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 ADDRESSES 
 
 YOUNG CHILDREN, 
 
 ORIGINALLY DELIVERED 
 
 Girls' f w Stjwl, gdl 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY J. WERTHEIMER & CO. 
 
 FINSBURY CIRCUS. 
 
 1859.
 
 PKEFACE. 
 
 SOME years ago, one of our ministers, distin- 
 guished for his great abilities, his ardent zeal, 
 and earnest devotion to the cause of educa- 
 tion, expressed a wish, that easy lessons in the 
 form of discourses might be prepared for the 
 use of the little children -in Bell Lane, not to 
 supersede the religious instruction given in the 
 School, but to recall to the minds of the youthful 
 learners some of the beautiful texts of the Bible 
 and their sublime teaching. The reverend gen- 
 tleman was of opinion, that neither the published 
 sermons of English divines, nor those of conti- 
 nental preachers, however eloquent and admirable, 
 were suited to the capacity of young children, 
 and he believed that those personally and most 
 intimately acquainted with the wants of the poor, 
 with their virtues and their failings, were the best 
 qualified to supply the deficiency which he had 
 pointed out.
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 Under such circumstances, neither diffidence 
 nor inexperience could be pleaded as an adequate 
 reason for declining to make, at least, zealous 
 efforts towards the fulfilment of the minister's 
 wishes. So it was, that during two years a simple 
 address was every week written, and read in the 
 Girls' School-room, in Bell Lane. Several kind 
 friends having expressed a desire to see these 
 discourses in print, twenty-eight have accordingly 
 been selected, not indeed for publication, but for 
 distribution among the poor. 
 
 It is, perhaps, requisite to add, that while in 
 these weekly exhortations the young pupils were 
 constantly admonished to reverence and obey 
 those heavenly commandments which so beauti- 
 fully inculcate the practice of the highest virtues, 
 and the humble performance of the best deeds of 
 love sin, vice, crime, and the temptations which 
 so frequently lead to guilt, were scarcely glanced 
 at. It was deemed both an easier and a more 
 pleasing task, to fill young minds with bright 
 pictures of goodness and of happiness, and to 
 make young hearts glow w r ith admiration for 
 unflinching self-sacrifice, for gentle charity and
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 tender mercy, than to appal the imagination of 
 children by shadowing forth, for their instruction 
 and warning, those gloomy realities of degra- 
 dation still unknown to them, and from which, 
 under God's blessing, and by faithful adherence 
 to the precepts of the sacred Volume, they may 
 always be mercifully kept aloof. 
 
 It would be impossible to let the following 
 pages appear, without sincerely acknowledging 
 the obligations of the writer to the learned 
 Dr. Kalisch, whose great work has been fre- 
 quently consulted, and whose kind advice has 
 been unweariedly given, and gratefully accepted, 
 as the best assistance and encouragement.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 J_ PAGE. 
 
 THE DUTY OP FORGIVENESS .... 1 
 
 II. 
 ON PRIDE 13 
 
 III. 
 
 "THE LORD is NIGH UNTO ATT, THAT CALL UPON HIM" 21 
 
 IV. 
 ON PERSEVERANCE 31 
 
 V. 
 ON TRUTHFULNESS 40 
 
 VI. 
 GOD'S MERCY TO ISRAEL 47 
 
 VII. 
 THE ENDLESS LOVE OF GOD . . . .57 
 
 VIII. 
 ON INDUSTRY . . . . . . . . 64 
 
 IX. 
 THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ... .74 
 
 X. 
 
 " GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL" ... 80 
 
 XI. 
 
 ' BEAUTY is VAIN" 89 
 
 XII. 
 " LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF" . . 98 
 
 xni. 
 
 "HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY WEALTH" . 110
 
 Ill CONTENTS. 
 
 ON CHILDHOOD . 
 
 XIV. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 . 119 
 
 ON OLD AGE 
 
 XV. 
 
 . 127 
 
 XVI. 
 
 THE HAPPINESS OP CONCORD 
 
 . 134 
 
 ON FORBEARANCE 
 
 XVII. 
 
 . 144 
 
 " THAT WHICH I KNOW 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 NOT, TEACH THOU ME" 
 
 . 154 
 
 XIX. 
 HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH .... 
 
 . 165 
 
 PASSOVER 
 
 XX. 
 
 . 177 
 
 PENTECOST . 
 
 XXI. 
 
 . 189 
 
 NEW YEAR ... 
 
 XXII. 
 
 . 902 
 
 xxni. 
 
 THE DAT OF ATONEMENT .... 
 
 . 213 
 
 XXIV. 
 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES . - . 
 
 . 223 
 
 THE BREVITY OF LIFE . 
 
 XIV. 
 
 . 235 
 
 ON ENERGY . 
 
 XXVL 
 
 . 244 
 
 MERCY AND TRUTH 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 . 256 
 
 THE REPROOF OF LIFE 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 265
 
 L 
 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 
 
 MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS. 
 
 THROUGHOUT the earth, which God, in His 
 inexhaustible goodness, has 'made so radiant and 
 so beautiful for the enjoyment of His children, 
 and for the sustenance and benefit of the innu- 
 merable animated beings called into existence by 
 His heavenly power, you will find one admirable 
 law of love, sacred and universal, pervading every 
 land and clime, every hour and season one law 
 of tenderness and solicitude, of care and mercy, 
 divinely framed to rule the destinies of all the 
 living. You cannot watch the myriads of insects, 
 that play and dance in the sunbeam, or drink 
 nectar from the cups of fragrant flowers 
 nor the countless tribes that gleam in lake and 
 stream, and inhabit the crystal chambers of the 
 ocean nor the birds, that sing their songs of 
 gladness in woods and gardens, or suspend on 
 the branches of high trees the nests of their 
 B
 
 2 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 
 
 young, to be rocked by the breeze, and shaded by 
 the trellised roof of sheltering leaves; you cannot 
 contemplate the living wonders of earth, sea, and 
 air, without feeling that it is the loving-kindness 
 of the Lord, which guards and protects them 
 all. 
 
 And if the beneficence of the Almighty amply 
 supplies every winged creature that flies, from the 
 condors and eagles on giant mountains to the 
 crimson-breasted robin, which, in the cold winter 
 season, receives its nourishment on the steps of 
 our own door from the wild tenants of the 
 jungle near the burning equator, to the rein-deer 
 which feeds on the mosses beneath the eternal 
 snows of the polar fields ; if His paternal care has 
 made provision alike for the colossal whale, and for 
 the diminutive coral insect which constructs whole 
 cities under the foaming waves : how much more 
 has not His bounty done for man? Has not His 
 divine hand vouchsafed to us energies, gifts, and 
 blessings immensely superior 'to the advantages 
 possessed by all other beings, and has not the 
 Lord in forming us in His own image imposed 
 upon us the fulfilment of great duties ? Has He not 
 commanded that we shall obey those sacred and 
 immutable laws of infinite kindness ? Has He not 
 appointed us His ministers on earth, and are we 
 not to love our fellow-men as He, the omnipotent 
 Kuler of the universe, loves all His creatures ? My
 
 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 3 
 
 dear children, the Holy Bible repeatedly enforces 
 precepts of ardent zeal and devotion ; yet in our 
 thoughtlessness we often fail to understand their 
 meaning, or to carry them into practice, and, there- 
 fore, we cannot be too frequently reminded of those 
 great and unchangeable rules of conduct. Indeed 
 many among us are not always able to appreciate 
 their importance, nor to comprehend their all- 
 embracing character. 
 
 When we read in the book of Leviticus, " Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself/' we enter 
 thoroughly into the spirit of the text, and are 
 fully inclined to be gentle, charitable, and gene- 
 rous in our intercourse with those who have ever 
 met us with words of good-will and of sympathy. 
 Obedience to the heavenly command appears easy, 
 and we experience a degree of satisfaction, at times 
 even a thrill of rapture, in being able to aid and to 
 benefit those whom Providence has placed near us, 
 and who excite feelings of tender solicitude in our 
 breast. 
 
 But we too seldom remember, that we are no less 
 bound to be kind to those who have been unkind 
 to us. For good actions do not in reality 
 deserve the high praise so often lavished upon 
 them, when accomplished without an effort or a 
 struggle, in easy compliance with the dictates of 
 a happy disposition, which finds its greatest delight 
 and reward in the exercise of friendly sentiments.
 
 4 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 
 
 Yet it is certainly most difficult to help and to serve 
 those who hate us, and we should not forget, that 
 this is one of the great duties of life, enjoined by the 
 following words of Scripture : " If thy enemy be 
 hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, 
 give him water to drink" (Prov. xxv. 21). My 
 dear children, just as throughout the external world 
 there are innumerable affinities and resemblances, 
 and also endless differences, so in the internal 
 world of the heart and mind there are countless 
 varieties of thought and feeling; and, although 
 there is but one broad path of virtue, there are 
 hundreds, nay thousands of roads that lead to 
 error. 
 
 Not all among us sin in the same manner, nor 
 from the same causes. The diversities of human 
 organisation are numberless. Every one should, 
 therefore, sound the very depths of his nature, 
 in order to know all his faults, wrestle with them 
 in the hour of danger, and overpower these dan- 
 gerous foes, though he may be unable to anni- 
 hilate them completely, which is, alas ! an almost 
 hopeless task. 
 
 It is only by hatred that our friends, or the 
 neighbours whom the divine law commands us to 
 love, can be transformed into enemies: it is either 
 by the hatred, which they are supposed to entertain 
 towards us, or through the same bitter feeling 
 fostered by ourselves against them. Now let us
 
 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. O 
 
 examine conscientiously what can give rise to such 
 sad, peace-destroying sentiments; and we shall find, 
 that they are chiefly engendered by misapprehen- 
 sions. Galling words may be overheard by us, or 
 may otherwise come to our knowledge; perhaps 
 they have been addressed to us personally ; we 
 misunderstand, miscoutrue, and resent them ; or 
 there are acts which we consider injuries : yet, 
 both words and deeds, expressions that fall hastily 
 or angrily from lips quivering with excitement, and 
 actions not meant to hurt or wound, and even if 
 reprehensible in themselves, not the brood of spite 
 or baseness of heart, but the mere result of nar- 
 rowness of mind, or of the frailty inherent in 
 human nature yes, both hard language and hard 
 dealing should not be held sufficient to change 
 the friend of to-day into the enemy of to-morrow. 
 Do we not on thousands of occasions labour under 
 false impressions ? May not our senses delude us, 
 our eyes and ears deceive us ? Are we never mis- 
 informed, never misled by the vehemence of our 
 feelings, or by the ardour of our sympathies pre- 
 vented from judging calmly and dispassionately? 
 May not our sight be obscured, our views of men 
 and their character be distorted by prejudices, or 
 may we not be carried away by the unreasoning 
 violence of our first impulses ? Let us, therefore, 
 pause ere we believe ourselves surrounded by evil- 
 thinkers and evil-doers; ere we allow the work- 
 B 3
 
 D THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 
 
 ings of the mind or the emotions of the heart to 
 make one single individual appear our euemy. 
 
 The sudden ebullition or the silent growth of 
 hatred may be attributed to various causes. Some 
 of us in our daily intercourse give way to hastiness, 
 which soon swells into passion, or degenerates into 
 anger, and thus we see our love and kindliness 
 consumed as if by a conflagration, and find instead 
 of blissful, life-sustaining sentiments nothing but 
 the ruin and ashes of distrust. It is true, that the 
 flames might easily have been extinguished; and 
 that later, as when we mournfully consider the 
 fearful destruction of a beautiful edifice, we speedily 
 discover how the calamity might have been miti- 
 gated, if not averted. It is then that we feel regret, 
 and more than regret; shame, when left alone with 
 our own avenging thoughts; humiliation, when 
 brought into contact with the world; and, above 
 all, remorse at having by our own folly endangered, 
 nay lost, some of the most valuable possessions 
 on earth. 
 
 Many permit irritation to be developed into ani- 
 mosity. They are annoyed at real or imaginary 
 insults or injuries, on which their mind continually 
 dwells, until those painful subjects assume gigantic 
 proportions, and the heart that harbours them be- 
 comes full of bitterness and rancour. Thus, hatred 
 may be produced by undue warmth of feeling, or 
 by intense tenacity of thought. But in truth,
 
 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 7 
 
 those innate varieties of character, those inborn 
 faults which so frequently lead us into error and 
 sin, are no excuse for wrong-doing; since, for good 
 and great purposes, they have been allowed to 
 form part of our nature, and should be made 
 instrumental in guiding us to the exercise of high 
 virtues. Thus, my dear children, if impetuo- 
 sity of feeling is apt to make us hasty and 
 passionate, it ought to furnish equal or counter- 
 balancing powers for the attainment of moral 
 excellence. The same fervid organisation, the 
 same quick emotions, which, at the slightest pro- 
 vocation, hurry us into violent explosions of uncon- 
 trollable anger, cannot become congealed into 
 apathy or hardened into callousness, when we 
 survey our own failings but should, on the con- 
 trary, after unseemly outbursts of excitement, 
 cause us to deplore most truly the magni- 
 tude and whole extent of our faults, and kindle 
 in us the anxious desire of atoning for the past, 
 not merely by deeds of kindness, but by strenu- 
 ously opposing the rising waves of passion in 
 future. 
 
 That ardour of disposition should also enable us 
 to sympathise more readily with our brethren, to 
 make allowances for all faults kindred to our 
 own, and for the offences which may result from 
 them. 
 
 The cankering irritation which deepens into
 
 8 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 
 
 hatred and is produced by retrospection too in- 
 tense, by incessant brooding over past events or 
 words, may also be conquered by the very pro- 
 pensity which leads to it, as, in a similar way, 
 homoeopathists vanquish disease by the poison 
 which caused it. 
 
 The same unwavering earnestness of thought is 
 energetic in us for noble aims, and should induce 
 us to consider the sinfulness of allowing the re- 
 collection of old grievances to rankle, until it 
 completely vitiates our feelings, and turns the 
 milk of kindness into the venom of hatred. 
 The same powers of concentration, if employed 
 to ascertain how a wall of inimical separation 
 may have risen between our neighbours and our- 
 selves, will soon demolish the most rugged strong- 
 hold of prejudice, especially when we are supported 
 by the remembrance that eur holy Law enjoins 
 us to forget and to forgive. 
 
 Yet we may often fail to convince ourselves that 
 there is no reason for resentment ; we may, on the 
 contrary, fancy or know that we indeed have 
 enemies, some of whom offended and injured us 
 in the past, while others are believed to be still 
 plotting and sinning against us. The real or 
 imaginary destroyers of our peace, then, my dear 
 children, are those whom we suppose to have de- 
 prived us of some advantage, curtailed our enjoy- 
 ments, lessened our merits in the opinion of our
 
 THE DUTY OP FORGIVENESS. 9 
 
 friends or of the world, those whom we inwardly 
 accuse of having slandered us, of having dealt falsely 
 and treacherously against us. And still our text 
 says, " If thy enemy be hungry, give him bread 
 to eat ; and if he be thirsty, give him water to 
 drink/' These words have, in truth, a most com- 
 prehensive meaning, and admit of the widest 
 application. For it is quite certain, that the 
 basest conduct on the part of a foe, would not 
 justify us in withholding from him bread to ap- 
 pease his hunger, or water to quench his thirst. 
 Nor is it often that our enemies would actually 
 require such gifts at our hands. In our tem- 
 perate zone, and owing to the progress of science, 
 the earth yields almost everywhere her refreshing 
 streams to rich and poor. And bread, though less 
 easily obtained, would scarcely be refused to any 
 one who craved it, impelled by necessity. The 
 words of our text, which live on in eternal beauty 
 and power, should be understood in a far less 
 restricted sense. In their impressive simplicity, 
 they show most emphatically, that it is one of the 
 sacred duties of life to supply the wants of even 
 our enemies. Bread and water, representing, as 
 they certainly do, the chief needs of man, are 
 typical of all others. 
 
 The word enemy has a harsh, repelling sound ; 
 but the reality is much less alarming and dangerous 
 than the picture reflected and magnified in the
 
 10 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 
 
 mirror of the mind's eye. Indeed, evil- disposed 
 strangers, or our bitterest enemies, can never in- 
 flict such deep injuries upon us, as we may heap 
 upon ourselves. It has, by an all-wise Providence, 
 been so ordained and decreed that our own 
 follies, vices, and sins, shall be scourges unto us, 
 that they shall torture our minds with remorse, 
 until, from the gloomy abyss of wretchedness, we 
 look up wistfully towards the spheres of peace and 
 virtue, and turn in future from guilty paths. May 
 we, therefore, be anxiously and severely watchful 
 over ourselves, but with regard to suspicion 
 against others, always keep in faithful remem- 
 brance the beautiful words of the prophet Zecha- 
 riah : " Let none of you imagine evil against his 
 brother in your heart." And there can be no 
 doubt, that the thoughts and visions of ill-will 
 and malice, by which we are often haunted, 
 can with perfect truth be called the dark and ill- 
 starred offspring pf our own imagination, shaped 
 by ourselves in all their frightful ugliness. 
 
 We may certainly have given or received offence 
 unwittingly; uncontrollable circumstances have 
 perhaps estranged us completely from our neigh- 
 bours : but shall undying anger exaggerate the in- 
 juries from which we have suffered? shall the cut 
 under which we may still be smarting be widened 
 into a deep, never-healing wound? Shall we doom 
 ourselves to perpetual unhappiness, and let constant
 
 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 11 
 
 hostility usurp the place which belongs to the gentler 
 feelings of the heart? Assuredly not; for the divine 
 Law commands us to extirpate wrath and rancour. 
 Recollect, my dear children, that love is always in- 
 tent upon good deeds, and acts of kindliness, and 
 pardon. But alas ! many of us know only the love of 
 self, a love so deep, so powerful, that whatever our 
 errors and transgressions may be, we are easily in- 
 duced to forgive and forget them, without remem- 
 bering that less indulgence to ourselves, and more 
 of that charitable feeling evinced towards others, 
 would restore a useful equilibrium, and make us 
 happier and better in every relation of life. It is 
 sad to mark, how faintly we condemn our own er- 
 rors, and how soon AVC feel irate at those of others. 
 Though we read the Bible, we become oblivious of its 
 precepts, and do not keep in mind that " the dis- 
 cretion of a man deferreth his anger, and that it is 
 his glory to pass over a fault." Such discretion, if 
 always exercised, would lessen the amount of evil 
 in the world, and, by crushing hatred in the bud, 
 prevent its expansion into the upas-tree of lasting 
 enmity. My dear children, in order to under- 
 stand the sentiments of our fellow-beings, and not 
 to be unjust in our judgment of their failings, 
 but to overlook their offences against us rea- 
 dily, to obliterate the recollection of them en- 
 tirely, we must banish pride from our thoughts, so 
 that our hearts may not be lifted up above our
 
 12 THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS. 
 
 brethren, and that keeping in vivid remembrance 
 our own weakness, our own errors and trespasses, we 
 may never be tempted to refuse bread and water 
 to our enemies, but, in all gentleness and hu- 
 mility, pardon others as we hope and pray to be 
 pardoned by Almighty God.
 
 II. 
 
 ON PRIDE. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 WE cannot be proud either in heart or 
 mind, in thought or feeling, in deed or word or even 
 in look, we cannot assume haughtiness of gait, 
 nor, on the other hand, feel depressed or humi- 
 liated by lowliness of station, if we remember, 
 that the Almighty is the Dispenser of all advan- 
 tages and privileges, that we owe them not to any 
 merit, not to any power, of our own, but to His 
 goodness and beneficence; if we recollect, that 
 before the throne of glory, of justice, and of 
 mercy, all men, the poorest as well as the greatest 
 and mightiest of the earth, are equal, all alike 
 small, though all lovingly cared for and protected; 
 and that, for some wise purpose, hidden from our 
 limited view, the divine will of the Almighty has 
 placed us in the condition which we occupy, how- 
 ever humble and subordinate, or however high 
 and exalted it may be. 
 
 My dear children, we will arm ourselves against 
 pride and presumption in times of smiling pros- 
 perity, and against despondency and hopelessness
 
 14 ON PRIDE. 
 
 in seasons of gloom and adversity, by recalling 
 the words of the prophet Samuel's pious mother, 
 namely, "The Lord maketh poor, and maketh 
 rich : He bringeth low, and lifteth up " (1 Sam. 
 ii. 7). It seems impossible for us ever to despise 
 the needy, to think less of them than of our- 
 selves, or of those whose place in the world 
 is more prominent, whose portion appears better, 
 whose prospects or actual enjoyments are more 
 brilliant, when we recollect, that it is God who 
 maketh poor ; while pomp and eminence of 
 station, indigence and lowliness, are only the 
 external distinctions, the fluctuating advantages 
 or disadvantages of men ; that they have no more 
 real value than the garments they wear, than the 
 dwellings they inhabit, which are subject to in- 
 numerable changes and alterations, and even to 
 entire destruction : whereas the greatest treasures 
 mercifully bestowed upon us by Almighty God, 
 and on which our happiness in this world and in 
 the next depends, are imperishable, and equally 
 divided among all His children. 
 
 Life, and health, and strength the senses, those 
 gates of knowledge, through which we .enter 
 into communion with the outward world are 
 shared by rich and poor. The heart, which 
 enables us to feel with and for others ; the heart, 
 with its sufferings and joys, its love and 
 devotion ; and the soul, with its bright- winged
 
 ON PKIDE. 15 
 
 hopes, its high-soaring aspirations, its radiant 
 faith, are given alike to all. And surely, neither 
 rags and tatters, nor splendour and the jewels of 
 vanity, should form a barrier between beings, who 
 possess in common, not merely the best gifts and 
 pleasures, which this world can afford, but also 
 those blessings, which are not left behind on this 
 side of the tomb, but remain the portion and 
 inheritance of man through eternity. 
 
 Our duties towards the poor are the same as to- 
 wards the rich ; for are we not told, " Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself?" The wealthy, 
 however, those who are basking in the sunshine 
 of affluence, seldom want our good offices; they 
 do not often require our help or our exertions, 
 whereas our less prosperous neighbours stand 
 constantly in need of oar most cordial assistance. 
 Do not misunderstand me, my dear children ; I do 
 not mean that even these always and exclusively 
 demand tangible gifts at our hands; they crave our 
 support, lest the pressure of their necessities should 
 discourage them ; our aid, to strengthen them for 
 a persevering struggle with the difficulties of life ; 
 our sympathy, to lighten their burden, to prove to 
 them, that outward circumstances can make no dif- 
 ference in their real worth as human beings, in their 
 claims upon our love as brothers. We are in duty 
 bound to secure for them what they may not be able 
 to obtain for themselves, and prominently among
 
 16 ON PRIDE. 
 
 the best gifts of this world, the advantages of edu- 
 cation for their children. We must try to rouse 
 their powers of independence and of self-reliance, 
 to afford them the possibility of making successful 
 exertions, and of earning their bread by the work of 
 the mind or of the hands, by that zealous labour, 
 which is the salt of true enjoyment. We must 
 prove to the poor, that the artificial distinctions 
 caused by the possession of a few hard pieces of 
 silver or gold, have, in reality, nothing in common 
 with our happiness. Clear water quenches thirst as 
 effectually, and refreshes the parched lips as com- 
 pletely, as the creaming ale of the tankard, or the 
 sparkling juice of the grape, which flows in bright 
 crystal goblet. The choicest viands, the rarest 
 delicacies, the greatest luxuries, do not nourish us 
 more than bread and meat. Velvet garments, 
 spun and woven from the shining threads of the 
 silk-cocoon, gorgeous shawls, the rich productions 
 of the Indian loom, sable and ermine, those costly 
 furs brought from the lands of snow and ice, do 
 not protect our limbs better against wind, and 
 rain, and cold, than the plainest clothes furnished 
 by the fibres of the cotton plant, the wool of 
 sheep, the fleece of lambs. Proud columns do 
 not more safely support the roof that shelters our 
 weariness, than rude wooden beams and rafters. 
 But order and cleanliness, comfort and cheer- 
 fulness change the humblest home into a
 
 ON PRIDE. 17 
 
 palace, -where bronzes and marbles will never 
 be missed. 
 
 If born in poverty, let us learn to adorn our 
 condition with all the virtues which belong to the 
 most prosperous, because to the least tempted of 
 our brethren ; let us endeavour to surround our- 
 selves with the best enjoyments, with those which 
 may be shared alike by all mankind, and are wholly 
 independent of grandeur and glitter. Let us not 
 harbour feelings of envy against the rich : for 
 envy is a cankering worm, that will undermine 
 not merely our happiness, but also eat away our 
 good and noble qualities. 
 
 Let us be satisfied with our portion, thankful 
 to the Lord for the blessings He has graciously 
 vouchsafed to us; and may we prize them so 
 deeply and so truly, as never to long for the pos- 
 session of other gifts, nor to undervalue our own 
 treasures, nor to attach undue importance to the 
 high estate of others. It is a weakness to be 
 dazzled by the magnificence that may encompass 
 our neighbours. They are but human like 
 ourselves, and the shining halo which surrounds 
 them, and so often attracts the eager looks of 
 curiosity, may hide from our view not only cares 
 and anxieties, but also faults and blemishes, from 
 which poverty and lowliness of station have per- 
 haps guarded us. For there is much more equality 
 in the world than many of us think. Penury 
 c 3
 
 18 ON PRIDE. 
 
 and wealth have their respective perils, they have 
 failings incidental to their trials, and to the de- 
 mands made upon them, or to the duties they are 
 expected to undertake ; and as all men are equal 
 in the eyes of God, so should they be in our esti- 
 mation. And I think that, while trying, in our 
 appreciation of those around us, to remain entirely 
 uninfluenced by their outward circumstances, we 
 should strive by the powers and energies benefi- 
 cently bestowed upon us by Almighty God, to fulfil 
 our obligations of brotherly love and devotion to 
 those who come within our circle, and within 
 the sphere of our labours and of our usefulness. 
 As poverty is no shame and no disgrace, as it may 
 be and frequently is ennobled by the exercise of the 
 best and highest qualities, so wealth, of itself, con- 
 fers no honour and no dignity. It may be defaced 
 and degraded by faults and failings ; while, in many 
 instances, it is not only the result and reward 
 of indefatigable activity, of untiring diligence, of 
 nobly directed energy, but also the source of well- 
 being to many, the spring whence flow great ad- 
 vantages, and real benefits to numberless human 
 beings. ~tf our lot be cast among the wealthy of 
 the land, if we should have been cradled in the lap 
 of luxury, or have become prosperous by our own 
 exertions and by the grace of Providence, do not 
 let us forget, not even during a single moment, 
 the tasks which the possession of any advantages
 
 ON PRIDE. 19 
 
 imposes upon their owners. May we ever think 
 of those in adversity, remembering, that it is the 
 Lord who raiseth up and casteth down. 
 
 Let us consider, how much lies in our power, 
 and recollect that wealth is not sufficient to make 
 us happy, that it can do little or nothing for 
 our own felicity, but that it allows us to pro- 
 mote the welfare and advancement of others. 
 And, believe me, the consciousness of having 
 accomplished our work well and zealously, lent a 
 helping hand to all good and useful efforts, as- 
 sisted in comforting the needy and the suffering, 
 in eradicating evil, in dispelling ignorance, in 
 diffusing knowledge that blessed consciousnesr 
 will give us a thrilling sensation of happiness 
 which all the gold in the world cannot enable us 
 to purchase ; or, if we should be bowed down by 
 pain or sorrow for you know, my dear children, 
 that it is impossible to pass many years on earth, 
 and always to keep affliction from our door even 
 then, the conviction of having done our duty will 
 uphold us in the hour of trial, and console us in 
 the time of bereavement. In poverty let us 
 recollect, that God raiseth up and that, as the 
 Preacher truly says, " If thou faint in the day of 
 adversity, thy faith is limited," whereas our faith, 
 my dear children, should be boundless, like the 
 beneficence of the Lord. In prosperity, let us 
 remember, that the same divine hand of the Al-
 
 20 ON PRIDE. 
 
 mighty Creator bringeth low ; that on earth all is 
 unstable and fleeting ; that worldly possessions, 
 however firmly clenched by man, may vanish 
 on any day of his life ; that even if he should 
 take them to the brink of the grave, he can not 
 carry them beyond its impenetrable mystery ; and 
 that they are nothing without the greater trea- 
 sures, which form the property of all God's 
 children, and can be neither bought nor sold. 
 
 My dear young frisnds, if you keep the words 
 of our text faithfully in mind, if you recollect, "that 
 the Lord bringeth low and raiseth up," you will 
 never, while in prosperity, harbour undue pride; 
 you will never despise the lowly in your heart, nor 
 treat them contemptuously ; for you will feel that 
 at any moment the Almighty may cast you down ; 
 nor can you in adversity allow yourselves to be 
 overwhelmed by the misery of despondency, by the 
 gloom of hopelessness, by the affliction of despair ; 
 for you will remember, that God raiseth up, yea, 
 from the darkest depths of anguish, not merely 
 to the heights of earthly happiness, but to the 
 ineffable and endless joys and glories of heavenly 
 holiness aad immortality.
 
 III. 
 
 "THE LORD IS NIGH UNTO ALL THAT 
 CALL UPON HIM." 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 WE never rise at early morn, after the 
 refreshing slumbers of the night, without thank- 
 ing Almighty God for having graciously relieved 
 our weariness by the blessing of renewed strength, 
 thereby mercifully enabling us to perform the la- 
 bours of the day, and permitting us to enjoy its 
 pleasures with increased buoyancy. Nor do we 
 lie down to seek repose, after the exertions and 
 fatigues of our calling, without breathing words 
 of gratitude to the Lord for having preserved us 
 from harm in the busy turmoil of our duties, or 
 having allowed the even flow of gently-passing 
 hours to remain undisturbed. Without His con- 
 stant protection we could not exist. 
 
 My dear children, though young and inex- 
 perienced, you know, that to God, our heavenly 
 Creator, we must look for life, and health, and sus- 
 tenance ; yet, let me hope to make you more fully 
 acquainted with the unceasing care of Providence, 
 by endeavouring to explain to you the significa- 
 tion of the following words of the Psalmist : " The
 
 22 THE LORD IS NIGH UNTO ALL. 
 
 Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him, unto 
 all that call upon Him in truth" (Ps. cxlv.18). 
 
 We may always invoke His beneficence, and be 
 sure that He will hear us. But, although we repeat 
 our prayers in the morning and in the evening, 
 although many of us utter thanksgivings more 
 frequently still, and never taste bread, nor partake 
 of any refreshment, without pronouncing a bless- 
 ing, these words are often mechanically said ; and 
 in times of trouble and distress, we far more 
 generally call upon our neighbour for assistance 
 than upon our God. I would warn you, my dear 
 children, against the habit of relying for help 
 upon others, however benevolent you may believe 
 or know them to be; and the faith in human 
 excellence is certainly one of the greatest sources 
 of happiness. Assurances of support may have 
 been given to you by eager and zealous friends; 
 and so long as they act only as an encouragement 
 to untiring perseverance, to well-directed exer- 
 tions, they cannot be too highly appreciated. 
 But take care, my dear children, lest they should 
 make you overrate the power of those who have 
 promised to serve you, and undervalue your own 
 resources, which, as God has decreed in His 
 wisdom, must always be able to accomplish more 
 for you than the combined efforts of others can 
 possibly achieve for your success and prosperity. 
 This conviction will, I think, double your energy,
 
 THE LORD IS NIGH UNTO ALL. 23 
 
 increase your zeal and your firmness of purpose. 
 It will not mislead you into conceit or egotism, 
 but, on the contrary, make you deeply sensible of 
 your duties ; and while you labour cheerfully, not 
 alone for your individual advantage, but also for 
 the benefit and enjoyment of those around you, it 
 will cause you considerately to abstain from press- 
 ing your own wants and cares upon others, from 
 obtruding upon them your real or imaginary 
 necessities, from taking up their time, which is 
 wealth and life, with the recital of your wishes 
 and cravings, from distressing them by the tale 
 of your woes, from harassing them with requests 
 and demands, which it may be out of their power 
 to satisfy. 
 
 And believe me, my dear children, even in a 
 worldly point of view, you will lose little by not 
 seeking relief from those who may appear able 
 and willing to give it. The benevolent, who are 
 really disposed to serve their fellow-beings, do 
 not wait to be asked. They will feel greater satis- 
 faction in assisting the sufferers, whose self- 
 reliance, whose earnest efforts for their own 
 maintenance and advancement, point them out as 
 truly worthy of encouragement, and of that aid 
 which is never withheld from genuine merit. 
 
 My dear children, we will not take a gloomy 
 view of human nature, nor dwell upon the faith- 
 lessness of those who, having pledged themselves
 
 24 THE LORD IS NIGH UNTO ALL. 
 
 to render good service in time of need, break their 
 word ; nor will we reflect upon the apathy which 
 allows the once glowing heart to become cold, 
 the ear to grow deaf, which hearkened to every wail, 
 and the once pitying eye to turn away, when to 
 look and to see would be to feel and to give ; we 
 will not speak of the callousness of those, whose 
 lips are locked by freezing indifference, when, 
 with a few gentle words, they might drop balm 
 on. bleeding wounds. It can never be advisable 
 to meditate on the faults and short-comings of 
 others, except to make us indefatigable in eradi- 
 cating our own. But it may be useful to con- 
 sider the infirmities of human purpose, and the 
 vicissitudes of human life. I am, therefore, 
 anxious you should understand, that it is not 
 desirable to rely upon others, or to put our con- 
 fidence in those, whose influence and power in 
 the world, whose innate goodness of disposition, 
 seem to indicate, that they may be safely trusted, 
 that at all times we shall find them pillars of 
 strength to uphold us, protectors to shield us 
 from harm, or patrons to lift us into high places, 
 generous friends to relieve our wants, or to lavish 
 upon us even more than the tangible gifts of for- 
 tune, by brightening our existence with the price- 
 less treasures of love and devotion. 
 
 There are surely many kind hearts, my dear 
 children, throbbing with the warmest sympathy
 
 THE LORD IS NIGH UNTO ALL. 25 
 
 for every woe, and feeling deeply interested in 
 the welfare of their brethren; many noble minds, 
 animated by an ardent desire to serve and benefit 
 others, and who may, with the blessing of God, 
 be able to carry out their enthusiastic aims for 
 the progress and prosperity of mankind. Yet 
 I most earnestly advise you not to rely upon 
 those generous friends : they may be truthful and 
 zealous ; but their powers are not inexhaustible ; 
 their time, their influence, and their means, are 
 alike limited. They may have more pressing 
 calls to respond to at the moment when you 
 feel impelled to crave their assistance. They 
 have probably aged parents, whose infirmities re- 
 quire their constant devotion; brothers and sisters 
 in want, and claiming all their energies to lead them 
 through the labyrinths of the world. Or your 
 friends, being blessed with children, may, when 
 you demand their attention, be overwhelmed with 
 domestic cares and harrowing anxieties. In some 
 instances, the husband is perhaps involved in em- 
 barrassments, and the wife, upon whose active 
 solicitude you have ever relied, can give you but a 
 sigh and a tear, for her duties are elsewhere. Or 
 the wife herself may be laid low by disease, and 
 then, amidst daily labours, torturing apprehen- 
 sions, and vigils by the bed of the sufferer, her 
 companion can find no time, can seize no 
 leisure moment, to stretch out a helping hand to 
 
 D
 
 26 THE LORD IS NIGH UNTO ALL. 
 
 you. Or the patron, who was prosperous and 
 powerful, may suddenly become poor and power- 
 less 5 he who was healthy and robust, may fall ill, 
 and wax faint and feeble. And then you stand 
 alone in life, forlorn, helpless beings ; for you have 
 relied upon the strength, the wealth, the benevo- 
 lence of your neighbour, and not upon yourselves, 
 aud not upon your God, forgetting, that "the Lord 
 is nigh unto all that call upon Him, unto all that 
 call upon Him in truth." Yes, He is near unto 
 you at all times and in all places; He sees you at 
 dead of night, when all fires have ceased to glow, 
 when all lights have ceased to burn on earth, when 
 only heaven's luminaries shine above. Even when 
 their brilliancy is veiled by dark clouds, He sees 
 you, and neither walls nor roofs, neither oceans nor 
 mountains, can separate Him from those whom 
 His divine will has created. He sees and hears 
 you at early morn, when human eyes are yet closed, 
 when human limbs are sleep-bound, and human 
 lips sleep-locked. He is near unto you in child- 
 hood, guiding your steps, and by His beneficence 
 rendering harmless a thousand falls. He is near 
 you in later years, giving you health and vigour to 
 labour and to persevere. He is near the old and 
 the young, near the rich and the poor, in humble 
 hamlets and in proud cities, in cottages and in 
 palaces, in the sable depths of the mine, in the 
 mazes of sombre forests, on the wide and furious
 
 THE LORD IS NIGH UNTO ALL. 27 
 
 seas, amid the icebergs of the north, or among the 
 dangers of the torrid zone. He is near the sorrow- 
 ing, near the joyful ; near the living, near the dying; 
 He is everywhere; " He is nigh unto all who call 
 upon Him, unto all who call upon Him in truth." 
 My dear children, let us implore His divine 
 blessing at all times. We need it always, in 
 poverty and in prosperity, in sickness and in health, 
 in grief and in happiness. We need it when life 
 smiles upon us with all its delights, that we may 
 never be forgetful of our duties; we need it to remind 
 us, that we were not born merely to enjoy the en- 
 chantments of this world, but that we have to 
 toil, also, for others, though our task often becomes 
 a labour of love; we want it in times of trouble 
 and distress to support our weakness, when the 
 weight of affliction would crush us; we require it 
 in hours of gloom, to be a lamp to our feet, a 
 torch to our understanding. But do not expect, 
 my dear children, when you call upon the Lord, 
 that wonders will, by His infinite bounty, be 
 wrought in your favour. You have heard of the 
 rod of Aaron blossoming and yielding leaves and 
 flowers; of the birds of the air feeding the prophet; 
 you have read the marvellous narrative of the 
 passage of the Red Sea, as recorded in Holy Writ. 
 Yet those miracles were accomplished in centuries 
 of darkness, when it seemed necessary to awaken 
 the nations of the earth from their torpor, by signs
 
 28 THE LORD IS NIGH UNTO ALL. 
 
 and tokens appealing irresistibly to the mind, and 
 through it to the heart. You must not suppose, 
 when you pray to the Almighty in your poverty, 
 that your cold hearth will blaze immediately with 
 cheering fires, that your empty shelves will sud- 
 denly be replenished, or that your scanty rags will 
 be transformed into luxurious clothing. You must 
 not think, when in dire sickness you cry to the 
 Lord, that your sufferings will instantly cease, 
 that the blessings of health will at once re- 
 place the trials of agonizing pain. You must 
 not imagine, when, in difficulty or in danger, you 
 lift up your hands to God, that heavenly messen- 
 gers will descend on angels' wings, and clear away 
 from your path the impeding stones or wounding 
 thorns. No, such is not the help which the 
 Omnipotent, in His divine goodness, vouchsafes 
 to those who fervently appeal to Him for aid. 
 Encouraged by the belief, that miracles might be 
 accomplished for their salvation from peril, the 
 listless and indolent would move lazily through 
 life; the thoughtless, the extravagant, would rush 
 on in their unbridled career, wildly endangering 
 their peace and their honour, in the conviction 
 that all evil would soon be cured, if, in the hour 
 of need, they should only pray to God for assistance. 
 To call upon the Lord in truth, is to beseech 
 His mercy in humility, in earnestness; it is to pray, 
 that He may fortify us to do our duty, enable us
 
 THE LORD IS NIGH UNTO ALL. 29 
 
 to struggle on through surrounding difficulties, 
 that His heavenly power may help us to vanquish 
 dangers, be they assailing foes from without, or 
 internal enemies more formidable still; that His 
 beneficence may give us glad hope, when our 
 courage is sinking, resignation to bear bodily 
 torture and mental anguish, and permit us, with 
 glowing zeal and unwearied energy, to serve 
 Him, by serving our brethren with untiring 
 devotedness. 
 
 "The Lord is nigh unto all who call upon Him 
 in truth." He is nigh unto the little children, who 
 pray to Him in purity and innocence; when they 
 feel oppressed with sorrow, His blessing dries their 
 tears, and His paternal hand lulls them to rest. 
 He is nigh unto the footsore wanderers, who cry 
 unto Him from the depth of their distress; when 
 the road of life leads them into the wilderness, it 
 is He who sustains them, that they may not suc- 
 cumb on their journey. And again, when, arrived 
 at the goal, they call upon Him in truth, He is 
 nigh; and His divine arm lifts them over the 
 mysterious boundary, which divides the checquered 
 valleys of earth from the glorious spheres, where 
 sunshine and peace are everlasting. 
 
 D3
 
 IV. 
 ON PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 Those who are anxious to impart instruc- 
 tion from texts in the Holy Bible, every line, 
 almost every word of which is full of admirable 
 lessons, find themselves constantly reverting to the 
 Book of Proverbs. Nor am I less frequently led 
 to that inexhaustible source of -wisdom; and as I 
 learn to understand and to prize the meaning of 
 the great philosopher's precepts, I feel desirous to 
 explain it to you, fondly hoping, that you may 
 lend a willing ear to such precious rules of life, 
 and be faithfully guided by them throughout your 
 earthly career. 
 
 Let me to-day draw your attention to the fol- 
 lowing beautiful words, which, if always remem- 
 bered by you, cannot fail to prove of inestimable 
 value: "Every wise woman buildeth her house, 
 but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands" 
 (Prov. xiv. 1). My dear children, it takes a long 
 while to build a house; the ground must first be 
 cleared, and a solid foundation prepared; many 
 thousand stones or bricks are required for the con- 
 struction of even the humblest dwelling; each
 
 ON PERSEVERANCE. 31 
 
 stone or brick must be separately laid on, joined 
 by cementing mortar; then there are numerous 
 beams needed to support the building ; and after 
 many weeks, or months, or even years of labour, 
 the fabric receives its protecting roof. 
 
 King Solomon never meant, that women should 
 build their own abodes in the literal sense of the 
 word; and yet they raise the habitations of their 
 loved ones far better, far more substantially than 
 the hewers of stone and cleavers of wood, and the 
 innumerable labourers, who have at their command 
 all the mighty trees of the forest, all the granite 
 of stupendous rocks, all the quarries of the earth, 
 all the metals of mines vast and deep; for the 
 houses framed of wood and stone and iron may 
 be swept away by floods, or consumed by fire; 
 while the edifice which the wise woman constructs, 
 defies the angry elements, the raging storms, the 
 scorching flames. It is not easily shaken, for it 
 rests on pillars of love ; it is guarded by the affec- 
 tion and devotion of faithful hearts ; it is protected, 
 it is upheld, it is surrounded by good angels, by 
 those angels of the Lord, who are called upon to 
 achieve great and noble triumphs over the dangers 
 of this world, by unwearied patience, by uncon- 
 querable perseverance, by indefatigable activity, by 
 cheerful industry, by that ever-watchful attention to 
 the duties of life, which renders their conscientious 
 fulfilment imperative, by hope shedding its radiance
 
 32 ON PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 over the darkest hours, and by faith, that goldeu 
 link, which connects earth and heaven. 
 
 If masons and bricklayers need so much time to 
 complete a house, you will easily understand, my 
 dear children, that the wise woman requires indeed 
 a long period to build up her dwelling; and if 
 thousands of bricks are wanted, will she not have 
 to toil slowly and laboriously with industrious 
 hands will she not have to rise early and to 
 retire late that her house, the abode of her hap- 
 piness, which is to shelter all those dearest to her, 
 may be proof against besetting outward dangers, 
 and not crumble or decay from internal weak- 
 ness? 
 
 My dear children, I ardently hope, that each of 
 you will ever strive to be good and pious, and I 
 fervently pray, that, with the blessing of the 
 Almighty, you may become wise and zealous, 
 and raise mansions of strength and beauty, 
 realizing the admirable words of the sage monarch, 
 and resembling the glorious picture of the virtuous 
 woman painted by him with unfading colours. 
 It is a picture which all should keep in vivid 
 recollection. 
 
 You may smile at the idea of building a house ; 
 but if you really feel anxious to be useful to your- 
 selves and others, you must begin early to lay the 
 foundation of the goodly structure; and you can 
 scarcely commence the work too soon.
 
 ON PERSEVERANCE. 63 
 
 The Almighty has given you health, the greatest 
 of blessings ; He has given you affectionate friends 
 and experienced teachers to lead you along the 
 path of virtue and kindliness. And certainly, 
 joyous, happy childhood is the best time for learn- 
 ing, for collecting those treasures of knowledge, 
 which the sacred writers declare to be more pre- 
 cious than rubies. You have at present no cares, 
 no apprehensions, to weigh you down and to rob 
 you of activity and energy ; no anxieties to inter- 
 pose their threatening clouds between this day 
 and the following morn; no sorrows and suffer- 
 ings of the past, to fling their dismal veil over the 
 brightness of your gleeful hours. You may have 
 known sickness, but it has left no trace behind ; 
 for your young years are full of vigour, and they 
 easily conquer sore disease. 
 
 I feel convinced, my dear children, that you all 
 wish to do your duty; but the mere intention is 
 not sufficient, although it is the first step towards 
 goodness, the foundation of the house which the 
 wise woman buildeth. You must learn to carry 
 your heart's desire into faithful practice, so that 
 the exercise of the best qualities may become 
 habitual to you, and that good actions and the 
 fulfilment of your obligations may not be occasional 
 enjoyments, luxuries resorted to at times to please 
 and satisfy your better feelings, or deeds of penance 
 performed in order to pacify a restless, up-
 
 V 
 
 34 ON PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 braiding conscience. I would strongly impress 
 upon you, my dear children, the necessity of 
 placing punctuality, order, and industry among 
 the most highly valued habits of your life. 
 
 It is only by sustained diligence, and by unswerv- 
 ing perseverance, that you can hope to acquire 
 knowledge, and especially to obtain the power of 
 conquering obstacles, of vanquishing difficulties, 
 that power so inestimable at all times, and which, in 
 later years, must prove of the greatest importance 
 to you, whatever your position, whatever your 
 wants and aims may be. Without indefatigable 
 industry, the ant could not fill her granary; 
 without regularity, without order, the bee could 
 not erect her wondrous palace, nor construct those 
 myriads of translucent chambers, every one of 
 which is a model of architecture. And the wren, 
 could she, without constant activity, without assi- 
 duous application, make the cradle of her young, 
 that masterpiece of beautiful and curious weav- 
 ing? It is composed, my dear children, of count- 
 less blades of grass and of fragrant hay, of the 
 perfumed petals of flowers, of leaflets, and of minute 
 bits of straw; it is lined with softest moss, with 
 finest wool, with silken feathers. And if that aerial 
 habitation formed by the parent bird, requires so 
 much labour, if the wren undertakes so many jour- 
 neys over enamelled fields and blooming gardens in 
 search of materials for the dwelling of her little ones,
 
 OX PERSEVERANCE. 35 
 
 how incessant should be the thoughtful exertions 
 of the woman who would finish and adorn her 
 own house? 
 
 It is true, my dear children, that there are 
 unavoidable interruptions, often interfering with 
 the faithful accomplishment of duty; and though 
 such hindrances are much to be regretted, yet, if you 
 have succeeded in acquiring habits of diligence and 
 perseverance, you will not find it difficult to resume 
 your occupations, when the disturbing circum- 
 stances shall have ceased to exist. On the contrary, 
 you will apply to your task, to the zealous labour 
 of your life with renewed energy and with 
 increased ardour, after the inevitable suspension 
 of manual and mental efforts. Remember, my 
 dear children, that however great the variety 
 may be in your pursuits hereafter, however wide 
 the difference in your respective positions, the 
 duties to be performed remain the same for all. 
 And recollect, also, that for this fulfilment you 
 will always require the exercise of those qualities, 
 the high value of which has been often taught 
 and shown to you. 
 
 The order which reigns throughout nature is 
 truly admirable. Every hour and every day seem 
 to have their appointed work; every month brings 
 forth its own buds and blossoms, its own birds war- 
 bling in bower and grove, its own insects buzzing 
 and spinning in the light of heaven. And the
 
 36 ON T PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 seasons, how regularly do they appear with their 
 advantages and their delights! "Winter's gloom is 
 succeeded by the brightness of spring, whose balmy 
 breath loosens the fetters of the ice-bound earth 
 and clothes it with fresh verdure : then comes sum- 
 mer with its lovely flowers, with its ripening harvests 
 for all mankind ; and, lastly, autumn, with its glow- 
 ing tints, and its horn of plenty, its oil, and its wine, 
 and its wealth of beautiful fruit. And as order pre- 
 vails in every part of our planet, and among the 
 starry hosts of the universe, so it is one of the prin- 
 cipal conditions of a well-regulated day, of a well- 
 organised house. The absence of it causes a waste 
 of time, of health, of life; the value of the swift 
 hours, lost in looking for that which has been mis- 
 laid, is incalculable. Our enjoyment of youth and 
 vigour might be doubled, if we moved as regularly 
 through the day, fulfilling our duties at morn, noon, 
 and eve, as the hands of the clock, which mark 
 the flight of time, glide over the dial. 
 
 Industry is an everflowing source of blessings; 
 it brings not only all necessaries within our 
 reach, but it imparts to them the charm of luxu- 
 ries. The abode of useful activity cannot be 
 otherwise than cheerful. By word and deed and 
 example, the industrious woman teaches all those 
 around her the importance of labour and its reward; 
 when the members of the domestic circle re- 
 assemble after the toils and fatigues of the day,
 
 OX PERSEVERANCE. 37 
 
 they find, that she, too, has worked for them; that 
 comfort and cleanliness wrought by the unwearied 
 diligence of her hands, pervade the dwelling; 
 they are met by beaming smiles of content- 
 ment ; and surely, a better welcome could not have 
 been prepared for them. You have, no doubt, re- 
 peatedly been told, that patience is needed to 
 bear, not merely the minor annoyances and 
 vexations, which every day has in store, but the 
 great and inevitable disappointments of our earthly 
 career, and that perseverance is required from 
 day-break till sunset, to overcome difficulties and 
 to obtain success: you have also often heard, that 
 gentleness is necessary to ensure willing obe- 
 dience, to cause good advice to find its way to the 
 depths of the heart, and that there must be bene- 
 volence at home to make happiness possible. By 
 the conscientious development and application of 
 all these qualities, the wise woman buildeth up her 
 house. She needs for her work neither wood, 
 nor bricks, nor mortar; her children are the props 
 of her habitation; love is the fire that burns on 
 the hearth, and illumines it with the brightest rays. 
 Her door is open to those who seek help; she 
 cheers, she encourages, she consoles; her watch- 
 fulness extends over all : and the blessing of God 
 rests upon her dwelling. 
 
 The edifice you have to build, my dear children, 
 and for which you are now collecting materials, may 
 E
 
 38 ON PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 prove an abode of peace, joy, and affection, even 
 if unadorned with pomp and dazzling splendour : 
 for all classes may find much real enjoyment and 
 true happiness in the world. The roof, which 
 protects our greatest treasures on earth, our 
 parents, brothers, sisters, and children, requires 
 no painting and gilding; the floor, which they 
 cross with buoyant step and cheerful heart, wants 
 no luxurious carpet; the couch, on which limbs, 
 weary with the useful labours of the day, seek 
 repose, needs not the softening down of the Eider 
 bird. These are superfluities, which, like rich 
 garments or delicacies for the palate, do not con- 
 tribute to the genuine felicity of life. 
 
 The plainest apparel which protects us from the 
 severity of winter snows, or from the intensity of 
 the summer's glow, water from the fountain, bread 
 to satisfy our hunger, meat to strengthen our 
 sinews, are necessaries; and with God's blessing, 
 industry will provide them for us. And if sorrow 
 or sickness should slacken or interrupt our patient 
 labour, the Almighty will not let us want, for He 
 is our protector in time of need. And surely, He 
 will not forget the wise woman, who, with indefa- 
 tigable hands, constructs her dwelling. 
 
 My dear young friends, we will not speak of the 
 woman who plucketh her house down ; that would 
 be a scene too melancholy to contemplate. Let me 
 rather exhort vou to assist in rearing the beautiful
 
 ON PERSEVERANCE. 39 
 
 edifice of tranquillity and gladness; sisters, daugh- 
 ters may help, for every one is called upon to labour 
 and to do good. Leave not your mission unfulfilled, 
 exert your influence, and try to devote yourselves 
 to the whole circle of your duties. Neglect not to 
 pray at early morn, to offer supplications again ere 
 sleep closes your eyelids ; pray that God's heavenly 
 power may sustain your endeavours, and that 
 His divine blessing may attend your work. For 
 you well know, that however skilful the workmen, 
 " except the Lord build the house, they labour in 
 vain that build it ! "
 
 V. 
 ON TRUTHFULNESS. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 If you read the account of the last bles- 
 sings pronounced by Isaac, you will find it abound- 
 ing in lessons and in warnings. It is, indeed, so 
 suggestive, that scarcely any single portion of it 
 can be selected as more suitable than another for 
 the subject of our weekly discourse. Let us, there- 
 fore, endeavour to consider it in all its bearings, 
 and try to understand the manifold examples 
 which it contains. What must strike every reader 
 of the holy writings, is the perfect simplicity, the 
 lucid truth of the historical narrative; the faults 
 and failings of the patriarchs are neither palliated 
 nor concealed. Their highest virtues are not made 
 more apparent to us than their errors and their 
 sins, their foibles and their vices; and while we 
 thus learn to emulate the former, we are taught 
 to shun the latter. 
 
 In the history of Jacob, it is painful, though 
 most instructive, to see, how the commission of 
 one fault led him on to many other transgressions. 
 When he first deceived his blind father, he probably
 
 ON TRUTHFULNESS. 41 
 
 thought, that he should tell but one untruth; yet, 
 he was soon caught in a net of his own weaving, 
 from which he could extricate himself only by 
 plunging more deeply into fraud and falsehood. 
 He certainly received Isaac's blessing, but it must 
 not for a single instant be supposed, that he owed 
 this to his deceit. It was given by the divine will 
 of Almighty God, who, for high purposes, inspired 
 the blind patriarch to bestow it on his erring son ; 
 but that culpable son could never have gained it 
 by his crafty, unbrotherly conduct. And here let 
 me explain to you, my dear children, that the 
 blessing which Jacob obtained was a national one 
 of prosperity, success, and greatness, vouchsafed 
 through him to his descendants, that they might 
 be victorious in repelling the attacks of powerful 
 enemies, and, while surrounded by idolaters, might 
 be able to keep the religion of the true and only 
 God. But the internal, the personal blessing of 
 peace and tranquillity of mind, Jacob did not enjoy. 
 The happiness which flows from a pure conscience, 
 and which all the glitter of worldly grandeur can- 
 not give, which all earthly failures and disappoint- 
 ments cannot take away that blessing Jacob 
 could not reap. Far from it; his was a life of 
 severe trials, and the obvious punishments he 
 endured were great, various, and long-protracted. 
 The real or supposed enmity of the brother whom 
 he had so grievously offended and injured, embit- 
 
 E3
 
 42 ON TRUTHFULNESS. 
 
 tered his existence, and alarmed him so much with 
 regard to his personal safety, that he believed him- 
 self obliged to fly from the home of his childhood 
 and of his early youth, from the mother to whom 
 he clung with the fondest love, and whom he was 
 doomed never to see again on earth. He was op- 
 pressed by Labau during a lengthy period of 
 servitude, and deceived not only by him, but also 
 by his own children ; he lost his favourite son for 
 many years; and, towards the end of his life, he 
 bewailed his numerous afflictions to Pharaoh, king 
 of Egypt, in the following sorrowful words: " My 
 days have been few and evil, and have not attained 
 to the years of my fathers in their pilgrimage." 
 
 Therefore, we cannot think, that, although he pos- 
 sessed the promise of the external, the great national 
 blessing for his children and his descendants, he 
 was a happy man. No, his fraud was justly, but 
 severely, punished; and he remained a stranger to 
 the reward of the virtuous, to the heavenly bles- 
 sing of contentment and repose. My dear children, 
 I am deeply anxious to impress upon you the love 
 and reverence of truth, and the most . uncompro- 
 mising adherence to it, in deed, in word, and eveii 
 in thought. That a fraud perpetrated to benefit 
 ourselves, or to injure others, or with that double 
 aim in view, is both a crime and a sin, you cannot 
 doubt. To deprive others by deceit of their due, 
 is to wrong them, is to rob them, and he who does
 
 ON TRUTHFULNESS. 43 
 
 this, though perhaps not, in every case, amenable 
 to the rigour, to the justice of the law, acts no less 
 wickedly than the thief, who breaks into a house 
 to carry off the owner's treasure, and stands ere 
 long, at the prisoner's bar, an outcast, a convicted 
 felon ! 
 
 To be guilty of misrepresentation in order to bene- 
 fit ourselves, is an offence, the punishment of which 
 overtakes us very soon. The discovery of the 
 falsehood is inevitable, and while it overwhelms us 
 with shame and confusion must injure our pro- 
 spects and our success in life. We may sometimes be 
 tempted to conceal the truth, or even to utter lies, 
 in the vain hope of screening ourselves from cen- 
 sure, and of avoiding the exposure of our faults. 
 However great the temptation may be, however 
 painful the humiliation of confessing our failings, 
 the inducement to suppress the truth should be 
 strenuously resisted. The frank acknowledgment 
 of having done wrong, is, believe me, my dear 
 children, the first step towards reformation. It is 
 a step that leads to the voluntary expiation of past 
 errors, and not only to self-imposed privations and 
 sufferings, but often to a whole life of atonement 
 and devotion. When the fair fame and the happi- 
 ness of our fellow-mortals are concerned, few will 
 doubt, that it becomes a duty, unhesitatingly to speak 
 the truth; but I am afraid, there are some who 
 think, that if, by withholding it, they injure only
 
 44 ON TRUTHFULNESS. 
 
 themselves, they cannot incur much blame, nor do 
 any serious harm: this, however, is a sad mistake. 
 We ought not to excuse or to justify our faults, 
 or even to veil them; we wrong ourselves incalcula- 
 bly, not only in the opinion of others, if detected, 
 which sooner or later must be the case; nor 
 because we forfeit the confidence, the regard, the 
 esteem of our friends, but also, and perhaps chiefly, 
 because the habit of concealing the truth, and 
 placing falsehood in its stead, makes us gradually, 
 though at first imperceptibly, lose ourselves in a 
 maze, in a bewildering labyrinth of error. 
 
 The disregard of truth must unsettle and vitiate 
 the character; having contracted the habit of mis- 
 leading others, originally, it may be, about mere 
 trifles, we soon mislead ourselves; and the rank luxu- 
 riance with which faults spring up and expand, is 
 not unlike the excessive increase of ill weeds, 
 often spreading over the fairest land, choking up 
 the best seeds, blighting the brightest promise, 
 and usurping the place of all that would otherwise 
 have become good and beautiful. It cannot be too 
 frequently repeated, that those who begin by 
 deceiving others end by deceiving themselves. 
 They lose the faculty of seeing clearly into their 
 own minds, the power of reading their own hearts; 
 they are like a ship without a rudder, without a 
 compass, drifting about anyhow at the mercy of 
 winds and waves, caught by the breeze, or shaken
 
 ON TRUTHFULNESS. 45 
 
 by the blast, moving to and fro in purposeless 
 activity on the rippling water, or storm -tossed 
 by the angry billows, soon to be wrecked on 
 granite rocks! These poor deceivers ere long 
 mistake wrong for right, and right for wrong, until 
 they sink, alas ! like the ill-fated vessel, to rise no 
 more. 
 
 Let me entreat you, my dear children, to be 
 ever truth-telling, truth-seeking, truth-loving ! 
 You will not find it a difficult task; for truth 
 is beautiful, and nothing is really good, nothing 
 really great, nothing admirable, that is not true. 
 Truth is the loftiest aim of art, truth is the noblest 
 flight of genius. From the sculptor and painter 
 we expect truth; from the historian we demand it; 
 the highest branches of human lore are based upon 
 immutable truths. Mathematics and all their 
 unchangeable laws, which teach us not only to 
 measure the girdle of the earth, to reach the 
 heights of its mountains, and to sound the depths 
 of its seas, but also permit us to understand the 
 phases of the moon, the orbits of the planets, the 
 fiery track of comets, the distances of myriads of 
 stars, of suns, of worlds, all shining and flaming in 
 the immensity of the universe, are great truths, 
 which the beneficence of the Almighty has allowed 
 us to study and to acquire. 
 
 Truth is a bright mirror, reflecting faithfully 
 not only the whole outward world, but also the
 
 46 ON TRUTHFULNESS. 
 
 inner one which each of us carries in his breast. 
 Truth is the light that dispels ignorance; by its 
 rays we avoid being caught in the meshes of flat- 
 tery, or in the still more dangerous snares of 
 vanity; we learn self-knowledge, we see our weak- 
 ness, and we discover our strength. Truth is the 
 sincerest friend, the safest adviser, the best, the 
 most impartial, the most discerning judge! What 
 is conscience? Truth, approving the good and re- 
 proving the faulty. What is honesty? An upright 
 bearing, a straightforward conduct, an undeviat- 
 ing and faithful adherence to truth in our actions, 
 in our words, in our thoughts. 
 
 My dear children, ever let us be truthful with 
 all around us, in our homes and in the world: let 
 us be truthful in our speech, in our writings, and 
 in communion with ourselves. In our prayers let 
 us approach the Almighty with a humble and 
 truthful spirit, and thus strive to worship in all 
 purity the ever-living God of eternal truth !
 
 VI. 
 
 GOD'S MERCY TO ISRAEL. 
 
 MY DEAU CHILDREN. 
 
 The Lord has graciously proclaimed, through 
 the mouth of His prophet, the following words of 
 hope and encouragement: "I will be as the dew 
 unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast 
 forth his roots as Lebanon" (Hosea xiv. 6). 
 
 The beauty of this simile can. hardly be appre- 
 ciated to its full extent by those who dwell in 
 towns, and who may not have enjoyed many op- 
 portunities of admiring the glistening pearls of 
 dew, with Avhich the hand of the bountiful Creator 
 decks all nature at daybreak. Though radiant to 
 behold, they are not mere jewels of splendour 
 adorning hills and valleys : after the cold hours of 
 night, they are as drops of invigorating balm to 
 the slender blade of grass and to the mighty oak, 
 to the wild flowerets of the field, and to the 
 lovely blossoms tended by the skill of man. They 
 shine in myriads of golden cups, on blooming 
 meadows, and in the perfumed corollas of blushing 
 roses; they sparkle on the foliage of lofty trees, 
 and on the verdure of rich pasture lands, that the 
 browsing lambkins of the earth, that the birds of
 
 48 GOD'S MERCY TO ISRAEL. 
 
 heaven, that the countless insects of the air, may 
 seek and find refreshment. 
 
 And after sunset, the re-appearing diamonds of 
 dew are as a revival of strength to all that grows; 
 for no day elapses without its dazzling and often 
 scorching sunshine, without its glowing and per- 
 haps parching warmth, without cutting winds, 
 without dust or hlight, without excessive brilliancy 
 or darkness and gloom; but at eventide the dew 
 descends from heaven to raise the drooping forms 
 of shrubs and flowers, to purify them and to em- 
 bellish them with its own brightness. The worm 
 and the spider may have crept over leaf and bud, 
 yet, ere long, hedges and gardens bathe their 
 stained petals in gleaming dew from unclouded 
 skies, and live on in renewed freshness. 
 
 My dear children, you may not often have seen a 
 lily in all its loveliness; but you remember its tall, 
 upright stem, its calyx of snowy whiteness, its 
 sweet fragrance, its golden seed; and you know 
 that it is called the emblem of virtue and of holi- 
 ness. You have also read of the mountain of 
 Lebanon, rising in majesty towards the firma- 
 ment; it is, in our text, made the symbol of 
 imperishable strength and power; it bears the 
 time-honoured cedars with their innumerable 
 silvery cones, with their wide-spreading branches, 
 and their undying foliage; centuries have passed 
 over them without impairing their grandeur.
 
 GOD'S MERCY TO ISRAEL. 49 
 
 You know, that the mightiest trees may be 
 rocked by the tempest, and shaken by the storm; 
 but if the far-extending roots be healthy and 
 vigorous, the branches will soon revive; they will 
 resist the shock of earthquakes, and put forth new 
 boughs, even when apparently shattered by the 
 lurid lightning of the clouds. 
 
 My dear children, the Almighty has promised 
 to be unto us like the dew; He has promised, that 
 our people shall grow as the lily; that Israel shall 
 cast forth his roots as Lebanon. Indeed, the 
 Lord's inexhaustible goodness has been, and is, like 
 the dew, rekindling our hopes after the blind fury 
 of angry passions has swept over us; after the 
 cold winds of contempt and scorn have touched 
 and frozen us with their chilling breath ; after the 
 withering blight of persecution has fallen upon 
 our nation ; after the chains of bondage have bent 
 us low. God's heavenly blessing will be as celestial 
 balsam unto our people, cleansing us from all stains. 
 And as the dew-steeped grass-blades, leaves, and 
 flower-cups, offer refreshment to lambkin, bird, 
 and bee. so may the purity of our lives, so may 
 our bright example, prove a crystal fountain of 
 revival to all weary pilgrims. As the lily grows in 
 uprightness and in beauty, bending neither to the 
 right nor to the left, but raising her head towards 
 the blue canopy of heaven, so shall we, by the 
 divine grace of the Creator, grow in undeviating 
 F
 
 50 GOD ? S MERCY TO ISRAEL. 
 
 rectitude, bearing in hearts as pure as the chalice 
 of the spotless lily, the golden seeds of our holy 
 religion for the sanctificatioii and happiness of all 
 mankind. And as Lebanon stretches forth his 
 roots, and through all ages raises his summit, 
 wreathed with evergreen splendour, so shall our 
 people, blessed and sustained by faith in the 
 boundless beneficence of the Omnipotent, live on in 
 strength, in moral excellence, and in holiness. But, 
 my dear children, although the Almighty allows 
 the pearls and diamonds of dew to drop from 
 heaven on meadow and vineyard, on the clover of 
 the field, and on the flower-bed of the lawn; 
 although He sends fertilizing showers, and fanning 
 winds, and glowing sunshine, the rose would not 
 bloom, the lily would not grow, the grape would 
 not ripen, unless the industry of man pruned the 
 vine, and weeded the garden. The Lord, in His 
 unerring and beneficent wisdom, has graciously 
 ordained, that we shall owe all our joys and all our 
 happiness to diligent and conscientious labour; it 
 is only when we toil with the energies of our mind, 
 with the skill of our hands, to fulfil the manifold 
 tasks of life, that we may confidently hope to reap 
 blessings for our own fireside, and for many 
 hearths and homes; and the more numerous those 
 duties are, the greater is our usefulness, our ability 
 of doing good, and the greater must be our satis- 
 faction. But I firmly believe, my dear children,
 
 GOD J S MERCY TO ISRAEL. 51 
 
 that in addition to the obligations, which fall to 
 the share of all human beings, we Israelites have 
 some devolving upon us, which are peculiarly, im- 
 peratively our own. The conviction of being thus 
 appointed to fulfil high destinies, must increase 
 our energy, give ardour to our zeal, double our 
 powers of action, and enhance our hopes of success. 
 
 You are aware, my dear young friends, that we 
 form but a small portion of the human race, that, 
 in all cities and countries of the globe, we are 
 surrounded by those, whose religious opinions are 
 different from our own. 
 
 You also know, that during the many centuries 
 which have elapsed since the destruction of the 
 Temple, we have been subjected to vicissitudes 
 and sufferings, the faithful narrative of which, so 
 truly and so deeply instructive, would demand the 
 pen of the historian, the wisdom of the philosopher, 
 the heart-studies of the moralist, the imagination 
 of the poet, the eloquent lips of the orator, that 
 it would, in fact, call into requisition the rarest 
 combination of gifts and talents. Yet even those 
 who are but imperfectly acquainted with the 
 annals of the past, cannot doubt, that the trials 
 endured by us, have left traces behind, not only 
 among ourselves, but also in the minds of those 
 living around us. It is our sacred duty to efface 
 those marks and remnants of by-gone ages, to up- 
 root the prejudices which may have been engen-
 
 62 GOD'S MERCY TO ISRAEL. 
 
 dered and to prove to the world, that a conscien- 
 tious reading of the Holy Scriptures, while teaching 
 us, iii simple but indelible lessons, to abstain from 
 all vices, sins, and crimes, convinces us, that there 
 is no virtue, however lofty, to the practice of which 
 the divine Volume does not powerfully exhort. No 
 works, however admirable and beautiful, that have 
 been written since the revelation of our holy 
 religion, and since the inspired books of our 
 prophets and kings, can, with any degree of truth, 
 be held to supersede the moral instructions of the 
 Bible. Yes, my dear children, the Old Testament, 
 old, but eternally new, not losing its vigour or its 
 freshness by passing through centuries, and being 
 handed down to all generations of men, the Old 
 Testament, increasing, if possible, in immortal 
 beauty, contains laws and precepts, which apply to 
 the emergencies of every day in our existence, 
 and which, if followed zealously, would, unless 
 counteracted by human frailty or passion, in- 
 deed lead us near perfection. 
 
 My dear children, let us then actively work to 
 exalt our brethren in birth and faith, to raise them 
 in the eyes of the whole world, of those large majo- 
 rities which encompass a feeble, but not insignificant 
 minority, feeble indeed as regards worldly position 
 and power, but not so, if we consider, what its moral 
 influence might be, and if we remember, that the 
 history of the world does not record a greater law-
 
 GOD'S MERCY TO ISRAEL. 53 
 
 giver than Moses, a greater philosopher than 
 Solomon, a greater poet than David, although 
 thirty centuries, fraught with countless changes, 
 have rolled by, since they wrote, and spoke, and 
 sang. 
 
 My dear children, we must strive to prove, that 
 the hostile feelings which have been fostered against 
 us by ages of oppression, are unwarranted; we must 
 destroy them, not by self-praise, not by assertions of 
 our virtue, but by conscientious efforts; by a blame- 
 less conduct throughout life; by an unflinching 
 devotion to all those whose welfare we may be able 
 to promote: by zealous and active sympathy with 
 all who suffer, who labour, and who triumph. The 
 oppressed want our aid and our tears of tender soli- 
 citude; the toiling, our help and encouragement; 
 and the successful, our smiles, our applause, to 
 urge them on to renewed exertions. "We have an 
 arduous task before us, but a noble one, which 
 may, indeed, kindle the most glowing enthusiasm, 
 and fill our hearts with the purest, the highest 
 ambition. We are called upon to dispel the 
 shadows, that have gathered around us through 
 centuries of severe trials, to win, by constant 
 endeavours, the entire approbation of the commu- 
 nities amongst which we dwell; we must crave 
 justice at their hands; and can obtain it only by 
 challenging, for the moral beauty of our work, the 
 esteem, not merely of individuals, for that is more 
 r 3
 
 54 GOD'S MERCY TO ISRAEL. 
 
 easily gained, but of whole nations, whose judg- 
 ment is warped by old and deeply-seated preju- 
 dices. 
 
 Do you understand the full import of our duty ? 
 Do you feel, that we have to claim a position, which 
 is our birth-right, and which, with God's blessing, 
 we can and will reconquer? My dear children, 
 though young and inexperienced, you may be able 
 to do some good in the world. Throughout 
 nature, the smallest living beings have a sphere of 
 usefulness assigned to them by the will of the 
 Almighty Creator. You, who are endowed with 
 powers of intellect and with warm feelings of the 
 heart, can surely, by constant, well-sustained 
 efforts, prepare yourselves efficiently for the great 
 labours of your earthly career. 
 
 It is very true, that in after-life, no less than in 
 the earliest years of childhood, a searching glance 
 into the recesses of the mind, will reveal to us our 
 weakness and our faults; and that an attentive ear, 
 listening eagerly to the voice of conscience, will 
 audibly hear warning sounds of rebuke and cen- 
 sure; it has been so decreed by the goodness and 
 wisdom of the Lord. But it is equally true, that 
 the most penetrating scrutiny into the mysteries of 
 the heart and soul, will not disclose to us the 
 entire secret of our strength; for the Almighty 
 has graciously ordained, that the indefatigable 
 exercise of our energies alone shall fully develop
 
 GOD'S MERCY TO ISRAEL. 55 
 
 our abilities; and that success shall be the reward 
 of great and uninterrupted labours. Not any of 
 us know the limit of our powers; we can but work 
 on zealously, making good use of the mental and 
 moral gifts beneficently vouchsafed to us by the 
 grace of God; we can but invoke His heavenly 
 blessing to support us, to give us health and cou- 
 rage, that we may not grow weary nor disheartened, 
 nor leave our task unaccomplished. 
 
 My dear children, the Holy Bible says, "Love 
 thy neighbour as thyself;" but it appears, hu- 
 manly speaking, impossible to love those who 
 despise us; we can but fear or shun them. It is 
 only by winning the esteem of our neighbours, 
 that we may really hope to love them in obedience 
 to the divine precept: and this forms an addi- 
 tional proof of the beauty, wisdom, and excellence 
 of the heavenly commandment. In order to love our 
 brethren and to be loved by them, we must learn to 
 forbear and to forgive, to be ever truthful and 
 truth-seeking, to be just, yet merciful, to pluck 
 envy from our breast, egotism from our thoughts, 
 to practise self-denial and even self-sacrifice; we 
 must learn to banish apathy, and to replace it by 
 enthusiastic devotion to the highest interests of 
 mankind, so that we may be able to exert all our 
 energies for the advancement and happiness of 
 others. And then, indeed, will the heavenly bles- 
 sing rest upon our destinies, and then the Lord
 
 56 GOD's MERCY TO ISRAEL. 
 
 will be as the dew to the descendants of Jacob, 
 and our people will be rich in virtue and great in 
 good deeds, an example to all the nations of the 
 earth; and then Israel will grow as the lily, and 
 raise his head in purest moral beauty and holiness; 
 and, encircled with unfading brightness, he will 
 east forth his roots in strength and in vigour as 
 Lebanon, the imperishable mountain of cedars !
 
 VII. 
 THE ENDLESS LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS. 
 
 There is not one among us, not even 
 the youngest child, who has been taught to 
 worship the Lord and to praise His divine 
 name, that does not feel, how gracious our 
 heavenly Father is to us all. Has He not made 
 the sun to warm us, and to shine by day, 
 the moon and stars to shed their brilliancy by 
 night ? Has He not caused the wheat to grow for 
 the sustenance of man, and the grass of the fields 
 for the lambkins and kine? Has He not made the 
 animals of the earth subservient to us? Has He 
 not created them for our benefit, that their flesh 
 may nourish us, that their skin, their fur, and 
 their feathers, may be transformed into necessaries, 
 comforts, or luxuries, for our enjoyment; that the 
 milk of the cow and the honey of the bee may 
 flow in abundance to sweeten the cup of our life? 
 Has He not given the oil of the olive to light our 
 dwellings, the juice of the grape to fill our goblets, 
 the fruit of the orchard to refresh us, the verdure
 
 58 THE ENDLESS LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 of hill and dale to delight our eyes, the beautiful 
 flowers of meadow and garden, with their fragrance 
 and their healing qualities, to charm and to serve 
 us from our cradle to our grave? Perhaps you 
 do not know, my dear children, that these blos- 
 soms of loveliness possess properties to allay pain, 
 and give slumber, during which we forget past 
 sufferings, and gain new strength for the accom- 
 plishment of our duties and our labours. 
 
 The bounty of the Lord is lavished upon all 
 His children, in all lands and in all climes. The 
 golden oranges, which the poor boy offers for sale 
 here at the corner of the busy thoroughfare, ripen 
 in perfumed bowers, under the blue skies of Spain 
 and Italy; the cocoa-nuts which he vends in our 
 markets, are productions of the torrid zone, where 
 the wonderful tree that bears them, is said to 
 yield advantages as numerous almost as the days 
 of the year, and, indeed, too manifold to mention. 
 There are, however, melancholy beings, whom the 
 knowledge of the boundless beneficence of the 
 Almighty, and of the blessings which He vouch- 
 safes to us, does not preserve from despondency. 
 They may have seen so much sickness and misery 
 at home, such infirmities and sufferings, that ad- 
 versity makes their hearts grow faint. 
 
 My dear children, let us strengthen ourselves to 
 bear all trials, and to encourage the dejected 
 and the despairing, by the following words of the
 
 THE ENDLESS LOVE OF GOD. 59 
 
 Psalmist: "the Lord is merciful and gracious, 
 slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He will 
 not always chide, nor keep His anger for ever" 
 (ciii. 8, 9). That the Lord God Almighty is gracious 
 and benevolent, the countless treasures granted 
 by His goodness prove to us at all times. We are 
 never sufficiently grateful for them; and yet, my 
 dear children, we feel the absence or the loss of a 
 single one of those blessings as a great privation, 
 as a real affliction. The limbs whose strength and 
 activity enable us to move through crowded towns, 
 to enjoy the beauties and wonders of nature, in 
 sunny glades and shady forests, by the banks of 
 gently gliding rivers, or on the shores of the mighty 
 deep, are not duly prized by us; nor are the hands, 
 by means of which we labour, nor the ear, and eye, 
 and voice, which connect the heart and mind with 
 the external world, nor is health appreciated 
 enough; otherwise we should not so frequently 
 imperil its vigour. But when any one of the 
 great gifts, which contribute to the happiness and 
 enjoyment of life, is removed, or even curtailed of 
 its fair proportions, then we learn, how valuable a 
 boon we have lost, and how great is the loving- 
 kindness of the Almighty Lord of heaven and 
 earth, who bestowed it upon us. And the dan- 
 gers, from which we escape at every moment, 
 are they not innumerable, and are we not 
 always encompassed by them? Is it not His
 
 60 THE ENDLESS LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 divine hand, that shields us at home and abroad, 
 on sea and on land, whilst sailing over the angry 
 waves of the fathomless ocean, whilst travelling 
 on those iron roads, along which we are propelled by 
 the extraordinary powers of steam, or merely whilst 
 crossing the streets, which extend through our 
 huge cities, and where the turmoil of commer- 
 cial life constantly threatens our safety and even 
 our existence? 
 
 And yet, day after day, we pass through them 
 unharmed; for God protects us, and He interposes 
 His buckler and His all-powerful arm between our 
 weakness, between our helplessness, and impending 
 dangers. Yes, my dear children, " the Lord is 
 gracious and merciful, and slow to anger." A 
 conscientious examination of the depths of our 
 hearts, will prove to us at eventide, how numerous 
 are the faults, that stain our conduct, and yet our 
 heavenly Father forgives us, for He knows our 
 vacillation, our infirmity of purpose. 
 
 My dear children, He will not always chide, nor 
 keep His anger for ever. There may be sickness 
 at home, among our loved ones; long-continuing 
 sickness, causing us overwhelming anxiety, care so 
 constant and so harassing, that every moment 
 becomes filled with sorrow, if not with bitterness, 
 that the knowledge of God's goodness and mercy 
 is scarcely sufficient to sustain our courage, and 
 that all the blessings still left to us appear as
 
 THE ENDLESS LOVE OF GOD. 61 
 
 nought. The Lord may afflict us personally with 
 illness; we may endure not only bodily pain, but 
 mental anguish also, when we feel that we have 
 been withdrawn from our circle of usefulness, and 
 that those whom we cherish most dearly will 
 suffer, because we are laid low by misfortune. 
 Or death may have bereft us of the friends whose 
 presence made our life beautiful; grief and mourn- 
 ing may have wrought a complete change in us, 
 deprived us of all energy, of all hope, plunged us 
 into dark despair, seemingly beyond the reach 
 of the faintest glimmering of light. "When 
 pain, and grief, and adversity, have completely 
 overpowered us; when we have almost ceased to 
 pray for happiness, and to believe in the possibility 
 of its return; when all is gloomy and cold, bleak, 
 dreary, and desolate, around us; then it is, that, 
 through the infinite tenderness and compassion of 
 the Almighty, a new spring blooms in our heart, 
 in our home, and in our life. 
 
 My dear children, when the goodly harvests 
 have been gathered in; when even the flowers of 
 the field have fallen under the sickle of the reaper; 
 when the vineyard has lost its purple and amber 
 clusters; when the orchard has yielded its luxu- 
 riant treasures; when the keen autumnal winds 
 have blown over the land, and swept away all the 
 beauty and brilliancy of gardens, woods, and 
 forests, all the emerald, golden or ruby leaves of 
 G
 
 62 THE ENDLESS LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 elm, beech, and oak; when the ground is hard 
 and bare, and the naked stems look like grim 
 skeletons; then, when nature seems to have relin- 
 quished every charm, spring comes again with 
 fresh beauties, with new delights. The meadows 
 and hedges adorn themselves for young and old ; 
 myriads of silver daisies, those " bright eyes 
 of day," re-appear; violets nestle in the grass, 
 and scent the air with their sweet breath; wild 
 roses precede their fairer sisters; there are 
 pearly blossoms in the orchard, there is lightly 
 waving foliage on the trees, there is sunshine in 
 the vault of heaven, and through the valleys of 
 earth, and there are blithe birds in groves and 
 bowers, pouring forth their songs of gladness into 
 the bright expanse above. And in our hearts 
 too, my dear children, spring smiles once more 
 through the mercy of the Lord. We do not forget 
 our lost felicity, nor our past sufferings; no, the veil 
 of everlasting regrets softens our fresh joys, and 
 casts a solemn tranquillity over the new sources of 
 happiness around us ; but our anguish belongs to 
 by-gone times, our sadness fades away, and we are 
 again able to prize the blessings of God's bene- 
 ficence. 
 
 Yet, it is true, my dear children, that some 
 among us are tried and chastened by sorrow, 
 which becomes almost a constant companion, 
 not leaving us until we sink into the grave.
 
 THE ENDLESS LOVE OF GOD. 63 
 
 But even the afflicted cannot doubt the goodness 
 of the Lord, whose decrees are indeed inscrutable, 
 but who graciously extended to us an anchor of 
 hope, when He said, that "although the dust shall 
 return to the earth whence it came, the spirit 
 shall return unto God, who gave it." Thus, when 
 the bodily frame, worn out by the toils and suf- 
 ferings of this world, is consigned to the tomb, 
 our heaven-born, immortal soul rises, 011 wings of 
 light, to the throne of the Almighty Creator, to 
 worship Him in those realms of bliss, where cnres 
 and tears are unknown.
 
 VIII. 
 ON INDUSTRY. 
 
 DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 You have frequently been told, how sinful it is 
 to cast looks of envy around you, to covet the posses- 
 sions of others, the treasures that meet your eye, be 
 they broad acres covered with teeming cornfields, 
 or rich orchards and beauteous gardens; be they 
 houses, jewels, silver and gold, or treasures far 
 greater still, such as the sympathy, the love and 
 devotion of our fellow-citizens, or great intel- 
 lectual acquirements, eminence of position, success, 
 and fame. To be grasping is a real misfortune; it 
 destroys the serenity, the peace of mind of those 
 who are afflicted with longings and cravings which 
 they cannot control; it renders them dissatisfied 
 at home and abroad; it makes their society dreaded 
 and shunned by friends, upon whom fortune may 
 have smiled more brightly, and who, whilst the 
 angry eye of envy rests upon them, cannot truly 
 enjoy the advantages which have fallen to their 
 share. The covetous themselves are not able to 
 appreciate the blessings which they receive from the 
 beneficence of the Lord, and thus their guilty
 
 OX INDUSTRY. 65 
 
 feelings meet with punishment at every moment 
 of the day. And you have frequently been told, 
 my dear children, that amidst much apparent 
 inequality of station, among many real or sup- 
 posed, necessary and inexplicable, varieties of 
 situation, there is more true equality on earth 
 than we are apt to think; and that enjoyments 
 and happiness are, by the grace and goodness of 
 God, within the reach of all those who will make 
 strenuous exertions to obtain and to merit them. 
 
 We are repeatedly and earnestly reminded 
 in the Holy Volume, that the Providence of the 
 Lord has bestowed upon us powers and energies, 
 by the exercise of which we may acquire many 
 valuable benefits; and the royal philosopher 
 truly says: "He that dealeth with a slack hand, 
 becometh poor; but the hand of the diligent 
 maketh rich" (Prov. x. 4). Believe me, my dear 
 children, that in whatever position the divine will 
 may have placed us, we shall always find industry 
 to be one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon 
 us. Even among those who do not require to 
 labour for their daily bread, who are far above 
 want, and within whose reach are all the so-called 
 luxuries of this world, even among them the 
 absence of industry is the bane of life. Not 
 merely do the hours of the day glide heavily by the 
 indolent, yielding neither pleasure to themselves, 
 nor producing any advantages for those around 
 o3
 
 66 ON INDUSTRY. 
 
 them, \vhereas the leisure of the rich should be- 
 come fertile in good deeds for countless thousands 
 of human beings; but those who live in apathy 
 change into drops of gall the most precious 
 moments of their existence, while every instant 
 should, on the contrary, be valued as a pearl 
 beyond price. 
 
 Inactivity causes the idle to concentrate their 
 thoughts chiefly upon themselves; and every cloud- 
 let sailing across their horizon seems to press 
 heavily upon their brow, while sloth renders them 
 unable to overcome difficulties, and utterly inca- 
 pable of dealing with the real anxieties, which may 
 disturb their tranquillity; for even the wealth of the 
 Indies does not keep aloof annoyances, vexations, 
 and injuries; though the poor are often inclined to 
 suppose, that the rich do not know the weight 
 of care. The sluggish transform molehills into 
 mountains : the industrious make obstacles as 
 lofty as Alpine peaks, and as hard as rocks, 
 disappear by their efforts; they take delight and 
 pride in removing them by their activity, by their 
 perseverance. The slothful deem labour an into- 
 lerable, an unbearable burden, while its duties 
 help the energetic to travel cheerfully over the 
 road of life, giving interest to every passing hour, 
 filling the heart of the earnest labourer with the 
 consciousness of Avell performed work, making his 
 day of rest, after the exertions of the week, a
 
 ON INDUSTRY. 67 
 
 real holiday, a time free from harassing conside- 
 rations, full of happy feelings, of deep gratitude 
 for the blessings of health, so truly appreciated 
 and so well employed. Yes, industry maketh 
 rich, and if not always in worldly goods, cer- 
 tainly in satisfaction, in delight, in contentment, 
 thus converting necessaries into luxuries, and 
 imparting their beauty and brilliancy to eveiy 
 advantage, which we are able to provide by the dili- 
 gent labour of our hands or of our minds. But 
 in truth, activity increases our resources, and if 
 we sometimes fail to convince ourselves of it in 
 our homes, believe me, my dear children, our view 
 is rendered less clear by the eagerness which we 
 feel for success. We always hope for greater prizes 
 than we can ever obtain; our expectations are 
 never fully realized ; even if we acquired all the 
 material benefits anticipated by us, they would not 
 afford to our wishes the enjoyments which they so 
 abundantly promised. But looking around us at 
 the endeavours of our brethren, we can exercise our 
 judgment more calmly; and such deliberate survey 
 of the efforts of industry and their reward, will 
 prove replete with invaluable lessons. 
 
 My dear children, if we leave the brick walls of 
 dusty towns, and picture to ourselves the busy 
 scenes of country life, we shall find the good far- 
 mer employed from morning till night, and during 
 the whole year. The land would not bring forth
 
 68 OX INDUSTRY. 
 
 pasturage for herds and flocks, unless it had been 
 drained and fertilized; nor would it be covered 
 with those bright meadows beautifully enamelled 
 with flowers, on which the kine and lambkins 
 graze, and where myriads of bees swarm and 
 collect their sweets. The earth would not yield her 
 cornfields, waving with golden harvests, the food 
 of rich and poor, if the husbandman had not 
 prepared the soil ere he entrusted the seed to its 
 furrows. It is very true, my dear children, that 
 all blessings come from Almighty God; that rain 
 and sunshine, light and warmth, and the reviving 
 dews of heaven, are gifts of His beneficence, which 
 make the germs rise from the depths of the land, and 
 swell into maturity; but it has been ordained 
 by His divine will, that those blessings shall be 
 gained by indefatigable hands, that they shall be 
 earned by the exertions of man. 
 
 After having toiled during the glaring heat 
 of the summer months, the farmer continues 
 to work in the cooler autumn season; the 
 crops must be reaped, the ears of wheat 
 bound into sheaves, carried to the granary, the 
 corn separated from the straw, and the former 
 again divided from the chaff by winnowing. 
 In gardens and orchards the same activity is 
 required, if good results are to be obtained. 
 Spiders and noxious insects, if not carefully 
 removed, will prey on the produce destined
 
 OX INDUSTKY. 69 
 
 to fill our markets, and to supply the tables of the 
 wealthy as well as to appease the hunger of the 
 needy. Birds, unless continually -warded off, will 
 feast on the choicest fruit of the orchard, making 
 it unfit for human consumption; and blight and 
 drought will annihilate the loveliness of the fairest 
 flowers, unless the gardener be ready to supply 
 cleansing and refreshing streams. My dear young 
 friends, in our homes there is constant activity 
 demanded; there is work for every hour of the day ; 
 there is more necessity in our households, than 
 even in the most luxuriant orchard, for diligent 
 care and constant industry. But as in a garden 
 or field, one person cannot execute every task, so 
 by our own fireside many must labour, and each 
 help individually to accomplish the good that is to 
 be wrought by all. There are the little children to 
 be gently nursed, and watched over, and tenderly 
 cared for; the elder sons and daughters to be 
 taught, and trained, and advised, that they too may 
 help to earn the daily bread, and that, by patient 
 perseverance, they may assist in banishing poverty, 
 which leaves the hearth cold, the shelves bare, the 
 room comfortless, and the limbs unprotected 
 against the inclemency of changeful skies. 
 
 It is well and useful always to remember 
 the beautiful precept contained in the Book of 
 Proverbs: "Let us go to the ant, and consider 
 her ways." All of us should exercise unremitting
 
 70 ON INDUSTRY. 
 
 diligence in our sphere of action, for without 
 it we cannot hope ever to be rich in world- 
 ly possessions, or, what is more valuable by far, 
 in good deeds. It is only by assiduous efforts 
 that we can obtain affluence, which places us 
 above the pressure of want, and enables us to give 
 largely to others. It is very true, that some own 
 considerable wealth without having toiled to ac- 
 quire it. They are indebted for it to the con- 
 scientious exertions of their parents, to those who 
 came before them, and whose labours were attended 
 with success; for no advantages are owing to mere 
 chance. Even the rich incur the risk of becoming 
 poor, Avhen they lead an existence of sloth or 
 carelessness. Earnest, zealous industry is the 
 blessing, is the rule of life ; indolence is the excep- 
 tion. "The hand of the diligent maketh rich/* 
 whatever the calling of the industrious may be. 
 
 Sculptors, who carve noble statues out of cold 
 stone, while enriching the world with beautiful 
 works of art, create for themselves the greatest trea- 
 sures of enjoyment; architects, who fill the land with 
 wondrous buildings, find their reward in augment- 
 ingthe splendour of cities and kingdoms; musicians, 
 whose melodious strains pervade the earth, in ad- 
 ding to the wealth of harmony, live in a sphere of 
 delight. Men successfully engaged in commerce, 
 increase the resources and civilization of the great 
 human family; lawyers, if, indeed, they reach the
 
 ON INDUSTRY. 71 
 
 highest branches of legal eminence by indefatigable 
 labours, materially extend the circle of our general 
 knowledge ; and divines, who have made theology 
 their anxious study, and who, deeply imbued with 
 the word of God, labour for their fellow-beings, do 
 they not grow rich, if not in tangible goods, in 
 noble thoughts and aspirations, in fervent hopes 
 for the progress and felicity of those committed 
 to their care? 
 
 My dear children, we should not underrate the 
 advantages, nor undervalue the power, of wealth. 
 The Almighty, in His wisdom and justice, has, 
 indeed, ordained, that riches shall not enable us 
 to buy for ourselves aught that secures real happi- 
 ness ; not parents when the call of death has 
 robbed us of them; not sons nor daughters; 
 not brothers, nor sisters, nor friends, nor love, 
 nor devotion, nor talent, nor youth, nor health, 
 nor sleep, nor any of the great blessings and en- 
 joyments which make life delightful. But although 
 it is impossible not to acknowledge with heart and 
 mind, that there are treasures far superior to all 
 that can be obtained from Californian mines; 
 yet the possession of gold may, in generous hands, 
 become the means of conferring lasting benefits 
 on thousands of human beings. 
 
 There are, however, moral and intellectual 
 riches, far more precious still, which become 
 valueless only when left unused. Activity of
 
 72 ON INDUSTRY. 
 
 mind transforms confused ideas into well-defined 
 thoughts; vague impressions, into clear opinions 
 and deep convictions; lofty aims, conceived with 
 glowing enthusiasm, into plans and projects care- 
 fully elaborated, which, if carried out with ardent 
 zeal, become beautiful realities. The unwearied 
 exercise of kindness and devotion increases our 
 power to share the woes and joys of others; we 
 become rich in sympathy, in solicitude, in fellow- 
 feeling for all around us. And remember, my dear 
 children, that we can never exhaust the treasures 
 of the heart. On the contrary, the more we 
 expend, the more we shall acquire ; for the reward 
 of doing- o-ood is so incalculablv srreat, that it never 
 
 v O 
 
 fails to awaken noble sentiments and emotions in 
 the soul, and to stimulate us to renewed efforts. 
 I do not speak of the delight of receiving marks 
 of gratitude from those whom we have been so 
 fortunate as to serve; however encouraging such 
 proofs of our successful endeavours may be, we 
 ought not to expect or demand them, lest disap- 
 pointment should damp our ardour. But the 
 applauding voice of conscience is a recompense 
 no less precious than the improvement achieved 
 by us with divine aid, and the example and im- 
 pulse given by our exertions. Thus, my dear 
 children, we shall have the happiness of seeing, 
 that the hand of the diligent maketh rich. Yes, 
 the hand that labours in obedience to the dictates
 
 ON INDUSTRY. 73 
 
 of the mind, the hand that works and heals, 
 gives and supports; our hand, so blessed, makes 
 us rich in good deeds, and makes those rich in 
 contentment to whose wants it is our valued 
 privilege to minister.
 
 IX. 
 THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 In the narrative of a life so powerfully 
 interesting as that of King David, we find mani- 
 fold suggestions for earnest thought and deep 
 meditation. One of the most remarkable features 
 in the Biblical record of that monarch's eventful 
 career, is the account of the soothing influence 
 exercised by his melodious strains over Saul in 
 his great affliction ; for we read in the First Book 
 of Samuel: "And it came to pass, when the evil 
 spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took 
 a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was 
 refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed 
 from him" (1 Sam. xvi. 23). 
 
 There can be no doubt, that what is called the 
 evil spirit, was the despondency, into which the un- 
 happy sovereign sank when preyed upon by agonies 
 of remorse, and which, at times, deepened into 
 melancholy madness, or rose to paroxysms of vio- 
 lent frenzy. In his stubborn haughtiness, he defied 
 the dictates of the prophet, and the punishment
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC. 75 
 
 which fell upon him, was so overwhelming, that 
 the pomp and splendour of a throne, the possession 
 of beauteous lands, flowing with milk and honey, 
 and the unlimited sway over millions of human 
 beings, were unavailing to yield peace and serenity 
 to the victorious prince, who was tortured by self- 
 reproaches; while David, then a poor shepherd 
 boy, but sustained by ardent faith in the protection 
 of heaven, endured great sufferings, bore incessant 
 persecutions, and was yet deemed an object of 
 envy by the anointed of the Lord. 
 
 My dear children, it cannot be too frequently 
 repeated, that happiness is incompatible with the in- 
 fringement of duty. But our text proves the infinite 
 mercy of God, who, while chastising, does not crush 
 the erring soul: thus the King's fearful agitation 
 was permitted to be allayed by the power of David's 
 tuneful harp. Many have felt, that the gift of 
 music, bestowed more particularly on the children 
 of Israel, from the days of the inspired Psalmist 
 down to the present time, and abiding among us 
 during many centuries of oppression, has been 
 graciously vouchsafed by divine goodness for great 
 and beneficent objects, has been given to calm and 
 uphold us in dark and troubled hours, and in 
 moments of gloom or despair, to raise the mind, on 
 the high-soaring wings of hope, to the throne of 
 Almighty God. 
 
 Music is, indeed, one of the loftiest modes of
 
 76 THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC. 
 
 human expression. What is poetry, but the music 
 of feeling and imagination; and eloquence, but 
 the music of noble ideas, of sublime aspirations? 
 Our ancestors were forbidden by the Lord to make 
 graven images or likenesses of anything in the 
 heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the 
 water under the earth, lest, in imitation of heathen 
 practices, they should be tempted to kneel in 
 adoration before idols, instead of worshipping the 
 true and only God. Many wise and learned men 
 have thought, that sculpture and painting, even for 
 purposes of secular improvement and enjoyment, 
 were but little encouraged amongst the Israelites, 
 and that this was owing to the second command- 
 ment, which was considered, though no doubt er- 
 roneously, a prohibition even with regard to worldly 
 embellishment and delight. But surely, in the 
 present age, all will admit, that the cultivation of 
 the fine arts elevates the mind, and is a humble but 
 grateful appreciation, on our part, of the wondrous 
 beauties with which the hand of God has so boun- 
 tifully adorned the earth. Yet while plastic forms 
 and pictorial representations recall, more or less 
 admirably, all that can be perceived by the human 
 eye, music expresses the highest impulses of the soul, 
 the deepest yearnings of the heart. The thrilling 
 lays of the minstrel King, the heir-loom of our 
 nation, are sacred hymns, interpreting every emo- 
 tion that can pervade the human breast. They speak
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC. 77 
 
 of intense suffering, of overpowering sorrow, of 
 agonizing pain, of every pang of contrition, or 
 reality of expiation: they contain balm for all 
 wounds; fervid hope to cure all despair; faith, 
 ardently glowing, to raise the downcast of all ages; 
 prayers, unchangeably beautiful, for those whose 
 souls are overshadowed, and whose longings are 
 inarticulate; boundless gratitude for the hearts, 
 and exalted piety for the minds of all generations. 
 
 Those immortal hymns, our solace in adversit}^ 
 our valued companions in every circumstance of 
 life, are deemed inestimable treasures, not merely 
 by ourselves, but are prized by millions of 
 human beings, who, though differing from us in 
 creed, never assemble to worship the Almighty, 
 without singing those holy Psalms, which David 
 breathed in glorification of the Lord thousands of 
 years ago, those solemn strains, which gently 
 release the aching heart from the heavy chains of 
 the world, and lift it, borne upward by hope, to 
 our merciful Father in heaven. 
 
 Surely many have felt music to be a precious 
 gift of the Omnipotent's inexhaustible bounty. 
 How dull would this earth be, though arrayed in 
 its dazzling charms, without the harmonies which 
 re-echo throughout its expanse. They pervade all 
 nature; we hear them in the softly murmuring 
 zephyr, and in the mighty, rushing wind ; in the 
 gently rippling fountain, in the wildly gushing tor- 
 
 H3
 
 78 THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC. 
 
 rent, or in the majestic waves moaning and expir- 
 ing on the sea-shore. They rise from the furrows of 
 the ploughed field, or from amidst the golden ears 
 of ripening corn, and are carried by joyous birds 
 to the gates of heaven. They rise from gardens 
 and hedgerows, from woods and forests, diffusing 
 gladness throughout the world. And even those 
 who live in crowded towns and gloomy alleys, are 
 often cheered in their weary journey through life 
 by the sweet notes of some little bird living close 
 by, in wooden cage, upon the humblest window-sill. 
 And if the winds and waves, and all the winged 
 choristers, fill the earth with music, should not 
 the human voice ring to diffuse its harmony 
 around us? It is not merely far more beautiful 
 than all the other voices of creation, it exercises 
 also a far greater, a far higher influence. The 
 lessons that reach the ear most surely, and sink 
 into the heart most deeply, are those conveyed by 
 an earnest voice, gently attuned to teach, not 
 only the docile and willing, but even the stubborn 
 and refractory. The power of the voice, tremulous 
 with emotion, can render that advice, which it is so 
 difficult to give, and still more difficult to take, 
 truly welcome and acceptable. And there is no 
 weight, there is no burden, however heavy, which 
 the voice of sympathy may not help to lighten; there 
 is no affliction, however great, which the voice of 
 love may not hope to assuage; there is no strife,
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC. 79 
 
 no violence and no passion, which the voice of devo- 
 tion may not aid in calming. To comfort and to 
 cheer in days of trial, to teach and to guide in 
 times of prosperity, the human voice is all-power- 
 ful for good. 
 
 Written words, travelling across mountains and 
 oceans, may partly indemnify us for the absence of 
 dear friends; books, great, wise, and beautiful, 
 may awaken noble thoughts in the mind; but the 
 human voice alone exercises almost supreme in- 
 fluence over those confided, by divine Providence, 
 to our care, over those who may be brought within 
 the sphere of our duties. But few of us prize and 
 enjoy sufficiently the blessings and energies placed 
 in our possession by the All-merciful, nor do we 
 make them contribute enough to the happiness of 
 our companions along the road of life. 
 
 My dear young friends, let us fervently pray, that 
 the words of our lips, be they lessons or even re- 
 proofs, or the mere expressions of our thoughts and 
 feelings, may help to banish anger and discord. Let 
 them be true, and pure, and free from harshness; 
 let them be like music, ennobling and elevating 
 our sentiments, and contributing to the harmony 
 of the great family of God's children. And may 
 our voices unite in jubilant chorus of thanks- 
 givings to the Almighty, while, with loving and 
 grateful hearts, we say: "Hallelujah! praised and 
 ever blessed be the Lord !"
 
 X. 
 "GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL." 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 Few Avill hesitate to avow, that want of 
 gratitude to Almighty God, frequently causes us 
 to pervert the blessings of His inexhaustible good- 
 ness, and to turn them into afflictions. The 
 power of speech, for instance, which, perhaps, 
 more than any gift of the Lord's beneficence, 
 establishes our superiority, is often misused; and 
 it is from the depths of my heart, that I say to 
 each of you to-day, my dear children, in the words 
 of the inspired Psalmist: " Guard thy tongue from 
 evil, and thy lips from speaking guile." Let me 
 M r arn you against the dangerous practice of point- 
 ing out the faults of your neighbours to the notice 
 and reprobation of the world. Let me remind you 
 of the tenacity, with which injurious propensities 
 cling to us, of the fearful rapidity of their growth, 
 and of the insidious power they obtain over our 
 thoughts, until we find it difficult, if not impos- 
 sible, to extricate our better nature from their 
 ever-tightening grasp. 
 
 To acquire good habits is the work of time; for
 
 "GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL." 81 
 
 they are the result of deep reflection, of well- 
 matured opinions, of heart-felt convictions; they 
 are the daily and hourly expression of our senti- 
 ments, no longer enshrined in our minds and hearts 
 but transformed into active realities, brightening 
 and embellishing life with gentleness and patience, 
 with kindness and forbearance. Fortunately, how- 
 ever, reprehensible habits do not usually spring 
 from uncharitable feelings ; and there is great con- 
 solation in knowing, that they are often the result 
 of chance, and can, therefore, be more easily era- 
 dicated. They are like those weeds dropped into 
 the earth by the travelling breeze, or sown by the 
 bird in his joyous flight over blooming gardens, 
 seen anywhere, everywhere, often near the fairest, 
 sweetest flowers. Alas ! there is never any lack of 
 room for noxious weeds; they require no cultiva- 
 tion, they spread with marvellous quickness, they 
 grow profusely in every soil, close to the brightest 
 buds of loveliness, overshadowing them, robbing 
 them of their nourishment, until those beauteous 
 promises fade and die away, without having ever 
 expanded into radiant fulfilment. And so it is 
 with baneful habits. They are not necessarily the 
 undivided possession of the wicked and sinful; 
 many well-meaning persons thoughtlessly give way 
 to them, not remembering how soon they gather 
 strength to shroud the noblest qualities, and to 
 dethrone every human virtue and excellence.
 
 82 l< GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL." 
 
 Among dangerous practices, that of evil-speaking 
 is, unfortunately, a most prevalent one ; it does not 
 repel our friends and listeners sufficiently; for it 
 often shows itself in a very alluring garb. It hap- 
 pens generally, that we speak ill of others, without 
 having the remotest intention of wronging them ; 
 and then it is, that, strange to say, we mistake a 
 really fatal and sinful disposition, for the mere 
 exuberance of high spirits, for mirth, or the dis- 
 play of brilliant wit, and its gay train of jokes 
 and jests. And in such moments we forget, that 
 the so-called gleeful humour effervesces, and that 
 all the much-admired, dazzling wit, shines and 
 sparkles at the expense of others. 
 
 To many who are in search of amusement for 
 themselves and their companions, the temptation of 
 raising a smile or of calling forth peals of merri- 
 ment, often becomes irresistible. Then the mise- 
 rable foibles and blemishes of poor humanity, are 
 paraded before a laughter-loving circle, placed in 
 the most glaring light, to serve as targets for the 
 missiles of irony, for the arrows of taunting sar- 
 casm. But those arrows, although the mere play- 
 things of the hour, are often poisoned weapons, 
 more dangerous by far than the toys which heed- 
 less children toss about at random, and with which 
 they sometimes, in mere sport, inflict serious 
 wounds upon those they love best, as well as upon 
 themselves. It is not difficult to entertain an idle,
 
 "GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL." 83 
 
 frivolous audience, by ridiculing the shortcomings 
 and defects of others, by holding up to derision 
 any oddities of form and features, or peculiarities 
 of voice and speech, of gait and manner. It is a 
 mere pastime; but the darts of our quiver, care- 
 lessly flung about, with which we may hurt others, 
 rebound on ourselves, and do us incalculable 
 harm. The sinful weakness of looking around for 
 imperfections vitiates our taste, and soon deprives 
 us of the power of admiring, of appreciating, even 
 of perceiving that which is really noble, excellent, 
 and beautiful; and, believe me, there is much 
 more to be prized and revered, than to be blamed 
 and criticised among our fellow-beings. 
 
 At first our sarcastic speeches are mere playful 
 fancies, meant to beguile a weary hour; but im- 
 perceptibly we learn evil-speaking, and then we 
 dwell openly, not on mere trifling imperfections, 
 but on the faults and failings of all around us; and 
 this, my dear children, is a grievous sin. To speak 
 ill of our neighbours heedlessly, by the mere uncon- 
 querable impulse and force of habit, is dangerous; 
 but to do so with the intention of injuring any- 
 one, is wicked. There can be no moral good, no 
 advantage gained by exposing to the reprobation 
 of the world the faults of our fellow-creatures; 
 the sores and wounds of the sick are not un- 
 veiled to the gaze of the public by surgeons and 
 physicians; yet the patients are not neglected,
 
 84 "GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL." 
 
 their disorders are anxiously watched, and skilfully 
 treated ; and the sufferers recover, with the bles- 
 sing of God, all the sooner because their wounds 
 were closely bandaged and concealed from prying 
 looks. Very often the faults which strike us most 
 glaringly in others, may be mere specks and spots 
 disfiguring the outward man, perhaps, but leaving 
 the mind uncontaminated, the heart perfectly 
 sound at the core. It is wrong, under any circum- 
 stances, to disparage our neighbour, and we are 
 frequently liable to commit great injustice, when 
 indulging in such ungenerous attempts. Either 
 we scarcely know the persons whom we censure, 
 and then we must be unconsciously guilty of mis- 
 representation; or we are acquainted with those 
 whom, either in sport or in earnest, our tongue 
 seizes upon for its attacks, and then the offence 
 seems more unpardonable still ; for it is impossible 
 to associate with others, without discovering in 
 them many valuable qualities, well calculated to 
 extenuate, if not to counterbalance, their faults. 
 
 While taking a dispassionate survey of the 
 character of our brethren, of their motives and 
 actions, we cannot fail to trace the influence which 
 sways them, the circumstances of birth, parentage, 
 and early training, of health or sickness, of men- 
 tal or moral organisation, circumstances, which 
 either individually or when combined, may strongly 
 control their destiny. It is a mistake to suppose,
 
 "' GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL." 85 
 
 that mere evil-speaking leaves the objects of our 
 satire unharmed ; our briefest remarks calling 
 attention to trifling faults, which would probably 
 have remained unnoticed, or been overlooked, often, 
 in passing quickly from mouth to mouth, are dis- 
 torted into fearful calumnies or slanderous tales, 
 marring the success, if not utterly destroying the 
 prospects, of those whose conduct we have stigma- 
 tized, heedlessly perhaps, but far too audibly not 
 to be overheard. 
 
 Libellous speech is unkindness, which stabs far 
 more deeply than sword or bayonet on the field 
 of battle ; for the wounds inflicted by the keenest 
 steel may be healed by the aid of science and art, 
 or closed by the releasing hand of death ; while 
 those caused by unkindness, often rankle during 
 long years, poisoning the happiness of a whole 
 life. Even when the faulty themselves, whom 
 we feel inclined to blame, do not seem to merit 
 forbearance, let us guard our tongue from evil, 
 lest we should hurt the feelings of loving friends, 
 and thus mortify and humiliate the innocent, 
 while we scarcely chastise the guilty. Let us, 
 in conversation, and indeed at all times, throw a 
 mitigating veil over the faults of others, noticing 
 those imperfections only to recollect, that the 
 attempt to eradicate them, and to prevent their 
 recurrence, is among the most sacred duties of 
 our life ; and that we can hope for success in our 
 i
 
 86 " GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL." 
 
 endeavours, only by administering kind and gentle 
 advice to our erring brethren in the time of weak- 
 ness and temptation ; whereas we are unable to do 
 good by branding openly the failings and defects 
 which we see around us. Let us, my dear children, 
 be lenient to the wavering and feeble, lift up the 
 fallen, and extend a helping hand to those who 
 journey on the rugged paths of this world ; for we 
 too stand in need of assistance, of protection, of 
 indulgence. Remember, also, that you will easily 
 guard your tongue from evil, if, in your progress 
 through life, you are anxious to discover great quali- 
 ties, instead of searching for shortcomings. There 
 is nothing more encouraging, nothing more soul- 
 stirring, than the sight of human goodness. 
 Whenever we strive to hold up noble virtues to 
 general admiration, and earnestly claim respect 
 and reverence for those who exercise them, corre- 
 sponding qualities may, with the blessing of God, 
 be awakened in ourselves, as well as in others, 
 and developed for our own enjoyment, and for 
 the happiness of all around us. 
 
 The Psalmist exclaims: "Guard thy tongue 
 from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile." 
 Guile, my dear children, is one of the worst forms 
 of evil: it is falsehood, fraud, treachery; and I 
 feel convinced, that none of you would intention- 
 ally and knowingly be false and faithless, or would 
 think of lying and deceiving. There is something
 
 " GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL." 87 
 
 revolting and debasing in the very sound of the 
 words; but our faults are cunning enemies; in 
 their craftiness they assume any shape, any colour 
 and semblance, and often misguide us into the 
 belief, that they are, if not virtues, at least neces- 
 sities. But this is a dangerous delusion. There 
 is, for instance, no departure from truth, however 
 plausible its appearance, and however urgent its 
 motive, that can be excused, or safely indulged in. 
 The flattery which we may practise innocently to 
 please our friends, or designedly, to obtain some 
 object deemed of importance by us, is one species 
 of falsehood. To flatter, is to deceive ; and, having 
 contracted the habit of disguising or perverting 
 truth, we no longer shrink from falsehood. De- 
 ception, at first involuntary, may lead to inten- 
 tional fraud, and fraud to treachery, one of the 
 most heinous crimes of which man can be guilty. 
 But it would be too painful for you, my dear 
 children, were I to dwell upon all the sins and 
 calamities with which lying lips, steeped in guile, 
 may afflict us. 
 
 It is far more pleasing to consider, that God, in 
 His beneficence, has bestowed upon us the faculty 
 of speech for the noblest and highest purposes. 
 May we ever prize that power, as one of the 
 greatest gifts of His goodness ! May our tongue 
 teach the truths we have been permitted to 
 acquire, strengthen the weak and desponding,
 
 88 " GUARD THY TONGUE FROM EVIL." 
 
 comfort and sustain the afflicted with words of 
 hope and faith, and unite all those who come 
 within the circle of our influence, in bonds of 
 love, charity, and devotion. But above all, let 
 our lips, in health and in sickness, in poverty 
 and in wealth, in joy and in sorrow, in early 
 childhood, in buoyant youth, in tottering age, 
 and, indeed, from the brightest to the latest, 
 dimmest years of our existence, breathe thanks- 
 givings to the Lord God Almighty, and pray, that 
 His blessing may guard our lips from evil, and 
 enable us to obey, in truth and faithfulness, His 
 divine laws and precepts.
 
 XI. 
 " BEAUTY IS VAIN/' 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 The difficulties that would beset the teacher, 
 who attempted constantly to bring new subjects of 
 religious instruction before his hearers, would 
 prove insurmountable ; for the duties of life have, 
 in reality, been the same since the days of our first 
 parents ; and, from the time of our heavenly Father's 
 revelation on Mount Sinai, we are in ardent 
 gratitude bound most faithfully to obey the eter- 
 nally beautiful commandments of the Lord God 
 Almighty. Those laws are admirable in their 
 simplicity, and admit of only one interpretation ; 
 though embracing the whole circle of our duties, 
 they are few in number, and would not require 
 many hours to be explained, even to the youngest 
 child among you. But the virtues which they in- 
 culcate are not always easy to practise; and it is 
 only by incessantly reminding you of their deep 
 meaning, and of your own strength and ability, by 
 i 3
 
 90 "BEAUTY is VAIN." 
 
 warning you perpetually against your own weak- 
 ness, and against the faults leading to evil and to 
 unhappiness, that we can hope to be of service to 
 inexperieucied minds and youthful hearts. 
 
 There are many lessons often repeated to you 
 by zealous masters, and demanding frequent and 
 careful study on your part, before they can dwell 
 in your memory; and yet the knowledge they 
 convey, though very important for your well-being 
 and prosperity, is far less essential than the true 
 appreciation of your duties towards God, and 
 towards your fellow-wanderers on earth. There- 
 fore, my dear children, you will understand the 
 necessity of listening to good advice with unwearied 
 attention, and prove your \villingness to do so, by 
 taking to heart the following words of the Book of 
 Proverbs : " Favour is deceitful, and beauty is 
 vain : but a woman who feareth the Lord, she 
 shall be praised " (Prov. xxxi. 30) . 
 
 The deceitful favour here alluded to by King 
 Solomon, implies, no doubt, the admiration and 
 homage called forth, perhaps, by outward personal 
 advantages, and calculated to flatter and delude 
 the young, blinding them to the hollowness of 
 distinctions, which cannot be deemed true bless- 
 ings. What is called favour, can scarcely be 
 considered otherwise than a boon not earned by 
 personal exertions, and such a privilege has no 
 real value; it is deceitful. Beauty may be
 
 " BEAUTY IS VAIN/ 1 91 
 
 dazzling, but does not warm us like the sun; it 
 may be bright, but does not diffuse cheerfulness 
 all around, like the flame which blazes on the 
 hearth ; it may be radiant, but does not dispel 
 darkness like the gloriously illuminating light of 
 truth or of knowledge ; it may shine, but does not 
 help us on through dismal hours like the midnight 
 oil which burns in the lamp of the studious, of 
 the hard-working, of the self-denying; it may 
 sparkle like the diamond and ruby from orient 
 mine, but its brilliancy is less lasting than that 
 of gems and jewels. It fades as rapidly as the 
 rose, but, unlike the queen of flowers, leaves 
 nothing behind, save vexation of spirit, and the 
 bitterness of regret. 
 
 We are struck by the mountain torrent, foaming 
 over huge stones and fragments of rocks, leaping 
 into deep ravines, and throwing up myriads of 
 gleaming pearls, over which the light of heaven 
 flings its most vivid tints. We are spell-bound by 
 the towering snowy glaciers, glowing " celestial 
 rosy red," when kissed by the rays of the sinking 
 sun : and nearer home, in our own country, the 
 eye delights in the purple heath of moss and moor, 
 or in the amber furze of the rugged common, in 
 the starry forget-me-not, that blooms near the 
 silvery rill; even in the bryony, which winds so 
 gracefully its emerald foliage and coral beads 
 round every hawthorn hedge or prickly bramble
 
 92 " BEAUTY TS VAIN." 
 
 fence. But who is there among us that would 
 not prefer to all these enchanting beauties 
 of nature, to glistening mountain peaks, to 
 diamond cascades, rushing and gushing into dark 
 precipices, to all the grandeur and poetry of 
 Alpine scenery, to all the brightness of the wild 
 flowers of the earth who is there that would not, 
 upon reflection, prefer to them the calmly gliding 
 rivers, where the fisherman may spread his nets, 
 the cornfields, waving with golden harvests, free 
 alike from the scarlet poppy and the blue cen- 
 taurea, those gay but noxious weeds ; the wide- 
 extending orchards, luxuriant with the early 
 promise of countless blossoms, or with their rich 
 fulfilment in the shape of heavy clusters of ripen- 
 ing fruit ; the green meadows and broad pasture 
 lands, where flocks and herds graze and thrive ! 
 Who would not give the palm of superiority to 
 those substantial blessings which contribute to the 
 maintenance, to the prosperity of thousands, nay, 
 of millions of human beings? And so it is with 
 individuals. Beauty surprises, dazzles, fascinates 
 us by mere outward attractions ; but truly valuable 
 are only the acquirements and attainments of 
 the mind, the qualities and virtues of the heart, by 
 the faithful exercise of which we are enabled to 
 teach and serve, help and comfort, and, with the 
 blessing of Almighty God, bid happiness smile 
 around us, and thus reap the highest rewards ; for
 
 " BEAUTY IS VAIN." 93 
 
 believe me, my dear children, there is no greater 
 satisfaction, there is no purer enjoyment, than to 
 be useful, than to be good. 
 
 " Beauty is vain/' says our text : vain, since the 
 possession of it yields no real benefit to ourselves, 
 and does not enable us to contribute, in any way, 
 to the well-being of others ; vain, because evanes- 
 cent; fading rapidly, and leaving nothing behind 
 but annoyance at its disappearance. It is not the 
 sparkling brightness of the eye, my dear children, 
 that makes us clear-sighted, and enables us to 
 survey the wonders of creation ; nor the faultless 
 shape of the ear, that allows us to enjoy all the 
 marvellous sounds which pervade the world, the 
 music of air, and earth, and sea, the breeze 
 sighing through leafy branches, the clear tongue 
 of silver bells, the song of lark and nightingale, 
 and, above all, the thrilling voices of our beloved, 
 the joyous laugh of our children, the cordial 
 greeting of our friends, the hymns of our fellow- 
 worshippers. It is not the form of the lips 
 that makes their lessons truthful, that gives 
 force and eloquence to their words, earnest- 
 ness to their supplications, zeal and ardour to 
 their prayers, or success to their exertions, when 
 they venture on advice or reproof, or when they 
 attempt to soothe and to console, to uphold and 
 to encourage. It is not the graceful proportions 
 of the figure that allow us to bear unharmed the
 
 9-1 "BEAUTY is VAIN." 
 
 fatigues of daily labour, nor the snow-white deli- 
 cacy of the hands that gives us strength to toil, 
 skill to work, to ply the needle, or to guide the 
 pen or pencil. It is not the bright colouring of 
 the cheeks, the luxuriant locks and tresses of the 
 hair, that give us more health, more strength, 
 more aptitude for the duties of life. And knowing 
 that outward charms do not in any way contri- 
 bute to usefulness, to kindness, to happiness on 
 earth, we should learn to estimate such fleeting 
 possessions at their true value, and to prize the 
 beauty of the mind, of the heart and soul, the 
 beauty of talent, of genius, of justice, and of virtue, 
 far above all corporeal loveliness. 
 
 I am afraid, my dear children, that we are apt to 
 overrate good looks and external advantages, and 
 that we attach undue importance to all that 
 heightens outward attractions. "We are too fond 
 of glitter, of baubles, and worthless finery. Those 
 who gaudily adorn themselves for the mere grati- 
 fication of foolish vanity, often grasp at the shadow, 
 while they overlook the substance. 
 
 And yet God, who in His beneficence has given 
 you, my dear young friends, the freshness of youth 
 and the roses of health, did not intend that you 
 should neglect such bright advantages. Scrupu- 
 lous cleanliness ought to be your constant aim; it 
 will do much to brace and strengthen you; it will 
 give a glow to your countenance, a brilliancy to
 
 " BEAUTY IS VAIN." 95 
 
 the smile that parts your lips, a pleasant lightness 
 to your step, to all your movements; and if to 
 cleanliness you add careful simplicity of dress, 
 your appearance will surely make a favourable 
 impression ; it will give confidence in your good 
 sense, it will indicate that, while you despise the 
 vanities, you value the graces of life. 
 
 Our text says further, "but a woman who 
 feareth the Lord, she shall be praised/' My dear 
 children, to fear the Lord, does not mean to 
 tremble before the wrath of the Omnipotent, to 
 dread His might or His ire. Why should we 
 quake before Him, who is the eternal source of all 
 mercy, of all love ? As children shrink from 
 offending or grieving their parents on earth, so 
 should we feel awe at the thought of disobeying 
 our heavenly Father's commandments, of trans- 
 gressing His divine laws, of neglecting the per- 
 formance of good deeds. But we will not speak 
 of evil-doers ; it is sad to think of them, to dwell 
 on their recklessness. Yet there are sins of omis- 
 sion, severely visited upon us, and I would remind 
 you, my dear children, that the power of woman 
 upon earth is almost unlimited; I mean her power 
 of usefulness. With that knowledge of her strength 
 in her heart of hearts, she should feel encouraged, 
 irresistibly urged on to constant exertions: she 
 may, indeed, be humbled before the greatness of 
 the Lord ; she may fear lest she should not be
 
 96 "BEAUTY is VAIN." 
 
 deemed fully indefatigable and conscientious in 
 the discharge of her duties, lest she should not 
 embrace their whole circle, not be generous and 
 forgiving, benevolent and charitable enough, nor 
 sufficiently watchful, devoted, and self-sacrificing. 
 She may, at times, fear lest she should not fulfil 
 her mission completely, nor always prove a guar- 
 dian angel to all around her, wisely interposing 
 her protecting wings between the numbing cold- 
 ness, the raging storms, the fiercely burning pas- 
 sions of the world, and those confided to her loving 
 care ; to a mother's or a sister's devotion, to a 
 daughter's veneration, to the sympathy of a noble 
 heart, of a heart combining the meekness of 
 the dove with the penetration of the serpent and 
 the courage of the lion. 
 
 The woman who fears the Lord is keen and 
 clear-sighted, strong and powerful, yet mild and 
 humble-minded, ardent in her faith, and in her 
 adoration of the heavenly hand, which has show- 
 ered so many blessings upon her, and graciously 
 permitted that she should dispense them to all 
 around. 
 
 " She shall be praised," says our text ; but do 
 not suppose, my dear children, that by praise is 
 meant the admiration of the public, the flattery 
 of sycophants, the adulation of the world. The 
 applause alluded to, is the earnest approbation of 
 friendship, the radiant smile of delight, the tearful
 
 "BEAUTY is VAIN." 97 
 
 look of gratitude, the fervent prayer of thankful- 
 ness, and the gently rewarding voice of conscience. 
 That is appreciation far more eloquent, far more 
 soul-stirring, than all the honours of the earth. My 
 dear children, let us then, with true and fervent 
 hope, supplicate God for His divine blessing, that 
 we may learn to overcome our weakness, and to 
 remember throughout our pilgrimage, that favour is 
 deceitful, that beauty is vain, but that a woman who 
 fears to disobey the laws of the Almighty, and who 
 faithfully accomplishes her duty, shall be praised 
 for her zealous endeavours, and for the good works 
 of a humbly pious life.
 
 XII. 
 "LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 You have often been cautioned against 
 selfishness, and been told of the great evils which it 
 engenders, of the rapid growth of self-worship, and 
 of the tyranny with which such dangerous idolatry 
 usurps the time, the thought, and care, which 
 belong to the service of purer, nobler feelings. 
 
 You have heard how soon and how despotically 
 egotism may lead to the utter neglect of great 
 duties, and you have been implored to shun it, as 
 you would beware of the juice of the deadly night- 
 shade, of the venom of the snake, or of the sting 
 of the scorpion ; for does it not corrupt the mind, 
 as those dread enemies poison the life-blood? 
 
 And yet selfism is only the abuse of that self-love, 
 which has, by divine Providence, been made inhe- 
 rent in our nature, where its healthy development 
 becomes one of the conditions of our existence. 
 This truth it is impossible to question, if we take 
 the Bible as a torch to our path, and, walking in its 
 brilliant light, see all the obligations which we owe
 
 " LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 99 
 
 to our brethren, placed most clearly before us, but 
 always in connexion with our own life. Thus we 
 find in Leviticus: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour 
 as thyself." 
 
 Let me endeavour to explain to you, my dear 
 children, the meaning of these words. Evidently 
 the love of self must precede that which is due to 
 those around us ; otherwise it would not have been 
 taken as a point of comparison. We ought, then, 
 to consider the nature of that feeling, and the 
 manner in which it is usually manifested. Among 
 its first duties, that of self-preservation, in the 
 widest sense of the word, is undoubtedly apparent. 
 The wilful neglect of our health, of our mental 
 and moral development, of our religious training, 
 by which we incalculably iujure ourselves, cannot 
 possibly benefit others ; on the contrary, such 
 recklessness must wound and afflict most deeply 
 those dearest to our affections, embitter their 
 existence, and cloud, if not annihilate, their happi- 
 ness. Thus you see, my dear children, that for 
 the sake of our best friends, as well as for our 
 own, we are called upon to devote all our energies 
 to the cultivation of talents and abilities, which the 
 Almighty, in His goodness, has graciously be- 
 stowed upon us. How could we prove useful to 
 others without the knowledge which must be dili- 
 gently acquired, without the experience which can 
 be gained only by active labours among the busy 
 haunts of men, without the strength of mind and
 
 100 "LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 
 
 body, which enables us to become valuable citizens 
 of the world, and zealous members of society ? 
 
 My dear children, the higher we prize the gifts 
 bountifully conferred upon us by the Lord, the 
 more we appreciate such advantages without being 
 vain or proud of them, the more indefatigably we 
 shall endeavour to turn them into engines of utility, 
 first to promote the prosperity of our own imme- 
 diate circle, and then the improvement and ad- 
 vancement of all our fellow-beings. The more we 
 look upon ourselves as divinely endowed for the 
 fulfilment of a great mission, the more carefully 
 must we watch over our thoughts and words, over 
 our feelings and actions, that none may be vexa- 
 tious or frivolous, none barren, none productive of 
 evil, but that all be instrumental in achieving real 
 good, in awakening the noblest hopes and aspira- 
 tions. After the first early years of life, when 
 our education is supposed to be terminated, though 
 in reality it extends throughout the whole period 
 of our existence ; when we have emerged, or, as 
 we too often consider, have escaped from the 
 trammels of parental authority, or of scholastic 
 severity: then we begin earnestly to feel, how 
 necessary it is to weigh the duties which we owe 
 to ourselves; for though we may not often be 
 reminded of them by friendly voices, the world 
 speedily punishes our individual failings, as they 
 inevitably lead to offences against its laws and 
 requirements. It is perfectly true, that there is an
 
 "LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 101 
 
 intimate connexion between the duties which we 
 are bound to perform towards ourselves, and those 
 demanded of us by others; and that, having ne- 
 glected the former, we are not well fitted to do 
 justice to the latter. It is equally certain, that 
 great emergencies may arise, when we are, by a 
 sacred call, impelled to save suffering brethren at 
 the risk of our own existence; and history fur- 
 nishes us with many beautiful instances of noble- 
 minded heroes rushing into burning flames, or 
 plunging into a watery grave to rescue their fellow- 
 beings from danger or death. 
 
 But, fortunately, not every one is required to 
 exercise such unusual self-abnegation, or to make 
 such enormous sacrifices. Thanks to divine Pro- 
 vidence, shipwrecks, and fires, and the horrors of 
 war, or of pestilence, are not calamities of con- 
 stant occurrence; and, generally speaking, it is, 
 believe me, my dear children, far better to live 
 truly for others than to die for them, even in a 
 just cause. Indeed, it will be admitted that quite 
 as rare and admirable a spirit of devotion is needed 
 to minister incessantly, and under the most trying 
 circumstances, to the happiness of our fellow- 
 creatures, as to save them from misery or from 
 perdition by one great act of self-sacrifice. As 
 civilisation advances, there are, perhaps, fewer 
 opportunities of achieving sublime deeds of 
 heroism; still in every phase of progress, and 
 
 K3
 
 102 " LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 
 
 whatever position we occupy iu life, we may per- 
 severe in the accomplishment of helpful deeds. 
 
 Among the duties which we have to fulfil towards 
 ourselves, the care of our health must hold a 
 most prominent place. The state of the mind 
 very often influences the bodily condition, as much 
 as the latter affects the attributes of the soul ; but 
 violent pain or sickness unfits us for the energetic 
 discharge of the labours of life, be they intellec- 
 tual or corporeal ; and habitual infirmity of body, 
 though it may not absolutely incapacitate us for 
 every task or exertion, most assuredly weakens 
 and vitiates our powers of usefulness. Besides, 
 illness, even if borne with patience and resigna- 
 tion, surely diminishes the enjoyment of those 
 gifts, which God, in His inexhaustible beneficence, 
 has graciously intended for us all. When laid low 
 by sickness, we cannot always think of others, or 
 hope to benefit them by our advice and assistance; 
 and when overwhelmed by our own sufferings, we 
 want the whole depth and extent of our remain- 
 ing strength to bear their weight, whereas the 
 entire plenitude of our energies and faculties is 
 demanded, effectually to serve our neighbours. 
 And most truly do the Holy Scriptures teach us, 
 that it is better to be poor and in good health, 
 than rich and afflicted with sore disease; for a 
 vigorous constitution is more valuable than gold, 
 and cheerfulness shines more brightly than pearls.
 
 " LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 103 
 
 Although the body is perhaps irreparably injured 
 by excesses, yet it requires food, often more than 
 mere bread to appease hunger, and water to quench 
 thirst ; it craves sleep, rest, recreation : and after 
 the fatigues of the week, all labourers will gladly 
 hail the repose of the Sabbath, and celebrate it in 
 grateful contemplation of the wonders and beau- 
 ties, with which the Lord has bountifully adorned 
 this world. But rest occupies only a small space in 
 our pilgrimage; it ranks in importance far below 
 labour, to which we are born. Industry is the 
 condition and the reward of our existence, its salt 
 and spice j and, even before the fall of man, before 
 sin had darkened the earth, we find our first an- 
 cestor appointed to work with the strength and 
 skill of his hands; for do we not read in Genesis, 
 " And the Lord God took Adam into the garden 
 of Eden, to dress it and to keep it ? " And it is 
 certain, my dear children, that by conscientious 
 exertions in the field of life, we may, as it were, 
 still be active in the garden of our heavenly 
 Father, and tend flowers of loveliness and delight. 
 " How sweet is the sleep of the toiling man," 
 says the Preacher; and many among us must have 
 felt the truth of these words. Another great duty 
 is that of outward cleanliness, which, while it pro- 
 motes health and strength, should be symbolical 
 of mental purity, of spotless beauty of mind and 
 heart ; for all the obligations imposed upon us by
 
 104 " LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 
 
 well-regulated self-love, fall into the back-ground, 
 when compared to the higher duties, which we 
 have to fulfil with regard to the development of 
 our inner faculties, and to the study of the sacred 
 laws, which teach us to accomplish our heaven- 
 appointed mission, and to live in zealous though 
 humble imitation of the Lord in whose image 
 our immortal soul was created. Let us then avoid 
 all evil thoughts, all violent passions; anger, which 
 deprives us of self-control, and leads us headlong 
 into error ; avarice, which seals up the fountains 
 of charity, and perverts every generous impulse ; 
 envy, which makes us look with a jaundiced eye 
 upon the possessions of others, while it causes us 
 to undervalue our own advantages ; pride, which 
 is an egregious folly; for are we not all equally 
 small in the sight of the Eternal, perishable as 
 the flower that blooms and fades, as the tree that 
 maybe struck down by one flash of lightning? 
 Let us, above all, beware of selfishness, which is 
 not true love of self, but the guilty over-indul- 
 gence of every whim and fancy, of every caprice 
 that may spring from our brain, of every wish and 
 inclination that may rise within us, while it is at 
 the same time utterly regardless of the wishes, 
 feelings, and interests of others. Let us cherish 
 contentment, and learn to prize with a thankful 
 spirit all the mercies and blessings so bountifully 
 lavished upon us by the paternal hand of God.
 
 " LOVE THY NEIGHBOUE AS THYSELF." 105 
 
 And, believe me, my dear children, that whatever 
 cares and reverses even the least prosperous among 
 us may experience throughout life, they have 
 fewer trials and afflictions to deplore, than benefits 
 and enjoyments to remember. 
 
 Let us, further, beware of frivolity, of attaching 
 undue importance to mere vanities, of underrating 
 that which is truly great and beautiful, or of 
 treating with levity and scorn that which should 
 be viewed with respect and reverence. Let us 
 refrain our lips from evil, from uttering falsehood, 
 from speaking guile, for, " whoso keepeth his 
 mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from 
 troubles." Let us remain aloof from crooked 
 paths, from wicked companions, as it is almost 
 impossible that the pure-minded should associate 
 with the sinful, and not be contaminated ; but let 
 us strive to dwell near the good and righteous, 
 that noble examples of piety and devotion may 
 kindle lofty sentiments in our breast. All ought 
 to study indefatigably according to their capacity ; 
 for is not knowledge more precious than rubies ? 
 But while we attempt to follow the highest nights 
 of genius, or to dive into the depths and secrets 
 of science, or while we aim at achieving triumphs 
 in art, may we never consider any simple manual 
 labour beneath our dignity, when it can save us 
 and pur loved ones from the pressure of poverty, 
 and the humiliation of unnecessary dependence
 
 106 " LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 
 
 upon the bounty and exertions of others. Let us 
 not accustom ourselves to an existence of luxury, 
 by which those who plunge into its enervating 
 habits, become incapacitated for the performance 
 of the sterner occupations of life. Let us practise 
 economy and thrift when our own expenses are 
 concerned, that we may be truly charitable and 
 generous when those around us claim help ; let us 
 make order and punctuality the rule of our days, 
 that every moment may have its appointed utility, 
 and be deemed an inestimable gem, employed to 
 adorn childhood, youth, and maturer years, with 
 labours and deeds of usefulness. 
 
 Such are the duties imposed upon us by true 
 self-love, and corresponding obligations we owe to 
 others, since the Holy Scriptures command us to 
 love our neighbour as ourselves. Of course, we 
 cannot attend to all brethren in need; but to 
 those who come within the sphere of our activity, 
 we should be eager and anxious to extend the 
 advantages conducive to welfare and happiness. 
 We are bidden by numerous passages in the 
 divine Volume, to deal in a kindly spirit with our 
 fellow-beings, and each commandment enjoins 
 some new form and proof of sympathy, and true 
 solicitude. We are bound to exercise the senti- 
 ment of universal brotherhood, in thought, word, 
 and deed; in thought, we must maintain our 
 purity by not allowing outward composure and
 
 " LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 107 
 
 apparent gentleness of manner and speech, to 
 cloak inward anger or enmity ; in short, by never 
 harbouring malice, rancour, or envy, nor medita- 
 ting deceit and treachery ; by never doubting the 
 sincerity and excellence of others, unless we ac- 
 quire painful conviction of the contrary ; by never 
 despising a neighbour, since he is in reality our 
 equal before God ; but by looking upon every one 
 as indissolubly connected with us. In words, we 
 should be equally mindful of the duty of love to 
 others, either in speaking of them, or to them. 
 In conversation, we should never allude to our 
 fellow-beings otherwise than kindly, as unguarded 
 expressions may, in travelling from door to door, 
 gather power for evil, become transformed, ere 
 long, into calumnious assertions, tending to over- 
 whelm the innocent with disgrace and affliction, 
 just as a few flakes of snow in rolling down from 
 mountain peaks, collect materials in their descent, 
 and are with fearful rapidity changed into the all- 
 destroying avalanche. In addressing others, we 
 ought to refrain from unreasoning hastiness, irri- 
 tability, and violence, but speak as we wish to be 
 spoken to, with a benevolent feeling, yet not with- 
 holding advice, admonition, or even rebuke; for 
 surely we could not desire our own faults to 
 remain unheeded and unconnected. With regard 
 to good works, let us strive to do for others, that 
 which we have found productive of happiness to
 
 108 " LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 
 
 ourselves ; similar deeds and efforts will increase 
 the prosperity and well-being of our neighbours, 
 will promote their health and comfort, their thrift 
 and frugality; will teach them to appreciate the 
 dignity of labour, and the excellence of industry ; 
 will enable them to banish prejudice and igno- 
 rance, to prize the advantages of knowledge, and 
 the blessings of education. 
 
 It may, indeed, my dear children, appear easy 
 enough to recommend the duties of love, but most 
 difficult, if not impossible, to carry out such in- 
 junctions. It may seem, that few possess the 
 talent, power, and influence sufficient for so great 
 a task ; but you will soon learn, that this opinion 
 has no foundation ; for even those who do not own 
 great wealth, which permits them to extend their 
 help to thousands, can find means and opportunities 
 of serving others, or share the little they have with 
 those who are still less favoured, and certainly 
 give time, and with it sympathy and attention. 
 If compelled to work all day for their living, may 
 they not, by somewhat curtailing the hours of 
 sleep, find leisure to do much good, to speak, to 
 write, to intercede for others, to instruct them, if 
 necessary, to the best of their abilities ? There is 
 always a wide margin left in life for works of 
 mercy and charity, however closely we ima- 
 gine our days to be measured. Throughout this 
 countrv there are innumerable teachers, the sons
 
 "LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." 109 
 
 and daughters of toil, who deem it a distinction and 
 a blessing that they are allowed to instruct little 
 children how to read the Word of God. Believe 
 me, my dear young friends, that even without 
 incurring the risk of starving, of passing sleepless 
 nights, of exhausting our powers of mind and 
 body, we can accomplish much for the benefit of 
 our neighbours. And however small the place 
 we occupy in the world, however lowly our own 
 condition, if in heart and soul anxious thoughts 
 and warm feelings combine for the welfare of 
 others, there will soon be kindled a bright flame 
 to give us light, and show us, throughout our 
 earthly pilgrimage, the most beneficial manner of 
 distributing the valuable treasures placed in our 
 gift by the grace of the Lord. Then we may 
 have the happiness to know, that in striving to 
 obey the beautiful commandments of the Al- 
 mighty, we have made the words, "thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself," excellent realities; 
 that we have learnt to carry them into practice, 
 and to cherish all the children of our heavenly 
 Father, whatever their birth and creed, with 
 the whole strength and depth of our love and 
 devotion.
 
 XIII. 
 
 " HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY 
 WEALTH." 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 You have heard of pagans in various parts 
 of the world, of pagans, whom, hitherto, the 
 divine revelation has not reached, and who, in 
 their ignorance, in their mental darkness, bow 
 down before strange idols. Yet, benighted as 
 they are, and mixed up as their worship often is 
 with customs and superstitions from which civili- 
 sation and true religion recoil, it cannot be 
 doubted, that these poor untaught s beings feel 
 gratitude in their hearts to some powerful Spirit 
 recognised as the bountiful donor of the gifts 
 which they enjoy ; and that the idols of wood, or 
 stone, or metal, before which they kneel, are mere 
 symbols of an invisible Benefactor, whom they 
 adore in their own rude fashion. There are innu- 
 merable savage tribes of wild, ruthless men, steeped 
 in barbarism; but you will find, that in spite 
 of their aberrations, reverence of an all-powerful 
 Deity is the leading feature of their creed ; for the 
 feeling of deep gratitude to an eternal and bene- 
 ficieut Dispenser of all blessings, is innate in the
 
 " HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY WEALTH." Ill 
 
 human breast, implanted there by the divine hand 
 of our heavenly Father. Thus the fire-worshippers, 
 not uncivilised, but still heathens, bend the knee 
 before the sun, which gives them light and warmth 
 by day, which causes their wheat to nourish, their 
 trees to grow, and their fruits to ripen. The in- 
 visible Power, which the Parsee reveres as fire on 
 earth, appears to him revealed in the glow and 
 splendour of flames and sunbeams. And if those 
 who are ignorant of the truths of religion, bow 
 down before an unknown Omnipotence, is it not 
 natural that we, my dear children, to whom God's 
 Word was clearly manifested thousands of years 
 ago, should prostrate ourselves in humble thank- 
 fulness and ardent adoration before the Almighty 
 Creator ? 
 
 But this alone cannot satisfy our sense of duty ; 
 worship of the Lord should not consist in mere 
 prayers of gratitude and supplication, in mere 
 outward forms and ceremonies. We should adore 
 and praise God, in obedience to His beautiful 
 laws and unchangeable commandments. 
 
 My dear children, let us then take to heart, 
 and consider the following precept : " Honour the 
 Lord with thy wealth, and with the first of thy 
 fruits" (Prov. iii. 9). What is it that forms our 
 wealth ? in what do our riches consist ? Not in 
 pearls or sapphires ; God cares not for such trea- 
 sures : in the sight of the Eternal, truth shines
 
 112 " HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY WEALTH." 
 
 more brilliantly than the diamond from the Indian 
 mine; knowledge is far above all gems, and the 
 tears of sympathy that spring from the depths of 
 the heart and glisten in looks of love, are more 
 precious than the most beautiful pearls from the 
 caves of the sea. God does not require sparkling 
 jewels or sculptured marble to adorn His Taber- 
 nacles. Is not the whole earth His Temple ? Are 
 not the mountains that rise heavenward, clothed 
 with living forests, or snow-robed and ice-crowned, 
 are they not columns far grander and far more 
 magnificent than the most costly pillars, carved 
 out of the deep quarries of the land, by the hands 
 of man ? And the green earth, enamelled with its 
 countless flowers, those blossoms of sweetness and 
 loveliness, is it not a carpet more splendid than 
 any that could be woven by human skill ? Foun- 
 tains and rivulets, torrents and cascades, and the 
 waves of the sea, and the pinions of the mighty 
 winds, all gushing and sounding through the 
 world, and the voices of myriads of birds, rising 
 into the blue fields of air with unceasing hymns 
 of beauty, are they not music as thrilling and as 
 admirable as that which rang through the vaults 
 of the Temple of Zion, when harps and psalteries 
 filled it, thousands of years ago ? 
 
 The words, " Honour the Lord with thy wealth," 
 are directed alike to rich and poor ; yet God does 
 not want the superfluities of the wealthy, nor the
 
 " HOXOUR THE LORD WITH THY WEALTH." 113 
 
 scanty savings of the needy. Is not the universe, 
 with all its wonders and glories, His own ? Those 
 words must therefore mean, that noble and gener- 
 ous use should be made of the gifts and advan- 
 tages in our possession ; that, in accordance with 
 the divine spirit, which pervades our holy religion, 
 the rich should assist those who may require 
 help, that they should offer food to the hungry, 
 clothing to the naked; that they should give 
 fuel, shelter, and light, not merely the roof that 
 wards off rain and snow, but also the protec- 
 tion that guards against the nipping chill and 
 numbing indifference of the world ; not only the 
 faggots or coals that blaze on the hearth, and 
 warm the frozen or shivering limbs, but also the 
 tender sympathy and true solicitude that make 
 the coldest heart glow, and kindle the best 
 feelings of human nature ; not merely bread for 
 the body, but also food for the mind ; not only 
 light for the eyes, but also illuminating truth 
 for the soul, which is, alas ! so often darkened by 
 surrounding shadows. 
 
 Those destitute, or nearly so, of the possessions 
 called earthly treasures, are yet enjoined to honour 
 the Lord with their wealth. But they have no 
 gold or silver which they can transmute into 
 kindness; none, however, are too poor to give. 
 There is always something which may be divided 
 with those still more needy than ourselves ; and if 
 L 3
 
 114 " HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY WEALTH." 
 
 there be no tangible goods to place at the disposal 
 of our suffering brethren, we can offer our help to 
 lessen the weight of their anxieties, we can labour 
 for them, give them our watchful care in times of 
 trouble and of sickness, devote to them our earnest 
 attention, that they be encouraged to seek us 
 hopefully, and confide to us their difficulties and 
 apprehensions, which we then may strive to lessen 
 by gentle sympathy and fervid zeal. It is a 
 blessed thing to give, and to feel, that whatever is 
 valuable and enjoyable, that whatever has been 
 graciously bestowed upon us by the mercy of 
 divine Providence, may be shared with others. It 
 is delightful to know, that, with the blessing of 
 Almighty God, we may always do some good on 
 earth, that we may always hope to help and sup- 
 port, console, comfort, and cheer those in distress 
 or affliction. Indeed our own happiness would be 
 dimmed by the sight of surrounding miser)", if we 
 did not believe it possible to bid smiles of content- 
 ment replace tears of sorrow, if we did not feel it 
 to be a great and noble privilege to make others 
 participate in our possessions. It is true, that we 
 cannot give eyes to the blind, activity to the lame, 
 hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb ; but we 
 can mitigate all evils by the power of faithful love. 
 " He that giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord," 
 and in that way we are permitted to honour God 
 with our wealth.
 
 " HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY WEALTH." 115 
 
 We are bidden to honour Him also with the 
 first of our fruits. When the holy Temple stood 
 on Mount Moriah, the Israelites, our forefathers, 
 were commanded to lay on the altar, the fig, the 
 olive, and the gleaming clusters of the vine, 
 pomegranates and honey, and the yellow sheaves 
 of the harvest : the olive, that time-honoured 
 emblem of peace ; the fig, the fruit borne by the 
 patriarchal tree ; the grape, with its refreshing or 
 invigorating juices ; the countless rubies of the 
 pomegranate ; the sweetness distilled by the bee ; 
 and the choicest ears of corn, forming the staff of 
 life, and affording nourishment and strength to all 
 God's children. 
 
 But the Temple has long ceased to exist, and 
 sacrifices, according to the literal meaning of the 
 expression, are no longer offered; yet in the 
 nobler and deeper sense of the word, the same 
 laws will endure till the end of time. To sacri- 
 fice is to relinquish some precious treasure, to 
 surrender it entirely, without reserve; and surely, 
 my dear young friends, there are none among us 
 who may not be called upon in the course ,of their 
 existence to yield up, for the benefit of others, that 
 which they prize, perhaps most highly, themselves. 
 Our text says : " Honour the Lord with the first 
 of thy fruits." The first fruits in an orchard are 
 the freshest, the most delicate, those borne by 
 the tree in its vigour, ere the parent stem, the
 
 116 " HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY WEALTH." 
 
 supporting branch, is impaired by any symptom 
 of weakness or decay, or before the sun has lost 
 its mellowing powers, before the autumnal winds 
 have travelled over the land, and chilled the bloom 
 on downy peach or purple plum. In a similar 
 manner, the first fruits of the heart are our best 
 efforts, our warmest feelings, our highest aspi- 
 rations, our most glowing zeal, our most fervid 
 devotion, ere time, with its maiming scythe, has 
 swept over them, ere affliction and sickness, ere 
 the disappointments and vicissitudes of life have 
 disabled us, have crippled our energies, have bereft 
 us of the ability of doing good, and left us nought 
 but the sting of useless regrets. To honour the 
 Lord with the first of our fruits, is to sacrifice, in 
 obedience to His divine commandments, and for 
 some great or excellent purpose, that which we 
 value most truly ; and, by doing so, in all humility, 
 without a murmur, though not always without a 
 pang, for that would perhaps be impossible to frail 
 humanity, we reap blessings of which the selfish 
 can. have no idea. 
 
 To relinquish a real benefit, does not make 
 what is truly precious of less importance to us ; 
 on the contrary, the sacrifice enhances our appre- 
 ciation of the advantage, which we have surren- 
 dered, and teaches us to prize it doubly. If urged 
 by the voice of pity to give up our bread to a 
 sick or starving fellow-creature, and to leave the
 
 " HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY WEALTH." 117 
 
 cravings of our own hunger unappeased, we are 
 rewarded, not merely by the tranquillising con- 
 sciousness of having saved a distressed brother or 
 sister from suffering; but the bread we have shared 
 with others acquires a value in our eyes, which it 
 never had before. Often we may have been inclined 
 to wish for more sumptuous fare, but after the 
 sacrifice, we shall relish our daily bread, and grate- 
 fully acknowledge the beneficence of the Lord, who 
 vouchsafed it to our wants. And so it is with all 
 our possessions ; we shall no longer covet silken or 
 velvet garments, and cast a look of dissatisfaction 
 upon the homely attire in which we appear among 
 others, after having parted, perhaps, with our best 
 wearing apparel to guard some shivering fellow- 
 wanderer from cold ; but then we shall be deeply 
 thankful for the covering which protects our limbs. 
 Leisure to follow some pleasant pursuit, rest after 
 the labours of the day, sleep to renew our energies 
 for the morrow, and time devoted to business or 
 to study, are all advantages and blessings, which 
 we learn to value, after having been called upon 
 to sacrifice them at the shrine of duty. And 
 when that duty ceases, we enjoy, with renewed 
 zest and eagerness, the leisure that allows us 
 healthy recreation, the precious time for study, 
 and we are doubly thankful for the hours of rest 
 and for the nights of sleep, that increase our 
 strength, and renovate our powers.
 
 118 " HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY WEALTH." 
 
 But when we have courage enough to resign 
 those airy nothings, to which we too often cling 
 with delight, when we forego the gratification of 
 mere vanity or the enjoyment of frivolous amuse- 
 ments, which do not enhance our real happiness, 
 or tend to improve and elevate the mind; then 
 we soon discover, how contemptible those long 
 cherished idols were, and how well, nay, how 
 much better we can live without them. 
 
 My dear children, let us honour the Almighty 
 with our wealth, with the first of our fruits, with 
 our best treasures of heart, and mind, and soul ; 
 with all the powers arid energies which He has 
 graciously bestowed upon us ; with our activity and 
 zeal in the performance of duty, ere the blight of 
 adverse circumstances warp our faculties, ere the 
 frost of old age bind us with its fetters. And if 
 we have honoured the Lord, if we have served 
 Him in truth, in earnestness, and in humility, if 
 we have gladly sacrificed our first fruits to Him, 
 and given them cheerfully, generously, with feel- 
 ings of charity and devotion, to our brethren on 
 earth ; then we may confidently look for a second 
 life and youth beyond the grave, for eternal life, 
 for unfading youth, for undimmed sunshine, for 
 undying flowers, for fruits which storms cannot 
 nip in the bud, and whose bloom and beauty 
 autumnal winds can never chill.
 
 xw. 
 
 ON CHILDHOOD. 
 
 MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS. 
 
 The dangers of conceit and of vanity, the 
 sinfulness of haughty looks, expressive of haughty 
 thoughts and feelings, have, no doubt, been fre- 
 quently pointed out to you ; but it seems scarcely 
 possible to repeat too often, how reprehensibly you 
 would act by attaching undue importance to any 
 advantages which may have fallen to your lot, 
 such as innate or acquired quickness, or natural 
 cleverness, highly developed by the power of 
 favorable circumstances, or by your own care and 
 perseverance. Still less justifiable would be any 
 presumptuous bearing in consequence of a worldly 
 position superior to, or more prosperous than that 
 of the playmates and fellow-learners by whom you 
 are surrounded. Your clothes may be better than 
 theirs, your home replete with comforts, which 
 to many of the young pupils scanning the same 
 lessons as yourselves, are perfectly unknown ; 
 yet it would be unpardonable to treat them con- 
 temptuously, or merely to be supercilious and
 
 120 ON CHILDHOOD. 
 
 overbearing towards them, because their parents 
 have, perhaps, to carry on a hard struggle for the 
 necessaries of life. The vanity called forth by 
 the possession of personal endowments, the con- 
 ceit engendered by dazzling talents, and the arro- 
 gance produced by eminence of station, deserve, 
 alike, unmitigated blame. But there is one feel- 
 ing of noble pride, which ought to be developed 
 to its utmost extent. May that sentiment be 
 stimulated in you by the following words from 
 the Book of Proverbs : " Children's children are 
 the crown of old men, and the glory of children 
 are their fathers/' 
 
 My dear young friends, you know that the 
 crown of a forest tree is formed by its highest 
 branches, by the most leafy, the most flourishing, 
 the most beautiful, those nearest to the sky, to the 
 sun, to the reviving dews, to the balmy breezes, 
 to the fertilising showers, to the radiant light of 
 heaven. They grow where the air is purest, 
 where the rays of "the celestial orb are not inter- 
 cepted; they thrive where clinging ivy does not 
 impede health and strength ; they expand in the 
 brightest atmosphere, where birds love to dwell, 
 and to sing their joyous carols. And the crown 
 of a rose-tree is its summit, decked with the 
 sweetest blossoms, where richly-jewelled butter- 
 flies revel among buds and flowers, where the bee 
 gathers her honeyed treasures, where the voice
 
 ON CHILDHOOD. 121 
 
 of the nightingale is most melodious. And in 
 southern climes, where nature seems more lavish 
 of her bounties than in our own temperate zone, 
 the crown of the queen of fruits, of the regal pine- 
 apple, is the promise of future excellence. 
 
 And among men, the crown of kings is the 
 outward sign, the symbol of power, the emblem 
 of authority over great empires and over the des- 
 tinies of mighty nations. The crown of laurel, 
 that wreathes the brow of the illustrious, far more 
 precious than the glittering diadems which en- 
 circle anointed heads, becomes towards the mid- 
 day or evening of a glorious career, the reward 
 of genius that has shone, and wrought, and la- 
 boured, perhaps suffered, for humanity. It may 
 bloom late, it may rest only on the grave, and be 
 clasped round the memory of the sublime poet, 
 of the devoted statesman, of the self-sacrificing 
 patriot, of the hero who gave his treasures of 
 blood and life, of the philosopher who gave his 
 whole wealth of thought to his contemporaries 
 and to posterity ; but, believe me, my dear child- 
 ren, the crown of honour is never withheld from 
 the truly great, and good, and noble. 
 
 My dear young friends, do you understand, how 
 children's children may become the crown of old 
 men? They are the highest branches of the 
 time-honoured tree; let them feel pride in that 
 distinction. They are farther removed from the 
 M
 
 122 ON CHILDHOOD. 
 
 denser atmosphere, from the shadows of earth, 
 than the aged stem; they rejoice in light and 
 sunshine, they drink in the refreshing dews of 
 heaven, they hear the beauteous concerts of aerial 
 choristers singing their morning hymns or evening 
 psalms to Almighty God. They have youth and 
 health and growing strength; their existence is 
 one of brightness ; the clouds of by-gone sufferings 
 and losses do not cast their darkness around them ; 
 the gloom of cares and anxieties does not obscure 
 their life. The tears of childhood are not those 
 burning drops, which never flow without leaving 
 furrows behind ; they are more like April showers, 
 speedily followed by those flowers of happiness, 
 the most beaming smiles. My dear children, 
 learn to prize your sunny youth, your blooming 
 health, your buoyant strength, the unalloyed hopes 
 that fill your mind, the light-winged joys that per- 
 vade your heart. Possessed of treasures exceeding 
 in value all gems of the sea, all gold of the earth, 
 you should, indeed, become a crown of delight to 
 your parents. You should work unremittingly 
 with head and heart and limbs. You can do so ; 
 your mind is clear; it is undimnied by fears and 
 apprehensions for the distant future, or for the 
 impending morrow ; it is unfettered by pressing 
 necessities ; your ardour is undamped by failures ; 
 your courage is unchecked by reverses. You can 
 labour with all your heart ; for that young heart
 
 ON CHILDHOOD. 123 
 
 knows not yet the sadness of woe, the bitterness of 
 regret and self-reproach, the cold weight of disap- 
 pointment ; wounding unkindness and lacerating 
 harshness have not caused it to bleed. Nor is 
 your bodily vigour wasted and enfeebled by long 
 years of hard toil ; sickness and suffering have not 
 weakened your arms and made your hands trem- 
 ble. And as the birds of the air love the highest 
 and freshest branches, as the bees seek the sweetest 
 blossoms, so not merely the active and cheerful, 
 but all mankind are irresistibly attracted towards 
 childhood, the harbinger of future worth, and the 
 rewarding crown of present generations. Many 
 who, in their anxious desire to benefit the needy, 
 frequently turn away, with a sigh of hopelessness, 
 from those Avhom they may find it impossible to 
 serve, whom they cannot raise from the depths of 
 misery to the heights of well-being, whom they 
 are unable to lead forth from the darkness of 
 ignorance, or from the still greater gloom and 
 dangers of vice, into the bright paths of know- 
 ledge and virtue, many of these philanthropists 
 feel hopefully drawn towards childhood. They 
 give unto it their utmost care and attention, their 
 deepest thought, their most earnest exertions ; for 
 they know, that children may, indeed, with the 
 blessing of God, realise the fondest wishes and 
 most enthusiastic anticipations formed for their 
 advancement and happiness. The whole world
 
 124 ON CHILDHOOD. 
 
 lies before them. Aided by the experience and 
 endeavours of zealous guides, they may become that 
 which adverse circumstances, uncontrollable events, 
 imperfect means of education, prevented those who 
 lived before them from being. All eyes have kind 
 looks, all lips have gentle words for 'childhood; 
 all hearts warm towards it. My dear young 
 friends, do not disregard these great advantages. 
 Think, that you may become a crown to the old, 
 to the weary, and be unto them the strength 
 and power which they have lost. Learn to 
 understand and to prize the noble duties which 
 you are called upon to fulfil. Remember, how 
 much is expected from you, IIOAV much you may, 
 with divine assistance, be able to give, how much 
 joy you can diffuse around ) ou. Remember, that 
 if you thus transform the ardent hopes of your 
 friends into beautiful realities, you will cause your 
 parents to pass, as it were, through their own life 
 a second time, without the exhausting strife of 
 their earlier years, and without any alloy of selfish- 
 ness. Your own vigour will replace their impaired 
 health, their diminished energy; your prosperity 
 and happiness will be theirs ; your love, no longer 
 barren, and expressed only by affectionate words, 
 will prove rich in good works, will indeed be a 
 crown, a reward, to those whom it is your duty 
 and your delight to cherish and to revere. 
 
 The second part of our text says, " the glory of
 
 ON CHILDHOOD. 125 
 
 children are their fathers." My dear young friends, 
 let us ever recollect and acknowledge, how much 
 we owe to our parents ; let us strive with all the 
 powers of mind and soul graciously implanted in 
 us by the Lord God Almighty, always to shape 
 our conduct so that it shall be an honour to our 
 children : and then our deeds will constitute their 
 best inheritance; then our loved ones will look 
 back to the trials to which we submitted without 
 flinching, to the disappointments borne by us 
 without a murmur, to the sacrifices we made with- 
 out boasting, to the perhaps unrequited proofs of 
 devotion which we never ceased to give to all 
 around us, to the bodily paiu we endured with 
 resignation, to the affliction which God's mercy 
 allowed us to suffer with fortitude ; and then our 
 whole life will be unto our children a torch to 
 light their path, so that they may avoid dangers 
 and surmount obstacles, feel sustained in hours 
 of weakness, comforted in times of sorrow, and 
 encouraged in seasons of difficulty. Indeed, the 
 humble though anxious endeavours of parents may 
 win glory for their children: yes, glory we find 
 the word in the holy text, and, in truth, the reality 
 comes from the great Dispenser of all blessings. 
 For what are human aims, even the most lofty, 
 human efforts and exertions, even the most strenu- 
 ous, human actions, even the best and most self- 
 sacrificing ? They are mere specks on the wings of 
 
 M3
 
 126 ON CHILDHOOD. 
 
 time, mere grains of sand in the immensity of the 
 universe. Glory comes from God : it is a gift of 
 His boundless goodness, like health, and life, and 
 love, and happiness. It is the crown which His 
 inexhaustible beneficence awards to those who, 
 during their earthly journey, have ever tried to 
 obey His beautiful laws, and keep His sacred 
 commandments.
 
 XV. 
 ON OLD AGE. 
 
 MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS. 
 
 You are standing on the threshold of your 
 career ; and it is the privilege of happy childhood, 
 unfettered, gay, and blithe, as the birds of the air, 
 to possess a keen sense of enjoyment, to lead a 
 cheerful life, one of ever- varying sensations and of 
 quick emotions, rather than of deep thought and 
 of profound feeling. You have no fears ; the day 
 is bright, you think not of the morrow ; or it may 
 be dull, and dark, and cold, but you heed not the 
 outward gloom ; all is light, and warmth, and 
 brightness within the circle of your merry games. 
 You have neither cares nor anxieties; these are 
 the offspring of heavy responsibilities, which the 
 goodness of the Almighty has withheld from your 
 young years. Mental sufferings are almost un- 
 known to you, and bodily pain, when not asso- 
 ciated with anguish of the mind, is more easily 
 borne. Childhood achieves a rapid triumph over 
 sickness, and indeed over- all woes, ills, and evils, 
 which are the heirlooms of humanity. Our hea- 
 venly Father has willed it so in His beneficence ;
 
 128 ON OLD AGE. 
 
 otherwise children could not rest in their cradles, 
 nor eat their daily bread ; they would not grow 
 and thrive; the development of their limbs, the 
 expansion of their brain, could not take place. 
 
 It is natural, that they should not be absorbed 
 by anxious thoughts; but their memory being 
 unburdened by the recollection of past trials, their 
 mind, free from harrowing apprehensions for the 
 future, retains the lessons confided to it at a 
 tender age. Those lessons are not obliterated ; on 
 the contrary, they take root in the heart, and, 
 like grain dropped into the earth, they yield, with 
 the blessing of Almighty God, rich and beauteous 
 harvests. Therefore, loving parents and zealous 
 advisers, watch carefully over young children, 
 teach them diligently, impart to them those in- 
 valuable precepts which should never be forgotten ; 
 impress upon them the fulfilment of their duties, 
 of those duties which grow every year in impor- 
 tance, as well as in number. Among them, the 
 respect due by the young to the aged, is powerfully 
 enjoined in the following words of Holy Scripture, 
 " Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and 
 honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God ; 
 I am the Eternal" (Lev. xix. 32). 
 
 My dear children, the Almighty has placed 
 within our breast two feelings which may well 
 co-exist without being prejudicial to each other, 
 namely, the love of novelty, and the attachment
 
 ON OLD AGE. 129 
 
 which binds men to all that once pleased or charmed 
 them. Though the love of novelty acts as a potent 
 spell over our imagination, though it awakens 
 fresh thoughts and aims, and is one of the chief 
 incentives to exertion and progress, thpugh it kin- 
 dles and fans the spirit of enterprise and of ad- 
 venture ; yet it is probable, that the force of habit, 
 the feeling with which we cling to the past and its 
 traditions, exercises a still greater influence over 
 multitudes and individuals. We cleave to old 
 customs and forms ; we study the languages that 
 flourished in by-gone ages, the literature and annals 
 of distant epochs and ancient nations ; we revert 
 to time-honoured rules to guide and instruct us, 
 and, of course, we humbly strive to act in accord- 
 ance with the divine precepts promulgated more 
 than three thousand years ago ; those beautiful 
 laws, however, are endued with eternal life ; they 
 were vouchsafed unto all generations, they retain 
 their sway through all centuries. And, passing to 
 objects of less magnitude and of minor attraction, 
 it is a matter of general observation, that fe\v per- 
 sons feel allured by new towns, so cold and so bare, 
 with their long wide streets, their broad squares 
 and places, unconnected with the history of pre- 
 ceding times ; while eager crowds will hasten to 
 visit old buildings, to admire old cities, to worship 
 in old temples, to meditate near old ruins, to read 
 beneath old trees, to seek great and good counsel
 
 130 ON OLD AGE. 
 
 among the relics, vestiges, and symbols, of the 
 past; to derive antiquarian and historical lore 
 from old pictures and books, so replete with useful 
 examples. And not only do the achievements of 
 man during past centuries challenge our enthu- 
 siastic admiration, or excite our fervid interest; 
 but among the wondrous works of creation, those 
 that date from times immemorial, appear to wield 
 a far greater power over our minds, than the ever 
 renewed gifts and blessings of God. The song of 
 birds, the sweetness of flowers, the ripening fruit, 
 the abundant harvests reaped by indefatigable 
 hands, do not rivet our thoughts so forcibly as the 
 calm lake with its crystal depths, as the foaming 
 cascade, flinging through endless cycles of time, 
 into the dark abyss beneath, its wealth of dia- 
 monds and pearls, and its myriads of sun-lit rain- 
 bows; as the wide fathomless ocean, over which 
 millions of ships career to seek prosperity, and 
 perhaps to find destruction ; as the celestial orbs, 
 whose radiance has shone over so many hopes and 
 fears, so many lives and deaths. 
 
 And yet there is no edifice, there is no city, 
 there is nothing in nature, however grand and 
 majestic, so deeply interesting and venerable as 
 the hoary head which enshrines the human mind ; 
 there is no picture that appeals so irresistibly to 
 the imagination, as the furrowed brow of the old 
 man, whom we are commanded to honour. Even
 
 ON OLD AGE. 131 
 
 the towering mountains, the dazzling glaciers, the 
 starry worlds and all their glories, appear insigni- 
 ficant when compared with man, whom God has 
 created in His own image. But the Almighty is 
 not corporeal, and our senses cannot conceive His 
 ineffable greatness. It is our immortal soul that 
 bears resemblance to the Creator, and our perish- 
 able body is but the frail vessel which holds it. 
 
 How incontrovertibly does old age show us, what 
 the brightest youth must become, if not nipped in 
 the bud, or cut off in the flower. Does it not hold 
 out indelible lessons, convey irrefutable truths 
 concerning the vanities of life ? Who can notice 
 the tottering gait, the enfeebled limbs, the im- 
 paired sight, the imperfect hearing, the scarcely 
 audible speech of the aged, and contrast them 
 with the buoyant, almost flying steps, the clear 
 eye, the quick ear, the ringing voice of childhood 
 and youth, without seeing at once the evanescent 
 nature of those beauteous advantages, which we 
 are apt to value, not too highly perhaps, yet ex- 
 clusively, forgetting that God Almighty, in His 
 beneficence, has bestowed upon us more lasting 
 gifts, which, if duly prized and used, will bless us 
 during the whole of our earthly existence. Old 
 age brings before us the picture of our pilgrimage, 
 with its innumerable changes and vicissitudes, 
 with its trials, sufferings, sorrows, and bereave- 
 ments. Let us respect and revere the hoary head,
 
 ]3.2 ON OLD AGE. 
 
 as we should honour a valued teacher who could 
 hold up for our instruction a mirror prophetically 
 showing the probable temptations and dangers of 
 our life, an experienced friend, who could advise 
 and warn us quietly and gently, yet firmly and 
 forcibly. 
 
 My dear children, let us endeavour correctly to 
 understand, what is meant by honouring old age. 
 It is not to overwhelm the aged with protestations 
 and outward forms of respect and reverence ; the 
 Lord, in His goodness, frequently permits years to 
 roll by so calmly, and men to grow old so gradually, 
 so imperceptibly to themselves, that they do not 
 like to be reminded too often of the great dif- 
 ference between their failing powers, and the in- 
 creasing energies of youth. To honour the aged is 
 to strive with all means at our disposal, to do that 
 which would prove most agreeable and most useful 
 to them ; to honour the aged, is to yield to their 
 service the activity of our hands, the vigour of our 
 health, the faithfulness of our memory, our talents, 
 if Providence should have blessed us with any, our 
 patience, our devotion, if they be needed. My 
 dear children, how melancholy is the thought, that 
 in our latest years we may perhaps be abandoned, 
 left alone in our debility and helplessness, when 
 afflicted with numerous infirmities, which, bringing 
 us nearer to death, lead us, it is true, to the gates 
 of immortality. But notwithstanding that belief,
 
 ON OLD AGE. 133 
 
 that sublime consolation of religion, our powers of 
 endurance are often sorely tried ; for, being weak 
 and human, we feel oppressed by the weight of 
 suffering, and then we anxiously and constantly 
 yearn after proofs of gentle sympathy and love. 
 
 Our text says, lastly, " And fear thy God ; I am 
 the Eternal." In such emphatic terms does the 
 Almighty ordain, that we shall honour the hoary 
 head; lie declares disrespect to the aged to be 
 almost a profanation of His own holiness. But 
 the Lord is the inexhaustible fountain of all 
 mercy, of all blessings. We cannot tremble be- 
 fore Him, nor dread His anger; what we must 
 fear, is to disobey His admirable commandments ; 
 and if we thus live in reverential awe of our 
 heavenly Father, and aloof from wrong-doing, 
 then we may bow down before Him hopefully 
 and in humble adoration, while we feel, that the 
 shadows of our own old age, will be only similar 
 to the darkest hours of night, which precede the 
 dawn of a new morning. 
 
 N
 
 XVI. 
 THE HAPPINESS OF CONCORD. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 You have often been exhorted to exercise 
 gentleness and patience, kindness and forgiveness, 
 to bear disappointments, if possible, \vithout a 
 frown, to endure annoyances with meekness, to 
 banish all feelings of resentment, to curb all 
 emotions of anger, and check all expressions of 
 irritation. You will prove more loveable, by learn- 
 ing to control passionate excitement, and to soften 
 the asperities of your temper. You will be more 
 pleasing to others, and become more trustworthy 
 friends ; you will teach by precept and example, 
 and be infinitely happier, because more cheerful 
 and less ruffled by each passing gale ; and being 
 happier, you will also feel able to do more good to 
 those who need advice and assistance. Habitual 
 irascibility is incompatible with buoyant spirits 
 and bright hopes, which, if not fettered, will 
 always be powerful auxiliaries to your best feel- 
 ings, to your most strenuous endeavours for the 
 advantage of others. Young girls living at home, 
 surrounded by their loved ones, will find it a
 
 THE HAPPINESS OF CONCORD. 135 
 
 comparatively easy task to practise forbearance ; it 
 is not difficult to extend indulgence to those who 
 cling to us with tender affection, or to whom we 
 belong by the most endearing ties. Attachment, 
 duty, devotion, prompt us to forgive, and to repress 
 the murmur, the sigh that may rise to our lips, or 
 the unbidden tear that may obscure our eyes. 
 But it is more difficult to yield to strangers ; for 
 we understand their motives and feelings less 
 truly, we have fewer sympathies in common with 
 them, and are not so much inclined to make 
 allowances for their faults and shortcomings. At 
 home, even children may, by their smiles, their 
 joyous voices, and all their playful ways, increase 
 the general harmony. And remember, that the 
 earlier we begin to train ourselves for the active 
 performance of the duties of life, the more per- 
 fectly we may hope to fulfil them, and the easier 
 we shall find it, not merely to vanquish our faults, 
 but also to use the most energetic efforts for our 
 own satisfaction as well as for the enjoyment and 
 happiness of all those Avho depend upon our labours. 
 Let us then, my dear children, take to heart 
 the precious lessons contained in the following 
 words : " Behold how good and pleasant it is for 
 brethren to dwell in unity" (Ps. cxxxiii. 1). It is 
 impossible to live in concord with all those who 
 form our circle, without knowing their hopes and 
 aims, and also their anxieties and afflictions. But
 
 136 THE HAPPINESS OP CONCORD. 
 
 to know those feelings is to share them by tender 
 and genuine sympathy, is to endeavour by the 
 force of will and devotion to lighten the weight 
 of sorrow ; is to strive by untiring, helpful zeal, 
 to contribute to the fulfilment of fondly cherished 
 anticipations and ardent wishes ; is to foster and 
 encourage lofty aspirations. And if we live thus 
 lovingly for others, entering with all the energies 
 of our mind into their sphere of thought and care, 
 taking true, active interest in their pursuits and 
 in their welfare, then the glittering vanities and 
 alluring frivolities of life will soon sink into their 
 real insignificance ; then selfism, which strangles 
 in its tight embrace the best impulses of our 
 nature, cannot grow and expand, but is quickly 
 and completely uprooted ; and what remains of 
 self in the depths of the soul, and in the recesses 
 of the mind, is self-knowledge. For, believe me, 
 my dear children, it is impossible for us to think 
 or to toil much with heart and brain, without 
 learning our own powers of usefulness, and also 
 our own weakness : and self-knowledge gradually 
 enables us to avoid our errors, to develop our 
 higher qualities, and thus to win self-respect. Few 
 will know their own defects and abilities, without 
 striving to correct the former, and to cultivate the 
 latter to their utmost limits. 
 
 While actively occupied in promoting the ad- 
 vancement and welfare of others, the trifling
 
 THE HAPPINESS OF CONCORD. 137 
 
 annoyances or disappointments which mark with 
 dark lines the flight of time, and would, under 
 different circumstances, disturb our equanimity, 
 lose their importance, exist unheeded, or vanish 
 completely. How can it be otherwise, when mat- 
 ters of real magnitude engross our thoughts? 
 Even the minor cares of life do not press so 
 heavily upon us, when we have made the needs, 
 the sorrows, and enjoyments of our friends and 
 neighbours, of all our brethren, the paramount 
 objects of our attention and solicitude. The deep 
 and conscientious study of human nature, when 
 pursued to discover the wants of the suffering and 
 to relieve them, to ascertain the cravings of the 
 helpless and to satisfy them, to understand the 
 grief of the afflicted and to assuage it, teaches real 
 philosophy, reverential wisdom. There are com- 
 parisons which force themselves upon us; there 
 are bright examples which strike our imagination 
 and inspire us with courage and fortitude. Even 
 our own great trials are more easily borne while 
 we have energy left to exert ourselves for others. 
 There are, however, infirmities so great, afflictions 
 so overwhelming, there is bodily pain so acute, 
 there is debility so paralyzing, that the faculty of 
 exertion ceases, and activity becomes impossible : 
 and then, hope in God's inexhaustible mercy, and 
 fervent supplication to the throne of grace, seem 
 the only two blessings left to comfort us. Yet, 
 
 N 3
 
 138 THE HAPPINESS OF CONCORD. 
 
 my dear children, a third consolation remains ; it 
 is the consciousness of having laboured zealously, 
 of having ardently and indefatigably endeavoured 
 to do our duty. That feeling, that tranquillizing 
 conviction, drops balm into all bleeding wounds ; 
 it robs corporeal tortures of their horrors, it robs 
 mental affliction of its greater agony. Reflect, 
 how terrible it would be, my dear children, in the 
 time of trial, and while enduring, perhaps, excru- 
 ciating pain, to feel, that our days have been mis- 
 spent, and that we have deserved the punishment 
 which may overpower us. 
 
 In some instances, you may not find it easy to 
 dwell in unity with those near you ; but earnest- 
 ness of purpose will teach you, ere long, to over- 
 come all difficulties. Soon you will be certain to 
 reap, and to make others enjoy, the fruits of your 
 forbearance. In order to live in concord with 
 all those who cluster around our home, or who 
 form the perhaps ever-extending circle in which 
 divine Providence has placed our labours, we must 
 begin by correcting our infirmities of disposition. 
 Such faults may appear but trifling, likely to affect 
 merely our own existence, and to leave unimpaired 
 the fulfilment of those higher duties of life, which 
 we owe to our fellow-creatures. This, however, 
 is not the case. No faults can be called unim- 
 portant, as unfortunately none remain so; they 
 all grow and increase, and as they accompany us
 
 THE HAPPINESS OP CONCORD. 139 
 
 in our intercourse with others, it is impossible 
 that they should not exercise some injurious in- 
 fluence. In our state of society, we may do harm 
 to our friends and neighbours, either by actual 
 interference in their concerns, which cannot 
 always be avoided, or by the force of pernicious 
 example. 
 
 Let us, my dear children, enjoy every happy 
 hour with buoyant gratitude, and refrain from 
 murmurs and frowns when the serenity of our 
 horizon becomes overcast. Sullen discontent, 
 habits of ill-humour, appear like those dense 
 mists which extinguish the light, and intercept 
 the warmth of sunshine. Many may be truly 
 benevolent ; but while they are steeped in sombre 
 dissatisfaction, kindly thoughts will scarcely occur 
 to their minds, or gentle expressions of sympathy 
 flow from their lips. Or if the gloom of their 
 wayward temper should occasionally be pierced by 
 their innate goodness of feeling, a genial warmth 
 will still be missed, and their intended kindness 
 will seem cold, like the sun struggling through 
 dark fogs. Although persons afflicted with a 
 morose disposition may perhaps be respected for 
 certain valuable qualities, which occasionally co- 
 exist with great infirmities of character, they can- 
 not be sincerely and deeply beloved ; their powers 
 of aiding others will be curtailed, their presence 
 will be shunned. Not meeting with the sparkling
 
 1*40 THE HAPPINESS OP CONCORD. 
 
 look of joy, and with the tearful glance of grati- 
 tude, which so often reward those who have been 
 fortunate enough to help or serve their brethren, 
 the moody benefactors will feel chilled ; the ardour 
 of their devotion will find itself quenched ; and 
 having lost or relinquished the external amenities 
 or graces of life, they will frequently run the risk 
 of losing the greater, more precious treasures of 
 the heart, and of becoming, in reality, indifferent 
 and callous. By giving way to the influence of ill- 
 humour, we allow a blight to fall upon our better 
 nature ; we stifle our own benevolence, we deprive 
 ourselves of much happiness and enjoyment. 
 
 But what shall we say of those who do not keep 
 in check passion and violence ? My dear children, 
 I hope you will ever retain in faithful and vivid 
 recollection, that "a soft answer turneth away 
 wrath," but that " grievous words stir up anger." 
 We do not sufficiently appreciate the sway exercised 
 by human language. It is one of the great bless- 
 ings beneficently bestowed upon us by Almighty 
 God ; it is one of those invaluable privileges which 
 we enjoy above all other beings, above the migh- 
 tiest tenants of earth, sea, and air; it is one of 
 those powers which enable us to vanquish, or to 
 make subservient to our will, the fiercest animals, 
 whose strength could easily destroy us. And if 
 we wield so much force over dumb creatures, how 
 much greater should be our authority over our
 
 THE HAPPINESS OF CONCORD. 141 
 
 own brethren, endowed with the same faculties as 
 ourselves ? 
 
 You have been told, my dear children, but can- 
 not be too frequently reminded, that the voice 
 of man, obeying the dictates of reason and of 
 judgment, of sympathy and of benevolence, is far 
 better able to teach and advise, to reprove or 
 console, to cheer and encourage, than any other 
 faculty graciously bestowed upon us. Kind words 
 will repress wrath, as the softest breath of air 
 extinguishes the light of a candle ; while grievous 
 speech, like a stormy wind, may fan a spark into 
 consuming flames and destructive fires. Let us 
 recollect also, my dear children, that " hatred 
 stirreth up strife, but that love covereth all 
 offences." The anger kindled by irritating or 
 afflicting expressions, often deepens into hatred, 
 which inevitably leads to unhappiness. It is far 
 easier not to offend others, than to be cordially 
 forgiven by them ; it is less difficult to avoid 
 receiving provocation or insult, than to extend 
 unconditional pardon to those who have hurt 
 or wounded us. We may show indulgence and 
 mercy; but distrust of the offender frequently 
 and involuntarily lingers in our mind. Habitual 
 gentleness on our part will make it improbable, if 
 not impossible, that others should affront us; it 
 will be a more efficient safeguard than harshness 
 of manner or of speech.
 
 142 THE HAPPINESS OF CONCORD. 
 
 Lastly, let me tell you, my dear children, that it 
 is most painful to contemplate the frequent results 
 of irritation, vindictiveness, and violence of temper. 
 Deep injuries may be inflicted by those who allow 
 anger to overcome their reason. Sin has been 
 incurred, crime perpetrated, life even sacrificed in 
 moments of exasperation, manslaughter has been 
 committed, overwhelming the guilty with undying 
 remorse. Thus hatred leads to strife, to incalcu- 
 lable, to unmitigated evils, while love covereth all 
 offences. If your heart be pervaded by kindly 
 feelings, if it be full of warm sympathy, of tender 
 solicitude for every one, my dear children, you 
 will forgive easily ; you cannot do otherwise, 
 when the first sorrowful surprise is past. It will 
 alleviate your pain to pardon the offenders, and 
 your leniency, far from crushing those who un- 
 wittingly or knowingly have injured or wronged 
 you, may turn all their gall into sweetness, and 
 cause them to repent in their heart of hearts. 
 It will certainly make them respect, perhaps even 
 love you ; and that is surely a great triumph, for 
 you have often heard, that the erring and sinful, 
 who have harmed others, unable to forgive them- 
 selves, and ever reminded of their fault by re- 
 morseful feelings, shun those whom they have hurt, 
 and thus become strengthened in their enmity. 
 
 Remember, my dear children, that by the side 
 of true, self-denying love, of entire devotedness,
 
 THE HAPPINESS OF CONCORD. 143 
 
 there is no room for evil sentiments. And, doubt- 
 less, it is not only good, but pleasant also, for us 
 to dwell together in unity. Most misfortunes 
 arise from the want of concord; much of the 
 suffering in this world is the result of anger and 
 hatred, of strife and malice, of envy, and unchari- 
 tableness, and of the absence of that blessed 
 feeling which covereth all offences. Loss of for- 
 tune, infirmities and sickness, are sent by God 
 Almighty to try and chasten us ; and death is a 
 dark shadow extending between this world and 
 that better land promised to the just and righteous. 
 But nearly all other troubles are man's own 
 making, caused by grievous words, unjustifiable 
 excitement, or blind passion. My dear children, 
 let us beseech God to strengthen our best endea- 
 vours towards the establishment of peace around 
 us, and to bless us with His divine support, so that 
 we may hope to live happily in uninterrupted 
 concord and undisturbed harmony with all those 
 who accompany us throughout our pilgrimage on 
 earth.
 
 XVII. 
 ON FORBEARANCE. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 Although the most highly favoured of 
 mankind may labour indefatigably and successfully 
 to acquire learning, to make the lore and science 
 of by-gone ages their own; although many are 
 endowed with brilliant intellectual faculties, with 
 powers of mind which, measured by our human 
 standard, may appear great and rare, yet even 
 their knowledge is so narrow and so circumscribed, 
 their judgment so imperfect, so fallible, the means 
 at their disposal are so limited, their insight into 
 men and things is so far from penetrating to the 
 depths of truth, that surely every-one, in forming 
 opinions of others, of their motives and actions, 
 should, from fear of committing an injustice, either 
 openly or in the recesses of the heart, be urged to 
 take a lenient view of all blemishes and imperfec- 
 tions. We should remember, that the faults and 
 failings which most painfully strike and offend our 
 innate sense, our most dearly cherished convictions 
 of that which is right and honest, good and true and 
 pure, that all those shortcomings or positive wrongs 
 may be owing to imperfect or entirely neglected
 
 ON FORBEARANCE. 145 
 
 training, to the apathy produced by impaired 
 health, to the absence of staunch principles, never 
 inculcated into the mind or heart, to the fatal 
 presence of evil example, to dangers we know not, 
 to temptations we see not, to inward or outward 
 perils, of which the most discerning and the most 
 vigilant may have no idea. 
 
 My dear children, indulgence, and not severity, 
 is, I think, the first impulse of our nature. Let us 
 fortify ourselves in the best intentions, which may 
 not always be sufficiently powerful to produce the 
 best actions, by the perusal of the following words : 
 " Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts : ' Execute true 
 judgment, and show mercy and compassion, every 
 man to his brother : and oppress not the widow, 
 nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor ; and 
 let none of you imagine evil against his brother in 
 your heart' " (Zechar. vii. 9, 10). My dear chil- 
 dren, it is the Lord who speaketh thus, the Lord 
 of heaven and earth, of all nations, of all worlds, 
 of all eternity ; the Lord of all productions, of all 
 creatures, of all generations. He whose divine 
 will calls us into life, and closes our eyes in death ; 
 " He who bringeth low, and lifteth up " " He 
 who upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all that 
 are bowed down ;" it is He who commandeth us 
 to execute true judgment". 
 
 "What is the real import of these words, my 
 dear children? The holy text says, mercy and 
 o
 
 146 ON FORBEARANCE. 
 
 compassion. Rigour, cold severity, and harshness, 
 are but injustice. Some may perhaps suppose, 
 that they will never have any opportunity of ex- 
 ercising true judgment; but let no one, whatever 
 his position in the world, indulge in such thoughts. 
 To form opinions of others, and to act in accordance 
 with those opinions, is expected from beings, whom 
 God has created after His own likeness, and gra- 
 ciously intended to wield dominion over the whole 
 earth. And you, also, believe me, my dear children, 
 will be called upon to execute judgment in the 
 course of your existence. Do not imagine, that your 
 condition is too humble to demand the exercise of 
 gentle forbearance, of tender mercy, and of deep 
 compassion. It is true that you do not stand 
 above and beyond others, that we are all placed 
 by the side of our fellow-beings, and can never 
 think too little of ourselves, but should always 
 and anxiously strive to banish pride from our 
 thoughts and feelings, from our actions, words, 
 and even looks ; yet we can never entertain too 
 vivid a sense of our duties, we can never place 
 them too high in our estimation, nor invest them 
 with too lofty, with too sacred a character. The 
 conscientious fulfilment of our obligations makes 
 us both happier and better. It raises us above the 
 annoyance caused by the minor disappointments 
 of the day, and purifies our minds and hearts from 
 the mists, from the shadows of selfishness.
 
 ON FORBEARANCE. 147 
 
 My dear children, the more you advance towards 
 womanhood, the more your duties will extend, the 
 more numerous, the more arduous, will they be- 
 come. Prepare yourselves in childhood for the 
 performance 'of your task in later years. It is 
 never too early to begin ; and the opportunities of 
 showing indulgence and sympathy will never fail 
 you. 
 
 Commence by being kind, gentle, and patient 
 at home, with your elder brothers and sisters, 
 who, already obliged to toil, and perhaps over- 
 burdened with work, may require the services of 
 your hands to lighten the weight of their load. 
 Be more patient, be kinder and gentler still with 
 the younger ones, who cling around you in their 
 helplessness. They possibly want much quieting 
 and soothing, when you, too, are weary and stand 
 in need of rest, or when you long for leisure and 
 tranquillity to study and to learn. The poor little 
 children are perhaps hungry or restless, feverish and 
 ill at ease. Your mother is probably working with 
 indefatigable industry, and unable to give them 
 the care and attention which they crave. You 
 may find their cries, their clamouring, irksome 
 and fatiguing at times, but you will dry their 
 tears; and later, the fond affection of brothers 
 and sisters will more than compensate you, my 
 dear young friends, for all you have endured, for 
 all you have relinquished.
 
 148 ON FORBEARANCE. 
 
 It is not unlikely, that your elder sisters have 
 been sent, quite young, into service ; and that ne- 
 cessity has driven your brothers into the streets, 
 there to earn a precarious subsistence. At night, 
 the youths come home, after the rough contact 
 with those who crowd the noisy market-place or 
 the busy thoroughfare ; and the maidens return to 
 their own hearth, after having borne the harshness 
 of perhaps severe task-mistresses : there may be 
 much in their words and looks, in their manners, 
 in their habits, so very different from what you 
 have seen under the roof of your parents, that 
 you are often called upon to execute true judgment. 
 But, believe me, my dear children, the qualities 
 you acquire, the patience and perseverance you 
 practise, the powers of forbearance and endurance 
 you exercise at home, will be of the greatest ser- 
 vice to you hereafter in the world. Those who 
 are good, lenient, and forgiving in the circle of 
 their own family, cannot be stern, presumptuous, 
 and unfeeling out of doors. Those who love father 
 and mother and sisters, with deep and anxious 
 solicitude, with ardent affection, with true and 
 unflinching devotion, must feel for others; and, 
 sympathising with them, they will readily show 
 mercy and compassion. 
 
 My dear children, we shall not find it difficult 
 to manifest pity and commiseration, if we remem- 
 ber, that it is impossible always to know, how the
 
 ON FORBEARANCE. 149 
 
 faulty have been led into error; if we recollect, 
 that it is surely better to pardon even the wicked, 
 thus hoping to bend the stiff -necked, and soften 
 the stubborn spirit by kindness, than to deal 
 cruelly, perhaps, with the innocent, who may 
 stand unjustly accused of guilt; if we constantly 
 bear in mind, and acknowledge before the tribu- 
 nal of God, that a searching glance into the most 
 secret chambers of our own heart, into the depths 
 of our own mind, will reveal a humiliating picture 
 of weaknesses, of ever-recurring faults, convincing 
 us, only too painfully, how much we stand in need 
 of indulgence, of clemency, and of compassion 
 ourselves. 
 
 " Oppress not the widow," says our text. Have 
 you ever reflected, my dear children, how great a 
 task she is bound to fulfil ? It is the burden of 
 double duties, the arduous performance of which 
 never ceases to weigh upon her. She must be 
 both father and mother to her orphan children. 
 She has to exert the authority, the energy, the 
 vigour of mind, and, with her weaker frame, the 
 bodily strength too, of a father. She has to toil 
 for her sons and daughters, ruling them by the 
 power of her will, of her discernment providing 
 for their maintenance, protecting them, carving 
 out their road in the world. And yet she does 
 not abdicate her womanly functions ; she watches 
 with the tenderness, with the solicitude, of a 
 o 3
 
 150 ON FORBEARANCE. 
 
 mother, over every instant of her children's exist- 
 ence ; she tends them in health and in sickness, 
 warding off harm from the loved ones, and giving 
 them, with a smile of delight even at a great 
 cost of exhausting labour, of time, of sleep, of 
 rest, perhaps of health all the happiness with 
 which her own most strenuous exertions, and her 
 own entire devotion, can embellish their days. 
 
 The responsibilities of the poor widow are 
 indeed heavy and numberless. With the vivid 
 picture of them upon our memory with the 
 reality of those endless cares and anxieties before 
 our eyes I trust and believe, that the idea of 
 oppressing one so burdened will never occur to 
 us; but that, on the contrary, the deepest sym- 
 pathy will always be awakened by her trials and 
 sorrows; and that there are few among us, who 
 would not strive to lighten the weight of care 
 under which she may be struggling, day by day, 
 along the road of life. 
 
 And the fatherless to them, also, let us be 
 merciful ; for their lot is indeed a sad one. They 
 may, from earliest childhood, have been deprived 
 of the fostering care of their parents, and 
 have been cast among strangers not, perhaps, 
 unkind and unpitying, but busy with their own 
 worldly affairs, full of their own troubles; not 
 oppressing the fatherless, but heedless of their 
 claims, or unable to do justice to them. The
 
 ON FORBEARANCE. 151 
 
 poorest father, and the most helpless mother 
 yes, parents sick, suffering, steeped to the lips in 
 misery remain invaluable treasures to their 
 children. If they cannot give them sufficient 
 food or raiment, they can and do give them love ; 
 and that love is a flame which warms the heart 
 and purifies it, illumines the mind, guides the 
 steps, and points to great duties and their fulfil- 
 ment. That love is a safeguard, is an anchor; 
 but when the dark wave of death has swept it 
 away, the poor orphans are sent adrift on the 
 wide sea of life. It is true, that God in heaven, 
 by whose inscrutable decrees they have been 
 bereft, and who feeds the birds of the air and the 
 lambkins of the fields, will not allow them to 
 perish. But His divine will has graciously ap- 
 pointed us to be the humble instruments of His 
 beneficence; and though friends, however numerous 
 and zealous, cannot replace affectionate parents, 
 we should endeavour, by all means in our power, 
 not merely to show mercy and compassion to the 
 fatherless, but also to shield them from harm, and 
 teach them, by gentle care and solicitude, those 
 long-forgotten or never-learnt lessons of love, 
 which guard from evil and despair. 
 
 And the stranger, who lands on our shores with 
 an imperfect knowledge of our language, of our 
 habits and customs, with a bodily frame soon to be 
 tried by our climate, impaired perhaps, ere long,
 
 152 ON FORBEARANCE. 
 
 by its vicissitudes; the stranger, who comes in 
 search of prosperity and of a new home, who 
 stands alone, checked by obstacles, cast down by 
 difficulties, should we not welcome him as a 
 brother ? Otherwise he might as well have been 
 shipwrecked on a desert island, where the sun 
 shines also, and the sky is blue overhead, and the 
 dew wreathes hills and valleys with its sparkling 
 jewels, and flowers bloom and berries ripen, and 
 birds flutter through the air, and the animals of 
 the field graze unharmed, and where the stranger 
 might live but without sympathy or love, to 
 make life enjoyable. 
 
 And the poor let us execute true judgment 
 with regard to them and show them mercy, 
 while we remember the fearful temptations to 
 which poverty often exposes even the strongest 
 minds. Apathy, discontent, hopelessness, bitter- 
 ness of spirit, envy, are all insidious enemies, 
 assailing and surrounding the needy. Let us 
 remember our duties towards our suffering bre- 
 thren, and do what we can to supply their ne- 
 cessities, to alleviate their distress, to help them, 
 to raise them in the world. It is true, that our 
 best exertions cannot give parents to the orphan, 
 a home to the stranger, wealth to the poor ; but 
 we may do some good; and this encouraging 
 hope should strengthen us for every noble exer- 
 tion.
 
 ON FORBEARANCE. 153 
 
 " Let none of you imagine evil against his 
 brother in your heart," says our text. My dear 
 children, you will find it easy to obey the com- 
 mands of the Lord God Almighty, as vouchsafed 
 to you in the words just quoted. Suspicion is 
 venomous; it corrupts the minds and hearts of 
 those who harbour it, and often poisons also the 
 suspected. The distrustful banish all the flowers 
 of happiness from their imagination, and allow 
 hissing snakes to coil around their thoughts. 
 They think and dream of nought but coldness, 
 callousness, and ingratitude; of hatred and re- 
 venge; of envy, falsehood, and dishonesty; and, 
 naturally enough, those accused of ingratitude, 
 soon cease to be thankful ; those suspected of 
 hatred, cease, ere long, to be loving; and, al- 
 though warmth of feeling, generosity of mind, 
 truth of speech, and honesty of conduct, may be 
 proof against all accusations and suspicions, yet 
 the best and strongest must feel aggrieved and 
 injured, when they become objects of unjust 
 charges and imputations, whether openly ex- 
 pressed or half concealed. 
 
 My dear children, I have endeavoured to explain 
 to you the meaning of the holy text, the great 
 strength of which appears to lie in the three 
 first words, "Execute true judgment"; for they 
 involve the duty of dealing with others, as we
 
 154 ON FORBEARANCE. 
 
 should hope and pray to be dealt \rith, not merely 
 by our brethren, but by Almighty God, whose 
 compassion is indeed inexhaustible, and whose 
 mercy is boundless.
 
 XVIII. 
 
 "THAT "WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH 
 THOU ME." 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 There is very little knowledge that human 
 beings possess intuitively, and that can truly be 
 called inborn. On the contrary, they are depen- 
 dent, from their birth, upon all around them for 
 help and advice; while the animals of the earth, 
 the fish of the ocean, the birds, and even insects 
 of the air, are, by the decree of Almighty God, 
 independent of each other, and marvellously gifted, 
 by His beneficence, with the faculty called instinct, 
 which teaches them to provide nourishment for 
 themselves at all seasons, enables them to seek 
 shelter and protection against rain and cold, and 
 to find or make dwellings for themselves and their 
 little ones. The gardens, woods, and forests, the 
 hedges, fields, and meadows, are full of poisonous 
 berries, bearing much resemblance to wholesome 
 bays ; the coral fruit of the briony is not unlike 
 the scarlet beads that glisten on the boughs of the
 
 156 " THAT WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH THOU ME." 
 
 holly ; and the produce of the deadly nightshade 
 varies little in form and colour from the rubies 
 that gleam' among the sombre foliage of the yew 
 tree ; yet thrush and linnet, and the myriads of 
 winged songsters that throng the skies, do not err 
 in their selection ; they keep away from noxious 
 fruits, and feast upon the harmless sweets with 
 which bountiful nature has filled her banqueting 
 halls. The birds are not taught to fly, nor to build 
 their wonderful nests ; the Lord has given them 
 instinct, and they obey its mysterious laws. 
 
 The lambkins in the meadows need no teaching 
 to distinguish the snowy or crimson clover with its 
 honeyed scent and taste, and all the fresh, nou- 
 rishing grasses of the land, from the poisonous 
 herbs and blossoms that grow in the same field, 
 that spring from the same soil. The lambs are 
 not guided by the science of the botanist, but 
 " the Lord is their shepherd"; He leads the flocks 
 to green pastures, and to clear, crystal rills. 
 
 And the insects, do they receive any instruction 
 from those that came before them? No; the 
 spider weaves his lace-like web, the bee gathers 
 her treasures from the calyces of flowers to form 
 her cells, as she did thousands of years ago, with- 
 out plans or designs. Bird, spider, and bee, live 
 and work in obedience to the unfailing dictates of 
 instinct, which the goodness of Almighty God has 
 framed for them. But the child, when first ushered
 
 " THAT WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH THOU ME." 157 
 
 into the world, is the most helpless of created 
 beings. It is dependent upon others for care, for 
 support, for nourishment. It nmst be taught to 
 walk, step by step; to speak, by lisping every 
 syllable separately ; it learns every conscious move- 
 ment slowly, every new word laboriously. Though 
 we are all aware of it, my dear children, we easily 
 forget, that ours was indeed complete helpless- 
 ness, and that we derive all our knowledge, either 
 directly or indirectly from others. We ere long fancy 
 ourselves above the necessity of receiving instruc- 
 tion or good counsel, and we soon think, that we 
 have nothing more to learn, whereas it is the will of 
 our heavenly Father, that the training of all our 
 powers shall never cease, from the moment we 
 awake in the cradle to the light of the world, 
 until we close our eyes again in death. 
 
 My dear children, let us then take to heart the 
 following words of Holy Scripture : " What I see 
 not, teach thou me : if I have done iniquity, I will 
 do no more" (Job xxxiv. 32) . It is strange, how 
 little we observe, and how much teaching we re- 
 quire ; how often the clearest, easiest lessons must 
 be repeated, ere they sink into the mind to dispel 
 ignorance, to guide us, and keep us aloof from harm. 
 However discerning and far-sighted we may be, we 
 frequently notice only the outAvard appearance of 
 men and things, only the bright, attractive, or the 
 repelling exterior of the objects which surround us ;
 
 158 " THAT WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH THOU ME." 
 
 the dangers that may lurk beneath the surface 
 often escape our eyes; and the hidden qualities 
 may no less elude our attention. Elihu, reproving 
 Job, exhorts him to address to the Almighty the 
 words of our text in anxious supplication, and 
 humble promise of amendment. Truly, without 
 the lessons graciously vouchsafed to us by the 
 Lord, we should be entirely ignorant ; but we 
 ought to remember, my dear children, that al- 
 though we implore Him for light in our darkness, 
 though all teaching comes from Him, yet His 
 lessons reach us through human influence, through 
 those whom His beneficence has enabled to acquire 
 knowledge, through our parents, our first and 
 most dearly cherished instructors, through our 
 friends and well-wishers, through those older and 
 more experienced than ourselves. 
 
 My dear children, the wisest are those who 
 know and feel how much they have still to learn ; 
 those who, throughout life, and in a humble spirit, 
 seek information from all sources; and there is 
 every probability, that they will also become the 
 best, the most conscientious of human beings. 
 The more they know, the more they will be able 
 to appreciate the endless blessings and mercies of 
 God, the countless wonders and glories of His 
 works ; the better they will understand their du- 
 ties ; the more anxious will they feel to fit them- 
 selves for the zealous fulfilment of their mission.
 
 ff THAT WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH THOU ME." 159 
 
 There is no art, the cultivation of which does 
 not tend to raise us above the smaller annoyances, 
 vexations, and disappointments incidental to life, 
 and the devotion to which does not lift us on 
 high-soaring pinions to the contemplation of all 
 that is beautiful and sublime. It is scarcely pos- 
 sible to study music without being swayed by 
 the ineffable power of the voices of creation, 
 so varied and so impressive, by those sweet 
 melodies which sound amid groves and bowers., 
 even in the stillness of the night, softly wafted 
 through the air by the gentle nightingale; by 
 those whispers of the breeze sighing through the 
 foliage of the oak and willow, by the thunder of 
 the torrent pouring its waters into the sea, by the 
 sound of the waves raging so furiously over the 
 deep, or dying so calmly on the beach. We feel 
 the potent spell of all these harmonies ; and if we 
 reproduce them in our own efforts, if we find them 
 echoed in the poems of others, if we play on 
 stringed instruments, or sing, to join the universal 
 hymn, or if we listen to the choruses of heaven 
 and earth, we seem to leave all worldly cares 
 behind us; strife and discord disappear, and we 
 feel that harmony should reign by our own hearth, 
 in the circle of our loved ones, in the wider sphere 
 of our friends, indeed, as far as our influence 
 reaches; and, as in nature, so, if possible, among 
 men, to the confines of the globe.
 
 160 " THAT WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH THOU ME." 
 
 There is no artist, endeavouring to paint the 
 marvels of creation, striving to fix upon canvas the 
 brilliant sunset glow, or the enchanting promise of a 
 bright day, the jewelled arch of hope after destruc- 
 tive floods, or the eternal snows of Alpine scenery, 
 the smiling charms of the luxuriant south, the 
 lands wreathed with flowers, and festooned with 
 the leaves and tendrils of the vine there is 
 no artist thus employed, who is not purified and 
 ennobled by his labours, and who does not at the 
 same time improve and civilize his fellow-beings. 
 Those who emblazon in unfading colours the 
 great events of history, the exploits of heroes, or 
 who enshrine in immortal 'pages the sufferings 
 and calamities that befall individuals or nations ; 
 those who bring near to almost every home, how- 
 ever humble, to almost every fire-side, however 
 lowly, the lives and deeds of the good and great, 
 and the scenes of valour, piety, and self-sacrifice 
 enacted on earth, do they not become noble 
 teachers by raising human nature to the appre- 
 ciation of all that is admirable and soul-stirring ? 
 And poets and philosophers, do they not, by their 
 undying songs, and by their treasures of thought 
 and meditation, help to develop the best and 
 highest abilities of their brethren ? 
 
 All the adepts in art and science will surely 
 exclaim : " What I see not, teach thou me !" For 
 there appear to be no earthly limits, no bounda-
 
 " THAT WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH THOU ME." 161 
 
 ries to knowledge ; and every day sees new branches 
 and innumerable fresh leaves added to the im- 
 perishable tree of human lore, which, like the 
 banyan, sends forth its vigorous saplings far and 
 wide. 
 
 My dear children, if secular acquirements are of 
 so much value, and so eagerly sought after by the 
 indefatigably active, by the faithfully persevering, 
 by the ardent, the zealous, and the enthusiastic 
 among men, how infinitely more precious is the 
 knowledge of the human heart, of its strength 
 and of its weakness, of its internal enemies, and 
 of the foes that beset it from without, in the 
 shape of numberless temptations and perils ? The 
 secrets of science, and the successful devotion to 
 music, painting, and sculpture, are not within 
 the reach of every one ; but all the conscientious 
 among us may hope to know and to understand 
 the duties of life, upon the fulfilment of which 
 our well-being and that of those around us de- 
 pend far more essentially than upon mere worldly 
 distinction and eminence. Indeed, whatever posi- 
 tion we may occupy, whatever fame may encircle 
 our brow, we cannot be happy, we cannot give 
 happiness to others, unless we live in humble 
 obedience to the sacred laws vouchsafed to us by 
 Almighty God. We require all the energies of our 
 mind, all the qualities of our heart, all the aims 
 of our immortal soul, to keep the commandments 
 p3
 
 162 " THAT WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH THOU ME." 
 
 of the Lord, and not to transgress His divine 
 precepts. And, however acute our own judgment 
 may seem, be quite sure, my dear children, there 
 is much that we cannot fathom, much that others 
 perceive clearly, while our own view is obscured 
 by prejudices or prepossessions, by our own blind- 
 ing interests, or perhaps by the force of our 
 affections. We are humanly imperfect ; we may 
 constantly, though, perhaps, unwittingly, give 
 offence, and fall into error; and though we 
 notice the faults and shortcomings of others, 
 we do not know or heed our own. Should we not 
 say, then, both mentally and audibly : " What I 
 see not, teach Thou me" ? Should we not pray to 
 the Lord in heaven for guidance, and seek advice 
 from those on earth who, by their knowledge, ex- 
 perience, and sincerity, deserve our confidence and 
 respect ? 
 
 Everything we possess comes from God; we 
 exist by His will, and enjoy life by His goodness. 
 Let us pray to Him for the blessings of health, 
 as without them we can scarcely hope to be 
 useful ; let us implore Him for strength, that we 
 may be able to labour with untiring zeal; for 
 long life, to carry -our plans into execution, and 
 realise our hopes and wishes; for perseverance, 
 that we may toil unceasingly to attain the accom- 
 plishment of good and great objects ; for patience, 
 that we may not be hindered in a career of active
 
 (C THAT WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH THOU ME." 163 
 
 devotion by the annoyances and minor trials of our 
 existence ; for energy, to vanquish difficulties and 
 overcome obstacles ; for fearlessness, to encounter 
 danger and wage war against it ; and for that 
 higher and more valuable kind of courage forti- 
 tude which sustains us in times of suffering and 
 bereavement. 
 
 But, my dear children, let us not forget that, 
 although every power and every faculty we possess 
 comes from the Almighty, and is beneficently 
 bestowed upon us by Him, our knowledge is 
 mostly derived from those around us, from their 
 words and writings, from their deeds and exam- 
 ples. The Omnipotent teaches us chiefly and ge- 
 nerally through human agencies. To bow down 
 in the morning, and to breathe orisons at night, 
 to fold our hands in prayer, supplicating our 
 heavenly Creator to teach us what we see not, 
 and then, during the day, to turn a deaf ear to 
 good advice, to gentle reproof and rebuke or to 
 reproof and rebuke, though well meant, perhaps 
 not always gently administered is to misunder- 
 stand our text, is to be haughty and stubborn, 
 is to worship with the lips, and not with the 
 heart. The teaching that proceeds directly from 
 God, my dear children, often comes in the form 
 of trials and afflictions; and though we all feel 
 that " whom the Lord loveth He correcteth, even 
 as a father the son in whom He delighteth," yet
 
 164 " THAT WHICH I KNOW NOT, TEACH THOU ME." 
 
 we ought to remember, that children really good 
 and dutiful do not wait for chastisement to per- 
 form their task. They know the wishes of their 
 parents, and endeavour to fulfil them ; they listen 
 to the fond voice of affection, and obey its behests. 
 Advice, example, and the lore of experience, are 
 treasured by them ; and the habit of attending to 
 the daily lessons of life fits them gradually for the 
 accomplishment of the highest duties. 
 
 Our text says : " If I have done iniquity, 1 will 
 do no more." But it is not merely iniquity that 
 we should anxiously shun, and the heinousness of 
 which becomes perhaps suddenly revealed to us 
 by some overwhelming punishment. We ought, 
 by carefully avoiding the commission of smaller 
 faults, to strengthen ourselves that we may repel 
 the bewildering seductions and terrible dangers 
 which lead to iniquity. " What I see not, teach 
 Thou me," are beautiful words, my dear children. 
 We cannot repeat them too often in our prayers, 
 nor act upon them too zealously in our daily 
 intercourse with others. Let us strive to learn 
 from morning till night; let all good lessons 
 penetrate deeply into our memory, so that, with 
 the blessing of the Almighty, they may produce 
 both flowers and fruits flowers of delight and 
 fruits of goodliness, for the benefit and enjoyment 
 of all those committed to our care.
 
 XIX. 
 HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 Among the great blessings which Almighty 
 God, in the fulness of His bounty, has graciously 
 bestowed upon us, none appears more productive 
 of beautiful and beneficent results, of real ad- 
 vancement, of true happiness, than the ordination 
 of labour than the law which enjoins us to 
 work, and thus to earn the rewards held in store 
 for all zealous labourers by the inexhaustible 
 goodness of the Lord. Activity and industry give 
 value and interest to each passing hour; they 
 increase the enjoyment and lighten the cares of 
 life. It is surely impossible, my dear children, 
 to be over-active, over-industrious : every day 
 brings its duties, and without diligence, their 
 faithful performance could not be undertaken nor 
 accomplished. 
 
 But, after the exertions of the week, the body 
 requires rest to recruit its strength; and the 
 hard-worked mind harassed, tortured perhaps,
 
 166 HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 by worldly anxieties stands in need of repose. 
 It seeks and finds it in the contemplation of those 
 higher objects removed from earthly troubles, in 
 ardent prayers and supplications, in fervid hymns 
 of thankfulness, and in the inspired writings of 
 our lawgiver and our prophets. 
 
 My dear children, the Holy Scriptures contain 
 admirable precepts for every day of our existence ; 
 and there is not a duty, towards the accomplishment 
 of which the sacred laws do not point. The Book 
 of Books is pervaded by a grandeur and solemnity 
 which must ever fill the human mind with awe; 
 while the wondrous Volume retains in all centuries 
 a freshness, a powerful vitality, an immortal 
 youth, which carries its divine eloquence, through- 
 out all generations, to the minds and hearts of 
 energetic men, of gentle women, and even of 
 young children. The Bible is not a work belong- 
 ing to by-gone ages, to past times ; it remains, in 
 undimmed beauty, the inalienable property of all 
 ages, of all times of the past, the present, and 
 the future. It has provided for the necessary 
 alternation of labour and repose, by making the 
 observance of the day of rest one of its funda- 
 mental injunctions. Let us, then, turn to its pages, 
 and take for our text to-day the following words : 
 "Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my 
 Sanctuary : I am the Lord" (Lev. xix. 30). 
 
 God commands us to observe the days of holy
 
 HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 167 
 
 commemoration, set apart by His will; and you 
 may easily understand, that obedience to the hea- 
 venly ordinance in this instance, as in all others, 
 will yield to you, my dear young friends, great 
 blessings to embellish your existence, to purify 
 your souls, to elevate your thoughts, and to imbue 
 them with that tranquillity which enables you 
 to enter the turmoil of active life, to exert your 
 energies in coping with its difficulties, and yet to 
 preserve a calm view of your duties, and- an undis- 
 turbed consciousness of your responsibilities. 
 
 It is very true, my dear children, that at the 
 close of each day, when we fold our hands in 
 prayer, we may look back to the hours spent in 
 useful labour or in earnest study ; and that, re- 
 membering our deficiencies, our faults and short- 
 comings, we may implore the bounty and mercy 
 of the heavenly Creator to strengthen our en- 
 deavours, to support our weakness; so that the 
 morrow may prove less imperfect, that it may 
 contain fewer failures, more successful efforts, and 
 better deeds. But towards evening, .when over- 
 whelmed with fatigue, it is but a short time, that 
 we can give to serious reflections; and the 
 Almighty's beneficence soon draws the curtains 
 of night around the slumbers of His children, 
 when eager wishes, joyous or ardent hopes, holy 
 aspirations, rapidly fade into vague dreams, and are 
 lost, ere long, in that deep, invigorating sleep
 
 168 HOLINESS OP THE SABBATH. 
 
 which the Lord has graciously given for the 
 renewal of our powers. 
 
 Though religious feelings should animate our 
 whole existence and let us trust, my dear chil- 
 dren, that they may always guide our actions 
 yet in a busy life, replete with duties towards 
 parents, brothers, sisters, and friends, towards all 
 around us, towards ourselves, we do not find the 
 day sufficiently long and calm, nor our leisure 
 undisturbed enough, to devote many hours to the 
 pious worship of the great Bestower of all enjoy- 
 ments and blessings. Therefore, His words are : 
 " Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my 
 Sanctuary." The fourth commandment says : " In 
 six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea 
 and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh 
 day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath, 
 and hallowed it." 
 
 It may be necessary to explain, my dear chil- 
 dren, how we should keep that sacred day. You 
 need not be told, that on it all labour should be 
 avoided. You are young ; and after well-sustained 
 exertions, and perhaps hourly fatigues, you will 
 look forward eagerly to a time of complete 
 repose, to a cessation from what you, no doubt, 
 consider very arduous work. You will, therefore, 
 hail the Sabbath with delight; you will gladly 
 take off your week-day apparel, and put on your 
 new garments; and, with a light step and still
 
 HOLINESS OP THE SABBATH. 169 
 
 lighter heart, you will proceed to the temple of 
 God Almighty, there to join the chorus of solemn 
 thanks to our merciful Father, there to listen with 
 earnest attention to advice and exhortation from 
 pious and eloquent lips. It is right you should 
 do so, my dear children. Yet it is not enough to 
 reverence the Lord on the Sabbath merely by an 
 alteration in our mode of life, by service more 
 lengthy, though not more fervent, than that which 
 we offer when we rise at early morn, or ere we lay 
 our head on the pillow at night ; to worship Him 
 by long-protracted attendance in the house of 
 prayer, by absence of fatiguing labour, of exhaust- 
 ing and harassing toil. To observe the Sabbath 
 is to separate it, in our mind and in our heart, 
 from days and times devoted to our usual pursuits, 
 is to remove from it all outward considerations, 
 all earthly vanities and frivolities. It would be 
 better still if we could banish from it all cares and 
 anxieties; but that is, humanly speaking, often 
 impossible ; they will obtrude themselves, and, 
 although ardent supplication may cause them to 
 press less heavily upon us, we cannot drive them 
 entirely from our soul. 
 
 On the day blessed and hallowed by the Lord, 
 we should ask ourselves if the preceding week has 
 been spent in faithful obedience to the sacred com- 
 mandments of Almighty God ; if, in the desire of 
 promoting our worldly aims, we may not perhaps 
 Q
 
 170 HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 have lost sight of the admirable precepts contained 
 in the Bible, and designed to regulate our conduct ; 
 if we have endeavoured strictly to fulfil our duties 
 to all around us, and succeeded in doing good, in 
 giving satisfaction and pleasure, in avoiding the 
 infliction of pain; if we have been meek and 
 gentle in manner and word, charitable in thought 
 and deed, unselfish, and devoted to the welfare of 
 our brethren in speech and action. 
 
 We should not ask ourselves how far we may 
 have been successful in buying and selling, in hiring 
 and lending, in seeking and obtaining, in receiving 
 and giving, in speculating and bartering, in risk- 
 ing, in saving. These are questions and interests 
 which should form no portion of our thoughts on 
 the Sabbath-day the day blessed and hallowed 
 by the Lord. But, my dear children, as reli- 
 gion, centered in pure and lofty feelings, should 
 guide all our actions, we may well enquire, and 
 cannot do so too earnestly on the day of rest, 
 when away from the conflict of opposing interests, 
 when removed from irritating influences, whether 
 truthfulness has never forsaken us during the 
 week, nor justice, more rare than kindness, 
 abandoned us during the busy days of toil in our 
 intercourse with those Avho constitute our circle, 
 our world; whether we may not have been too 
 exacting to others, too lenient to ourselves, allow- 
 ing apathy and indolence to usurp the place of
 
 HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 171 
 
 activity and industry; whether we have made 
 good use of all our powers and energies, and have 
 not wasted our time, our opportunities of serving 
 and of aiding those confided to our care ; whether 
 we have not recklessly endangered our health, 
 overtaxed the strength of others, foolishly rejected 
 sincere advice, spurned the best examples, or dis- 
 regarded the voice of friendship and experience, 
 while we conformed to models from which we 
 should have turned away with fear and repug- 
 nance. And having faithfully examined the past, 
 and endeavoured to bring before the tribunal of 
 our conscience every thought, every passing idea, 
 every word and deed harboured, spoken, and 
 achieved during the week just gone by; having 
 thus scanned our conduct with the utmost care 
 and attention, let us deliver judgment upon it 
 with the greatest severity. It is only by placing 
 our faults in the unmitigated glare of the most 
 searching ray of light, that their ugliness, and 
 the dangers with which they threaten us, become 
 apparent. 
 
 And then, my dear children, we will pray to 
 God; but not merely out of the leaves of the 
 sacred book, and in the beautiful words of the 
 prophets and inspired kings, applicable, it is true, 
 to all times and all circumstances ; we will pray to 
 Him from the fulness of our heart, with reference 
 to bur own frailty, to our own imperfections ; we
 
 172 HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 will beseech Him to arm and uphold us when 
 we wage war against internal and external foes, 
 to direct us when our feet deviate from the path 
 of righteousness; to shield our eyes when they 
 are in danger of heing fascinated or dazzled by 
 worldly pomp and vanity; to enable us, by His 
 divine help, to vanquish our faults, and to trans- 
 form them into virtues ; to soften down harshness 
 into gentleness, to change violence into ardent 
 enthusiasm, to transmute selfism and self- worship 
 into unflinching devotion to the happiness of 
 others; to change pride into humility, coldness 
 into warmth of feeling, avarice into generosity. 
 
 He, who has formed us in His own image, can 
 and will, if we supplicate Him with earnestness, 
 give us the power to divest our immortal soul 
 of the shadows that surround it, and obscure its 
 purity. 
 
 It has been very beautifully said by one, alas ! 
 no more among us, whose excellent writings owed 
 their glowing eloquence to deep enthusiasm, to 
 ardent zeal for the highest interests of humanity, 
 that the Sabbath is a bridge thrown across life's 
 troubled waters, over which we may pass to reach 
 the opposite shore. This is an admirable truth; 
 and I will endeavour to explain it to you, as I 
 understand it, my dear children. God has gra- 
 ciously vouchsafed the Sabbath to us ; but it does 
 not become a bridge of safety and of strength,
 
 HOLINESS OP THE SABBATH. 173 
 
 unless with the materials abundantly given into 
 our keeping, we build the arches ourselves that are 
 to carry us over the whirlpools and rapids of the 
 waters of life. Of course, our labour, however 
 indefatigable, would be as nought, if we did not 
 possess the celestial blessing; for without it, our 
 most ambitious structures would soon crumble 
 into dust ; and the Psalmist justly says : " Except 
 the Lord build the house, they labour in vain 
 that build it ; except the Lord guard the city, the 
 watchman waketh but in vain." Yet, God Al- 
 mighty, in the plenitude of His beneficence, never 
 withholds His aid from the conscientious efforts 
 which we make to strengthen ourselves against the 
 perils of our earthly career. Ardent faith in God's 
 inexhaustible goodness is not sufficient to win the 
 joys of Paradise; we must abound in good works 
 before we cherish the hope of arriving at the gates 
 of Heaven. To repeat hymns, and psalms, and 
 prayers, to read the Bible, to chaunt Hosannas and 
 Hallelujahs, to praise and glorify the Almighty's 
 holy name, is indeed soothing to our feelings, and 
 raises our thoughts to the sublime heights, where 
 the merciful Creator and His angels of purity 
 dwell ; but, believe me, such pious occupations and 
 exercises alone do not constitute the sanctification 
 of the Sabbath, nor do they suffice to build that 
 bridge which is to lead us earthly wanderers to 
 the regions of eternal bliss. 
 
 Q3
 
 174 HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 My dear children, it is impossible to look around, 
 to see the glories of creation, to rejoice in the 
 light of day, to feel the warmth of sunshine, to 
 be cooled by the breeze, to be nourished by the 
 grain that springs from the dark furrows of the 
 soil, to be refreshed by the liquid treasures of 
 the fountain, without bowing down in humble, in 
 fervidly grateful adoration before the heavenly 
 Dispenser of myriads of gifts. But our pilgrimage 
 on earth has a twofold tendency : we live for this 
 world and the next ; the immortal and the perish- 
 able elements flow on together ; the divine aspira- 
 tions and the human sentiments mingle their 
 streams ; we can scarcely separate them from each 
 other, and the connexion is not dissolved before 
 the last moments of our existence. We cannot be 
 entirely self-seeking and worldly throughout the 
 week, then fling off our faults, and be holy on the 
 Sabbath; on the contrary, during the days ap- 
 pointed for labour, we must be mindful of the 
 prayers breathed, and sincere resolutions formed 
 on the day of rest. Though our stay on this side 
 of the grave may be short, it is the preparation 
 for eternal life ; and our zealous efforts and deeds 
 here must enable us to reach the land of ever- 
 lasting happiness. 
 
 I would, therefore, impress upon you, my dear 
 children, the beauty, the holiness of the Sabbath 
 in its manifold character : as a day when the mind,
 
 HOLINESS OP THE SABBATH. 175 
 
 freed from worldly toils and trammels, may pros- 
 trate itself before the Lord, and also rise, unchecked 
 and unfettered, on bright- winged hopes, to the 
 contemplation of all His glories; when thanks- 
 givings for blessings innumerable may flow from 
 our lips, lightening our heart, and yet filling it 
 with renewed gratitude; since the expression of 
 our thankfulness unveils to the inward eye the ex- 
 tent of our obligations ; when we may enter upon 
 a faithful self-examination, and pray for pardon at 
 the throne of grace; when we may entreat the 
 Almighty to grant us powerful weapons for the 
 annihilation of the only real enemies against whom 
 we have to contend our faults, those faults, which 
 may deepen into vices, and lead to the commission 
 of sins and crimes; when we may implore the 
 Lord, to keep us aloof from temptation, or to en- 
 able us to withstand it ; when we may invoke His 
 mercy to allow us to overcome evil, and to cultivate 
 all good germs in our breast, so as to make them 
 grow into noble qualities ; when we may supplicate 
 Him to give us health and vigour, that, with the 
 aid of the kindly feelings implanted in us by His 
 divine hand, we may learn to fulfil our duties 
 cheerfully and benevolently; that we may strive 
 to enlarge the circle of our usefulness, and succeed 
 in extending our good example far and wide. 
 
 On the Sabbath, we should atone for past errors 
 by vowing to refrain from similar faults in future ;
 
 176 HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 and should fortify ourselves by heartfelt prayer, at 
 all times to keep our word, to redeem our pledge. 
 Thus we may hope to build a bridge, that will carry 
 us over from the land of shadows and clouds to 
 the realms of eternal light and sunshine. 
 
 There can be no greater mistake than to suppose, 
 that the days of rest, when spent in prayer, without 
 any reference to our past career, or to our inten- 
 tions for the years we have still to remain on earth, 
 are all-sufficient to win an eternity of bliss for us, 
 notwithstanding the intervening weeks of apathy, 
 of negligence, or, perhaps, even of recklessness. 
 It is always easier to pray with fervour than to act 
 with zeal; therefore, my dear children, I have 
 laid peculiar stress upon the necessity of good 
 works; but both action and contemplation, both 
 labour and prayer, both meditation and study are 
 requisite for a dutiful conduct in this world. 
 Contemplation must fit us for active life; study 
 and reflection prepare us for labour ; and prayer 
 strengthen and purify us to live in obedience to 
 the Lord's beautiful and beneficent laws, that we 
 may thus hope to earn the undimmed felicity of 
 Heaven.
 
 XX. 
 PASSOVER. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 Three festivals were, by the will of the 
 Almighty, appointed to be celebrated annually, in 
 commemoration of great historical events ; namely, 
 Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. 
 Let us examine the meaning of each successively, 
 and consider to-day the import of the season, 
 which reminds us of the miraculous redemption of 
 our ancestors from the land of slavery. We shall 
 found our observations on the following words 
 from Scripture : " Thou shalt keep the feast of 
 unleavened bread : seven days thou shalt eat un- 
 leavened bread, as I have commanded thee in the 
 time appointed of the month of Abib (Nisan) ; 
 for in the month of Abib thou earnest out from 
 Egypt" (Exod. xxxv. 1 8). 
 
 My dear children, the historical significance of 
 our three principal holidays, forms only a portion 
 of their deep character. They hold out a two- 
 fold interest; they awaken not merely national 
 thoughts and feelings ; for they were likewise
 
 178 PASSOVER. 
 
 instituted, by our inspired lawgiver, to be solem- 
 nized in grateful acknowledgment of the gifts 
 showered down by the bountiful Creator, for the 
 enjoyment of all the children of men. It is diffi- 
 cult to fix the value of the material benefits 
 graciously vouchsafed to us by our heavenly 
 Father ; but it seems impossible to estimate them 
 too highly. 
 
 While we worship at the throne of God, and 
 bow down before Him in profound gratitude, not 
 only for the miracles which He has wrought in 
 our favour, but also for the blessings of religion 
 that accompany us from the cradle to the brink 
 of the grave, and then strengthen our weakness 
 to span the dark chasm which separates life and 
 death from eternity, we should not underrate 
 those treasures of His goodness, without which 
 the earth would be a barren wilderness. Some 
 persons, in their anxiety to spiritualise religion, 
 would exclude from it every allusion to the exter- 
 nal advantages which we enjoy would, in their 
 worship of the Lord, in their thanksgivings and 
 prayers, separate this world entirely from the 
 next. They would omit things corporeal and 
 transitory from their thoughts ; and while bending 
 down, in humble adoration, before God Almighty, 
 and promising faithful obedience to His divine 
 commandments, would entirely banish what they 
 call " worldliness." But such persons, however
 
 PASSOVER. 179 
 
 conscientious in tlieir motives, and however ardent 
 in tlieir exertions, attempt what they can never 
 accomplish ; and err greatly in supposing, that it 
 is possible to draw a line of distinction between 
 the temporal and the eternal interests of man- 
 kind. Truly, heaven, with its promised peace 
 and its endless joys, its unclouded happiness, is 
 superior to earth, with its daily disappointments, 
 its ever-recurring trials, its heavy burden of cares, 
 its sufferings of the body and of the mind ; doubt- 
 less, immortality and eternal bliss are better than 
 time and life, however gently the former may deal 
 with us, however calmly the latter may glide on. 
 Indeed, immortality is so gloriously beautiful, that 
 our limited view and understanding can scarcely 
 comprehend all its radiant felicity ; while we 
 know alas ! only too painfully the fleeting 
 nature of time, and the uncertainty of life. But 
 the connecting links between this world and the 
 next are innumerable, like the ties which on 
 earth unite our physical and mental powers, and 
 resist all attempts at separation, save by the 
 sword of death that great liberator of the soul 
 for its upward flight to the abode of celestial 
 happiness. 
 
 The festival of Passover was celebrated by our 
 forefathers, not merely in remembrance of their 
 departure from Egypt, and of the wonders per- 
 formed by the beneficent hand of the Almighty
 
 180 PASSOVER. 
 
 for their salvation ; but also as a tribute paid to 
 God, by thankful hearts, for the abundant produce 
 of the land in each successive year, and without 
 any violent suspension of the laws of nature, boun- 
 tifully bestowed on all human beings, whatever 
 their race or creed. 
 
 Passover, occurring at the commencement of 
 the spring, is, in the East, the period when the 
 vivifying rays of the sun mature the seeds en- 
 trusted to the earth; and in the days of the 
 Temple, the earliest ears of rye were then laid on 
 the altar, as an offering of gratitude. It was the 
 first of the three harvest feasts, and as such 
 celebrated with joyful feelings throughout the 
 land. 
 
 My dear young friends, you have often been 
 told, but cannot be too frequently reminded 
 however humiliating the thought may appear 
 that we are not grateful enough to Almighty God 
 for the countless blessings lavished upon us by 
 divine goodness at all seasons of the year, and 
 indeed at all hours of the day. We do not suffi- 
 ciently appreciate the light of heaven, the dew, 
 the rain, the glowing beams that call leaves and 
 blossoms into existence, and cause the harvests to 
 ripen. We do not duly thank the Eternal, our 
 God, either in the depths of our hearts, or with 
 the utterance of our lips, for the tangible gifts 
 of His beneficence, without which our enfeebled
 
 PASSOVER. 181 
 
 frame would have neither health, nor strength, 
 nor energy to accomplish the higher duties of our 
 calling. We may often be patient and submissive 
 tinder privations and afflictions, and bear the 
 weight of suffering with humility and fortitude : 
 however, when bowed down with care, we can 
 scarcely be of great service to others, nor can we 
 actively fulfil the obligations of life ; for then we 
 lack the power necessary for the exertions which 
 alone ensure success. Therefore, we require not 
 merely the spiritual blessings, the ardent faith, 
 the unwavering hope, and all the great qualities 
 of mind and soul which enable us to obey the 
 behests of the Lord in this world, and to win the 
 peace and happiness promised to us in the next ; 
 but we need also the material gifts of God's 
 benevolence, in order that our senses may be 
 quickened, that our limbs may be strengthened, 
 that the eye may look around and see all the work 
 which awaits the earnest labourer that the ear 
 may listen, and hear every tale of woe, every 
 complaint, every appeal that the hands may be 
 ready to help, to give, to soothe that early and 
 late we may be at our post of duty, watchful, 
 indefatigable, devoted. How could we thus obey 
 the will of our heavenly Father, if our bodily 
 frame were destitute of nourishment, if we were 
 weakened by hunger and thirst, laid low by de- 
 bility, bowed down by the pressure of want? 
 R
 
 182 PASSOVER. 
 
 For this reason our greatest prophet, who felt and 
 knew the intimate, nay, the indissoluble, connexion 
 between this world and the next between the 
 earth with its alternating lights and shadows, and 
 the realms of everlasting brightness never failed 
 to attach a twofold meaning to the festivals insti- 
 tuted by divine wisdom. 
 
 The spiritual interest may have a firmer hold 
 upon some minds, and may especially exercise a 
 more powerful sway over the hearts and ideas 
 of those worshippers who, from their birth far 
 above want, have perhaps never felt true grati- 
 tude for the daily bread which nourishes them, 
 for the milk which flows in their children's cup, 
 and the wine which sparkles in their own; 
 whereas the miracles recalled by the celebration 
 of Passover, impress upon them the wondrous 
 salvation of their forefathers, and the duty of 
 profound thankfulness which we all owe to God 
 Almighty, our Creator and Preserver. 
 
 The festival, in its connexion with the fostering 
 powers of the sun, with the blessings of returning 
 warmth and splendour, of universal life and hope, 
 joy and song, if celebrated in southern or eastern 
 climes as a harvest feast, would under our cooler 
 skies, in our more temperate regions, be the re- 
 awakening of the earth after its slumbers, after 
 the gloom of mists and clouds, or the coldness of 
 snows and northern winds. And surely, such a
 
 PASSOVER. 183 
 
 revival of the energies of nature, with her myriads 
 of promises, should be hailed by us with feelings 
 of rejoicing and humble acknowledgment. For 
 does it not manifestly show the infinite and ever- 
 renewed goodness of the Lord ? Does it not con- 
 vince us how much delight, to be earned by the 
 fulfilment of duty, His loving-kindness never 
 ceases to provide for us ? Should not the return 
 of smiling spring, after the torpor of winter, prove, 
 that when chilling blasts have swept over the 
 heart, destroying its hopes, and laying it waste 
 and bare, even then it does not remain numb and 
 cheerless for ever; but that, similar to the earth, 
 it enjoys, ere long, a renewal of the highest bless- 
 ings, all pointing to fresh tasks and labours ? 
 
 And remember, my dear children, that the best 
 and noblest obligations devolving upon us are 
 deeds of love, in which our whole heart should 
 enter with unwearied zeal. Although Passover is, 
 therefore, no longer an agricultural festival, yet, 
 occurring in the early season of the year, it speaks 
 to the mind by every leaflet that unfolds its deli- 
 cate green, by every flower that blooms and scents 
 the vernal air. 
 
 And now let us consider the historical meaning 
 of Passover. You have all read the second Book 
 of Moses, which contains the deeply interesting 
 narrative of the departure from Egypt, of the 
 miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from the
 
 184 PASSOVEE. 
 
 land of bondage, and of the awful punishment which 
 befell their oppressors. The history of the flight 
 of our ancestors teaches great lessons to the proud 
 and haughty of the earth, and holds out beautiful 
 consolations to the lowly and desponding. Those 
 lessons have, no doubt, ere now been explained to 
 you, my dear children; but it may be desirable 
 once more to direct your attention towards them. 
 It is impossible to remember the greatness and 
 power of Pharaoh, the magnificence that sur- 
 rounded his throne, the mighty armies that obeyed 
 his commands, the courtiers that bent the knee 
 before him, and became the slaves of his despotic 
 will ; to consider the fame of the sages and sor- 
 cerers who ministered to his wishes, and accom- 
 plished wonders to satisfy every whim and craving 
 of his fancy, but who, far from being supernatu- 
 rally gifted, were only learned men, initiated in 
 those secrets of nature, the knowledge and appli- 
 cation of which have, by succeeding generations, 
 been transformed into science : it is impossible 
 to contemplate all the splendour and might of the 
 Egyptian monarch, to recollect his stubborn spirit, 
 and the terrible sufferings which he inflicted upon 
 his unfortunate bondsmen, without feeling that 
 tyranny is never practised with impunity, and 
 that " every one that is proud in heart is an 
 abomination to the Lord ;" but that the dejected, 
 in their abyss of misery, may faithfully cling to
 
 PASSOVER. 185 
 
 the thought, that " God upholdeth all who fall, and 
 raiseth up all those who are bowed down." 
 
 The haughty among us, elated or blinded by 
 uninterrupted prosperity, by great learning or 
 talents, or renown, or by the possession of wealth, 
 and who, regardless of the wants and claims of 
 others, from their unapproachable pinnacle of 
 power, may view the world with utter contempt, 
 and yet expect homage and submission, are, by 
 the celebration of Passover, forcibly reminded of 
 the perishable nature of their greatness, and of the 
 punishment which inevitably awaits those who, 
 by their wickedness or their folly, change any 
 personal superiority into a curse, whereas divine 
 wisdom and goodness intended it to be a blessing 
 to all around. And to the oppressed, to those 
 who despond under the weight of persecution, the 
 feast of unleavened bread most assuredly offers 
 comfort in the hour of trouble and danger. It 
 must remind them of God's providence, as benefi- 
 cently shown to us all, not merely every day and 
 throughout the year, in sustaining and nourishing 
 us, in giving us health and vigour for the fulfil- 
 ment of the ordinary duties of life, but also in 
 healing us when we suffer most acutely, perhaps 
 when hope and strength are waxing faintest, or 
 when darkness and despair are nigh. 
 
 The Omnipotent who annihilated Pharaoh, that 
 proud and hardened monarch, when in the zenith 
 
 R3
 
 186 PASSOVER. 
 
 of his power, the Omnipotent who broke the chains 
 of the Israelites in Egypt, is the same through all 
 ages, in all climes. He has not ceased to chastise 
 the wicked, to humble the haughty, to support the 
 drooping, to raise the fallen. Well may we echo 
 the words of the Psalmist : " Many are the afflic- 
 tions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth 
 him out of them all." 
 
 The thoughts which the festival of Passover 
 suggests are endless ; and when we read the 
 history of the passage of the Bed Sea, and of the 
 forty years spent by the Hebrews in the wilder- 
 ness, every sorrowing heart may cry out from the 
 depths of its own anguish, " I will not despair ; 
 the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." 
 
 My dear children, you have heard how arduous 
 a task it is, even in our times, to furnish provi- 
 sions to invading legions, or armies passing 
 through foreign lands; and yet the progress of 
 civilization, the advancement of science and art, 
 and the innumerable discoveries of our age, would 
 seem to have greatly facilitated such an under- 
 taking. When the Israelites encamped in the 
 desert, there were not a few thousand soldiers to 
 be maintained, but nearly three millions of human 
 beings to be fed. God, however, was their Guide, 
 and led them to green pastures. The earth made 
 her crystal fountains gush for them, the skies 
 showered down manna, and from the heavenly
 
 PASSOVER. 187 
 
 expanse flew myriads of birds, covering the land for 
 the sustenance of the people. Yet, great as were 
 the material gifts then bestowed upon our fore- 
 fathers by the goodness of the Lord, they sink into 
 insignificance when compared with the spiritual 
 blessings graciously vouchsafed to them at that 
 period by the same boundless beneficence. For 
 were not the slaves then delivered from mental as 
 well as physical thraldom? Were they not led 
 forth from a land, through the length and breadth 
 of which idols were worshipped, and the true God 
 was unknown ? Did not the Almighty bring them 
 out of darkness into light ? Did He not break 
 their fetters of ignorance and superstition ? Was 
 not their passage through the Red Sea the first step 
 of transition from national degradation to national 
 glory? Were not the unfading beauties, the im- 
 mortal truths and consolations of our holy religion, 
 then revealed to them ? Were not the liberated 
 bondsmen called God's chosen people? Do you 
 understand the meaning of these words, do you feel 
 their full value, my dear friends ? Our ancestors 
 were, by the mercy of God, selected from amongst 
 all nations to receive His sacred commandments, 
 to make them known and obeyed over the whole 
 surface of the globe, by all men and throughout 
 all centuries. A great mission was confided to 
 them; it is the heirloom of their descendants, 
 the birthright of the children of Israel. It is a
 
 188 PASSOVEE. 
 
 mission that imposes manifold obligations upon 
 us, and should call into life the loftiest aims and 
 noblest deeds. As the depositaries of holy truth 
 and in that sense alone are we called the chosen 
 people, for our heavenly Father loves all His 
 children equally, and has bestowed His blessings 
 upon them all let us, in humble gratitude, en- 
 deavour to prove worthy of His goodness, by an 
 ever conscientious fulfilment of our duties; and 
 anxiously pray to Him, that His power may uphold 
 our weakness, grant success to our efforts, and 
 make them conducive to the happiness of our 
 fellow-wanderers on earth.
 
 XXI. 
 PENTECOST. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 We find the divine commandment for the 
 observance of Pentecost in the 1 6th verse of the 
 23rd chapter of Exodus, namely : " And thou shalt 
 celebrate the feast of harvest with the first-fruits 
 of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field." 
 No doubt, in our homes and our synagogues we 
 keep the day holy ; we offer up prayers and thanks- 
 givings, and bow to the Lord God Almighty. 
 Yet it is remarkable, that the same pious zeal and 
 grateful ardour are not devoted to Pentecost as to 
 the preceding festival. It is difficult to under- 
 stand the great difference made between the two 
 holidays, not by our teachers, but by their flocks 
 and congregations. Passover is solemnized in 
 commemoration of our deliverance from the 
 tyranny of Pharaoh; and in the days of the 
 Temple it possessed the additional importance of 
 being a national feast of rejoicing and thankful- 
 ness for the first ears of rye brought to maturity 
 by the vernal rays of the sun.
 
 190 PENTECOST. 
 
 Surely God's omnipotence and His inexhaustible 
 goodness are as much shown by the daily mani- 
 festations of His infinite care and loving-kindness 
 as by any interruption of the laws of nature ; and 
 the feast which we were commanded to observe, 
 in grateful acknowledgment of the blessings of a 
 bountiful harvest, should be as sacred in our eyes 
 as the one which recalls to our memory the mar- 
 vellous flight from Egypt, and the early annual 
 hope and firstlings of luxuriant crops. If any 
 difference can be made in the appreciation of the 
 heavenly gifts, which are, in reality, all equally 
 admirable and beneficent, the fulfilment should be 
 held superior to the promise; and the constant 
 proofs of the ever-watchful protection of the Lord 
 should be even dearer to us than the demonstra- 
 tion of His power, as vouchsafed for our salvation 
 in times of threatening danger. For these rea- 
 sons, Pentecost ought always to appear quite as 
 important as Passover. You know, my dear 
 children, that, when originally instituted, it 
 marked, in a solemn manner, the completion of 
 the harvest, when the first loaves prepared from 
 the new wheat were offered on the Table of the 
 Sanctuary. 
 
 The time when this holy ritual was enjoined, 
 and the epoch of trial and probation in the desert, 
 lie in the distant past. They rolled by more than 
 three thousand years ago ; the Judges that ruled
 
 PENTECOST. 191 
 
 over the children of Israel, the prophets that 
 guided them, the kings that swayed their desti- 
 nies, the heathen nations that encompassed and 
 conquered them, even the haughty Assyrians, 
 Babylonians, and Romans, have all passed away ; 
 Jerusalem itself belongs to Mohammedan rulers ; 
 the Temple is in ruins ; the Altar is broken ; our 
 brethren are dispersed over the whole expanse of 
 the globe. But the laws of God are immutable ; 
 they will never cease to sustain life and hope and 
 faith. They are still ours; our inheritance in 
 whatever country we may have been born, at 
 home and abroad, while surrounded by our loved 
 ones, or while journeying in foreign lands, or 
 dwelling among strangers ; they are our buckler 
 and our shield, our rock and our fortress. 
 
 The festival of Pentecost reminds us, that in 
 the days of the Temple all the cities and villages 
 of Palestine celebrated the second harvest feast 
 by sending forth their population, when many 
 passed the nights under the clear vault of heaven, 
 the moon and stars keeping silent watch over the 
 faithful, while they prayed, and meditated, and 
 lifted up their voices with sacred song and har- 
 mony to the throne of the Almighty ! At early 
 morn, the elders of the community called the 
 people together, to lead them to the mountain of 
 Zion, to the House of God. The procession was 
 then formed. The sacrificial animals, with gilded
 
 192 PENTECOST. 
 
 horns, wreathed with branches of the olive-tree, 
 symbolical of peace, moved on in front, followed 
 by the worshippers, bearing flutes and harps and 
 timbrels. At the gates of Jerusalem, the pilgrims 
 were met by the cordial greetings of the inhabi- 
 tants, and through the streets, strewn with fra- 
 grant herbs and summer's brightest flowers, they 
 moved slowly along until they reached the Temple. 
 Then they carried baskets, filled with the first 
 produce of their gardens and orchards, towards 
 the Sanctuary, where the High-priest placed the 
 gifts on the Shrine, and the voices of thousands 
 of Levites united to chant with ardent solemnity, 
 " Look down from Thy holy habitation, from 
 heaven, and bless Thy people Israel, and the land 
 that floweth with milk and honey." 
 
 My dear children, we do not sacrifice meat or 
 burnt-offerings any more, neither snowy lambs, 
 nor faultless kids, nor finest wheaten bread, nor 
 purple or golden grapes ; we do not pour the oil 
 of the olive upon the altar, nor cause the fragrance 
 and silver clouds of frankincense to ascend from 
 it; but we are still called upon to give to the 
 Almighty the first-fruits of our labours. What is 
 thereby meant in our days, has already been ex- 
 plained to you ; but there are lessons which can- 
 not be impressed too deeply on the human heart ; 
 and it is impossible to repeat too often, that we 
 should devote unto the Lord, unto the obedience
 
 PENTECOST. 193 
 
 of His holy laws, our good deeds, the fruits of our 
 thought and time and care, of our best energies, 
 of our most glowing enthusiasm, of our uncon- 
 ditional service. We should yield up to Him 
 the first-fruits of our labours, the zealous works 
 accomplished in our youth, in our years of health 
 and vigour, when life and its duties extend broadly 
 before us, and ere infirmities, trials, and sorrows 
 have impaired our powers of usefulness. We 
 should give to our heavenly Father, not merely 
 the tardy and imperfect fulfilment of obligations 
 wrung from us by the bitter experience of unsuc- 
 cessful struggles, by the sharp, harrowing pangs of 
 remorse, but the produce, " the first-fruits," says 
 our text, of the labours which we have bestowed 
 on the fields. 
 
 Rich harvests are won only by patient industry. 
 Surely God could, by the mere force of His will, 
 make them spring spontaneously from the soil ; 
 but He has wisely and beneficently decreed that 
 they should be earned by persevering exertions : 
 and thus what proves really valuable in our actions, 
 is also the result of untiring diligence and true 
 benevolence, though our most strenuous efforts 
 would be as nought without the merciful aid and 
 protection of the Omnipotent, just as the crops of 
 the earth, carefully sown by the hand of the 
 labourer, would not ripen without the blessing 
 of the divine Creator, without the refreshing dew
 
 194 PENTECOST. 
 
 and fertilizing rain of heaven, and the warming 
 jays of the sun. 
 
 Remember, my dear young friends, that God has 
 eaid : " And none shall appear before Me empty" : 
 which signifies, that none shall lead a vain and 
 frivolous life. When we look around us, and see, 
 that not only the birds and insects of the air, the 
 animals of the fields, the tenants of the seas, but 
 also the trees and blossoms of the earth, and even 
 the minutest blades of grass that grow, are all 
 useful in this beauteous world, we cannot doubt, 
 that the widest, highest sphere of duty is, by the 
 wisdom of the Lord, assigned to the children of 
 men. 
 
 But remember, that eager wishes, ardent im- 
 pulses, and earnest resolves, although laid in all 
 humility before the Almighty, whose heavenly 
 blessing we fervently invoke upon them, are only 
 germs, buds of promise, but cannot be considered 
 fruits of excellence ; whereas years of bodily and 
 mental health and strength spent in the unflinch- 
 ing fulfilment of duty, and zealously devoted to 
 the happiness of those around us, to the pros- 
 perity and improvement of mankind, are produc- 
 tive of those noble actions, which alone deserve 
 to be regarded as the fruits of our labours, and 
 which enable us to hope that we do not appear 
 empty before the Lord. 
 
 However, a twofold interest is attached to the
 
 PENTECOST. 195 
 
 celebration of Pentecost, since you know, my dear 
 children, that in our days the festival is likewise 
 observed to commemorate the revelation on Mount 
 Sinai. The Ten Commandments, vouchsafed by 
 God to our ancestors through Moses, their prophet 
 and leader, are obeyed, not only by the Israelites 
 in every part of the globe, but have become the 
 fundamental laws of all civilized nations; and 
 though more than thirty centuries have elapsed 
 since they were first proclaimed, they are still the 
 inalienable property of all enlightened commu- 
 nities, and have been handed down, from genera- 
 tion to generation, unaltered and unimpaired by 
 age and time. May every child within the circle 
 of our influence be guided by them, and feel their 
 beauty and excellence, which we will endeavour to 
 consider to-day. 
 
 You know, that the first words of the Decalogue 
 are, " I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee 
 out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of 
 bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods besides 
 Me." The Israelites, at the time of their release 
 from thraldom, were, with regard to their know- 
 ledge and understanding, still in the infancy of 
 spiritual development, and, therefore, seemed more 
 likely to acknowledge the omnipotence of the Lord, 
 in connexion with their miraculous salvation from 
 the horrors of Egyptian bondage, and with that 
 wonderful event, the passage of the Red Sea, than
 
 196 PENTECOST. 
 
 in reference to the magnificence of heaven and 
 earth ; to the brightness of sun, moon, and stars ; 
 to the grandeur of mountain and flood, and all the 
 marvels of creation, by which they had always been 
 surrounded. And our ancestors, while impressed 
 with the greatness of God, were taught to look 
 upon slavery as a degrading affliction, and upon 
 freedom as one of the highest blessings of life. 
 Though in our age, after the anxious thought and 
 varied experience of numberless generations, few 
 can be ignorant of the infinite power of the Lord, 
 yet to the Hebrews, encompassed as they were 
 by barbarous or idolatrous tribes, nothing was 
 more imperative than the promulgation of the 
 great principle of the unity of God, the only and 
 imperishable foundation of faith, and alone calcu- 
 lated to teach them that their redemption from 
 the hands of the mighty monarch, before whom 
 thouands trembled, was owing to a still more 
 powerful sovereign, to the King of kings, to the 
 Eternal. 
 
 "Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me," 
 continues the holy text. The Egyptians, whose 
 notions the Israelites had largely imbibed, wor- 
 shipped numberless divinities; and, indeed, our 
 forefathers, in a time of discontent and irritation, 
 during the absence of Moses on Mount Sinai, 
 danced and knelt before the golden calf, which 
 was, no doubt, a representation of the bull Apis.
 
 PENTECOST. 197 
 
 There is no danger now, my dear children, of our 
 bowing before such idols ; but whenever frivolous 
 objects take entire possession of the human mind, 
 they exclude the conscientious fulfilment of duty, 
 and usurp the place which should belong to the 
 Almighty, I mean to the truest worship of His 
 goodness and greatness, to the most faithful obe- 
 dience of His laws. 
 
 The Lord spoke further : " Thou shalt not make 
 to thee any graven image, or any likeness of any- 
 thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the 
 earth beneath, or that is under the earth : thou 
 shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them : for 
 I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting 
 the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to 
 the third and fourth generation of those that hate 
 Me; and showing mercy to thousands, to those 
 that love Me, and keep My commandments." 
 
 God, incorporeal and purely spiritual, is to be 
 adored with the love of the heart and the faith of 
 the soul; and therefore the Israelites were for- 
 bidden to represent the Almighty, and to worship 
 Him under any form or shape, as they might 
 have been tempted to do in imitation of the 
 Egyptians, whose deities, as for instance, Osiris 
 and Isis, were symbolized as human figures with 
 ever-varying attributes; or were mere animals 
 held in honour, as the ichneumon, the devourer 
 of crocodiles' eggs, or the ibis, the destroyer of 
 s 3
 
 198 PENTECOST. 
 
 venomous reptiles and insects. The Hebrews were 
 warned that the Almighty would visit the iniquity 
 of the fathers upon the children to the third gene- 
 ration; and such words, emanating from a God 
 of boundless mercy, though startling at first, and 
 perhaps incomprehensible to the unreflecting, are 
 in reality founded on principles of eternal justice. 
 Parents who have neglected their health cannot 
 transmit a vigorous organization to their children; 
 their offspring are feeble, sickly, unfit for the 
 active duties of life ; and, in the same way, those 
 whose minds are corrupted, whose existence is 
 tainted with vices, with the shadows of evil ex- 
 ample, inevitably cast a gloom over the career of 
 their sons and daughters. They often blight it 
 completely, and thus the wickedness of sinful 
 fathers is visited upon their descendants, whereas 
 the good and righteous, in a similar manner, pre- 
 pare and earn blessings for their posterity. 
 
 The third commandment says : " Thou shalt 
 not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; 
 for the Lord God will not hold him guiltless who 
 taketh His name in vain." This law may perhaps 
 be deemed less important than others, and it may 
 be thought that there are more heinous offences 
 than those committed by the profanation of the 
 sacred name of the Almighty. Criminal as this 
 infringement of the divine commandment must 
 in itself be considered, the act of invoking the
 
 PENTECOST. 199 
 
 Omnipotent, and thus unblushingly associating the 
 name of the Holy One with disgraceful falsehood, 
 leads to the habitual violation of truth ; and no- 
 thing could more thoroughly unsettle, or more 
 deplorably deface the human mind, and entice it 
 more fatally into the deepest errors and into the 
 neglect of all heavenly laws. 
 
 " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," 
 enjoins the fourth commandment. I have already 
 endeavoured to convince you, my dear children, 
 that the solemn character of the Sabbath consists 
 not merely in repose from exertion, but that we 
 sanctify the day of rest more completely and more 
 truly by making it a time of rigorous self-exami- 
 nation, by looking into the remotest corners of 
 the heart, to ascertain whether we have faithfully 
 done all our work, and laboured conscientiously 
 during the six preceding days for the benefit and 
 happiness of those whom we are commanded to 
 love as truly as ourselves. 
 
 " Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy 
 days may be long in the land which the Lord thy 
 God giveth thee." Love towards affectionate 
 parents is a feeling innate in the human breast ; 
 but the sacred text teaches us to make this inborn 
 sentiment productive of good actions. To honour 
 father and mother, is to devote our best abilities 
 and energies to their service, is to revere them 
 quite as constantly by the accomplishment of our
 
 200 PENTECOST. 
 
 obligations, by our unfailing devotion, as by out- 
 ward forms and protestations of attachment and 
 respect. 
 
 The three following commandments, my dear 
 children, prohibit sins and crimes, the commission 
 of which I ardently hope may ever remain foreign, 
 not merely to yourselves, but to all those with 
 whom you are brought into contact. 
 
 The ninth injunction, " Thou shalt not bear 
 false witness against thy neighbour/' exhorts us 
 to refrain from injuring our fellow-beings by 
 words, from hurting them by slander, aspersion, 
 and defamation, either privately in our own houses, 
 or publicly in society, or in a court of justice. 
 
 The tenth commandment, against covetous 
 desires is, perhaps, the one which we most fre- 
 quently violate ; and we are apt to think that, 
 because the offence is committed internally, in the 
 depths of the mind, and because it often remains 
 unrevealed to human knowledge, being apparent 
 only to the all-seeing eye of the merciful Creator, 
 it cannot be really sinful, nor cause much misery 
 and evil. That, my dear children, is a misappre- 
 hension : for envy, by cankering the heart, ren- 
 ders it incapable of noble and generous sentiments, 
 and sooner or later nils it with rancour, hatred, 
 and uncharitableness. 
 
 My dear young friends, let the festival of Pen- 
 tecost, which we celebrate in grateful acknowledg-
 
 PENTECOST. 201 
 
 ment of so many tangible benefits, of so many 
 spiritual blessings, remind us of the whole extent 
 of our duties. Let us not forget them even amidst 
 the pursuit of our most fondly valued occupations, 
 of those manifold pleasures which God permits us 
 to enjoy, and which He graciously places within 
 our reach in this world of beauty and brightness. 
 May we always remember, that the Almighty 
 commands us to appear in His divine presence, 
 not empty, but with a plentiful harvest of good 
 deeds with those fruits of our labours patiently 
 lown by us in the fields of life.
 
 XXII. 
 NEW YEAR. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 On this solemn festival, which is, in truth, 
 called a " day of remembrance," our whole life 
 seems to rise from the shadows of the past, and to 
 bring vividly before us the ever-varying pictures, 
 the ever-dissolving views of all that was once, and 
 is no more of all that which, in by-gone hours, 
 filled us with the buoyancy of hope, or the tremor 
 of fear, with the brightness of joy, the gloom of 
 sorrow, or the bitter feelings of regret. 
 
 On this day, the first of the year, we are forci- 
 bly reminded of the alterations which, during the 
 preceding months, have been accomplished in 
 ourselves, as well as in everything that surrounds 
 us. While impressed with the flight of time, and 
 while viewing its traces, we cannot refrain from 
 meditating on the great law of change which per- 
 vades the universe. This incomprehensible rule 
 often appears cold and severe to our understand- 
 ing; yet it is quite as frequently blessed by us 
 with tears of happiness and gratitude, when we
 
 NEW YEAR. 203 
 
 witness those marvellous transformations, wrought 
 ia obedience to the inscrutable decrees of divine 
 Providence. How strange it seems, that nothing 
 should be permanent that the most valued trea- 
 sures should glide away from the tightest grasp 
 that the bonds of love should not be strong enough 
 to clasp parents, brothers, sisters, children, in an 
 unbroken circle of affection that grief, sickness, 
 death, or merely the strides of time, should rob 
 us of the presence of those to whom we cling 
 most fondly that youth with its favourite, if not 
 always faithful companion, health, should leave 
 us that joy, so brilliant and so sunny, the most 
 welcome guest in castle and in cottage, should 
 fade or suddenly disappear that even hope, that 
 heaven-born light, should be, if not completely 
 quenched, often closely veiled, or hidden behind 
 clouds ! And again : what a merciful dispensa- 
 tion, though almost incredible in the hour of 
 affliction, that agonizing cares, which threaten to 
 overpower our faculty of endurance, should, ere 
 long, be soothed, or leave us entirely wiser and 
 better, let us hope, but not less happy, than before 
 the chastening. 
 
 My dear children, within the last year, progress 
 from ignorance to knowledge, from poverty to 
 affluence, from repeated, disheartening failures to 
 elating success, has taken place around us. Ad- 
 venturous journeys by land, and perilous voyages
 
 204 NEW YEAR. 
 
 over the depths of the ocean; loss of health, 
 and recovery from sickness; tears as countless 
 as the grains of sand on the sea-shore, and 
 smiles as innumerable and as bright as the stars 
 of the firmament ; and births and happy unions 
 and deaths among the pilgrims of earth, have 
 marked the winged steps of time, which has left 
 nothing and no one as it found them. It has passed 
 not only over bud and flower, over orchard and 
 corn-field ; but also over little children and young 
 maidens, over stalwart men and blooming women, 
 over the feeble and the robust, the youthful and 
 the aged, has it moved with mighty pinions and 
 cutting scythe. To some it has wafted health 
 and strength, joy and happiness; to others it has 
 brought anxiety and suffering. It may have 
 blanched the cheeks of the most vigorous, turned 
 golden locks prematurely grey, deepened the 
 traces of burning tears into the furrows of old 
 age ; or it may have helped to smooth the brow 
 of care, to raise fresh hopes, and call new bless- 
 ings into existence. It has allowed no earthly 
 wanderer to remain untouched : onward and on- 
 ward have all gone, either moving slowly and 
 indolently along the road of life, or rushing 
 eagerly and ardently forward in the struggle for 
 enjoyment or distinction. 
 
 The unceasing agitation and turmoil around us 
 seem wondrous and grand, full of examples and
 
 NEW YEAE. 205 
 
 warnings; but, amidst all this, the heart yearns 
 for repose for some peaceful oasis, undisturbed 
 by the constant ebb and flow of the waves 
 of human destiny, of the alternating light and 
 darkness of this world. And this unconquerable 
 longing after the immutable, becomes more fervid 
 at the commencement of a new year, shrouded 
 from our view by a curtain not more impenetrable 
 than the veil which conceals the events of every 
 dawning day, but appearing more mysterious 
 when we are free from the time-absorbing labours 
 of our existence, when we have leisure to scan the 
 past, and wistfully to peer into the future. Then 
 it is that, from the din which incessantly disturbs 
 our tranquillity, we look up trustingly to the 
 Lord of the universe ; then we feel that faith in 
 Him is the only refuge where we may always find 
 rest, that His goodness and mercy are indeed 
 unalterable, and that no change in our thoughts, 
 deeds, and circumstances occurs, without leaving 
 behind some imperishably useful reality. 
 
 Let us then, my dear children, accept with 
 grateful sentiments the law of change, and avail 
 ourselves of the privilege vouchsafed to us by the 
 divine beneficence, to exclaim, on New- Year's 
 day, with the inspired poet, " Create in me a pure 
 heart, O God ; and renew a right spirit within 
 me." But, ere we enter with renovated strength 
 upon our fresh duties, let us cast one long, 
 T
 
 206 NEW YEAR. 
 
 lingering look at by-gone days, and garner up the 
 treasures which time, with its train of events, has 
 left behind. 
 
 Riches may have melted away, but the good 
 works performed with their aid still remain ; smiles 
 may have died, and laughter-loving voices have been 
 hushed around us, but surely the sight of human 
 felicity, and the enjoyment of happiness, are great 
 blessings, which could never have been ours with- 
 out elevating our thoughts, without softening our 
 feelings, and making us strive to win for others 
 advantages equal to those which have fallen to 
 our share. And the recollection of past delight, 
 similar to the glow which sheds a halo of beauty 
 over the landscape, after the celestial orb has 
 sunk beneath the horizon, dwells in our memory, 
 brightening long years, which would, perhaps, 
 otherwise be blank and cold. Bodily or mental 
 sufferings, much as they may have tried our forti- 
 tude, never vanish without bequeathing to us a 
 far truer appreciation of health and of freedom 
 from care. Do not sorrows and vicissitudes often 
 teach us resignation and courage, meekness and 
 humility, and, also, deep gratitude to the Lord, 
 and unshaken faith in Him who afflicted us and 
 relieved us all in good time ? And when we have 
 seen life extinguished near us the life that was 
 our sunshine, the joy of our youth, the flame that 
 warmed our heart with love and tenderness does
 
 NEW YEAH. 207 
 
 not our grieving soul fly from the troubles of this 
 world, to the contemplation of that blessed here- 
 after, where the anguish of separation and of death 
 is unknown ? 
 
 And now, my dear children, let us turn to the 
 New Year ; and, with a pure and renovated spirit, 
 survey the gleaming path which we are to tread. 
 It is the road of virtue, often called " narrow," 
 but, no doubt, undeservedly so : for is there not 
 ample space, throughout its expanse, for innume- 
 rable duties and their fulfilment for the deve- 
 lopment of every beautiful sentiment, and of 
 every noble quality. Myriads of human beings, 
 in fact, all mankind, may walk along its length 
 and breadth ; little children with their appointed 
 task, men and women with the pilgrim's staff, 
 their burdens and obligations. There is room for 
 all wayfarers, for the rich and the poor, the lowly 
 and the mighty of the land. There is scope for 
 every variety of excellence, for deeds of valour and 
 of heroism, of devotion and of sacrifice ; for acts 
 of generosity, benevolence, and charity; for the 
 exercise of gentleness, patience, and forbearance. 
 There is no wider road than that of virtue ; no- 
 thing relating to it can be termed narrow, except 
 the line which separates it from the path of vice 
 and sin. 
 
 Yet, my dear children, you must not imagine it 
 to be as even and smooth as it is broad. On the
 
 208 NEW YEAH. 
 
 contrary, it is often rugged, full of difficulties and 
 obstacles, rising to the height of mountains which 
 must he laboriously ascended, as the fulfilment of 
 duty may lie on the summit, amidst snow, and 
 ice, and towering clouds. 
 
 My dear young friends, the first day of the new 
 year is sanctified among us as the anniversary of 
 the completion of the works of creation by the 
 omnipotent will of the Lord. Grand and magni- 
 ficent as are these wondrous works, and small as 
 man appears in comparison with them, the hand 
 of God formed the boundless vault of the universe, 
 with its innumerable stars and planets, and our 
 own dazzling sun to light and warm the globe, 
 the animated beings of earth and air, the fields 
 and their produce, the forests and their trees, the 
 gardens with their fruits and flowers, the mighty 
 oceans and rivers, with their legions of living 
 tenants the Lord God Almighty created them 
 all before He called man into existence, that the 
 whole world, in its beauty and splendour, with 
 its countless treasures and enjoyments, should be 
 the heirloom of Adam and his descendants. Yet 
 during the six thousand years which have elapsed 
 since the birth of the first man, not only incessant 
 changes, but also infinite improvements, have been 
 recorded ; the march of progress has been unin- 
 terrupted. Brilliant and fragrant flowers bloom, 
 sweet and refreshing fruits ripen everywhere, and
 
 NEW YEAR. 209 
 
 are no longer confined to the garden of Eden. 
 Goodly harvests have gradually become more 
 general and more plentiful; milk and honey, oil 
 and wine, flow in greater abundance ; the quarries 
 of the earth yield more readily and more profusely 
 their precious marbles, the mines their silver and 
 gold, the caves of the ocean their coral sprays and 
 their wealth of pearls. And man, who has tamed 
 the wild animals, and made them subservient to 
 his will, should not he have improved since his 
 first parents beheld with rapture the green valleys 
 of Paradise ? Should he alone have remained 
 stationary, and unable to devote himself more 
 zealously to the service of the Lord? We have 
 more knowledge of the frailty of the human heart, 
 of the vacillations of the human mind, and, above 
 all, we possess the divine Word, the truths of 
 religion, to strengthen us at all seasons, to sup- 
 port us in the time of need, to uphold our failing 
 courage ; and we have inherited the experience of 
 thousands of years to show us our errors, to teach 
 us more clearly those ever-increasing duties, which 
 were perhaps less obvious to preceding generations. 
 And, my dear children, if this be true of all 
 mankind, is it not far more applicable still to in- 
 dividuals ? and has not each of us to carry along 
 on his pilgrimage the great book of the past, with 
 its varied and invaluable lessons ? And does not 
 every hour almost add a leaf to that volume of 
 T 3
 
 210 NEW YEAR. 
 
 wisdom, and engrave, with indelible characters, 
 additional precepts and rules on its pages ? 
 
 With so faithful a monitor and companion, and 
 with a pure heart and renovated spirit, let us 
 then, my dear children, enter upon the considera- 
 tion of the fresh duties imposed upon us by the 
 New Year. Some have, no doubt, been carried 
 over from the cycle of time which has just closed; 
 others are debts of gratitude, imperatively de- 
 manding payment, or labours commenced, which 
 we had not the leisure or the health and strength 
 to finish. Let us hope, that there was no defi- 
 ciency of good-will or zeal on our part; for, in 
 that case, the obligations left half fulfilled are 
 likely to weigh doubly upon us now, and to tax 
 us more heavily. The day is short, and every 
 division of it has work for industrious hands, 
 energetic minds, and willing hearts. Remember, 
 that it is an epitome of life, and should not end 
 without being marked by earnest endeavours and 
 deeds of benevolence. And however arduous our 
 task may appear, however sleepless and indefa- 
 tigable the activity required, we must recollect to 
 thank the Lord for having endowed us with the 
 power and ability of exerting ourselves bene- 
 ficially. 
 
 But the New Year brings new cares to us. We 
 cannot hope to live on undisturbed in the happy 
 performance of duty, unchecked by bodily pain or
 
 NEW YEAR. 211 
 
 mental anguish, uninterrupted by doubts or scru- 
 ples respecting the real usefulness of our labours, 
 unhindered by difficulties from without, or unas- 
 sailed by reproaches, perhaps even by calumny. 
 Although we cannot live without seeing our horizon 
 obscured by the gloomy shadows of anxiety, we 
 must not suspend our work, nor clasp our hands 
 in despair, but should persevere, and strive with 
 unabated vigour to stem the tide of adverse cir- 
 cumstances, ever hoping to weather the storm, 
 while we look up trustingly to heaven, and seek 
 shelter from angry whirlwinds near our merciful 
 Father at the helm. 
 
 Yet we trust that the New Year will bring 
 renewed gifts energy to the drooping, cheerful- 
 ness to the desponding, relief to the suffering : 
 and, with these blessings, should arise the anxious 
 desire to merit, and conscientiously to employ all 
 the treasures lavished upon us by the bounty of 
 the Lord the desire to exert ourselves, that they 
 may not be said to have fallen to the lot of the 
 niggardly and selfish, but that, with divine aid, 
 they may be shared by others, and become ever- 
 flowing sources of prosperity and delight to many. 
 The New Year loosens old ties, breaks old fetters ; 
 evil connections may be relinquished, dangerous 
 bonds severed ; false friends, and wicked associates, 
 and pernicious habits abandoned ; and we ourselves 
 may be restored to all that is good and pure.
 
 212 NEW YEAR. 
 
 But health and life, too, may pass away from 
 us, and leave us standing before the throne of 
 judgment, at the portals of eternity. Let us, my 
 dear children, contemplate this, the greatest of all 
 changes, not with feelings of dread, but in a spirit 
 of true faith \ and may we in earnest supplication 
 to the Lord God Almighty find, not only courage 
 to look forward to the end of our earthly career, 
 but increased zeal, that every day be replete 
 with dutiful endeavours, and thus prepare us to 
 appear before our heavenly Father in all humility, 
 and offering to Him the successful labours of our 
 hands. 
 
 With such reflections, my dear children, we will 
 begin the New Year, and eagerly scan the mani- 
 fold lessons of the past ; may they enhance our 
 reverence and piety, increase our obedience to the 
 laws of our holy religion, fill us with radiant hope 
 for the future, kindle in us undying enthusiasm 
 for works of love and charity, and inspire every 
 faithful worshipper ardently to breathe the prayer 
 of the Psalmist : " Create in me a pure heart, and 
 renew a right spirit within me."
 
 XXIII. 
 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 The anxious desire to worship the Lord on 
 this solemn fast and day of humiliation in accord- 
 ance with the precepts of our sacred faith, urges 
 us to accomplish duties more essential for our own 
 welfare and that of our brethren than perhaps any 
 other obligations which may devolve upon us ; for 
 they lead to the conscientious fulfilment of every 
 important task. Indeed, our duties form a chain 
 of innumerable links closely knitted together, 
 though very dissimilar, some being mere silken 
 ties or bright circles wreathed with flowers, 
 among which we move with buoyant delight, 
 while others press upon us with the weight of 
 iron. Let us strive to remember whether we 
 have always carried that strangely-woven chain 
 along with us on the road of life, or if we have 
 sometimes escaped from its trammels, perhaps 
 allowed its heavier portions to rust, or even been 
 guilty of tearing them asunder. 
 
 Before we venture to appear in the temple of 
 the Almighty to entreat His pardon, it behoves us
 
 214 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 
 
 to examine our past career with, earnestly probing 
 attention, and to act in faithful obedience to the 
 following words of the prophet : " Let us search our 
 ways, and investigate them ; then we can return 
 unto the Lord." This scrutiny is the first, but not 
 the least difficult, of five important duties demanded 
 of us on this day. We may have sinned from igno- 
 rance, from weakness of mind, or frailty of heart, 
 yielded to attacks from without, or succumbed to 
 internal foes ; we have perhaps been stubborn and 
 stiff-necked, hurried into wrong-doing by the 
 warmth of our emotions, or kept aloof from the 
 path of benevolence and charity by a paralysing 
 coldness of disposition : but although we have pro- 
 bably known the extent of our error, I am afraid, 
 that in many cases we have allowed the curtain of 
 oblivion to fall upon our mistakes and misdeeds, 
 forgetting that it is not easy to draw its folds 
 aside. Let us, however, make a resolute attempt 
 to penetrate into the recesses of the heart, and, 
 notwithstanding the prevailing obscurity, we shall, 
 ere long, find our way in the labyrinths of con- 
 science, as we should in a dungeon, or while walk- 
 ing during a dark night, with black clouds above, 
 and shadows encompassing us. At first all is con- 
 fusion, but soon our eyes accustom themselves to 
 the absence of light, and from the surrounding 
 gloom the most important objects detach them- 
 selves, until their outlines appear before us almost
 
 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 215 
 
 as distinctly as at noonday. And when our faults 
 become visible like foul stains, when our sins rise 
 from the mists of the past like appalling ghosts, 
 from which we recoil with horror and disgust, 
 then let us prostrate ourselves before the All- 
 merciful, and exclaim: "Wash me thoroughly 
 from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." 
 And well may we invoke the blessing of the Om- 
 nipotent upon our efforts when we remember that 
 He is long-suffering and a God of forgiveness, 
 and recall to mind the following cheering words : 
 " Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked 
 should die ? saith the Lord : and not that he 
 should return from his ways and live ?" 
 
 My dear children, when we, or those whom we 
 love, are laid low by sore disease, what is it that 
 we dread even more than the suffering connected 
 with illness ? The avenging sword of death. Sick- 
 ness is a derangement of the powers of life, and 
 unless, with God's blessing, it be subdued by 
 medical skill, and by the natural energies of the 
 patient, death ensues : a wound may destroy the 
 usefulness of the limbs, or annihilate the senses ; 
 the blind painter or architect is dead to his art, 
 the paralysed sculptor or musician lives no more 
 as such. And so it may be with the inner man, 
 with his mind or heart; but the danger is far 
 greater. What was perhaps a mere speck extends 
 into a plague-spot, deepens into a cancer, which
 
 216 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 
 
 poisons the whole system, and substitutes vice and 
 sin for piety and virtue, moral death for religious 
 life. But God wishes us to be healed He wishes 
 us to live and to repent. 
 
 And now let us consider our second duty on this 
 day. The first was an anxious survey of the path 
 which lies behind us, and an eager search into 
 the mysterious realms of our thoughts and feel- 
 ings. The second should not be simply a contem- 
 plation of our faults, but a confession of them, 
 uttered with pain and shame before the heavenly 
 tribunal of justice, and a frank, though blushing, 
 avowal of them, if needed, among men. It is 
 true that God reads our hearts, but those weak 
 and erring hearts do not know their own failings 
 until they have laid themselves bare before the 
 Almighty. It is not enough to see Avhat is wrong; 
 we must declare it to be so in the sight of the 
 Lord; and then the remedy will soon suggest 
 itself, and the cure will follow speedily. How 
 could it be otherwise in the world of the 
 soul, out of which emanate the ways of life ? 
 Morasses and stagnant waters, from which ascend 
 deleterious vapours, and where nothing bright 
 ever shines, except the ignis fatuus to delude be- 
 nighted wayfarers, are often seen by listless thou- 
 sands, and are yet allowed to remain untouched, 
 engendering destructive fevers ; but no sooner are 
 they stigmatized as crying evils, than societies
 
 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 217 
 
 and governments come forward to reclaim the 
 land, to recover the swamps from the wild birds 
 of the air, and the creeping things of the earth. 
 
 And, thirdly, should we acknowledge the ex- 
 istence of plague-spots in the mind, of leprosy 
 and pollution in the heart, without striving to 
 purify ourselves by the gushing tears of repent- 
 ance, without labouring to erase those dark stains 
 by the keen blades of regret, or the daggers of 
 relentless remorse ? 
 
 But even such contrition would be insufficient, 
 and mere aimless sorrow, unless it led to the fulfil- 
 ment of our fourth duty on this day of humilia- 
 tion, namely, to that of atonement. There are 
 many means, my dear children, of expiating the 
 errors of the past; and they issue alike from the 
 same centre, the penitent heart. Above all, let us 
 bring to our aid humility and truthfulness, and 
 banish for ever that pride and falsehood which 
 tempted us to wander astray. In doing evil, 
 while we were able to discriminate between right 
 and wrong, we proved false to ourselves, and weak 
 as well as proud and disdainful ; for we closed our 
 ears to the whispering of conscience, disregarded 
 the advice of experienced friends, and placed our- 
 selves beyond the reproving voices of the world. 
 However, there is a mode of atoning, infinitely 
 more arduous still, which consists not merely in 
 craving the forgiveness of those whom we have 
 u
 
 218 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 
 
 been so unfortunate as to pain by our conduct, by 
 our words and actions, or to injure either willingly 
 or inadvertently, but which induces us to restore 
 to them, if possible, even more than the advan- 
 tages and benefits of which our want of thought 
 or our sinfulness has perhaps robbed them. 
 
 I do not allude here, my dear children, to the 
 commission of theft. We may, throughout life, 
 have shuddered at the remotest idea, never even 
 have harboured the thought, of transgressing the 
 eighth commandment ; and it is yet possible that 
 we have deprived others of most valuable posses- 
 sions, of smiles and hopes of happiness ; we may 
 in wrath or in recklessness have dashed away the 
 cup of joy from loving lips, or filled it with bitter- 
 ness, with care and affliction. And then, alas ! 
 we cannot always give fresh delights for lost 
 pleasures, cloudless serenity for past storms, and 
 new treasures for the shattered wrecks which have 
 been left behind. But some good we can accom- 
 plish by strenuous exertions; and to those who 
 have suffered through us or on our account, we 
 owe unwearied devotion to obliterate, not only 
 the reality, but also the recollection of the sor- 
 rows and sufferings inflicted by our weakness or 
 by our guilt. 
 
 The fifth duty demanded of us on this day of 
 atonement, is that of forming the most solemn 
 determination not to relapse into the errors of the
 
 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 219 
 
 past, but to keep sedulously aloof from tempta- 
 tions in whatever shape they may assail us, to 
 avoid moral danger, which is perhaps less cou- 
 rageous, though surely wiser and safer than to 
 face it; but our conduct, in that respect, must 
 be modified by the nature of our imperfections or 
 good qualities. We should bring all the powers 
 and energies of mind and soul into operation, and 
 make them subservient to the one great object of 
 penance, which means self- improvement and the 
 exercise of benevolence and charity. Nor should 
 we imagine, that having sinned once, we are more 
 liable to sin again; on the contrary, shame, re- 
 morse, grief, those internal scourges, no less than 
 outward punishments, are likely to prove strong 
 weapons of defence against the most insidious 
 tempters to evil, our own faults. 
 
 As a dangerous illness, when successfully van- 
 quished, often restores us to more robust health, 
 and enhances our gratitude for the blessings we 
 possess; so past errors and their chastisement, 
 while they frequently lead us to a truer appreci- 
 ation of virtue, and of the importance of all 
 duties, clearly define the shoals and reefs of our 
 existence, and the great perils with which thev 
 are fraught. And when we behold before us vice 
 and virtue, as from some commanding height we 
 might see here the fearful, the unfathomed preci- 
 pice, and there the peaceful valley, where labour
 
 220 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 
 
 receives its reward, then our choice will not be 
 doubtful ; for we are aware, that although weeds 
 may, even in a well -tilled field, grow over night, 
 there is hope to uproot them in the morning, and 
 by perseverance to cleanse the land from rank 
 vegetation. So let us guard against bewildering 
 errors and illusions, and, with divine assistance, 
 remove sin from our heart, ever upholding our 
 will by fervid prayer for the work of true re- 
 formation. 
 
 We are further commanded to keep this day as 
 a rigorous fast. My dear children, the injunction 
 of abstaining from food applies to those only who 
 have attained their thirteenth year ; nor is it in- 
 tended for the sick or infirm, who might be 
 seriously injured by obedience to this law. How- 
 ever, those exempted from the rule form but a 
 small minority ; all other Israelites should cheer- 
 fully submit to the privation. Although it is, no 
 doubt, the least important of the duties prescribed 
 for this season of repentance, it teaches valuable 
 lessons, and tends to curb that foolishly proud 
 spirit, which is so often oblivious of its own no- 
 thingness, How humiliating is the thought, that 
 all should be dependent for strength and energy 
 upon a mere morsel of bread, or a draught of 
 water. For as the feeble and perishable nature 
 of the human body requires daily nourishment, 
 the best and most energetic, no less than the
 
 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 221 
 
 weakest and frailest, are all influenced and de- 
 pressed by even the temporary absence of meat 
 and drink. The fast is, indeed, a penance, though 
 the slightest of all, while it continues ; but when 
 it ceases, we become aware how much our powers 
 of usefulness were impaired by it, and how utterly 
 they would have been destroyed had our absti- 
 nence been prolonged. 
 
 Therefore, my dear children, this day, both a 
 stern master and a wise teacher, awakens in us 
 feelings of intense pity for the hungering multi- 
 tudes, whose food is, alas ! insufficient to support 
 them, who, perhaps, see their loved ones pine and 
 droop from want, while the sons and daughters of 
 luxury often partake of superfluous repasts. And 
 it is impossible sincerely to commiserate the poor 
 without striving to alleviate their sufferings, and 
 without succeeding, to some extent, in such 
 earnest endeavours. 
 
 God, who is the All-wise as well as the All- 
 merciful, has vouchsafed to us the ordinance of 
 the Day of Atonement ; and during its long vigils 
 of contrition, our mistakes and imperfections, 
 errors and sins, appear reproachfully, and in almost 
 endless array, before our view, urging us on to 
 confession at the throne of judgment, and to 
 amelioration in our hearts and in our deeds. The 
 Lord wishes His children to turn from their wicked 
 ways, and to live again in happy innocence ; and 
 u3
 
 222 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 
 
 when His searching eye discerns true repentance, 
 His heavenly hand lifts up from lowliness the 
 crushed spirit, and bids the sorrowing soul, 
 soothed by faith and purified by expiation, to 
 rise again to the performance of the highest 
 duties of life. Well may we then trust to our 
 heavenly Father for the blessing of forgiveness, 
 look around us with the serenity of peace on our 
 countenance, and exclaim, with deep gratitude : 
 " A day in Thy courts, O God, is better than a 
 thousand."
 
 XXIV. 
 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 We celebrate a festival this day, in remem- 
 brance of the miraculous preservation of our 
 ancestors, during the forty years of their wander- 
 ings and privations in the wilderness. Memories 
 of events long gone by crowd upon us; and 
 while, perhaps, oppressed by personal anxieties, 
 and divided between painful thought and fervent 
 prayer, we see before us the millions of human 
 beings, who pitched their tents in the desert, 
 and were sustained there by the inexhaustible 
 goodness and infinite power of the Lord. His 
 bounty fed them with celestial bread, sent the 
 birds of the air to nourish them, allowed the 
 hard rock to be cleft, that fresh waters might 
 yield their streams to quench the burning thirst 
 of fevered lips. 
 
 It was the same heavenly will that had shielded 
 their helplessness, when they were flying from 
 angry pursuers, and made a column of cloud 
 appear by day to shroud them from all danger, 
 a pillar of fire to glow by night, and illumine the
 
 224 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 
 
 surrounding darkness ; it was the same invincible 
 baud tliat fought and won their battles among 
 idolatrous nations, causing the Israelites to be 
 victorious over every enemy. And it is the 
 recollection of all these mercies which gives 
 additional solemnity to the days we are now 
 keeping holy. 
 
 But in the times of Moses and his successors, 
 the Feast of Tabernacles was one of gratitude 
 and rejoicing, not merely for the great historical 
 and national blessings, that saved and protected 
 our forefathers during their long pilgrimage to 
 the new home of promise, but also for the gifts of 
 God's beneficence vouchsafed, in such rich abun- 
 dance, to all His children during spring, summer, 
 and autumn. The festival was observed from the 
 fifteenth day of the mouth of Tishri, ere the 
 season changed for winter, and in joyful acknow- 
 ledgment of the treasures reaped, at the close of 
 the agricultural year, when the labours of the 
 husbandman were concluded, when the orchards 
 and vineyards, as well as the corn-fields, had 
 given up their produce to persevering exertions, 
 and when those who had tilled the ground were 
 both rewarded for their work, and relieved from 
 its fatigues. Every seventh year, when the land 
 also was allowed to rest, the Law was read 
 publicly in the assembly of the people, and the 
 paramount duty thus inculcated was thaukfulness,
 
 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 225 
 
 which is indeed the fountain of the purest and 
 deepest religious feelings. 
 
 Though many centuries have rolled by since 
 the days of our greatest prophet, the wise and 
 beautiful commandments which by the grace of 
 the Omnipotent he was allowed to transmit to 
 our ancestors, are still binding upon us, and will 
 endure everlastingly, notwithstanding the mani- 
 fold changes so constantly and so rapidly carried 
 on around us. 
 
 The Almighty ordained : " You shall dwell in 
 tabernacles seven days,., .that your generations may 
 know, that I made the children of Israel to dwell in 
 tabernacles, when I brought them out of the land of 
 Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Lev. xxiii. 42,43). 
 And although we now inhabit substantial houses 
 throughout the year, and are protected by them 
 from the 'vicissitudes of all seasons, the wooden 
 structures which we raise derive deep interest 
 from their association, both with the remote 
 Biblical times and with the glowing autumn, 
 which, robed in purple and gold, journeys over the 
 land to gather the rich gifts of the earth's luxu- 
 riant fertility. When the yellow corn has been 
 bound into goodly sheaves, when the trees have 
 been stripped of their gleaming fruit, when the 
 vineyards have lost beauty and splendour, when 
 the clear air rings with the merry harvest voices, 
 when anxious mothers stoop to glean each stray
 
 226 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 
 
 ear of wheat, while their children pluck the wild 
 flowers of the furrow, and the birds come down 
 from the blue ether, soon to fly back, bearing 
 away their share of the wealth of fields and 
 gardens, then it is impossible not to feel pro- 
 foundly impressed with sentiments of gratitude 
 towards the divine Giver of all blessings, and not 
 cheerfully to help in building or adorning those 
 fragile tabernacles, every portion of which is a 
 remembrance of a benefit received, and points to 
 the accomplishment of some duty. 
 
 I need hardly describe to you, rny dear chil- 
 dren, those temporary habitations; you have often 
 seen them, and your hands have frequently as- 
 sisted in embellishing them with the brightest 
 foliage, with the loveliest flowers, with a roof 
 of leaves through which the sun by day, and 
 the stars by night, shine upon happy groups 
 of parents and children, enjoying therein the 
 favours of God's beneficence, and offering up to 
 heaven the thanks and prayers of humbly grateful 
 hearts. 
 
 Yet in addition to the garlands woven from the 
 blossoms of our gardens, to the pyramids raised 
 from the sweetest clusters, which ripen in our or- 
 chards, we are commanded, during the Feast of 
 Tabernacles to symbolize the varied productions 
 of nature by the four plants mentioned in Holy 
 Writ, namely, the weeping willow of the brook,
 
 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 227 
 
 under whose shade we find shelter and coolness, 
 the evergreen myrtle of hope with its snowy buds 
 of purity, the lemon, with its fragrant petals of 
 promise and their fulfilment, and the finest 
 branches of the palm tree, which yields all neces- 
 saries and luxuries to the inhabitants of tropical 
 climes. 
 
 But the tints of the fairest roses, however 
 brilliant and beautiful, fade away almost before 
 the festive season is replaced by the days of 
 labour, and their fragrance, however balmy, soon 
 evaporates ; the green leaves droop ; even the 
 most powerful aroma vanishes ere long ; the fruit 
 loses its freshness; and while thoughtfully con- 
 templating the silent but eloquent decay around 
 us, wrought even in the course of one short 
 week, we are again made to feel that all earthly 
 treasures are evanescent ; that the land may be 
 impoverished, the vineyard blighted, the mines 
 and quarries of the earth exhausted, the grandest 
 palaces and noblest ships destroyed by flood and 
 fire; that mighty rivers may lose themselves in 
 the sandy waste, that nothing is permanently 
 ours, but the heart-born faith in divine goodness, 
 nothing everlasting, except the heavenly benefi- 
 cence of the Almighty : and such knowledge, such 
 belief, should always give fervour to our supplica- 
 tions, when we pray for the attributes of charity, 
 of benevolence, of mercy, and of humility among
 
 228 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 
 
 our brethren of energy and courage among 
 besetting dangers of patience and perseverance 
 for accomplishing our daily duties. 
 
 Prayer, when coming from the depths of 
 the soul, is, indeed, an inexhaustible source of 
 purification, peace, and solace. It must not 
 be mechanical lip-worship, but an intensely 
 thoughtful invocation, breathed to the Father 
 of light and life, for power to save ourselves 
 from folly and vanity, vice and sin that 
 prayer, offered up at the portals of morn and 
 evening, of work and rest, when the sun gilds the 
 mountain-tops at early hour, when the dying day- 
 hymn floats through the rosy air, when twilight 
 flings its veils and lulling harmonies around the 
 weary earth ; and again, when nature seems wrapt 
 in slumber, and the moon's silvery wings hover 
 over field and forest, city and village that prayer 
 relieves our breast from the burden of worldly 
 cares, causes tranquillity to descend into our heart, 
 and, with it, the clear and vivid consciousness of 
 our manifold duties ; and then it is that we feel 
 the glowing hope, the ardent wish, the firm resolve 
 to fulfil all our obligations devoutly and zealously. 
 Let us strengthen ourselves in these good inten- 
 tions by the precepts contained in the Holy Bible ; 
 and although the Law is no longer, as in former 
 times, read every seventh year to the assembled 
 people, may we still, in remembrance of that
 
 THE FEAST OP TABERNACLES. 229 
 
 custom, on the Feast of Tabernacles, which comes 
 to us so brightly and so joyously, call to mind 
 every commandment graciously vouchsafed by 
 Almighty God. 
 
 While bowing down in ardent adoration before 
 Him, we should more than ever think of the 
 repeated prohibition against worshipping idols of 
 mortal fashioning, not of wood, or clay, or metal, 
 of which there can scarcely be any apprehension 
 in our days, but of placing any earthly aim, any 
 worldly object, above and beyond the true re- 
 verence of God, in thought, word, or deed. 
 Vanity, pride, avarice, egotism, envy, are in 
 reality all worthless, hideoxis idols, which our 
 follies and passions, alas ! paint with deceptive 
 colours, and exalt into high positions. Even 
 ambition, the noble love of fame, and the legiti- 
 mate love of power, may become dangerous and 
 sinful, when not made subservient to religious 
 sentiment, and to the promotion of the best in- 
 terests of mankind. 
 
 On this great festival of gratitude, we ought 
 also to bring prominently before us the respect 
 due to our parents a feeling which appears 
 symbolical of the homage which we owe to God. 
 It is impossible that, in striving to understand 
 the spirit of the divine Law, we should serve the 
 heavenly Creator zealously, without striving as 
 constantly to honour our earthly father, to whom, 
 x
 
 230 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 
 
 through the blessing of Providence, we are be- 
 holden for all advantages and enjoyments of life. 
 The veneration towards parents enjoined in the 
 Decalogue, has been placed as a connecting link 
 between man's most sacred duties to the Almighty 
 and those devolving upon him in the daily inter- 
 course with his neighbours. The respectful affec- 
 tion for father and mother is not only commanded 
 by the Lord, but is an innate sentiment developed 
 in us far earlier than any other it is the spring 
 from which our best feelings are derived. Those 
 capable of forgetting or neglecting the authors of 
 their existence, whose devotion has watchfully 
 guarded them, whose love has embellished their 
 early and most helpless years, are not likely to 
 remember at all times the invisible Creator, by 
 whose divine will they first beheld the light of 
 day, by whose beneficence they are sustained and 
 protected. And those who are unmindful of the 
 Almighty, and of their filial obligations, will hardly 
 be kind and just when brought into contact with 
 the world. An ungrateful, disobedient son will 
 scarcely prove a good father, a warm-hearted 
 brother, a zealous, trustworthy friend, a patriotic 
 citizen, an active and useful member of the great 
 human family. 
 
 Next to the solemn duties just referred to, 
 the laws regarding widows and orphans, and all 
 those who may be poverty-stricken or perhaps
 
 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 231 
 
 strangers in the land of our birth, cannot he 
 brought too often or too prominently before us. 
 To the afflicted we owe consolation ; to the infirm, 
 comfort ; to the feeble, support ; to all, the gentlest 
 words of kindness, the best deeds of love. 
 
 But while we make every effort to share our 
 most precious treasures with those who need them, 
 we should not omit to give thanks to our bene- 
 factors ; and it appears impossible not to consider 
 this duty as most binding and most important. 
 And in offering humble acknowledgments to the 
 Lord for life, and health, and all our faculties, 
 we should not forget the friends who taught us 
 to use these heavenly gifts ; the teachers, who 
 unrolled the records of the past, solved enigmas, 
 dispelled darkness for us by the light of their in- 
 telligence, assisted our understanding to see and to 
 vanquish difficulties, or, perhaps, aided us to dive 
 into the mysteries and secrets of art and science, 
 initiated our inexperience into the most intricate of 
 all labyrinths, that of the human mind, enabling us 
 to comprehend the character of our fellow-beings, 
 as well as our own power, and showing us, alas ! 
 also our own frailty and infirmity of purpose. We 
 should keep in faithful remembrance the guides 
 and advisers of our youth, and yield to their service 
 true and lasting gratitude. The development of 
 this quality is peculiarly rewarding; and it has 
 been justly said, that the exercise of it, unlike the
 
 232 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 
 
 performance of other virtues, is never painful nor 
 difficult, but always easy and pleasing. Some per- 
 sons, however, whose generosity of thought and 
 feeling, word and deed, seems inexhaustible who 
 delight not merely in dispensing charity in the 
 widest sense, but also in bestowing advantages 
 and gifts upon all around them, do not possess a 
 sufficient depth of sentiment to receive favours 
 with a due sense of thankfulness, or to evince true 
 estimation of the kindness which may have been 
 bestowed upon them. This fault is to be seriously 
 deplored. The genuine appreciation of all human 
 excellence, as of all divine bounty, makes us more 
 fully worthy of happiness, better able to enjoy it 
 ourselves, and by our exertions and labours to 
 diffuse it among others. 
 
 At this festive season, while surveying the 
 countless treasures lavished upon us by divine 
 Providence, while recalling to mind the ever- 
 varying and ever-beauteous gifts of earth and 
 heaven, while picturing to ourselves the delicate 
 germs, the pale leaflets, the tender buds of early 
 spring, the rich foliage, the brilliant blossoms, 
 the golden sheaves of summer, while glancing 
 around us at the luxuriant vintage of autumn, 
 and looking forward with a sigh to the bleak 
 winter months, let us bow down in humble 
 thankfulness to Almighty God, recognizing in 
 the year which now verges towards its end, a
 
 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 233 
 
 symbol of our own existence, recollecting, how- 
 ever, that the winter of life need not necessarily 
 be dreary. For, as in nature the produce of the 
 early periods of the year, the corn, wine, and oil, 
 are kept in granaries and cellars to nourish and 
 sustain us during the cold season, to light our 
 dwellings during dark nights, and blaze on the 
 hearth while the north wind is raging at our 
 door, so the good works of our busy days and 
 their reward, the well-earned repose after exhaust- 
 ing struggles, the consciousness of having endea- 
 voured to fulfil our obligations, and the benefits 
 flowing from well-directed exertions, throw light 
 and cheerfulness over our declining years, bright- 
 ening the mind, and making the heart glow under 
 the snows of winter. 
 
 But, my dear children, the spirit of the 
 Eternal, which rests over the whole universe, the 
 vivifying Word of God, is equally impressive at 
 all times. It is directed to every human being ; 
 none are too young to receive it, none too old not 
 to be strengthened and roused by it. Among our 
 possessions it is the most precious, transcending 
 all others in beauty, in value, in power of banish- 
 ing fear and kindling hope, of mitigating affliction 
 and bringing back security, of supporting us when 
 we totter, of lifting us to sunny heights from the 
 deepest abyss of despair. Let us, then, be sincerely 
 and fervently grateful to Him, through whose 
 x 3
 
 234 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 
 
 beneficence we live, to Him, who found us in a 
 desert land, and in the howling wilderness, who 
 led us with paternal hand, who instructed us, 
 who kept us as the apple of His eye, and, in His 
 boundless mercy, bearing us on eagles' wings, 
 brought us to Himself.
 
 XXV. 
 THE BREVITY OF LIFE. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 To the afflicted, who are bent low by the 
 weight of suffering or of sorrow, to the weeping 
 mourners, who have seen the grave close over 
 those cherished most dearly, and valued as the 
 very light and warmth of their own existence, the 
 knowledge of the brevity of our earthly career 
 may prove a solace and a comfort in the hour of 
 trial and bereavement, as they look beyond the 
 mysteries of the tomb for complete rest and an 
 eternal reunion with their loved ones. However, 
 no one can doubt, that the boundless benefi- 
 cence of Almighty God has diffused throughout 
 the world far more joy and sunshine than gloom 
 and grief; and to those in possession of the bless- 
 ings of health and vigour, to those who thoroughly 
 prize the gifts of divine bounty, who are sur- 
 rounded by devoted friends, by affectionate and 
 dutiful children, who have few cares and anxieties, 
 and always turn cheerfully and hopefully to the 
 morrowing day, the idea of the shortness of life is
 
 236 THE BREVITY OF LIFE. 
 
 often depressing and painful. Many, therefore, 
 among us either dwell upon it with feelings of 
 anguish, or strive to banish it completely : but so 
 much that may prove useful, so much that may 
 contribute to the elevation of our thoughts, to the 
 purity of our sentiments, to devotion, gentleness, 
 and kindness, to piety and humility among our 
 brethren, is to be derived from the calm con- 
 templation of death and of the short span allotted 
 to us upon earth, that it will benefit even the 
 youngest among you to revert to some of those 
 passages in the sacred Volume which allude to 
 that absorbing subject. 
 
 "We spend our years as a tale that is told/' 
 says the Psalmist (Ps. xc. 9), and it cannot be 
 doubted, that there is great beauty, and deep, 
 though not sad, truth in his speech. " Man's 
 days are like the grass of the field. In the morn- 
 ing it flourisheth, and groweth up; and in the 
 evening it is cut down and withereth" (Ps. xc. 6). 
 
 Nothing, my dear children, could impress you 
 so truly with the transitory nature of our existence 
 on earth as these words of the inspired poet 
 words echoed in our prayers on the solemn 
 Day of Atonement, when conscience bids all our 
 faults and failings appear in its unerring court of 
 justice, and when, more than on any other day 
 of the year, we humbly and anxiously pray to 
 Almighty God to blot out our transgressions, and
 
 THE BREVITY OF LIFE. 237 
 
 to inscribe us in the book of life. It is then we 
 say, that, " as the clay in the hand of the potter, as 
 the stone in the hand of the mason, as the iron in 
 the hand of the smith, as the rudder in the hand 
 of the pilot, as the tapestry in the hand of the 
 embroiderer, as the silver in the hand of the 
 refiner, so are we in the hand of God" : only we 
 are more perishable than stone or iron, more like 
 the flower that blooms in the early morning hour, 
 and dies at eventide. 
 
 Yes, my dear children, " we spend our years as 
 a tale that is told," and our life from that first 
 and warmest cradle, our mother's arms, to the 
 cold and narrow dwelling which the grave-digger 
 prepares, is a mere pilgrimage, at the close of 
 which the shadow of death extends between the 
 green earth and our home beyond the confines of 
 this world, in that better land promised to the 
 just and good. But this fair and bright promise 
 should not make us undervalue the utility of the 
 way, though it may well diminish our awe at the 
 dark valley, which separates time from eternity. 
 The brevity of our existence here should render 
 every hour doubly precious, should make us more 
 anxious to extract great and lasting benefits from 
 every moment, should cause us to look upon life 
 as eager travellers contemplate a journey. They 
 are always mindful of their home, and never lose 
 sight of it, but become better able to appreciate
 
 238 THE BREVITY OF LIFE. 
 
 its blessings on their return, and more truly quali- 
 fied to enjoy them ; they move on, acquiring 
 information at every step, improving their know- 
 ledge on every road, climbing every mountain 
 pass, reading zealously in the great book of 
 nature, and studying earnestly every page of the 
 volume of life. They seek balmy air, invigorating 
 sea-breezes, soothing waters, healing springs, to 
 recruit health and strength. They leave nothing 
 un visited, unseen, unnoticed, unaccomplished. 
 Paintings, the achievements of men of immortal 
 genius, curiosities, relics of olden times, architec- 
 tural beauties, splendours of nature and art, anti- 
 quities and modern wonders, the trophies of the 
 past, the conquests of civilization and the evidence 
 of progress in the present century, the manners 
 and customs of individuals and of whole nations, 
 arrest their attention and occupy their powers of 
 observation. Those wise and happy travellers do 
 not sigh in sadness over their journey, because it 
 is to be short, but try to profit by every hour of 
 their wanderings, to derive moral and intellectual 
 benefit, to reap experience from their peregrina- 
 tions, that they may come back to their own 
 hearths with delightful recollections and treasures 
 of human lore treasures intended not merely for 
 their own enjoyment, but also for the improve- 
 ment of those who cluster round their fireside, and 
 perhaps even for the advantage of wider circles.
 
 THE BREVITY OF LIFE. 239 
 
 Thus let us travel along our earthly way, let 
 every hour be deemed an inestimable boon, made 
 to embellish the day with patient studies, with 
 useful labours, with good deeds, with acts of 
 kindness and of charity. You may think, my 
 dear children, that such exertions are not at all 
 times possible, and that the journey of life, bright 
 and smiling, perhaps, when we set out, and leading 
 us among sunny and flowery paths, where the 
 accomplishment of duty is both easy and pleasure- 
 able, often becomes dismal and rugged, and even 
 dangerous, as we advance. It is true, that we 
 cannot move a step on land, or sail a knot at sea, 
 or be whirled along by the steam horse, without 
 exposing ourselves to accidents and perils; and 
 just so is the journey from birth to death beset 
 with great dangers for the mind, the heart, and 
 the soul. But, as we trust in .God's mercy to 
 shield us from harm when, on a brief excursion, 
 we leave the sheltering roof to which we hope to 
 return, so let us trust to His divine goodness 
 throughout our pilgrimage. Let us strengthen 
 ourselves by ardent faith in His beneficent power, 
 and exert our faculties to resist temptation and 
 overcome evil, to assist others by the force of 
 word, deed, and example, so that every day, which 
 brings us nearer to that heavenly home, the abode 
 of the righteous, may make us more worthy of 
 enjoying its unceasing felicity. Let us travel on,
 
 240 THE BREVITY OF LIFE. 
 
 vanquishing difficulties and avoiding snares, or, 
 armed with hope and courage, braving them ; then 
 we may at the same time consider ourselves suc- 
 cessful pioneers, and truly feel, that we have made 
 the chequered journey easier for those who come 
 after us, and to whom " our footprints on the 
 sands of time" may be landmarks in the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 It is true, our life passes like the recital of a 
 tale; but, my dear children, that narrative, though 
 brief, may and ought to be fraught with interest 
 to all around us. It should be more attractive by 
 far than the most soul-stirring among the works 
 of fiction, which, rendered captivating by the spell 
 of genius, often kindle enthusiasm, and fill the 
 admiring reader with an ardent longing to emu- 
 late the deeds of virtue and of valour chronicled 
 in the glowing pages of the book. 
 
 " We spend our years like a tale that is told." 
 Let every line of it be pervaded by noble aspira- 
 tions, so that our friends and kindred, and those 
 who cling to us in their inexperience, or in the 
 strength of their affection, and all who are brought 
 within the circle of our activity, may be influenced 
 by the history of our trials and labours, of our 
 sufferings and rewards, of our struggles and 
 achievements. 
 
 We are travellers ; let those who trace in our' 
 looks and in our acts the account of the peregrin-
 
 THE BREVITY OP LIFE. 241 
 
 ation, mark the perseverance that never grows 
 weary nor footsore, that, wounded perhaps by the 
 thistles, hurt by the lacerating thorns of the 
 hedgerows, toils on, nevertheless, calmly clearing 
 the way for those who follow, grasping nettles 
 with a firm hand, uprooting weeds, and, like a 
 good gardener, bidding roses bloom where tares 
 luxuriated in idle profusion. Then may those who 
 can see how our days roll by, or who view the pic- 
 ture of our journey, take heed of the indefatigable 
 activity, the radiant hope, the deep faith, and the 
 fervid zeal, which sustain the existence of the pil- 
 grims until they reach the promised shrine. 
 
 We are like mariners. Let those who follow 
 us with wistful eyes, or consult the log-book, 
 notice the course of our ship as we sail over the 
 ocean of time to the haven of immortality. "With 
 religion for our compass, we cannot lose our track 
 on the high seas ; with the blessing of God upon 
 our exertions, we may hope to avoid shoals and 
 quicksands, and to steer clear of threatening rocks ; 
 and although, in the course of our voyages, we 
 may occasionally be ice-bound by the freezing 
 coldness of the world, or storm-tossed by the fury 
 of angry passions, we need never fear; reliance 
 on God's mercy will strengthen us, when all 
 earthly means of help and deliverance seem far 
 beyond our reach. 
 
 The progress of our life may disclose vicissitudes
 
 242 THE BREVITY OF LIFE. 
 
 and disappointments, cares and afflictions: but 
 how great is the value, how deep the interest of 
 such changes for those who read attentively and 
 remember faithfully ! If the smiles of fortune 
 and the frowns of adversity left us equally tran- 
 quil ; if in prosperity we remained mindful of the 
 higher duties of life ; if distress did not cloud the 
 nobler qualities of our nature, but allowed them 
 to shine forth with undimmed lustre ; if the minor 
 annoyances of every day and every hour did not 
 ruffle our calmness, nor harassing anxieties ex- 
 haust our patient endurance; if our own trials 
 and the sorrows of those around us found our 
 courage unflinching in the discharge of duty, 
 and permitted us to be humbly resigned to the 
 inscrutable decrees of divine Providence; if we 
 endeavoured to lighten the burden of foreign 
 affliction, whether of bodily torture or mental 
 agony, by unwearied devotion or ardent self-sacri- 
 fice ; then surely the years spent like a tale that 
 is told become not only the best preparation for 
 the blessings of eternal life, but even in this world 
 they are the noblest legacy, the most precious 
 inheritance we can bequeath to our friends. 
 
 We may be said to resemble the flower that 
 flourishes at early morning and dies at eventide, 
 but whose fragrance lingers in the air. We fade 
 away, but our good deeds are imperishable, not 
 emblazoned, perhaps, in the records of history,
 
 THE BREVITY OF LIFE. 243 
 
 but fondly remembered by those who knew and 
 loved us. Handed down by them to their chil- 
 dren, they become lessons for the young ; and if 
 the short time assigned to us be well employed 
 in the gentle and conscientious fulfilment of 
 the duties demanded by the beneficent laws of 
 Almighty God, then it surely finds an echo in 
 every breast, awakening sympathy and hope, 
 strengthening courage, inclining wavering hearts 
 to cherish the best feelings of humanity, and to 
 carry out into practice the highest dictates of 
 boundless love and merciful charity. 
 
 My dear children, let us ardently pray, that 
 the blessing of the Lord may descend upon us 
 when we strive to obey His behests; and then, 
 however brief our passage through the valleys of 
 earth, we may hope to enter the world of unin- 
 terrupted peace, well content to have passed our 
 years in this life like a tale that is told.
 
 XXVI. 
 ON ENERGY. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 All human beings, whatever their age and 
 their position in the world, whether distinguished 
 by acquirements or living in ignorance, whether 
 blessed with wealth or oppressed by poverty, all 
 shrink alike from corporeal pain, from suffering 
 of the mind, from sorrow of the heart; all, how- 
 ever they may differ in many respects, or in every 
 internal and external qualification, are agreed on 
 one point all seek happiness. The most selfish 
 and the most self-sacrificing, the most thoughtful 
 and the most thoughtless, shudder when brought 
 into contact with the picture or the reality of trials 
 and anxieties. The greatest philosophers, and the 
 most truly benevolent of human beings, have in 
 their best writings and deeds cherished one noble 
 and beautiful aim the widest extension of pros- 
 perity and happiness on earth. "When we look 
 around us, whether to the labours of agriculture, 
 the toil and moil in manufacturing districts, the
 
 ON ENERGY. 245 
 
 subterranean activity pursued in mines, the cease- 
 less extension of commerce, the operations of 
 finance, the works of architecture ; when we see 
 new roads and docks and harbours, new schools 
 and colleges, hospitals and charities innumerable, 
 spring up on every side ; when we worship in the 
 temples of the Lord, raised everywhere by pious 
 hands for the glorification of His holy name 
 we cannot doubt, that the extension and enjoy- 
 ment of felicity form the universal aspiration of all 
 men, kindled in the soul by the will of Almighty 
 God, who created the world, and filled it with all 
 its dazzling wonders. 
 
 But although from the first waking hour to the 
 last sleep of death, we long for joy and gladness, 
 we are apt to forget, that these boons must be 
 earned by our conduct, by our faithful obedience to 
 all divine commands by that unconditional sub- 
 mission to the eternal will, which robs even mental 
 torture and physical agony of their sharpest pangs. 
 Yes, my dear children, in our pilgrimage towards 
 happiness, we frequently neglect, or even entirely 
 overlook, its greatest and purest source the ful- 
 filment of duty. Let me remind you of it to-day, 
 in the inspired words of the " Preacher," and say 
 to each of you : " Whatsoever thy hand findeth 
 to do, do it with thy might." 
 
 It is perfectly evident, that there is much 
 activity, as well as the accomplishment of many 
 
 Y3
 
 246 ON ENERGY. 
 
 obligations, demanded from us all. You are called 
 upon even in earliest childhood to be affectionately 
 diligent, to minister to the satisfaction of father 
 and mother, by undeviating attention, if possible, 
 to every lesson their scanty leisure may enable 
 them to give you, or to the teaching which they 
 allow you to receive at school ; for you well know, 
 my dear young friends, how great, though neces- 
 sary a sacrifice of material advantages your 
 parents often make, when, instead of employing 
 your intelligence and activity at home, where you 
 might become useful to them in a thousand ways, 
 they send you forth, at the cost of much addi- 
 tional labour on their own part, to acquire infor- 
 mation, and fit yourselves, by studious zeal, for 
 the duties of your career. And if you are blessed 
 hereafter with children, should they be feeble or 
 unfortunately sickly, your hand will find much 
 to do, that they may be strengthened, and sur- 
 rounded with every assistance to screen their 
 helplessness, to aid their struggle with invading 
 illness; if, on the contrary, rosy health be their 
 companion, and anxious watchfulness by day and 
 exhausting vigils by night do not absorb your 
 faculties, then you will constantly be required to 
 show your sons and daughters what is right, to 
 guide their steps along the path of virtue, to de- 
 velop all the qualities which bounteous Providence 
 may have vouchsafed to them, to give them your
 
 ON ENERGY. 247 
 
 thought and your treasures of experience, for even 
 the lowliest, most uniform mode of life enriches 
 our memory with stores of practical knowledge. 
 
 If you have brothers and sisters, your hand will 
 soon discover how it can aid and serve them with 
 words of encouragement and of comfort, with 
 helpful deed, with judicious example; if you are 
 so fortunate as to possess devoted friends, if you 
 gratefully acknowledge generous benefactors, you 
 will soon know what can be done to promote their 
 satisfaction, to establish or enhance their happi- 
 ness. And then, without expecting rewards, the 
 greatest of all recompenses will be yours the 
 consciousness of having endeavoured to achieve 
 with your might all the work placed within 
 reach of your hands, be it mere labour of love, or 
 hard, harassing toil ; that conviction will yield to 
 your humble but earnest efforts the purest felicity, 
 which Almighty God, in His boundless benefi- 
 cence, allows human beings to taste, and after 
 which He has taught us to yearn incessantly. 
 
 But if the Lord should have given you parents, 
 brothers, sisters, benefactors, and friends, and on 
 looking back through a long vista of years, you 
 find that, through indolence or recklessness, you 
 failed to support them in hours of weakness, to 
 tend them when sickness crossed their threshold, 
 to love them, to honour them, to serve them, 
 then the recollection of having possessed such
 
 248 ON ENERGY. 
 
 blessings, and of having neglected such duties, 
 will be a source of eternal reproaches to you, 
 instead of undying joys. You will have no parents 
 to bless you, no friends to cheer you, no well- 
 wishers to strew flowers on your road, no brothers 
 to lean upon and confide in, no sisters listening 
 with eager attention to the expression of all your 
 fond hopes and fervid aims nothing but a wasted 
 existence overshadowed by endless regrets. 
 
 " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 
 thy might," says our text, and nothing can be 
 clearer or simpler; though it must be admitted, 
 that our manifold imperfections often interfere 
 with the strict and patient fulfilment of the 
 Biblical precept. It may perhaps be occasionally 
 objected by the unreflecting, that not all hands 
 find work to do, and that even when it appears 
 ready, there is deficiency of might to accomplish 
 it. But surely that is a mistake, my dear chil- 
 dren. There is never any lack of labour in 
 this busy world, nor is the power to execute 
 it ever wanting, though, unfortunately, the incli- 
 nation often fails. We have teachers innumerable 
 to point out our task, and the means of performing 
 it. Does not the eye, that wondrous mirror, 
 which takes in both the countless beauties of 
 creation, and the blemishes with which the care- 
 lessness of man has disfigured this earth, show us 
 the work still to be done? Does not the ear,
 
 ON ENERGY. 249 
 
 that great instructor, convey to the mind and 
 heart many impressions of the necessities and 
 requirements of those around us? Do not even 
 touch and taste and odour tell us -what to seek, 
 to avoid, or to banish for ourselves, or for those 
 who depend on our exertions ? Some have wealth 
 at their command ; others, talent and opportuni- 
 ties; others again, time, which, with its manifold 
 lessons, is in itself a mine of untold riches. 
 
 Do not think, my dear children, that by 
 "might" is meant illustrious birth or eminence 
 of position, or fame, dazzling powers of intellect, 
 transcendent genius, vast influence, or money, or 
 even thews and sinews. The word "might" com- 
 prises numberless ways and means of carrying out 
 the labour of life ; and, believe me, both those 
 who are gifted with quickness, and those who plod 
 on slowly, may hope to reach the goal. But, then, 
 you must not let shallow praise mislead your efforts, 
 or equally superficial blame cheek your career of 
 attempted usefulness ; but, in order to insure suc- 
 cess, you ought to keep the one paramount object 
 of utility steadfastly in view, and also to retain 
 in faithful memory, that God, in His boundless 
 beneficence, allows all human beings to achieve 
 with their might whatever their hands may find 
 to effect. Indeed, our faculties, though limited 
 in extent, are endless in variety. If powers of 
 imagination are all-sufficient to call into brilliant
 
 250 ON ENERGY. 
 
 existence so much that remains imperishably 
 lovely and fascinating in the realms of fiction and 
 in the domain of art, surely the enthusiasm of the 
 soul, with its sublime aspirations, its high-soaring 
 hopes, may and does frequently become the origi- 
 nator of great and good works, which without the 
 fervid organization that conceived them, would 
 never have been undertaken or even thought of. 
 
 Such depth of feeling, when it flings itself into 
 the realities of life, is ever undaunted by difficul- 
 ties which might well appal colder natures but 
 minor details often escape the attention of creative 
 genius and then comes zeal, which probably 
 unable to plan such noble deeds, fans them 
 with the warm breath of its own ardour, with 
 its ever-burning flame kindling other fires, and 
 casting its halo over perhaps monotonous, dreary, 
 or even irksome labours. Or when glowing 
 enthusiasm has projected new and great works, 
 and eager zeal is ready and anxious to bid them 
 good speed, talent may be required to elaborate 
 them, to adapt them skilfully to the needs of the 
 times and of the people, to insure their complete- 
 ness, to free them, as far as human knowledge 
 will permit, of blemishes, to prevent shortcomings; 
 and when talent has exhausted its conceptions and 
 suggestions, then strength of will, firmness of pur- 
 pose, unwavering tenacity and rock-like energy, 
 are wanted to give efficacy, and power; later still,
 
 ON ENERGY. 251 
 
 indefatigable activity, unflagging industry, and 
 the diligent, daily survey of all details, may be- 
 come needful ; and uninterrupted perseverance, or 
 tlie meekest patience, and the faculty of constant 
 endurance are all alike demanded for the varying 
 tasks of this world. 
 
 It is very seldom indeed, probably never, the 
 case, my dear children, that such qualities are 
 found united in one person ; but all human beings 
 enjoy some peculiar advantages of mental and moral 
 organization or of bodily disposition, "which enable 
 them to exert themselves usefully, and to accom- 
 plish with their own might whatever their hand 
 findeth to do ; and so beneficently has the Creator 
 framed us, both intellectually and corporeally, 
 that the duties we have to fulfil are such as our 
 powers can well compass. All that is required 
 from us, is to make good use of our might ; for it 
 is scarcely possible to overlook the work ready 
 for our hands. And let us remember, that quali- 
 ties are many-sided ; that what often appears an 
 advantage sometimes becomes a drawback to our 
 utility, Avhile peculiarities of organization, which 
 are deplored as being likely to hamper our pro- 
 gress, and make it impossible, are not unfrequently 
 the origin and cause of our success. For instance, 
 those gifted with rapidity of ideas, with facility of 
 execution, with fluency of speech, with great 
 readiness, as evinced in commencing and finishing
 
 252 ON ENERGY. 
 
 any work, be it of the pen or the pencil, are often 
 deficient in depth of thought, unable or unwilling 
 to exert that incessant care and unremitting 
 attention which alone lead to excellence ; whereas 
 persons fettered, as it were, by natural difficulty 
 in expressing their views, in achieving any work 
 confided to them, either by want of promptitude 
 in all they undertake, or by inborn tardiness of 
 appropriate words, often learn to mature their 
 thoughts, to give them correctness, clearness, 
 strength to withstand attacks from without, to 
 make their value appreciated, and to endue them 
 both with vastness and elevation; though their 
 process of reasoning be slow, as they proceed along 
 they weigh the evolved arguments in the balance ; 
 whatever is futile and flimsy is rejected, what is 
 truly valuable is retained and classified ; the in- 
 tense toil required is not thrown away, and all 
 the deeds of such calmly moving lips, or quietly 
 and indefatigably acting hands, become more per- 
 fect, in consequence of the extreme travail that 
 precedes their birth. 
 
 Thus he who works with difficulty, instead of 
 looking upon his slowness as an impediment, 
 should derive from it the comfort, that nature has 
 allotted to him time one of her most precious 
 gifts for deep study and the conscientious elabo- 
 ration of all sterling pursuits : while those endowed 
 with rapidity of conception and execution should
 
 ON ENERGY. 253 
 
 not hurry through their task, and then remain 
 inactive; but they should, on the contrary, con- 
 sider, that from such facility as has fallen to their 
 share, innumerable services to individuals and to 
 society in general are constantly expected. This 
 is their might, and they should wield it for the 
 benefit of all. 
 
 And remember, my dear children, how great is 
 the sin, how great the loss of leaving the powers 
 graciously vouchsafed to you uncultivated and 
 unused. Who ever possessed quarries of granite 
 or marble, and left them unworked? fields of 
 gold, mines of silver or of precious gems, and 
 allowed them to remain unexplored? or broad 
 acres, which might yield splendid harvests, or be 
 transformed into orchards and vineyards, and per- 
 mitted them to lie always fallow, covered only 
 with tares and weeds ? Or would not any person 
 hoarding up during his whole lifetime bags of 
 money, and denying himself and others all but the 
 bare necessaries of existence, most assuredly be 
 stigmatized as a short-sighted miser? Yet such 
 people do less harm, undoubtedly, than those who 
 lead a useless life, letting their inborn faculties 
 slumber, or become entirely dwarfed by inaction. 
 After years of neglect, the same pearls, if sought 
 for, will be found in the sea, the same diamonds 
 in the mine, and the land, if then cultivated, will 
 bring forth its wheat- sheaves, its generous wine, 
 z
 
 254 ON ENERGY. 
 
 its oil, or its fruit; while the descendants of the 
 niggardly man may even be doubly rich owing to 
 the parsimonious habits of the deceased. But he 
 who neglects the opportunities of accomplishing 
 with his might whatever his hand findeth to do, of 
 developing his powers and his energies, becomes 
 a prey to incurable regret, to uncontrollable self- 
 reproach, to ever-stinging remorse ; he wastes 
 entirely and irretrievably the treasures which were 
 bounteously placed within his reach. 
 
 I shall probably be told by the struggling, by 
 the hard-working, that not all labour is rewarded 
 with success ; that failure is, if not quite annihi- 
 lating, most disheartening ; that it often leads to 
 disenchantment, to overpowering lassitude, to the 
 abandonment of all efforts : but should it be so ? 
 Ought we not to keep in vivid recollection, that 
 even partial success, though perhaps unsatisfac- 
 tory to the individual, is a great gain, while en- 
 tire failure is often a lesson, and though it be a 
 violent blow at the time, yet it may with more 
 truth be compared to a sudden flash of lightning, 
 rending some mysterious veil, clearing away mists 
 and clouds and phantoms; for it shows, in addi- 
 tion to what cannot be achieved, that which may 
 really be done, just as the fantastic and appa- 
 rently useless study of alchemy and astrology, led 
 thinking men gradually on to make marvellous 
 discoveries in the useful and important sciences of 
 chemistry and astronomy.
 
 ON ENERGY. 255 
 
 And, in conclusion, let me repeat once more, 
 and beg you to take to heart, my dear children, 
 that there is work for all hands, as well as the 
 might to accomplish it. Yes, my young friends, 
 it is to be found in a home of poverty ; it may be 
 achieved from a bed of sickness, and even by 
 sufferers who are unable to quit the fireside, by 
 the lame, the blind, the deaf, the dumb, and those 
 unfortunately paralysed; for often, by a merciful 
 dispensation of Providence, when one sense is 
 impaired, the others acquire more strength and 
 acuteness : and as the Almighty always bountifully 
 awards compensation for all ills, so the invalid, 
 far removed from the noise of the world, shows 
 his might by good example of gentleness, of pa- 
 tience, of humility, of care, and thoughtfulness 
 powers which may be unrevealed to many, until 
 taught to them by a force more irresistible than 
 that of precept. 
 
 Let us always be striving to prove useful, while 
 we remember, that whenever our hand findeth work, 
 the capacity for performing it will not abandon 
 us. As guides on earth, we have our conscience 
 and the Book of Books; and in heaven, Almighty 
 God, who hath said : " I will instruct thee in the 
 way which thou shalt go : I will guide thee with 
 mine eye"; to which, my dear children, let us 
 add, in the words of the Psalmist, and still in 
 the anxious pursuit of happiness : " O Lord of 
 Hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee."
 
 XXVII. 
 MERCY AND TRUTH. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 You have already been taught, that, so far 
 as we are personally concerned, every departure 
 from truth is a dangerous step, leading us, alas ! 
 rapidly and inevitably into a labyrinth, from the 
 intricate windings of which it is at all times diffi- 
 cult, and often impossible, to disentangle our- 
 selves. And as regards our position among our 
 brethren on earth, we should, indeed, live in dark- 
 ness and act indiscriminately, did not truth shed 
 its pure and gentle ray around us. Unaided by 
 its unwavering light, we could not hope to form a 
 right estimate of the character of others; un- 
 assisted by all-searching and all-seeing truth, we 
 should be constantly misled, falling into grievous 
 mistakes, into painful and cruel injustice. But, 
 on the other hand, without mercy, which is indul- 
 gence to the weak and commiseration for their 
 errors, forgiveness to the sinful, and help to the 
 fallen, the fountain of our sympathies would soon 
 dry up. Therefore, says King Solomon in his
 
 MERCY AND TRUTH. 257 
 
 Proverbs : " Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; 
 bind them about thy neck ; write them upon the 
 table of thine heart" the one to teach and to 
 guide ; the other, to pardon and to soothe, to sus- 
 tain and to heal. "We must, alas ! see the whole 
 extent of the fault, and even witness the anguish 
 of the offender, know his anxiety for relief and 
 his utter helplessness ; we must probe the depth 
 of the evil, ascertain the weakness, or the fictitious 
 strength of the sinner, ere our mercy can exercise 
 a lasting, or even a temporary influence for good. 
 Truth and mercy linked together are, indeed, 
 invaluable treasures ; they bless not merely their 
 possessor, but, while showering blessings over 
 wide-extending circles, are among the most power- 
 ful instruments for banishing from the world 
 much evil and misery, for diffusing light and im- 
 parting knowledge, and for restoring long-absent, 
 perhaps long-relinquished, happiness. Truth, 
 which is justice, if unaccompanied by mercy, 
 would be or appear cold, severe, or even harsh; 
 it would show us clearly, glaringly perhaps, the sad 
 and afflicting scenes with which this world abounds ; 
 such dismal pictures, and the painful revelation of 
 so many stern, harrowing realities, might either 
 hopelessly discourage, or gradually harden many, 
 unless mercy stepped in with her healing balsam 
 and her cordials to soften our feelings, to strengthen 
 our belief, and to raise our faith in the wondrous 
 z3
 
 258 MERCY AND TRUTH. 
 
 power wielded by those who strive to free them- 
 selves from anger and prejudice, and with a loving, 
 earnest heart, endeavour to forget wrongs, or 
 rather, try to remember that even the best among 
 us stand in need of great, of almost constant 
 indulgence. However fearful and appalling the 
 sights and sounds may be, which truth unveils 
 and records, never let us turn away from them in 
 wrath or in despair. When help is needed, we 
 must fully know all that is wanted, examine the 
 wounds resolutely, yet tenderly, as would a skilful 
 surgeon, and not act like the empiric, who pre- 
 tends to cure all ills and pains and sufferings by 
 the mere exhibition of some marvellous nostrum. 
 
 But to say : " You are forgiven, you are 
 acquitted, leave the haunts of error for the bright 
 paths of virtue/' is not enough. We must labour 
 incessantly and conscientiously with word and 
 deed, directed by thought and feeling, to achieve 
 the arduous work of amelioration. 
 
 " Bind mercy and truth about thy neck," says 
 our text. My dear children, let no one doubt that 
 you are merciful and truth-loving ; but remember, 
 that the words of the wise monarch apply to these 
 virtues alone. With regard to any other qualities 
 in our possession, though they may prove real 
 blessings to us in the pilgrimage through life, it 
 would be wrong to make of them an idle show 
 or a vain-glorious parade. Patience would seem
 
 MERCY AND TRUTH. 259 
 
 more like impatience if perpetually dwelt upon 
 in our speech; self-denial and even self-sacrifice 
 would resemble selfishness if made prominent in 
 our discourses; our charity, if permitted to be- 
 come the theme of exultation by ourselves, would 
 soon be transformed into a most offensive and 
 even wounding lack of generosity; our piety, if 
 boasted of, would be an intolerable assumption of 
 self-righteousness and of superiority. But we may 
 well adorn ourselves in the eyes of all mankind 
 with mercy and truth ; for, although they are 
 most beautiful and precious gems, in the opinion 
 of the world mercy means nought but indulgence, 
 fellow-feeling, and sympathy sentiments so na- 
 tural and so essential, that their supposed absence 
 would justly make us hated or shunned : and as 
 for truth, it must ever be deemed indispensable, 
 since it is no more than honesty. 
 
 How often, alas! are weakness and folly, sin 
 and vice, repelled by the unmerciful, or spurned 
 by the haughty ; how often are they flung back 
 into their old dark abodes to remain for ever 
 feeble and deluded, wretched and guilty; whereas, 
 weary of their tortuous, slippery ways, they seem 
 to require only the soft touch of mercy's hand, 
 guided by the flaming torch of truth, to be led 
 back to virtue and to happiness. 
 
 "\Ve must learn to look upon folly, sin, and vice, 
 as fearful but not incurable ailments of the heart
 
 260 MERCY AND TRUTH. 
 
 and mind. With so infallible an adviser as clear- 
 sighted sincerity, and so powerful a remedy as 
 gentle compassion, we may hope to dispel most 
 evils, and to effect the cure of afflicted patients. 
 Let ours be the healing art for the bleeding soul, 
 and may experience and success heighten our 
 zeal and increase our energies, while we ever 
 recollect, that no useful knowledge of human sin 
 and suffering, of human remorse and contrition, 
 can long remain concealed from the unwearied 
 investigation of a really truth-seeking mind, and 
 that indulgence is a good and blessed angel, 
 heaven-born and heaven-sent, to strengthen our 
 anxious though humble endeavours, and give effi- 
 ciency to the dutiful work of our feeble hands. 
 
 " Write mercy and truth upon the table of 
 thine heart." The royal philosopher no doubt 
 meant, that we should become thoroughly imbued 
 with those ennobling attributes, that they should 
 form a part of our existence and of our life-blood ! 
 The admirable beauty of truthfulness is perfectly 
 evident even to the young and untutored mind; 
 yet unfortunately many turn away from it. And 
 there is especially a departure from veracity, 
 which perhaps at first does not strongly repel 
 us, but is, nevertheless, an insidiously baneful 
 form of falsehood. It is affectation. A trifling 
 fault it may sometimes be deemed, for it seems to 
 deal entirely with externals, and to leave the vital
 
 MERCY AND TRUTH. 261 
 
 qualities and the higher characteristics untouched 
 and unharmed. It is the display of something in 
 look, in gait, in manner, or in word, that does 
 not belong to us, that is foreign to our thoughts 
 and feelings, to our real nature, to our mental 
 and bodily organization. It is the expression of 
 something that does not exist in our breast, but 
 that has perhaps been admired by us in living 
 friends, or in a being of ideal perfection. It may 
 be called the peacock's gorgeous plumage worn by 
 the jay, a bright but borrowed garment, a pretty 
 mask to hide an ugly face, a mere comedy, a 
 foolish but harmless habit. Yet let us be watchful 
 and severe, lest the absurdity should degenerate 
 into all that is disingenuous, false, hollow, and 
 hateful into base hypocrisy. Having indulged 
 the fancy of performing a mere player's part, 
 many soon find it easier to appear good than to 
 be so, and, ere long, they delude themselves into 
 the belief, that hidden faults and sins, cloaked and 
 closely covered by apparent virtues, cannot be 
 sins at all. 
 
 The harm done by hypocrisy is incalculable; 
 confidence is obtained and abused, and when, 
 sooner or later, the impostor and his repulsive 
 features are revealed, the faith of those around 
 him in all that is good and wise and noble, is in 
 danger of becoming much weakened and shaken ;
 
 26.2 MERCY AND TRUTH. 
 
 but the miserable dissembler is completely ruined 
 by the discovery of his baseness ; the very ground 
 seems to give way under his feet ; he has no prop, 
 no stay, no support left. He has been so de- 
 ceitful, that he can trust no one, and has nearly 
 lost all faith in that blessed mercy for which he 
 dares not hope. 
 
 My dear children, let us indeed inscribe mercy, 
 nay, engrave it on the core of our heart, and 
 always faithfully and vividly recollect, that, how- 
 ever vigilant and truth-seeking we may be, it is 
 impossible for us to see all the dangers and 
 temptations which have led others into error ; for 
 we cannot know the mental or moral weakness 
 that has fallen a prey to wiles and snares perhaps 
 innumerable. Some may have struggled long and 
 resolutely against the power of evil example, and 
 have yet been vanquished in the end. Dangerous 
 associates, adverse circumstances, may have en- 
 compassed the best disposed; while experienced 
 friends and judicious advisers were far away, and 
 that early training, which might perhaps have 
 been a safeguard in the hour of peril, was entirely 
 absent, or had become obliterated by the uncon- 
 trollable force of events. 
 
 But it would take far too long, my dear chil- 
 dren, to dwell upon all the stern facts, all the 
 painful surmises that should incline our under-
 
 MERCY AND TRUTH. 263 
 
 standing and our feelings towards the duties of 
 compassion and clemency. We can hardly fail to 
 be merciful if truth be our guide, and if, with its 
 help, we look into every recess of our own heart, 
 and bid conscience speak, and tell its sad, humili- 
 ating tale of faults repressed but not uprooted, 
 of ever-recurring errors, of unavailing because 
 feeble efforts for improvement, of bitter self- 
 reproaches, of unredeemed pledges, of broken 
 vows. 
 
 And here let me tell you, my dear children, 
 that the anxious, severe, and constant examina- 
 tion of our thoughts and feelings, our motives and 
 actions, is the only species of egotism which we 
 may safely practise ; for while it tends to our own 
 amelioration, it must make us indulgent towards 
 our fellow-travellers along the road of life. And 
 surely we, who stand so much in need of forbear- 
 ance, who are forgiven by Almighty God, not 
 once, but thousands of times, should we not learn 
 to be merciful towards others, while we remember 
 with fervid gratitude, that the Eternal created us 
 in His own image, and that our immortal soul, 
 which alone bears a stamp of resemblance to the 
 Omnipotent, should worship Him in truth and in 
 humility, by obeying His divine commandments, 
 by extending sympathy and compassion to the 
 erring, and thus, in faint and feeble, human and
 
 264 MERCY AND TRUTH. 
 
 imperfect, yet earnest and anxious imitation of 
 the inexhaustible goodness and infinite mercy 
 which we adore, lead us trustful and zealous, 
 with our humble efforts, through the valley of 
 the shadow of death to the throne of the Lord, 
 still ardently craving indulgence and forgiveness.
 
 XXVIII. 
 THE REPROOF OF LIFE. 
 
 MY DEAR CHILDREN. 
 
 You have often heard, that knowledge, which 
 is far above rubies, more precious and infinitely 
 more useful than the brightest jewels, cannot be 
 bought; but that it may be acquired and im- 
 parted, and that, however generously and lavishly 
 bestowed, it never impoverishes the donor, nor, like 
 the gift of silver and gold, ever humiliates even 
 the proudest recipient. There are various ways of 
 acquiring the highest and most valuable informa- 
 tion ; indeed, we find it at every step among the 
 enchanting beauties and wonders of creation, in 
 every page of the divine Volume, where inspired 
 words of immortal power trace out the whole 
 circle of our duties : we derive worldly lore from 
 the writings which the good and great of all cen- 
 turies have bequeathed to posterity; and when, 
 in communion with ourselves, we consult con- 
 science, that unerring monitor reveals to us many 
 truths which lie hidden in the labyrinths of the 
 soul, and in the depths of the mind. To the 
 A A
 
 266 THE REPROOF OF LTFE. 
 
 sincere inquirer most studies become ever-flowing 
 sources of unmixed enjoyment and satisfaction; 
 while others, though leading to our improvement, 
 are deemed not sweet waters to be eagerly sought, 
 but bitter and repelling draughts. It is towards 
 them that it will be well to direct our attention. 
 
 When we find ourselves brought into contact 
 with the world, we often meet with rebukes, which 
 grate and jar upon us; but they, too, convey 
 knowledge : let us submit to their irritating 
 clamour, while we remember, that, as King Solo- 
 mon says, " the ear which heareth the reproof of 
 life, abideth among the wise." My dear children, 
 let us endeavour to understand the full meaning 
 of these words. All are reproved in the course of 
 their pilgrimage, almost from the first movement 
 upon which they venture in earliest infancy to 
 the last act, which closes their labours on earth; 
 but all do not heed, all do not hearken : some 
 turn a deaf ear to expressions of blame, others 
 are indifferent or callous, or, if not really so, 
 strive to harden themselves against censure. The 
 wise are those who never turn away from it in a 
 careless, frivolous mood, or in a stubborn, angry 
 spirit. 
 
 The reproof administered to us in tender child - 
 hood is perhaps the best, and should be the most 
 beneficial. It comes from affectionate friends, 
 from loving hearts, and, however unwelcome it
 
 THE REPROOF OF LIFE. 267 
 
 may sometimes be, is the expression of watchful 
 care and deep anxiety for our happiness, of un- 
 flinching devotion to the best interests of our life. 
 Therefore, my dear children, be entreated and 
 warned always to listen with patient attention to 
 reproving exhortation, even if it should appear to 
 you undeserved, undue severity. You may have 
 given offence unwittingly, or neglected some duty, 
 without being aware of the full extent of your 
 fault. Do not rebel against the admonition, 
 which, in ignorance, or in a moment of wounded 
 vanity, you will perhaps consider mere angry 
 scolding. Without the strictures of your well- 
 wishers and of life, you might never know your 
 failings until too late, and they would possibly 
 grow and become the bane of your whole existence, 
 poison your otherwise happiest and most joyous 
 years, and thus subject you to perpetual inward 
 torments: for even when subdued by a strong 
 will, even when controlled and concealed from all 
 eyes by your determination of suffering in silence, 
 the ugly enemies which have taken possession of 
 your soul would remain scourges, and go on in 
 flicting upon you endless flagellations. 
 
 The father who upbraids you, my dear children, 
 is impelled to do so by his anxious consideration 
 for your welfare. He is well aware that you can- 
 not be happy without being good ; he points out 
 to you errors aud failings and shortcomings, that
 
 268 THE REPROOF OF LIFE. 
 
 every onward step you undertake may be made 
 easier; for our faults are troublesome travelling 
 companions ; they check our progress, they hinder 
 every stride in the right direction: while our 
 qualities, on the contrary, are the best and most 
 energetic assistants; they help us to surmount 
 difficulties, to annihilate obstacles, and to elude 
 or conquer dangers. 
 
 The mother who chides you, is urged to do so 
 by the depth, by the tenderness of her love. In 
 her eagerness to shield you from peril, to place a 
 safeguard around you, she feels, that her maternal 
 watchfulness, though incessant, that the devotion 
 of every moment of her existence, that the ardent 
 prayers she offers up to Almighty God, that the 
 blessings she invokes upon you, are insufficient to 
 protect you from harm ; for she remembers, that 
 our heavenly Creator has graciously willed, that 
 all happiness shall be the reward of merit, the 
 recompense of the humble and conscientious exer- 
 cise of those virtues which enhance the radiance 
 of the sunniest hours, and allow us to bear up 
 against the most fearful storms. 
 
 In order to be strong in the time of danger, 
 you must be entirely truthful and truth-loving, 
 never allow illusions, however brilliant and fasci- 
 nating, to surround you, my dear young friends, 
 but learn to banish besieging flattery ; you must 
 especially be warned against the weird sisters,
 
 THE REPROOF OF LIFE. 269 
 
 pride and vanity, who would lead you on to over- 
 rate yourselves and to undervalue others; they 
 are mere varieties of self-adoration, of egotism, 
 which is, believe me, a most hideous idol. It is 
 like Moloch, to whom the fairest children were 
 sacrificed, for it swallows up every bloom and 
 blossom, every hope of excellence, every amiable 
 quality, every noble feeling. 
 
 If selfishness has been dwelt upon at some 
 length to-day, it is because the development of 
 that fatal fault takes place early in life, and is 
 among the most prominent defects of heedless 
 youth. 
 
 The young, having few cares and anxieties, most 
 frequently allow all their thoughts and wishes to 
 revert to themselves, and being thus in perpetual 
 danger of becoming egotists, should indeed hearken 
 to the warning voice of watchful love. My dear 
 children, although kind and gentle advice given 
 to the young may be particularly useful in saving 
 them from much sorrow, it must not be imagined 
 that the reproof of life is meant merely for those 
 still enjoying the early morn of their existence. 
 At all times, and under all circumstances, it 
 reaches us; but only the thoughtful, who attend 
 to its lessons, and make good use of them, abide 
 among the wise. Let not the neglect of our 
 claims, when we fancied ourselves entitled to the 
 notice, perhaps to the approbation of the world, 
 
 AA 3
 
 270 THE REPROOF OF LIFE. 
 
 let not that neglect, even when unmerited, de- 
 press us, or make us torpid. It should, on the 
 contrary, spur us on to long-sustained and more 
 vigorous exertions, to conscientious studies, to in- 
 defatigable perseverance, while we strengthen our- 
 selves iu our good resolves by the thought, that 
 great and immediate success might have elated us 
 too much, dazzled us with regard to our position, 
 and blinded us as to our imperfections and short- 
 comings. The harsh criticism and cold severity 
 of the world show us our errors, which we are apt 
 to. overlook, not necessarily from any undue con- 
 ceit, but in the mere eagerness of our onward 
 progress. In the battle of life, as in a game of 
 chess, we discover almost at a glance, the weak- 
 ness of our antagonist : but, alas ! we do not per- 
 ceive our own ; or we discern it only when it is 
 too late to fortify ourselves against danger. 
 Therefore, my dear children, do not turn away 
 from even harsh rebuke, which places our faults 
 in an unmitigated glare of light. It may be humi- 
 liating to see them in their deformity : but when 
 disclosed to us in their unsightly nakedness, we 
 shrink from the fellowship in dismay ; and then it 
 is, that we think earnestly of placing a barrier 
 between them and our better nature ; then it is, 
 that we may really hope to succeed in our stre- 
 nuous endeavours. 
 
 Remember, my dear children, that even the
 
 THE REPROOF OF LIFE. 271 
 
 most conscientious cannot be sufficiently watchful 
 over their actions, their thoughts, their impulses, 
 and feelings. We are often made giddy and be- 
 wildered by conflicting emotions in the hurry of 
 our journey to some wished-for goal. It is rebuke 
 that frequently clears away all mists and deluding 
 phantoms, that acts as a check in our headlong 
 career. Then the annals of the past, with their 
 perhaps long-forgotten or neglected lessons, re- 
 appear to us written in letters of fire ; and then 
 we vow, that the flaming torch of experience shall 
 guide us henceforward, and that the time still 
 vouchsafed to us shall be more usefully spent 
 than that which has passed away. 
 
 In our unrestrained vehemence, in our breath- 
 less eagerness, we often arrive too early, and have 
 to wait countless hours for the fulfilment of our 
 heart's desire, for the realization of our hopes ; or 
 we may be sluggards, wasting or trifling away our 
 opportunities, deferring to the morrowing day the 
 performance of duty which belongs to every fleet- 
 ing hour, and then we come too late ; the prize for 
 which we have been longing eludes our grasp, and 
 the disappointment is great. But there is scarcely 
 a disappointment which is not at the same time a 
 lesson, which does not single out for our instruc- 
 tion some of our faults, and does not make us 
 more clear-sighted and more vigilant. Let us 
 derive the best use from such teaching, and turn 
 it into the beauteous pearls of knowledge.
 
 272 THE REPROOF OF LIFE. 
 
 To know much, not merely by theory, but by 
 the irresistible force of experience, is to be wise, 
 which signifies to be good. It seems impossible 
 to understand God's admirable commandments, 
 and those divine and immutable laws, which award 
 external or internal recompense to real merit, 
 public or unseen punishment to every transgres- 
 sion, without humbly though ardently striving to 
 obey our heavenly Father's will. 
 
 But we never can be sufficiently grateful to the 
 Lord for the innumerable blessings He showers 
 down upon us. We may know the obligations of 
 gratitude, but we do not feel all their benefi- 
 cent power until we have heard the reproof of 
 life. Health, for instance, is a blessing, the price- 
 less value of which becomes a thousand times 
 greater after illness. Those who have long been 
 tortured by bodily pain, chained to a bed of sick- 
 ness, or imprisoned between the narrow bounda- 
 ries of an arm-chair, come out with unspeakable 
 delight, after a weary time of suffering, into the 
 golden sunshine, that flings its glow and bright- 
 ness around, into the cooling air, that fans us 
 with fragrant wing, into the fields and woods, 
 harmonious with hymns of gladsome birds. It is 
 then, that our heart, overflowing with thankful- 
 ness to the merciful Creator, warms also towards 
 our fellow-beings, that we learn to sympathize 
 more truly with them, and endeavour to give them
 
 THE REPROOF OP LIFE. 273 
 
 all tli at human help and solicitude can bestow. 
 To know what we have possessed and lost, what 
 we have regained or may reconquer, by the loving- 
 kindness of God and our most unremitting efforts, 
 is to be wise. 
 
 Yes, my dear children, wisdom leads to good- 
 ness ; many err and sin from ignorance, and need, 
 alas ! the censure of the world to turn from evil 
 or dangerous ways. Not only real trials and sor- 
 rows, which chasten us, and detach our thoughts 
 and aims from the mere vanities and frivolities 
 of our earthly existence, but much that appears 
 to us in the garb of a misfortune, often is a well- 
 timed warning, a most precious boon added to 
 our stores of information. The reproof of life 
 enforces care and attention, instead of the heed- 
 lessness that often hurls us along at random, as the 
 wind drives the leaf over land and sea j it teaches 
 us patience and perseverance, those twin virtues 
 which smooth the most rugged paths. It opens 
 our eyes to the real nature of things when vanity 
 blinds us ; it stretches out a helping hand when 
 flattery threatens to mislead us. It gives us 
 courage, and also power over ourselves, when 
 weakness causes us to vacillate between truth and 
 falsehood. Without the voice of rebuke to arrest 
 or to rouse us, we might either rush on to perdi- 
 tion or fritter our whole existence away. It is a 
 guide, my dear children ; follow it : it is a friend ;
 
 274 THE REPROOF OF LIFE. 
 
 at all times listen to its counsels, and thus acquire 
 experience, which it is pre-eminently able to give, 
 since we will seldom accept it, or profit by it, 
 when it comes to us in any other shape ; hearken 
 to its advice, and it will teach you wisdom, show- 
 ing you with perfect clearness the whole extent 
 of your obligations. 
 
 The reproof of life may often pain us, and cause 
 our tears to flow; but let the weeping be like the 
 dews of heaven, and fall on desolate hearts to 
 revive and strengthen them, and make them blos- 
 som with fresh hopes with the anxious hope of 
 abiding among the good in this world, by the 
 humble but faithful performance of duty with 
 the ardent hope of receiving the reward promised 
 to the righteous by Almighty God, and of abiding 
 hereafter near the light of His glory in the 
 blissful realms of immortality,
 
 A 000 046 766 2 
 
 YESTIEYS