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Review and Herald, Vol. 25, No. 1.

Systematic Benevolence

Review and Herald

Nov 29, 1864

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 29, 1864

Systematic Benevolence.

By James White

"Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." 1 Cor. xvi, 2. "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened; but by an equality," &c. 2 Cor. viii, 12-14. "That the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not of covetousness. But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth the cheerful giver." 2 Cor. ix, 5-7.
These texts relate to one purpose which the apostle was endeavoring to accomplish, which was, to send relief to the poor saints which dwelt at Jerusalem. We may learn from Acts ii, 44, 45; iv, 32-37, the reason why such assistance was needed by that church. They had expended their means in the cause of God at the very commencement of the work, and were thus reduced to poverty. Hence when Agabus stood up at Antioch, and signified by the Spirit that there should be a great dearth throughout the world, "the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea; which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Paul." Acts xi, 27-30.
It was fifteen years after this, that Paul wrote to the Corinthians to engage them also in this benevolent work. In the text cited from 1 Cor. xvi, he proposes the method which should be adopted by the churches in the prosecution of this object. And in the texts quoted from the second epistle he shows the motives that should actuate them in this work. That the great apostle succeeded in this effort appears from Rom. xv, 25-31. "But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia (Corinth was a city of Achaia) to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem." We have an account of Paul's visit to Jerusalem with this bounty for the saints. Acts xxi, 15. "And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem." The word rendered carriage is literally baggage; and such was once the signification of the word in English. Thus much respecting the circumstances that stand connected with Paul's directions to the Corinthian church. It remains that we gather from these facts some instruction relative to our own duty.
If Paul found it essential to complete success, that method should be observed in raising means for benevolent purposes, it is certainly not unreasonable to conclude that we should find the same thing beneficial in promoting a similar object.
"Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him," &c. This implies, 1. A stated time for the business; viz., the first day of the week. 2. The concurrent action of each individual; for he adds, "let every one of you" lay by him in store. 3. And this is not a public collection, but a private act of setting apart for the Lord a portion of what one possesses. 4. The amount to be given is brought home to the conscience of each individual by the language, "as God hath prospered him."
The children of Israel were required to give a tithe, or tenth, of all their increase. See Lev. xxvii, 30-35; Num. xviii, 21, 24-32; Deut. xiv, 22-26, 28, 29; xxvi, 11-13; 2 Chron. xxxi, 5, 6; Neh. x, 38. And it cannot be supposed that the Lord requires less of his people when time is emphatically short, and a great work is to be accomplished in the use of their means in giving the last merciful message to the world.
Says the prophet, Mal. iii, 8-10: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." It is time to cease robbing God, that we may receive the fullness of his blessing.
Who says that these "tithes and offerings" are merely speaking and praying in meeting? Away with such doubtful applications of Scripture. If the prophet Malachi is not here teaching the carrying out of the Israelitish system of tithing, he is certainly enforcing a duty of the same nature, and his words may come home to us with full force, and the principle be carried out by obedience to the language of Paul—"Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store," &c. Says our Lord, Luke xi, 42: "But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
How may we reduce to practice these excellent suggestions? We recommend the following plan, which all, with very few exceptions, can adopt:
This illustration shows how the accounts are kept with the use of the Systematic Benevolence Blank Book. If the brethren give a tithe, or tenth, of their income, estimating their income at ten per cent. on what they possess, it will amount to about two cents weekly on each $100 of property. Besides this, let all who are able to do, give a personal donation for each week, more or less, according to their ability. This is necessary to include those who have but little or no property, yet have ability to earn, and should give a share of their earnings. While some widows, or aged and infirm, should be excused from personal, the young and active who have but little or no property, should put down a liberal weekly personal donation.
The above may do for a general rule, yet there are exceptions. Some of these we will name.
1. The aged, widows, and infirm, who are poor, and have but little or no income, should feel themselves exempt from this system of benevolence.
2. Those whose income is more than ten per cent. on their property can pay higher in proportion to the amount of their income. A tithe, or tenth, of their increase is just exactly one-tenth of the increase of their property. Has a brother or sister increased his or her property during the year the sum of $1000, a tithe would be just $100. Suppose they are worth but $3000, and place their figures no higher than those in the illustration, the draft on them would be only a little more than $30, when one-tenth of their increase is $100. If such, while professing to pay a tithe of their increase, place their figures no higher than illustrated, do they not annually rob God of more than $60? Can such expect continued prosperity in business,and an overflowing blessing in their hearts?
The overreaching, godless miser, may go on unchastened, and prosper, while the chastening rod of our heavenly Father may fall heavily in love and mercy upon his erring children, who withhold from him what his cause requires. If they through love of this world rob him, it will be an easy matter for him to bring down their increase to their stingy figures. They are the Lord's. Their hands, faculty to accumulate, facilities to do business, lands, &c., are the Lord's. And while they take nine-tenths of their increase to themselves, will they rob God of the tithe, or remaining one-tenth? Again hear the prophet, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
But let it be distinctly understood, that it is systematic benevolence, not systematic compulsion, that we are advocating. The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments require free-will offerings. Our people are invited, none compelled, to enter the arrangement, and then left to assess their own property, and give such a percentage as they choose. The subject is set before them as scriptural, and reasonable, and necessary, that there may be equality in sustaining the cause; then all are left to act in the fear of God.
This system casts no burden on the poor, and disarms the rich of every reasonable excuse. It tests the sincerity of the wealthy, develops covetousness, and manifests the real friends of the cause.
The draft upon the poor man, should he put down the highest figures, is so very light that he would be ashamed to complain. And the rich man, who professes to believe that the present is the period for the last message of mercy to the world, would appear to ill advantage, as the veriest hypocrite, complaining of a system which calls from him only about one per cent. annually of his wealth, to sustain the cause of truth. Such men usually add, annually, from five to fifty per cent. to their property. Let such blush to talk of sacrifice while their property increases. A sacrifice consumes.
The first design of our system of benevolence was to sustain the cause, as may be seen by the following from an address from the Battle Creek church to the churches and brethren and sisters in Michigan, published in the Review, Feb. 3d, 1859:
"Dear Brethren and Sisters: We wish to call your attention to a plan of systematic benevolence, to support the proclamation of the Third Angel's Message."
This was the original design of our plan of benevolence, and we regard it as a very great error in departing from it in any degree. Numerous have been the drafts upon the treasury of this system. And as we look at the present state of our country, we may expect that calls upon our liberality will greatly increase, and the only safe course is to return to, and strictly follow out, the first design of our system of benevolence: namely, That the treasury be opened only to the maintainance of the cause of the Third Angel's Message. It is proper to here state that most of our churches have adhered to this course, while some have opened their treasury to almost every trifling excuse, and have had little or nothing to help sustain the cause.
We would say to our brethren and sisters in the several States in which they live, that after they have paid their taxes to support our civil government, with its benevolent objects and ample means of sustaining the unfortunate and the poor, if they feel it their duty to do more for the poor, do it independent of that, sacredly set apart to sustain the cause of truth, even if they do less for the cause. If it be necessary to divide your liberality, then let that consecrated to the cause of God, though it be a small sum, remain untouched, sacredly devoted to the cause for which it was designed.
This course, and it will be admitted, we think, to be the only proper and safe course, will do away with the necessity of the churches' appropriating only a certain proportion of their funds to their State Conference, as they will have no other use for them. They can place the entire amount in the hands of their State treasurer. Scattered brethren, where there are no churches, can do the same, in those States where there is an organized Conference. In those localities where there are no State Conferences, the churches and brethren can place their entire systematic funds in the hands of the General Conference treasurer, at the disposal of the General Conference Committee, who have charge of Missionary labor in such localities.
We earnestly recommend our system of benevolence to all who love the cause of the third message. We also recommend to churches, and to scattered brethren and friends, that they devote the entire amount of their system of benevolence to the cause for which it was first designed, and that it be paid over monthly, or quarterly, to the State Conference treasurers or to the treasurer of the General Conference, as above suggested. If in this case, there should be a surplus of means in the State treasuries, the State Committees could appropriate the surplus to the Missionary treasury.
Those churches that have to build houses of worship, and meet the expenses of lights, fuel, &c., and do not feel able to come up to the figures in our illustration of systematic benevolence besides, can at their annual meeting appropriate by vote such a per cent. of their entire s. b. funds to such objects as they think proper. But it is supposed that the instances where such a course would be necessary would be very few.
We also recommend to churches, and to individuals also, to re-arrange their s. b. figures annually. As the commencement of the year seems a proper time for this. Property should be put down at what the owner would sell it for in bank notes, provided he or she wished to sell it. Has property risen with the depreciation of our currency? Then mark it up. "Will a man rob God?"
We trust that it will be the pleasure of all our people to commence the new year with figures equal to their prosperity. Promptness, and unanimity of action is the strength of the system. J. W.

"Abide with Me."

"Abide with me," the day is past and gone; 'Tis eventide, and night is coming on; The darkness o'er me creeps, And my sad spirit seeks Thy presence, Lord, for I am faint and lone.
The way is long and dark, and often drear; The thorns are springing up, and clouds appear; And heavy shadows lay Across my weary way, And I am sinking fast, and filled with fear.
"Abide with me." The tempter's power is strong, And I am weak; I often do the wrong I would not, and I pray That thou would'st from this day "Abide with me," and bear me safe along.
"Abide with me; I cannot let thee go Unless thou dost a blessing, Lord, bestow; I feel my need of thee; Saviour, "abide with me"-- I know thou wilt not, canst not, answer, No. [American Messenger.

“Prepare War! Wake up the Mighty Men.”

By Mary W. Howard

THIS passage of God's word has been so often cited that it may seem so hackneyed a theme that no new ideas can be advanced upon it. Nor am I so vain as to expect to do so; but a few thoughts seem to call for expression, and till the one side desist from ringing the various changes upon the words of Isaiah and Micah, when they record that in the last days the people shall say, “Beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”—should those who have God's word for authority, and passing events for illustration, give over from seeking to draw attention to the real truth, or entreating others in the words of the prophet to “Come ye and walk in the light of the Lord?” True, the majority are so far away—engrossed with their myths and preconceived opinions, that they will not hear, or if, peradventure, your voice can reach them, they will close their ears so they will not heed! And need we marvel, since those who should be watchmen on the towers of Zion, to “sound the alarm, and blow the trumpet,” sit, as it were, with the foot upon the cradle, swinging it with that gentle motion so conducive to repose, and with soft and soothing tones singing the fatal lullaby,—“the world's conversion.”
A writer in an English Magazine, in causing the “Fighting Power of Europe” to pass before the mind, states that there are “five millions of men under arms in Europe!” and after making the “shining cohorts muster from every part of the continent,” and pass trooping by before the mental vision, he says, “We believe ourselves at peace; to be reposing under our own vine and fig-tree with the cloud of war far from us. Years of comparative exemption from hostilities have fed the illusion. We mocked ourselves with the idea that civilization was introducing moral elements into the government of the world, and that the sword was to be converted into ploughshares, and the spear into pruning-hooks. Yet, never in the annals of history have the nations maintained such stupendous armies, or mankind witnessed such fearful destruction on the battle-field, as at the present day; never has the spirit of war been so systematically fostered, as in the year of grace 1864. Varied are the illustrations developing how little peaceable are the ideas that prevail.”
How applicable is most of this to our own nation. Alas! “how little peaceable are the ideas that prevail,” when little country villages, that in quietness have rested all their days, deem it necessary to have arms and amunition in reserve for emergencies, against a dread uncertainty, which looms up in the future in ominous indefiniteness. Whither are we drifting?—must be hopelessly asked by the ideal dreamer in “that good time coming.” But he that rests assured that the great “day of the Lord hasteth greatly,” should be able to maintain a calm repose in God, knowing that not one of his purposes shall fail of accomplishment. Nevertheless, who among the calmest and boldest has not felt his blood pause and then creep chillingly along its channels, at the recital of the outbursts of that iniquity which stalks through our land?
“Moral elements at work!” The various changes on this theme have been so repeatedly rung, that no wonder the skeptic's lip curls with scorn at the bare mention of it; or that he sets all Christianity aside, as equally visionary and fanatical. What wonder that he is sometimes tempted to apply the scathing words of Jesus, “Ye compass sea and land to make proselytes, and when he is made ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves.”
“Proclaim ye, Prepare war; wake up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears.” Joel iii, 9, 10. This is a command given, “for the Lord hath spoken it;” while the antithetical words given by Isaiah and Micah are only as being what “the people shall say” (see Isa. ii, and Micah iv), when they “have mocked themselves with the illusion” that they were “standing on the vestibule of a resplendently glorious era.” And the prophet beholds all this, as also that there is no corresponding action; but on the contrary, he sees “the loftiness of man bowed down, and the haughtiness of man made low,” and in his final discomfiture dropping his idols as he seeks to escape “in caves of the earth, in the clefts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Isa. ii, 19-21. Joel, after giving his soul-stirring command, sees “multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision,” and yet the people of God should pray that they may be kept from the war spirit.
From the “fall of Sumpter,” there sprung an enthusiasm among our loyal north, to make a short and speedy work of suppression. And when the magnitude of the fell rebellion dawned upon the mind, there seemed to be born in our countrymen a “holy patriotism.” Call after call for “men of war” was responded to—draft succeeded draft, and yet they come—and wherefore? It was necessary, proper, to raise local bounties; but where now is patriotism? Merged, swallowed up in the love of money. And with a heart anxiously loyal to our present administration, I have groaned in spirit as I have seen husbands, fathers, and sons sell themselves, or be sold. And alas! the end is not yet! MARY W. HOWARD. Malone, N. Y., Oct. 1864.

A Fox Nest Spoiled.

By B. F. Snook

ISRAEL'S latter-day foxes, or false teachers, tax all their ingenuity and skill to the greatest extent, to devise means whereby they may, if possible, evade and overthrow the truth. Such is the intention of all their efforts against the Bible Sabbath. On this question they must know that the Bible is against them. They have no good argument for their defense. They never can show a divine command for keeping Sunday as the Sabbath, nor a promised blessing for keeping it, nor a threat of punishment for not keeping it. Feeling their weakness to build up, they try their skill at tearing down. And hence they bring all their batteries to bear against the Sabbath by firing at it their little objections, not one of which has the least weight.
One of the strongest objections they urge is, that itcannot be kept. If true, we confess that this is a formidable barrier in our way. But where is the proof? When this demand is made, the fox slyly gallops away north toward the pole, makes his nest, lies down in it, and barks out, "It is six months day, and six months night here. We can't count time here. Your seventh-day Sabbath cannot be kept here; therefore it is not the day we ought to keep; but Sunday is the Sabbath and we ought to keep it."
This objection is urged as of great force against the Sabbath. We will now probe it to the bottom and show that it is false, not a word of truth in it. Further, if there is any force in it at all, it proves just as much against Sunday, as it does against the Sabbath. It avers that the Sabbath cannot be kept because time cannot be computed, and time cannot be computed because the days and nights are six months long. This truly is a novel objection. It certainly is lame in both legs. Let me ask the objector if time cannot be computed, please tell us how you came to know that the days and nights there are six months long? Did you get this knowledge by computing time? If so, what becomes of your very serious objection? If not, you must have merely guessed at it, and hence your objection is founded on a guess.
Here is one proof against the objection in the very basis on which it is urged. We have now a great fact to urge against all such objections, and that is, that there is no portion of this earth where man can go or live, in which time cannot be, and is not, computed.
Dr. Kane and his company of men, who embarked in 1852, to the far distant North, in search of Sir John Franklin, traveled to the very country where they tell us time cannot be computed for the extreme length of days and nights. Speaking of the darkness, Dr. Kane says, "Nov. 7, Monday. The darkness is coming on with insidious steadiness, and its advances can only be perceived by comparing one day with its fellow of some time back." Journal, p. 142. "Our darkness has ninety days to run before we shall get back again even to the contested twilight of to-day. Altogether, our winter will have been sunless for one hundred and forty days." p. 148.
Again he says: "Nov. 27, Sunday. I sent out a volunteer party some days ago, with Mr. Bousall." p. 146. Dr. Kane what do you mean? I thought time could not be computed where you are? Well, Dr. Kane had no trouble to find and keep Sunday, even among these northern impossibilities.
Again he says: "Morton went out on Friday to reclaim the things they had left; and to-day at 1 P. M. he returned successful." p. 147.
Here we have not only the day, but the very hour of the day computed. Again, "Dec. 15, Thursday. We have lost the last vestige of our midday twilight. We cannot see print, and hardly paper; the fingers cannot be counted a foot from the eyes. Noonday and midnight are alike, and except a vague glimmer on the sky, we have nothing to tell us that this arctic world of ours has a sun." p. 148. "The first traces of returning light were observed at noon, on the 21st of January." March 11, Saturday. p. 172.
The question is therefore settled; time can be computed, even among the long days and nights of the arctics. Sundays were kept there, and even the Sabbath was found there and could have been kept, if its obligation had been remembered and submitted to.
B. F. SNOOK.

Pulpit Prayer Answered.

MANY years ago a very learned minister of England was in the habit of preparing his sermons very carefully, and he used to read them very accurately. He did so for years, but there was never known to be a sinner saved under him—never such a wonder. The poor good man—for he was an earnest man and wished to do good, was one day at prayer in the pulpit, praying to God that he would make him a useful minister. When he had finished his prayer he was stone-blind. He had sufficient self-possession to preach the sermon extempore, which he had prepared with notes. People did not notice his blindness, but they never heard the Doctor preach such a sermon as that before. There was deep attention, there were souls saved. He found his way from the pulpit, and began to express his deep sorrow that he had lost his eye-sight, when one good old woman present said, perhaps a little unkindly, but still very truthfully:
“Doctor, we have never heard you preach like this before; and if that is the result of your being blind, it is a pity you were not blind twenty years ago, for you have done more good to-day than you have done before in twenty years.”

The Refining Power of Religion.

It expands the mind of its possessor and purifies his taste. It is a great mistake to confound riches and refinement, just as it is a great mistake to fancy that, because a man is poor, he must be coarse and vulgar. There was no vulgarity about James Ferguson, though herding sheep, whilst his eye watched Arcturus and the Pleiades, and his wistful spirit wandered through immensity; and though seated at a stocking loom, there was no vulgarity in the youth who penned the "Star of Bethlehem;" the weaver-boy, Henry Kirke White, was not a vulgar lad.
And so, if you surrender your minds to the teaching of God's Word and Spirit, they will receive the truest, deepest refinement. There may be nothing in your movements to indicate the training of the school, nor anything in your elocution which speaks of courtly circles or smooth society; but there will be an elevation in your tastes, and a purity in your feelings, as of men accustomed to the society of the King of kings. The religion which is at last to lift the beggar from the dunghill, and set him with nobles of the earth, will even now give the toiling man the elevated aims, the enlarged capacity, the lofty tastes, and bearing, which princes have often lacked.

A Slave's View of the Gospel.

I ONCE found myself in company with a party of friends in the gallery of a small village church, listening to a discourse from a colored minister, or rather exhorter. After some preliminary exercises, a gray-headed man, evidently quite a patriarchal personage, arose, and announced as his subject, "The history of Dives and Lazarus," which he proceeded to explain and enforce. One illustration he used, was so full of quaint simplicity, and at the same time so adapted to express the idea he meant to convey, that it struck me forcibly. He was trying to show how a sinner should accept the gospel offers of salvation.
“Suppose,” said he, “any of you wanted a coat, and should go to a white gentleman to purchase one. Well, he has one that exactly fits you, and in all respects is just what you need. You ask the price, but when told, find you have not enough money, and you shake your head—'No, massa, I am too poor, must go without,' and turn away. But he says, 'I know you cannot pay me, and I have concluded to give it to you—will you have it?' What would you do in that case?—stop to hem and haw, and say, 'O, he's just laughing at me, he don't mean it?' No such thing. There is not one of you who would not take the coat and say, 'Yes, massa, and thank you, too.'
“Now, my dear friends, God's salvation is offered you as freely as that; why won't you take it as freely? You are lost, undone sinners, and feel that you need a covering from his wrath. If you could keep his holy law blameless, you might purchase it by good works; but ah! you are full of sin. You are poor indeed, and if this is all your dependence, I don't wonder that you are turning off in despair. But stop—look here! God speaks now, and offers you the perfect robe of Christ's righteousness, that will cover all your sins, and fit all your wants, and says that you may have it 'without money and without price.' O, brethren, my dear brethren, do take God's word for it, and thankfully accept his free gift.”
What impression the words had on the old man's colored auditors, I cannot tell, but as our group left the church, one of the ladies remarked to another, 'What a strange idea that was about the coat!' 'My dear friend,' was the reply, 'it suited my state of mind, rough and unpolished as it was, better than all Dr.—'s elaborate and eloquent arguments this morning. I am so glad that I came here. This is the way I have been despairingly seeking for years. How simple! How plain! Free grace alone! Yes, I will take God at his word.
‘Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling.’ [Presbyterian.

The Proof of Your Love.

GAIL HAMILTON belongs to the school of practical Christians, and believes largely in a religion made for this world. She contends that the usual tests of Christian character to which appeal is made in the pulpit and in religious literature are too internal. In her recent work entitled, "Stumbling Blocks," she presents the following test questions:
If you wish to know whether you are a Christian, inquire of yourself whether, in and for the love of God, you seek to make happy those about you by smiles and pleasant sayings. Is it a matter of concernment, when you sit down to your breakfast, to say a bright word of sympathy, or endearment, or playfulness, or cheer, to your wife, your son, your daughter? Do you give Tommy a preliminary toss as you place him in his high chair, or do you praise Kitty's first awkward attempt to smooth her own hair? Do you notice the little arrangements that have been made for your comfort and convenience? Do you compliment the cook on the nice coffee, or the light buckwheat cakes, or the beautifully-brown toast which she sets before you—particularly if the cook bears your own name? When the cat puts up her soft paw to remind you that she is there, does your hand slide down to rub her fur, and thus make her happier for your thought of her—or, if a law of the Medes and Persians forbids her the dining room, do you throw her a bit of bread to console her exile? Is the faithful dog rewarded by his share, not only of food, but of favoritism? If you have yourself an unconquerable aversion to cats and dogs, do you still see to it that their lives are not a burden to them? If you meet a child crying in the street, do you endeavor to console him? Do you ever buy a penny's worth of candy for the ragged boy who is looking at it with eager eyes through the shop window on Christmas eve? Do you take pains now and then to speak a cheery word to the widow whose only son has gone on a long sea voyage? As your sons and daughters approach maturity, does their obedience and affection increase or diminish? Do they go out from your house as from a prison, or from a home, with eager feet indeed, but with a tender lingering at the last? When you come into the house, do you bring sunshine with you? If there is a cloud on your brow, do your family seem more anxious to dissipate it, or to get out of your way? If your sons see you on the other side of the street, do they run over to join you, or do they turn down an alley to avoid you, or keep on the other side till they are obliged to cross? Do the clerks in your warehouse, the carpenters who are building your house, the Irishmen who are laying your pipes, the plowman who is furrowing your land, the gardener who is pruning your trees, like to have you pass by, for the pleasantness of your manner in commending their labor, or the courteousness with which you listen to their complaints or requests, or the quiet consideration with which you suggest alterations and improvements? Do mothers like to have their sons work on your farm during the summer months, and do the boys like to come? In short, are you a comfortable person to live with? Are you pleasant to have about?
We like these questions, and they have their important place in the Christian life; but still they remind us of the mint, anise, and cummin, of which the Saviour said, "These ye ought to have done, and the others not to have left undone."

Temptation

TEMPTATION.—It is a most fearful fact to think of, that in every heart there is some secret spring that would be weak at the touch of temptation, and that is liable to be assailed. Fearful and yet salutary to think of; for the thought may serve to keep our moral nature braced. It warns us that we can never stand at ease, or lie down in this field of life, without sentinels of watchfulness, and camp-fires of prayer.
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