Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-05-05


not mean that you and are to endeavor
to exercise toward all people an equal feel
ing OF affection. We never can l0Ye some
people IN the sense Of rejoicing in their
presence, taking them into the inmost em-
Of us any such thing What is meant is,
position toward our neighbor, that we will
treat him with the same consideration that
we would use in the treatment Of ourselves.
In the 18th Chapter Of 1st Cor, we have
perhaps the finest exposition OF the nature
and qualities Of love chat can be anywhere
found There it is called charity, but il
you substitute the broader word love
you will interpret exactly the mind Of the
Apostle. Take that passage from the 9TH
to the It'll verses. and it gives clear and
graphic picture Of what we are to under
stand by love as a practical force in hui
man life. Love suffereth long, and is
kind; love envieth not love Wanted not
itself, is not easily pulled up. doth not be-
have itself unseemly, sseketh not her own,
is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; re-
joicetE not in iniquity. = Love is magnan-
imous; it endures wrongs silently, and does
not retaliate nor cherish resentment Love
puts its choking grip upon envy. It is
comparatively easy to sympathlze with a
friends failure, when ne are not so true
hearted about his success. 1t is difficult
often to keep little touch OF malice or
envy out of our congratulations When a
man has slipped down. it is not so hard to
reach to him the hand OF help, as when
be has climbed mp, it is to extend to him
the hand Of genuine good feeling The
atmosphere of love is deadly TO the miser-
able microbe Of envy
Love seeketh not her own. In other
words, love is not selfish, nor self seeking.
II finds its highest Joy in ministry. 1t is
not always on the watch for its own adj
vantage, nor scrupulously exacting in re-
gard to its own rights. It considers not its
own things alone, but also the things Of
others. | look around me and find that
the great moving principle which keeps
this word going is selfshness, whether in
trade, in politics, in profession or, (I was
almost about to say, religionl. Business is
a great trap for selfish gain. Politics is
sphere for the reign Of selfish ambition.
Society is a great race course where selfish
ness runs for its prizes. But into the
midst of this rushing, hustling, selfish
world, in which the great law is every
man for himself, Love, that perfect queen
of ali the gTaces, comes, and standing forth
in all her majestic beauty, says: No, the
great law that is to govern you is not
every man for himself, but every man for.
his brother man.
Love thinketh no evil. It is more
ready to put good construction on ones
act than bad one. It is more ready to
believe the best Of man than the worst.
It has a keener eye to detect ones virtues
than to discover his faults 1t speaks well
of its neighbor whenever favorable COM
ment is possible, and, in the absence of
such possibility, prefers not to speak at all
1t is almost always possible to find some
trifing defect in the fairest garment, # You
look at it with an inspection keen enough,
and magnifying glass powerful enough
Evil can be found, if evil be as diligently
hunted, as we ought to hunt for the good.
The Russians have fable Of wise swine
that found its way into the courtyard of
the palace, where it roved at will between
the kitchen and the stable. On his return
the master said: We'll what have you
SEEM I have heard that kings palaces are
filed with wealth and beauty, that there
are fair pictures and splendid tapestries,
and pearls and diamonds, everywhere. J"
lis false, said the swine, for | saw
nothing all the while but dirt and filth. y
But the range Of his investigation had been
between the stable and the back kitchen.
When we proceed in the same manner we
shall reach a like result
There is good in every man hard to find
in some it may be, but still there "a dis
coyerable quantity Ii is the part of love,