For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matt. vii. 1, 2.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matt. v. 7.

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute

you;

That ye may be the children of Father

your which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matt. v. 44-48.

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matt. xii. 36, 37.

Moreover if thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him

alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be to thee as a heathen man and a publican. Matt. xviii. 15-17.

Then came Peter unto Him, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times ?

Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times Matt. xviii. 21, 22.

seven.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God.

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. 1 John iv. 7. 12.

Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Rom. xii. 17.

Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 1 Pet. iv. 9.

Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. 1 Cor. xiv. 20.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and

of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

1 Cor. xiii.

This is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps:

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth:

Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously:

Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Pet. ii. 19-24.

He that covereth a transgression seeketh love: but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. Prov. xvii. 9.

He that can rule his tongue shall live without strife; and he that hateth babbling shall have less evil.

Rehearse not unto another that which is told unto thee, and thou shalt fare never the worse.

Whether it be of friend or foe, talk not of other men's lives; and if thou canst without offence, reveal them not. Ecclus. xix. 6-8.

If

any man among you seem to be religious,

and bridleth not his tongue, that man's religion is vain. James i. 26.

The real love of man must depend on practice, and therefore must begin by exercising itself on our friends around us, otherwise it will have no existence. By trying to love our relations and friends, by submitting to their wishes, though contrary to our own, by bearing with their infirmities, by overcoming their occasional waywardness by kindness, by dwelling on their excellences, and trying to copy them, thus it is that we form in our hearts that root of Christian charity, which, though small at first, may at last, like the mustard-seed, overshadow the earth.

Newman.

To conquer selfishness is the sum of all mortification, and the greatest victory in this world; and therefore it is here perfectly done by none: but it is done most where there is the greatest love to God, and to the Church, and public good, and our neighbours. Baxter.

A

"He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen ?" The first step in the ascent of love rises in our own dwelling. From our very threshold it goes up to the eternal throne. heart unloving among kindred has no love towards God's saints and angels. If we have a cold heart towards a servant or a friend, why should we wonder if we have no fervour towards God? Let us not deceive ourselves.