wherever he may be, whatever the color of his skin, or the circumstances of his earthly lot.

"Thy neighbor? It is he whom thou
Hast power to aid and bless ;

Whose aching head or burning brow
Thy soothing hand may press.

Thy neighbor? 'Tis the fainting poor
Whose life with want is dim,

Whom hunger sends from door to door :-
Go thou and succour him.

Thy neighbor? 'Tis that weary man
Whose years are at their brim,

Bent low with sickness, care, and pain:
Go thou and comfort him.

Thy neighbor? 'Tis that heart bereft
Of every earthly gem;

Widow and orphan helpless left :

Go thou and shelter them.

Thy neighbor? yonder toiling slave,
Fettered in thought and limb,

:

Whene'er thou meet'st a human form

Less favored than thine own,

Remember 'tis thy neighbor worm,

Thy brother, or thy son.

O pass not heedless, pass not on;

Perhaps thou canst redeem

The breaking heart from misery :-
Go share thy lot with him."

This neighbor, Christ says, thou shalt love as thyself. How dost thou love thyself? With no mere sentimental affection. It is a veritable practical power, this love for thyself, urging thee every hour to work thy planning brain and dexterous hand. How dost thou love thyself? With no mean affection. It is with a passion strong as death. Love thy neighbor ;-love him so that thou canst put thyself into his position, feel his woes, and appreciate his claims, and honor

his worth. Love him so as thou wouldest have him love thee in return.

In this answer of Christ we have :

II. THE MORAL SUBSTANCE OF DIVINE REVELATION. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." This is the vital stamina of the whole many branched tree of revelation. "This is the old commandment, this also is the new." "A new commandment also I give unto you that ye love one another, as I have loved you." John xiii. 34, 35. "This commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also." 1 John, iv. 24. "He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." Rom. xiii. 9. "The end of the commandment is charity." 1 Titus, i. 5. fruit of the spirit is love." Gal. v. 22. not, knoweth not God, for God is love." 1 John, iv. 8; John xv. 12, 13, 17; 2 Thess. i. 3; 1 Thess. iii. 12, 13; Rom. xii. 10; Gal. v. 14; 1 John, ii. 9, 10; 1 Cor. xiv. 1; Col. i. 3, 4; Eph. i. 15; 1 Titus, vi. 11; Eph. v. 2; Titus ii. 22; 1 Peter, ii. 17; 1 Peter, iv. 8; Phil. i. 9. out love we are nothing." 1 Cor. xiii.

"The

"He that loveth

"With

Such passages as these, which are thickly scattered through every part of the Bible, abundantly show the truth of our position, that this commandment is the moral substance of the Bible; that "on it hang all the law and the prophets." If this be so, three things follow.

First: That we have an infallible rule by which to interpret all scripture. There is much in the law and the prophets, aye, and the apostles too, difficult to understand;much that appears even contradictory. Whatever meaning we put upon any passage, if it clash with the principle that man is to love his Maker supremely and his neighbor as himself, it is not true, not divine. It follows:

Secondly: We have a text by which to determine the worth of all theologies. The theologies that give such views of God as are not calculated to evoke and strengthen this supreme affection towards Him, and such selfish views of human

nature as are unsuited to awaken in man love towards his brother, whoever their authors and whatever their prestige, are the worthless and pernicious dreams of the human brain, not the inspirations of God. Theology is only of service as it acts as the handmaid to morality, as it illustrates, brings forth and enthrones, the eternal principles of virtue in the human soul. The ideas of the brain, however brilliant, serve us not, unless they act as the genial beams of heaven upon the moral heart, quickening the affections into supreme sympathy with the supremely good. The curse of Christendom

has been that men have put theology in the wrong place ;made it the sovereign when it should have been the servant. Hence in its name virtue has been trampled in the dust, and every principle of morality has been outraged. It follows:

Thirdly We have a criterion by which to test the character of our religion. By it we can test the worth of our religion as a nation as well as individuals. We call ourselves a Christian nation, yet does our national character correspond with these commandments upon which all the law and the prophets do hang? Do our commercial dishonesties, our social oppressions, our political animosities, our sectarian bickering, our passion for soldiering, our readiness to raise the successful butchers of our kind into heroes and set them on pedestals, harmonize with these commandments on which all the law and the prophets do hang? No! verily no! "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

One thought in conclusion, and that is the unexampled wisdom of Christ as a legislator. No one can rule humanity that cannot rightly legislate for its love,-rule its love; for love is its fontal force. The whole history of our race is traceable to love ;-good or bad, according to the objects and measure of its love. Political legislators fail because their

laws can never reach this; ancient moralists, because their precepts reached no deeper than the brain. Christ touches the heart, cleanses the fountains of feeling, and sets the springs of life to right. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

Germs of Thought.

SUBJECT:-Reasoning with God.

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."—Isa. i. 18.

Analysis of Homily the Five Hundred and Thirty-second.

THE context reminds us of three undebatable, profoundly significant, and vitally important, facts. First: That corruptest men may be pre-eminently active in the external services of religion. This chapter teaches us that the Jewish nation at this time was terribly corrupt. It was "laden with iniquity," &c. (4th verse.) Morally the "whole head was sick and the whole heart faint; from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it.” (5th and 6th verses.) Notwithstanding this, they were externally active in religion. They had "their multitude of sacrifices, their burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts," &c. (11th and 12th verses.) It often happens that religious services are in the inverse ratio of true religious life. Perhaps none of the apostles were more externally active than Judas. His hand was on the table and in the dish at the last supper. There is a deal of hand religion where there is the deepest moral corruption. The context reminds us :-Secondly: That no religious service, however costly in value or abundant in amount, can be acceptable to God without purity of soul. "Who hath required this at your hand to tread my courts?” &c. No; mere outward services are an abomination to Him. The strongest language is here employed to express God's

abhorrence of such service. (13th to 15th verses.) Thirdly : That for the production of this purity of soul, He invites depraved humanity to a conference with Himself. "Come now, and let us reason together," &c. In dealing with humanity here, He does not sit upon a throne of justice; otherwise His words would be, Give an account of your stewardship;" but He is on a throne of grace,-He is "waiting to be gracious." From this wonderful passage we infer :

I. THAT MAN, THOUGH DEPRAVED, HAS STILL A FACULTY TO REASON WITH GOD. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord;"-language which implies the existence of a power in man to reason with his Maker. Three remarks seem necessary under this head. First: This power exists as an unquestionable fact. It is a fact, (1) Involved in the existence of a revelation. Would Infinite Reason appeal to us unless we had the power of appreciation? It is a fact, (2) Implied in the considerations addressed to our reason. The Bible abounds in considerations addressed to us, as to the wisdom and the folly, the right and the wrong, of our conduct. The prophets reasoned with men, Christ reasoned with men, the apostles reasoned with men, in the name of heaven. The fact, (3) Is attested by the universal consciousness of humanity. Even "the poor Indian, whose untutored mind sees God in clouds, and hears him in the wind," feels some of the thoughts of God. It is the reflection of God's thoughts upon the guilty conscience that produces all real remorse and misery.

“The keen vibration of bright truth is hell.”

Secondly: This power exists as the chief glory of human nature. What is the chief glory of human nature in itself considered? Not its faculties of contrivance and logical investigation, as you see them developed in the arts and sciences; not the fact that it is to live for ever. Matter is indestructible, and for aught we know some of the tribes of