(Prov. xxvii. 5, 6;) by establishing each other in the truth; by conversation, exhortation, and stirring up one another to the several duties of religion, both public and private.-(Jude 20, 21. Heb. x. 24, 25.)

Many instances of this brotherly kindness are mentioned in Scripture. The most prominent of these are David and Jonathan, Paul and Timothy, our Lord, Lazarus and John. No bond of union can be stronger than this, and none so productive of unalloyed happiness. How great is the enjoyment of that church, where the hearts of all are knit together in love! Such a church is a miniature of heaven. It realizes that there is a peace which passeth knowledge and understanding, a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. The prayer of one is the prayer of all, and the interest of one the interest of all. Their souls mingle together like drops of water; they are linked in their feelings, linked in their hopes, linked in their interests. Constitutional peculiarities are forgotten; everything harsh or discordant is mellowed down; all "irregularities and angles sleep in the shadow." The slightest thoughts of each other are penetrated, and their faintest desires forestalled. Sacrifice is a pleasure, labor a privilege, and devotion the highest bliss. A holy charm and sweetness are spread over the occupations of life, and all its social diversions. These feelings, being heaven-born, are permanent. Seasons may roll away, the affairs of life may change, and fortune may frown-still the bond of union will remain unbroken; for it embraces the poor and the humble, as well as the rich and exalted; and knows nothing of titles, honors, or worldly dis

tinctions. If there be an elysium on earth, it is this union—this reciprocity of spirit-this oneness of soul. Nothing wakes up a holier feeling, or thrills more delightfully through the heart. "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"

VII. LOVE TO ALL MEN.

If," said the Savior, " ye love those that love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans so?" To love those who are kind to us, or who belong to our party, is an ordinary virtue, compared with love to all men; and yet, this higher virtue is seldom urged in many pulpits. But no man comes up to the mark of duty, who does not labor to produce this love in the hearts of his people; and no man can be a Christian unless his heart is warmed by it. I care not what he may believe; how strict may be his observance of the Sabbath and his attendance upon public worship; how many may be his prayers; how sad his countenance, or liberal his gifts to the church; if he does not love all men, he is no Christian; he is a mere heathen in his feelings, and a stranger to the pure spirit of Christ. Did not Jesus love all, and die for all? Did he not invite all to the waters of everlasting life? Did he wrong any for entertaining erroneous opinions? Did he persecute those not of his nation or religion?

men.

In nothing do pretended Christians come so far short of true religion as in regard to loving all Look at facts. How often do Christians go forth to war, for the purpose of obtaining land and wealth, when the principle upon which they

act is equally as wrong as for me to murder a family, in order to obtain their possessions ?

Oppression is as wrong as war, and as incompatible with the spirit of Christ; and yet in how many ways do professed Christians oppress. Masters oppress their servants; parents oppress their children; the rich oppress the poor; the employer oppresses the employed; rulers oppress their subjects; slaveholders oppress the enslaved; strong Christian sects oppress those which are weak. But every form of oppression is wrong, and a sin against God.

Fraud is also wrong. There is much of this in the world. The man who cheats by a false weight or measure, defrauds; and so does he who deceives you with regard to the quality of any article of merchandise.

There are many

Persecution is also wrong. ways to persecute. Those thrown into prison for their faith, or loaded with irons, or banished from their country, or stript of their property, or denied their rights, are persecuted. So are those whose characters and views are misrepresented, who are assailed by the tongue of scandal and abuse, or who are sought to be put down by the agency of prejudice and unfairness. Who, then, you will ask, are Christians? I answer, Certainly not those engaged in imprisoning and destroying their brethren of a different creed; not those who go about defaming their brethren of other sects; not those who employ and countenance such public defamers. As well might you say, the inquisitors themselves were Christians, as such cruel persecutors. Does not God say, Speak evil of no man? This, to be sure, does not prohibit officers

of justice from condemning the evil, nor ministers of the word from reproving the wicked; nor private persons from reproving those who commit sin; but it does forbid all false representations of others, and all attacks upon private or public character. Such speaking is opposed to the whole tenor of the Gospel, expressly condemned as an abomination, and threatened with a terrible punishment. It is proof of a most depraved heart; for who but the depraved could stoop to a work so mean, detestable and pernicious? And yet, this evil-speaking constitutes much of the opposition which liberal Christians have to encounter. Many who claim to have all the piety of the age, and hold themselves up as the only true lights shining in the world, are, 1. Constantly "charging others with facts they are not guilty of. 2. Affixing scandalous names and odious characters which they deserve not. 3. Aspersing a man's actions with foul names, importing that they proceed from evil principles, or tend to bad ends, when it doth not or cannot appear. 4. Perverting a man's words or acts disadvantageously by affected misconstruction. 5. Partial or lame representation of men's discourse or practice, suppressing some part of the truth, or concealing some circumstances which ought to be explained. 6. Instilling sly suggestions which create prejudice in the hearers. 7. Magnifying and aggravating the faults of others. 8. Imputing to our neighbor's practice, judgment, or profession, evil consequences which have no foundation in truth."

Now, is this loving all men? Is this living up to the golden rule? What is the difference between such slander and the false reports which

are circulated respecting those who make no pretension to faith and piety? Does the circumstance that a man is engaged in promoting error, justify any in assailing him with slander? Surely a good end cannot justify the use of unholy means. Besides, if we have true love for all men, how can we slander any? Those who slander their neighbor hate him, and wish his injury. I care not how great may be their pretensions to piety. All their prating about religion, and truth, and God, does not shield them from the imputation of being vile slanderers, who have put on the cloak of godliness the better to accomplish their selfish ends. "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also."-(1 John iv. 20, 21.) Many, I know, are disposed to reverence as godly the man who wears a long face, makes loud prayers, and bitterly denounces all who do not adopt his creed, even though he wrongs the widow, defrauds the orphan, filches the hard earnings of the poor, and vilely misrepresents his brethren of other sects. But such a man is as far from the kingdom of God as the profane, the Sabbath breaker and the worldling. Those only are Christians who love all men, and treat all as brethren. We must love all of every color, all of every nation, all of every character, or we are not disciples of him who gave himself a ransom for all men. We must love our fellow-beings as men, irrespective of creed or country; love them not because of our party, but because they are our