THE GOLDEN RULE.

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unvarying and explicit standard. "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," is a rule of universal obligation: it depends on no ceremonial institution for its origin, and the abrogation of ritual observances does not suspend or abolish its authority. "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them," is a maxim as ancient as prophecy; and being incorporated with the Christian doctrine, will endure till the sun has waxed old, and the moon and the stars been blotted out. Equity between man and man, commercial integrity, and the reciprocal return of kind offices and mutual fidelity, as the elements of confidence and intercourse, while obligatory on all, are especially becoming in the Christian. He professes to anticipate a nobler fellowship, and to look for the privileges of a more glorious city, whose builder and maker is God, of which patriarchs and prophets, apostles and saints, are fellow-citizens and subjects. While the Christian is constrained to differ in the matter of his God from any who live near to him, he should be careful that in nothing else his adversaries should find other occasion or fault in him. And where controversy has run high, and diversity of opinion has separated chief friends, where the adherents to the system which is paramount, and, though partizans, conscientious approvers and upholders of the establishment, become the instruments and abettors of the suffering to which a disapproving conscience has been exposed, a very scrupulous guard will require to be maintained against all uncharitableness and insinuation; a moderate, a forgiving, a liberal spirit toward opponents in religious controversy. Credit must be allowed them for sincerity, the same right of private judgment as is claimed for ourselves, and forbearance in spirit, when their possession of power or access to the ruling party may seem to implicate them as partakers of the evil deeds by which a suffering conscience is offended. Mild, conciliatory, and, as far as possible, convincing de

monstrations of their errors, the injustice of their system, and a judicious adoption of means to bring them to the knowledge of the truth, should ever be accompanied by prayerful compassion for their ignorance, and zealous exertions to bring them to an acknowledgment of their errors, an adoption of the principles of truth, and a cessation of such measures as are deemed hurtful and unjust.

The Christian citizen has been taught that he should not live for himself alone; and as a member of the body of Christ, he is required to exert himself until his efforts become habit; to do good and communicate is the inspired exhortation he is called on to remember. He has learned, it is more blessed to give than to receive, that the liberal soul deviseth liberal things. And he has imbibed principles, whose excellency surpasses the maxims of worldly philosophy, or the loftiest aspirations of the great and proud ones of the earth. Virtue is his nobility. Personal merit, useful, generous, benevolent exertion, are the distinctions which he most honours. His time is not consumed by the vanity and dissipation which enfeeble the minds of men of pleasure. He has a scrupulous regard to character, which contributes to elevate his virtue. True honour and integrity are valued by him as pearls of great price. The approving smiles of God, the answer of a good conscience, and the esteem of the wise and good, are to him instead of stars and coronets. His principles, and the estimate he has formed of the value of an immortal soul and the felicity of heaven, inspire him with a catholic zeal for the welfare and spiritual instruction of his fellow-men; and thus is he habituated to a generous and expansive benevolence. These are to him the weightier matters of the law, the judgment, mercy, and truth, in observing which he is not inclined to omit the smaller claims, the tithe of mint, anise, and cummin.

THE PHILANTHROPIC CITIZEN.

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While ambitious of being found faithful as a follower of Him who bore the cross and despised the shame, an epistle of Jesus Christ, known and read of all men, he does not overlook the kindness of the good Samaritan, whose exquisite tenderness is a lesson of continual value; the wine and the oil, the timely and lively compassion which turned aside to succour the distressed and despoiled, are beauteous emblems of the spirit which he would cherish. If he may not track every step of an apostle of the Gentiles, or expend energies equal to a Howard, among the innumerable varieties of the extensive scene which he traversed; yet will it be his aim to redress, as far as his opportunity permits, the injuries of the weak and the oppressed, the brokenhearted and toil-worn slave, the exiled victim of despotic cruelty, the solitary captive with his notched stick and his bitter draught, immured in the dungeon, dragged in the chain, or entombed in Siberian mines; the houseless and wandering outcast; the dejected and struggling scholar; the ill-requited, the neglected, impoverished, and disappointed patriot and statesman, the benefactor of his country, yet a monument of national ingratitude, and an eloquent lesson of the sordid selfishness of commercial adventurers. Whether it be "the stricken deer that has left the herd long since," or the struck eagle, which, generous and untamed, still soars through the rolling clouds, till the winged shaft has "drunk the last life-drop of his bleeding breast;" all are objects of his sympathy, and where practical, his desire is to remove the causes of their suffering. The wants of the indigent, according to his means, are supplied. The streams of general knowledge, and the waters of the sanctuary, which, as a river, make glad the city of God, by means of Christian instruction, are turned to enrich and fertilise the fallow soil. The towers and bulwarks are erected and made secure, the shields and armoury of

justice are prepared and distributed, that all may enjoy freedom and protection, and mankind may share the banquet of universal peace and benevolence, of righteousness and truth.

Patriotism, then, is a duty as incumbent on the Christian as on his fellow subject. The affection for our countrymen peculiarly, attended with an active zeal to promote their welfare, has been enforced and iilustrated by philosophy and reason; nor does Christianity absolve its professors from this common duty. As a primary fruit of this virtue, every good subject will obey with punctuality, promptitude, and cheerfulness, the laws of the land which are actually in force, and in harmony with the requirements of God. As reason inculcates this conformity, and her dictates are supported and strengthened by Christianity, so the Christian will submit himself, for the Lord's-sake, to every such ordinance of man. And, while the employments of each particular calling, the social ties and endearments of life, the improvement of mind by liberal inquiry, and the cultivation of science and heart, are intimately connected with the happiness and dignity of the human race, it will not be supposed that the author of Christianity intended his followers, on becoming Christians, should forget they were men, or consider themselves as idle or uninterested spectators on the great theatre of life, at liberty to withdraw from a share of responsibility and engagement in these. The blessings which we estimate highly, we are naturally eager to perpetuate; and whoever is acquainted with the value of religious freedom, will not be content to suspend it on the clemency of a prince, the indulgence of ministers, or the liberality of officials: he will never think it secure till it has a constitutional basis nor even then, till by the general spread of its principles, every individual becomes its guarantee, and every arm ready to be stretched forth in its

THE PATRIOT'S OBJECT.

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defence. The object of the patriot will be to obtain or perpetuate security, liberty, plenty, improvement, and stability to the people of his country. He will labour to promote the respectability of government, the people's due subjection to their legitimate rulers, and to strengthen the hands of the executive administration in maintaining justice and honour. As the general benefit of the whole society is promoted by the defence of their country, and the true dignity of their magistracy, it is reasonable that the expense should be defrayed by all-every several member contributing as nearly as possible in proportion to their respective abilities. The Christian citizen has no claim, nor should he consistently cherish any desire, as such, to be exonerated from his share in these burdens. He has a motive for action and cheerful sacrifice, which others do not experience; he sees the progress of society, and the certainty that all improvements shall end in the welfare of his fellow-men, and the glory of his God.