vokes a quarrel; is not on the watch to see if somebody has insulted him; is not over jealous about his rights; is fitted, too, for leadership when meekness is conjoined with a clear conception of duty. Thus Moses led out his people from Egyptian bondage, and of this Moses it is written: "Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." (Numbers 12:3.)

The Fourth Beatitude: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."

Its Definition: Righteousness, as in substance defined by Noah Webster, means: A quality or state of exact rectitude. It comprehends holy principles and affections of the heart, and a conformity of the life to the Divine law.

The true principle of righteousness is, then, to be found in the love of righteousness, thus: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." "I will delight myself in thy statutes." (Psalms, 119:11, 16.)

The righteousness of the Pharisees, however excellent in their own eyes, was formal, precise and superstitious-hence was a false righteousness, of no value, and of no ethic character. Jesus said to them: "I will have mercy and not sacrifice." (Matthew 9:13.)

This is a form of speech which does not condemn sacrifice, but gives to mercy the preference. "God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." (Acts 10:34, 35.)

All men by nature love righteousness. If any do not, it is because their good nature has been spoiled by not giving heed to its constitutional requirements. This love of righteousness must not be a mere formal, theoretical, sentimental, lukewarm lovesuch as unfortunately characterizes to a degree all men; the blessing is not for a character of this sort, it is for those that hunger and thirst after righteousness--a strong figure of speech-for hunger and thirst are very imperative appetites.

It is the duty of man, with divine aid, to educate himself to this high standard of righteousness. Blessed are the merciful;

The Fifth Beatitude: for they shall obtain mercy.'

"With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful." (II Samuel 22:6.)

The Divine displeasure against those who lack in mercy is thus stated: "For the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." (Hosea 4: 1.)

"Let anyone who is conversant with the variety of human life reflect upon it, and he will find the man who wants mercy has a taste of no enjoyment of any kind. There is a natural disrelish of everything which is good, in his very nature; and he is born an enemy to the world. He is ever extremely partial to himself in all his actions, and has no sense of iniquity but from the punishment which shall attend it.

"The law of the land is his gospel, and all his cases of conscience are determined by his attorney."

Balthasar's argument with reference to Shylock's idea of compulsory mercy is unrivaled for force and beauty of thought in depicting the true idea of mercy, thus:

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven,
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes;
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this scepter'd sway,

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's,
When mercy seasons justice.”

Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Sc. 1.

The Sixth Beatitude: "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."

To see God is to dwell in his presence.

It is only

the pure in heart that have this privilege. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23.)

"The man who lives under an habitual sense of the divine presence keeps up a perpetual cheerfulness of temper, and enjoys every moment the satisfaction of thinking himself in company with his dearest and best friend,"

The Seventh Beatitude: "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God." Peace is the natural condition of man. All desire

the blessings of peace, especially after having experienced the miseries of war. Men rush into battle with a shout, but the return with tidings of an honorable peace is an occasion of great joy. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace." (Isaiah 52:7.)

A millennium of peace may not soon prevail in the earth, yet, the labors of the peacemaker are blessed in restraining the anger of men, and in mitigating the evils of war; and the peacemaker, peace-society, and the peace-congress for settling international disputes are of great utility, and have a divine mission as being in this regard the ministering "children of God."

The Eighth Beatitude: "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

It is characteristic of the unrighteous to speak evil of and to annoy and persecute those that follow after righteousness.

The right attitude of the soul under persecution is: "Bless them which persecute you; bless and curse not." (Romans 12:14.) "Being persecuted, we suffer it." (I Corinthians 4:12.)

These precepts were contra to those then in vogue, for Jesus says: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy"; but your Father which is in heaven “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5: 43, 45.)

From these precepts it appears that the ethical relation was not well understood even by the Jews in those days. There are numerous instances to show that ethic ideas are progressive-at times also retrogressive.

Fifty to a hundred years ago the slave trade was justified by many. Now, by civilized and christianized people, it is held to be no better than piracy. In England and the United States there has been, in the last fifty years, a marked change in favor of stricter rules of temperance. Now, this change in the views of men does not argue any change in the ground-principles of the right. This is always the same, and there is in the soul of man always a response to this principle and an affirmation of it--but his intellect and moral perceptions are often clouded, so as not to fully appropriate the true content of what is right.

Our Lord's closing injunction in the Sermon on the Mount is: "Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.'

37. THE VIRTUES.-General View: Virtue is universally praised and honored by men and vice is reproved. Even those who are not virtuous themselves give their testimony in favor of virtue. They acknowledge their duty; but are blind to their own non-performance of it, or else endeavor to excuse it. "They know the better, yet pursue the worse."

We often condemn in others what we are guilty of ourselves. The scripture injunctions are: "Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge."