lous, but that he could be reached and softened by kindness. Blows, chains, starvation and neglect, only turned the heart into iron, and froze the better feelings of human nature to their deepest fountain; but no sooner was the angel voice of Howard heard, and his kindness felt, than the long-sealed feelings were opened, the dried-up sources of tears were filled, the waters of sorrow flowed, and the heart of sin became radiated with deep and undying love for its benevolent visiter. This kindness was the principle which ever actuated Howard; and so devoted was he to its dictates, and so earnest in the discharge of his God-like object, that he yielded up his life in Tartary, while on a tour of benevolence, where his bones are now mouldering into the dust of the grave.

John Howard constantly walked according to the law, "overcome evil with good." And, even if we leave out of the account the great blessings which accrued to others from his conduct, we find, in the respect and love which exist for his memory, how advantageous is the adoption of the divine law. For, wherever the name of John Howard is known, his memory is enshrined in the hearts and affections of thousands; while he is reverenced as one of those glorious stars in human life, who, in imi

tation of the "Saviour of the world," "went about doing good."*

Fene

The next instance is that of Fenelon. lon was a Roman Catholic, and Archbishop of Cambrai, in France. He was a man of the finest feelings, of the greatest benevolence, and he uniformly practised the law "overcome evil with good." He was kind and affable to the lowly, mild and courteous to the ignorant, philanthropic to the miserable, and ever gentle both to friend and foe. The consequence was, that he won all hearts. His diocese was often the theatre of war-but the English, Germans, and Dutch even surpassed the inhabitants of Cambrai in their love and veneration for him. At such times, he gathered the wretched into his residence and entertained them; for his known goodness had surrounded him with a power which even contending armies could not resist; and the consequence was, that his dwellings were safe, even when towns and villages were lying in smoking ruins around him. The following is an instance of his great kindness. He observed one day, that a peasant, who had been driven from his home, and to whom Fenelon had given shelter, ate nothing. He enquir

* See Memoirs of Howard, by J. Baldwin Brown.

ed the reason. "Alas! my lord," said the poor man, “in making my escape from my cottage, I had not time to bring off my cow, which was the support of my family. The enemy will drive her away, and I shall never find another so good." Fenelon, availing himself of his privilege of safe conduct, immediately set out, accompanied by a single servant, and drove the cow back himself to the peasant. * By thus walking according to the law of overcoming evil with good, he gained the affection of all. The peasantry loved him as their father-and, long after his death, their tears would flow when they said, "There is the chair on which our good. Archbishop used to sit in the midst of us; we shall see him no more." What a crown of unfading glory the law of love gave him!

The next illustration is that of Oberlin. John Frederic Oberlin was born in the city of Strasburg, near the frontiers of France and Germany. At the age of twenty-six, and in the year 1767, he became pastor of a parish in. a region of country fifteen or twenty miles from Strasburg, called the Ban de La Roche, whose inhabitants were semi-barbarians; their schools were nominal; many of their teachers could not read; the different villages could not com

*See Channing's Miscellanies, p. 182.

municate with each other, from want of bridges and roads; their agriculture was of the rudest kind; while their language was almost unintelligible to refined ears. These evils were doubly entailed upon them by their invincible ignorance, the mother of superstition.

Among these people Oberlin settled; and his only means of defence, were, a heart overflowing with good will to them, and a disposition so cultivated in the school of Christ, as to constantly make the law, "overcome evil with good," his rule of action. And most nobly did those means serve him. When he exhibited a desire to make improvements among them, the people of his charge became enraged, and even waylaid him for his destruction. But, by throwing himself among them, unarmed, and with a kind yet firm and collected manner, he subdued their resentment. By uniformly pursuing a course. of mild instruction, he obtained their confidence, until, by his influence and example, they successively opened roads between their villages and Strasburg, they reared more comfortable. buildings, they adopted a better mode of cultivation, they built good school-houses, and obtained more experienced teachers. Very soon, by the directions of this extraordinary man, the barren wilderness began to smile with well cultivated fields, neat and convenient, dwellings,

while happiness entered every abode, and religion was found on every family altar.

wants.

All this change was accomplished by the law of kindness, connected with an ardent perseverance and a knowledge of human nature and its And not only did he subdue all hearts around him, but his Christian conduct obtained for him an honorable fame in all the nations where his name is known. When he died, which took place in 1826, the love of him was so universal and strong, that the inhabitants of the remotest village in his parish, though it rained in torrents, did not fail to come and take the last look of their "dear father." His funeral procession was two miles in length; and so strongly had his benevolence and kindness penetrated all hearts, that tears flowed from both Catholic and Protestant eyes, while regret for his loss and respect for his memory, animated all minds alike. His gravestone now stands in the "church-yard among the mountains," and there is recorded on it the simple and expressive fact that he was for "fifty-nine years the Father of the Ban de La Roche."*

The next illustration in the law of kindness, is found in the conduct of William I. Reese, a

* Universalist Expositor, Vol. III., p. 119. Penny Magazine, Vol. VII., p. 220.