VI.

The Merciful Heart.

If I have made the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof-If I have lifted up my hand against him when I saw my help in the gate-then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade and be broken from the bone.-Job xxxi. 13.f.f.

HERE is a large class of Laws in our Torah, the sole purpose of which is to fill our hearts with pity for the poor and infirm, to teach us never to hurt their feelings, nor wantonly to vex the helpless. Mercy, likewise, is the object of the ordinance, "Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the slave that is fled from his scourge." But in a wider sense, we derive from this example the duty to defend those who seek our protection; nay, more, we must look after their interests, be kind to them and never hurt their feelings by harsh and cruel words.

Though you may not know, yet the tree shall grow
And shelter the brows that toil.

VII.

The Faithful Heart.

Thou foundest Abraham's heart faithful before Thee.-Nehemiah ix. 8.

HE thoughts of thy heart and the imaginations of thy soul remain pure if the works of thy hands be pure. Fly from all unseemly things; close thine eyes and thine ears from them; for there be desires which cause the soul to be apostate from God.

Bear well thy heart against the assails of envy; know no envy at all, save such envy of the merits of virtuous men as shall lead thee to emulate the beauty of their lives.

Surrender not thyself a slave to hate-that ruin of all the heart's good resolves, that destroyer of the very savor of food, of our sleep, of all reverence in our souls.

Let the fear of God breed in thee the habit of silence, for much speech can hardly be without some sin. Let this be thy rule: Moderate thought in modest words.

If the peoples had fallen on thee to force thee to apostatize from thy faith, thou wouldst surely, as did so many, have given thy life in its defense. Well, then, fight now the fight laid on thee in the better day—the fight with evil desires; fight and conquer and make the study of the Law thy constant ally.

ELEAZAR BEN YEHUDAH,

(XIII. Century).

MAN

Self-Rule.

Ye shall not go after the lusting of your hearts and your eyes.-Numbers xv. 39.

AN must have control over all bodily desires. He must reduce them as much as possible, and only retain of them as much as is indispensable. His aim must be the aim of man, as man, viz.: the formation and perfection of ideas, and nothing else. The best and the sublimest among them is the idea which man forms of God, angels, and the rest of the creation, according to his capacity. Such men are always with God, and of them it is said: "Ye are princes, and all of you are children of the Most High." When man possesses a good, sound body that does not overpower, nor disturb the equilibrium within him, he possesses a divine gift. A good constitution facilitates the rule of the soul over the body; but it is not impossible to conquer a bad constitution by training, and make it subservient to man's ultimate destiny.

MOSES MAIMONIDES.

Among the numerous religious and monastic orders of the Moslems, there is one whose symbol is the mystic girdle, which they put on and off seven times, saying:

J

TIE up greediness and unbind generosity;

I tie up anger and unbind meekness;

I tie up avarice and unbind piety;

I tie up ignorance and unbind the fear of God;

I tie up passion and unbind the love of God;

I tie up hunger (after luxuries) and unbind contentment;
I tie up satanism and unbind divineness.

IX.

BOD

Soul-Liberty.

I delight to do Thy will, O God, yea, Thy Law is within my heart.-Psalm xl. 8.

OD has granted no monopoly in mental freedom. Men of all sects, all schools, all churches, all systems may possess it, and, as a matter of fact, do possess it in greater or lesser measure. It is pure arrogance for any one class to claim it for themselves to the exclusion of all others. If a man holds on to the literal inspiration of his Bible, simply because his reason gives her glad and willing assent to the inherited belief, is he, on that ground, less free in his mind than he who rejects it, often from mere wantonness? If the Jew still bears "the Yoke of the Law," with all its rabbinical accumulations and "fencings round it”—if he does so

in singleness of heart-does he, therefore, cease to enjoy that liberty of soul which is still his, who has cast off the yoke simply because the restrictions inconvenienced him? It is not the what of our beliefs or unbeliefs, but the why and the wherefore, that makes the difference between bond and free. The savage is not hampered by any sense of obligation; shall we, therefore, call him the ideal of soul-liberty?

S earth's pageant passes by,

Let reflection turn thine eye

Inward, and observe Thy breast;

There alone dwells solid rest.

That's a closed immured tower,

Which can mock all hostile power;

To thyself a tenant be,

And inhabit safe and free.

G. G.

X.

Control and Cleanliness.

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Learn to do good.-Isaiah i. 16.

NE of the objects of the perfect Law is to make man reject, disregard, and reduce his desires as much as possible. For it is well known that intemperate indulgence of our appetites hinders the ulterior perfection of man, impedes his development, disturbs the social order of the country, and the economy of the family; it causes