not fly. When I came home to dinner, one day, I learned that my next neighbour had been there, full of anger. The hens had gone into his garden, upon which he had killed several of them, and thrown them over into my compound.

I was greatly enraged that he should have killed my beautiful hens, that I valued so much. I determined at once to be revenged; to go to law with him, or in some way to get redress. I sat down and ate my dinner as calmly as I could. By the time I had finished my meal, I became more cool, and thought perhaps it was best not to fight with my neighbour about such a trifle, and thereby make him my bitter, lasting enemy. I concluded to try another way, being sure that it would be better. "After dinner, I called at my neighbour's house. He was in his garden. I went out, and found him in pursuit of one of my hens with a stick, trying to kill it. I accosted him. He turned on me, his face inflamed with wrath, and broke out in a great fury:--"You have injured me. I will kill all your hens, if I can get at them. They have ruined my garden.'

"I am very sorry for it,' said I. ' I did not wish to injure you, and I now see that I have made a great mistake in letting out my hens. I ask your forgiveness, and am willing to pay you six times the damage they have done you.'

"The man was confounded. He did not know what to think of it. He looked up at the sky-then down at the ground-then at his neighbour-then at his stick-then at the poor hen he had been pursuing; and then he said-nothing.

"Tell me now,' said I, 'what is the damage, and I will pay you six-fold; and my hens shall trouble you no more. I will leave it entirely to you to say what I shall do. I cannot afford to lose the love

and good-will of my neighbours, and to quarrel with them for hens or for anything else.'

"I am a great fool,' said my neighbour. The damage is not worth talking about; and I have the most need to compensate you, and ask your forgiveness.'

Quarrels between neighbours often originate in tale-bearing. Perhaps, in a moment of irritation, some severe remark is made about a neighbour. The person who hears it, instead of trying to make peace, repeats it, possibly with exaggeration, to him against whom it was spoken. The latter is tempted to retaliate. What he says is similarly conveyed to the original offender, and thus a long feud may be the result. Domestic servants are very ready, in supposed zeal for their masters, to heighten and distort what they hear. All such conduct should be frowned upon.

If you have any complaint against a neighbour, go and speak mildly to himself on the subject. Do not talk of it to a third person. Should you hear an illnatured remark about your neighbour, show that you dislike backbiting, but do not be a tale-bearer. If you cannot speak well of a neighbour, speak no ill of him. Silence is wisdom when speaking is folly.

We should show any acts of kindness to our neighbours that are in our power. A courteous salutation when we meet them, has an excellent effect. Even the children should be greeted with a smile. Without prying into the affairs of our neighbours, we should watch for opportunities of assisting them or giving them pleasure. We should rejoice in their prosperity. Especially should we be ready to comfort them in affliction. "Better is a neighbour that is at hand, than a brother that is afar off. Before relatives at a distance can come to

our help, it may be too late, while a friend on the spot may aid us at once.

The most important way in which we can benefit" our neighbours is to seek their moral and religious improvement. Here, example is the most effective mode of teaching. Show by your conduct what you would have them to be. It is possible, however, without obtrusive interference to speak in a friendly and gentle way to our neighbours about any evil habits they ought to guard against, or any virtues they ought to practise. Especially should we seek to turn them from the worship of dumb idols to that of the living God.

It is very possible you may not meet with the return from your neighbours which you think you deserve. We are all ready to make complaints of ingratitude, but this generally arises from our setting too high a value upon our own good deeds. Sometimes, when their kindness has met with a cold return, persons are tempted to say, "Well,, I will never do so much for any one again." We are not to do good for the sake of the thanks that it begets. It is, of course, pleasant to meet with gratitude; but we must beware of making this our first object. The command is not, "Thou shalt do good to thy neighbour, because thou wilt thus bring pleasure to thyself." Jesus Christ says, "Do good to them that hate you," "that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

At the same time, no act of kindness is ever in vain. Longfellow says:

"Affection never was wasted :

If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters returning

Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill them full of refresh.

ment;

That which the fountain sends forth, returns again to the fountain."

XVI. THE WOMEN OF INDIA.

"When we are seeking," says Gladstone, "to ascertain the measure of that conception which any given race has formed of our nature, there is, perhaps, no single test so effective as the position which it assigns to women. For, as the law of force is the law of the brute creation, so, in proportion as he is under the yoke of that law, does man approximate to the brute; and in proportion, on the other hand, as he has escaped from its dominion, is he ascending into the higher sphere of being, and claiming relationship with deity."

Among barbarous nations, woman is generally a mere drudge. The husband lives in idleness, while the wife toils to support the family. The other extreme is in highly civilized countries, where women are properly educated and treated with respect.

Women in India occupy a middle position. They are, in general, well fed, better clothed than the men, and as liberally supplied with jewels as the circumstances of their husbands permit. As a class, they have, in their own opinion, nothing to complain of, and they are perfectly satisfied. But this contentment arises from ignorance. There are several points connected with the treatment of women which urgently call for reform.

Female Education.

Ability to read is one great distinction between human beings and brutes. Where education is withheld, the effect is to assimilate man to the condition of the lower animals. With a few exceptions, from the days of Manu downwards, the women of India have been purposely kept in ignorance.

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Two reasons are assigned for this course : Women can derive no advantage from education. They may read with fluency, write a good hand, and

calculate expertly; but such qualifications will not obtain for them any employment. 2. Education will make them worse than before. It is alleged that they will not be submissive to their husbands; that they will write improper letters, or even study how to destroy those they dislike by means of charms and poison.

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Such objections arise from narrow-minded ignorance and prejudice. Ability to earn money is not the sole benefit of education. Woman may profit much by it, although she may not gain even a pice. One of the greatest blessings a man possess is to have children properly brought up. If badly trained, they will embitter his whole life; if affectionate and well-behaved, they will prove his chief earthly joy. Now it is upon mothers that the training of children. mainly depends. During their early years they are almost entirely with their mothers; their fathers are generally absent the whole day, and see little of their children. "Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." The direction given in childhood affects a person's character for life.

The blind cannot lead the blind. An ignorant mother cannot impart knowledge to her children fitted to awaken their minds. Many women tell lies without compunction, quarrel about trifles, and make use of filthy, abusive language. How can such give a moral training to their children? The religion of most of the women of India consists in a round of idolatrous ceremonies. How can such lead the thoughts of the young to the great Father in heaven who "dwelleth not in temples made with hands ?"

Nor are the injurious influences of ignorant mothers confined to their children. Even educated husbands are held in subjection by them. A native