis, we shall find 
 the story of Cain and Abel. 
 
 Two brothers, both sacrificing to God ; the elder, Cain, 
 the tiller of the ground, placed the first-fruits of the 
 earth on the altar ; the younger, Abel, the shepherd, 
 slew and sacrificed one of the lambs of his flock. 
 
 God read the hearts of the two brothers, and He ac- 
 cepted one offering, and not the other. That is to say, 
 fire from Heaven fell and consumed the lamb, leaving 
 the first-fruits untouched.
 
 The Ten Commandments. 27 
 
 Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell ; his 
 anger was aroused. 
 
 The Lord spake unto him : " Why art thou wroth, 
 and why is thy countenance fallen ? If thou doest well, 
 shalt thou not be accepted ? and if thou doest not well 
 sin lieth at the door." 
 
 Cain, therefore, had been justly punished, and he was 
 warned in time, so that he might in future do well, and 
 deserve God's favour. 
 
 The opportunity was given to him, but he did not 
 take it. 
 
 He allowed himself to be mastered by two passions ;, 
 can you tell me what they were ? 
 
 (1) Anger at being reproved by God. 
 
 (2) Jealousy of his brother Abel. 
 
 These passions are by no means uncommon ; we may 
 all have the germs of anger and jealousy in our hearts, 
 and if we do not control them, they may one day be our 
 masters. 
 
 Mad with rage, Cain raised his hand against his brother 
 and slew him. In that one moment he became a mur- 
 derer that fatal action drove him out like a vagabond, 
 and called down the curse of God upon his own miserable 
 life. 
 
 The story of that one murder is the story of many 
 others. 
 
 Give way to a momentary fit of hatred, jealousy or 
 anger, and the innocent hand may become a blood- 
 stained one. 
 
 Cain, as the Bible story tells us, did not conquer his 
 evil passions, and so he fell ; unable to bear the first 
 word of reproof, he had to suffer the entire wrath of 
 God. 
 
 Children, learn to conquer yourselves, learn whilst
 
 28 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 you are young, for our passions grow with our growth, 
 and strengthen with our strength. 
 
 Passion, when unrestrained, disturbs the features, 
 makes harsh the voice, degrades the language, and 
 may even endanger the life of a fellow-creature. 
 
 You sometimes hear people say : " I do not mind a 
 passionate child ; anything better than a sulky one." 
 
 This is a very silly observation ; it does not follow 
 that because one thing is bad, another bad thing should 
 be better. 
 
 Avoid sulking, by all means, but curb your violent 
 passions as well. Sulkiness may make you a very dis- 
 agreeable companion, but it will not do what a violent 
 passion does. A passionate, hot-tempered child may 
 become a cruel murderer ; a man who gives way to fits 
 of anger may drive his wife to self-destruction ; a hasty 
 father may make hypocrites and liars of his children. 
 
 Conquer your passions, bridle your tongue, try to be 
 victorious over self. Each time you succeed in that 
 battle, you will have gained a great step, and the next 
 one will be comparatively easy. 
 
 Is that not the case ? If it be difficult to conquer self, 
 it is, for many, equally difficult to resist temptation. 
 
 What can this have to do with our Sixth Command- 
 ment ? Why, a great deal. 
 
 Many an innocent boy or girl has been led into evil 
 ways by bad companions. There is one word which it is 
 so difficult to say, and a short one too. 
 
 What is it ? 
 
 NO. 
 
 That is the word you must learn to say. 
 
 It must be a very decided No it must not sound at 
 all like Yes or Perhaps, but must be a good honest 
 No.
 
 The Ten Commandments. 29 
 
 Promise me that you will learn to say that word. 
 
 Pray to God to help you ; ask Him to make you very 
 strong and able to resist the temptations that bad com- 
 panions might hold out to you. 
 
 Do you know that it may take but a very short time 
 to forget your good training, to become discontented with 
 your life, disobedient to your parents, deceitful and un- 
 truthful ? 
 
 In the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs, there are 
 these few verses which you should learn by heart : 
 
 " My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If 
 they say, Come with us ... cast in thy lot with us, let 
 us all have one purse . . . walk not thou in the way with 
 them, refrain thy foot from their path, for their feet run 
 to evil, and make haste to shed blood." 
 
 Many a poor lad has been taken by evil and reckless 
 companions into the low gambling-house or drinking- 
 rooms ; many a bright and respectable girl, unknown to 
 her careful mother, has been tempted into the common 
 music-hall. How they must both have disliked this 
 first step, but how soon their feelings have become 
 blunted, until, at last, they are unable to exist without 
 their exciting and unwholesome amusement ! 
 
 The chaplain of a Metropolitan gaol was told one 
 morning by the governor that a prisoner had just been 
 brought in who was to be tried for murder. 
 
 The chaplain went to the cell and stood aghast ; a 
 mere boy was before him. 
 
 " This must be a mistake, my poor lad, what can have 
 sent you here ? " 
 
 " Indeed, Sir, I do not know," answered the prisoner, 
 looking up with dazed eyes ; " they tell me I have taken 
 another boy's life, but I remember nothing of it." 
 
 That poor boy, in a fit of drunken rage, had turned
 
 30 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 upon one of the companions who had led him to his ruin, 
 and had murdered him. 
 
 The blood was on his head, but was the guilt on his 
 soul alone ? 
 
 In his drunken rage he knew nothing of what he was 
 doing, and when he recovered consciousness his terrible 
 action stood before him, cursing him as God had cursed 
 Cain. 
 
 Children, repeat the Sixth Commandment over again ; 
 it is for you, and for me, and for all of us ; do not let us 
 think murder in our hearts, do not let our evil passions 
 be our masters. 
 
 Let us pray for strength to overcome evil, and to resist 
 temptation ; let our prayer be like the Psalmist's : " Cast 
 us not out from Thy presence (as Cain was cast out) and 
 take not Thy Holy Spirit from us." 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 THE Seventh Commandment is one which only concerns 
 those who have arrived at man's and woman's estate ; 
 therefore, we need not dwell upon it to-day, beyond say- 
 ing that the more modesty and self-restraint are culti- 
 vated in early youth, the less danger will there be in later 
 years of this Commandment being broken.
 
 The Ten Commandments. 31 
 
 ONE BY ONE. 
 
 ONE by one the sands are flowing, 
 One by one the moments fall ; 
 
 Some are coming, some are going, 
 Do not strive to grasp them all. 
 
 One by one thy duties want thee, 
 Let thy whole strength go to each ; 
 
 Let no future dreams elate thee, 
 
 Learn thou first what these can teach. 
 
 One by one, bright gifts from heaven, 
 Joys are sent thee here below ; 
 
 Take them readily when given, 
 Ready, too, to let them go. 
 
 One by one thy griefs shall meet thee, 
 Do not fear an armed band ; 
 
 One will fade as others reach thee, 
 Shadows passing through the land. 
 
 Do not look at life's long sorrow, 
 See how small each moment's pain ; 
 
 God will help thee for to-morrow, 
 Every day begin again. 
 
 Every hour that fleets so slowly 
 
 Has its task to do or bear ; 
 Luminous the crown and holy, 
 
 If thou set each gem with care.
 
 32 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 Do not linger with regretting, 
 Or for passing hours despond ; 
 
 Nor the daily toil forgetting, 
 Look too eagerly beyond. 
 
 Hours are golden links, God's token 
 
 Reaching heaven ; but one by one, 
 Take them, lest the chain be broken, 
 Ere the pilgrimage be done. 
 
 Adelaide A. Procter.
 
 VI. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 LET us have a talk about the Eighth Commandment : 
 " Thou shalt not steal." 
 
 You know how careful we are to teach our little chil- 
 dren in their nurseries, that they are never to take a cake 
 from the table behind their mother's or nurse's back, and 
 when the child outgrows its nursery and becomes a 
 school-boy or girl, then again the lesson is repeated, and 
 the child who steals a pencil or a marble from his play- 
 mate would be called a thief. 
 
 It is most important that children should be taught to 
 obey the Eighth Commandment from their very earliest 
 days ; many poor children never receive this teaching, 
 for they do not all possess that great blessing, good and 
 honest parents. 
 
 A dishonest father will not take the trouble to bring 
 his child up to be an honest man ; he may even wish 
 him to become a thief, for we know how many poor un- 
 fortunate children are taught to lie, steal and cheat from 
 their earliest years. There are many different kinds of 
 thieves, as there are many different motives for stealing, 
 not reasons, there can be no reason for wrong-doing, but 
 motives there may be, or rather circumstances which lead 
 to the evil action. 
 
 First there is the burglar or house-breaker. The man 
 who breaks into our house at night, and carries off the 
 money out of our box, or any of our little treasures. He 
 is generally in league with a companion, who watches 
 
 D
 
 34 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 outside, and gives notice if the police are coming. The 
 man wears soft shoes, so that he can move noiselessly, 
 and he uses false keys with which he can unpick almost 
 any lock ; he carries a dark lantern that will just give 
 him enough light for his evil work, besides all sorts of 
 instruments for cutting through doors and shutters, and 
 for opening bolts and bars. He comes to steal our 
 things in the dead of night ; sometimes he brings a poor 
 child with him, small enough to climb through a narrow 
 window, quick enough to help him in picking up the 
 booty. 
 
 If he be successful, he makes off with his ill-gotten 
 goods, joins his companion in the street, and hurries to 
 the nearest shop where stolen things are received and 
 bought. The shopman is also a thief, although not a 
 burglar, for he is taking that which another man has no 
 right to bring him. 
 
 But the burglar may be discovered ' before he can 
 escape, perchance by the police (those excellent friends 
 of honest people), or by the frightened inhabitants of 
 the house. Then in trying to defend himself, reckless 
 and desperate as he generally is, he may be led to 
 commit murder. If he should fall into the hands of the 
 police, he knows too well that sentence of death or penal 
 servitude for life will be passed upon him. 
 
 The companion watching for him in the street is a 
 thief, so is the receiver of stolen goods, so is the woman 
 who uses her delicate ringers to unpick the tell-tale 
 initials in stolen linen, so is the pick-pocket who frequents 
 crowded streets and places where people assemble for 
 amusement or business. 
 
 In many of our large railway stations we read warning 
 in big letters : Beware of pick-pockets. 1 There are thieves 
 
 1 There is a story, and a true story too, of a good clergyman
 
 The Ten Commandments. 35 
 
 who steal in what they might call a refined and gentle- 
 manlike manner ; they would not break into a house or 
 commit a murder, but they would abstract small sums 
 from their master's till, or alter figures in an account 
 book, and, if very clever with their pen, they would 
 even try and copy their master's name, which we call 
 forging. 
 
 Let us now think of some of the motives that may 
 make an honest man become a thief. 
 
 (i) There is idleness. 
 
 An idle boy who will not take kindly to his work 
 must do something for his livelihood, and stealing may 
 seem easier and at the first going off far more amusing 
 than working. It brings him into such gay company, 
 with boys and men who spend their time in a continual 
 round of excitement ! 
 
 The amusements themselves are often of a very expen- 
 sive character, and the young thief, boy or girl, man or 
 woman, is led on step by step, until he or she is unable 
 
 who used to go regularly once or twice a week to teach a room- 
 ful of young thieves. I wonder what they thought of the Eighth 
 Commandment ! 
 
 They were very quiet and attentive scholars, but one evening the 
 clergyman was astonished to find a very small class, and asked where 
 the absent pupils could be. " Out on business, sir," was the answer, 
 and the clergyman did not dare to pursue the subject. He hoped 
 that he could in time induce them to take to other and more honest 
 business by showing them that, after all, honesty is the best policy, 
 and that the wisest thing is to keep God's law. 
 
 During a great mission week in London, when sermons were 
 being preached daily in the largest churches in the metropolis, a 
 clergyman thought well to inform his congregation that a number 
 of pickpockets were scattered about the building. One of the 
 ladies present whispered to her companion : " I am so glad, for what 
 they will hear to-day may do them good." Let us hope it did.
 
 36 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 to return to an honest calling. We must have the habit 
 of work, to be able to work conscientiously. 
 
 (2.) Then there is the love of ostentation, of wishing to 
 appear richer in worldly goods than we are ; because our 
 friend and neighbour has risen in the world and has a 
 fine house, we must have one also, we must dress as 
 smartly, and receive as much company, and do all things 
 as he does. 
 
 But how can we make both ends meet ? Ah, there is 
 the difficulty ! it is perhaps not possible by honest means. 
 And so we are really going to be dishonest, no better 
 than the common thief or pickpocket. 
 
 (3.) Then there is the man who professes to sell that 
 which is not the genuine article : the dishonest trades- 
 man who adulterates his goods, puts alum into the 
 bread, water into the milk, sand into the sugar who 
 sells bad meat for good. 
 
 The man who scamps work and sells an imperfect article 
 for a perfect one ; the tailor, with his badly sewn gar- 
 ments ; the shoemaker, with his carelessly stitched shoes. 
 As they do not sell us our money's worth, or what they 
 profess to sell, they, or their workmen, are in reality 
 guilty of theft. 
 
 It constantly happens that a master employer has to 
 keep an overseer to watch his workmen, and to pay him 
 the money which might go towards more work. And 
 sometimes the overseer himself is a dishonest man, who 
 takes the money and lets his master be cheated as well. 
 
 England would be a richer country if there were less dis- 
 honesty. For, disgusted with our own bad goods, we often 
 buy foreign articles, which are better as well as cheaper 
 than our own. So that our money goes abroad into the 
 pockets of the foreigner, and our English people are 
 thrown out of employment.
 
 The Ten Commandments. 37 
 
 Builders, carpenters, painters in fact, men of all trades 
 seem bitten with this strange disease of dishonesty. 
 We are constantly hearing of ill-built houses which let 
 in the damp, of doors and windows that do not close 
 properly, and of paint that hardly dries before it drops 
 off in flakes. For this form of dishonesty we have to 
 pay with our health, sometimes with our lives. If there 
 are any boys or girls present who mean to go out as 
 apprentices, let me beg of them to do their work honestly; 
 do not let your companions teach you to cheat. If you 
 do you will be helping on that great army of Ruin that 
 is daily making England poorer than she need be, and 
 the poor will and must suffer first. 
 
 And you who are going to be maid-servants, and who 
 may one day have a certain control over your master's 
 possessions, remember that you will be guilty of stealing 
 if you permit waste in the household, if you buy unneces- 
 sary goods at his expense, or if you allow his things to 
 be spoilt through neglect or carelessness. The master 
 may be a very busy man, far too busy to look into the 
 details of every-day life ; he trusts his servants, as we all 
 wish to do. 
 
 The servant is not a thief ; how angry she would be if 
 such a frightful name were suggested ! She would give 
 warning immediately ; ay ! but she is a thief if she betrays 
 her master's trust in anything, if she squanders and 
 wastes his property, and if she misuses the power that is 
 placed in her hands. 
 
 Do you remember the story of Gehazi in the Bible, 
 who took as a present that which he had no right to 
 receive ? In fact, it was a form of stealing. 
 
 The servant of the great prophet Elisha Gehazi, was 
 not proof against the temptation of dishonesty. First 
 he was untruthful, and next he was dishonest, which
 
 38 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 indeed is constantly the case. It is impossible to be 
 transparently truthful in speech and dishonest in practice. 
 
 Unless our lives be true ones, they are worth very 
 little. 
 
 There is another motive for theft, and alas ! a very 
 common one in these days. An amusement, considered 
 very attractive by many of our young men, and grown 
 of late years very fashionable, has led unfortunately to 
 every shape of dishonesty. 
 
 I mean gambling and betting. 
 
 Most great thefts are the result of money losses 
 through gambling. Let me entreat all the boys here 
 present to have nothing whatsoever to do with the taking 
 or making of bets. Avoid betting men, betting lan- 
 guage, betting houses. Avoid, in the words of a great 
 writer, making your gains out of others' losses. 
 
 You cannot consort with them without danger ; the life 
 they would tempt you to lead would in all probability 
 mean breaking the Eighth Commandment. 
 
 We are warned against the sin of stealing not only in 
 the Ten Commandments, but in many other passages 
 in the Bible where mention is made of this particular 
 offence. 
 
 Let us look them out. 
 
 In the i Qth chapter of Leviticus, which contains a 
 repetition of many laws given by Moses to the children 
 of Israel, we find in the eleventh verse : 
 
 " Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one 
 to another." 
 
 Observe that in this verse stealing is placed in close 
 connection with false dealing and untruthfulness. 
 
 Listen to Jeremiah in the Qth verse of the /th chapter : 
 
 "Will ye steal, murder and swear falsely ? " 
 
 Again is stealing placed, not only in connection with
 
 The Ten Commandments. 39 
 
 false swearing, but also with the fact of committing 
 murder. 
 
 The prophet Zechariah, describing all that he sees in 
 a vision, exclaims : " This is the curse that goeth forth 
 over the face of the whole earth ; for everyone that 
 stealeth shall be cut off, and every one that sweareth 
 shall be cut off, and it shall enter into the house of the 
 thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely to 
 my name and it shall remain in the midst of his house, 
 and shall consume it with the timber and the stones 
 thereof." 5th chapter, 3rd verse. 
 
 Now listen to the prophet Hosea : 
 
 " Hear the word of the Lord, for the Lord hath a con- 
 troversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there 
 no truth, no mercy, no knowledge of God. By swearing, 
 and lying, and killing, and stealing, they break out 
 blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn." 
 Hosea, 4th chapter, 2nd verse. 
 
 It is inevitable that stealing should draw other sins in 
 its train ; when the Eighth Commandment is broken, then 
 the Sixth and Ninth will also be violated. 
 
 Of this we have ample proof in Bible history, and in 
 our own every-day life ; think of this, children, not only if 
 you should ever be tempted to take that which does not 
 belong to you, but still more should you feel inclined 
 to lead a life which conduces to dissipated extravagant 
 habits, expensive pleasures, and unworthy companion- 
 ship.
 
 40 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 HEROES. 
 
 THE heroes are not all six foot tall, 
 Large souls may dwell in bodies small 
 The heart that will melt in sympathy 
 For the poor and the weak where'er it be, 
 Is a thing of beauty, whether it shine 
 In a man of forty or lad of nine. 
 
 " Scattered Seed'' 
 
 " Lie not ; but let thy heart be true to God, 
 Thy mouth to it, thy actions to them both : 
 
 Cowards tell lies, and those that fear the rod : 
 The stormy working soul spits lies and froth. 
 
 Dare to be true. Nothing can need a ly : 
 
 A fault, which needs it most, grows two thereby. 
 
 Flie idlenesse, which yet thou canst not flie 
 By dressing, mistressing and complement. 
 
 If those take up thy day, the sunne will crie 
 Against thee, for his light was only lent. 
 
 God gave thy soul brave wings ; put not those feathers 
 Into a bed and sleep out all ill weathers. 
 
 By all means use sometimes to be alone. 
 
 Salute thyself: see what thy soul doth wear. 
 Dare to look in the chest ; for 'tis thine own : 
 
 And tumble up and down what thou find'st there. 
 Who cannot rest till he good fellows finde, 
 
 He breaks up house, burns out of doors his mind." 
 
 G. Herbert.
 
 VII. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 LET me hear the Ninth Commandment : " Thou shalt 
 not bear false witness against thy neighbour." 
 
 Can you explain to me what that means ? First, let 
 us think of the word " neighbour." 
 
 If we make use of that term in these days it is to de- 
 signate some one living in the same street as ourselves, 
 or in the next house, but in the old Bible days neigh- 
 bour was a much more general term. 
 
 It included relations, friends, acquaintances, even the 
 stranger within the gate. For we are expressly told in 
 the i Qth chapter of Leviticus : " The stranger that 
 dwelleth with you, shall be unto you as one born among 
 you, and thou shalt love him as thyself." 
 
 Now, let us see how the Bible speaks of our duties to- 
 wards our neighbours. Again turning to that same 
 chapter of Leviticus we find : " Thou shalt not defraud 
 thy neighbour, neither rob him ... in righteousness 
 shalt thou judge thy neighbour. Thou shalt not hate 
 thy brother in thy heart ; thou shalt in nowise rebuke 
 thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him . . . but 
 thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." 
 
 We are also told : " Devise not evil against thy 
 neighbour." " Be not a witness against thy neighbour 
 without good cause." 
 
 Now the Ninth Commandment is directed against this 
 very form of doing our neighbour harm this bearing of
 
 42 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 false witness in a court of law, accusing him unjustly, 
 bringing down a punishment upon him which he does 
 not deserve. 
 
 You will remember that the Bible says : " Lying lips 
 are an abomination to the Lord." 
 
 The lying lips which are directed against our neighbour 
 are doubly an abomination. For not only does that 
 imply the telling of a falsehood, but also the deliberate 
 intention of harming our neighbour. 
 
 We may be driven to such sin by jealousy, envy, 
 hatred, cowardice, or by the fear of being found out, and 
 the desire to shelter ourselves behind others. 
 
 We may tell one falsehood, and then, unable to 
 go back, give our false witness as the next step down- 
 wards. 
 
 Boys and girls, be not afraid of telling the truth ! Shrink 
 from your first lie as from a terrible disease, for moral 
 cowardice is at the root of many a sin ; it may drive you 
 to break this Ninth Commandment, as it may lead you to 
 break others. 
 
 And should you, under stress of circumstances, be 
 hurried or frightened into one lie, then boldly come for- 
 ward, as the occasion arises, and say : " I told a false- 
 hood yesterday to save myself, but to-day I will dare to 
 tell the truth? 
 
 It has been well said, that every lie, quite apart from 
 its baneful consequences, is a base crime an offence 
 against the nobleness of our own soul, because it is 
 treason against truth. 
 
 But, when this lie takes the shape of false witness, and 
 is spoken before a jury of men who are trying to sift 
 truth from falsehood, before a judge who is prepared 
 to pass sentence upon the accused, before the friends 
 and relations of the prisoner, before the world at large
 
 The Ten Commandments. 43 
 
 in the shape of the press, then it becomes a living thing, 
 and passes beyond our control. 
 
 It may then falsify justice, protect the criminal, con- 
 demn the innocent, and shatter our human belief in the 
 justice of God. 
 
 " A man," says the author of Proverbs, " that beareth 
 false witness against his neighbour is a hammer and a 
 sword and a sharp arrow." 
 
 Let him beware that the shaft of the arrow fly not 
 back and pierce his own heart. 
 
 There is yet another way of bearing false witness, and 
 that is by keeping silence, when a word from our lips 
 would proclaim the truth. 
 
 Silence can be the cloak of deceit, even as speech 
 can be its arrow. Here, again, we must call upon moral 
 courage to come forward and help us to speak the truth. 
 
 Boys and girls, pray that you may be brave in word 
 as well as deed, and help one another to be so ! 
 
 If you learn to speak the truth when you are very 
 young, it will soon become your second nature, and 
 you will never stoop to a falsehood. Girls are said to 
 be more untruthful than boys, possibly because they are 
 naturally of a more shrinking disposition. But they 
 may be helped into truthfulness. Alas ! they are often 
 frightened out of it for all their lives. 
 
 Remember that the first untruth stains the pure inno- 
 cent lips that God has given you, and may in time lead 
 you to break one of his Commandments.
 
 44 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 " They are slaves who fear to speak 
 For the fallen and the weak ; 
 They are slaves who will not choose 
 Hatred, scoffing and abuse, 
 Rather than in silence shrink 
 From the truth, they needs must think ; 
 They are slaves who dare not be 
 For the right, with two or three." 
 
 Lowell. 
 
 " Who by aspersions throw a stone 
 At the head of others hit their own." 
 
 George Herbert.
 
 VIII. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 LET me hear you repeat the Tenth Commandment : 
 " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt 
 not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor 
 his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything 
 that is thy neighbour's." 
 
 Let us think why God should have given His people, 
 the children of Israel, these Ten Commandments. Can 
 you tell me ? 
 
 They were given to teach the people to lead religious 
 and moral, useful and happy lives ; you see that I say use- 
 ful and happy, for it seems to me, that when we know we 
 are useful, we have already gained one element of happi- 
 ness. To be happy without being useful would imply a 
 degree of selfishness not possible to those who are really 
 and truly keeping God's Commandments. 
 
 It is, therefore, God Himself who teaches us how we 
 should fulfil our daily duties, how we should worship 
 Him, honour our parents, respect the life, property, and 
 good name of our neighbours, and show our appreciation 
 of the beautiful gift of language by not debasing it that 
 is to say, by not using foul words or telling falsehoods. 
 If we take God's lesson to heart, there will not be much 
 amiss in our conduct. 
 
 But we are not only to try and do no wrong, we are 
 also to think no wrong. 
 
 We cannot make boys and girls noble minded and 
 pure hearted simply by forbidding them to do wicked
 
 46 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 things, or by taking them out of the reach of temptation ; 
 we must make them see and note for themselves the 
 ugliness of sin, and the beauty of goodness. Now all 
 sin springs, more or less, from some form of selfishness 
 or self-indulgence, and virtue, or the absence of sin, from 
 self-denial or love of others. Thus God commanded 
 His children to sweep out of their hearts all selfishness, 
 which in the Tenth Commandment, is summed up in 
 the word " Covet." If we can keep this last and Tenth 
 Commandment, we shall not even have the desire of 
 doing evil. 
 
 The heart, the source of all desire, must be pure if our 
 actions are to be spotless. We cannot think evil and do 
 good, we cannot love self above everything and yet lead 
 self-sacrificing devoted lives ; therefore we are distinctly 
 told : " Thou shalt not covet." Thou shalt not wish to 
 possess that which is thy neighbour's property, that which 
 makes him rich or happy, or beloved, or honoured. 
 
 Do not envy your schoolfellow's quickness in learning, 
 nor the position he may have taken in his class nor the 
 reward he may receive ; envy is a sin which must be 
 swept out if you wish to keep your heart clean. Rejoice 
 in the pleasures and successes of your schoolfellows ; the 
 very fact of your rejoicing will gladden your heart, and 
 make your face pleasant to look upon. Indeed, when we 
 have learnt not to covet, we have learnt the very essence 
 or kernel of our religion to love our neighbours as our- 
 selves. Possibly you may have heard tell of the heathen 
 who appeared one day before the wise and learned 
 Hillel, saying, "I will follow your religion if you can 
 teach it me whilst I am standing upon one leg." The 
 Jewish sage answered directly : " What thou wouldst 
 not have others do to thee, that do thou not to them ; 
 this is the whole law, the rest is commentary."
 
 The Ten Commandments. 47 
 
 And indeed this one law, or whole law, as Hillel so 
 wisely called it, is really expressed in the Tenth Com- 
 mandment : " Thou shalt not covet." For, if we do not 
 wish to take anything from our neighbour for our own 
 benefit, but feel quite content in seeing him prosperous, 
 successful, and happy, we must really care very much for 
 him, or very little for ourselves. In these days of com- 
 petition, when getting on in life almost means trampling 
 someone else down (so hard is the struggle for life, so 
 fierce the battle), I am afraid we are often tempted to 
 break the Tenth Commandment. Oh ! how we may long 
 for a slice of our neighbour's wealth or good luck, or for 
 a little portion of his robust health, or courage, or per- 
 severance ! Could we but pilfer a little from this neigh- 
 bour, and a little from that one, we should be quite 
 safe to succeed and rise to the top of the ladder. And 
 so we are coveting what we do not possess, and our heart 
 itself is growing debased and impure. Not only do we 
 not gain what we covet, but we are losing our own gifts, 
 maybe our pluck for the struggle in which we are en- 
 gaged, our energy and our zeal in our work, our good 
 temper and cheerfulness in daily life, whilst of course 
 our actions suffer in consequence. For until we think 
 rightly we cannot act rightly. 
 
 May God keep us from breaking this Commandment ; 
 let us pray to Him for strength and help, and let us 
 resist the first accents of envy when envious passion 
 comes knocking at our hearts. 
 
 Envy transforms love into hate ; it is like the wand of 
 that wicked fairy godmother who could make all good 
 things seem evil, all lovely ones appear unlovely. We must 
 struggle with it and overthrow it with all our power, for un- 
 less we succeed in becoming its conqueror, it will conquer us.
 
 48 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 THE LAW OF LOVE. 
 2 KINGS, iv. 3. 
 
 POUR forth the oil, pour boldly forth, 
 It will not fail, until 
 Thou failest vessels to provide 
 Which it may largely fill. 
 
 Make channels for the streams of love, 
 Where they may broadly run ; 
 And love has overflowing streams, 
 To fill them everyone. 
 
 But if at any time we cease 
 Such channels to provide, 
 The very founts of love for us 
 Will soon be parched and dried. 
 
 For we must share, if we would keep 
 That blessing from above 
 Ceasing to give, we cease to have ; 
 
 Such is the law of love. R. C. Trench. 
 
 CHARACTER OF A HAPPY LIFE. 
 
 How happy is he born and taught, 
 That serveth not another's will, 
 Whose armour is his honest thought 
 And simple truth his utmost skill.
 
 The Ten Commandments. 49 
 
 Whose passions not his masters are 
 Whose soul is still prepared for death, 
 Not tied unto the world with care 
 Of public fame, or private breath. 
 
 Who envies none that chance doth raise 
 Or vice ; who never understood 
 How deepest wounds are given by praise, 
 Nor rules of state, but rules of good. 
 
 Who hath his life from rumour freed, 
 Whose conscience is his strong retreat ; 
 Whose state can neither flatterer feed 
 Nor ruin make accusers great. 
 
 Who God doth late and early pray 
 More of his grace than gifts to lend 
 And entertains the harmless clay 
 With a well chosen book or friend. 
 
 This man is freed from servile bands 
 Of hope to rise, or fear to fall ; 
 Lord of himself, though not of lands, 
 And having nothing, yet hath all ! 
 
 Sir H. Wotton.
 
 IX. 
 THE TREE. 
 
 " And he shall be like a tree planted by the river of water, that 
 bringeth forth fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither ; and 
 whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Psalm i. 3. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 You all know what great gifts of God are trees and 
 plants, how we enjoy their shade in the summer time ; 
 how beautiful they make the landscape ; and how dull 
 and dreary a town looks that has no trees planted in its 
 streets or open places. Trees are often mentioned in 
 the Bible ; let us think of some instances. First there 
 will occur to you the description of the garden of Eden, 
 with the tree of life, the tree of knowledge, that mys- 
 terious tree of knowledge upon which the whole story of 
 " the Fall " turns ; we can also recall the oak tree under 
 which Deborah (Rebekah's old nurse) was buried, and the 
 palm tree under which Deborah the prophetess sat when 
 she judged the people of Israel. 
 
 Who among you remembers the parable of the trees 
 in the book of Judges, and who can repeat the words of 
 Ezekiel, in which he compared the vine tree to Jeru- 
 salem ? Then there is the acacia tree of which the Taber- 
 nacle was built, and the cedar tree, the great cedar of 
 Lebanon, which furnished the wood for the structure of 
 Solomon's Temple. 
 
 A tree possesses two qualities use and beauty. Let 
 us first think of its use.
 
 The Tree. 51 
 
 It purifies the air we breathe, by inhaling or drinking 
 up the gas that would be injurious to us ; it refreshes us 
 by the shade of its branches, and by the moisture which 
 it exhales. A dry, treeless country is not nearly so 
 healthy as one that is plentifully wooded. 
 
 The tree gives us wood for building, and for endless 
 household articles. 1 Also for the making of boats and 
 ships, that carry our fishermen, our merchants, and brave 
 mariners across the seas. Although the men of war are 
 now fashioned out of iron instead of wood, still, their 
 decks are made of wood, as they were in the days of our 
 great naval heroes, when Campbell sang 
 
 " For the deck it was their field of fame 
 And Ocean was their grave : " 
 
 In some countries, where there are no coal pits, people 
 are obliged to use wood for firing, and to cut down great 
 forest trees so as to have a bright fire on their hearths ! 
 
 Some trees, as well as many shrubs and plants, give us 
 fruit for eating and drinking, supplying us with several of 
 our best and favourite beverages. Think of the apple, 
 pear, plum tree, etc., the cocoa-nut tree, the tea and 
 coffee plants. And there is one tree, the cotton tree, 
 which gives us a great part of our clothing. What should 
 we do without it ? 
 
 Other trees and plants have medicinal, or healing 
 qualities, and are most valuable in cases of sickness. 
 For instance, quinine allays fever, hemlock and opium 
 cause sleep, belladonna unconsciousness, whilst the 
 eucalyptus tree purifies the air, and is therefore planted 
 in swampy fever-haunted places, such as the country 
 about Rome. 
 
 Then the bark of certain trees is used for a medicine 
 
 1 Let the children name some.
 
 52 The Tree. 
 
 which gives strength and which we call " a tonic," and 
 from the bark of other trees is extracted a gum employed 
 for a variety of purposes. Pine trees give forth a deli- 
 cious aromatic odour which is full of health and strength- 
 giving properties. 
 
 Talking of perfumes, the sandal-wood tree is much 
 used for its delicious scent, and the blossoms from the 
 orange tree are converted into sweet smelling essence, 
 which we call orange-flower water. 
 
 As for the beauty of trees, there is no manner of doubt 
 about that. We all admire a stately wide spreading 
 tree, whether in the winter when the delicate tracery of 
 its branches stands out clearly against a frosty rose- 
 tinted sunset sky, or in the early spring time, when 
 
 " The trees are standing in a mist of green," 
 
 or in the summer when the trees are in their full pomp 
 and glory, or perhaps most of all in the autumn when 
 you find 
 
 " Every bush you see 
 With scarlet patches tagg'd and shreds of grey." 
 
 How ugly and dreary our towns would be without their 
 beautiful parks and gardens, and what endless pleasure 
 these give to many a one whose only knowledge of trees, 
 shrubs, and flowers is gained from such places as Hyde 
 Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent's Park, Battersea 
 Park, or any of the parks and gardens of our provincial 
 towns. 
 
 Now let us have a talk about the tree itself. First 
 there are the roots hidden away and fixed in the ground. 
 They prevent the tree from being blown down, or dis- 
 placed, and they catch the soft rain that trickles into the 
 ground, and feed the tree with it. 
 
 What we see rising up from the roots, tall, straight
 
 The Tree. 53 
 
 and firm, is the stem ; it is different in many trees, but 
 it would be useless if it were not to support the branches, 
 which go forking out from it in all directions. And 
 these branches carry the foliage, which for six months of 
 the year, in most trees, are the givers of shade and 
 moisture, fed by invisible food carried to them by the 
 roots. 
 
 The life-blood of the tree is the sap, which helps first 
 to produce the flower and then the fruit the aim of the 
 whole tree's existence. 
 
 We must now return to what the Psalmist says : 
 " Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of 
 the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor 
 sitteth in the seat of the scornful " . . . . and he shall be 
 like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth 
 forth fruit in his season." 
 
 The life of the good man or good woman should have 
 its own special use and beauty. 
 
 The roots that keep it firm and unwavering are reli- 
 gion or faith ; they uphold the stem, or character ; that 
 should be upright, firm, full of resisting power; from it 
 spring the branches or qualities of the good man. 
 
 The Bible stories have handed many down to us : 
 Moses, the meekest of men, David, the shepherd king, 
 Ruth, the good Moabitess, Esther, who saved her people. 
 
 But we need not only turn to the Bible if we want to 
 know the names of good men and women, the history of 
 all countries has written them on its pages, and we 
 know many who have lived here amongst us, and whose 
 names have become as " Household Words." l 
 
 There have been good men and women of all times, 
 all ages, all races, and all religions ! 
 
 1 Howard, Wilberforce, Mrs. Fry, Sir Moses Montefiore, Gordon, 
 etc.
 
 54 The Tree. 
 
 Through God's grace they have been strong enough 
 to resist temptation, and so to overcome evil with good. 
 
 Their lives would have been of little avail, had it not 
 been for its fruit or object, for good, pure thoughts must 
 be translated into useful deeds if they mean anything. 1 
 
 There are two verses in the wise collection of sayings 
 called Proverbs : 
 
 "The righteous shall flourish as a branch." "The 
 fruit of the righteous is a tree of life." Do they not 
 seem to fit in well with the third verse of the first 
 Psalm which we quoted at the beginning of our chapter ? 
 
 " And he shall be like a tree planted by the river of 
 water, that bringeth forth fruit in his season, his leaf 
 also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall 
 prosper." 
 
 " The righteous shall flourish as a branch " the 
 branches of the trees during some months of the year, are 
 crowned with foliage their crown and glory, and contri- 
 bute, in no small measure, to the beauty of the world. 
 
 Shall I tell you how we also, like the tree clad in all 
 the wealth of its summer glory, can help in making the 
 world in which we live a brighter, happier, and a more 
 beautiful place ? 
 
 By trying to do some good and unselfish action each 
 day, by withholding our lips from evil. The good man's 
 life is always useful and beautiful ; in fact, it can hardly 
 be one without the other. 
 
 1 Some men and women may be compared to the eucalyptus 
 tree, for they sweeten and purify the air around them. They make 
 the people who come in contact with them feel all the better and 
 therefore the happier for having known them. No bad, low 
 thought can be expressed in their presence, no ignoble joke in- 
 dulged in, and no bad word spoken, and like the tree they destroy 
 evil by their own purity.
 
 TJte Tree. 55 
 
 I wonder whether you have ever read any of the 
 prophet Isaiah's writings ; at all events, remember this one 
 verse : " Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with 
 him, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings." 
 
 And so try and remember that as a decaying tree 
 cannot bring forth good fruit, so a man or woman of 
 impure thoughts and low morality can hardly be ex- 
 pected to lead a life full of good actions. 
 
 The one must be the result of the other. 
 
 In the work of a good man's life, nothing is lost. 
 " His leaf also shall not wither." The lightest word of 
 the good and wise, say the Rabbis, has a worth of its 
 own, and deserves to be pondered over.
 
 5 6 The Tree. 
 
 "The day is thine, the night also is thine." Psalm Ixxiv. 16, 
 17- 
 
 " Thou art, O God ! the life and light 
 Of all this wondrous world we see ; 
 Its glow by day, its smile by night, 
 Are but reflections caught from Thee. 
 Where'er we turn, Thy glories shine, 
 And all things fair and bright are Thine. 
 
 When day, with farewell beam delays 
 Among the opening clouds of even, 
 
 And we can almost think we gaze 
 Through golden vistas into heaven. 
 
 Those hues that make the sun's decline 
 
 So soft, so radiant, Lord, are Thine. 
 
 When night, with wings of starry gloom, 
 O'ershadows all the earth and skies, 
 
 Like some dark beauteous bird, whose plume 
 Is sparkling with unnumber'd eyes ; 
 
 That sacred gloom, those fires divine, 
 
 So grand, so countless, Lord, are Thine. 
 
 When youthful spring around us breathes, 
 Thy spirit warms her fragrant sigh ; 
 
 And every flower the summer wreathes 
 Is born beneath that kindling eye. 
 
 Where'er we turn Thy glories shine, 
 
 And all things fair and bright are Thine." 
 
 Moore.
 
 X. 
 AN OPEN WINDOW. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 OUR talk to-day will be about an open window. Let us 
 think of the use of a window. We can hardly imagine a 
 room without one, for it would be dark, and not fit to 
 live in. 
 
 We could not exist without light and air. Some poor 
 people have to live in unhealthy cellars, where they enjoy 
 very little light, and others have to work down below 
 the surface of the earth, in mines where they have only 
 the light of their lamps to see by, with very close air to 
 breathe ; whilst others, again, both poor and rich people, 
 Stubbornly keep their windows closely shut for fear of 
 draughts, and so let in as little fresh air as possible. 
 
 Without light and fresh air, children would fade away 
 and pine, until at last they would become sad little in- 
 valids, and die long before they have grown into men 
 and women. 
 
 No one can work well, or accomplish any really good 
 thing, unless he or she be working in fresh air and bright 
 light. 
 
 When you have all been sitting for a long time in your 
 heated school-room, you may not feel how close the air 
 has become ; but, if your head begins to ache, and your 
 eyes grow tired, you may be sure that the room wants 
 airing, as we should say, and the work will be better 
 done if the window is flung open.
 
 58 An Open Window. 
 
 Now, I am going to tell you about some other windows 
 they are invisible ones, but still they exist for the 
 matter of that, as many invisible things do. 
 
 These are windows in our own souls, which we keep 
 tightly closed or open as we like. These windows of 
 our soul let in light and air. But first let us ask what 
 light this is that gives brightness to the soul's chamber. 
 
 We shall find an answer in the Psalms. Look at the 
 27th, verse i : 
 
 " The Lord is my light and my salvation." 
 
 Again (Ps. iv. 6): 
 
 " Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance 
 upon us." 
 
 Also (Ps. xxxvi. 9) : 
 
 "In Thy light shall we see light." 
 
 And (Ps. xix. 105) : 
 
 " Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto 
 my path." 
 
 The light that we can let into our souls the bright 
 and pure light of God is what I shall call spiritual life, 
 for want of a better term. 
 
 That light comprises : 
 
 (1) The Word of God, which, as the Psalmist says, is 
 " A lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." 
 
 (2) The knowledge of God, which is given to those 
 who lead a pure life : " The pure in heart shall see 
 God." 
 
 (3) Communion with God, which means prayer, real 
 heart-felt prayer, not words mumbled over without the 
 spirit of prayer. This is the light that may stream into 
 the window of the soul. 
 
 Light enables us to see, and to understand what we 
 see, but the air which we take in with every breath is 
 necessary in order that we should live at all, and upon
 
 An Open Window. 59 
 
 its nature, whether pure or impure, depends the health 
 of our body. Now, having admitted light, let us open 
 wide the window of the soul, for the pure fresh air to 
 enter, in life-giving bracing draught ! 
 
 And what is that ? 
 
 It is the spirit of God Himself, which is indispensable 
 to the real and complete life of the soul. 
 
 The breath of God, unseen, but felt. 
 
 My children, have you ever watched the rippling 
 waters of a stream ? Have you ever seen how the surface 
 is stirred ? 
 
 You hear the faint sound of the water, but the power 
 that produces the sight and sound is unseen. Well, 
 invisible is the spirit of God no one has ever seen it, 
 but many have felt it ; they have heard it in the voices, 
 in the written words of good men and women. It has 
 helped many a poor struggling creature, and has proved 
 very strong armour against temptation of all kinds. 
 
 It has given to the weakest people courage, to the strong 
 modesty, and has crowned the most miserable with joy. 
 
 We can all breathe it, provided we open the windows 
 of our souls wide. But, no doubt, for some, whose heart 
 and lungs may be weak, accustomed only to the impure 
 air of the dismal chambers of their souls, the strong fresh 
 air, when suddenly the window is flung open, is almost 
 too strong and too fresh. For there are regions in the 
 heights of life, like the mountain tops, which tower above 
 the plains, where the air is so pure that only those ac- 
 customed to dwell on those heights can breathe and live. 
 The people, my children, dwelling upon these heights, 
 are those who have drawn into themselves most freely 
 and fully the spirit of the Lord ; they are the inspired 
 ones, the prophets and seers. 
 
 Examples are to be found in all ages of men, women
 
 60 An Open Window. 
 
 and children who have been helped with this great gift 
 of inspiration. Moses was told by God Himself : " Take 
 thee Joshua, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thy 
 hand upon him." 
 
 Elijah, the prophet, was blessed with this spirit, for 
 the gift of which Elisha prayed. 
 
 Samuel, the child in the Temple, was full of God's 
 spirit, for did he not hear the Divine voice when Eli's 
 ears could not distinguish it ? And David, the shep- 
 herd-boy, who slew the giant Goliath, and charmed 
 away the madness of Saul, was also blessed at that early 
 part of his life with the spirit of God. 
 
 Now, there are people in the world who are ready to 
 help us by letting in more light and air into our souls. 
 
 They are those who, by deed and example, not only 
 by word, show us how to do our duty, just the one duty 
 that lies before us, however hard and distasteful it may 
 be. Those who forget themselves in their love for 
 fellow-men, those who bear pain bravely, who have 
 learnt 
 
 " That the courage that dares, 
 And the courage that bears, 
 Are really one and the same." 
 
 Also those who are good sons and daughters, brothers 
 and sisters, all open the windows, not only for themselves, 
 but to help and encourage others, and thus let in a broad 
 stream of light, and a fresh wave of pure air. 
 
 Then there are those who try and teach us what is 
 right and good for us to know. 
 
 Those who help us to resist temptation, who show us 
 the ugliness of sin, the beauty of a pure life. 
 
 Those who put the best books before us/who let us 
 hear the grandest music, or see the pictures that teach 
 us something noble and inspire us to do great deeds.
 
 An Open Window. 61 
 
 Those who help us to the enjoyment of sights and 
 sounds, by taking us out of this huge smoky city into 
 the fresh green country they are all opening so many 
 windows into our souls. 
 
 But there are others who, alas ! are shutting up those 
 windows, or trying to do so. We must not let them 
 succeed. 
 
 Who are they ? 
 
 Those who are leading us into bad habits, and bad 
 actions, by evil example. Those who give us bad books 
 with low aims, who can only make music and painting 
 suggest and represent ignoble thoughts and low sub- 
 jects. Those who make sin attractive, and goodness 
 dull. 
 
 They are fast closing the windows of the soul against the 
 air against the spirit, the presence of God. And soon 
 they will be effectually darkening every window against 
 the light, the knowledge of God, or goodness itself. 
 
 Listen to what the prophet Isaiah says to such 
 people : 
 
 " Woe unto them that put darkness for light and light 
 for darkness. " 
 
 And listen to what he says to those who are eager for 
 the light to break in upon them : 
 
 " We wait for light, but behold obscurity ; for bright- 
 ness, but we walk in darkness." 
 
 But, dear children, do not forget that you may be 
 helped in the opening of those windows of the spirit by 
 direct prayer ; neglecting this, you will be keeping out 
 the light with closed shutters. 
 
 It is strange how soon we grow accustomed to the 
 dark, just like the poor people who work in the mines 
 and live in cellars ; but pray do not think there is any 
 advantage in it ; the health of the soul is bound to droop
 
 62 An Open Window. 
 
 and fade, like the health of the body, unless it can 
 receive the light and air which come with the knowledge 
 of God, and the constant in-pouring of His Spirit. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 I NEED not fear : the Lord is nigh, 
 
 And He doth vigil keep ; 
 He watches with unwearied eye, 
 
 Whether we wake or sleep. 
 
 No sparrow falleth to the ground 
 
 But He its course doth know ; 
 He sees each thing, He hears each sound 
 
 However small or low. 
 
 The weakest child He will not spurn ; 
 
 To Him He bids us come, 
 To Him in grief or gladness turn, 
 
 And seek our heavenly home. 
 
 I need not fear : His love is great, 
 
 His care will never cease ; 
 And if we trust in Him, and wait, 
 
 He gives us joy and peace. Lady Lindsay.
 
 XI. 
 ON SERVICE. 
 
 " Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their 
 masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress ; 
 so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy 
 upon us." Psalm cxxiii. 2. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 I AM going to talk to you to-day about the duties of 
 servants to their masters, and not merely about such 
 duties, but also about what may be the joys of service. 
 
 The verse we have just read occurs in one of the 
 Psalms or songs of the Bible ; it shows us, from the first, 
 that the writer did not look upon service as lowering or 
 degrading ; if he had done so, he could not have used 
 these words which mean so much : " As the eyes of 
 servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the 
 eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress ; so our 
 eyes wait upon the Lord our God." * 
 
 The Jews as a race are not fond of service, for they 
 are generally of a very independent character, and both 
 
 1 We should remember that, according to Oriental habits, the 
 hand of the master is constantly used to direct the servant in his 
 duties. The master claps his hands, the servant enters, the former 
 points, let us say, to his pipe, or to the cup of coffee which his 
 servant brings him. He talks less than we do in western countries, 
 and the eyes of the servants look literally to their masters' hands, 
 for direction as well as for reward.
 
 64 On Service. 
 
 men and girls prefer almost any kind of factory work to 
 domestic service. But it seems to me a great mistake 
 that Jews or Jewesses should follow a few trades and 
 occupations exclusively, such as tailoring, boot-making, 
 cigar rolling, etc. We should like to distinguish the 
 race, not so much by the business which they follow, as 
 by the way in which they devote themselves to whatever 
 business they have in hand; by their industry, their 
 honesty, their fidelity and the personal interest they 
 take in the success of their employers' affairs. 
 
 It would be well for all engaged in business or service 
 to remember these words : " Seest thou a man diligent 
 in his business, he shall stand before kings." Prov. 
 xxii. 29. 
 
 Then, as to independence, I have nothing to say 
 against it ; it is a great quality, and may help us in 
 many ways to stand alone and not to depend too much 
 upon others for getting on in life. 
 
 But independence of character can and should go 
 hand in hand with a regular, well-ordered life, and also 
 with the discipline and obedience required in service. 
 Perhaps it is this very self-discipline and regularity to 
 which you object. Yet these two qualities may do much 
 to improve your whole nature and in reality to make you 
 more independent and better able to stand alone. For 
 they will teach you some very valuable lessons, which 
 you can more readily learn in the school of service than 
 anywhere else. 
 
 I should like to ask you what is required of you in service. 
 You will answer : to be obedient, and to do your duty, 
 whatever that may be. 
 
 I will add to that : do your duty cheerfully ; this one 
 word will make all the difference in the relationship 
 between master and servant. 
 
 \
 
 On Service. 65 
 
 Now, those boys and girls who have learnt to do their 
 duty cheerfully have already learnt one great lesson ! 
 
 Next follow what you may possibly think lesser 
 virtues, such as : cleanliness, as opposed to dirt ; order 
 and tidiness, as opposed to a general litter; a gentle 
 and quiet speech, instead of loud voices and often 
 boisterous mirth. 
 
 Lastly, a real distaste for low amusements ; strange 
 to say, you will be getting independent of many of your 
 old pursuits, and you will find compensation in other 
 things, which may now appear to you as offering but 
 little fun. 
 
 A good master or mistress will always respect a truth- 
 ful, upright servant, who, when it is not a matter of 
 conscience knows how to give way cheerfully. 
 
 And a bad master or mistress, one who fears neither 
 God nor man, but who leads a lazy, selfish and vicious 
 life, may be shamed into better things by the example 
 of a good servant. Such cases are on record ; you may 
 even have heard of them yourselves. 
 
 And why, after all, should not Jews and Jewesses take 
 their share in service ? They are now able to enter all 
 or nearly all professions and trades in most civilized 
 countries of the world ; they are no longer living as a 
 nation within a nation. A Jew can be a soldier, a doctor, 
 a lawyer, a government official ; a Jewess can take her 
 place as teacher of the young, as nurse to the sick, as 
 accountant, as secretary they can, without ceasing to 
 be Jews, play very important parts in the life of the 
 nation. 
 
 Domestic service must not be omitted from this 
 national existence, and we should like to see our Jewish 
 youth freely coming forward, and claiming their right 
 to enter the useful army of household servants. 
 
 F
 
 66 On Service. 
 
 Let us now turn to our Bibles, and see if we can there 
 find any special mention of servants. 
 
 We will look into Gen. ch. xxiv. ; it tells us how 
 Abraham, being an old man, well stricken in years, 
 lonsred to find a wife for his son Isaac. So he called 
 
 o 
 
 for his faithful servant l Eliezer, in whom he had perfect 
 confidence, and sent him to his old Mesopotamian 
 home, whence to bring back a bride for his son. The 
 story of Eliezer's errand of trust is very simply and beau- 
 tifully told ; faithful, pious, and God-fearing, he was the 
 very man to send upon such a mission ; he carried 
 out his master's commands to the letter, and, being ever 
 neglectful of self, and thoughtful of his trust, refused 
 to touch the meal that was set before him until he had 
 delivered his message. " I will not eat," he said, in 
 the old words of the Bible story, " until I have told my 
 errand." 
 
 Early the next morning, when Rebekah had been 
 won for his master, Eliezer begged of his host to allow 
 him to return to Abraham. 
 
 Neither the temptations of the feast, nor the pleasure of 
 repose, could wean him from the prompt performance of 
 his duties. 
 
 Rebekah herself must also have known what a 
 good and faithful servant meant. Otherwise, her nurse 
 Deborah, who accompanied her out of Mesopotamia, 
 would not have been mentioned in the Bible. Tradition 
 
 1 Eliezer, the eldest servant of his master's house. He had com- 
 plete command of all that his master possessed ; he was the 
 steward of the household. The slaves of the Hebrews were really 
 servants, respected, and cared for, over whom their masters had no 
 power of life and death. They could not be compelled to serve 
 more than six years, and on the seventh they were free to go out 
 at large. Exodus, xxi.
 
 On Service. 67 
 
 says that she was sent from Canaan by Rebekah, who 
 had grown anxious on account of the prolonged absence 
 of Jacob, and that it was on his homeward journey, while 
 this honoured servant was in his following, that she died. 
 This event took place at Bethel the house of God 
 and there she was buried under the spreading branches 
 of an oak, which was called "the oak of weeping" in 
 commemoration of her death. 
 
 Probably Jacob and his caravan passed by that tree 
 many years later, when he was returning to his father's 
 home in Hebron, and doubtless some herdsmen or other 
 wanderers there may have told of the faithful and well 
 beloved servant resting beneath its shade. (Gen. ch. 
 xxxv.) 
 
 Nor should we forget to class Joseph amongst the 
 zealous and trustworthy servants of the Bible. He, 
 who had breathed all his life the fresh air of Shechem 
 and Hebron, was taken from his simple tent and his 
 flocks to be transplanted into the very centre of wealth 
 and civilization. For he became the servant of the chief 
 officer in Pharaoh's guard. He must have been a highly 
 conscientious and noble minded youth, loved and re- 
 spected by his master, and when, later, through no fault 
 of his own, he was cast into prison, he was chosen by 
 the governor, on account of his rare virtues, to overlook 
 all the other prisoners. 
 
 He rose yet higher in the ranks of personal service, 
 for he became the ruler and governor of the people, second 
 only to Pharaoh himself, though still the king's faithful 
 and trustworthy servant. It is only those who fulfil each 
 small duty in life honestly and conscientiously, who can 
 hope to succeed in any great and responsible position. 
 
 And now let us turn to the 2 Book of Kings, ch. v., 
 and find the story of the little Jewish maid.
 
 68 On Service. 
 
 Naaman, the great captain of the Syrian army, the 
 commander-in-chief of the king's host, was the most 
 powerful and honoured of men in all Syria. 
 
 But little did this avail him, who was suffering 
 from a terrible disease that of leprosy. Thank God ! 
 we have no lepers in England, but the illness, common 
 enough in some countries, is both incurable and in- 
 fectious. The Bible tells us that in Palestine lepers 
 were forced to live apart from all other men, and to 
 call out " unclean, unclean," when a healthy person ap- 
 proached them. 
 
 Well, Naaman, the great captain of Syria, was nothing 
 more nor less than a poor leper. 
 
 His miserable condition touched the tender heart of a 
 little Jewish slave, who had been brought back a captive l 
 from her own country and presented to Naaman's wife. 
 That was service indeed, from which there could be no 
 appeal, for it was not likely that the little captive would 
 be permitted to return to her own land. Hearing of 
 Naaman's disease, and remembering the prophet Elisha, 
 and the miracles he wrought, she said to her mistress : 
 " Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in 
 Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy." 
 
 This was repeated in due course to the king of Syria, 
 who giving full credit to the little maid's words, sent 
 Naaman, his favourite, to the king of Israel with gold 
 and silver, and ten changes of raiment or clothes, and 
 also a letter, praying him to cure the poor leper of his 
 malady. 
 
 Well, the little maid was probably held to be truthful, 
 or her words would not have been credited ; and hers 
 must have been a pitying, grateful heart, or else she 
 
 1 A captive became a slave for life in a country like Syria.
 
 On Service. 69 
 
 would not have wished well to the master in a strange 
 land, and she must have been full of faith, or she would 
 not have thought of the prophet Elisha. 
 
 The whole story is a very interesting one. 
 
 The Bible tells us how the king of Israel received 
 the king of Syria's letter. 
 
 Although he was a king and could do many things, 
 such as take the lives of his people, he could not restore 
 to life, nor make sick people healthy. One of God's 
 prophets * is able to do more than the greatest monarch 
 in the world. 
 
 It was to Elisha that Naaman had to go to be cured, 
 and the directions given to the leper by the prophet 
 were simple enough. 
 
 Too simple for Naaman to receive them in faith : 
 " Go and wash in Jordon seven times and thou shalt 
 be clean." 
 
 Naaman turned indignantly away, for he had expected 
 that Elisha would have placed his hand upon him, 
 charming the leprosy away by an appeal to his God. 
 But nothing of the sort ; and he prepared to go back to 
 Syria a leper as he had come. 
 
 But he had wise servants with him. See what a promi- 
 nent part the servants play in this story ! they said : 
 " My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great 
 thing wouldest thou not have done it ; how much rather 
 then, when he saith to thee : " Wash and be clean ? " 
 
 Well, Naaman listened to these words, and acted 
 upon them ; the leprosy vanished, and he stood before 
 
 1 The prophets or friends of God did not only live in the old 
 Bible days ; we have had many amongst us since then, whose 
 doings will long be remembered, and who, often poor, humble and 
 obscure, have been permitted to accomplish what has been denied 
 to the great ones of the earth.
 
 70 On Service. 
 
 the man of God overflowing with gratitude, and en- 
 deavouring to shower presents upon Elisha. 
 
 But these were all refused. 
 
 Unfortunately, the story ends with an account of 
 Elisha's servant Gehazi, one of the bad servants in the 
 Bible history. For he coveted the splendid gifts his 
 master had refused, and then invented a plan to get 
 possession of them ; this he thought he had managed 
 very cleverly, forgetting that his master was a seer, or 
 prophet, and was aware of the deception. 
 
 The heathen captain behaved with splendid gene- 
 rosity: the Hebrew servant with cunning and greed. But 
 punishment came swift and sure, for the leprosy which 
 went from Naaman clave to Gehazi and his descendants 
 forever. Let us hope, however, that the captain's grati- 
 tude did not stop there, but that he remembered the 
 little captive maid upon his return to Syria. 
 
 Read the whole chapter for yourselves, and take 
 good note, that had it not been for the thoughtful, grate- 
 ful, trusting little maid, as well as for Naaman's wise 
 servants, he, the king's favourite, the captain of the host, 
 would have remained a poor leper, an outcast amongst 
 his fellow-creatures.
 
 On Service. 71 
 
 THE ELIXIR. 
 
 TEACH me, my God and King, 
 
 In all things Thee to see, 
 And what I do in any thing, 
 
 To do it as for Thee : 
 
 Not rudely, as a beast 
 
 To runne into an action ; 
 But still to make Thee prepossest, 
 
 And give it his perfection. 
 
 A man that looks on glasse 
 
 On it may stay his eye ; 
 Or if he pleaseth, thro' it passe 
 
 And then the heav'n espie. 
 
 All may of Thee partake ; 
 
 Nothing can be so near, 
 Which with his tincture (for Thy sake) 
 
 Will not grow bright and clear. 
 
 A servant with this clause 
 
 Makes drudgerie divine 
 Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws 
 
 Makes that and th' action fine. 
 
 This is the famous stone 
 
 That turneth all to gold : 
 For that which God doth touch and own 
 
 Cannot for lesse be told. George Herbert.
 
 XII. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON THE TWENTY-THIRD 
 PSALM. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 You who have Bibles in your possession, and you who 
 have not, will all know to which part of Holy Scripture 
 I am alluding when I talk of the Psalms. 
 
 Some of you may have been given one tiny book, 
 containing nothing but the Psalms ; well, in that one 
 book you will find collected the Hymns of the old 
 Hebrews, or poems of our ancestors. 
 
 We should read them with love and reverence ; they 
 are very precious, and no work of poetry can be quite so 
 precious to us. 
 
 They are, and have been loved by people widely 
 differing from us in creed. Men and women of all times 
 and many countries have sought and found comfort and 
 help in the book of the Psalter. 
 
 The old Puritan soldiers went forward to the charge, 
 reciting some verse from the Psalms, as their battle-cry ; 
 martyrs either to faith or to sad circumstances have 
 gone to their doom with some words from the Psalms 
 on their lips, 1 and we have many instances of holy men 
 and women, who with latest breath have faltered out 
 some beloved and well-known verse from one of these 
 Hebrew hymns. 
 
 The Psalms touch upon a variety of subjects ; some 
 
 1 Lady Jane Grey, for instance.
 
 Thoughts on the Twenty -third Psalm. 73 
 
 are stirring and patriotic, 1 others full of sadness and 
 despair, 2 again, others are one long shout of exultant joy, 
 praise and thanksgiving. 3 
 
 Some of them describe natural objects, such as the sky, 
 the sea, beasts and birds, 4 whilst others tell of our own 
 hearts and souls, 5 and the fierce struggle that is carried 
 on within each of us between good and evil. 
 
 Many of them dwell particularly on the law, 6 or 
 teaching of God, and others linger almost tenderly on 
 His Divine love and care for those who put their 
 unfailing trust in Him. Some of these psalms are 
 more beautiful and touching than others, and perhaps 
 more suited to our special needs ; of these, we may take 
 Ps. xxiii. as an example. Although it is very short, 
 containing only six verses it deals with great and im- 
 portant subjects, such as life and death. David the 
 king is supposed to be speaking to us in this psalm. 
 Now we know on good authority that some few of these 
 beautiful poems or hymns were written by David, but 
 not nearly the whole collection of Psalms ; however, 
 many learned people think that David himself, the 
 shepherd king, was the author of Ps. xxiii. ; let us 
 therefore read it as if it came from his own inspired 
 heart. 
 
 Do you remember the story of his early life ? 
 
 A shepherd, tending his father's sheep, his boyhood was 
 spent on the bare hills that skirt the village of Bethle- 
 hem. There he must have passed many a long hour 
 in the heat of summer and the chills of winter. You 
 who may be city born and bred, can hardly picture to 
 
 1 Ps. xxiv., Ixxxiii. 2 Ps. lv., Ixxiv., cxxxvii. 
 
 3 Ps. xcviii., c., cvii., cviii., cxxxvi. * Ps. cxlvii., cxlviii. 
 3 Ps. xxxviii., xlii. 6 Ps. xix., xx.
 
 74 Thoughts on the Twenty -third Psalm. 
 
 yourselves the loneliness of a shepherd's life, yet lonely 
 it has always been, and so it must be. 
 
 For hours the shepherd sees no human face, as he 
 sits watching his sheep that browse on the short grass 
 of the hillside, or moor, where he has to lead his flock ; 
 he has plenty of time to note every change in the sky 
 that betokens calm or storm, and so learn to distinguish 
 the cry of each different bird that flies over his head, 
 and the colour of each little wild flower that springs up 
 on his grassy seat. 
 
 Some x of these lonely shepherd watchers, from con- 
 stant study of the earth and sky, have had their minds 
 and hearts so stirred within them that they have tried to 
 express their thoughts in verse, and have become poets. Of 
 these the greatest example is David, the shepherd king. 
 
 It was the most natural thing in the world that a 
 shepherd should have made his own life the subject or 
 key-note of his poem, and, being a poet, he possessed 
 that magical wand which can make man seem to be as 
 a flock of sheep, whilst the earthly shepherd becomes 
 the Lord Himself. 
 
 In the same way, a soldier, accustomed to military 
 rule whilst describing his own life, would probably make 
 use of soldier-like terms ; or one born to a seafaring 
 existence might very naturally talk of human beings as 
 ships tossed hither and thither on a stormy sea, relying 
 for safe guidance on their compass, God's Holy Word. 
 
 Thus men's daily and often humble occupations have 
 supplied similes for some of the finest poetry they have 
 ever written, even poetry born of their love of God and 
 hatred of sin. Now let us read Ps. xxiii. 
 
 You may be quite sure that David, the real David 
 
 1 Amos the herdsman ; the shepherd poet, Ettrick.
 
 Thoughts on the Twenty-third Psalm. 75 
 
 of the Bible story, knew all the duties of a trusty shep- 
 herd. How with crook and with staff he would have 
 to climb the hillside, where the air was freshest and 
 purest, and be careful to save the young lambs from 
 falling over any of the steep places, such as abounded 
 in the rocky country of Judaea. How he would have 
 to guard his flock from the fierce noontide heat of the 
 sun, and lead them to a sheltered spot may be some 
 green oasis in that rugged country, where they could lie 
 down and rest near the fresh sparkling waters. 
 
 He knew, for he had learnt in the school of experience, 
 as you will remember, if you have read the life of David, 
 that the shepherd must be fleet of foot and bold of 
 purpose, and prepared to face wild animals, as he himself 
 had done, when he had fought for a lamb with a lion 
 and a bear : coming off the victor. 
 
 Therefore, when the poet said : " The Lord is my 
 shepherd, I shall not want," he meant a very great deal 
 in that one verse. He tried to express that under 
 God's loving care he need have no fear that the heat 
 would scorch him, nor the cold chill him, that hunger 
 and thirst would torture him, nor that wild beasts 
 would seize him. 
 
 But these are only the bodily or material advantages 
 that the Divine shepherding gave to David ; there were 
 others which we must call spiritual, or belonging to the 
 spirit as opposed to the body. Let us hear what he 
 says: "He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the 
 paths of righteousness for his name's sake." 
 
 Let us think what the word " restore" means. To bring 
 back or recover. What can this mean ? Why, the soul 
 may have been wandering away, like a lost sheep, from 
 the love of God and the accomplishment of duty. But 
 the Divine Shepherd will bring it back, perhaps through
 
 76 Thoughts on the Twenty -third Psalm. 
 
 the voice of a parent, or teacher, or companion, or book, 
 to the paths of righteousness or right-doing, as opposed 
 to wrong-doing ; from sickness, which is like sin, to 
 health, which is like virtue. I said before that Ps. xxiii. 
 touches on death as well as life. Let us read the fourth 
 verse : " Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
 shadow of Death, I will fear no evil ; for thou art with 
 me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Here 
 again, David carries out his pastoral comparison. The 
 flocks have often to pass through a dark and lonely 
 valley, the towering hills on each side have shut out all 
 view of the sky, the gloom can be actually felt, and the 
 cold, as so often the case in those high regions, is in- 
 tensely piercing. The flock tremble with a vague 
 sense of alarm, but the shepherd stretches forth the 
 long staff which he carries with him, and reassures the 
 sheep by his guiding touch. 1 
 
 We have all to pass through a still darker, and yet 
 more mysterious, valley the passage from life to death, 
 where alone and unaided each one of us must go. But 
 listen to the voice of the Psalmist ; he tells us he will 
 fear no evil, for he will be comforted by the guiding 
 touch of God's staff, or rather by God Himself, the good 
 shepherd, who will not leave his sheep in the hour of 
 their bitterest need. Such guidance on God's part must 
 however depend somewhat on ourselves ; if the sheep 
 have never trusted in their shepherd, have never followed 
 the touch of his staff or the call of his voice, how can 
 they hope to find him in their hour of distress ? Children, 
 remember your Creator in the days of your youth ; put 
 your trust in Him at once, follow His guiding voice 
 
 1 It is customary for the Oriental shepherd to drive his sheep in 
 front of him through dangerous places, and then to walk at their 
 head, they following, when the flock enter the green pastures.
 
 Thoughts on the Twenty-third Psalm. 77 
 
 which speaks in your Bibles, and through your teachers 
 pray to Him for purity of heart, and loving obedience 
 to His commands ; then He will be your guide and 
 shepherd through life, your staff and comfort in death. 
 
 But David does not end this psalm or poem with the 
 picture of the dark valley, brightened, as it only can be, 
 by the loving hand of our Heavenly Father. He gives 
 us another representation of Oriental life. The shepherd 
 returns with his flock, and finds the table prepared for 
 him. He is anointed with oil, being thus refreshed and 
 strengthened after his day's toil. "Thou preparest a 
 table before me in the presence of mine enemies," he 
 exclaims, "Thou anointest my head with oil, and my 
 cup, a cup of blessings overflows ! " In the face of such 
 proof of God's goodness, what grateful heart can remain 
 silent ? " Surely," continues the poet, " goodness and 
 mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will 
 dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." 
 
 This is a beautiful ending to a beautiful psalm. 
 David's highest aim is not merely his own personal 
 safety (whilst in danger or sickness, the valley of the 
 shadow of death), nor his own physical enjoyment at 
 the feast prepared for him when he returns from his 
 work ; but it is the possibility of dwelling with God, 
 here and hereafter.
 
 78 Thoughts on the Twenty-third Psalm. 
 
 THE SOUL THIRSTETH FOR GOD. 
 
 As the hart, with eager looks, 
 Panteth for the water brooks, 
 So my soul athirst for thee 
 Pants the living God to see ; 
 When, O, when, without a fear, 
 Lord, shall I to Thee draw near ? 
 
 Why art thou cast down, my soul ? 
 
 God thy God shall make thee whole, 
 
 Why art thou disquieted ? 
 
 God shall lift thy fallen head, 
 
 And His countenance benign 
 
 Be the saving health of thine. Montgomery.
 
 XIII. 
 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 I AM going to talk to you to-day about the temple of 
 Solomon. 
 
 I daresay you can all tell me something about it, for 
 it is probably a favourite subject of yours. Still, you 
 may not have a very complete picture of it in your 
 minds, and I am sure we can spend a pleasant and 
 helpful morning in dwelling upon it for a little while. 
 
 You remember that it had been the great wish of King 
 David's heart to build the Temple. He felt that the 
 city of Jerusalem was not complete without its crown, 
 where the ark of God, no more inclosed in a movable 
 tent between perishable curtains, should rest forever in 
 a worthy shrine. 
 
 So he consulted the prophet Nathan in these words : 
 " I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the cove- 
 nant of the Lord remaineth under curtains." 
 
 Nathan, who loved and honoured the king, replied ; 
 " Do all that is in thine heart, for God is with thee." 
 
 But, although Nathan was a prophet, he was neither 
 all-wise nor all-seeing. That very night God appeared 
 to him in a vision and declared that not David, but his 
 son and successor, should build the Temple. David's 
 reign, alas ! had been too often stained by blood, whilst 
 that of his son was to be singularly blessed and 
 peaceful. 
 
 When this was told David by the prophet, he said :
 
 go The Temple of Solomon. 
 
 " Solomon, my son, is young and slender, and the house 
 that is to be built to the Lord must be exceeding mag- 
 nificent of fame and glory throughout all countries. I 
 will, therefore, now make preparation for it." 
 
 Then he said to his son in words like these : " I longed 
 to build a house for the Lord ; it was the supreme wish 
 of my life, but my hands are not unstained and pure like 
 yours. I have been a great fighter in my day, and, al- 
 though my battles have been for the glory and honour 
 of God's name, still the Lord wishes His Temple to be 
 built by one who is a man of peace. 
 
 " So now, my son, it will be your great and glorious 
 task to build the Lord's house, and may you be given 
 Divine wisdom and understanding for your task." 
 
 Then David went on to tell Solomon how he had 
 already begun to make preparations for the building of 
 the Temple. For although he was not to have the joy 
 of actually building the Holy House himself, yet he was 
 not debarred from getting the materials together that 
 would be required for its erection. He had, therefore, 
 accumulated great quantities of gold and silver, brass 
 and iron, and had sent for clever masons to hew the 
 stones, and for cunning workers in metal. But over 
 and above all these, his great mind had pondered over, 
 and taken in, every detail of the work, which, in due 
 time, he transmitted to his son. 
 
 The Temple was to be God's holy house, His earthly 
 habitation, to contain the one great altar round which 
 the Levites would assemble, the beloved spot of all 
 Palestine to which every Israelite's heart would fondly 
 turn. 
 
 David gave to his visionary temple (for, of course, he 
 never saw it,) all his loving care, and left its erection as 
 a dying bequest to his son.
 
 The Temple of Solomon. 8 1 
 
 But it was not until the fourth year in King Solomon's 
 reign that the temple was begun. 
 
 The site chosen for it was on the heights of Mount 
 Zion. 
 
 Solomon then made an alliance or treaty with Hiram, 
 king of Tyre, whose kingdom lay to the north of 
 Palestine in the cool regions of Mount Lebanon. 
 
 There grew the famous cedar trees which could not 
 have flourished in the hotter, more arid country round 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Hiram, who had been a warm friend of King David's, 
 readily agreed to supply his son with both cedar and 
 cypress trees, which were felled and floated down the 
 sea-shore to Joppa, then as it is still, the nearest port 
 to Jerusalem. In return, King Solomon sent a consider- 
 able present of corn and oil annually to King Hiram. 
 Tyrian and Hebrew workmen, the very best and most 
 expert that could be found, were chosen to work together 
 in large companies, stone and marble quarries yielded 
 up their treasures, and the great ships set sail south and 
 westward to bring back beautiful textures and precious 
 stones for God's house. 
 
 Despite the magnificence of the undertaking, and 
 although King Solomon's heart was much set upon his 
 work, he exclaimed at the very outset, with the true 
 humility of a devout spirit : 
 
 " But who is able to build Him a house ? seeing the 
 heavens cannot contain Him. Who am I then that I 
 should build Him a house, save only to burn sacrifices 
 before Him." 
 
 Many have been the stately cathedrals and churches 
 built since that time to the glory of God, and how often 
 must not Solomon's words have found an echo in the 
 hearts of the builders ? 
 
 G
 
 g 2 The Temple of Solomon. 
 
 For seven years the work was carried on. The Temple 
 rose as if by magic. No sound of hammer nor of any 
 iron tool was heard on the spot, for the iron tool sug- 
 gested war. The stones were cut to the required shape 
 in their quarries, and then brought up to Mount Zion, 
 there to be fitted together with nice precision. 
 
 At the end of seven years' time the Temple stood 
 complete. 
 
 It was built after the manner of the old Tabernacle, 
 only on a far larger scale. 
 
 First came the large outer court, containing the huge 
 brazen altar for sacrifices, and the great brazen laver. 
 
 This was a place of assemblage for the people. 
 
 Here, on the three great agricultural festivals of the 
 year, every Israelite who could leave his home would 
 come and present his offerings to the Lord. The first 
 of these festivals was the feast of Passover, i.e., the anni- 
 versary of Israel's exodus from Egypt, and also the 
 season of the year when the first ripened ears of barley 
 appeared in the field. 
 
 The second; was the Feast of Weeks, when the hus- 
 bandman had gathered in his wheat, and the third was 
 the Feast of Tabernacles, when all harvest work was 
 finished. 
 
 Into this large court the droves of sheep and other 
 kine were often led, and there fastened by rings to mas- 
 sive stone walls. 
 
 The sacrifices took place upon the huge brazen altar, 
 but on Solomon's Feast of Dedication the enormous 
 mass of animals were slaughtered in the middle of the 
 court itself, which was hallowed or consecrated by the 
 king for that purpose. 
 
 This has a barbarous sound to our ears, and we do 
 not like to think of the immense amount of animal life
 
 The Temple of Solomon. 
 
 sacrificed as an offering to God, who is a Spirit whom 
 we can best worship by a loving and penitent heart. 
 
 But we must not forget that we are talking of early 
 times, when the old Hebrews, despite their pure faith, 
 were not very far removed from the neighbouring tribes 
 in their form of worship. Sacrifices of animals were 
 common to all worshippers. Man, from the earliest days, 
 gave of his best to God. At first, it was simply a thank- 
 offering, but in later years, when he sacrificed in expia- 
 tion of his sins, it was called a propitiatory offering, and 
 finally, when he gave in all humility and reverence, an 
 offering that was meant to express those feelings, it was 
 termed a humility offering. 
 
 After years and years of sacrifices, the prophets taught 
 the people that an obedient heart and a pure life were 
 more acceptable to God than the blood of bullocks or the 
 fat of lambs. 
 
 But to return to the Temple. 
 
 A line of chambers for the priests ran all round the 
 upper part of the court, whilst on each side of it stood 
 the kitchens where the sacrificial meat was prepared for 
 the priests and their families, who were permitted, nay 
 commanded, to eat those parts of the animals not offered 
 up to God. 
 
 You can imagine for yourselves what a number of 
 people were employed in the duties of the Temple ! 
 
 The High Priest, with his attendant priests, the lineal 
 descendants of Aaron, then the Levites, or the ministers 
 of the priests, and lastly, the Nethinim or their servants. 
 
 Some had to assist in the offering up of sacrifices ; 
 others had to prepare the holy ointment, the shew-bread, 
 and the leavened cakes ; then there was the keeping 
 of the entrances, the courts and chambers, the guarding 
 of the Treasury and of the gold and silver implements,
 
 84 The Temple of Solomon. 
 
 also of the stores of flour, oil, wine, frankincense, and 
 spices. Last, but not least, were many musicians and 
 singers who praised God with the sound of the trumpet, 
 the psaltery, and the harp. 
 
 The Temple was a little world in itself. 
 
 Besides the great altar of sacrifice there stood in the 
 outer court the huge laver of brass, or molten sea, as it 
 was called, containing gallons and gallons of water, in 
 which the priests made their ablutions. 
 
 For, next to righteousness of life and personal fault- 
 lessness (that is to say, no man was permitted to be a 
 priest who had any blemish, such as lameness, loss of an 
 eye, or any malformity), spotless cleanliness was strictly 
 enjoined upon all those who ministered in the Temple. 
 
 Numberless laws, most necessary in those warm 
 climates, were laid down for the guidance of the priest- 
 hood, and were called the laws of purification. 
 
 Behind the great altar the court led into the first 
 chamber, or Holy. But between the court and Holy was 
 a beautiful porch, supported by a row of pillars, and 
 adorned by two gigantic columns of brass, called Yachin 1 
 and Boaz. 
 
 These pillars, upon which nothing rested, stood upon 
 golden feet or pedestals, and were covered with curious 
 wreaths and ornaments, carved by the clever hand of a 
 skilful workman. This porch was the entrance to the 
 Holy, and the gate stood wide open. Here, in the 
 Holy, was the golden altar for burnt incense, the golden 
 candlestick, and the shew-bread table. 2 Here the priests 
 officiated for the whole congregation. 
 
 This chamber or Holy was separated from the Holy 
 
 1 Yachin means " The Lord strengthens." Boaz " Strength in it." 
 a The shew-bread was an emblem of man's dependence upon 
 God for his daily food.
 
 The Temple of Solomon. 85 
 
 of Holies by a folding door of olive wood, and hung 
 with golden chains. 
 
 What did this inner sanctuary look like, and what did 
 it contain ? 
 
 It was nothing but a small square chamber, absolutely 
 dark. We can come near God but we can never see Him. 
 There rested the Ark of the Covenant an oblong chest 
 of acacia wood. It contained the two tables of the law. 
 Nothing but these. Upon the ark was the mercy seat 
 made of pure gold. This was one of the most important 
 parts of the Tabernacle and of the Temple, where the 
 blood of atonement was sprinkled on the most solemn 
 occasions of the year. 
 
 On the mercy seat, forming part of it, were two huge 
 golden figures of the mysterious cherubim, half man, 
 half bird ; their wings meeting like a cover above the Ark. 
 
 The Holy of Holies, which the Glory of God alone 
 illumined, was only entered once a year, on the Day 
 of Atonement, by the High Priest and none other. 
 
 When the High Priest walked into the Sanctuary, the 
 bells on the hem of his robes called the attention of the 
 Israelites in the court to the fact that a sacrifice was 
 being performed for them, and at the sound they pros- 
 trated themselves and worshipped. 
 
 When the beautiful Temple stood complete in all its 
 glory, king Solomon proceeded to its dedication. 
 
 He chose the festival of Tabernacles for that occasion, 
 when all the male inhabitants of Palestine would natu- 
 rally come flocking into Jerusalem to bring their offerings 
 to God. 
 
 Can we not fancy the impatience of the people to see 
 the wonderful building, their eagerness to be present when 
 the Ark should be taken to its temporary resting-place 
 within the Tabernacle, and deposited within the Temple ?
 
 86 The Temple of Solomon. 
 
 In that eventful year the Feast of Tabernacles was 
 to last for fourteen instead of seven days. 
 
 What a great and wonderful dedication then took 
 place ! There had been nothing equal to it in the whole 
 history of the world. 1 And yet this beautiful building, 
 illumined by the presence of God, containing the Ark of 
 the Covenant, the work of loving pious hearts and skilful 
 hands, dedicated to the one pure faith of Israel, fared no 
 better than many a heathen temple. 
 
 " What's hallowed ground ? 'Tis 
 
 What gives birth 
 
 To sacred thoughts in souls of worth. 
 Peace ! independence ! truth ! go forth 
 
 Earth's compass round, 
 And your high priesthood shall make earth 
 
 All hallowed ground." Campbell 
 
 1 See i Kings, viii., and 2 Chron. vi. vii.
 
 XIV. 
 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. (PART II.) 
 
 THE Temple was twice destroyed by ruthless hands. 
 The second time it fell to rise no more. 
 
 Imagine the despair of the people at the destruction 
 of their Temple ! It must have seemed to them on both 
 occasions as if God Himself had cast His people for ever 
 from Him ! 
 
 And now even in this day, eighteen hundred years 
 after the loss of what they held dearest, the Jews still 
 turn with clinging devotion to the place where their 
 beloved Temple once stood ; the Jewish inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem still lament and wail at the crevices of the walls 
 that are even now left standing near the same holy spot, 
 and the Jews living in the different countries of Western 
 Europe include these prayers in their daily service : 
 
 " Restore the service to the inner part of Thy house 
 (the Holy of Holies) and accept the burnt offerings of 
 Israel. 
 
 " Let it be acceptable before Thee that the Holy 
 Temple may speedily be rebuilt in our days." 
 
 Indeed God's ways are not our ways. 
 
 It may seem wonderful to you that, after bringing 
 His people out of Egypt, after giving them His holy law 
 and commandments, after making them the religious 
 teachers of the world, God should have allowed His 
 Holy House to be profaned. 
 
 But, children, the glory and magnificence of the 
 Temple could not keep the people of Israel from sinning.
 
 88 The Temple of Solomon. 
 
 With their beautiful and stately building before their 
 eyes, with sacrifices going on in their midst, with a whole 
 tribe of priests constantly before them whose lives should 
 have been spent in carrying out the word of God ; kings 
 and subjects, yes, even priests did over and over again 
 evil in the sight of the Lord. 
 
 In vain the prophets raised their warning and entreat- 
 ing voices. 
 
 During the reign of Rehoboam, one of the sons of 
 King Solomon, the disruption of the empire took place. 
 By this I mean that the great empire of Solomon was 
 divided into two kingdoms, that of Judah and that of 
 Israel or Ephraim. Both kingdoms were successively 
 governed by many evil and by very few good monarchs ; 
 but the kingdom of Israel was particularly unfortunate 
 in its kings; its idolatry was the grossest, its morality 
 the most corrupt. Altars were set up in every high 
 place ; incense was burned in all the groves ; images of 
 false gods filled the land. The Israelites encouraged 
 magicians and diviners, and, worse than all, they caused 
 their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, or, in 
 other words, they offered them to the god Baal. 
 
 The Israelites were severely punished for their sins ; 
 not only was the kingdom of the ten tribes overthrown, 
 but the people were carried away into the distant pro- 
 vinces of Mesopotamia and Media, whence they never 
 returned. Thus the ten tribes were irretrievably lost, 
 or merged in the race of their hated conquerors, the 
 Assyrians. 
 
 Meanwhile, the sister kingdom, the southern empire of 
 Judah, comprising the provinces of Judah and Benjamin, 
 enjoyed the great advantage of including the capital, that 
 is Jerusalem, and of possessing the magnificent Temple, 
 or shrine of the Ark of God. There could be no second
 
 The Temple of Solomon. 89 
 
 Jerusalem as there could be no second Temple. But 
 alas ! the splendid memories that clung to the capital 
 and to the Temple could not prevent idolatry from 
 breaking out in the land. Already, in the reign of 
 Rehoboam, heathen worship flourished in many groves, 
 and on a thousand heights, which were consecrated to 
 foreign idols. It was during the same reign that a king 
 of Egypt invaded Judaea and marched into Jerusalem. 
 He actually entered the Holy Place, where he seized 
 a great many treasures, amongst other things, the 
 beautiful golden shields which, since King Solomon's 
 time, had adorned the porch of the Sanctuary. These 
 shields Rehoboam replaced by brazen ones, which must 
 have proved a very humiliating spectacle to the frequen- 
 ters of the Temple. But, after a time, I grieve to say that 
 the Temple itself ceased to be sacred in the eyes of the 
 rulers of the kingdom ; the gold and silver vessels were 
 sold to the king of Assyria, the great altar was changed 
 for one of a less beautiful pattern, the laver of brass was 
 taken from its pedestal and placed on the pavement of 
 stones. 
 
 The nobles grew hard and cruel towards the poor and 
 weak, and there was no justice amongst the chiefs and 
 elders, no charity or truth amongst the priests. Men 
 gave themselves up freely to the sin of drunkenness ; 
 women led vain and self-indulgent lives. 
 
 The punishment came. The Temple was destroyed 
 (588 B.C.), and the people, that is to say the greater part 
 of the nation, were led captive to Babylon. 
 
 But as you have often been told, and as you will all 
 remember Cyrus, the good king of Persia, conquered 
 Babylon, and the Jews became his subjects just fifty 
 years after the destruction of the Temple. 
 
 Permission was then given to the Jewish people, now
 
 90 The Temple of Solomon. 
 
 settled in Babylon, to return, if they liked, to their own 
 country. This permission was eagerly accepted and 
 acted upon, and, seventy-two years after the destruction 
 of the first Temple, the second one arose on the same 
 site. It was built upon the same model, but of less 
 costly and splendid materials. The glittering porch, 
 hung round with forty golden shields, was no longer there, 
 and what was of far more importance, the Ark of the 
 Covenant, with the tables of the law, had disappeared 
 said to have been buried by Jeremiah. But this second 
 Temple was also doomed to destruction. 
 
 It is true, that the nation did not again relapse into 
 idolatry, but followed in their worship every direction 
 transmitted to their priests ; they never went astray 
 after other gods, nor "sacrificed and burnt incense on 
 the high places, on the hills and under every green 
 tree," as they did in the reign of Ahaz. They remained 
 true to their religion, but, alas ! they sinned in other 
 ways. 
 
 They began to quarrel amongst themselves ; one great 
 family grew jealous and envious of the other, and they 
 actually agreed to settle their disputes by calling in the 
 help of the stranger. 
 
 The Romans first came into the land as arbiters of 
 the quarrel, but they soon made themselves masters of 
 the people, and Palestine became a dependency of the 
 Roman empire. 
 
 Yet not even then would the Jews keep peace among 
 themselves ; they broke up into religious sects and 
 fierce political factions, all hating each other for some 
 small difference of opinion or of practice. At last the 
 Romans, growing tired of a people who were perpetually 
 at war, and who seemed unable to lead a peaceful and 
 useful life, determined to make an end of them.
 
 The Temple of Solomon. 9 1 
 
 They besieged Jerusalem and burned the Temple 
 70 A.c. 
 
 When the Jews saw the flames rise high above their 
 sanctuary, consuming all that was dear and sacred to 
 them, they felt that their existence as a nation was 
 destroyed, and soon afterwards they dispersed over the 
 whole earth, to seek a refuge or a new home among 
 every people and in every land. 
 
 Thus twice have they lost their precious Temple, 
 and the outward and distinguishing mark of their faith. 
 And here let me say that, just as the stately Temple, 
 with its gorgeous ceremonial, could not save the people 
 when their hearts and practices were idolatrous, no more 
 could the exact performance of their religious obser- 
 vances preserve the people's life as a nation, when their 
 conduct fell short of its rightful standard. 
 
 Purity of conduct should go hand in hand with purity 
 of worship if a people wish to keep strong and vigorous. 
 
 Each one of you, dear children, can be a living temple 
 to the honour and glory of your Heavenly Father ; you 
 can help to make His name loved and revered by all 
 who surround you. 
 
 You, who are created in His image, can be, as it were, 
 a centre of holiness to those amongst whom your lives 
 are spent. 
 
 Within the inner chamber of your hearts is the Holy 
 of Holies ; keep it swept and garnished, always ready 
 for the Divine Presence. The tablets of the law, the 
 Ten Commandments, should find a worthy shrine there- 
 in, as they did within the Holy of Holies. But, remember 
 there was room for little else ; selfishness, malice, envy, 
 or cruelty, cannot enter where the Divine Presence has 
 already taken up its abode.
 
 92 The Temple of Solomon. 
 
 NATURE'S WORSHIP. 
 
 THE Ocean looketh up to heaven, 
 
 As 'twere a living thing ; 
 The homage of its waves is given, 
 
 In ceaseless worshipping. 
 
 They kneel upon the sloping sands 
 As bends the human knee ; 
 
 A beautiful and tireless band, 
 The priesthood of the sea. 
 
 The mists are lifted from the rills, 
 Like the white wing of prayer, 
 
 They kneel above the ancient hills, 
 As doing homage there. 
 
 The forest tops are lowly cast, 
 
 O'er breezy hill and glen, 
 As if a prayerful spirit passed, 
 
 On nature as on men. 
 
 The sky is as a temple's arch ; 
 
 The blue and wavy air 
 Is glorious with the spirit march 
 
 Of messengers at prayer. Whittier.
 
 XV. 
 ON CONDUCT. 
 
 " Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell 
 together in unity." 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 I AM going to talk to you to-day about the conduct of 
 boys and girls to one another, whether they be related or 
 merely companions. There is no reason at all why the 
 companionship or friendship of boys and girls should not 
 be a very good thing for both. 
 
 The verse you have just heard applies to brothers and 
 and sisters not only to brothers. Now let us think what 
 the word "unity " means. To be at one, to be united, like 
 the links in a chain which pull together, work together, 
 bend together, resist together. It is good, says the 
 Psalmist, for brothers and sisters to dwell together in 
 unity. 
 
 How bad then must it be to see them dwelling together 
 in enmity, pulling away from one another, working out 
 of sympathy with one another, seeking each his or her 
 own happiness in disregard to one another ! Yet this is 
 by no means uncommon, for there are many families 
 where there is more quarrelling amongst brothers and 
 sisters than love and affection, where cross looks are 
 oftener displayed than cheerful faces and bright smiles. 
 It is a great privilege to be one of a large family, and to
 
 94 On Conduct, 
 
 learn from very infancy that ready sympathy and real 
 unselfishness are about the best gifts in the world. 
 
 In a large family of brothers and sisters, who are con- 
 stantly rubbing up against one another, and coming 
 across one another, in a hundred little ways, there must 
 needs be many occasions to bear and forbear, to give and 
 take. Let us see how girls and boys can help one another, 
 do one another good. We will begin with the girls : 
 I think they should above all have a refining influence 
 over the boys, making them gentler in their manners, 
 more courteous in their ways, more careful in their speech. 
 But in order to effect this, they must have a very high 
 standard of their own, and know what true politeness 
 and courtesy mean. Some boys like to show off their 
 rough ways before their girl companions, and consider 
 the use of coarse language and overbearing habits a sign 
 of manliness. Depend upon it, when this is the case, 
 the girls they have associated with are in part to blame. 
 Then girls, by their own bright example, should teach 
 boys how to bear the small disappointments of daily life, 
 how to be patient when suffering from some trifling, but 
 maybe very tiresome ill, how to be contented when they 
 must perforce be stay-at-homes. If girls have this true 
 refining influence, they will not only soften their brothers' 
 speech, and make their manners more courteous, but 
 also refine and ennoble their thoughts, and help them to 
 live more for others. They must exert their influence 
 quietly and unobtrusively, and can only gain it by deep 
 sympathy and true affection, and by showing that they 
 are ready to sacrifice some of their own little whims or 
 pet dislikes for their brothers' sakes. A girl's quiet, 
 uneventful, and monotonous life can often be wonder- 
 fully brightened and roused by her brother's companion- 
 ship. Such companionship may be like a breath of
 
 On Conduct. 95 
 
 fresh mountain air blowing through a warm, closely- 
 curtained room. Certain studies and pursuits can be 
 followed by girls and boys in common. Of these, the 
 open air pursuits, brace the girls' nerves and give them 
 what they so much want pluck. 
 
 Courage is indeed a fine quality, much needed by girls 
 of all countries and all races, and, if not inherent, it may 
 to a certain extent be acquired or gained. All pur- 
 suits which tempt girls into the open air will help to 
 make them more courageous, and all games by which 
 they can exercise precision of eye and nicety of hand 
 will make them more active, more agile, and more 
 healthy. Those fortunate ones, whose holidays take 
 them to the sea-side, or into the country, should be 
 encouraged by their brothers to search for natural ob- 
 jects of interest or beauty. Let them run the risk of 
 wetting their feet, or spoiling their skirts, for the sake of 
 taking in a good stock of health, or of learning many a 
 useful lesson of endurance or self-control. 
 
 Their brothers and brothers' friends may often be able 
 to give a halo of adventure to those holiday rambles, 
 and to transform their little sisters' playground into a 
 paradise of delight. 
 
 Girls and boys should be able to work, explore, and 
 play together, provided each be willing to give up some- 
 thing for the good of the other. Boys are said to be 
 more truthful than girls perhaps because in some ways 
 they are more courageous, or less afraid of reproof. Be 
 it so. The girls should have a chance of learning from 
 their brothers or brothers' companions that no character 
 can be a really fine one that is not truthful. " Lying 
 lips are an abomination to the Lord." 
 
 If boys can teach girls to be brave they must do so, 
 not by laughing and jeering at them for their fears, but
 
 g6 On Conduct. 
 
 by inspiring them with some of their own courage, teach- 
 ing them what is the nature of the danger and how best 
 to surmount it. Boys can therefore exert their influence 
 on the side of truth and courage, and they can, as it were, 
 strengthen the moral qualities of the girl as their strong 
 arm should shield her from danger. Intellectually 
 they can also come to one another's aid ; for their gifts 
 will be different. Girls may interest their brothers in 
 their own favourite pursuits, music, drawing, poetry, or 
 tales of fiction, as the case may be, and boys may give 
 their sisters a keener interest in history, the history of 
 the country in which they live, or in one of the many 
 branches of science. 
 
 But, girls and boys, you can only help one another, or 
 be of real use to one another, if you are truly unselfish ; 
 unselfishness on the part of the boys that develops into 
 chivalry, unselfishness on the part of the girls that springs 
 from real goodness of heart not from the surrender of 
 principle or maidenly reserve. A boy's selfishness in his 
 home life, which alas ! is too often encouraged by his 
 parents, means the preparation for a very contemptible 
 manhood. The sister, however loving and unselfish 
 she may be, should not pander to that selfishness of 
 her brother, or the unhappy wife of that brother in years 
 to come will surely trace much of his unkindness or even 
 cruelty to those early days of home spoiling. 
 
 No let the girls be as really loving and tender to 
 their brothers as they can ; let them share their sorrows 
 and make their joys doubly enjoyable, but let them 
 beware of spoiling boys into becoming lazy, selfish 
 men. 
 
 A boy, as he grows older, should grow strong and yet 
 be gentle ; strong to resist temptation, strong to hold his 
 own when he knows that he is right, strong to help the
 
 On Conduct. 97 
 
 weak, strong to shield those who are in danger, and 
 strong to shame the cowardly. He can afford to be 
 gentle ; it is only the cowardly bully who is rough and 
 rude. And let him show his girl companion that he 
 appreciates her modesty and reserve. Many a girl, 
 now loud, and immodest in her ways, might have been 
 gentle-tongued and gentle-mannered had her brothers 
 and their friends treated her with more courtesy. Had 
 they not taught her rough games and foolish horse-play, 
 she would be growing up to a very different womanhood. 
 Many girls have to go out by themselves, going or coming 
 from school or work, and they are warned by parents 
 and teachers not to loiter or play in the streets. For the 
 rough boys, who are to be found at every street corner, 
 are unfortunately ready to undo all the good lessons 
 girls have learnt at school or at home. Now, brothers, 
 if you can help your sisters at such times, if you can 
 walk with them to the place whither they are bound 
 (perhaps a club or social place of resort in these days of 
 girls' clubs), and shelter them from rude words or the 
 ruder play that goes on around them, you will be taking 
 a share of the burden of their lives. 
 
 Girls and boys in their everyday companionship can 
 either raise or lower one another. 
 
 In connection with that old tradition of which I have 
 .already told you, namely, that no Hebrew or Arab 
 would ever step upon a shred of paper, however small, 
 for fear the Divine name might have been written upon 
 it, a gifted writer has well remarked that God having 
 written His word and printed his image on each human 
 being it behoves each one to be his brother's keeper, 
 and not knowingly trample upon all that makes that 
 image fair and God-like. 
 
 H
 
 98 On Conduct. 
 
 AS YE SOW, SO SHALL YE REAP. 
 
 THE bud will soon become a flower, 
 
 The flower become a seed, 
 Then seize, O youth, the present hour 
 
 Of that thou hast most need. 
 
 Do thy best always do it now, 
 
 For in the present time, 
 As in the furrows of a plough, 
 
 Fall seeds of good or crime. 
 
 The sun and rain will ripen fast 
 Each seed that thou hast sown, 
 
 And every act and word at last, 
 By its own fruit be known. 
 
 And soon the harvest of thy toil, 
 
 Rejoicing thou shalt reap ; 
 Or o'er thy wild neglected soil 
 
 Go forth in shame to weep. Jones Vere.
 
 XVI. 
 "HEAR, O ISRAEL." 
 
 " Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." Deutero- 
 nomy vi. 4. 
 
 You are all acquainted with the prayer which begins 
 with these words, and are doubtless in the habit of 
 repeating them twice daily. Perhaps that is a reason 
 for searching out, or, at least, for dwelling for a few 
 moments upon their meaning. What we are in the 
 habit of doing, we often do without thought, and as an 
 old writer said : " I fear we may say our prayers by 
 heart, and not with our heart." ' 
 
 And yet the first words of our prayer ought to wake 
 up our attention. " Hear, O Israel" is the cry that bids 
 us turn our wandering thoughts to the solemn act of 
 worship, and should prepare us to say with reverence the 
 words which immediately follow : " The Lord our God, 
 the Lord is one." 2 
 
 This is the corner-stone of our faith, the doctrine upon 
 which all Judaism rests. Yes, our God is one, He alone 
 
 1 Prayer is thought. The Hebrew word for Prayer, B^, comes 
 from a root VjS, which means to judge, and in one of its forms, 
 to think. 
 
 2 These words are the earliest that ought to be taught to a 
 Jewish child, as they should be the last the Israelite utters when his 
 soul parts from his body at death. They are repeated at the con- 
 clusion of the service of the Day of Atonement, because the end of 
 that day is to see us part from the errors and sins of our old life, 
 and to commence a new and better one.
 
 ioo " Hear, O Israel" 
 
 is the Creator, He has formed and He sustains us, He 
 punishes and He pardons, He causes light and darkness, 
 life and death. 
 
 He is the author of all we see, of all we know ; the 
 Father, Judge, and Redeemer of all men, the one 
 Almighty God. " Blessed be the name of His kingdom 
 for ever and ever." 
 
 When, after our night's rest, we see the light of day 
 once more shining around, and hear the voices of our 
 parents and friends, and feel strong and happy, and 
 eager for the work before us, shall we not, in the joy of 
 our hearts, bless the name of the Lord ; and, as night 
 draws on, and darkness, like a gentle nurse, has hushed 
 all nature into calm repose, and the stars come softly 
 forth, telling their silent tale of wonder, shall we not 
 again feel in our hearts and say : " Blessed is the glory 
 of His Kingdom ? " The more observant our faculties, the 
 greater our knowledge, the more devoutly and sincerely 
 shall we repeat those words. 
 
 From grateful admiration to worship there is but one 
 step, and our natural instinct prompts us to bow down 
 with reverential awe before the Throne of God. 
 
 But our Lord demands, or should I not rather say 
 permits, more than homage. 1 
 
 What are the next words of our prayer ? 
 
 " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and all thy might." 
 
 He who reigns supreme over all creation bids us 
 approach Him as children may approach their earthly 
 
 1 What is the difference between homage and love ? Homage is 
 what subjects are required to give to their sovereign the reverence 
 and obedience we pay to superior knowledge or goodness. Love 
 is the feeling which binds us to our parents, brothers, sisters, and 
 friends to all those who have been kind and good to us.
 
 " Hear, O Israel" 101 
 
 parents with devoted love. Poor, weak, insignificant as 
 we are, we may yet look up to Him as to our Father, 
 and say with the Psalmist : " Our help is in the name of 
 the Lord, who made heaven and earth." 
 
 But our love to God is not merely to warm our hearts 
 whilst we are saying our morning and evening prayer, 
 but to be proved by what we may, perhaps, merely con- 
 sider the trifling acts of our every-day life. How would 
 you show your love to your father and mother ? By 
 obeying them as strictly as you can, by trying to please 
 them in all things. And, in like manner, must we try 
 to prove our love to God by obeying His word, by 
 listening to the voice of conscience, by being at all times 
 gentle, kind, and true. 
 
 When we are angry, and lose our temper, or give pain 
 to any living creature, or tell a falsehood, we are not 
 heeding the words of our daily prayer. Vainly shall we 
 say them night and morning if we forget them during 
 the day, vainly repeat them with our lips" if they do not 
 rule and guide our every-day life. 
 
 " And thou shalt teach them to thy children, and 
 thou shalt speak of them when thou sittest in thy house, 
 when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, 
 and when thou risest up." 
 
 Younger brothers and sisters, or little friends, may be 
 taught good or evil by your example ; be careful, there- 
 fore, to give them the former. But how can you be 
 constantly speaking those holy words in your schools or 
 your work-shops, at your lessons, or your play ? Has 
 that injunction no real meaning then ? It seems to me, 
 on the contrary, that it has a very real and important 
 one. Does it not tell us that religion, for what else is 
 the love of God, can and should lead and guide us in our 
 everyday life, that it is not to be kept, like our best
 
 IO2 " Hear, O Israel" 
 
 clothes, for Sabbaths and holidays, but to be with us on 
 all days in all places. Whatever you may be doing, 
 wherever you may be, dear children, in the school or in 
 the play-ground, or in your own homes, if the love of 
 God is in your heart your thoughts and your actions will 
 be pure and good. When temptation comes to you, as 
 in one shape or another it does to us all, you will try to 
 resist, instead of giving way to it. To an angry word or 
 cross rebuke you will not return a sharp reply or a 
 sulky frown the whispers of idleness will not be listened 
 to ; and when cowardice or vanity prompts you to say 
 anything which is not strictly true, you will be held 
 back, for you will remember that lying lips are an 
 abomination to the Lord. 
 
 " And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine 
 hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. 
 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy 
 house, and upon thy gates." 
 
 At the time when these ordinances were given the 
 Israelites were surrounded by the grossest idolatry, and 
 required outward material signs to remind them of their 
 own pure simple faith a faith, which, alas, they but too 
 often lost sight of. 
 
 But now that idolatry, with its cruel unhallowed rites, 
 no longer exists around us, and visible signs are not 
 needed to prevent the Israelites from joining the wor- 
 shippers of false gods, have they become for us only 
 relics of a past age, or may they still teach us something 
 for our present use ? 
 
 Yes, indeed, the Tephellim and the Mezuzah should 
 still guard us from evil, and incite us to good the 
 Tephellim by reminding us while engaged in prayer 
 that our powers of body, mind, and soul, are His gifts ; 
 the Mezuzah, by raising every Jewish house, the poorest
 
 " Hear, O Israel" 103 
 
 and smallest dwelling, as well as the grandest and most 
 costly edifice into a temple dedicated to the worship and 
 praise of the Lord. But you must not forget that the 
 Tephellim and the Mezuzahs were only signs signs of 
 the love of the one true God, which should lead and 
 guide us at all times when we are walking by the way, 
 or resting in our homes. Never mistake the sign for the 
 reality, both are necessary the reminder for that of 
 which it should remind you nor deceive yourselves by 
 thinking that without the love of God in your hearts, 
 these written words are of more value than a glorious 
 title adorning the cover of an empty book. 
 
 "I WOULD BE STILL WITH THEE." 
 
 STILL with Thee, O my God, 
 
 I would desire to be 
 By day, by night, at home, abroad, 
 I would be still with Thee. 
 
 With Thee when dawn comes in 
 
 And calls me back to care, 
 Each day returning to begin 
 With Thee, my God, in prayer. 
 
 With Thee, amid the crowd 
 That throngs the busy mart ; 
 
 To hear Thy voice when time is loud 
 Speak softly to my heart.
 
 IO4 " Hear, O Israel" 
 
 With Thee, when day is done, 
 And evening calms the mind ; 
 
 The setting, as the rising sun, 
 With Thee my heart would find. 
 
 With Thee when darkness brings 
 
 The signal of repose, 
 Calm in the shadow of Thy wings, 
 
 My eyelids I would close. 
 
 With Thee, in Thee by faith 
 
 Abiding I would be ; 
 By day, by night, in life, in death 
 
 I would be still with Thee. 
 
 James Drummond Burns.
 
 XVII. 
 
 HATRED OF EVIL. 
 
 " O ye that love the Lord, hate evil." Psalm xcvii. 18. 
 
 THE above verse of the 9/th Psalm describes in some 
 measure, what the First Commandment, " Thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God," requires of us. " O ye that love 
 the Lord, hate evil." That is, everything that is opposed 
 to the spirit of goodness, which is the spirit of God. 
 
 Your conscience, your teacher, and the words of the 
 Bible are given you to shed light upon what is evil as 
 well as upon what is good, so that you may recognize 
 the former and avoid it. They are warning voices that 
 bid you beware of the vain thought, the impulse to angry, 
 cowardly falsehood, jealousy and envy, the inclination 
 to self-indulgence and indolence, and many another 
 temptation to do wrong which may beset your path. 
 
 These are the evils which you must hate if you would 
 love God. 
 
 To repeat your prayers at stated times and seasons, 
 to recite the Commandments, to keep fasts and feasts 
 unless you Jiate evil will be of no real service. And how 
 are you to show that you hate evil ? Not by saying so 
 but by avoiding it, by flying from it. What you really 
 dislike you would naturally shun ! I do not think, dear 
 children, that you can often be in doubt as to what is 
 " evil," though you may sometimes try to deceive your- 
 selves, or at least refuse to acknowledge to yourselves 
 that you are about to commit what you know and feel
 
 106 Hatred of Evil. 
 
 to be wrong. There is no lack of instruction as to what 
 is good or evil. It is not merely in the written words of 
 the Psalmist and Prophet of old, or in the many good 
 books of the present day that you will learn these im- 
 portant lessons, but also in the good and wise words 
 of the good and wise around you, and not merely in their 
 words, but by their example. 
 
 There [is one evil, however, which I think children 
 sometimes fall into from ignorance, and that is cruelty. 
 They do not, I can hardly believe, always realize the 
 fact that poor little animals are as sensitive to pain as they 
 are themselves, or they would not handle so roughly, or 
 tease and worry any stray dog or cat or hapless bird 
 that may have fallen into their hands. Boys would not, 
 let us hope, if they were aware of the suffering they were 
 inflicting, find any pleasure in throwing stones at birds, 
 or worrying cats and dogs, or any other poor little 
 animals that might not be able to escape from their tor- 
 mentors. What a cowardly pastime it is to torture per- 
 haps to kill the weak and helpless. Those children who 
 hate evil, will hate such cruel play, and will find their 
 pleasure on the contrary, in protecting, feeding and 
 petting those little creatures who repay kind and gentle 
 treatment with grateful affection shown in a thousand 
 pretty ways. And they will not only be kind and gentle 
 to pretty, fascinating animals, to the frisky kitten, the 
 rollicking, amusing puppy, but their hearts will be tender 
 and compassionate to an old sickly dog, to poor suffering 
 pussy, or to the tired half-starved donkey. 
 
 " O ye that love the Lord, hate evil " well, to hate 
 evil is not merely to shun it, and to fly from it but if 
 possible to fight against, to destroy, and get rid of it. 
 
 Real hatred of evil is what is required to enable us to 
 effect any good. It is the spur by which great deeds are
 
 Hatred of Evil. 107 
 
 accomplished, difficulties which seem insurmountable 
 overcome. It is the wand, or rather the sword of our 
 fairy tales brandished by the good hero who kills the 
 wicked giant, and saves his trembling victim. What 
 improvements have not been the result of hatred of evil ! 
 It inspired many a good man with courage and self- 
 sacrificing devotion which enabled him to overcome all 
 obstacles. 
 
 Not a hundred years ago poor negroes were carried 
 away from their own country by English traders and 
 sold like beasts. Husbands and wives were separated. 
 Children were torn from their parents to become the 
 property of perhaps some hard task-master, and this 
 cruel traffic had lasted many years when William Wilber- 
 force, and a small band of resolute men aroused by pity 
 and indignation, determined to spend their lives in help- 
 ing the poor defenceless, friendless negro. Many were 
 the difficulties, of which I hope you will read one day, 
 which beset those brave kind men, but at last their 
 labour and patience were rewarded, and wherever Eng- 
 land ruled, the slave trade was abolished and the slave 
 set free. 
 
 It was hatred of evil of an evil which produces misery, 
 starvation and vice, which gave rise to the great and 
 fast spreading temperance movement. Many whose 
 hearts were filled with pain at the destitution and crime 
 caused by drunkenness have long been and are still 
 fighting with all their might against it, enlisting even 
 children in their great temperance armies in the 
 branches known as the Bands of Hope. 
 
 It was hatred of evil hatred intense and vehement, 
 which Lord Shaftesbury (who died only a few years ago 
 at the ripe age of eighty-four) felt for the cruel life 
 endured by poor little factory children which made him
 
 1 08 Hatred of Evil. 
 
 stand forth to plead their cause, and almost alone to 
 win it ! 
 
 Thanks to his untiring zeal and exertions the hours of 
 work were shortened, fresh air was admitted into the 
 close unwholesome factories, and some, at least, of the 
 joys of childhood were restored to those wretched over- 
 tasked little victims. And that great reform which gave 
 health, and inestimable blessings to thousands of human 
 beings, and should especially call forth a cry of loving 
 gratitude from all English children, was the work of one 
 righteous man's hatred of evil. 
 
 One more example must suffice for to-day, and that 
 one I am happy to take from our own people ; it is one 
 which will appeal to you all without requiring many 
 words from me. You will doubtless already have guessed 
 that I refer to Sir Moses Montefiore, who spent a memo- 
 rable and noble life in defending the Jews, in all parts of 
 the world, from the attacks of bigotry and intolerance. 
 It was intense hatred of the cruel laws and oppression 
 under which his poorer co-religionists suffered in many 
 foreign countries, that caused Sir Moses, regardless of 
 danger and troubles, to undertake long journeys to Russia, 
 Turkey, Spain, and Jerusalem : it was thus he made 
 himself thoroughly acquainted with the sad condition of 
 the Jews in many lands, and was able by his ceaseless 
 personal efforts to change and improve it. He was 
 ninety years old when he performed his last pilgrimage 
 of mercy, but, neither the dulling effects of time, nor the 
 growing infirmities of age could diminish the hatred of 
 evil which fired that old man's heart. Let each of us in 
 our several paths, however small and narrow they may 
 be, try to imitate those great examples by hating evil, 
 and setting ourselves resolutely and bravely to fight 
 against it.
 
 Hatred of Evil. 1 09 
 
 THE PURPOSE OF LIFE. 
 
 HAST thou 'midst life's empty noises, 
 Heard the solemn steps of time, 
 And the low mysterious voices 
 Of another clime ? 
 
 Early hath life's mighty question 
 Thrilled within thy heart of youth, 
 With a deep and strong beseeching 
 What and where is truth ? 
 
 Not to ease and aimless quiet 
 Doth the inward answer tend, 
 But to works of love and duty, 
 As our beings end. 
 
 Earnest toil and strong endeavour, 
 Of a spirit which within 
 Wrestles with familiar evil 
 And besetting sin. 
 
 And without with tireless vigour, 
 Steady heart and purpose strong, 
 In the power of truth assaileth 
 Every form of wrong. Whittier.
 
 1 1 o Hatred of Evil. 
 
 THE SPARROW. 
 
 TOUCH not the little sparrow who doth build 
 His home so near us. He doth follow us 
 From spot to spot amidst the turbulent town 
 And ne'er deserts us. To all other birds 
 The woods suffice, the rivers, the sweet fields, 
 And nature in her aspect mute and fair ; 
 But he doth herd with men, blithe servant, live, 
 Feed and grow cheerful ! On my window's ledge 
 I'll leave thee every morning some fit food 
 In payment for thy service. Barry Cornwall.
 
 XVIII. 
 SPRING. 
 
 " To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose." 
 Ecclesiastes iii. i. 
 
 WHAT is the special purpose of the time we call spring ? 
 That time of the year when winter, with its short days 
 and long nights, its cold winds and bare trees is passing 
 away ; when tiny blossoms are just peeping out of the 
 earth, and tender green leaves faintly colour the brown 
 twigs and stems, which seem to be suddenly awakening 
 out of their winter sleep. 
 
 Full of beauty, charm and delight, spring is also a 
 season of preparation, of ripening, as it were, for summer 
 and autumn, which are hastening onwards with their 
 flowers and fruit, and their fields of tall grass and 
 waving corn. 
 
 But this feast of nature will not be spread without the 
 care and labour of man given in due season. 
 
 The earth must be cleansed and made ready by the 
 spade and the plough for the reception of the seeds ; our 
 flowers and fruit trees must be tended and cared for in 
 the spring time, and when the labourer has done his 
 work, refreshing showers, and a warm bright sun are 
 still required to insure his success and produce a plentiful 
 harvest. 
 
 Spring time, therefore, for the earth, is the time for 
 sowing, and planting, and growing, when man's active 
 industry and hard work are required to prepare the
 
 H2 Spring. 
 
 feast which, with God's blessing, will in good time be 
 spread upon the earth. 
 
 Yes, the summer flowers and the autumn harvest not 
 merely follow, but depend upon the spring. 
 
 Can you tell me what message the spring has for you, 
 dear children ? Is this not your spring time ? The 
 time for growth and work, as well as for pleasure and 
 fun ? Upon the use you make of this season will de- 
 pend the summer and autumn of your life, your man- 
 hood and womanhood, and even your old age will be 
 fashioned by the use you make of your spring time. The 
 Almighty has given you faculties that must be developed, 
 limbs that must be made active and sturdy by exercise, 
 parents and teachers to direct and lead you in the right 
 path ; but you must be diligent and obedient, or these 
 blessings, like the sun's warmth, and the showers of 
 heaven, which fall upon an untilled, and therefore barren 
 land, will be of no avail. 
 
 Now is the time for you to form good habits, now 
 must the seeds of industry be sown, now must the roots 
 of faith be firmly planted, that you may grow up good 
 and useful men and women. 
 
 And remember that your industry, and the knowledge 
 you will gain at school, if you pay proper attention to 
 your teachers, must not merely make you happier and 
 cleverer men and women, but must enable you to increase 
 the happiness of those around you. 
 
 The use you make of your joyous growing spring 
 time will be blessed to others as well as to your- 
 selves, to your parents, who may in ycu find the comfort 
 and support of their old age, to your younger brothers 
 and sisters, who will look up to you for advice, to 
 your companions, to whom you will be a trusted friend, 
 and to the needy and sorrowful, to whom you will be
 
 Spring. 113 
 
 able to give, not only sympathy, but help. If you would 
 grow up to be strong and helpful, do not waste your 
 precious spring time. It comes but once, and if its 
 opportunities are thrown away, if you are listless and 
 idle now, in vain will the sun shine and the showers fall ; 
 no seed will be sown, and you will become like the 
 neglected, uncultivated field, with its useless, baneful 
 crop of weeds. 
 
 One more lesson I think we may find in our comparison 
 between youth and spring. 
 
 The spring of the year, like the spring of our life, is a 
 happy joyous time ; it delights the eye, the ear, and the 
 heart with its lovely tints, and its cheery sounds ; and 
 thus, dear children, should your sparkling cup of youth, 
 brimful of mirth and laughter, be allowed to overflow into 
 many a sad and weary heart. You cannot, perhaps, 
 imagine how much even a child's glad voice, like the 
 chirping of a bird, can brighten the cheerless solitude of 
 the aged in their enforced idleness. The sunny presence 
 of youth brings with it a joyous atmosphere into the 
 poor invalid's room, like the breath of spring to which 
 he so gratefully opens his long-closed windows. 
 
 Do not, therefore, allow your spring time to pass 
 without a thought for those who have entered into the 
 darker, sterner season of life ; be kind, gentle, and loving 
 to them, ready to sacrifice even a little amusement to 
 bring a smile upon some old wrinkled face, to support 
 the tottering footsteps of some aged neighbour, and to 
 spare him fatigue, and perhaps disappointment, by the 
 help your stout little hands can give him. 
 
 And now, dear children, I would only say to you, 
 remember the lessons of spring, and try to put them into 
 practice.
 
 H4 Spring. 
 
 REMEMBER THY CREATOR." 
 
 O COME, in Life's gay morning, 
 
 Ere in thy sunny way 
 The flowers of hope have withered, 
 
 And sorrow ends thy day. 
 
 Come, while from joy's bright fountain 
 The streams of pleasure flow ; 
 
 Come, ere thy buoyant spirits 
 Have felt the blight of woe. 
 
 " Remember thy Creator " 
 Now, in thy youthful days, 
 
 And He will guide thy footsteps 
 Through life's uncertain maze. 
 
 " Remember thy Creator," 
 
 He calls in tones of love, 
 And offers endless pleasure 
 
 In brighter worlds above. 
 
 And in the hour of sadness, 
 When earthly joys depart, 
 
 His love shall be thy solace, 
 And cheer thy drooping heart. 
 
 And when life storms are over, 
 And thou from earth art free, 
 
 Thy God shall be thy portion 
 Throughout eternity. Anonymous.
 
 XIX. 
 ON OBEDIENCE. 
 
 " My son, hear the instruction of thy father, 
 
 And forsake not the law of thy mother. 
 
 " For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, 
 
 And chains about thy neck." Prov. i. 8, 9, 10. 
 
 " Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee : 
 
 Reprove a wise man, and he will love thee." Prov. ix. 8. 
 
 THE duty of obedience is the subject on which I am 
 going to speak to you to-day ; perhaps it is one you do 
 not much like, and which you think may be more 
 pleasant for your elders to talk about than for you to 
 listen to. 
 
 You may perhaps imagine that obedience is only 
 demanded of the young, and that it is easy to prescribe 
 for others what we need not practise ourselves but, let 
 me begin by correcting that mistake, for obedience is 
 a duty equally binding upon young and old in child- 
 hood, we must be obedient to our parents and teachers, 
 and when we are no longer under their care and gui- 
 dance, we must be obedient to the precepts we learnt in 
 our early years, to the dictates of our conscience, and to 
 the words of the good and wise, who speak to us, some- 
 times face to face, sometimes from distant countries or 
 far-off ages like the inspired words of the Bible. 
 
 There is an ancient Jewish tradition that God was 
 especially pleased with the Israelites when, after Moses 
 had read the book of the Covenant before the people
 
 1 1 6 On Obedience. 
 
 they said " All that the Lord hath said will we do, and 
 give ear to." Unhappily in those olden times as in the 
 present day good intentions were rapidly forgotten, and 
 the temptations to disobedience but feebly resisted, and 
 in spite of all they had seen and heard, the Israelites 
 brought upon themselves sorrow and troubles by their 
 repeated acts of disobedience. 
 
 It was to reprove the Israelites for their sins of dis- 
 obedience that the prophets were sent to our forefathers 
 when they listened to those great teachers, peace and 
 happiness ensued but too often they turned a deaf ear 
 to the words of rebuke which stung them to anger instead 
 of to repentance. Oh ! if a prophet were to come to 
 us, I fancy I hear you say, we should be quite ready to 
 listen to and obey him, but our teachers are often 
 impatient or cross, our master or mistress over exacting 
 and fault finding, our parents not always just in their 
 demands or complaints that may be so but re- 
 member that to the Israelites the prophets did not 
 appear so far above them in wisdom and holiness as we 
 see them to have been. They were human beings, 
 therefore imperfect, and occasionally falling into error 
 like themselves, yet how happy it would have been for 
 the Jews of old if they had humbly hearkened to the 
 words of warning and severe reproof of those great 
 though not faultless teachers. 
 
 Even Moses, the greatest of the prophets, who, we are 
 told in language that we can hardly understand, was 
 admitted into the presence of the Almighty, and allowed 
 to be the bearer of his Commandments, not only to the 
 Israelites, but to mankind ; even he was not absolutely 
 faultless, and such were, though on a lower level, all the 
 prophets who taught and rebuked our fathers and who 
 as we read their words in the Bible, teach and rebuke us
 
 On Obedience. 117 
 
 still. The prophets did not belong to any particular class ; 
 Jeremiah and Ezekiel were priests, Amos a poor herds- 
 man ; they came at various epochs, and had various 
 missions to perform, which they performed according to 
 their knowledge and character in various ways, but all 
 preached by exhortation, rebuke or example, the great 
 lesson of obedience. 
 
 And now what qualities do you think we require to 
 help us to practise obedience ? Humility and moral 
 courage appear to me the most essential. I should like 
 to call them the handmaids of obedience. We must be 
 humble minded to believe and acknowledge that those 
 who are older than ourselves are also wiser, and that it 
 is our duty to listen to their advice, and we must have 
 courage, not merely to say yes and no, but also to act yes 
 and no ; it is easy to pronounce these two little words, 
 but the difficulty is in acting up to them in the face of 
 temptation, when pleasure, vanity, idleness or anger lead 
 or rather drag us away from the path we had consented 
 and doubtless intended to follow. 
 
 Walking down the Thames Embankment I have 
 often stood still for a few minutes to follow the move- 
 ments of the numberless steamers, sailing and rowing 
 boats, gliding on that busy water thoroughfare, and 
 admired the skill of the sailors in threading their way 
 along that crowded river. What fearful accidents might 
 occur if those ships and boats were not manned by 
 sailors always scrupulously obedient to the orders of 
 their captain ! How few would bring their cargo safe to 
 land ! In strict obedience lies their only safeguard. 
 Well, dear children, we are all sailors on the river of life. 
 Some, like yourselves, have only commenced your voyage, 
 others may be near its end but storms and perils, at 
 one time or another, we must all encounter. Let us
 
 n8 On Obedience. 
 
 take a lesson then from the sailors, and see how they 
 contrive to escape the dangers around them. 
 
 If you have ever been in a boat you will doubtless 
 remember what attention the sailor pays to his rudder, 
 by which he keeps in the right direction ; how at the 
 word of command he unfurls his sails or diligently plies 
 his oars. Firm resolution to obey the voice of your 
 parents and teachers is the mdderthaA. will keep your little 
 bark in its proper course, and if the current of angry 
 passion or evil example should be wafting it astray, you 
 must unfurl your sail of moral courage, and when 
 the wind is hushed and all is calm, and your boat is 
 lying still on the quiet waters, you must not give way to 
 indolent idleness, but, obedient to the voice of duty, 
 take up your oars of active industry, and with rapid 
 strokes make good progress towards the goal your 
 parents and friends are anxious you should reach. And 
 what is that goal to which obedience alone can lead 
 you ? A useful, happy, honoured life spent in doing the 
 will of the Lord our God. 
 
 TREASURES. 
 
 LET me count my treasures, 
 All my soul holds dear, 
 
 Given me by dark spirits 
 Whom I used to fear. 
 
 Through long days of anguish 
 And sad nights, did Pain 
 
 Forge my shield, Endurance, 
 Bright and free from stain !
 
 On Obedience. 119 
 
 Doubt, in misty caverns, 
 
 'Mid dark horrors sought, 
 Till my peerless jewel, 
 
 Faith to me she brought. 
 
 Sorrow, that I wearied 
 
 Should remain so long, 
 Wreathed my starry glory, 
 
 The bright Crown of Song. 
 
 Strife, that racked my spirit, 
 
 Without hope or rest, 
 Left the blooming flower, 
 
 Patience, on my breast. 
 
 Suffering, that I dreaded, 
 
 Ignorant of her charms, 
 Like the fair child, Pity, 
 
 Smiling, in my arms. 
 
 So I count my treasures, 
 
 Stored in days long past 
 And I thank the givers, 
 
 Whom I know at last ! 
 
 A. A. Procter.
 
 XX. 
 
 THE GOOD WORKMAN. 
 
 DURING the long reign of Manasseh, the successor of 
 Hezekiah, and that of his son Amon, idolatry had been 
 practised in Judah. 
 
 In the 2nd book of Kings, chap, xxi., we read that 
 Manasseh built up again the high places which Hezekiah 
 his father had destroyed, and that he raised up altars for 
 Baal, and made a grove as did Ahab, king of Israel, and 
 worshipped all the host of heaven and served them and 
 he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts 
 of the House of the Lord, and he made his son pass 
 through the fire, and observed times, and used enchant- 
 ments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards. He 
 wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord. 
 
 And of his son Amon we also read, that he forsook 
 the Lord God of his fathers and walked not in the way 
 of the Lord." But the youthful Josiah, who succeeded 
 his father Amon on the throne, did that which was right 
 in the sight of the Lord, and in the twelfth year of his 
 reign when, he had come to man's estate, he began to 
 purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the 
 groves and the carved images, all copied from surround- 
 ing nations and used for idolatrous purposes. And when 
 he had destroyed them, he set himself to repair the 
 Temple of Jerusalem, which had been so long neglected 
 and allowed to fall into decay. 
 
 And he sent Shephan and Moaserah, the governor of
 
 The Good Workman. 121 
 
 the city, and Yoat, the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to 
 repair the House of the Lord his God. And they came 
 to Hilkiah, the high priest, and delivered the money 
 that was brought into the house of God, which the 
 Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had gathered of 
 the land of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the 
 remnant of Israel and of all Judah and Benjamin and 
 of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and they delivered it 
 into the hands of the workmen that had the oversight 
 of the house of the Lord, and gave it to amend and 
 repair the House, even to the carpenters and to the 
 builders gave they it to buy hewn stone and timber for 
 couplings, and to make beams for the houses which the 
 kings of Judah had destroyed. And the men did the 
 work faithfully. And in the 2nd book of Kings, chap, 
 xxii., we read these words concerning the honesty of the 
 workmen : " Howbeit there was no reckoning made 
 with them of the money that was delivered into their 
 hands for tJiey dealt faithfully." Yes, they must have 
 been truly good and honest, those workmen in the 
 Temple ; faithful, as the Bible says, faithful to their 
 employers and to their conscience ! As no reckoning 
 was made with them, how easily could they have de- 
 ceived their employers, by asking for more money than 
 they had fairly earned by working lazily in a half- 
 hearted fashion, thus wasting the time for which they 
 were paid, or in putting bad and cheap materials in the 
 place of good ones. 
 
 How often do we not see or hear of such dishonest 
 practices in these days even when the workman or 
 woman is, to a certain degree, under the control of an 
 overseer or manager. 
 
 But our forefathers, those Jewish workmen of old, 
 could be trusted, for they dealt faithfully.
 
 122 The Good Workman. 
 
 Well, dear children, let us all take a lesson from their 
 example. Let us resolve to do our work faithfully. 
 We may have no great talents or much learning, but 
 we can all be honest, conscientious, and true, and do 
 our best, and then we shall also feel that we have been 
 faithful in the performance of our work. 
 
 Perhaps you will say or think that it is quite a different 
 matter working for the shop, the factory, the hard 
 taskmaster, or perhaps somewhat severe exacting mis- 
 tress to working for the restoration of the Temple. It 
 would, indeed, have been wicked of the workmen to 
 have scamped their work in the beautiful House of God, 
 which had been built according to the inspired words of 
 His prophets. But what comparison is there between 
 the adornment of the Temple and the finishing of a 
 very commonplace garment for some city or west-end 
 shop, or learning and repeating one's lessons at school ? 
 
 Well, I will agree with you so far as to say that it 
 would have been wicked in the workmen of old to have 
 shown dishonesty or carelessness or greed in the accom- 
 plishment of their work in the Temple ; but let me 
 hasten to add that I do not think they would have been 
 more wicked than those who do whatever work has been 
 intrusted to them, carelessly, negligently, or dishonestly 
 at the present day. For, dear children, if the Temple 
 was built after the directions of the Lord, and therefore 
 looked upon as the House of God how much more 
 must we look upon this great world, called into existence 
 by Him, fashioned and upheld by Him, as the Temple 
 of the Lord. 
 
 We cannot escape from His holy presence ; He looks 
 down upon every worker here and beholds our work, 
 whether it be good or whether it be evil. Let us think 
 of that when we are doing our work, whatever that work
 
 The Good Workman. 123 
 
 may be, remember that you are in God's hands, and 
 that the eye of the Master is upon you as it was upon 
 the workmen in the Temple. To every one of us is 
 given some work to do, and if we are lazy or dishonest, 
 and neglect or scamp our work, we shall be doing evil in 
 the sight of God, and marring the beauty of His Temple. 
 Never forget that you are in His presence workmen in 
 His Temple. And as those workmen of old took a pride 
 and pleasure in doing their work well because they felt they 
 were embellishing the House of God, so should you like- 
 wise take a pride and pleasure in the performance of your 
 work, whatever that work may be. For remember that, 
 by your industry, honesty, and zeal, you will be helping 
 to bring light instead of darkness, the beauty of order 
 and purity instead of the hideous disfigurement of vice 
 and misery into the Temple of the Lord. 
 
 And now, dear children, if you are ever inclined to be 
 indolent and listless, to put off for to-morrow what 
 should be done to-day, or worse still, not honestly to 
 fulfil the orders of your employers or the requests of 
 your teachers, may the thought of the workmen in the 
 Temple arrest you in that downward course and lead 
 you into the fruitful paths of honest, active industry. 
 
 Wherever our lot may be cast, in the village or in 
 the city, in foreign lands or in our own dear Eng- 
 land, among friends or strangers, we shall still be in 
 the House of God ; let us earnestly pray to Him that 
 He may give us strength and power to do our work 
 faithfully, on this wonderful earth the all-embracing 
 Temple of the Lord.
 
 124 The Good Workman. 
 
 TO-DAY. 
 
 Lo, here hath been dawning 
 
 Another blue day ! 
 Think, wilt thou let it 
 
 Slip useless away ? 
 
 Out of eternity 
 
 This new day is born. 
 Into eternity 
 
 At night will return. 
 
 Behold it aforetime, 
 
 No eye ever did ; 
 Lo, soon it forever 
 
 From all eyes is hid. 
 
 Here hath been dawning 
 
 Another blue day, 
 Think, wilt thou let it 
 
 Slip useless away ? 
 
 Thomas Carlyle.
 
 XXI. 
 
 INTEGRITY OF HEART AND SKILFULNESS 
 OF HAND. 
 
 " He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheep- 
 fold. From following the ewes, great with young, he brought him 
 to feed Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance. 
 
 " So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided 
 them by the skilfulness of his hands." Ps. Ixxviii. 70, 71, 72. 
 
 WHY was David chosen to be the ruler of Israel ? Why 
 was the youthful shepherd called away from his flocks 
 to receive a royal crown ? Was it not because the 
 humble duties intrusted to him had been conscientiously, 
 courageously, and skilfully fulfilled ? He had displayed 
 skill in leading his sheep, courage in defending them 
 from danger and harm, and tender humanity in his 
 fostering care and protection of the weak. God, before 
 whom all hearts are bare, knew that David, though far 
 from perfect, possessed those qualities which beseem a 
 ruler, therefore He took him from the sheepfold and 
 brought him to feed Jacob, his people, and Israel his 
 inheritance, and David fed them according to the in- 
 tegrity of his heart, and the skilfulness of his hands. 
 And those qualities which the shepherd boy possessed 
 in a superlative degree, are those which befit and 
 ennoble every station in life, be it high or low, great or 
 humble. Let us all strive to acquire them. Through them 
 we shall be able to be of some use in the world, and 
 shall be allowed to feel that happy glow which brightens
 
 126 Integrity of Heart and 
 
 the hearts of those who have brightened other hearts, or 
 saved from pain and trouble any living creature. 
 
 And now let us inquire into the full meaning of those 
 words. 
 
 Integrity of heart and skilfulness of hand. By the 
 former, I believe perfect sincerity and truthfulness are 
 intended without perfect sincerity and truthfulness 
 neither kindness nor learning can avail to make us really 
 wise and helpful. It is through them that we gain 
 mental strength and vigour, that we are able to combat 
 what is evil and defend the right, that our good inten- 
 tions become acts. They make us scorn to tell a false- 
 hood, even when we are shrouded in what appears to be 
 the impenetrable darkness of secrecy, only appears to 
 be, for you know, dear children, that nothing is hidden 
 from the all-seeing eye of God. 
 
 It was in the integrity of his heart that David looked 
 after the flock intrusted to his care. Conscientiously 
 and truthfully he followed the directions given to him, 
 with courage he defended his sheep from the prowling 
 wolf, and carefully tended and watched over the little 
 bleating lamb. In the plains and valleys where his 
 flocks were pastured he was ever mindful of his charge, 
 thinking of their safety and well-being more than of his 
 own comfort and pleasure, zealously fulfilling his duties 
 to the utmost of his power in the position in which he 
 had been placed. 
 
 No man, say the Jewish sages, is ever chosen by God 
 for a great task, until he has been proved faithful in a 
 small one. Both to Moses and to David, a heavenly 
 voice is said to have exclaimed: "Thou hast shown 
 thyself faithful as a keeper of sheep, thou shalt be 
 shepherd to my people Israel." 
 
 But it was not only through the integrity of his heart,
 
 Skilfulness of Hand. 127 
 
 but also through the skilfulness of his hands that David 
 guided his flock, knowledge and skill were required to 
 enable the shepherd lad to choose the best pastures, to 
 evade, if possible, the cunning enemy, and to look after 
 the health of his sheep during the trying summer heat, 
 or to find a shelter for them when the destructive storm 
 was raging around, knowledge, adroitness all that you 
 are, or should now be learning at home or at school 
 may be understood in the words, " the skilfulness of his 
 hands." The more knowledge you can acquire, the more 
 adroit you have become in any work, the more useful, 
 the better and the happier you will be. Heart and hand, 
 or perhaps I should say heart and brain, for it is the 
 brain that guides the hand, must work together. " In- 
 tegrity of heart and skilfulness of hand." 
 
 And now, dear children, in the happy hey-day of your 
 youth, you must place those aims before you and follow 
 them with zeal and earnestness. More fortunate than 
 many of your elders, you have much to help and stimu- 
 late you now, which was sadly lacking in former years. 
 Let me mention the numerous religious classes, instead 
 of the one or two Sabbath schools of the past. Then, 
 only a certain number of children could be admitted, 
 whereas, now you can all receive that invaluable instruc- 
 tion which is to shape your conduct, and hallow and 
 purify your life. Strive to follow the light with which 
 your teachers illumine the path you should tread, and 
 in spite of temptations and difficulties we must all 
 encounter, walk humbly and bravely on in the shining 
 track of heavenly wisdom, for " her ways are ways of 
 pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." 
 
 Then you have your excellent day schools where, if 
 you give proper application to your lessons, you will 
 not only gain a great deal of useful knowledge, but im-
 
 128 Integrity of Heart and 
 
 prove all your mental faculties, and last, though perhaps 
 not least, in the good that may be derived from them 
 are the night schools and recreative classes. In the 
 latter you have now an opportunity of acquiring skilful- 
 ness of hand ; pray, do not neglect it. In those happy 
 evening classes, how many slow, awkward little hands have 
 become dexterous and quick ! how many boys and girls 
 have been put in the way of learning useful arts ! A tooth- 
 some dish is made by one little maiden, and a well-washed, 
 carefully ironed garment turned out by another. Perhaps, 
 among the girls and youths who attend those evening 
 classes, there may be a few who possess some talent that 
 only requires cultivation and industry to be developed, 
 and thus really useful or beautiful work maybe produced, 
 and an artist discovered in the youthful workman. But 
 even those who are not endowed with any especial 
 artistic qualities will doubtless acquire sufficient ability 
 to be able to add in various ways to the comforts and 
 adornments of life, or to increase their own means of 
 enjoyment or of usefulness. 
 
 In Switzerland, during the long winter evenings, when 
 the labourer must perforce remain indoors, he does not 
 sit with idle hands listening to the wind or the avalanche 
 falling down the mountain side, but sets busily to work, 
 and, according to his taste and ability, makes useful 
 pieces of furniture for his own cottage, or carves various 
 wooden articles ; and in the summer months the tourist 
 buys his picture frames, paper-knives, or book stands, 
 and takes them home with him as pleasant remem- 
 brances of his rambles among the Alps. 
 
 In some parts of France, home arts consist in very 
 pretty ivory carvings, whilst in others dainty embroideries 
 employ many hands, and all these various industries, 
 followed during leisure hours at home, bring pleasure as
 
 Skilfulness of Hand. 129 
 
 well as profit to those who have the necessary ability 
 and training to turn out really good work. 
 
 We seem to have travelled far away from the plains 
 of Judaea and the shepherd tending his flock, but the 
 words of Scripture, and the examples presented in the 
 Bible, should be of use to every one of us, even in this 
 distant land and age. We must learn to adapt them to 
 our own lives and circumstances. The end to be desired 
 and to be accomplished is the same, though the means 
 to attain it must vary according to the country and the 
 age we live in. Those means your parents and teachers 
 will place before you, and help you to make use of, and 
 through them and your own exertions you will, with the 
 blessing of God, be able to acquire integrity of heart and 
 skilfulness of hand. 
 
 "He who walks in virtue's way 
 Firm and fearless walketh surely, 
 Diligent while yet 'tis day, 
 On he speeds, and speeds securely ; 
 Flowers of peace beneath him grow, 
 Lines of pleasure brighten o'er him, 
 Memory's joys behind him go, 
 Hope's sweet angels fly before him." 
 
 Dr. Bowring. 
 
 K
 
 XXII. 
 " VANITY OF VANITIES." 
 
 " Vanity of vanities all is vanity." Preacher, xii. 8. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 HAVE you ever heard of the portion of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures which is called The Preacher, nhnp in Hebrew. 
 This portion comprises words of wisdom by the Great 
 King Solomon ; all of you, I am sure, know the history 
 of Solomon, the son of David, who, though not the eldest 
 was elected by his father to be king of Israel. 
 
 Solomon whose very name signified Peace, was chosen 
 to build the Temple, because his reign was to be a peaceful 
 one, whilst King David had been debarred from erecting 
 a House of God on account of the many bloody wars he 
 was engaged in. 
 
 Solomon was a great king in every sense of the word, 
 but he showed his greatness most when God said to him : 
 " What shall I give thee ? " He did not ask for riches 
 or worldly prosperity, he did not express any material 
 want, or the desire for long life, but he said : " Give me, 
 O Lord, an understanding heart, that I may discern 
 between good and bad." His request was granted, for 
 God gave him wisdom, " and, says the Holy Writ, the 
 speech pleased the Lord so that He not only blessed 
 Solomon with wisdom but He gave him great riches, and 
 besides prosperity of every kind, neighbouring kings 
 and princes brought him presents, and even the Queen 
 of Sheba who had heard of Solomon's greatness and
 
 " Vanity of Vanities" 131 
 
 wisdom came to ask him questions and to offer him 
 precious gifts. It would take too long if I related to 
 you various instances of the King's wisdom ; the Bible as 
 well as the Talmud relate many examples of Solomon's 
 judgment and understanding, some of which are perhaps 
 known to you. King Solomon, as we have already 
 learnt, enjoyed every happiness and every worldly pros- 
 perity ; and yet this same prosperous king spoke the 
 words which I have quoted at the beginning of this 
 address : 
 
 " Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, all is vanity." 
 How are we to interpret this saying ? 
 
 Solomon has shown us very plainly when he asked 
 God for understanding that he thought all outward gifts 
 very poor and insufficient for man's happiness. 
 
 What good can riches do us, if our heart is cold and 
 incapable of feeling how we ought to employ them ; how 
 can they make us happy if our conscience reproves us 
 for selfishness and want of charity ? How can earthly 
 joys afford us satisfaction when we fail in our duty to 
 God and our neighbour ? 
 
 Do you not agree with me, my dear children, that all 
 these outward pleasures cannot compensate for the joy 
 of making others happy, that we cannot be happy unless 
 we carry out God's Commandments, that is, perform our 
 duty and help our fellow-creatures ? 
 
 Well might King Solomon say " vanity of vanities, all 
 is vanity " for he knew how little satisfaction mere out- 
 ward things give to the heart. 
 
 Many of us think too much of outer display. Some 
 like smart dresses and gay ribbons, and spend their hard 
 won earnings in unnecessary finery ; this is idle vanity. 
 
 We ought all to try and dress neatly as well as cleanly. 
 It has been said "cleanliness is next to Godliness,"
 
 132 " Vanity of Vanities" 
 
 and truly we must remember that our body is the 
 gift of God, and it is our duty to keep this gift clean 
 and holy. 
 
 But let us not mistake display for neatness, or showi- 
 ness for cleanliness ; we must not give too much thought 
 or time to the adornment of our person, but devote 
 our whole strength to the improvement of our heart 
 and soul. 
 
 I do not wish, however, my dear children, that the 
 words I have quoted should leave a feeling of discourage- 
 ment in your hearts, nor indeed will they do so, if you 
 will bear in mind that the same great preacher, who 
 examined very closely what people most highly prized, 
 and found that it was " all vanity," yet, before he laid 
 down his pen was convinced that there was something 
 that was not " all vanity," and expressed this in the very 
 last words of the wondrous little book I have been talk- 
 ing to you about. " Let us hear the conclusion of the 
 whole matter. Fear God and keep his Commandments, 
 for this is the whole duty of man. God shall bring 
 every work into judgment, with every secret thing, 
 whether it be good or whether it be evil." The Preacher, 
 xii. 13, 14. 
 
 And now, in illustration of what I have just told you, 
 I wish to relate to you one of the many admirable and 
 instructive stories of the ancient Jewish sages. 
 
 A man had three friends ; to the first of these he was 
 most warmly attached ; the second he liked less, and 
 the third came last in his affections, although of all the 
 three he was the truest friend to him. This man was 
 summoned before the judge and accused of some grave 
 offence, of which, however, he was entirely innocent. He 
 now appealed to all three friends to accompany him 
 before the judge and to help him in his hour of trial.
 
 " Vanity of Vanities" 1 33 
 
 The friend whom he valued most declined his request, 
 on the plea that he was too busy ; the second friend 
 followed him as far as the gate of the Court of Justice, 
 and then turned back terrified by the voice of the stern 
 judge ; but the third friend, on whom he counted least, 
 went with him before the judge, and pleaded his cause 
 so eloquently, that he was not only declared innocent, 
 but very amply rewarded. 
 
 Shall I explain to you the moral of this story ? The 
 man here described, is meant to be any one of us, for 
 after death we are all called before the throne of the 
 Great Judge, the Almighty God. 
 
 And the three friends, who are they ? The first one is 
 money, which so many of us prize as our greatest posses- 
 sion, but which deserts us the moment we part from life ; 
 the second is the earthly friend who accompanies our 
 body to the grave, and then turns back, for he, even if he 
 wished it, is not permitted to follow us farther, but the 
 third friend represents the good actions which accom- 
 pany us beyond the grave to the throne of the Great 
 Judge, and there will speak for us and help us to attain 
 the eternal happiness which the Almighty alone can 
 adjudge to all men.
 
 134 " Vanity of Vanities" 
 
 TRUE NOBILITY. 
 
 WHENE'ER a noble deed is wrought, 
 Whene'er is spoken a noble thought, 
 
 Our hearts in glad surprise, 
 
 To higher levels rise. 
 
 The tidal wave of deeper souls 
 Into our inmost being rolls, 
 
 And lifts us unawares 
 
 Out of all meaner cares. 
 
 Honour to those whose words or deeds 
 Thus help us in our daily needs, 
 
 And by their overflow 
 
 Raise us from what is low. Longfellow
 
 XXIII. 
 
 ON THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN JONATHAN 
 AND DAVID. 
 
 " The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David." 
 i Sam. xviii. i. 
 
 THE Bible is full of the most beautiful examples of every 
 virtue, and you, my dear young friends, have, no doubt, 
 admired in the Book of Books, the various characters, 
 each of which reveals some special quality, or some 
 noble action. 
 
 There is one example which seems to me very beauti- 
 ful in its combination of human affection, hallowed by 
 divine love. I am alluding to the friendship between 
 Jonathan and David. David, who alone seemed to 
 possess the power of soothing Saul when in his melan- 
 choly moods, but who, at the same time, often aroused 
 the King's anger, found a faithful friend, a staunch helper, 
 and a trusted comforter in the son of the very man who 
 persecuted him. 
 
 At the risk of exciting his father's anger, Jonathan 
 not only defended his friend in his absence, but saved 
 him from death. 
 
 The Bible says : " And the SOUL of Jonathan was 
 knit with the soul of David." 
 
 Let us consider the deeper meaning of these words. 
 It strikes me that they convey far more than an ordi- 
 nary intimation of friendship, for the Bible says the soul 
 of Jonathan. This cannot merely be meant as a common-
 
 136 Friendship between Jonathan and David. 
 
 place attachment between two young hearts, but the 
 interpretation of these words seems to be that the friend- 
 ship of Jonathan and David was hallowed by the spirit 
 of God ; that their souls were united for a higher aim, 
 and that their affection rested on the firm belief in the 
 Almighty, who watched over them. 
 
 Jonathan succeeded in saving David because he trusted, 
 not in the strength of his own friendship alone, but in 
 the help of that omnipotent Father, without whose pro- 
 tection and power we can accomplish nothing. And 
 now, my dear young friends, what lesson can we learn 
 from this touching record of friendship ? 
 
 No doubt, you all have a friend, or, perhaps, several 
 friends ; have you ever considered the duties such friend- 
 ship entails on us ? There is a homely saying : " A 
 friend in need is a friend indeed," and this proverb con- 
 tains much truth. The object of true friendship is to 
 comfort our friend when he is unhappy, or in want ; for 
 even the humblest can be of use to the sorrowing. There 
 is no merit in sharing each other's amusements or in 
 spending our time with our friends when they are merry ; 
 we must remember Jonathan, who braved his father's 
 anger to save David, and who took his friend's part in 
 his absence. 
 
 Let us, then, follow the example of Saul's son, so far 
 as to sacrifice our own interests and pleasures if required, 
 to help when help is needed that is real friendship. 
 " And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was 
 upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even 
 to his sword and to his bow, and to his girdle." I Sam. 
 xviii. 4. 
 
 It is of the greatest importance that you should be 
 careful in the choice of your friends, for the good friend 
 lifts you up, but the bad one drags you down. You
 
 Friendship between Jonathan and David. 1 3 7 
 
 cannot be much with persons who are unworthy without 
 suffering by their intercourse, and you may easily be led 
 astray by bad example. 
 
 We are often surprised and disgusted at first by some 
 actions of our companions, but when they laugh at our 
 scruples, and try to persuade us that they do no wrong, 
 how many of us follow bad advice and join in what we 
 once thought wrong ! 
 
 This is the danger of associating with bad friends, 
 this the dark side of unholy friendship, and I venture to 
 warn you of following in the footsteps of those who think 
 lightly of duty and virtue. 
 
 Remember that Jonathan's soul was knit unto David's, 
 which means that the spirit of God united them, that 
 their friendship was strengthened by faith, that God 
 blessed them, and helped Jonathan to save his friend. 
 Let me, then, urge you, my dear children, to try and 
 emulate the example of Jonathan and David in your 
 friendships, and to remember the words of the former : 
 " The Lord be between me and thee." i Sam. xx. 42. 
 
 " A love that gives and takes, that seeth faults, 
 Not with flaw-seeking eyes like needle points, 
 But loving-kindly ever looks them down 
 With o'ercoming faith of meek forgiveness."
 
 138 Friendship between Jonathan and David, 
 
 HYMN OF SPRING. 
 
 PRAISE the Lord, when blushing morning 
 Wakes the blossoms fresh with dew ! 
 
 When the world again created, 
 Beams with beauties fair and new. 
 
 Praise the Lord, when early breezes 
 Come so fragrant from the flowers ! 
 
 Praise, thou willow by the brook-side ; 
 Praise, ye birds among the bowers ! 
 
 Praise the Lord, and may His blessing 
 
 Guide us in the way of truth, 
 Keep our feet from paths of error, 
 
 Make us holy in our youth. 
 
 Praise the Lord, ye hosts of heaven, 
 
 Angels, sing your sweetest lays ! 
 All things utter forth His glory ! 
 
 Sound your great Creator's praise. 
 
 Anonymous.
 
 XXIV. 
 ON WORK. 
 
 " And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto 
 my commandments which I command you this day, to love the 
 Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with 
 all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due 
 season." Deut. xi. 13, 14. 
 
 MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, 
 
 IT will no doubt surprise you to hear that the subject I 
 have chosen was suggested to me by a child. When I 
 read out the verse which heads my address, a little girl 
 who was listening, inquired : but how can I serve the 
 Lord our God ? What can I do for Him ? This ques- 
 tion has, no doubt, presented itself to you, for many of 
 us think that it is difficult, yea, wellnigh impossible to 
 serve the Lord excepting by doing great deeds or 
 making heroic sacrifices. 
 
 Full of this belief, we often feel discouraged, and end 
 by doing nothing. Let me, then, try and prove to you 
 that this is a wrong way of considering the matter, and 
 that to serve the Lord our God lies within the power of 
 each of us ; that the humblest and the weakest may 
 carry out this precept. 
 
 We all of us have our work to do on earth, we have 
 been placed here by an omnipotent, beneficent Father, 
 who assigns to each of us some duty to fulfil, some 
 object to attain. However small that duty may appear 
 to us, if we try our best to carry out the work intrusted to 
 us, we shall be serving God and fulfilling His commands.
 
 140 On Work. 
 
 Our everyday duties are often the most tiresome and 
 uninteresting, but if we do them with a willing heart, 
 and with a pleasant determination to carry them out 
 well, we shall be doing deeds which in God's sight count 
 quite as much as the heroic actions of some of our fellow- 
 creatures. 
 
 In order to bring clearly before you how the humblest 
 among us may be of use in the world, and how often 
 the smallest creature is enabled to help a fellow-sufferer, 
 I will take an example from some very instructive moral 
 tales called : " -^Esop's Fables." ^Esop, who is supposed 
 to have written these Fables, was a Greek, who lived 
 about 500 years before the present mode of reckoning. 
 Do you know what the word " fable " means ? The dic- 
 tionary tells us " fable " means : an instructive fiction, a 
 tale with a moral to it. 
 
 Among yEsop's Fables there is one called " The Lion 
 and the Mouse." The lion, which you know is the king 
 of all animals, was one day caught in a net, and so effec- 
 tually was he entangled, that he could not extricate 
 himself from his prison. In the hope that help would be 
 at hand, the lion roared for hours, making his powerful 
 voice re-echo through the forest. But in vain ! none of 
 his comrades appeared, and the only creature which 
 came near him in his distress was a mouse ; strange to 
 say, this was the same mouse which the lion had once 
 allowed to escape unhurt from between his paws. 
 Moved not only by pity, but by gratitude, the mouse 
 determined to save the lion. With its sharp teeth, it 
 set to work to gnaw the net in two, and it gnawed so 
 long that a large opening was made, and, to the great 
 joy of the lion, he suddenly found himself free all 
 owing to the timely help of the tiny animal, so much 
 inferior to him in size and strength.
 
 On Work. 141 
 
 And now, can you read the moral of this fable ; do 
 you see its bearing on our subject ? JEsop shows you 
 very clearly and simply how the humblest can be of use, 
 how the smallest of creatures can not only perform a 
 good action, but help others far more powerful than 
 himself. Remember, then, that however lowly our posi- 
 tion may be, however small and weak we are, we can 
 nevertheless accomplish good and useful work for others 
 as well as for ourselves ; and by doing this, we best 
 serve the Lord. The ^mallest daily duty carried out 
 with earnestness, good-will and a cheerful spirit, weighs 
 more in the eyes of Him who "fashioneth our hearts," 
 than the most heroic deeds accomplished only once in a 
 way ! Remember, then, that you best serve the Lord 
 your God when you fulfil your duty to Him and your 
 fellow-creatures to the best of your ability, faithfully, 
 patiently, and conscientiously. 
 
 A great poet once wrote these lines in the album of a 
 little child : 
 
 " Small service is true service while it lasts : 
 
 Of humblest friends, bright creature ! scorn not one ; 
 
 The daisy by the shadow that it casts, 
 
 Protects the lingering dew-drop from the sun." 
 
 Before taking leave of you to-day, I again turn to one 
 of the Talmudic explanations of the passage in the 
 Pentateuch, which is quite appropriate to our subject. 
 
 In the first chapter of Leviticus you will find that the 
 Lord commanded Moses to tell the children of Israel, 
 that if they were desirous of bringing Him a burnt- 
 offering, this might consist of three different kinds. 
 
 The first and foremost was an offering of cattle ; the 
 second was one of sheep, and the third was to be one of 
 young pigeons.
 
 142 On Work. 
 
 Although these offerings were of different value, the 
 last verse of each separate command contains these 
 words : " that it should be a sweet savour unto the 
 Lord." 
 
 How do you think the Talmud interprets this repe- 
 tition ? 
 
 The three kinds of offering it says, though of different 
 value, are all one in the sight of God, for he does not 
 look to the gift itself, but to the earnestness of the giver, 
 and the spirit in which the offering is made. The Lord 
 considers not whether the sacrifice be great or small, 
 provided it be offered with a loving heart in a humble 
 spirit : " Then it shall be a sweet savour unto the Lord," 
 for whether a man offer much or little to God, it is equally 
 sweet, providing his heart be wholly turned unto his 
 Master. 
 
 LIFE'S WORK. 
 
 ALL around us, fair with flowers, 
 Fields of beauty sleeping lie ; 
 
 All around us clarion voices 
 Call to duty stern and high. 
 
 Thankfully we will rejoice in 
 All the beauty God has given ; 
 
 But beware it does not win us 
 
 From the work ordained of heaven. 
 
 Following every voice of mercy 
 With a trusting, loving heart ; 
 
 Let us in life's earnest labour 
 Still be sure to do our part.
 
 On Work. 143 
 
 Now, to-day, and not to-morrow, 
 
 Let us work with all our might, 
 Lest the wretched faint and perish 
 
 In the coming stormy night. 
 
 Now, to-day, and not to-morrow, 
 
 Lest before to-morrow's sun, 
 We too, mournfully departing, 
 
 Shall have left our work undone. 
 
 A nonymous.
 
 XXV. 
 
 THE FEAST OF PASSOVER. PART I. 
 
 " On the fourteenth day of the first month at even, is the Lord's 
 Passover." Lev. xxiii. 5. 
 
 " Seven days ye must eat unleavened bread, even the first day ye 
 shall put away leaven out of your houses." Ex. xii. 15. 
 
 TO-DAY, my dear children, we will have a talk about 
 Passover, " the Lord's Passover," as Moses called it. 
 
 After Jacob's death a great change set in for the 
 children of Israel. The Israelites, instead of being 
 honoured, valued guests in the land of Egypt, with the 
 most fruitful part given to them for their very own to 
 dwell in, were by degrees reduced to the position of 
 slaves, and nothing can be imagined more unhappy than 
 their condition. 
 
 It must have been hard enough for the Israelites to 
 have had to toil in the burning sun on the hot sandy soil 
 under cruel taskmasters for no reward, but in addition to 
 this, their very lives were grudged them. Still God was 
 always with His people, and in spite of all their suffering 
 they multiplied and grew so strong, that the tyrants 
 feared their slaves might become a danger from their 
 very strength and numbers. Then the cruel order went 
 forth that all the male children should be cast into 
 the river as soon as they were born, and only the girls 
 allowed to live. Do you think that true-hearted 
 Jewish women would obey this command? No! a 
 thousand times no ! The king's law was no law to these
 
 The Feast of Passover. 145 
 
 poor toilers. Pharaoh had taken all that he could from 
 them, but some of God's noblest gifts he could not rob 
 them of, the mother's love, implanted in every woman's 
 heart, was not destroyed, and when the little sons of 
 Israel were born, instead of being flung into the cold 
 waters of the Nile, they were hidden away and cared for, 
 until they could help themselves, and one of these very 
 babies, whom the king would have had drowned, was 
 saved and brought up to deliver his people. This was 
 Moses. 
 
 It was not by mere chance that Pharaoh's daughter 
 found the little Israelite among the rushes in the river. 
 Moses had a great part to play in the future of his people, 
 and it was necessary that he should have a better educa- 
 tion than his enslaved brothers if he was to be useful to 
 them later on. It was all part of the great scheme of 
 'deliverance, that he should find favour in the sight of the 
 princess, that she should adopt him, and in this manner 
 make him fit for his future position as leader of his 
 people. Remember, nothing ever does happen by chance 
 in this world, there is no such thing as chance. 
 
 And now you will agree with me that it was not an 
 accident that led the powerful Egyptian princess to the 
 little floating cradle, where the sight of the forsaken 
 weeping infant touched her woman's heart, nor was it 
 chance that the child's own mother was called to nurse 
 him. Jochebed, Moses' mother, played her part too in 
 bringing up the child to know God, and from her he 
 learnt that he belonged to the enslaved race, although he 
 was free through the favour of the royal lady who had 
 adopted him. How strong and true was his love for 
 his people is shown by his acts when he grew to man- 
 hood. When walking out one day, he saw a poor 
 Israelite being ill-treated by an Egyptian; without 
 
 L
 
 146 The Feast of Passover. 
 
 stopping to think of the consequences of his inter- 
 ference, he went to his assistance and overpowered the 
 Egyptian. 
 
 These events, insignificant as they may seem, led to the 
 second stage in Moses' life. He had to fly from Egypt, 
 as he thought the king would punish him, perhaps 
 with death, for having taken the law into his own 
 hands. So he fled from Egypt, and found refuge in the 
 land of Midian with a priest named Jethro. Here he 
 led a happy pastoral life, for the priest had seven 
 daughters, who were shepherdesses, and they gladly wel- 
 comed the polite, good-natured stranger, who at their very 
 first meeting befriended them. These young Midianitish 
 maidens were being very rudely treated by the shep- 
 herds, when Moses appeared and came to their assistance 
 and watered their flocks. 
 
 See now, how a kind act benefits not only the person 
 to whom it is done, but also him who does it, not that 
 gogd should be done for the sake of a reward, still, some- 
 times when we are striving very hard to do good in spite 
 of opposition, or at all events, with no assistance from those 
 around us, we may find comfort and strength in the 
 following beautiful verse from Ecclesiastes : 
 
 " Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find 
 it after many days." 
 
 And now it was Moses' kind heart that drew 
 him to the weak side, and, fortunately for him, his 
 reward came at once. When Jethro heard of his con- 
 duct, he offered the young stranger a home, and after- 
 wards gave him one of his daughters for a wife. This 
 part of Moses' career was an important one. Living 
 now the life of a shepherd, his time spent among the 
 beauties and wonders of nature, communing with 
 God through His works, his powers of patience and
 
 The Feast of Passover. 147 
 
 love were being strengthened, the shepherd of sheep was 
 fitting himself to become by-and-by the shepherd of 
 men. Moses, who tended the flocks of his father-in- 
 law, was preparing for his future work of tending the 
 bodies and souls of the Israelites, when through him they 
 should be freed from the Egyptian bondage. This must 
 have been the happiest period of Moses' life, the peaceful 
 years spent among the green hills bordering the deserts 
 of Arabia. 
 
 Presently God appeared to him from out of the burn- 
 ing bush, and told him he must leave his peaceful shep- 
 herd's work, and go back to Egypt. His elder brother 
 Aaron would meet him on the way, and then they were 
 to tell the Israelites that their years of slavery were 
 coming to an end, and that he was going before the 
 king to demand their freedom. 
 
 Here closes the peaceful chapter of Moses' life ; now 
 we shall hear of him as God's ambassador, not at first 
 welcome even to his own people. They had sunk into 
 such a miserable, degraded condition from their cruel 
 slavery, that they feared that Moses' interference might 
 only make matters worse. They had so long bid fare- 
 well to hope, that they even doubted the truth of his 
 words. Only when they saw the miracles he performed 
 with the rod he carried in his hand, could they believe 
 that he and Aaron were really sent by God with the 
 encouraging message. 
 
 The tyrant king was not to be so easily induced to 
 follow God's word, his heart was hard, and stronger mea- 
 sures were needed before he would consent to let those 
 useful, patient bondmen go, and so the dreadful time of the 
 plagues began. Ten different plagues, each fresh one more 
 terrible than the last, were brought on the Egyptians. 
 Their comfort, their appetites, their wealth, their afifec-
 
 148 The Feast of Passover. 
 
 tions, each in turn was attacked, but it was not until the 
 dread angel of Death stalked amongst them that the 
 proud, hard heart was forced to give way. 
 
 After the plague of the three days' darkness had been 
 removed, Moses called to the people and told them that 
 the time was at hand for their enemies to let them go, 
 and they were to prepare for their departure. Now was 
 to be celebrated the first Passover. God was going to 
 slay the first-born of all throughout the land of Egypt, 
 both man and beast, " from the first-born of Pharaoh that 
 sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that 
 was in the dungeon." Exodus, xii. 29. 
 
 None would be spared, nobles and slaves, all would weep 
 and mourn together. And whilst all this would be hap- 
 pening throughout that part of the land where the Egyp- 
 tians lived by themselves, a very different picture would 
 be seen in Goshen, where the children of Israel dwelt. 
 There the first Passover was being held. God had 
 commanded through Moses, that every family should 
 take a lamb, large or small according to the size of the 
 household, and if the family was too small to eat a whole 
 lamb, then two neighbours might join together. This 
 lamb was to be killed and eaten at even, and bunches of 
 the herb hyssop were to be dipped in the blood, which 
 was to be sprinkled on the door-posts, so that the 
 destroying angel might know which houses he was to 
 pass by and not enter. 
 
 What a strange command this must appear to you at 
 first sight, but now let us look into it and see what it 
 meant. Would God's messenger, without that sign to 
 guide him, have entered and struck down by mistake 
 some of the first-born of Israel ? Surely, you know 
 better than that. It was a trial of faith, a means of 
 proving their obedience. You, my dear children, can
 
 The Feast of Passover. 149 
 
 take a lesson to yourselves from this. It is not for you 
 to question the injunctions of your parents or elders ; 
 you must have faith enough in their love and superior 
 wisdom to obey them without hesitating. Listen to 
 the words of the wise and great Solomon. 
 
 " My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake 
 not the law of thy mother." Proverbs, i. 8. 
 
 So the Israelites hearkened to Moses, and when 
 the terrible tenth plague was raging in Egypt, when 
 the angel smote " from the first-born of Pharaoh 
 that sat on his throne, unto the first-born of the 
 captive that was in the prison," each Israelite family 
 was eating the Passover or paschal lamb, not sitting 
 down to a comfortable meal, but eating in haste, ready 
 to start for their journey, with their "loins girded" 
 and their newly-made bread on their backs, to be baked 
 in the sun as they should travel along. Then there 
 arose a mighty wail of sorrow throughout the land of 
 Egypt. Moses and Aaron were called for in the midst 
 of the night. " Rise and get you forth from among 
 my people, you and all the children of Israel, and 
 take all that belongs to you." And the Egyptians 
 hurried them off, giving them all they asked for in 
 order to get rid of them, for they said, " We are 
 all dead men." 
 
 I would like you to notice how this terrible tenth 
 plague must have struck even Pharaoh's hardened heart 
 as a just retribution. Even as lie had tried to kill the 
 innocent little children of guiltless parents, so now the 
 parents were bereaved of their cherished ones. Verily his 
 sins had found him out. 
 
 Was not this a wonderful change for the children of 
 Israel ! The poor slaves, who up to this time had been 
 over-worked and ill-treated in every possible way, had
 
 1 50 The Feast of Passover. 
 
 now become a terror to their former masters, and were 
 begged to depart as quickly as they could. 
 
 You can imagine that they did not need much urging 
 to get away from the hated land of the Pharaohs, and 
 with Moses and Aaron at their head, in the dead of 
 night, they began their march out of Egypt. " Six 
 hundred thousand that were men besides children." 
 
 " When Israel of the Lord beloved, 
 Out from the land of bondage came, 
 Her fathers' God before her moved, 
 An awful guide, in cloud and flame. 
 
 Thus present still, though now unseen, 
 When brightly shines the prosperous day, 
 Be thoughts of Thee a cloudy screen, 
 To temper the deceitful ray ! 
 
 And O, when gathers on our path 
 In shade and storm the frequent night, 
 Be Thou, long-suffering, slow to wrath, 
 A burning and a shining light ! " 
 
 Sir Walter Scott.
 
 XXVI. 
 
 THE FEAST OF PASSOVER. PART II. 
 
 WELL, now that you have heard all about the first 
 Passover and the events that happened before it, I 
 scarcely need ask you why we keep the feast each year. 
 If anyone were to ask you why you eat unleavened 
 bread during that week, I hope I should not hear you say, 
 " Oh, because our ancestors, when they were brought out 
 of Egypt, had not time to get their bread properly baked, 
 so that it was not fermented or leavened, and in memory 
 of that, we are told not to eat anything that is leavened 
 for seven days." This would only be a very small portion 
 of the truth. Moses commanded the Israelites then and 
 for ever, throughout all ages, to observe the Feast of 
 Passover, as a memorial of God's great deliverance of 
 His people from the Egyptian slavery. 
 
 Who can tell me how, besides not eating anything 
 leavened for seven days, we commemorate the first 
 Passover ? 
 
 What special service do we hold on the night the feast 
 begins ? 
 
 Of course, you all know that I mean the " Seder," and 
 a very pretty service it is, when all the members of 
 a family meet together, having perhaps, some of them, 
 been separated for many a long day. When we sit down 
 to take part in it, we ought to picture to ourselves, how 
 so many thousand years ago, our ancestors were at their 
 meal eating the paschal lamb, the blood of which had
 
 152 The Feast of Passover. 
 
 been sprinkled on the door-posts with bunches of the herb 
 hyssop dipped in it. They were not seated comfortably 
 as we are now, but they stood, eating it in haste, ready 
 dressed for the journey they knew not whither, staff in 
 hand and sandals on their feet. 
 
 On the first night of the feast of Passover we read a 
 service from a little book called the " Hagadah." This 
 Hagadah contains the history of all that concerns the 
 Passover, therefore, of the slavery in Egypt, the punish- 
 ment of Pharaoh and his people, and the mighty saving 
 of our ancestors, and we sing from it Psalms and songs 
 of praise and joy to God. 
 
 First, I will tell you how our table is laid for this 
 special Seder service. On it we place some matzah or 
 unleavened bread, a roasted lamb bone and an egg, 
 various sweet and bitter herbs, some salt and water, 
 a sweet mixture called charoseth, and some wine. 
 
 Each of these things placed on the table has its mean- 
 ing, as I hope you know, for no ceremonial should be 
 observed without your inquiring the why and the 
 wherefore, for intelligent obedience in religion is re- 
 quired of us. Why the Matzos are on the table, 
 you will, of course, not need telling. The lamb bone 
 is a memorial of the paschal lamb that each family 
 was to kill and eat on the eve of the Passover. The egg 
 also roasted with fire is a memorial of a special Passover 
 offering, which was made yearly until after the destruc- 
 tion of the Temple. The salt and water, bitter herbs, 
 and the charoseth are only symbols or tokens of the 
 cruel hardships endured by the Israelites before their 
 deliverance came. The wine is for the kiddush or sancti- 
 fication, which in Jewish households should mark the 
 beginning of the Sabbath or holydays. 
 
 I do not think a more suitable way could have been
 
 The Feast of Passover. 153 
 
 found for commencing this sacred and important Festi- 
 val, than for all the members of a family to meet and 
 read together the wonderful story of the Passover, the 
 table laid with all the emblems of the first celebration, and 
 surely no fairy-tale could be more marvellous or interest- 
 ing. And there is another advantage, it seems to me, to 
 be obtained by the observance of this pretty old custom 
 over and beyond the religious part of it. The Seder 
 night helps to strengthen the bond of family love, in 
 bringing together as it does, the perhaps scattered mem- 
 bers of a household, some of whom may during the past 
 year not have felt too kindly towards each other, and 
 are now glad to take this opportunity of making friends 
 again. 
 
 The service begins with a blessing in which we thank 
 God for His having guarded and cared for us during 
 the past year, and various other blessings are said 
 as we taste each of the different things placed on the 
 table. 
 
 Then the youngest of the party asks the all important 
 question beginning Hiirit^Jl HD, " Why is this night to be 
 distinguished from all other nights ? Why do we to-night 
 dip the herbs and eat the unleavened bread, and sit at 
 our ease ? " 
 
 To remind us of the great redemption from Egypt, and 
 note the words of the reply. " If the Most High, blessed 
 be He, had not brought forth our ancestors from Egypt, 
 then we and our children and our children's children 
 would still have been slaves in Egypt." 
 
 After this we read short sketches of Abraham and 
 Jacob, and then follows the whole story, or Hagadah of 
 the sojourn in Egypt, the slavery there, and then how, 
 amidst signs and wonders, "with a strong hand and 
 an outstretched arm," God led His people forth to
 
 154 The Feast of Passover. 
 
 freedom and their own land, the promised land of 
 Canaan. 
 
 To show our gratitude to God we recite the beautiful 
 Psalms, which form the Hallel (or praise) beginning, as I 
 hope you all know, with the words " Hallelujah, praise 
 ye the Lord." Then after taking, what I dare say you 
 children consider the nicest thing on the table, the sweet 
 charoseth, the evening meal begins, and after the grace 
 has been said, more psalms are recited and different 
 rhymes are sung, which have been composed at various 
 times in honour of the Festival. As long as the Temple 
 stood, the yearly custom of eating the Passover lamb 
 was strictly observed, but when the people were carried 
 into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, some changes neces- 
 sarily took place. Some portions of the Hagadah are 
 written in Chaldean, a language that the Jews learnt 
 from their captors and got into the habit of using. 
 Different rabbis at later periods added portions to 
 the service until it reached its present form some 
 hundreds of years ago. 
 
 It is generally believed that " Sabbath Haggadol " 
 is so called because it was on that day, the loth of 
 Nissan, that the command came to the people to 
 take the paschal lamb, which was to be eaten on the 
 evening of the I4th. We look upon this Sabbath as a 
 very sacred one. I want you to note what an important 
 fact in our history, the deliverance from Egypt was. It 
 did not only mean the release of so many slaves from a 
 hard and trying life, but that from this moment, Israel 
 became a nation. For the first time in the history of 
 the Israelitish people, they were to take up their position 
 as God's nation, to receive the great gift of His law, 
 which they were to spread not only by word of mouth, 
 but by example among the other peoples of the earth.
 
 The Feast of Passover. 155 
 
 I wonder if any of those whom I am addressing to-day 
 are slaves ! " What a funny idea," you may say to your- 
 selves, "There are no slaves in free England." I am 
 sorry to say that there are. When we give way to angry 
 passions and mean, dishonourable deeds, then we are 
 slaves of the worst kind. Happily, this is not a hopeless 
 slavery, as its continuance depends upon ourselves. If we 
 will only resolve to fight the bad spirit within us, we can 
 conquer and be free. Here is work for each of you to 
 do. Let the Feast of Passover not only be a memorial 
 of the deliverance from the old slavery, but let it mark 
 each year a victory gained by you over some bad or 
 vicious habit. If you can feel you have done this, then 
 you will indeed have laid an offering on God's altar, per- 
 haps more acceptable even than the paschal lamb, which 
 was ordered to be slain as a test of faith and obedience 
 on the first Passover. 
 
 I would like you to learn by heart these two texts : 
 
 " He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, 
 and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." 
 Prov. xvi. 32. 
 
 " The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a broken 
 and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." 
 Ps. li. 17. 
 
 You must not think that because we are scattered 
 abroad among all the different peoples of the world, and 
 have now no land of our own, that our mission is ended, 
 and that we have no part to play in the world's 
 history. Such is not the case. Although we are 
 but a remnant a tiny portion of the people amongst 
 whom we live as Jews we are always more or less 
 marked an PlSjJD D^. God said we should be a nation of 
 
 T \ ; - 
 
 priests, surely then we ought to be conspicuous by the 
 purity of our lives. Everyone, however humble his or
 
 156 The Feast of Passover. 
 
 her position in life may be, can work with this object in 
 view. When you go out into the world, never forget 
 that you are each a part, however small, of one great 
 whole, the Jewish people for one instant we will com- 
 pare Israel to a noble archway or bridge. We, each 
 and all, are the innumerable bricks that compose 
 it. Suppose that one rotten or defective brick has 
 by accident been used in the construction of the 
 work. This may affect the safety of the whole one 
 bad brick may cause it all to loosen and become 
 unsafe. Can you see my meaning ? I want no imper- 
 fect units in the Jewish whole, but that you shall each 
 grow into good reliable men and women, so that you 
 may help to fulfil God's words, and become a nation of 
 priests, spreading the knowledge of God among the 
 nations far and near. 
 
 And now, my dear children, before we finish our talk 
 to-day, one word more. You would be horrified, most 
 of you, if your homes were not cleansed of all that is 
 impure, or leavened for Passover, so I beg of you not to 
 neglect the duty of removing all moral leaven. Do you 
 understand what I mean by this ? Let your hearts be in 
 keeping with your homes, cleansed and purified for " the 
 Lord's Passover."
 
 The Feast of Passover. 157 
 
 A HYMN. 
 
 O GOD, by whom the seed is given, 
 
 By whom the harvest blest ; 
 Whose word like manna showered from heaven, 
 
 Is planted in our breast. 
 
 Preserve it from the passing feet, 
 
 And plunderers of the air ; 
 The sultry sun's intenser heat, 
 
 And weeds of worldly care. 
 
 Tho' buried deep or thinly strewn, 
 
 Do Thou Thy grace supply ; 
 The hope in earthly furrows sown 
 
 Shall ripen in the sky. R. Heber.
 
 XXVII. 
 PENTECOST. 
 
 " And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks of the first-fruits of 
 wheat harvest." Exodus, xxxiv. 22. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 TO-DAY we will have a talk about Pentecost or Feast of 
 Weeks. Pentecost is one of the three great festivals, 
 
 the Q vJH w}& as they are called. These are Passover 
 
 T ; T ' 
 
 Pentecost, and Tabernacles. On these holydays, after 
 
 the Israelites were living in their own land, all those 
 who could possibly leave their homes went up to the 
 Tabernacle, and after the Temple was built, they jour- 
 neyed up to Jerusalem to lay their offerings on God's 
 altar. 
 
 The feast of ntjO^ or Weeks, is so called for the fol- 
 lowing reason : 
 
 Moses told the Israelites they were to count seven 
 weeks from Passover, and were then to bring an offering 
 to God of some of the first ripe fruits of their corn. The 
 grain begins to ripen much earlier in sunny Palestine 
 than it does in our country, where the spring is so 
 chilly. This counting of the days for seven whole weeks 
 is called the counting of the omer. 
 
 An omer of new barley, a measure equal to five pints, 
 was always brought as an offering upon the second day 
 of Passover, from which period the counting of forty- 
 nine days began the fiftieth day being the Feast of
 
 Pentecost. 159 
 
 Weeks or Pentecost this second name Pentecost being 
 taken from the Greek word fifty. This feast was to 
 remind the people of Israel of the Giver of all, and that 
 no man should receive God's gracious gifts without 
 showing some gratitude. 
 
 Each would naturally feel a desire to make some 
 return to the Lord, from whom came all good things, and 
 so in kind and loving thoughtfulness our Father told 
 them they might all come and lay some of their posses- 
 sions before Him. 
 
 It was not to be expected or wished that every man 
 should bring an offering of the same value, but each 
 " according to his ability," was to appear before the Lord 
 with his gift taken from his field, or from his vineyard. 
 
 How happy they must have felt as they came troop- 
 ing to the Tabernacle, or later on to the Temple, every 
 man with his offering it must have made him feel 
 nearer to God. You know what a pleasure it is to any 
 of you, if you can do something for your parents or any- 
 one else who has been very kind to you. I am sure 
 you are delighted if you can bring them some Iktle 
 gift, and so it was in the old Bible times. The poor 
 man, who could only afford the small omer of wheat or 
 barley, was as acceptable in God's sight as the rich one, 
 who brought the finest beasts from his herds in addition 
 to the offering of corn. 
 
 God does not measure the worth of what we give Him, 
 He only considers the feeling with which we offer it. 
 And never forget, that although there are now no altars 
 or officiating priests, we can still bring God our daily 
 offerings. The little kindnesses we show to each other, 
 and the little acts of unselfishness that we perform are 
 welcome sacrifices to God. 
 
 There is another reason why we keep the Feast of
 
 1 60 Pentecost. 
 
 Weeks. It is not only to commemorate the early harvest 
 festival, but also the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, 
 which took place seven weeks after the Israelites left 
 Egypt. On the 6th of Sivan, just seven weeks after 
 the great redemption from Egypt, a wondrous sight pre- 
 sented itself at Sinai. The vast multitude of Israelites, 
 men, women, and children, were grouped at the foot 
 of the mount, bounds having been set by Moses lest any 
 should presume to approach too near to where God was 
 about to appear. As for Sinai itself, it was shrouded 
 in smoke and shook, whilst amid thunder and lightning 
 the trumpet sounded. Then God spake to Moses, whom 
 He called to Him, proclaiming the Ten Commandments, 
 which, as you no doubt know, are always read impres- 
 sively during the morning service on Pentecost. 
 
 The people were so terrified at God's mighty pre- 
 sence, that they said to Moses : " Speak thou with us 
 and we will hear ; but let not God speak with us, lest we 
 die." Ex. xx. 19. 
 
 After this Moses left the people, and was lost to their 
 sight in the thick darkness with God. Forty days and 
 forty nights did Moses remain on the mount, before he 
 descended to the anxiously expectant people. With 
 what grateful feelings should our hearts be filled on this 
 holy Day of Pentecost, when we received the noble gift 
 of the Law. The laws of Moses are more just, more 
 merciful, and better fitted to promote virtue and happi- 
 ness than those framed by any other nation of antiquity, 
 and they have served as the foundation for every other 
 code of laws, made at different periods by all other 
 civilized nations of the world. Universal love was en- 
 joined, as we read in the following verses : "Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself." " Thou shalt not vex 
 the stranger."
 
 Pentecost. \ 6 1 
 
 Indeed, the Mosaic observances are full of every sort 
 of loving-kindness. When the harvest was being 
 gathered in, whether it was corn, or grapes, or olives, 
 some of it was always to be left for the poor. "The 
 stranger, the fatherless, and the widow," were to have 
 their share. 
 
 It is true that we are no longer an agricultural people, 
 with our oliveyards and vineyards, but still this law 
 comes home to us, for it means, surely, that we must 
 not be grasping or selfish, but ready to spare of our 
 plenty to those who are less blessed with the goods of 
 this world. Listen also to the following kind law. A 
 newly married man was to be left at home for a year ; 
 he could not be called upon to go out and fight if there 
 was war, nor to take part in any business away from his 
 home ; he was " to cheer up the wife that he had taken." 
 Am I not right in describing this as a merciful law ? 
 
 Then I want you to notice how God made laws for 
 the benefit of poor dumb animals kindness to them 
 was strictly commanded. I will give you an example of 
 this. The ox and the ass were not to be yoked together 
 to labour in the fields. Can you tell me why ? 
 
 Even the little birds were not forgotten laws were 
 made to protect them so if you should be tempted 
 to act cruelly to our dumb friends, and I am sorry to say 
 I have seen children thoughtlessly ill-treat them, stay 
 your hand and think how you are going to break God's 
 law. 
 
 There is a great deal written and said nowadays 
 about the laws of health, but I firmly believe we should 
 never go . wrong if we followed those laid down by 
 Moses. Bathing was ordered, but I am afraid the value 
 of cold water, and plenty of it inside and outside our 
 bodies is not half enough appreciated by you. After light 
 
 M
 
 1 62 Pentecost. 
 
 and air, I should name water as God's most precious 
 and necessary gift to us. Notice how often the priests 
 washed and changed their garments, and let us take 
 an example from them. Then the laws about food. 
 They were principally made with the same object to 
 keep us in health, by avoiding what was unwholesome. 
 It would take days, and not hours, to tell you of all the 
 beneficent laws which have been given to us by God. 
 But I think you have heard enough to convince you of 
 the use and beauty of this Festival of Pentecost, which 
 ought to draw us near to God. 
 
 God loves little children ; you are the flowers in His 
 kingdom ; He created you pure to bring sunshine and 
 gladness into your homes, and you can do this by the 
 sweetness of your disposition, and your loving obedience 
 to your parents. Tell me what short book of the Bible 
 forms part of the Pentecost service. Ruth is chosen 
 because the principal part of her story takes place at 
 the harvest time. Her affection and gentleness, her un- 
 selfishness and pure-minded simplicity, go to the making 
 of a character which you may all try to imitate. We 
 will finish with a beautiful verse of the wise King 
 Solomon's : 
 
 " Every word of God is pure ; he is a shield unto them 
 that put their trust in him." Prov. xxx. 5. 
 
 " Praise, and thanks, and cheerful love, 
 Rise from every thing below, 
 
 To the mighty One above, 
 
 Who His wondrous love doth show. 
 
 Praise Him each created thing, 
 
 God, your Father, God of Spring !
 
 Pentecost. 163 
 
 Praise Him, trees so lately bare, 
 Praise Him, fresh and new-born flowers ; 
 
 All ye creatures of the air, 
 
 All ye soft descending showers. 
 
 Praise, with each awakening thing, 
 
 Praise your maker, God of Spring ! 
 
 Praise him man, thy fitful heart, 
 
 Let this balmy season move, 
 To employ its nobler part, 
 
 Softest mercy, sweetest love, 
 Blessing with each living thing, 
 God the bounteous God of Spring! " Anon.
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 THE FAST OF THE NINTH OF AB. 
 
 " For the Lord will not cast off for ever ; But though he cause 
 grief, yet will he have compassion, according to the multitude of his 
 mercies." Lam. iii. 31-32. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 I MEAN to-day to tell you the story of the fast of the 
 ninth of Ab. It recalls the saddest period in our national 
 history, for it commemorates the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem and of our beautiful Temple. I hope that I need 
 not remind any of you how this holy house of God was 
 built by the wise king Solomon. It had been David's 
 pious wish to erect the Temple, but by God's desire, the 
 work was to be left to his son Solomon. So the Temple 
 was built and dedicated by Solomon, and it had stood 
 in all its beauty for four or five hundred years until 
 the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. In his 
 time, the people had become so sinful so idolatrous 
 so ungrateful to God for all His loving care, that He for- 
 sook them, and when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 
 came up against Jerusalem, God allowed the holy city to 
 fall into the stranger's hands. 
 
 I should make you very sad were I to tell you of half 
 the misery the Jews endured during the siege of Jeru- 
 salem. The siege lasted for eighteen months. Perhaps 
 you do not know what a siege means. It is this let us
 
 The Fast of the Ninth of Ad. 165 
 
 imagine that an army comes marching up to take posses- 
 sion of a city, the soldiers surround it on every side, no 
 one is able to go in or out of the gates, unless he be pre- 
 pared to fight his way through the enemy. At the end 
 of eighteen months the people within the walls were so 
 weakened by hunger and disease that they could no 
 longer fight against the enemy, and the Babylonians were 
 able to pour their hosts into the*" devoted city. Now 
 began a terrible time ; men, women, and children were 
 slaughtered. Even those who had taken shelter in the 
 Temple were slain, for nothing was sacred in the eyes of 
 the invader. The walls of the city were destroyed 
 and the city was burned down. But the crowning point 
 of misery was reached, when, by Nebuchadnezzar's com- 
 mand, the holy house itself was set fire to and burnt 
 without pity. The conquerors only took care to save 
 the beautiful golden vessels ; these were seized and 
 carried to Babylon to grace the royal palace. Zede- 
 kiah the king was taken captive but not slain, death 
 would have been kinder than the cruel fate that was in 
 store for him. His sons were killed in his sight, and then 
 his eyes were put out, and he was taken as a prisoner to 
 Babylon with the best and noblest of his people, only 
 the very poor being left behind to till the ground. 
 
 Gedaliah, who was made governor of the land, lived 
 at the same time as the great prophet Jeremiah. 
 Jeremiah, a devoted servant of God, first began to 
 preach God's word in the reign of the good king 
 Josiah, some forty years before the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem. He grieved to see the idolatrous wickedness 
 of his countrymen, how " they mocked the messen- 
 gers of God, and despised His words, and misused His 
 prophets " (2 Chron. xxxvi. 16), and he never tired of 
 reproving them for their sins, and of foretelling their fate
 
 1 66 The Fast of the Ninth of Ab. 
 
 if they did not mend their ways. This was not a pleasant 
 duty, and Jeremiah had to pay heavily for the perfor- 
 mance of it. Still, he was too earnest and honest to hold 
 his peace. He did not flinch from preaching the truth 
 even in the king's palace, and his immediate reward was 
 a prison. 
 
 See how steadfast Jeremiah was in the fulfilment of 
 his duty, he had but to speak pleasant words and to keep 
 back the truth, and the doors of his prison would have 
 been opened, and he would have regained his freedom ; 
 but this he would not do, and there he remained, until 
 Zedekiah's conscience smote him and he released the 
 prophet. 
 
 Strange to say, the noble character of the Jewish 
 prophet was more appreciated by the foreign con- 
 queror Nebuchadnezzar than by his own countrymen. 
 When Jerusalem fell and the people of Palestine were 
 led captive into Babylon, Jeremiah was offered his choice 
 whether he would dwell in Babylon as an honoured guest 
 of the king, or remain behind among his own people in 
 Judsea. You can easily guess Jeremiah's decision. Promo- 
 tion and ease would not weigh in the scale against the wel- 
 fare of his poor suffering brethren. If they had needed his 
 words before, how much more necessary were they now. 
 
 It was Jeremiah who wrote the beautiful book in the 
 Bible called " Lamentations." These Lamentations are 
 always read in Synagogue on the evening of the ninth of 
 Ab, and those of you who are unable to attend this ser- 
 vice should always read those chapters at home. Can 
 we not in some measure realize what the prophet's feel- 
 ings must have been ! He had indeed the load of a 
 double sorrow to bear, he had foreseen the troubles 
 coming on his fellow-countrymen, and at the risk of his 
 own life, he had over and over again warned and repri-
 
 The Fast of the Ninth of Ab. 167 
 
 manded both the king and the people. Picture to your- 
 self Jeremiah's grief at finding his earnest words of no 
 avail, and when the fatal end came and he saw Zedekiah, 
 the weak irresolute king, dethroned and blinded his 
 brethren butchered by thousands Jerusalem taken, and 
 the holy Temple destroyed, he had but the one consola- 
 tion he had done his duty bravely and faithfully. 
 
 We can feel something of his despair as we read his 
 words in the Lamentations. How mournful and poetical 
 is this description of Jerusalem : 
 
 " How doth the city sit desolate that was full of 
 people ! how is she become as a widow ! she that was 
 great among the nations, a princess among the pro- 
 vinces ; how is she become tributary. Behold and see 
 if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow." 
 
 When you think of what this destruction of Jerusalem 
 meant for Israel, you will say that there is quite enough 
 to make the Fast of Ab a day of humiliation. After 
 the seventy years' captivity, although the Jews returned 
 to Judaea and built a second Temple, they never regained 
 their old position as a nation. It was, in a measure, 
 their tributary condition that led to the troubles which 
 brought about the destruction of the second Temple. 
 This, you must know, also took place on the ninth of Ab. 
 At this time the Jews were under the dominion of the 
 Romans, and, in fact, Judaea was called a Roman pro- 
 vince. Their condition was a very miserable one, so 
 how could they take kindly to their foreign masters ? 
 At last their discontent burst into open rebellion, and 
 for a time the Jewish soldiers gained some slight victories, 
 for they fought with extraordinary bravery against the 
 Roman armies that were sent to subdue them. However, 
 the struggle was too unequal. There were no better 
 trained soldiers or finer commanders in the world than
 
 1 68 The Fast of the Ninth of Ad. 
 
 the Romans. They far out-numbered the Jewish bands of 
 armed men that met them in battle ; one victory over 
 the Jews followed upon another ; one fortified city fell 
 after another, until, at last, the Roman general Titus 
 pursued the unfortunate people to their one remaining 
 stronghold Jerusalem. 
 
 Now was repeated the sad, sad story of the earlier 
 siege, and the destruction of the first Temple by the 
 Babylonian king. The glorious second Temple, which 
 had been built by loving, skilful hands, was doomed. 
 I told you that the Roman general Titus besieged 
 Jerusalem. After a brave, determined resistance of 
 many months, in the fifth month, the fatal month of Ab, 
 Jerusalem, its garrison reduced by disease and hunger, 
 could hold out no longer, and thus Titus became master 
 of the holy place. The Temple he would willingly have 
 spared, but his soldiers were so enraged by the long and 
 brave resistance the besieged had offered them, that he 
 was powerless to control their fury. They slaughtered 
 all the Jews who came in their way, and a Roman 
 soldier having thrown a lighted torch into the Temple, 
 it was burnt to the ground, in spite of Titus' efforts to 
 save it from destruction. 
 
 Yet another national trouble took place on this same 
 ill-fated day, the ninth of Ab. Fifty years later 600,000 
 Jews were slain at the siege of a town, Bether. This 
 was the end of the last revolt of the Jews against their 
 Roman masters. Their leader in this rebellion was a man 
 named " Bar Cochba," which means, " son of the star." 
 He had announced himself as the promised Messiah, 
 and the people, believing in his being a messenger of the 
 Lord, flocked to his standard. 
 
 But when one defeat followed upon another, they felt 
 they had been deceived Bar Cochba was an impostor
 
 The Fast of tJte Ninth of Ab. 169 
 
 they had been leaning on a broken reed, and in their 
 disappointed rage they changed his name to " Bar 
 Cosiba," or " son of a lie." Hadrian was the Roman 
 Emperor at that time, and he sent one of his bravest 
 generals to Judaea, with orders to crush the rebellion at 
 any cost. His commands were faithfully obeyed. The 
 impostor was killed in a battle, and a general massacre 
 followed, neither age nor sex was spared, and, as I told 
 you, at the siege of Bether, on the ninth of Ab, 600,000 
 Jews were slain. 
 
 This was not all. An altar was set up on the holy 
 spot where the Temple once stood, and the people were 
 forbidden to practise the rites and ceremonies of their 
 religion. From this date begins the actual dispersion of 
 the Jews. 
 
 There is one singular fact I want you to notice in 
 connection with the Fast of Ab. In the history of 
 different nations we find them celebrating their past 
 victories, but we do not read that they commemorated 
 their defeats or past troubles. We English rejoice 
 yearly at the recollection of the victories of Waterloo 
 and Trafalgar, but our misfortunes in other campaigns 
 are put aside and buried. 
 
 The Jews had a double reason for appointing these 
 and other similar fast days. First, the recollection of 
 past sins, and the consequences which they entailed, 
 would, it was hoped, lead to a higher standard of con- 
 duct in the future ; secondly, our rabbis and wise men 
 intended that those days should act as a check against 
 the over-elation of our people when in a too prosperous 
 condition.
 
 1 70 The Fast of the Ninth of Ab. 
 
 " King of kings, and Lord of lords ! 
 Thus we move our sad steps timing 
 To our cymbals' feeblest chiming, 
 Where Thy house its rest accords. 
 Chased and wounded birds are we, 
 Through the dark air fled to Thee ; 
 To the shadow of Thy wings, 
 Lord of lords, and King of kings ! 
 
 Behold, O Lord, the heathen tread 
 The branches of Thy fruitful vine, 
 That in luxurious tendrils spread 
 O'er all the hills of Palestine. 
 And now the wild boar comes to waste 
 Even us, the greenest boughs and last, 
 That drinking of Thy choicest dew, 
 On Zion's hill in beauty grew. 
 
 No ! by the marvels of Thine hand, 
 Thou still wilt save Thy chosen band, 
 By all Thine ancient mercies shown, 
 By all our Father's foes o'erthrown, 
 By the Egyptian's car-borne host 
 Scatter'd on the Red Sea coast. 
 By that wide and bloodless slaughter 
 Underneath the drowning water. 
 
 Like us, in utter hopelessness, 
 In their last and worst distress, 
 On the sand and sea-weed lying, 
 Israel poured her doleful sighing ;
 
 The Fast of the Ninth of Ab. 171 
 
 While before the deep sea flowed, 
 And behind fierce Egypt rode 
 To their father's God they prayed, 
 To the Lord of Hosts for aid. 
 
 Then the light of morning lay 
 On the wonder-paved way, 
 Where the treasures of the deep 
 In their caves of coral sleep, 
 The profound abysses, where 
 Was never sound from upper air, 
 Rang with Israel's chanted words, 
 King of kings, and Lord of lords ! 
 
 Then did Israel's maidens sing, 
 
 Then did Israel's timbrels ring 
 
 To Him, the King of kings, that in the sea 
 
 The Lord of lords had triumphed gloriously." 
 
 H. M. Milman ( The Fall of Jerusalem).
 
 XXIX. 
 THE NEW YEAR. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 IT is about the beautiful festival of the New Year that I 
 will speak to you to-day. 
 
 Listen to the words of Moses, when he commanded its 
 observance to the children of Israel. 
 
 " And in the seventh month, on the first day of the 
 month, ye shall have a holy convocation ; ye shall do no 
 servile work : it is a day of blowing the trumpet unto 
 you, it is a feast of the Lord." Num. xxix. I. 
 
 First of all, let us understand the words of the text. 
 I wonder if any of you are puzzled at finding the new 
 year which, as its very name implies, is the beginning of 
 another year, celebrated in the seventh month ? You 
 will, I hope, remember what I told you about Passover 
 that the month Nissan, which until the delivery from 
 Egypt, had always been counted as the seventh month, 
 was from that time to be " the first of months," and 
 so Tishri must henceforth be counted as the seventh 
 month in the year. 
 
 This is how we will define it : the first of Tishri is the 
 date of our " civil " new year and the fifteenth of Nissan 
 of our " religious " one. PU^il B>N\ the head of the 
 
 T T - 
 
 year, is not kept in memory of any national event like 
 some of our holidays, but it is ordained to comme- 
 morate the great work of the Creation. In simple words, 
 the New Year is the world's birthday.
 
 The New Year. 173 
 
 Now what feelings should this day awaken in our 
 hearts ? 
 
 First, gratitude towards our Father in Heaven for 
 having made the world so beautiful, and then a worthy 
 ambition to improve ourselves, to strive that each suc- 
 ceeding year may find us morally and intellectually 
 advanced. 
 
 A birthday must always be a serious, as well as a 
 joyous occasion. If we thank God for letting us live 
 and complete another year, we must also pause to reflect 
 whether we have put that year to some good account, 
 whether there has been : 
 
 " Something attempted, something done." 
 
 If we are anxious to improve and see some sure result of 
 our life's work, we should not only make good resolutions 
 as the year's birthday comes round, but try hard to keep 
 them. 
 
 The New Year is known by several other names ; it is 
 called : 
 
 nynn DV, vir? Dft.lftetn DV> 
 
 Let us take each in turn and study its meaning in rela- 
 tion to the day. 
 
 plStil DV from IDt remember, to the day of remem- 
 brance or memorial. First, it should remind us of the 
 creation of the world, and then of our own resolutions 
 and conduct. 
 
 We read this beautiful passage in our prayers on the 
 morning of the New Year : 
 
 " This day the world was called into existence, this 
 day He causeth all the creatures of the Universe to stand 
 in judgment, either as children or as servants. If we are 
 as children, then do Thou have mercy upon us, even as a 
 father hath mercy on his children, or if we stand as ser- 
 vants, our eyes are attentively fixed on Thee until Thou
 
 1 74 The New Year. 
 
 wilt be gracious unto us and judge us favourably, oh, 
 Thou who art tremendous and holy." 
 
 Next we come to the term ]Hn DV a day of judgment, 
 from !*^T to judge. Now there is an old tradition of our 
 
 rabbis, that from the first day of Tishri, until the tenth, 
 which is the day of Atonement, the books in which God 
 has written down all our good and bad deeds of the past 
 year, are kept open. 
 
 During these ten days, which are called the penitential 
 days, so says the tradition, our fate is uncertain. We 
 are being weighed in the balance, and if, like Belshazzar, 
 we are " found wanting," we have to try, with all our 
 might, by firm resolutions and better deeds, to be in- 
 scribed in the following year, in the good book. The 
 prophet Malachi writes of this book of remembrance : 
 "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to 
 another and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a 
 book of remembrance was written before him for them 
 that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name." 
 Mai. iii. 16. 
 
 Remember, it is never too late to repent. God will 
 welcome back the penitent sinner and inscribe him in 
 the good book, if his penitence be a real and true one. 
 God will help us to make our repentance a real one, He 
 will cleanse our heart, strengthen our will, and protect 
 us from the many evil influences that are around us. He 
 will arouse our slumbering conscience, and refresh our 
 failing memory, so that we may hear His voice and 
 return to some of the old teaching given us by our 
 parents and teachers. Tradition tells us, that the evil 
 sentence, about to be inscribed in the bad book, can be 
 averted by Penitence, Prayer, and Charity. 
 
 There is very much to be said about these three words. 
 They would take a whole morning to explain properly.
 
 The New Year. 175 
 
 Let us try and see if we can summarize their meaning for 
 to-day. 
 
 By penitence we mean : regret for our past sin ; by 
 prayer, the expression of our hearts addressed to our 
 Heavenly Father that we may not fall into the same sin 
 again ; by Charity, an act of love towards our fellow- 
 creatures enhanced perhaps by some self-sacrifice on 
 our part. The ten penitential days, whilst, according to 
 tradition, our actions are being judged and weighed, are 
 to prepare us for the great Day of Atonement. 
 
 In the olden times the Holy of Holies, or the Sanc- 
 tuary of the Temple could only be approached by a 
 vestibule, so we will call these penitential days, the 
 vestibule or passage to T1B3 DV. 
 
 The third name which is given to the New Year is 
 rWiri DV, the day of blowing the trumpet. As you all 
 know, the Shofar or horn is blown on this day in our syna- 
 gogues. A ram's horn being selected, to remind us of 
 Isaac's willing submission to his father, when a ram 
 " caught in the thicket " was accepted as a sacrifice in 
 place of the obedient son. 
 
 I will tell you some of the reasons which the prayer 
 book gives us for blowing the horn. 
 
 1. As it is the custom at the coronation or crowning of 
 kings to sound the trumpet, so do we on the New Year 
 in memorial of the creation and of the sovereignty of 
 God sound the shofar. 
 
 2. As the New Year is the first of the ten penitential 
 days, we sound the trumpet to entreat all to return to God 
 and to repent of their sins. Its thrilling sound is the 
 earthly call to penitence, that is given us. 
 
 3. The Shofar is blown to remind us of our law given 
 on Mount Sinai, for we read of that event, that the voice 
 of the cornet was exceeding loud. So when we hear
 
 176 The New Year. 
 
 the Shofar, let us remember the words of the multi- 
 tudes assembled round the Mount: "All that the Lord 
 hath spoken, we will do." Ex. xix. 8. 
 
 Let us make a promise to ourselves, to try and keep 
 God's Commandments. 
 
 4. The Shofar or ram's horn is blown also to remind 
 us of the sacrifice that was demanded of Abraham, even 
 that of his only son. 
 
 Children, listen to the blast of the Shofar with reve- 
 rent attention, and try to spend the ten penitential days 
 in such a manner that the great festival of the Atone- 
 ment may help you each succeeding year to lead a holier 
 and a nobler life. 
 
 CLOSE OF THE YEAR. 
 
 O GOD ! to thee our hearts would pay 
 
 Their gratitude sincere, 
 Whose love hath kept us night and day, 
 
 Throughout another year. 
 
 Of every breath, and every power, 
 Thou wast the gracious source, 
 
 From Thee came every happy hour 
 Which smiled along its course.
 
 The New Year. 177 
 
 And if sometimes across our path 
 A cloud its shadows threw, 
 
 Thou didst not waft it there in wrath, 
 But loving kindness true. 
 
 For joy and grief alike we pay 
 Our thanks to Thee above ; 
 
 And only pray to grow each day 
 More worthy of Thy love. Gaskell, 
 
 " TAKE thy New Year with thanksgiving, 
 Fear not aught it may disclose, 
 
 For it holds not joy or sorrow 
 Other than thy Father chose ; 
 
 And His Love secures to thee 
 
 Fairer choice than thine could be." Anon. 
 
 N
 
 XXX. 
 
 THE FAST OF GEDALIAH. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 OUR subject to-day is the fast of Gedaliah. It is one 
 of our minor, that is, lesser holydays, and only observed 
 by some of our people ; still, because the man in whose 
 honour and memory it is kept, is one of the finest 
 characters in our national history, it is a day that should 
 be remembered. 
 
 We will go back to the time when the first Temple 
 Solomon's Temple, was destroyed. When Nebuchad- 
 nezzar had conquered Jerusalem, and had carried away 
 captive to Babylon the King Zedekiah and all the prin- 
 cipal people, there was still left in the land a number 
 of poor Jews. This was wise policy on Nebuchadnez- 
 zar's part, for if all the Jews had been driven away, 
 then the beautiful land of Palestine would have become 
 a waste, as there would have been none left to cultivate 
 it. So the Babylonian king thought that the best plan 
 would be to appoint a governor, and he chose for this 
 post a good, honest, noble-minded Jew, named Gedaliah. 
 A better selection could not have been made. Gedaliah 
 was a true patriot. He knew that all the troubles had 
 come on his nation as a punishment from God. They 
 were the fulfilment of the disregarded warnings of the 
 prophets, and so, when he accepted from Nebuchadnezzar 
 the office of Governor of the Holy Land, he firmly re- 
 solved to try and make his countrymen submit to their 
 foreign ruler. Listen to his words :
 
 The Fast of Gedaliah. 179 
 
 " Fear not to serve the Chaldeans, dwell in the land 
 and serve the King of Babylon and it shall be well with 
 you." Jer. xl. 9. 
 
 The advice which Gedaliah gave to our brethren of 
 old, applies equally well to us in modern times. In 
 whatever country we may happen to be living, we must 
 make up our minds to serve the king loyally, and to 
 follow the laws of the land. 
 
 The people saw how wise and good was Gedaliah's 
 advice, and they set to work to till the land, well 
 content to pay their share of the tribute and to dwell 
 once more in peace. Numbers who had fled away in 
 terror to the mountains of Judaea and even to other 
 neighbouring countries, returned and placed themselves 
 under Gedaliah's wise and gentle rule. 
 
 It was in the city of Mizpah that Gedaliah lived. All 
 went very happily for some time. Unfortunately, there 
 was a man named Ishmael, a prince, who had managed 
 to escape being made prisoner by Nebuchadnezzar. He 
 was a cruel, selfish man, and instead of rejoicing that his 
 country should be so well governed by one of his own 
 people, he was jealous that the power had not been 
 placed in his hands as he was of royal blood. It was 
 told to some of Gedaliah's friends that Ishmael was 
 conspiring against him, so they came to Mizpah and 
 informed Gedaliah, and one of them named Johanon, 
 begged for permission to go and secretly kill the 
 traitor. 
 
 " For why should he slay thee, that all the Jews that 
 are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the 
 remnant in Judah perish ? " 
 
 But Gedaliah had too noble a nature to believe such 
 treachery possible, and he forbade Johanon to go after 
 Ishmael.
 
 1 80 The Fast of Gedaliah. 
 
 " Thou shalt not do this thing, for thou speakest falsely 
 of Ishmael." 
 
 Poor Johanon! he listened sadly to his generous master's 
 words, he knew but too well that his information was 
 true, still he was obliged to obey the governor's command, 
 but he resolved to watch and guard Gedaliah, if possible, 
 against Ishmael's treachery. 
 
 Johanon, alas ! was no match for the cunning Ishmael. 
 During the seventh month of Tishri, Ishmael came, 
 bringing ten of his friends to Mizpah. Gedaliah, as if to 
 prove publicly how utterly he believed in Ishmael, invited 
 the whole party to a feast. This was just the opportunity 
 desired by the rebel prince. The invitation was gladly 
 accepted, and after the banquet, Ishmael and his fol- 
 lowers fell on the unsuspecting Gedaliah, slaying him 
 and all those who were in his house, even the Chal- 
 dean guard sharing the same cruel fate. No feeling of 
 patriotism, no sense of gratitude for the hospitality just 
 received, stayed the assassin's hand, and so died the 
 noble Gedaliah. So craftily was it all planned, that the 
 news of the massacre did not get abroad for two days, 
 and although the faithful Johanon gathered together a 
 body of soldiers and pursued Ishmael to avenge the 
 murder, he did not succeed in capturing him, for Ishmael 
 managed to escape to the country of the Ammonites, 
 who were old enemies of the Jews, and therefore ready 
 to give him shelter. 
 
 Now, dear children, you will not require to be told why 
 on the third of Tishri, the fast of Gedaliah is observed. 
 You see it is a day dedicated to the memory of one of our 
 truest patriots. 
 
 Gedaliah was a hero, even as much as Judas Maccabeus 
 the warrior. Some of you may think that a hero must be 
 one who distinguishes himself in battle ; that is a false
 
 T/ie Fast of Gedaliah. 1 8 1 
 
 idea ; to be a hero, simply means to behave nobly under 
 great trials. You can all try to be heroes. When you 
 withstand some great temptation, when you bear pain un- 
 complainingly, or perform some kind act of unselfishness, 
 although you may never figure in the pages of history, 
 you are inscribed in God's book of heroes. 
 
 Now, let the life of Gedaliah serve as an example 
 to you ; be faithful to your nation, yet loyal to your 
 sovereign. Take warning by the crime of Ishmael, for 
 it was jealousy alone, which led him to commit an act 
 of treachery and murder.
 
 1 82 The Fast of Gedaliah. 
 
 BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON WE SAT 
 DOWN AND WEPT. 
 
 WE sate down and wept by the waters 
 Of Babel, and thought of the day 
 When our foe, in the hue of his slaughters 
 Made Salem's high places his prey ; 
 And ye, oh her desolate daughters, 
 Were scattered all weeping away. 
 
 While sadly we gazed on the river 
 Which rolled on in freedom below, 
 They demanded the song ; but oh, never 
 That triumph the stranger shall know ! 
 May this right hand be wither'd for ever 
 Ere it string our high harp for the foe ! 
 
 On the willow that harp is suspended, 
 
 O Salem ! its sound should be free ; 
 
 And the hour when thy glories were ended 
 
 But left we that token of thee : 
 
 And ne'er shall its soft tones be blended 
 
 With the voice of the spoiler by me ! Byron.
 
 XXXI. 
 
 DAY OF ATONEMENT. TIED QV 
 
 " Also on the tenth day of the seventh month, there shall be a 
 day of Atonement ; it shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye 
 shall afflict your souls." Lev. xvi. 27. 
 
 " It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your 
 souls, by a statute for ever." Lev. xvi. 31. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 As you see by the text which I have chosen, our solemn 
 fast, the Day of Atonement, will occupy us to-day. " A 
 Sabbath of Sabbaths, a day of rest." Let us consider 
 what was meant by "a Sabbath of rest to afflict our 
 souls." How is it to be a rest ? It does not mean that 
 you are simply to abstain from your daily w r ork or tasks, 
 but that you are to try and cut yourself off from every- 
 day worldly thoughts and actions, and " commune with 
 your own heart." 
 
 I hope I am right in supposing that those whom 
 I am addressing to-day are not really wicked, though 
 they may err from the thoughtlessness of youth. And 
 thus your days may pass without your pausing to 
 think much about your soul and your future life. It is 
 because life for old and young is so busy, that God 
 in His gracious love has appointed this one day for us 
 to spend in prayer and self-examination. Suppose that 
 you were going up a steep hill, and felt very weary, for 
 the path was so steep. How thankful you would feel 
 if you could espy some level sheltered spot, where you 
 could rest and take breath. Well, dear children, Life 
 is this hill up which we are toiling, and Heaven stretches
 
 184 Day of Atonement. 
 
 before us in the dim distance as the haven we hope to 
 reach, when our weary march is over. The Atonement 
 Day is the sheltered spot, the rest, the Sabbath of 
 Sabbaths, which is graciously given us each year to help 
 us on our life's journey. 
 
 Dear children, pray do not think that, because you are 
 young, the Atonement Day is not so serious and neces- 
 sary for you as for your elders. It is, indeed. Just in 
 the same manner as your bodily powers grow with your 
 years, so do your mental' ones, and if you do not fight 
 and conquer your faults, they will grow and strengthen, 
 and in time conquer you. There is one special gift 
 which you possess to a greater extent than those about 
 or over you. I mean the knowledge of your own 
 selves, and you must make use of it on this solemn 
 day to find out your own faults or vices, and so resolve 
 to amend them. And there is one thing I want par- 
 ticularly to impress upon you. A resolution taken, 
 although not even expressed in words, is a promise 
 before God. I know you would be shocked if you 
 were accused of breaking your word ; now consider, 
 when you break a resolution, and fail to eradicate some 
 especial fault that you had resolved to conquer resolved 
 with prayer and determination you are guilty of break- 
 ing your word to God. 
 
 Let us to-day pause before those three words, Repen- 
 tance, Prayer, and Charity, and see in turn what each one 
 means. 
 
 First, Repentance. Some of you will perhaps answer : 
 That means being sorry for the wrong we have done. 
 That would be only part of the truth, for repentance, 
 to be perfect and atoning in the sight of God, requires 
 that we must also undo the wrong done. Suppose 
 that one of you, in a fit of passion, had taken some-
 
 Day of A tonetnent. 185 
 
 thing belonging to your brother or a friend and had 
 broken it, no doubt you would very soon feel sorry and 
 ashamed, and quite ready to tell him so. This would 
 not be enough, I should expect you also to make good 
 or- repair what had been injured, even if you had to 
 work for it, or to deprive yourself of some pleasure in 
 order to do so. Our God is a God of love, He has no 
 pleasure in punishing. But punishment is a necessary 
 consequence of wrong-doing, therefore we must accept 
 it, but see what God says about the repentant sinner. 
 " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
 man his thoughts ; and let him return unto the Lord, 
 and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for 
 he will abundantly pardon." Isaiah, Iv. 7. These beau- 
 tiful words must give us courage and hope. God does 
 not expect perfection from us, our two-fold nature pre- 
 vents that. But resolve that the good shall conquer. 
 Each victory gained makes the next one easier to 
 obtain. 
 
 The Book of Jonah, touching as it does upon repen- 
 tance, is well chosen for a part of the afternoon service on 
 the Day of Atonement. 
 
 Next we come to Prayer. Do you ever pray ? Does 
 this seem a strange question ? Well, dear children, you 
 will tell me, " Why, of course we say our prayers every 
 day, when we get up in the morning and when we go to 
 bed, and perhaps at our meal times." Yes, that is true, 
 you say or repeat long sentences that have been taught 
 you, but perhaps your thoughts are wandering away to 
 other things, so I should not call this prayer. I will 
 tell you my idea of prayer. It is direct communion 
 with God, it is abstracting or cutting yourself off from 
 every other thought than your Maker, it is a direct 
 intercourse with Him. Your lips need not move, not
 
 1 86 Day of Atonement. 
 
 a word need be uttered, and yet you may be addressing 
 yourself to God. If you feel joyful, go and express 
 your thanks to the Almighty, and if you find your own 
 words feeble, then take one of David's psalms of praise 
 and repeat that. If, on the other hand, you feel miser- 
 able, either because you have been doing wrong, or 
 because trouble has come upon you, then there is the 
 more necessity that you should go and lay bare your 
 heart to your heavenly Father. He will hear you ; " He 
 is always nigh to those that call upon Him, to those 
 that call upon Him in truth." 
 
 Remember that you want no mediator, no intercessor, 
 no one to plead for you with God. His ear is always 
 open to receive an earnest prayer. If you had offended 
 your father or mother, and wanted their forgiveness, you 
 would not ask someone to go to them on your behalf. 
 No ! your natural and proper impulse would be to go 
 yourself, and humbly ask their pardon. The same holds 
 good in your relation to God ; you are His child, and He 
 is your father. Think of this when you follow the 
 solemn Atonement Service, especially when you utter the 
 confession of sins, which is repeated several times during 
 the day. I will read it to you : 
 
 " We have trespassed ; we have dealt treacherously ; 
 we have stolen ; we have spoken slander ; we have com- 
 mitted iniquity, and have done wickedly ; we have 
 acted presumptuously ; we have committed violence ; we 
 have framed falsehood ; we have counselled evil ; we 
 have uttered lies ; we have scorned ; we have rebelled ; 
 we have blasphemed ; we have revolted ; we have acted 
 perversely ; we have transgressed ; we have oppressed ; 
 we have been stiff-necked ; we have acted wickedly ; we 
 have corrupted ourselves ; we have done abominably ; 
 we have gone astray, and have caused others to err ;
 
 Day of A tonement. 1 8 7 
 
 we have turned aside from Thy excellent precepts 
 and institutions, and it hath not profited us. But 
 Thou art just concerning all that hath come upon 
 us ; for Thou hast dealt most truly, but we have done 
 wickedly." 1 
 
 Some of you are, perhaps, thinking to yourselves, why, 
 there are scarcely any of those sins, that / have been 
 guilty of. Indeed, I hope that you have not ; but in- 
 stead of letting this idea run through your mind, I want 
 you rather to examine yourselves, and consider which 
 of them you may have committed during the past year. 
 They are not to be lightly repeated, but must each be 
 carefully weighed. For instance, when you say, "We 
 have dealt treacherously," how few of you can truly de- 
 clare that you have always been straightforward, never 
 sly, nor underhand in your conduct to others ! When 
 you repeat "We have stolen," remember it need not 
 follow that you have actually taken something that be- 
 longed to another. A far wider meaning is intended 
 than this. Can you conscientiously say to yourself that 
 you have always been honest at school or in the work- 
 shop ? Have you never copied your school-fellow's 
 lessons, and given them in as the result of your own 
 industry, or have you stolen ideas from your fellow- 
 workman, and passed them off as your own ? This 
 would be moral theft only another form of dishonesty 
 and in this case you might sadly confess " We have 
 stolen." " We have spoken slander." This is, at the 
 same time, one of the commonest and most dangerous 
 
 1 Observe that this Confession is in the plural person ; no mem- 
 ber of God's nation can commit a sin without the whole people 
 feeling the burden of the wrong-doing. The children of Israel are 
 brethren in the strictest meaning of the word ; what touches one r 
 touches all.
 
 1 8 8 Day of A tenement . 
 
 of sins, and yet how thoughtlessly you often commit it. 
 You have heard a little gossip about one of your friends, 
 and you repeat it, although unintentionally, with a slight 
 addition. You do not think of the mischief you may 
 cause, for I am not supposing you to be guilty of malice, 
 or else you would have to utter the confessions " We 
 have framed falsehood," "we have uttered lies," with a 
 knowledge that you should entreat God to pardon those 
 sins. 
 
 Dear children, bear this always in mind, if you have 
 nothing good or pleasant to repeat of your companions, 
 then say nothing. Remember Solomon's wise words, 
 " There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak." 
 Eccles. iii. 7. 
 
 If "people would only do this, they would not have to 
 accuse themselves of slander or scandal. 
 
 " We have acted presumptuously, we have been stiff- 
 necked." Which of you can flatter yourself that you 
 have not acted presumptuously? Have you been humble 
 and meek, or have you not indeed been presumptuous 
 and obstinate ? 
 
 " We have committed violence." Have you been 
 gentle and loving, or have you not rather given way to 
 temper, and even allowed your passions to remain 
 uncontrolled ? 
 
 "We have counselled evil, we have corrupted our- 
 selves." What a sad confession this must be if you feel 
 that you have advised and led others to do wrong. It 
 is a graver sin than if you had yourself committed the 
 evil. 
 
 "We have rebelled, we have revolted." Yes, dear 
 children, I fear that too many of you must acknowledge 
 that, at times, you have not been willing to submit to 
 the authority of your parents and teachers, but have
 
 Day of Atonement. 189 
 
 thought you knew better than they, and perhaps set 
 them at defiance. 
 
 "We have blasphemed." Of this terrible sin pro- 
 faning the name of God, that is, cursing and swearing 
 I sincerely pray you are none of you guilty, but if you 
 are, then you must humbly implore forgiveness of Him. 
 
 "We have oppressed." Can this be laid to your 
 charge ; have you taken advantage of the weakness of 
 others ? I shall use a plain and ugly word for you boys 
 have you bullied those less able to take their own 
 part than yourselves, when you ought rather to have lent 
 them a helping hand ? And girls how have you be- 
 haved to your sisters, and those whom you may consider 
 less clever and amusing than yourselves ? All these ques- 
 tions you must think over, and weigh for yourselves in 
 the balance. You will know if you are found wanting, 
 and, if so, you must truly repent, if you desire to be in- 
 scribed in the Book of Life that is, to be forgiven by 
 God. 
 
 " We have done abominably." Alas, how often during 
 the past year have you not broken God's laws and laid 
 yourselves open to this accusation. Have you not 
 turned aside from His excellent precepts, and how has it 
 profited you ? 
 
 Dear children, let me beg of you, do not profane the 
 name of God and His holy house by uttering words with 
 your lips which you do not feel in your heart, or while 
 your thoughts are far away ; but piously and thoughtfully 
 repeat the confession of sin, which I have just explained 
 to you. 
 
 We have now come to the last of the three means by 
 which we hope to obtain forgiveness Chanty. Well, 
 some of you have doubtless a fair idea of what this 
 means. I should say that charity is of two kinds
 
 190 Day of Atonement. 
 
 charity of action and charity of thought. I want you 
 to notice a certain fact about this ; the same word in 
 Hebrew stands for charity and for righteousness, and 
 from this we may conclude that charity is the highest 
 form of goodness. Charity of act or deed may be easy 
 to practise, for when you give away to those who are 
 in want, you obtain actual enjoyment ; it is delightful 
 to be generous and to watch the good you are able 
 to do to others. But those who are poor, and have 
 nothing to spare for their neighbours, they too can 
 be charitable. For them remains charity of thought. 
 Charity of thought means thinking no evil of those 
 about you, and also, not being ready to believe an evil 
 report, but rather to put a kind construction, instead 
 of an unkind one, on the conduct of others. I want 
 you to do more than this. Even when you have been 
 badly treated, instead of saying, as you may feel tempted 
 to do in such a case, " Oh, I will not forget it ; I will re- 
 pay him for it some of these days," try and think that 
 perhaps the offender has not been as carefully taught as 
 you have, that he does wrong from ignorance, not from 
 malice, and instead of resenting the injury, will you 
 endeavour to win him back to good by your own for- 
 giving charitable example ? 
 
 Such an act of charity would please God more than a 
 gift of money. Still I do not wish you to think that 
 charitable deeds are not also praiseworthy, and to you 
 who may have but little, I would say, share your small 
 possessions with those who have less ; you will feel quite 
 as happy by the deed as the one whom you benefit. 
 Now listen to this beautiful verse : " Thou shalt not 
 avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy 
 people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I 
 am the Lord." Lev. xix. 18.
 
 Day of A tenement. 1 9 1 
 
 I hope that you now understand the meaning of these 
 words : prayer, repentance, and charity, and by practising 
 them, strive to obtain forgiveness which is from year to 
 year offered to us on the Day of Atonement. In the 
 olden times of the Tabernacle and the Temple, the 
 white-robed High Priest on this one day of the whole 
 year entered the Sanctuary, and in the holy place prayed 
 for the people, and made the special offering of the 
 scape-goat. We have now neither high priest nor 
 offering, but our prayers, if humbly offered, are equally 
 acceptable to God. Remember that no man can atone 
 for another, every one must bear the consequences of 
 his own sin, young and old alike, for " Even a child is 
 known by his doings." 
 
 So we will be grateful to God for the fast day, when 
 we humble ourselves in the spirit and the flesh. See 
 what poor frail mortals we are twenty-four hours of 
 abstinence from food proves our very weakness, and 
 shows how dependent we are upon God for all He gives 
 us. Truly a beautiful day is the "1133 QV, the very 
 type of Judaism, not mournful or sad, but pure and 
 solemn, and withal joyful. 
 
 " We have no refuge, none on earth to aid us, 
 
 But Thee, O Father, who Thine own hath made us ; 
 
 Keep us in life, forgive our sins, deliver us now and ever."
 
 192 Day of Atonement. 
 
 ABOU BEN ADHEM. 
 
 ABOU BEN ADHEM may his tribe increase 
 Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, 
 And saw, within the moonlight of his room, 
 Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, 
 An angel writing in a book of gold ; 
 Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold ; 
 And to the presence in the room he said, 
 " What writest thou ?" The vision raised his head, 
 And with a look made of all sweet accord, 
 Answered, " the names of those who love the Lord." 
 " And is mine one ? " said Abou. " Nay, not so," 
 Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, 
 But cheerily still ; and said, " I pray Thee then 
 Write me as one that loves his fellow men ! " 
 The angel wrote and vanished. The next night 
 It came again with a great wakening light, 
 And showed the names whom love of God had blest, 
 And lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. 
 
 Leigh Hunt.
 
 XXXII. 
 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 
 
 " The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the feast of 
 tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord. 
 
 "When ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a 
 feast unto the Lord seven days. And ye shall take you on the first 
 day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the 
 boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook ; and ye shall 
 rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 
 
 " Ye shall dwell in booths seven days, that your generations may 
 know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when 
 I brought them out of the land of Egypt : I am the Lord your 
 God." Lev. xxiii., 34, 39, 40, 42, 43. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 OUR subject to-day will be the last of the three 
 
 great festivals, the D'/JH V/)VJ when all who could, 
 T ; T 
 
 went up from the different parts of Palestine to Jeru- 
 salem, to the holy Temple. This festival is called 
 the Feast of Tabernacles, also the feast of in-gather- 
 ing, that is, the harvest feast. Moses ordered it to be 
 kept for two reasons. First, it was to commemorate 
 the long years in the wilderness, when the children of Israel 
 were wandering from one place to another, and had to 
 live in tents or booths. During all this time you will 
 remember that God's merciful care never failed them. 
 Time after time He forgave their murmurings and 
 rebellions. In the barren, sandy desert, bread and fowl 
 were sent from Heaven for food, water gushed forth 
 from the flinty rock, until at last, purified by suffering, 
 they were led into the promised land of Canaan. 
 
 O
 
 194 The Feast of Tabernacles. 
 
 In order that we should never forget this great work 
 of God, we are told to keep the Feast of Tabernacles 
 every year. Such of us as can, should build a booth or 
 tent, and spend a portion of each day there ; " that your 
 generations may know that I made the children of 
 Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of 
 the land of Egypt." 
 
 You will say, how is it possible for us nowadays to 
 keep the command and dwell in booths; we cannot. 
 Living, for the most part as we do, in towns or big 
 cities, there are very few who can erect a booth and 
 dwell therein, but there is one part of the ceremonial 
 law that we can all observe within our modern European 
 homes. We can have our lulav, ^Tl7. We can take of 
 
 T 
 
 the " fruit of the goodly tree " (the citron), the palm 
 branches, round which are bound the thick myrtles and 
 the willows of the brook, and when we wave these 
 backward and forward, and right and left, we can rejoice 
 before the Lord and remember that even so is His 
 love distributed in all directions, and thus shall we keep 
 the holy day in its spirit as well as in its ceremonial 
 part. 
 
 It is a great mistake of many in the present day, 
 to throw aside all ceremonies, and confine them 
 selves only to spiritual religion : neither is complete 
 without the other. Ceremonies, if thoughtfully and 
 reverently observed, form the hedge and safeguard to 
 the spiritual side of Judaism. If you have a very pre- 
 cious book that you prize extremely, you would not 
 allow it to remain unbound, for fear that in time some 
 of its pages might get lost or injured, in fact, you would 
 bestow on it as beautiful a binding as you could manage 
 to get for it. So it is with our old ceremonies, they are 
 the binding or cover that preserve the inner and holier
 
 The Feast of Tabernacles. 195 
 
 part of our religion, and it is only those who do 
 not understand them, who fail to appreciate their 
 beauty. See what a pretty meaning there is in this 
 taking of the lulofF. We come and rejoice before the 
 Lord, our hands filled with treasures from the vegetable 
 world, for this is the harvest festival. 
 
 Let us take each object and see what it represents. 
 First, the fruit of the goodly tree, the citron ; you know 
 what a delicious preserve it makes, and then how fragrant 
 it is, so that you would describe it as good to look at, 
 nice to eat, and pleasant to smell. Then we have the 
 palm branch. Palms do not grow wild in this country, 
 they are only to be found in conservatories, but perhaps 
 some of you may have been to Kew, or to other public 
 gardens, and have seen them there. The palm is a noble 
 tree, tall and straight, with large spreading leaves. It is 
 the type of manly beauty and strength, and not only 
 beautiful but useful too. Even the fibre is of some 
 service. 
 
 Next we come to the branches of thick myrtle, which 
 are also bound round the luloff when we hold it in our 
 hands. Perhaps you do not know the myrtle. It is an 
 evergreen shrub, with delicate white scented blossoms. 
 Here, again, we have something to delight our sense of 
 sight and smell. Then we have mixed with the palm 
 and myrtle, branches of willow. The willow is just the 
 very opposite of its companions, it has but few charms 
 to recommend it. It is not good for food it bears no 
 flowers it has no perfume. Why, then, do you think it 
 was to be gathered and used ? The lowly willow is the 
 type or symbol of grace and humility ; its long drooping 
 branches over-hanging the cool river have an attraction 
 of their own, and we may learn from this, that in God's 
 sight all are equally acceptable, equally loved by Him.
 
 196 The Feast of Tabernacles. 
 
 The humblest and the poorest of us are the same in His 
 sight, we are all together to rejoice before Him. 
 
 Now, will you try and resemble the luloff, make up 
 your minds to be useful and afford shelter or help to 
 others, even as the noble palm branches do in hot coun- 
 tries ? You can give forth sweetness by your amiable, 
 loving behaviour, like the citron and the sweet-scented 
 myrtle, and you can imitate the graceful drooping 
 willow by being humble and retiring. I want you to 
 notice that although beside the lofty palm, the small 
 myrtle and the modest willow would be almost over- 
 looked, God desired that we should bring offerings of 
 them all together to His house, as if to prove that 
 nothing which is pure, however small it may be, is con- 
 temptible or unworthy of His acceptance. 
 
 Now, dear children, we will talk about Tabernacles as 
 the Harvest Feast. It is but natural and proper that 
 when the autumn comes and the fruits of the beauteous 
 summer are gathered in, that we should "rejoice before 
 the Lord, and give thanks unto Him." It is the real 
 Ijnnpfe? ]ffi, the season to be joyful. In the old 
 pagan times, when Israel was the only nation that 
 worshipped the true God, the Harvest Festival was a 
 terrible period ; it was a signal for riot and sin, and I 
 believe it was to guard against the chance of this, that 
 with the command to celebrate the in-gathering of the 
 harvest, was coupled the injunction never to forget the 
 forty years in the wilderness. This thought would 
 surely check the unholy feeling of pride. The recollec- 
 tion of the wanderings in the desert, Israel's frequent 
 backslidings, and God's equally frequent gracious for- 
 giveness, must make us humble and thankful to Him. 
 
 Every year whilst the Israelites still had a land of 
 their own, all who could, went up to Jerusalem on the
 
 The Feast of Tabernacles. 197 
 
 1 5th of Tishri, carrying their offerings of fruit, or grain, 
 or wine, or oil, to the priests, and giving thanks to God 
 for the harvest just garnered. Palestine was a very 
 fertile country, rich in vineyards and oliveyards. 
 
 In the book of Nehemiah we read of a special celebra- 
 tion of the Feast of Tabernacles. After the Jews had 
 been in captivity in Babylon for many years, they were 
 allowed, as you doubtless remember, to return to their 
 native land Palestine. They were led back by three 
 great men. Their names were Ezra, Nehemiah, and 
 Zerubbabel. Ezra and Nehemiah both wrote the history 
 of this return, and how the Temple was rebuilt in their 
 time. They tell us how, when Tishri, the seventh 
 month, arrived, and all the people came up to Jeru- 
 salem from the different cities of Palestine, the book 
 of the law was read aloud with the command to keep 
 the Feast of Tabernacles. There they found written, 
 how they should "go unto the Mount and fetch olive 
 branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and 
 palm branches, and branches of thick trees to make 
 booths." So the people went forth and brought them 
 and made booths on the flat roofs of their houses. 
 
 We are no longer an agricultural nation, still there is 
 another harvest we must think of gathering in before we 
 grow old, and perhaps useless, in the winter of our lives. 
 We must sow our seed in the spring time ; that is our 
 youth. It bears fruit and ripens in our middle age, and 
 if it has been carefully tended, our harvest will be rich, 
 perhaps not rich in the worldly meaning, but in the 
 spiritual and holier sense. 
 
 Do not be disheartened if sometimes your efforts 
 are not successful ; think of the farmer, and how often 
 he has to bear disappointment, how in some soil the 
 seed has to be sown again and again before it can yield
 
 198 The Feast of Tabernacles. 
 
 a goodly return for his labour, and repeat to yourselves 
 the words of David the sweet Psalmist : 
 
 " He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious 
 seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing 
 his sheaves with him." Ps. cxxvi. 6. 
 
 A HARVEST HYMN. 
 
 WE plough the fields, and scatter 
 
 The good seed on the land, 
 
 But it is fed and watered 
 
 By God's Almighty Hand ; 
 
 He sends the snow in winter, 
 
 The warmth to swell the grain, 
 
 The breezes and the sunshine, 
 
 And soft refreshing rain. 
 
 All good gifts around us 
 
 Are sent from Heaven above, 
 
 Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord 
 
 For all His love. 
 
 He only is the Maker 
 
 Of all things near and far ; 
 
 He paints the wayside flower, 
 
 He lights the evening star. 
 
 The winds and waves obey Him, 
 
 By Him the birds are fed ; 
 
 Much more to us, His children, 
 
 He gives our daily bread. 
 
 All good gifts around us 
 
 Are sent from Heaven above, 
 
 Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord 
 
 For all His love.
 
 The Feast of Tabernacles. 1 99 
 
 We thank Thee then, O Father, 
 
 For all things bright and good, 
 
 The seed time and the harvest, 
 
 Our life, our health, our food ; 
 
 Accept the gifts we offer 
 
 For all Thy love imparts, 
 
 And what Thou most desirest, 
 
 Our humble, thankful hearts. 
 
 All good gifts around us 
 
 Are sent from Heaven above, 
 
 Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord 
 
 For all His love. Matthius Claudius.
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 DEDICATION, OR HANUCAH. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 OUR holiday theme to-day shall be of the Feast of 
 Dedication, or Hanucah, as we generally call it. It is 
 different to any of the other festivals, as they all belonged 
 to Bible times, whilst this one is what we call a post- 
 biblical ordinance. By that I mean, that the events 
 which led to its being instituted, happened at a period 
 later than the Bible History. These events took place 
 two or three hundred years after the Temple was rebuilt. 
 
 Now, although the Jews from the time of the second 
 Temple had possession of their own land, they were in 
 quite a different position from what they had been, when 
 governed by kings of their own, of the royal house of 
 David. They were now a tributary people. So you see 
 they were not entirely a free nation, but had to acknow- 
 ledge as master a foreign king, pay him a yearly tribute 
 or tax and accept such laws as he chose to dictate to 
 them. If this foreign king happened to be good one, 
 then the yoke did not press heavily, they paid the tribute 
 and there the matter ended, but at the time we are going 
 to talk about to-day, matters were very bad indeed for 
 the poor Jews. 
 
 The king under whose authority the Jews now were, 
 was called Antiochus Epiphanes (the Illustrious). It 
 will puzzle you to see why he should have been called 
 " Illustrious " for he was only famous for his vices. 
 Rollin the ancient historian, tells us, that Antiochus
 
 Dedication, or Hamicah. 201 
 
 tacked this fine name on himself, and that many people, 
 who would not flatter him, called him instead " Epimanes " 
 or mad, which certainly seems a much more fitting title 
 for a man who was guilty of such inhuman cruelties as 
 we hear he committed. He believed in no God him- 
 self, and he determined if possible to abolish the worship 
 of the true God in Judaea. Bands of brutal soldiers 
 came to Jerusalem to enforce his impious orders. They 
 entered the holy Temple and carried away the golden 
 vessels. The books of the law were rent asunder and 
 then burned. A statue to Jupiter the heathen god was 
 set up in the sacred building, and not only were the 
 people forbidden to offer any sacrifices on the altar, 
 where the priests had for so long officiated, but to add to 
 the people's despair, swine's flesh was brought in and 
 offered up to the false gods. This was not all, the Jews 
 were forbidden on pain of death to keep the Sabbath, or 
 to exercise any of the rites of their religion ; they were 
 ordered to give it up and turn pagans. A few cowards 
 did obey the new orders, and in form, though we may be 
 sure, not in heart, followed the Syrian or Greek rites, but 
 the vast majority of Jews either secretly or openly held 
 true to the religion of their fathers. 
 
 I should make you sad, were I to tell you half the 
 piteous stories of martyrdom, that have been handed 
 down to us from those times. Perhaps you have heard 
 of the brave old Eleazar, who, rather than eat of the 
 abomination, swine's flesh, suffered a cruel death, praising 
 the God of Israel, and begging those about him to remain 
 faithful as he did. Then there is the tale, scarcely to 
 be believed of the Jewish mother, who rather than be 
 false to her conscience, saw her seven children one after 
 another tortured to death before she accepted with exul- 
 tant courage a martyr's death.
 
 202 Dedication, or Hanucah. 
 
 Surely when you hear of such conduct, dear children, 
 you ought to feel how small and trivial are the sacrifices 
 that we are sometimes called upon to make for our re- 
 ligion. Suppose that we have occasionally to practise 
 a little self-denial in order to conform to Judaism, ought 
 we not rather to feel proud than angry, and at best what 
 does the sacrifice generally entail ? Perhaps the loss of 
 some pecuniary gain, or possibly the deprivation of some 
 pleasure or pastime ! 
 
 Well, for three years, the tyrant Antiochus had been 
 heaping up one cruel act upon another, when a deliverer 
 suddenly arose, even as in olden times God had often 
 raised one up for His beloved people. 
 
 At Modin, a small town not far from Jerusalem, there 
 lived a good old priest called Mattathias, and his five 
 sons. In spite of the king's command, he still practised 
 all the rites of his religion. The news of his steadfast- 
 ness must have reached Jerusalem, for one of Antiochus' 
 officers came to Modin in order to offer an abominable 
 sacrifice on the altar of the true God. This was more 
 than the brave old man would allow, in one minute he 
 had struck down the officer and had also killed a cowardly 
 Jew who was assisting in the sacrifice. This bold step 
 taken, Mattathias shouted to the crowd about him " Who- 
 soever is zealous for God's law, and will keep His com- 
 mandment, let him follow me." A great many joined 
 the old priest, but as they were still unprepared to fight 
 the Syrian soldiers, they fled to the mountains. Here 
 the standard of revolt was raised, and the people flocked 
 to Mattathias. They took for their motto on the flag 
 the words, 
 
 " Who is like unto Thee among the gods, oh Lord ?" 
 
 rob:) o
 
 Dedication, or Hanucah. 203 
 
 and the family of Mattathias and his sons were from this 
 called the Maccabees, which are the initial letters of the 
 motto (DDO). When Mattathias had enough men around 
 him, he sallied forth from the mountains and met the 
 enemy in battle. He defeated them and pulled down 
 the altars raised to the false gods wherever he came, 
 and restored God's worship, and thus courage began to 
 return to the poor down-trodden Jews. 
 
 I told you that Mattathias was an old man, his 
 strength now began to fail, and he felt that death was 
 near, so he called his five sons to his side, and gave 
 them his last injunctions. Mattathias charged his sons 
 to continue his work, to fight the tyrant inch by inch 
 until Jerusalem was regained, and the one pure worship 
 restored. He reminded them of God's many acts of 
 goodness to Israel, and also recalled the lives of those 
 who had been faithful unto death. He desired his third 
 son Judas to take the command of the army, as he was 
 best fitted for that post, whilst his second son, Simon, 
 was to act as adviser. Perhaps you would like to hear 
 the old patriot's own words as we find them in the book 
 of Maccabees : 
 
 1 " Now therefore, my sons, be zealous for the law, and 
 give your lives for the covenant of your fathers. 
 
 " And behold, I know that your brother Simon is a 
 man of counsel, give ear unto him always ; he shall be a 
 father unto you. 
 
 "As for Judas Maccabeus, he hath been mighty and 
 strong, even from his youth up ; let him be your cap- 
 tain, and fight the battle of the people." I Maccabees, 
 ii. 50, 65, 66. 
 
 Soon after this parting address, Mattathias died, and 
 his commands were lovingly and faithfully followed by 
 his sons. Judas Maccabeus proved the worthy son of a
 
 204 Dedication, or Hanucah. 
 
 worthy father. All the Maccabee brothers were brave, 
 but Judas was the bravest of them all. He is one of the 
 noblest heroes we find in history, courageous, modest, 
 unwavering and steadfast to his faith, and yet no bigot, 
 as the following fact will prove. 
 
 One of Antiochus' officers, knowing that the Jews 
 would think it a sin to engage in battle on the Sabbath, 
 chose that day for attacking them, so that instead of a 
 fight it became a massacre, as the Jews would not even 
 use their weapons in self-defence. When, however, the 
 same measures were adopted against Judas, and he was 
 attacked on the Sabbath, he bade his men defend them- 
 selves ; he was wise enough to see that this was the only 
 course to adopt, or otherwise in time the Jews would 
 have been exterminated. You will agree with Judas 
 that this sacrifice of human life was not required, nor 
 would it have been pleasing to God, it was not desecra- 
 tion of the Sabbath to act in self-defence. Antiochus 
 was furious when he heard that Judas with his compara- 
 tively small band of followers, who could not compare 
 for training with his armed hosts, was gaining victory 
 after victory. New generals were sent off to conquer 
 this daring " rebel " as Antiochus termed him. Antio- 
 chus did not take into account what Judas and his men 
 had at stake. They were fighting for their country and 
 their God, and they never went into any encounter 
 without offering up prayer for divine assistance. In the 
 dim distance was Jerusalem, and every effort was made 
 to reach that city. At length they found themselves 
 within marching distance of the beloved spot, alas ! when 
 they arrived, they found it almost deserted. In what a 
 sad state was God's house ! No priest, no book of the 
 law in sight. They saw " the sanctuary desolate and 
 the altar profaned, and the gates burnt up and shrubs
 
 Dedication, or Hanucah. 205 
 
 growing in the courts as in a forest or in one of the 
 mountains, and the priests' chambers pulled down. 
 They rent their clothes and wept aloud, and cast ashes 
 upon their heads." I Maccabees, iv. 38, 39. 
 
 But Judas was not one to indulge long in useless grief, 
 he was a man of action, and soon he divided his men into 
 two bodies. Some of these were told off to fight, and the 
 rest were set to work to cleanse the sanctuary, and to 
 build a new altar in place of the one that had been 
 defiled by heathen sacrifices. Judas also reappointed 
 the priests, and chose men of good character and 
 who knew the law. They remade the vessels for the 
 Temple, in place of those that Antiochus had taken 
 away. 
 
 By the 25th of Kislev the work was complete, and all 
 was to be dedicated, so they lighted the holy lamp which 
 for so long had been extinguished. There was just one 
 little pot of oil found for this purpose, enough for one 
 day's use, but marvellous to tell, it kept on burning for 
 eight days, by which time the priests had prepared some 
 more. 
 
 It is in commemoration of this fact that we always 
 burn the Hanucah lights for eight consecutive nights, 
 and I think you will say it is a pretty tribute to the 
 memory of our brave warrior Judas Maccabeus. The 
 feast of Hanucah itself is kept out of gratitude for God's 
 help to our people, when suffering from the cruel oppres- 
 sion of Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 
 Judas' hard work did not end with the recovery of 
 Jerusalem and the restoration of the Temple. The 
 whole of his life was spent in opposing the enemies of 
 his people, for Antiochus would not yield to him, but 
 sent general after general to try and recover the lost 
 ground, which, however, he never succeeded in doing.
 
 206 Dedication, or Hanucah. 
 
 I am sure many of you love music. I wonder if any 
 of you have heard of the famous musician Handel. He 
 has written a great deal of sacred music, and one of his 
 most beautiful works is the oratorio "Judas Macca- 
 beus." A march that occurs in it " See the conquering 
 hero comes " is such a favourite air, that it is usually 
 played when some distinguished person is specially 
 honoured on some festive occasion. We must feel 
 proud at such times that the life of our brave country- 
 man should have furnished the noble musician with the 
 subject for his grand work. 
 
 We read of many deeds of bravery in those days, for 
 Judas was so beloved by his men, that his courage 
 inspired them to imitate him. On one occasion, when 
 King Antiochus' men had come out to do battle, they 
 found that a number of elephants were being used in the 
 fight. This was not at all an uncommon proceeding in 
 those days. I will tell you how they made use of these 
 huge beasts. On each one was placed a sort of little 
 tower, which held about thirty men besides the driver 
 who guided the animal. So you see what a formidable 
 foe one elephant was, as he carried so many soldiers on 
 his back, all well armed, he was a host in himself. Now 
 one of Judas' brothers named Eleazar Savaran, noticed 
 that one of the elephants had royal harness, and stood 
 higher than the others, so he imagined that it must carry 
 the king himself. He therefore determined to sacrifice 
 his life in killing the elephant, for he thought that if 
 the royal tower fell, the enemy would lose heart and 
 run away. 
 
 Thus Eleazar rushed into the midst of the battle, 
 slaying right and left, striking terror on all, so that 
 his foes divided from him on both sides, until he 
 reached the elephant he had singled out. He bravely
 
 Dedication, or Hanucah. 207 
 
 crept under the animal and thrust his sword into him. 
 The huge elephant fell, crushing the hero to death. In 
 spite of this act of bravery, Judas and his men had to 
 retreat, because he saw that the enemy were too strong 
 for him. Judas died a true soldier's death. He fell in 
 battle a fitting end to such a brave life. How different 
 to the miserable death of Antiochus ! He was attacked 
 by a most loathsome disease, and died in great agony, 
 perhaps tormented by the memory of what he had made 
 others undergo. 
 
 Now, dear children, I hope, after hearing the story of 
 Hanucah, you will draw this lesson from it. Be brave 
 and true to your principles. If you know that a thing is 
 right, whether it concern your faith or your daily life, 
 hold to it and struggle to maintain it. Take Judas 
 Maccabeus for your model. Arm yourself for the 
 daily battle of life, not with a sword and a breast-plate as 
 he had to do (for happily your combat will be a blood- 
 less one), but with faith, resolution and courage. Above 
 all, take care not to be moral cowards ; recognize what 
 your duty is and then always act up to it, never listening 
 to weak or bad advisers, but recalling Longfellow's noble 
 words : 
 
 " In the world's broad field of battle, 
 
 In the bivouac of life, 
 Be not like dumb driven cattle, 
 
 Be a hero in the strife."
 
 208 Dedication, or Hanucah. 
 
 FOR A LIFE UNDYING. 
 
 PRAISE to the heroes 
 Who struck for the right, 
 Where freedom and truth 
 Were defended in fight. 
 Of blood-shedding hirelings 
 The deeds are abhorred, 
 But the patriot smites 
 With the sword of the Lord. 
 
 Praise to the martyrs 
 Who died for the right, 
 Nor ever bowed down 
 At the bidding of might, 
 Their ashes were cast 
 All abroad on the wind, 
 But more widely the blessings 
 They won for mankind. 
 
 Praise to the sages, 
 The teachers of right, 
 Whose voice in the darkness 
 Said " Let there be light." 
 The Sophist may gain 
 The renown of an hour, 
 But wisdom is glory, 
 While knowledge is power.
 
 Dedication, or Hanucah. 209 
 
 Heroes, martyrs and sages, 
 True prophets of right, 
 They foresaw and they made 
 Man's futurity bright. 
 Their fame would ascend 
 Though the world sunk in flames, 
 Be their spirit on all 
 Who sing praise to their names. 
 
 W.J.Fox.
 
 XXXIV. 
 PURIM. PART I. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 I MEAN to-day to tell you the story of Purim. To some 
 of you perhaps, the word only means a bright holiday, 
 when everything is done to make you happy and gay, 
 when you receive presents, and, I hope, give them, not only 
 to your friends and relatives, but also to those who may 
 be in poorer circumstances than yourselves. 
 
 It is in the book of Esther that we find the reason for 
 the institution of Purim. The scene is laid, not in Palestine, 
 but in Persia, where a number of Jews were still living, 
 after Ezra had led all those back to Jerusalem, who were 
 willing to assist in rebuilding the Temple. The king of 
 the country was called Ahasuerus ; he was very rich 
 and powerful, ruling over a hundred and twenty-seven 
 provinces, and known to be a great tyrant. After he 
 had been three years on the throne he gave a grand feast 
 to all his princes and courtiers, by whom he was flattered 
 as only Oriental despots are flattered. He was anxious 
 that they should see and admire the fine palace in 
 Shushan where he lived. 
 
 We read that the floors of this palace were of coloured 
 marble, inlaid with silver and gold. The rooms were 
 divided by curtains of the richest tints, hanging by 
 silver rings to marble pillars. The guests were served 
 out of golden vessels, and whilst they were feasting with 
 the king, Vashti the queen was entertaining the women
 
 Purim. 211 
 
 in her own royal house, for in Eastern lands the men and 
 women have separate houses. 
 
 On the seventh day, when " the heart of the king was 
 merry with wine" he commanded his chamberlains "to 
 bring Vashti the queen, with the crown royal, to show 
 the princes and the people her beauty." The king's mes- 
 sage, or rather command, was not obeyed, for the beautiful 
 Vashti refused to come. Ahasuerus was furious, he was not 
 accustomed to have his wishes balked, and now arose the 
 serious question, how should Queen Vashti be punished 
 for daring to oppose her lord ? One of the princes present 
 named Memucan suggested that she should be dethroned 
 and another queen elected in her place, " for" said he, "if 
 this deed of the queen's gets spoken of abroad, then will 
 other women despise their husbands and follow her ex- 
 ample." The plan pleased the king, and a decree was at 
 once passed that Vashti should no longer be queen, and 
 furthermore, that all wives should honour and obey their 
 husbands. 
 
 Summary judgment, you will some of you say, but in 
 reality Vashti was fortunate not to lose her head, for life 
 was not much valued by those Eastern despots, and for 
 lesser offences than Vashti's many a subject was instantly 
 beheaded. 
 
 Some time after these events, when the king's wrath 
 was appeased, one of his servants said to him, " Let my 
 lord the king now choose another queen. Send some of 
 your officers through the kingdom to seek for beautiful 
 maidens, and have them all brought to the women's 
 palace at Shushan. Then whichever pleases you the 
 best, make her queen in Vashti's place." The king 
 approved of the plan, and the officers at once set to work. 
 
 Now in Shushan there lived a Jew named Mordecai. 
 He was a descendant of one of the exiles who had been
 
 212 Purim. 
 
 carried away from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, when 
 the holy city was taken, and the Temple destroyed. With 
 Mordecai lived a beautiful young orphan niece or cousin 
 called Esther. When the king's officers saw her, they 
 decided that she was to come to the palace and be seen 
 by the king. She had besides her beauty, pretty winning 
 ways, and we hear that she soon became a favourite 
 with the officials at the women's palace. We can 
 imagine with what mingled feelings Mordecai saw her 
 depart. He bade Esther for the present keep silence 
 about her religion and her race, but each day saw him at 
 the gate seeking tidings of his well-beloved. At last, the 
 great news came to his ears, Ahasuerus had seen Esther, 
 and had chosen her for his queen. The royal crown had 
 been set on her head, and feasts and rejoicings had taken 
 place all through the country. 
 
 When Mordecai heard of this change in Esther's 
 position, he rejoiced, but he had no wish to obtrude him- 
 self on the king's notice as Esther's relative ; he felt sure 
 that she would not forget her people, but would be ready 
 to help them, should they ever require her aid. He little 
 knew how soon this would be the case. 
 
 One day, when Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, 
 he happened to hear that two of the chamberlains had 
 taken offence at something the king had done, and were 
 conspiring to kill him. Mordecai at once sent word to 
 Esther, who informed the king of the plot, taking care to 
 let him know that it was Mordecai who had found out 
 the king's danger. Notice this, my dear children, she 
 was too honest and noble-minded to take credit for what 
 she did not deserve, so, as the Bible tells us, "she certified 
 the king thereof in Mordecai's name." Inquiries were 
 made, and they found out that Mordecai's information 
 was correct, so the two men were hanged on a tree,
 
 Purim. 213 
 
 and the account of this was written in the book of the 
 Chronicles before the king. 
 
 Now we must turn for a while from the good modest 
 young queen and her faithful relative Mordecai, to a 
 very different character. In many of the stories that 
 you young people are fond of reading, there is a villain, 
 and the story of Purim furnishes us with a very cold- 
 blooded one. You can supply the name I am sure. 
 Haman was Ahasuerus' prime minister, and like his 
 master he was a tyrant, exacting obedience and slavish 
 servility from all who surrounded him. When he passed 
 through the city the people bowed and prostrated them- 
 selves before him as though he had been a god. Haman 
 was the king's favourite, armed with his seal, he was 
 second in power only to his royal master, and still 
 there was one man who refused to bow down before 
 him. 
 
 This irritated the royal favourite to such a degree 
 that he determined to punish Mordecai, for he was the 
 man. He found out that he belonged to the Jewish 
 race a race to which he did not feel well disposed. 
 Why not get rid of Mordecai and all his people at once ! 
 You must not forget that no one as yet knew that 
 Esther was a Jewess, or else Haman would have feared 
 to set about his cruel plan. 
 
 Haman, you have already seen, was vain, proud, and 
 cruel now you will have to add deceit to his other 
 vices. Instead of coming to Ahasuerus and saying : 
 " There is a Jew who has offended me, I suppose you 
 will not mind my killing him and all his people," he 
 went to work in this manner. 
 
 As the king was fond of magnificence and display, he 
 must always have required a great deal of money to 
 spend on his pleasures, so Haman, considering this,
 
 214 Purim. 
 
 came to him and said : " There is a certain people 
 scattered through all the provinces of your kingdom ; 
 their laws are different from those of other people, and 
 they do not keep the king's laws; it is not for your 
 interest to allow them to remain. Let it be written that 
 they may be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand 
 talents of silver into the king's treasury." 
 
 What did the king care about these strange people ? 
 His favourite said that they were in the way, and he 
 seemed to dislike them ; besides, I told you that human 
 life was not much valued in Eastern countries. Even 
 the money he was welcome to, for the king did not 
 accept the offered bribe. He took his ring with the 
 royal seal off his finger, and giving it to Haman, said : 
 " The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with 
 them as it seemeth good to thee." 
 
 Haman, delighted at the king's gracious permission, 
 set scribes to work, and letters were sent all through the 
 vast kingdom, ordering that on a certain day in Adar, 
 for which he had, in his superstitious spirit, cast a Pur y 
 or lot, all the Jews, men, women, and children, should be 
 put to death. To urge the people to carry out the cruel 
 command, they were told further, that they might seize 
 whatever they liked belonging to their victims. These 
 letters were signed with the king's seal, which he had 
 given to Haman. 
 
 When Haman saw that the first part of his revengeful 
 plot had succeeded, he felt that he could sit down and 
 feast with the king. But in the city of Shushan, where 
 numbers of Jews dwelt, there was sadness and bewilder- 
 ment, for they knew not why this terrible fate was 
 coming upon them. 
 
 The sad news soon reached Mordecai, and he tore his 
 clothes, and robed himself in sackcloth and ashes, which
 
 Purim. 215 
 
 in those days, was usual when people had some great 
 trouble. Then he went into the midst of the city, crying 
 out with a loud and bitter cry. At the king's gate he 
 stopped, for none might enter there with these signs of 
 mourning. Throughout the land the Jews, like Mordecai, 
 wore sackcloth, and wept and fasted. In a little while 
 Esther was told of this, and it grieved her exceedingly 
 to know that Mordecai was in sore trouble ; so she sent 
 him new garments in lieu of his sackcloth, but he 
 refused her gift. Then her tender woman's heart was 
 deeply moved, and she sent her own especial chamber- 
 lain, one Hatach, to see Mordecai, and find out " what 
 it was and why it was." Mordecai was found, and soon 
 told the chamberlain the terrible news. He also sent 
 Esther a copy of the king's decree, and charged her to 
 go before Ahasuerus, and entreat of him to spare the 
 lives of her people. " So Hatach came and told Esther 
 the words of Mordecai." Esther, iv. 9.
 
 2 1 6 Purim. 
 
 A HYMN. 
 
 IN holy books we read how God hath spoken 
 To holy men in many different ways ; 
 
 But hath the present worked no sign or token ? 
 Is God quite silent in these latter days ? 
 
 The word were but a blank, a hollow sound, 
 If He that spake it were not speaking still ; 
 
 If all the light and all the shade around 
 Were aught but issues of Almighty will. 
 
 So then, believe that every bird that sings, 
 And every flower that stars the elastic sod, 
 
 And every thought the happy summer brings 
 To the pure spirit is a word of God. 
 
 Hartley Coleridge
 
 XXXV. 
 
 PURIM. PART II. 
 
 THERE was a law in Shushan forbidding any man or 
 woman to come unbidden before the king into the inner 
 court on pain of death. For thirty days Esther had not 
 been called before the king, and she was afraid. Now 
 of this she informed Mordecai, who bade the chamberlain 
 reply, " Think not you will escape in the king's house, 
 more than all the Jews. For if you keep silence at this 
 time, then will deliverance arise from some other quarter, 
 and who knows whether you have not become queen for 
 the very purpose of saving your people ? " 
 
 Mordecai's faith and trust in God inspired Esther with 
 courage, and she resolved to risk her life for her people. 
 " Tell Mordecai," she said, " to call our people in Shushan 
 together, let them fast and pray for three days, and I and 
 my maidens will do the same. Then will I go unto the 
 king in spite of the law, and if I perish, I perish." 
 
 " So Mordecai went his way and did all that Esther 
 had commanded him." Esther, iv. 17. 
 
 Sweet, brave, faithful Esther, think of what these 
 three days meant to her ! Life or death, not only for 
 herself, but for all the Jews. What would settle this 
 question, on what would it depend ? 
 
 When the third day came Esther put on her royal 
 robes, and presented herself at the inner court of the 
 king's house. There he sat on the royal throne, and 
 when he saw the queen standing in the court, he was 
 pleased, and at once held out the golden sceptre, that was
 
 2 1 8 Purim. 
 
 in his hand. This was the sign that Esther was not to die, 
 but to approach the throne. Trembling, but with a lighter 
 heart, she drew near, and according to custom, touched 
 the top of the sceptre. " What wilt thou, Queen Esther ? 
 What is thy request ? It shall be given thee, to the half of 
 the kingdom." You see that she did indeed find favour in 
 his sight, he truly loved her. Still it was but a small 
 request she made. Merely, would her liege lord and his 
 prime minister come that day to a banquet she had pre- 
 pared ? The king was graciously pleased to accept her 
 invitation both for himself and Haman. At the banquet 
 the king again asked her if she had any petition or 
 request to make, and her reply was much the same as 
 before. She asked them to return on the morrow, again 
 to feast with her, and then she would state her peti- 
 tion. History does not tell us why she delayed in making 
 her real object known. It may be that her courage failed 
 at the very moment, or she may have thought it prudent 
 to coax the king into a good humour before she risked 
 to do or die. . 
 
 Haman went forth that day with a glad heart. What 
 greater honour could he have than for the queen to single 
 him out to dine alone with her and Ahasuerus ? His 
 satisfaction would have been less, had he known that his 
 royal mistress belonged to the hated race of Jews, but of 
 that fact no one was yet aware, the time h&d not arrived 
 for Esther to declare herself. 
 
 Mordecai was in the king's gate when Haman came 
 forth, he neither stood up, nor moved for him. Haman 
 was angry and indignant at this, and he went home to his 
 wife Zeresh and told her of the queen's banquet and how 
 he was bidden to return on the morrow. " Yet," he said, 
 " all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the 
 Jew sitting at the king's gate." Zeresh seems to have
 
 Purim. 2 1 9 
 
 been as cruel and vindictive as her husband, for she pro- 
 posed that a gallows fifty cubits high should be erected, 
 and permission asked before the feast to hang Mordecai 
 upon it. " Then," said she, " you can go in merrily with 
 the king to the banquet." The advice pleased Haman 
 and the gallows were raised. 
 
 But on the very night of the banquet, the king's sleep 
 was disturbed, and he ordered his attendants to bring the 
 book of Chronicles and read to him, in order to lull 
 him to sleep, or at all events to distract his mind. 
 The book was brought, and it happened that the passage 
 read out to him was the account of the conspiracy of the 
 two chamberlains, how Mordecai had discovered it, and 
 had warned the king through Esther of their intention to 
 kill him, and how by this means his life had been saved. 
 The king asked what honour and dignity had been be- 
 stowed on Mordecai for this service. "There is nothing 
 done for him," answered the servant in attendance. 
 " Who is in the court ? " said the king. Now Haman 
 was waiting to ask permission to have Mordecai hanged 
 on the gallows he had erected for that purpose. It was 
 rather an unlucky moment to put forward his request, so 
 when the king's servant replied, " Haman is in the court," 
 the king said, "let him come in." Haman came, and 
 the king said to him, 
 
 " What shall be done to the man whom the king 
 delighteth to honour ? " 
 
 Now Haman thought to himself, whom would the 
 king delight to honour more than myself, so he an- 
 swered : 
 
 " To this man, to this man whom the king delighteth 
 to honour, let the royal robes be brought, which the king 
 himself wears, and the horse that he rides, and the 
 crown royal which is set upon his head. Let all this be
 
 22O Purim. 
 
 given into the hand of one of the king's most noble 
 princes, that he may array the man whom the king 
 delighteth to honour. Let him bring this man on horse- 
 back through the city proclaiming, ' Thus shall it be 
 done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.' " 
 
 Then Ahasuerus said to Haman, "Make haste and 
 take the apparel and the horse, and do as thou hast said 
 to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate. 
 Let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken." 
 
 Haman dared not disobey, and to argue with the 
 royal tyrant might have meant death, so Haman had to 
 go forth and carry out all the king's commands. He 
 himself had to clothe Mordecai in the royal robes, and 
 to lead his horse through the city, shouting all the while, 
 "Thus shall be done to the man whom the king de- 
 lighteth to honour." 
 
 Then Mordecai came again to the king's gate, whilst 
 Haman hasted to his house mourning. Very little 
 comfort awaited him there, for when his wife and friends 
 heard of all that had just happened, instead of pitying 
 him, they only said, " If Mordecai be of the race of the 
 Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt 
 surely not succeed against him, but shall surely fall." 
 
 Haman reaped as he had sowed. Not many kind 
 words had he bestowed on others, and now, in his dark 
 hour of disgrace, he found none ready to comfort him. 
 And while they were even yet talking, the king's cham- 
 berlain came to hurry him on to the queen's feast. 
 
 " So the king and Haman came to banquet with 
 Esther the queen." 
 
 Yes. The all-important hour had come ; and when, 
 during the feast, Esther again heard the king's gracious 
 question, " What is thy petition, Queen Esther, and it 
 shall be granted thee ; and what is thy request, and it
 
 Purim. 221 
 
 shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom ? " 
 she gained courage, and answered : 
 
 " If I have found favour in thy sight, oh king, and if 
 it please the king, let my life be given me at my peti- 
 tion, and my people at my request : for we are sold, I 
 and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to- 
 perish." 
 
 " Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto- 
 Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that dare 
 presume in his heart to do so ? And Esther said, the 
 enemy is this wicked Haman." 
 
 At these words Haman trembled, for he knew what 
 his fate would be. The king could not contain himself 
 for anger, and rushed out into the palace garden in a 
 paroxysm of wrath. The miserable Haman fell on his 
 knees before the queen, and there he was found by 
 Ahasuerus, who soon returned with his attendants. He 
 was led away, and by the king's command hung upon 
 the gallows he had raised for Mordecai. 
 
 Esther now confessed to the king that she was Mor- 
 decai's cousin. Mordecai was summoned to the royal 
 presence, and the king, taking the signet ring which had 
 been given to Haman, presented it to Mordecai. 
 
 Esther's work was not yet complete. You must re- 
 member that Haman had sent letters throughout all the 
 provinces, ordering the people to fall upon the Jews on 
 a certain day and massacre them. So now Esther threw 
 herself at the king's feet, and with tears in her eyes, im- 
 plored him to revoke this decree. It grieved the king 
 to see his beautiful wife weeping at his feet, so he held 
 out the golden sceptre and she rose and stood before him. 
 " For how can I endure to see the evil," she exclaimed, 
 " that shall come unto my people ? or how can I endure 
 to see the destruction of my kindred ? "
 
 222 Purim. 
 
 The king told her, that when once a law had been 
 made in Persia it could not be revoked. That is why, 
 when we want to say anything can not be changed, we 
 compare it to a law of the Medes and Persians. But 
 Esther and Mordecai were permitted to write other 
 letters, sealing them with the royal seal, telling the Jews 
 that they were to gather themselves together and to stand 
 for their lives, which meant that when they were attacked 
 they were to defend themselves. So the letters were 
 sent out in all haste, by mounted messengers. 
 
 Then Mordecai went from the king's presence in 
 royal robes of blue and white, with a great crown of gold 
 upon his head. And the city of Shushan rejoiced and 
 was glad, and wherever the king's new decree came 
 there was joy and gladness, and many of the people of 
 the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon 
 them. 
 
 Now, dear children, I want you to draw this lesson 
 from Haman's fate. If you should have superior 
 strength or ability, or power granted you, do not become 
 proud or conceited, or what is worse still, cruel. Never 
 tyrannize over those who are in any way weaker than 
 yourselves. If Haman in his powerful times had been 
 kind and gracious, when trouble overtook him, some 
 friend might have come forward to intercede for him 
 with the king, and his fall might not have been so 
 terrible. 
 
 There is just one fact in connection with the history 
 of Esther and Mordecai that I do not like telling you. 
 It is that Haman's ten sons were hanged on the gallows 
 where their father had suffered death. 
 
 Would that this great deliverance had not been 
 sullied by any such act of revengeful cruelty \ But we 
 must bear in mind that those times were cruel times,
 
 Purim. 223 
 
 and that barbarous acts of retaliation were not looked 
 upon in the same light as they would be now. 
 
 And now we come to the institution of Purim. It 
 took its name from Pur, or lot, because the enemies of 
 the Jews cast lots to see on what day their destruction 
 should take place. When Mordecai and Esther had ob- 
 tained the safety of their people, Mordecai ordered that the 
 Jews should always keep the I4th day of Adar as a day 
 of gladness and feasting, and of sending portions one to 
 another. So to this day we observe Purim in thankful- 
 ness to God for the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's 
 cruelty, and also in grateful memory of the good queen 
 Esther, who risked her life to save her people. 
 
 Dear children, we cannot pay a better tribute to her 
 memory than by exercising deeds of charity and kind- 
 ness to those who need them. When we are feasting, 
 let us remember those who would also like to feast, but 
 have not the means ; let us send portions to them. 
 
 And now one more word before we have finished with 
 Purim. Besides the feast, there are some who keep the 
 fast of Purim ; that is to commemorate Esther's fast, 
 which she kept before she went to the king to entreat 
 for her people. All this story was written down in the 
 chronicles of the kings of Persia and Media, which also 
 relate that when Mordecai rose to the highest position 
 in the land, he continued to work for the good of his 
 people, so that they were happy and prosperous under 
 the rule of Ahasuerus and Esther.
 
 224 Purim. 
 
 MAKE YOUR MARK. 
 
 IN the quarries should you toil, 
 
 Make your mark, 
 Do you delve upon the soil, 
 
 Make your mark. 
 In whatever path you go, 
 In whatever place you stand, 
 Moving swift or moving slow, 
 With a firm and steady hand, 
 
 Make your mark. 
 
 Life is fleeting as a shade, 
 
 Make your mark. 
 Marks of some kind must be made, 
 
 Make your mark. 
 Make it while the arm is strong 
 In the golden hours of youth, 
 Never, never make it wrong, 
 Make it with the stamp of truth. 
 
 Make your mark. Golden Wreath.
 
 XXXVI. 
 ON CLEANLINESS. 
 
 "And Elisha sent a messenger unto him (Naaman), saying, Go 
 and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to 
 thee, and thou shall be clean. 
 
 "Wash and be clean." 2 Kings ; chap. v. 10, 13. 
 
 THERE are many blessings which we enjoy which are 
 independent of any actions or efforts of our own, others, 
 on the contrary, which depend in great measure upon 
 ourselves. Among the latter, good health should fill a 
 prominent place. Perhaps those who enjoy that blessing 
 do not feel half grateful enough for it. 
 
 As long as you have the rosy cheeks and bright eyes 
 of health, the enfeebled frame and enforced idleness of 
 disease appear to you like hideous but far-off spectres 
 with which you have no concern, but, dear children, that 
 is not the case, and it depends greatly upon yourselves 
 whether you remain strong and healthy or fall a prey to 
 pain and sickness. I do not say that you can always 
 destroy or escape from disease and suffering, but, you 
 might do much to keep those enemies to our welfare at 
 a distance, instead of drawing them towards you, as from 
 ignorance or heedlessness I fear many of us do. 
 
 Among the various precepts and rules we find in the 
 Bible, are many which relate to our bodily health precepts 
 given several thousand years ago, but which are now, as 
 it were, rediscovered, and enforced by the most eminent 
 doctors of the present day. The laws respecting food 
 are doubtless of more importance in the hot countries 
 inhabited by our forefathers, than in this cooler clime 
 
 Q
 
 226 On Cleanliness. 
 
 but the strict injunctions concerning infectious diseases, 
 are now being carried out to the fullest extent wherever 
 civilization and science have penetrated. Another law 
 which has a two-fold purpose, the observance of which 
 gives strength and power to mind and body, is that which 
 bids us rest on the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 
 
 What a saving influence that blessed rest must have 
 upon the tired frames of the hard-worked man or woman, 
 and even upon our poor fellow-creatures, the patient 
 animals who help us in many of our labours ! One of the 
 most essential health-giving laws, which, under ordinary 
 circumstances, can be obeyed without any great difficulty, 
 is the law which refers to cleanliness, and prescribes the 
 frequent and abundant use of water. In various parts of the 
 Bible, in various ways, cleanliness is inculcated. Should 
 not the people to whom those laws were specially ad- 
 dressed give the greatest heed to them ? yet it cannot 
 be denied that there are some Jews in the present day 
 who are not as distinguished as they ought to be for 
 cleanliness, either in their person or their homes. The 
 two are generally found together, and how pleasant is a 
 visit to the clean fresh-looking inmates of the well-swept 
 tidy house ! I will not venture to describe the effect 
 produced by the contrary. Our brethren, or perhaps I 
 should rather say our sisters, have kept their Oriental 
 taste for bright colours and ornaments of every descrip- 
 tion, which doubtless corresponded with the bright 
 colours of the eastern lands of our ancestors, but are 
 perhaps somewhat out of harmony with the dusky 
 London sky and surroundings here. I do not object, 
 however, to a touch of brightness here and there, in the 
 shape of a little adornment for our dress or walls, an 
 unconscious reminiscence, maybe, of another far-off 
 clime, where the sun paints the sky in gorgeous tints,
 
 On Cleanliness. 227 
 
 and embroiders the earth with ever-changing patterns, 
 but if, when the eye is attracted by the bright flower or 
 feather, we are made painfully aware of the dirty bonnet 
 they were intended to ornament, or of the unbrushed 
 tangled hair and unwashed face of the wearer, repulsion 
 and disgust are the only feelings they can awaken. 
 
 But it is more for the sake of good health than for 
 that of charm and beauty, that I would advocate the 
 cause of cleanliness to-day. There is no doubt that 
 many diseases are mainly due to want of cleanliness. 
 For instance, you may perhaps have heard of the painter's 
 palsy, which is owing to the poisonous effect of the 
 white lead used in house painting and decoration. When 
 the workman puts down his brush, and hastens to eat 
 his dinner, generally a piece of bread and meat that his 
 wife put in his pocket in the morning, he often takes it 
 up with hands stained by particles of lead, and thus 
 mixes poison with his food. And after a short time the 
 painter's face loses its healthy colour, becomes pale and 
 yellow, he has attacks of severe pain, and his hands shake 
 as though he were an aged or intemperate man, and all 
 this misery might have been spared had he cleansed his 
 hands before eating his food. That was a wise as well 
 as a pious ordinance of the Jewish sages, which forbade 
 any person to commence a meal unless he had first 
 washed his hands, and you may be sure that they rightly 
 interpreted the divine will when, in the blessing by which 
 they ordered that act to be accompanied, they declared 
 such washing to be a " command of the Lord of the 
 Universe " who " sanctifies us by his precepts." 
 
 How many homes have been made desolate by the 
 inroads of typhus fever, which was brought into the 
 court or street by the filth which was allowed to pollute 
 them, and how many skin diseases are produced merely
 
 228 On Cleanliness. 
 
 by the niggardly use of soap and water ! If you could 
 look at your skin through a strong magnifying glass, 
 you would see that it is full of tiny holes. These are the 
 pores, which allow the air to enter the skin and circulate 
 among the veins and arteries, and permit the moisture 
 and waste particles of tissue to exude or come out from 
 it. But if these tiny holes are stopped up by dust or 
 any particles of animal or vegetable matter, the purify- 
 ing air cannot find its way to the blood, and the moisture 
 which should come through the skin is also unable to 
 reach the surface thus the blood becomes tainted, and 
 the organs nourished by the blood, weakened or diseased. 
 "A great part of sanitary science," says Sir Lyon Playfair, 
 " can be compressed in that one word cleanliness," and 
 a great part of cleanliness can be compressed in that one 
 word water. 
 
 It was, perhaps, to prove the effect of pure water 
 that the leper was told by the prophet to wash seven 
 times in the Jordan, and that the fearful malady was 
 overcome by that simple remedy. At all events, among 
 other lessons, the sacred narrative may teach us that 
 the value of water should not be overlooked. We can 
 hardly be grateful enough for the blessing of pure water, 
 equally beneficial for inward and outward use. It might 
 be called, like sleep, " Nature's sweet restorer." How 
 the parched earth smiles after the desired rainfall. Every 
 blade of grass, every herb, and opening flower, refreshed 
 and sparkling, looks thankfully up to the skies from 
 which it has received its welcome shower-bath, and 
 even in the courts and alleys of our crowded towns we 
 seem to breathe a purer and more exhilerating atmo- 
 sphere, after we have heard the splashing of the rapidly 
 falling raindrops upon the grimy pavement. 
 
 Of course, it does not always depend upon us to live
 
 On Cleanliness. 229 
 
 among pure and sweet surroundings, but soap and water 
 we can all of us procure, and if we make good use of 
 both, we shall not only feel fresh and active, ready for 
 work and play, but shall ward off many pf the dangers 
 which are always lurking in the vicinity of dirty dwell- 
 ings of towns and villages. 
 
 "Wash and be clean" may seem to you a very simple 
 precept, hardly worth so many words as you have heard 
 about it to day, but had Naaman not followed it he 
 would have remained a hopeless leper; and if you do 
 not obey the rules of cleanliness, you will surely draw 
 upon yourselves and those around you discomfort, illness 
 and suffering. 
 
 There appears to be also some correspondence be- 
 tween cleanliness of body and purity or cleanliness of 
 mind. We can hardly imagine the clean, bright face in 
 connection with a dishonest, shifty, dirty mind, and 
 though it may not be easy to explain the cause of our 
 feelings on that subject, I am sure we all have the same 
 instinctive shrinking from, and suspicious distrust of, the 
 man, woman, or child begrimed with dirt just as we 
 are attracted and swayed in our opinions by the garb of 
 cleanliness which meets and charms the eye, and seems 
 to proclaim a pure, wholesome mind and heart, un- 
 stained by guile or deceit.
 
 230 On Cleanliness. 
 
 GOOD-NIGHT. 
 
 CLOSE now thine eyes rest secure ; 
 
 Thy soul is safe enough ; thy body sure ; 
 
 He that loves thee, He that keeps 
 
 And guards thee, never slumbers, never sleeps. 
 
 The smiling Conscience in a sleeping breast 
 
 Has only peace, has only rest : 
 
 The music and the mirth of kings 
 
 Are all but very discord when she sings : 
 
 Then close thine eyes and rest secure, 
 
 No sleep so sweet as thine, no rest so sure. 
 
 Francis Quarles. 
 
 CH1SWICK PRESS : C. WHITTJNGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, 
 CHANCERY LANK.
 
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