Earlier text: THE COUNSEL OF THE TRUE WITNESS.Infidel Objections to the Bible Answered. No. 20.
By W. C. G.
**A Fool Should be Answered According to his Folly.—Answer a fool according to his folly.—Prov. xxvi, 4.** **A Fool Should NOT be Answered According to his Folly.—Answer not a fool according to his folly.—Prov. xxvi, 5.** THE necessity of this caution is apparent in the effort made to found an objection to the Scriptures on the foregoing texts. It would seem that none but a fool would suppose even an uninspired writer to be possessed of so little sense as to blindly contradict himself in two connected sentences, for unless there were some deep meaning to his words, not apparent on the surface, he would indeed lay himself liable to the charge of trifling with words to no purpose. To answer the caviler “according to his folly” we give the following from “Henry’s Exposition,” giving also the texts in full. W. C. G. “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” “See here the noble security of the scripture-style, which seems to contradict itself, but really does not. Wise men have need to be directed how to deal with fools; and they have never more need of wisdom than in dealing with such, to know when to keep silence and when to speak, for there may be a time for both. “1. In some cases, a wise man will not set his wit to that of a fool, so far as to answer him according to his folly. If he boast of himself, do not answer him by boasting of thyself. If he rail and talk passionately, do not thou rail and talk passionately too. If he tell one great lie, do not thou tell another to match it. If he calumniate thy friends, do not thou calumniate his. If he banter, do not answer him in his own language, lest thou be like him; even thou, who knowest better things, who hast more sense, and hast been better taught. “2. Yet, in other cases, a wise man will use his wisdom for the conviction of a fool; when, by taking notice of what he says, there may be hopes of doing good, or, at least, preventing further mischief, either to himself or others. If thou have reason to think that thy silence will be deemed an evidence of the weakness of thy cause, or of thine own weakness, answer him, and let it be an answer ad hominem—to the man; beat him at his own weapons, and that will be an answer ad rem—to the point, or as good as one. If he offer anything that looks like an argument, answer that, and suit thine answer to his case. If he think, because thou dost not answer him, that what he says is unanswerable, then give him an answer, lest he be wise in his own conceit, and boast of a victory. For (Luke vii, 35.) Wisdom’s children must justify her.” BENEFIT your friends that they may love you still more dearly; benefit your enemies that they may become your friends. “Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between him and thee alone; if he shall hear thee, then thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear thee, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.”
CONTENTIONS among Christians, tend exceedingly to set the world against the Gospel; and as they must arise in this present state, among persons who are sanctified only in part, and who are liable both to give cause for anger, and to be angry without cause themselves, our Lord prescribed some rules for stopping the progress, and preventing the consequences of them, which could seldom fail of being effectual, if honestly and exactly followed. In case a man should be injured by a brother, a professed Christian, he ought not to go and complain of it to others, (as is commonly done, perhaps upon rumor,) thus inflaming his own resentment, and wounding his neighbor’s reputation; but he ought to go privately, and in a gentle, yet plain and convincing manner, to state the matter, and shew him the injustice and unreasonableness of his conduct. If this produces the proper effect, (as it generally will with a true Christian,) and he sees and acknowledges his fault, then the offending brother is won over, gained and recovered from the tempter; and instead of an open breach, a cordial reconciliation takes place, and love is continued, nay increased. But if the private application fail of success, and the offender persist in his injury, and refuse reasonable terms of agreement, the offended party is next ordered to take with him one or two other Christian friends, who may hear and bear witness to the facts which are alleged, and the terms of accommodation proposed, that they may be reported to the church on more unexceptionable testimony. And if these witnesses determine the person to be faulty, and approve of the concession required; and he refuse to hearken to them, and persist in his injury, it will then be necessary to declare the matter more openly, not to the world, but to the church; i. e., to the ministers and disciples of Christ, that the injurious party may be solemnly censured and reproved by them. And if he still refuse to submit, he ought thenceforth to be considered as a heathen man and a publican, and should be shunned by all pious Christians, that he may be ashamed, and excluded from their communion, till he give tokens of repentance.—Scott’s Notes. How careful should all Christians be, to preserve the peace as well as the purity of the church! Alas! many deem themselves injured, when in reality they have no cause to complain; and others have recourse to slander and litigation, and almost every other expedient, instead of trying the method which Christ enjoined upon all his disciples; and few in any place have uniformly followed the directions of our common Lord. Various corrupt maxims, customs, and reserves, prevent men from speaking privately to their offending brethren, and from referring their disputes to the arbitration of pious Christians; hence jealousies, resentments, contentions, and frivolous lawsuits, among professors of the gospel; and hence mutual criminations, and appeals in print to the world against each other, to the scandal of religion, and the insulting triumphs of its enemies! Surely we ought not to harbor so injurious an opinion of a professed Christian, as to think that he would not endure to be mildly expostulated with, when he had evidently done wrong! Surely we should prefer gaining, recovering, and conciliating our offending brother, to obtaining a victory over him, or exposing his character! And certainly he who has done injustice, and will not be induced to make moderate concessions and amendments, by private expostulations, or by the united judgment of Christians and ministers, has no right to be treated as a believer, till he repent, and “do works meet for repentance.” Harsher means should never be adopted, till milder have been tried without success.—Scott’s Practical Observations. WHERE IS TRUTH?—Bishop Bedell tells of a monk once preaching on “What is Truth?” who, after a great deal of discussion, cautiously drew from his pocket a copy of the New Testament, and said: “This only shall I say: I have found truth at last within the leaves of this book; but,” said he, placing it quietly in his pocket, “it is prohibited.” THE EXPECTED STAR SHOWER OF NOV.
By W. B. HERRON
Would you like to see a great shower of falling stars, such as that wonderful “rain of fire” which astonished and alarmed the world in 1833? Be on the look-out, then, on the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th of November, 1867. Another great shower is expected about that time, and, if it comes, you will be very sorry not to have seen it. It will be well to watch also on the night previous, as it is possible that the greatest display may occur then, instead of the 13th. That these great star showers are periodic, is placed beyond a question, by their regular recurrence on certain dates and at certain intervals. Of the four great November showers, falling like rain in a rain-storm, in the lifetime of the present generation, and since the darkening of the sun in 1780, two of them, which were visible only from the eastern continent, occurred,—the first on the 13th of Nov., 1832; and the second on the 14th of Nov., 1866—just thirty-four years and one day apart. The two which were seen in America occurred,—the first on the 12th of Nov., 1799; and the second on the 13th of Nov. 1833; and these also were just thirty-four years and one day apart, and all occurred on the nights of the 12th-14th of November. There is therefore much reason to look for a third grand shower in America at the end of another period of thirty-four years and one day,—that is, on the night of Nov. 13th—14th, 1867, or thereabout. And, as the great shower of 1832, which was seen only on the eastern continent, was followed the next year, 1833, by a greater one in America, so the grand shower of 1866 on the eastern continent, may be followed by a grander one in America in 1867. Thirty years ago, Dr. Olbers, the great German astronomer, who first drew attention to the periodicity of these showers, said:—“Perhaps the inhabitants of the earth must wait till 1867 before they see the wonderful phenomenon again in all its splendor, as in 1799 and 1833.” And not a few of the astronomers of Europe are looking to the 13th of Nov., 1867, with the same expectation. But if the display shall be visible only in the western hemisphere, as we think it may, the European star-gazers will be disappointed in the same manner as the star-gazers in America were last year. A few days will determine. Watch for it, dear reader, if you would behold one of the grandest of celestial phenomena, and one of the foretold “signs” by which we are to know that the coming of the Lord and “the end of the world” is drawing near. W. B. HERRON.
Boston, Mass. SECRET ORDERS.
By Pres. Blanchard
The general revival and almost universal popularity of the Secret Orders in this country, is undoubtedly one of the worst features and most dangerous symptoms of this age. You and I can remember the time when by the mere force of popular discussion, the lodge had become so unpopular, that a man who values his credit among his neighbors would as soon have been caught with a stolen sheep on his shoulder as with a masonic apron on his person. And we know, also, for we have stood by as witnesses, that this state of the popular mind has been reversed, and the dark orders rise everywhere. “Hang out these banners on the outer wall,” by no one right motive, truth, or reason addressed to the popular mind! No mass meeting has been called to reconsider the claims and do justice to the merits of the suppressed Lodges. No popular appeal, no public debates, such as everywhere attended and caused the revolution of the popular mind against Slavery, as also against Popery in Luther’s days, and indeed every good cause which has prevailed since man was placed on earth! nothing of all these. But the Lodges have crept back into our towns and villages like the brothels which are the Scriptural symbols of all spurious rites and worship; by night, by silence, by secrecy, by hints, by innuendoes, by lures addressed to lusts, and not by arguments addressed to the understanding. The only semblance of argument I have heard, and which has ventured to stand out and challenge our scrutiny, has been that “our poor soldiers were safer, and surer of favors, if taken prisoners in our late war, for being Masons.” And yet with harlot facility of affirming and denying the same thing in the same breath, the same persons who justify our soldiers in lodge joining, with the hope of favors from traitors and rebels, will spurn the idea that loyal Masons would show favor to rebel Masons to the injury of the country! Whereas, as a rule, the rebels were far more in earnest in their treason than our men were in their loyalty. So, either the lure of hopes for protection and favor from rebel lodge-men was a swindling falsehood used to fill the lodges with our troops, or the same powerful cause which could change traitors into friends to loyal soldiers must have made loyal men friends to traitors and so protected Lee’s house; guarded rebel property; turned our troops into rebel sentinels over houses whose inmates shot them like dogs while they were doing dog-service for them; nay, the same secret power has been, and, as Thaddeus Stevens intimated, is still mighty enough to shield Andrew Johnson from impeachment and Jefferson Davis from the gallows! As a Christian, I have little to do with these things but to mourn over the crime, treason and danger which they imply. Still, as Christians, we shut not our eyes to what is going on in the world around us. My dear brother, surely these are the last days, and “When God resolves to scourge a nation’s sins,
’Tis in the church the leprosy begins.” Be it ours to follow Christ in his cleansing of his temple. The mightiest power on earth to manage mind is to-day, and ever has been, sham solemn rites, debauching conscience with spurious, solemn obligations, which, excluding Christ, really belong to the god of this world who is Satan! My dear brother, some earnest Christians in these parts are moving for a convention to call our nation to prayer that this dark incubus may be shaken off from the churches of Christ. Cannot such a national Convention be held? Yours very respectfully, in Christ, and for a pure Christianity.—Pres. Blanchard in Earnest Christian. Still do they linger—these slow-treading ages,
How long must we still bear their cold delay?
Streak after streak the glowing dawn presages;
And yet it breaks not—the expected day! Each passing year with prophet lip has spoken,
“Prepare your praises, Earth awake and sing!”
But yet yon dome of blue remains unbroken;
No tidings yet of the descending King! Darkness, still darkness;—nearer and yet nearer
The lightning gleams, the sea’s scorched billows moan;
And the sere leaf of earth is growing serer;—
Creation droops and leaves a bitter groan. O storm and earthquake,—wind and warning thunder,
Your hour is coming;—one wild outburst more.
One other day of war, and wreck, and plunder,
And then—your desolating reign is o’er. These plains are not your battle-fields forever;
The glassy deep was never made for you;
These mountains were not made for you to shiver;
These buds were not for your rude hand to strew! Flee! and give back to earth its verdant gladness,
The unsoiled freshness of its balmy dew!
Take hence your sackcloth with its gloomy sadness,
And let the wrinkled skies their youth renew! Give back that day of days—the seventh, and fairest,—
When, like a gem new-set, earth flung afar
Her glory,—of creation’s gems the rarest,—
Sparkling in beauty to each kindred star! Come back! thou holy love—so rudely banished,
When evil came, and hate, and fear, and wrong!
Return thou joyous light,—so quickly vanished—
Revive, thou life that death has quenched so long! Re-fix—re-knit the chain so harshly broken,
That bound our lower orb to your bright heavens;—
Hang out on high the long-desired token—
The sign of earth renewed and man forgiven! Withdraw the vail that has for ages hidden
That world of brightness from our lower sphere!
Renew the fellowship so long forbidden!—
O God! Thyself take up thy dwelling here!—Sol. DIED POOR.
By T. S. Arthur
“It was a sad funeral to me,” said the speaker, “the saddest I have attended for years.” “Poor, poor as poverty; his life was one long struggle with the world, and at every disadvantage. Fortune mocked him all the while with golden promises that were destined to never know fulfillment.” “Yet he was patient and enduring,” remarked one of the company. “Patient as a Christian—enduring as a martyr,” was answered. “Poor man! He was worthy of a better fate. He ought to have succeeded, for he deserved success.” “Did he not succeed?” questioned the one who had spoken of his perseverance and endurance. “No, sir; he died poor, as I have just said. Nothing that he put his hand to ever succeeded. A strange fatality seemed to attend every enterprise.” “I was with him in his last moments,” said the other, “and thought he died rich.” “No, he has left nothing behind,” was replied. “The heirs will have no concern for the administration of the estate.” “He has left a good name,” said one, “and that is something.” “And a legacy of good deeds, that were done in the name of humanity,” remarked another. “And precious examples,” said another. “Lessons of patience in suffering; of hope in adversity; of heavenly confidence when no sunbeams fell upon his bewildered path,” was the testimony of another. “And high trust, manly courage, heroic fortitude.” “Then he died rich!” was the emphatic declaration; “richer than the millionaire, who went to his long home the same day, a miserable pauper in all but gold. A sad funeral, did you say? No, my friend, it was rather a triumphal procession! Did he not succeed? Why, his whole life was a series of successes. In every conflict he came off victor, and now the victor’s crown awaits him. Any grasping, selfish soul may gather in money, and learn the art of keeping it; but not one in a hundred can bravely conquer in the battle of life, as Edmonson has conquered, and step forth from the ranks of men a Christian hero. No, no; he did not die poor, but rich—rich in neighborly love, and rich in celestial affections. And his heirs have an interest in the administration of the estate. A large property has been left, and let them see to it that they do not lose the precious things through false estimate and ignorant depreciation.” “You have a new way of estimating the wealth of a man,” said the one who had at first expressed sympathy for the deceased. “Is it not the right way? There are higher things to gain in this world than wealth that perishes; riches of priceless value, that ever reward the true merchant who trades for wisdom, buying it with the silver of truth and the gold of love. He dies rich who can take his treasures with him to the new land where he is to abide forever; and he who has to leave all behind on which he has placed affection, dies poor indeed. Our friend died richer than a Girard or an Astor; his monument is built of good deeds and noble examples. It will abide forever.”—T. S. Arthur. HAPPINESS is a state of discipline, and is only to be found in any considerable degree of purity and permanency (without which qualities it is unworthy of the name) in a regulated and harmonious mind, where religion is the charioteer, and reins, and guides, and moderates the mental courses in the great journey of life with a firm and masterly hand. Prophecy is History in Advance. DR. NELSON'S VIEW OF THE ADVENT.
SEVENTEEN hundred years since, infidel writers were quibbling concerning the facts of history which had taken place, and which belonged to Daniel's prophecy. These particulars seemed to give unbelievers pain, and they endeavored to avoid the truthful inference by saying, that the prophecy must have been written later than the time of Nebuchadnezzar. What will those do who live so many centuries after this plea was first urged? What will they do with that part of the prediction which has been fulfilled during the last fifteen hundred years? LIST OF HISTORIC ITEMS MENTIONED BY THE PROPHET IN THIS CHAPTER AS TAKING PLACE BETWEEN HIS DAY AND THE PRESENT TIME. 1. The dominion was taken from the Chaldeans, or the lion, and given to the Medes and Persians, or to the bear. 2. The conquests of the Medo-Persian empire were achieved in one direction, that is westwardly. The bear, it is said, “raised up itself on one side.” 3. The bear, it is said, had “three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it.” The Persians conquered the kingdoms of Babylon, of Lydia, and of Egypt. They oppressed them and devoured their revenues and their good things, as a ravenous beast does its prey. 4. The dominion was to be taken from the bear and given to another, the leopard. The Grecians conquered the Persians. 5. Alexander was said to conquer faster than others could march. His victories resembled an army flying through a nation, rather than encamping against it. The leopard had four wings on its back, representing the unusual rapidity with which the Macedonian dominion would be set up. 6. This beast had four heads. When Alexander died in his drunken revels at Babylon, his kingdom did not descend to his son, or to one or two of his officers; if so, this beast would have had one or two heads; but it was parted between four of his generals, and these four heads had dominion until the fourth beast was grown. 7. The fourth beast, the nameless beast, was to take dominion from the four-headed leopard, devouring and breaking in pieces. 8. This power, the Roman, was to be diverse from all the beasts before it. This is so strikingly understood by all who read only the alphabet of history, that I need not name the instances of dissimilarity. 9. That which this beast could not devour, it was to stamp with his feet. This has already been noticed. 10. It was to be divided into ten kingdoms, represented by the ten horns. 11. This division into ten was to take place exclusive of the Chaldean, Persian, and Macedonian territories; for these beasts, after losing dominion, were still to exist for a season and a time. 12. There was to come up among the ten a little horn, the eleventh horn. 13. This little horn was to pluck up three others by the roots. The bishop of Rome took hold on three kingdoms, denoted by his triple crown which he wears, and has kept them ever since. He did not take hold on four small kingdoms, for that would have been to pluck up four horns by the root. 14. This little horn was to be watchful, sagacious, and cunning. Every page of his history explains this. 15. High-sounding threats, great, swelling words, a mouth speaking great things, a look more stout than his fellows, etc., were to be his characteristics. Whoever will read but half a volume of European history since the pope wore the triple crown, will be at no loss respecting the great words against the Most High. 16. He was to be diverse from the first kings. He was a clerical officer. 17. He was to “wear out the saints of the Most High.” If we but knew how many hundred thousand he put to death, of the most humble-walking and holy-living people on earth, a work that did not cease for more than a thousand years, we should say that he certainly did wear out the saints of the Most High, if such a thing has ever occurred since the gospel was preached. 18. He was to “think to change times and laws.” “Hath not the papal power arrogated the prerogative of making times holy or unholy, contrary to the word of God! He hath commanded men everywhere to abstain from meat and cease from work, when God required no such thing, and has multiplied his holy days, till scarcely four of the six working days have been left for man's labor. At the same time he hath licensed intemperance and excess on his festivals and carnivals, and authorized licentious diversions on the Lord's own holy day. He hath pretended to change God's laws, or to dispense with obedience to them, that his own new laws might be observed; forbidding to marry, and licensing fornication, and many things of this sort.”—Scott. He has indeed thought to change times and laws, as no one else ever did. 19. His career was to continue for twelve hundred and sixty years—for one thousand two hundred and threescore days; for a time and times and the dividing of time; for forty and two months. Many praying people think the judgment is now sitting, or about to sit. 20. The last item is yet to take place. It is to come to pass hereafter. “One like the Son of Man,” yea, one who was once born one of the sons of men, will take possession of the whole earth. His kingdom will never be overturned. The greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to people of the saints of the Most High. The prophet having been very accurate in the first nineteen particulars, and in others not noticed, I, for my part, can credit him for the twentieth. He who can see a train of events so plainly as to picture the outlines of twenty-three centuries, can, with the same assistance, see a century further. The Lord will reign; let the earth rejoice. Who will not clap their hands? If men did not love darkness rather than light, no one would ever have supposed, that for many long centuries prediction and subsequent facts happened to fit each other. We may safely say to these worshippers of chance, “My dear friend, according to the same kind of casualty which you have been naming, God will happen to burn up the world, and it will chance that you will be called before his judgment throne, and there examined severely concerning your present conduct toward a bleeding Saviour.” “He that contemneth small things shall fall by little and little.” Ecclesiasticus xix, 1. Although this is not the declaration of an inspired writer, yet it is certainly the language of wisdom and experience, and is well worthy attentive consideration. If it had been asserted that he that despiseth small things shall fall suddenly and immediately, it might have been considered a more formidable threat. But in fact, the peril of a person of the disposition here described, is greatly increased by the gradual nature of his decline. No danger is greater than that which approaches us by imperceptible steps; since we are not then likely to place ourselves in the posture of defense. Thus, if all the ill consequences of a bad habit were experienced at the very commencement of it, there is scarcely any one so weak or so indulgent, but would summon strength of mind enough to break it off at the outset. Could a person but glance at the future extent and the massive strength of that chain which he is forming for himself, link by link, in every indulgence of an evil habit, he would instantly snap it asunder. But neither seeing this, nor believing the testimony made by the universal experience of others, he proceeds despising such small things, till his fall is inevitable and great. Temptation in its earlier approaches, is comparatively weak; and a slight effort, a trifling sacrifice, would then be sufficient to overcome it. This is the time, the happy, the favorable opportunity; and he who sees the importance, or (if we might be allowed the expression) the magnitude of small things, will then conquer. With what keen remorse have such seasons been looked back upon by elderly persons now bound down by “twice ten thousand chains,” who lament in hardened impotence, that, when it would have been easy, when a trifling act of self denial, when a momentary deference to principle and conscience would have sufficed, they despised the small transgression and thus commenced their gradual but certain thraldom. Observe this most affecting and lamentable sight, an old person in the slavery of sin; and inquire how he became so hopelessly enthralled; and he must confess it was by little and little. The declension was so gradual, that it is only by looking back to what he was, that he can tell how far he has fallen. There was a time when he possessed sensibility, when he dreaded vice; when he felt a respect for moral excellence, and even desired to possess it. But despising small things, whether good or evil, he neglected those early movements of his mind toward goodness, as well as his trifling deviations from it, and thus became what he is. It is very possible that persons of feeble characters, and possessed of no new strength or energy of mind, may under the influence of sudden excitement, make a noble sacrifice or resist a forcible temptation; but as it has been often remarked, greatness of mind is apparent on little rather than on great occasions. True magnanimity considers no duty too small to be punctually and properly discharged, no indulgence so trivial that it may be indolently yielded to. In the management of the temper, on which our own comfort, as well as that of all around us, so much depends, nothing effective will be done but by a watchful attention to little things. The temper is oftener ruffled by slight provocations than by great and serious injuries. Now if because they are slight we think it not worth while to resist them; if we suffer a cloud to pass over the brow on every such occasion, the result will be, (for such occasions are of daily occurrence) that by little these clouds will gather and rest there. A morose or a fretful temper will be fixed upon us; and all power of self government will be lost. If on the contrary, a resolute determination had been made, at first, not to yield to these small and frequent invitations, this effort, continued day after day, would soon have strengthened into a good habit; rendering it not only pleasant but easy, ever after, to exercise forbearance, and to give the “soft answer that turneth away wrath.” It is in small things that brotherly kindness and charity chiefly consist. Little attentions; trifling, but perpetual acts of self denial, a minute consultation of the wants and wishes, tastes and tempers of others; an imperceptible delicacy in avoiding what will give pain;—these are the small things that diffuse peace and love wherever they are exercised, and which outweigh a thousand acts of showy heroism. That which requires the greatest effort is the greatest charity; and it is beyond comparison a greater exertion to keep a daily and hourly watch and restraint upon ourselves for the sake of others, than to summon our whole stock of forbearance or benevolence once or twice in our lives, in order to perform some deeds of munificence, or to forgive a great injury. “Take up your cross daily,” our Lord says,—it is but a light one, indeed, but shall we on that account despise it? The truth of the assertion contained in these words, might be illustrated in a great variety of instances. It is applicable, indeed, to all the evil courses and inveterate habits of wickedness and profaneness that disgrace society. Habits of profusion are commonly formed by thinking little of small indulgences, of trifling, but needless expenses. More fortunes have been squandered, by little and little, than by large and extravagant sums;—the aggregate of such expenses at the year’s end, or at seven years’ end, would surprise and alarm many a sanguine and uncalculating335spendthrift. Nor is it less true, that a covetous and miserly temper is formed by the same gradual process; by petty savings and little acts of meanness. But that fall, which is at once the most frequent, and the most lamentable, is from the restraints of a religious education. This is a gradual and insensible decline generally. A young person who has been trained to the habit of private prayer is, on some occasion, tempted to omit it, it is but a small thing, he thinks to pass it but once; but another occasion, still more pressing, soon presents itself. The conscience, slightly as it was wounded in the first place, puts in a still feebler remonstrance now; and every time it occurs in future, its voice will become less distinct. In the mean time other religious duties will be neglected in the same proportion. Thus, by little and little, the conscience becomes insensible, till the individual has fallen so far as to live without calling upon God, and to forget the value of the soul. And all this chiefly arises from the delusion of supposing that the little temptation, to which we yield to-day, we shall have more strength or more willingness, to resist to-morrow, a supposition which is directly the reverse of the truth, and contrary to universal observation and experience. There can be no appearance more hopeful and promising in childhood and youth than a tenderness of conscience respecting small things! A child who is never inclined to plead excuses for what is known to be wrong, by saying, “Is it not a little one?” who resists an improper thought, forbids a hasty word, who fears the slightest deviation from the truth, bids fair to rise, by gradual, but certain steps, to true excellence. But whatever may be our view of the subject, it is certain that God does not, in any sense, contemn small things. He looks at motives more than at actions; at thoughts more than at words; and by these we shall be judged. And let us be thankful that “He does not despise the day of small things;”—the bruised reed, the smoking flax, the grain of mustard seed, the little leaven;—over these small beginnings he watches with patient and gracious care, till, by little and little they attain to perfection.—Contributions of 22, by the late Jane Taylor.