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CHARITY

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Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 26, 1883

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 9, No. 17.

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CHARITY.

Oh! be not the first to discover A blot on the fame of a friend, A flaw in the faith of another Whose heart may prove true to the end. A smile or a sigh may awaken Suspicions most false and undue; And thus our belief may be shaken In hearts that are honest and true.
How often the light smile of gladness Is worn by our friends that we meet, To cover a soul full of sadness Too proud to acknowledge defeat! How often the sigh of dejection Is heaved from the hypocrite's breast, To parody truth and affection, Or lull a suspicion to rest!
How often the friend we hold dearest Their noblest emotions conceal; And bosoms the purest, sincerest, Have secrets they cannot reveal! We none of us know one another, And often in error may fall; Then let us speak well of our brother, Or speak not about it at all.
—Selected.