to be unsound at heart, losing the faith of men, and becoming as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

Next, suppose intellectual Eminence, vast knowl edge, without the bond of Charity, unconsecrated by beneficent connections with mankind, by coöperation with God. Could the pride of unused, or abused, Knowledge sustain, and dignify, and give a sense of satisfaction, to that lonely mind? Or, is any thought more dreary and awful than to pass a life in the study of the truths and laws of that Infinite Mind, with the spirit of whose Providence the heart had no sympathy, -to live in the cold pursuit of Infinite Wisdom and Eternal Order, and have no bonds of the affections with Him, to know ourselves gifted with such capacities, and gain by them no approving Love, standing out of spiritual harmony with Earth and Heaven?

Once more, suppose the outward semblance, and actions, of practical excellence, without its inward truth, — almsgiving without charity,—prayers without devotion, — fastings without humiliation of heart, -the martyr's stake without the martyr's trust in Truth. Does this do good to any one, or deceive any one? one? It cannot imitate even the outward mien of goodness. The false spirit works out through it, and betrays it. The heart is false, and perishing before God. Of such semblance we can only say, in the words of St. Paul,-"It is nothing, and it profiteth nothing."

II. There are unfailing "signs," by which it is manifested whether this Sentiment of Charity is the

spirit of the Character. The tree is known by its fruits. The religious and the moral character, though they bear infinite variety of fruit, have but one root; - this holy love, this divine sympathy with goodness and happiness, and the desire to reproduce them, this harmony with the merciful tendencies of Providence carried into all things, and all the virtues of the Christian Life, active and passive, are the flower, and bloom, of this one Spirit.

Then, the Spirit of Love must work the works, and speak the tones of Love. It cannot exist and give no sign, or a false sign. It cannot be a spirit of Love, and mantle into irritable and selfish impatience. It cannot be a spirit of Love, and at the same time make Self the prominent object. It cannot rejoice to lend itself to the happiness of others, and at the same time be seeking its own. It cannot be gener ous, and envious. It cannot be sympathizing, and unseemly; self-forgetful, and vainglorious. It cannot delight in the rectitude and purity of other hearts, as the spiritual elements of their peace, and yet unnecessarily suspect them. Love taketh up no malign elements; - such are not its natural affinities, its spirit prompteth it, to cover in mercy all things that ought not to be exposed, to believe all of good that can be believed, -to hope all things that a good God makes possible, and to endure all things, that the hope may be made good. It is not that Charity is slower to recognize actual evil than Malignity itself, — but that it is quicker to see good. The purest spirit must ever have the finest sensibility to the presence of evil, but it suggests it not,

and it loves not to linger with it, or to dwell upon it;-"Whatsoever things are true, holy, just, pure, lovely, it thinks on these things."

III. The Intellectual distinctions and graces of our Being are relative and temporary.* It may be that the very Faculties by which our present knowledge is attained are only adapted to the present condition of man, and are of a perishable essence; but in all ages, and in all worlds, the spirit of sympathy with the pure and good must be of the substance of our peace, our principle of harmony with the will and the works of God. Charity never faileth: Love, the very same Love that we experience now, can be superseded in no world where God and blessed Beings are. Knowledge may fade, like a star out of the meridian sky, as a light unsuited to that diviner Day. What vast stores of Knowledge prized on Earth shall find no scope in Heaven! The erudition of the Critic, the learning of the Biblical Student, a few words of actual converse with the Church of the first-born, with Prophets and Apostles, will sweep it all away, if there indeed its doubts and questions have any significance at all. The profound knowledge of Law which a lifetime has acquired, the science of Disease to which only the finest discernment and the most unwearied patience can attain, -the theory and practice of the

* A distinguished philosopher, Dr. Thomas Brown, has suggested that a greater keenness of Sight might make visible the constituent elements of all bodies, and so render unnecessary the analysis of Chemistry.

common arts of Life; these can have no application to a world spiritual in its framework, and not subject to want or death. The Powers that have been exercised and trained therein may, indeed, be nobler instruments for eternal progress, but this Knowledge is for the Earth, and the Immortal Faculties may cast its burden off. Our partial knowledge of God, and of divine things, may have to be utterly transformed in that perfect state whose full Light is attended by no shadows, nor manifested under the conditions, which possibly a state of Discipline may here impose. As the guesses and fancies of a child are to the insight of a man, may be the relation of the Earthly to the Spiritual Mind. Here we see as through a glass, catching reflections and hints. This material universe is often a veil over God's Presence, — a hiding of His power. In this state, then, our knowledge of Divine things has no analogy to God's knowledge: but we love as God loves; the moral affection is the same in essence.

And even of the imperishable directions of the Spirit, Love is the only one that is common to us with God; it is the only element in which we are partakers of the Divine Nature. Faith must be for Man eternal; never can confidence in God be dispensed with, and Heaven shall fully establish the childlike Trust; - but God has no part in this sentiment, the Faith of the everlasting Father cannot be tried. Hope can never die out of the deathless Soul; for ever must a noble and blessed being, a child of the Infinite, aspire to higher perfection, and reach forth to things before; - yet Hope is not

for God,

He knows not the sentiment, it belongs

But

not to the Perfect One, the Blessed for Ever. Love is God's as ours; and it is ours only because it is God's; and out of it spring our Hope and Faith. Love is the very essence of the Eternal's Blessedness, the moral Spirit of the Divine Nature. Love is therefore the highest part in Man;-the source of whatever is divine in us;- our only fellowship with the Father, our sole Salvation, and fitness. for the inheritance of the Saints in Light. This is not for a moment to exalt Love above Holiness,for we speak not of the Love of the Heart only, but also of the Love of the Soul, the Mind, the Strength, and so Love cannot remain inviolate, Self cannot be extinguished, except in a holy being.

Now abide for ever Faith, Hope Charity, these three, — but the greatest of these is Charity.