Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-04-06
SUNDAY READING.
Religious ndisoellanies.

Present to an ordinary man the max
i'm, Love your enemies" you may heal
him sigh as he answers that the saying
is divine, and he fears that be never vii
practice it. The reason is that he hal
an enemy and fully understands what i
is to love him, and also what it is TO hate
him-Eseo Homo.
The man who holds and expends mon
ey is merely the clerk of the man who
enjoys and profits by what money buys
Money, at most, is merely the material
from which happiness, honor, usefulness
character may be built. To have the
material without shaping it to the noblest
ends, is like holding heap of stones, or
throwing them away.
A negro in Pennsylvania lately gave
his idea of faith in Gods promises in
the following words: Dar is brick wall
and de Lord he stand dar and say to me,
Now want you to 60 troo dat"
niu't agoing to say, Lord, can't" ]
got muffin to do about it. All / hav to
do is to butt against it, and it's de Lord s
business to put me troo.
Here is one of Spurgeon's best say
ings, illustrating the fact that there may
be morality without religion, but cannot
be religion without morality:
Teaching men morals is as though
/ had clock that would not go, and /
turned round one of the cogwells; but
faith takes the key and winds up the
mainspring, and the whole thing runs on
readily" ~
Beware of delusion in the matter of
your salvation. Woe, woe forevermore,
to them that lose that prize. For what
is behind when the soul is once lost, but
that sinners warm their bits of clay
houses at fire of their own kindling
for day or two, which doth rather
suffocate with its smoke than warm
them; and at length they doth lie down
in sorrow, and are clothed with ever
lasting shame.
The tendency towards good, the quick
ness to grasp it, and the constancy in
wishing it the intensity, supleness, and
tenacity Of the springs which this ten
dency puts into play; the liveliness,
force and precision Of the efforts towards
the end aimed at-are the elements
which, like so many letters, form by
their combinations the intrinsic gauge
of the man and determine his value.
Brethren, is your life hid with Christ
in God2 Do you hate sin heartily, and
strive to subdue it2 Do you love Jesus
entirely, and strive to initiate him Do
you seek to do good to all men, and to
win them to Christ Doyou live as you
pray, or only pray as you live2 Do you
make every cross to be crown, and out
of weakness grow strong in the power of
your God If so, then are you indeed
Christ's peculiar people, jealous Of
good works"
A devout, ignorant Spanish priest felt
the need Of adding private prayers of his
own to the pater nosters; but he did not
know how to do it, So every morning,
humbly bending his knees and lifting his
eyes and hands to heaven, he would de-
voutly repeat the alphabet, and then add,
20, good God put the letters together
to spell Syllables to spell words, to make
such sense as may be most Thy glory and
my good"
A minister once prayed in the pulpit
that 1.-THE Lord would bless the congre.
CATION assembled, and that portion of it
which was on the way to church. and |
those who were at home getting ready to |
come, and that in His infinite patience |
he would grant the benefit Of the bene-
1iction to those who reached the house
just in time for that The clergyman
succeeded in breaking up bad hasit
which had resisted all legitimate appeals.
Oh how easy it is to deceive our
selves, and to sleep and wish that heaven
may fall down into our lap Time, Gus
.om, and a good opinion of ourselves,
our good meaning and our lazy desires,
our fair shows and the worlds glstening
ustres, and these broad, gaudy orna-
nents and deckings of religion that bear
)ulk in the church, is that wherewith
most satisfy themselves; but pillow
yatered with tears for the sins Of the
and, is rare to be found among us.
The little l have seen OF the world
caches me to look upon the errors of
)thers in sorrow, not in anger When
axe the history of one poor heart that
las sinned and suffered, aud represent
~ otll NLC cAth aAA HtaAANAo
t has passed through, the brief pulsa-
ions Of JOY, the feverish inquieiude Of
lope and fear, the pressure of want, the
lesertion of friends, / would fain leave
he erring soul of my fellow man with
Him from whose hand it eame-Long-
eli0io.
Sorrow sobers US, and makes the mind
.enial aud in sorrow we love and trust
nr friends more tenderly. and the dead
,scomes dearer to u.s. And just as the
tars shine out in the night, so there are
,lessed faces that look at Us in our grie',
hough before their features we're fading
rom our recollection. Suheringl Let
10 mao cheat it too much. because il is
ood for him. aud il will help to make
i'm sure Of his being immortal Il is in
orrow-lhe night Of the soul-lhat We
&c furthest, and know ourselves natives
( infnity and sons aud daughters Of the
nost EufhdHsy.
49, The New Orleans Picavuae.