ON OUR DUTY TO NEIGHBOURS. Thy neighbour! It is he whom thou Oh, do not pass him heedless by: THE term neighbour in its highest sense inIcludes all to whom we have the power or opportunity of doing any good. We would, however, in the present lesson, take it in a more limited sense, and confine it to those who are situated near to us in point of locality. Let us not forget that the general principles which apply to our duty to our neighbour, in the more extended sense will apply to those to whom we particularly refer. We are brought, in contemplating this duty, to that perfect picture and mirror of Christian life and duty towards our brethren which St. Paul gives us when he tells us that love or charity is the greatest of all virtues. And a greater than St. Paul has said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' How do we love ourselves? Surely with no mere sentimental affection, with no mean affection, but with a passion strong as death. Now, we are by this command to love our neighbour so that we can put ourselves in his place, appreciate his claims, honour his worth, and feel his woes. We are to love him as we would have him love us in return. The difficulty of acting our part as good neighbours varies according to circumstances, station, attainments, and respective dispositions; and even supposing that with our best efforts we cannot discover any source of interest in a neighbour's family, there will always be a blessing attending the effort to do what is kind, to exercise goodwill-a blessing which always attends every effort to do our duty. While we are ever ready to exercise self-denial and charity towards our neighbours, we should ever remember that one of the great secrets of lasting enjoyment in our intercourse with them. is perfect sincerity. A false, flattering manner which glosses over a cold and shallow heart may win for a time, but it can only be for a time. True sincerity-giving others an entire credit for the same sincerity-can alone stand the test of years and the shock of casual events. Add to this a heartfelt kindness in all our words and actions. Unless there be in us a true Christian sympathy with the joys and sorrows of our neighbours, we fall very far short of what is our duty. In our intercourse with our neighbours, we must not be influenced by such worldly considerations as respect for general custom or the fashions which society dictates, in preference to the convictions of conscience. This is a temptation we must strenuously resist as hurtful to our moral character as well as theirs. THE GOOD SAMARITAN; OR, A NEIGHBOUR's HUMANITY. A certain person going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among thieves. Not content with robbing him of his treasure, they strip him of his garments, wound him with great barbarity, and leave him half dead. Soon after this calamitous accident, a traveller happens to come along that very road-one who taught others the lovely lessons of humanity and charity, and who was therefore under the strongest obligations to exemplify them in his own practice. He just glances an eye upon the deplorable object, but takes no further notice, and passes by on the other side. Scarcely was he departed, when a Levite approaches. This man comes nearer, and looks on the miserable spectacle, takes a leisurely and attentive survey of the case, and though every gash in the bleeding sufferer pleaded for compassion, he neither speaks a word to comfort nor moves a hand to help. Last of all comes a Samaritan, whom the Jews hated with the most implacable malignity. Though the Levite had neglected an expiring brother, though the priest had with held his pity, the very moment this Samaritan sees the unhappy sufferer he melts into commiseration. He springs from his horse, and, resolves to intermit his journey. The oil and wine intended for his own refreshment he freely gives. He binds up the wounds, sets the disabled stranger upon his own beast, and with all the tenderness of a brother conducts him to an inn. There he deposits money for his present use, charges the host to omit nothing that might conduce to the comfort of his guest, and promises to defray the whole expense of his maintenance and his cure. What a lively picture of the most disinterested and active benevolence! Could any method of conviction have been more forcible, and, at the same time, more pleasing than the interrogatory proposed by our Lord and deduced from the narrative? Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among thieves; or can there be an advice more suitable to the occasion, more important in its nature, or expressed with a more sententious energy, than that which is contained in these words, Go thou and do likewise'? In this case the learner instructs, and the delinquent condemns himself. Bigotry reproves its own prejudice, and even pride itself lends a willing ear to admonition. ON OUR DUTY TO THE SICK AND Small afflictions, like small debts, hit us in many places, and meet us at so many turns and corners, that what they want in weight they make up in number. The human countenance smiles on those who smile, and weeps with those who weep. Not being untutored in suffering, we learn to pity those in affliction. In the sacred Scriptures there is a constant inculcation of tender compassion for the indigent and afflicted. A practical sympathy with such persons was ever held forth by the Almighty in the Old Testament as the essence of acceptable worship, and in the New Testament our duties to the sick and afflicted are brought out with still greater frequency and force. What said Christ? 'When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: but thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.' The many forms in which suffering and affliction are found among men, are so numerous as to render it impossible here to describe them. The most pitiable forms in which they appear, perhaps, are found among those who are deprived of the use of any of their |