The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-02-09
NO GIFT LIKE LOVE.
tselected for The Times.1

Selected for The Times.)
..Charity sufferetn long and is kind;
charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not
itself. is not puffed up; doth not believe
itself unseemly; seeketh not her own; is
not easily provoked; tf.inEeth no evil
I. Cor, xiii, 4-6.
Charity, or love, IS tie ligannent which
binds together the several members Of
the body Of Christ Without love there
can be no body no temple; only isolated
stones; and, therefore, useless.
It is SO easy to do great things to make
sacrifices and engage III arduous duties,
The impossible thing is love No eye to
advantageous consequences or to pubic
opinion can enable a man to love; no
desire to maintain character for piety
can produce that grace Love must be spon-
taneous from tho very souls self. 1t
must be the unconstrained natural out
come of the real man, a sense OF bene-
fit received will not produce love. It can
not be forced or bought 1t is the result
Of God entering in and possessing the
soul; and therefore it is that where love
is absent all Is absent.
Five hundred years before St. Paul one
Of the greatest Of the Greek writers
spoke this eulogy on love:
Love is our Lord, supplying Kindness
and banislling unkindness; giving friend
ship and forgiving enmity. The JOY OF
the good, the wonder Of the wise, the
amazement Of the gods
Five hundred years after St. Paul an
other eulogium was pronounced on love
by Mohammed He said: Every. good
act is charity; your smiling in youl
brothers. face; putting a wanderer IN
the right road; giving water to the thlrs-
ty; or exhortations to do right a man 8
true wealth hereafter is the good he has
done in this world to his fellow-men
When he dies people will ask: What
property has no left behind him? But
the angels will ask: What good deeds
has he sent: before hirn?' y
Later still Thomas Kempis dwells
with enthusiasm on this all comprehend
ing grace. Love" he says, '.feels no
burden, regards no labor. would willing
~ do more than it is able; pleads moi
impossbilities, because it feels sure ii
can and may do all things. Love is
swift, sincere, pious, pleasing and delight
full; strong, patient, prudent, long-suffer
Ing, manly. never seeking ITSELF
From the time of Solomon the wise mer
and poets have all essayed their powers
in describing and extolling love in differ
ent phases Of it's character. But it re.
NAMED for st. Paul to give us yet an
other poetic, practical, abiding, q full
length portrait of that peerless virtue.
In the simplest language with mastel
hand he paints the details Of that fruit
full grace He shows how it influence.
all our dealings with our fellow-nlen, car
rying with it healing sweetness.
1t inabues the entire character and con
tains in itself the highest motive for all
Christian conduct It is "the fulfilling
of the law" Its claims are paramount
because it embraces all other virtues. /.
man has love there is no grace impos-
sibIc to him.
Love becomes courage of the most alb
solute kind where danger threatens its
object. It begets a wisdom and skill
which puts to shame mere technical
training o.. experience; it brings forth
self-restraint and temperance as its nat
ural fruit. 1t is patient, forgivinG, mod
est humble, synnpathizing.
1t reveals itself in a n1aSnanimous bear
ing ofsinjuries and in a considerate and
tender imparting of benefits. 1t return.
good for evil; not readily provoked by
Sights or wrongs, it ever seeks to spend
itself in kindness There is nothing en-
vious, vain, or selfish in love. It neither
grudges others their gifts, nor is eager
to show off its own. The pallor and bit.
ter sheer Of envy and the ridiculous
swagger of the boastful are equally re-
mote from lows I. balances man.
bringing him into right relations with
his fellows, and prompting him to es-
TEEN their gifts more highly than his
own.
Misunderstanding the remuneration.
the recognition, the applause, the prece-
dence, the Difference that may pc due,
st seeketh not her own
Love is the supreme possession, for "it
never faileth.'' And SO to love abun-
dainty is to live abundantly, and to love
| forever is to live forever
------s----
President Roosevelt will no. be able to
attend the Charleston Exposition, owing
to the illness Of his Son. Charleston seems
to be playing in hard luck.
===--=----
Morris Reiman, OF Chicago, although a
disciple Of Robert G Ingersoll., seems to
have possessed something ofsthe mission
airy spirit lie left $1,000 to be expended