feeling which soon begets prejudice, and the love of rule which is born of self-love, have been the cause of these evils. They are insidious in their nature, "wolves in sheep's clothing," which under the garb of principle and regard for the Church, rend and devour it.

3. Let us, in the third place, consider how spiritual union can be promoted. It is evident that the removal of obstacles is the first thing to be done. This is the most difficult part of the work and it can only be gradually effected. It is much easier to scale a mountain than to remove a prejudice; to clear away a forest than to eradicate a false principle. Our progress towards each other is therefore slow even when we have a common end in view. We see truth in such different lights, and are so prone to regard the colour which our own mind gives to the truth as more important than the truth itself; we make so many mistakes; we are so sensitive and timid that we hesitate and shrink back, and move round one another when we ought to go directly and trustingly forward. We are ready to take and give offence, and are always liable to be misunderstood. How often has a timid sensitive soul been stung almost to madness by a sneer, or driven into solitude by a careless laugh or an idle word. Every one has his own little world in which he lives and which he fears to have invaded. Every heart is a fortress, and many of them are more difficult of access to brotherly affections than Sebastopol was to the allied armies of England and France. When I see how much there is between human hearts, I often wonder that they ever come together; that men do not dwell alone like birds of prey.

These obstacles to union can only be removed by working together; and to effect this is one of the great uses of Societies. We must have the same end, and that end must be the good of others. In working for a common purpose we are brought into various relations, and many opportunities occur for helping one another. But what we can do for another depends upon our ability and what he needs. One person is in error. He may be honest and sincere in it. He may be as desirous of doing right and accomplishing the common end as I am. But he is mistaken as to the best means. Now I can only help him by opposing his opinion and correcting it. I must say to him, "My friend, you are going wrong; that is not the way to do what you .desire to do." He may not believe me, and it may be very painful to my natural feelings to oppose him. But there is no other way in which we can come together, and I must do it. I ought, however, to be very careful how I do it. If I begin to call him hard names I rouse a spirit of antagonism in him, drive him from me, and confirm him in his error.

If I find another indulging in some evil practice, I must point it out and help him to put it away. But I ought to do it wisely and gently. We should think of the evils of others more in sorrow than in anger. We must not pry into the failings of others as though we delighted to see them. Nor, on the other hand, must we be blind to them. If we discover symptoms of a fever, or of any fatal disease in a friend, it would indicate a great lack of regard for his happiness not to tell him of the fact. We must point out the danger, and if he is incredulous or indifferent to it, we may be urgent, and where we have authority, we may use it. But however firm and decided we may be, all our words and actions should be tempered with love. Charity often compels us to oppose others; sometimes to say severe things of their deeds, but never to say them severely; never to impugn motives, to call hard names, and to speak angrily. We ought to be plain and honest with one another. We ought also to be considerate, kind, and gentle. The sword of truth is sharp and should always be girt upon the thigh, should be bathed in love, and used with tenderness only to slay falsities. Even then it should be used rather as the instrument of the surgeon than of the executioner. It is also two-edged and cuts the hand that wields it when selfishness and hate strike at their opponents.

When two bodies are drawn by attraction they both move. So it must be in spiritual attraction. One person must not stand still and wait for the other. Both must move. And each one ought to advance with a willingness to take the first step, and go the whole distance, and make all the overtures, and do the whole work. But we often wait for one another. We wonder why others do not come to us. They wonder why we do not come to them. We feel hurt at their apparent indifference, and they grieve at ours. We must seek one another. We must cherish kind thoughts in our hearts, and let them shine in our faces, and flow forth in our words, and speak in our acts. Congenial souls are always beckoning to one another, and when the veil of distrust and the mask of custom are removed they see and understand their signals. Confidence begets confidence, and love awakens love. Only let our ends be good and we may wear our hearts as open as the day. The angels have no secrets. Their souls are like an open book. Let whoever can, read them. The more thought and affection they can communicate the happier they become. A clear, transparent soul is safer, even in this wily and treacherous world, than the most cunning policy. Innocence is the wisest strategy. How we long often to unveil our hearts to each other; to confess our weaknesses and our sins; to reveal our doubts and our fears; and yet we hesitate. We may not be understood. Our friends may not deal

gently enough with our tender natures. So we carry burdens which almost, crush us; we walk solitary and apart, stumbling and wandering for the want of sympathy and light. What miracles a plain, frank, sincere, and tender word will sometimes work in us! What clouds of doubt it dispels! What burdens it lifts from the soul! We thought we were walking alone, perhaps forsaken by man and even by the Lord, when the magic of a word dispels the illusion, and we find ourselves in the midst of friends, with warm hearts to comfort and strong hands to help us.

In our efforts to approach on another we must never forget that unity is not sameness. When we go to a wedding, we must wear a wedding garment; but it ought to fit us, and not necessarily our neighbour. It may vary from others in size, fashion, colour, and material; and still it may be suited to us and to the occasion. That is the essential thing. But, like the disciples, we are sometimes more inclined to complain of others because they do not follow us than because they do not follow the Lord. In coming here you were all doing the same thing, though you moved in different directions. So it is with us spiritually. Every one must set out from where he is. The New Jerusalem has three gates on each side. One may enter from the West, another from the South. The essential thing consists in turning our faces toward the city, and in entering through the gates. When we find one with his back to the city, hastening away towards Babylon or Egypt, we ought to tell him of his error. There is no charity in telling him to keep on; that it is of no consequence which way he goes, if he is only sincere; that one way is as good as another, because that is not true, and we deceive him. Still it may be necessary for him to go down to Egypt, or to wander many years in the wilderness, even after he has come in sight of Canaan, before he can enter. The children of Israel were forty years in going a few miles, with the Lord for a leader, and they went in the shortest way and in the quickest time for them. Many persons cannot be reasoned out of a falsity. They must follow it until they see its fatal nature. No one can be forced or frightened into goodness. All must be led. And when we sincerely seek the good of others we shall be careful not to confirm them in falsity by unwise and violent opposition. There is nothing more foolish and useless than calling hard names, and saying cutting things of others. We ought to speak the truth at all times when we say anything; but we ought to speak it kindly. We ought to differ from others when they think falsely and act wrongly. But it is wicked to shower abuse upon them. Unity can never be obtained by such means.

The direct way to come into spiritual union with others consists in seeking points of agreement rather than difference. We must look for some common ground to stand upon and to begin to work together. We must be willing to go with others, to adopt their suggestions and plans, as far as the truth will permit us. But we must not compromise that. We must show a disposition to yield everything that is not essential to the success of our common cause. But that we must not yield, because to yield that would defeat the end. A man may be firm as a rock, and at the same time as mild and gentle as the breath of Spring. The true law of charity directs us to go with others as far as the truth will permit, but not a step farther. When we have reached that point we must say as Luther did, “Here I stand. I can no other, God help me." But still we may follow those who will part from us, in affection, wishing them well always, and being ever ready to walk with them when we can walk in the way of truth.

The perfection of every society depends upon the harmonious varieties that compose it. Sameness is always death. We need variety of character to balance each other's peculiarities. A timid and cautious man is always looking out for dangers. His fears multiply them and exaggerate those that exist. He would never learn to walk for fear of falling. He would never plant for fear of frost or drought. A society composed of such men would never do anything. A bold, sanguine, and confident soul sees no dangers, sees nothing but success, and he wishes to march directly to it though he may trample upon the rights and interests of others, and fall into every open pit. The man who is precise and methodical in his habits of thinking; who loves order and looks at the end from the beginning, may lack energy and decision. He will not move until he thinks he can see all the consequences of action to their minutest particulars. He criticises every movement, makes no allowances for the rectification of mistakes and the adjustment of the parts while in motion. If you take a step too long or too short, or a little obliquely, he would stop the whole movement. "Wait until you can go right,” he says, forgetting that the only way we can learn to do right is by doing, as we learn to walk by walking. If such a man had the control of the planets he would stop them the moment he saw any aberration in their orbits. "You must keep your places," he would say, "or the whole solar system will go into confusion." He makes no allowance for a higher and more general law that plays into and regulates particular laws. On the other hand, another man is all energy and action. He will act and think afterwards. He urges

everything forward without thought, plan, or order. He would plunge a society into inexplicable confusion. One can speak and direct better than he can do. Another can execute better than he can

speak, and so on, with indefinite variety. All those qualities are good, but they need balance. They need alliance with others. The bold and timid, the thinker and doer, the man of order and energy must go together, and the whole will become more perfect. A human body all bone is a skeleton, without bones a mass of flesh. A body all nerve, all head or hand, would be a helpless monster. There are no superfluous organs in man. It requires them all in complete balance and harmonious play to make a perfect body.

So in societies and associations. The greater the variety, and the larger the number, the better, if each one would do his own work. The perfection of the societies in the heavens will be increased to eternity by the continual addition of numbers from the earth. A new member added to a society is a new organ, a new power, a new medium of life from the Lord, a new bond of union with the angels. And his life is communicated to every member of the society. Every one is stronger by his strength. The Lord seeks to give life and blessedness to all through each. This unity, then, we ought to seek. There is no way of obtaining this unity but by working together for some common end. The stones in the pavement lie near each other, but there is no unity between them. A society or an association of the Church should be more like a tree than a pile of stones. There must be root and trunk, branches and leaves, solid fibre and fluid juices, buds and blossoms. Some must work in the ground and some in the air. Some must stand firm and strong like the trunk of the oak, while others sport in the sun and dance with every breeze. Each one must do his own work, and then all will work together for the common good. No union can be formed by standing still, by merely thinking about it, or wishing it, but only by working together. And in doing this we ought to try to put away all that obstructs the common good. The Lord strives to bring all His children together in unity. I pray," He says, "that they all may be one." We ought to pray for the same thing, and to work for it as the Lord works. Each one has views peculiar to himself. Each one can do some one thing better than any one else. Let him do it. But let him respect the general good. The unity in which any society or association dwells will always depend upon, and be measured by, the degree in which each one does his own work.

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In the construction of the first temple at Jerusalem it is said, "And the house when it was building was built of stone made ready