NOBLENESS OF CHARACTER.
By Eliza H. Morton
No one can be noble who is not good. Goodness is not a natural gift. It is the result of overcoming sin. Selfishness is the root of sin. It withers and blights every worthy impulse. There is nothing that so ennobles the heart as an unselfish desire to assist others and make them happy. Occasionally we meet a person who is kind, obliging, and self-forgetful. Such persons seldom receive pecuniary rewards for their services. Their recompense is within. Unselfishness causes the disposition to grow gentle and lovely; and illuminates the countenance until it is radiant with beauty and glowing with love. It wins many hearts, and, if cherished, fits its possessor for the society of holy ones above.