iness is not akin with levity, nor is it one with light-minded
mirth. It springs from the deeper fountains of the soul, and is not
infrequently accompanied by tears. Have you never been so happy that you
have had to weep? I have." From an article by the author, _Improvement
Era_, vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 172, 173.

3. Salt of the Earth.--Dummelow's _Commentary_, on Matt. 5:13, states:
"Salt in Palestine, being gathered in an impure state, often undergoes
chemical changes by which its flavor is destroyed while its appearance
remains." Perhaps a reasonable interpretation of the expression, "if the
salt have lost his savor," may be suggested by the fact that salt mixed
with insoluble impurities may be dissolved out by moisture, leaving the
insoluble residue but slightly salty. The lesson of the Lord's
illustration is that spoiled salt is of no use as a preservative. The
corresponding passage in the sermon delivered by Jesus to the Nephites
after His resurrection reads: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give
unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its
savor, wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be
thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden
under foot of men." (3 Nephi 12:13.)

4. Reference to Publicans.--Observe that Matthew, who had been a
publican, frankly records this reference (5:46, 47) to his despized
class. Luke writes "sinners" instead of "publicans" (6:32-34). Of
course, if the accounts of the two writers refer to separate addresses
(see Note 1, above), both may be accurate. But we find Matthew's
designation of himself as a publican in his list of the apostles (10:3)
and the considerate omission of the unenviable title by the other
evangelists (Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15).

5. Relative Perfection.--Our Lord's admonition to men to become perfect,
even as the Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48) cannot rationally be
construed otherwise than as implying the possibility of such
achievement. Plainly, however, man cannot become perfect in mortality in
the sense in which God is perfect as a supremely glorified Being. It is
possible, though, for man to be perfect in his sphere in a sense
analogous to that in which superior intelligences are perfect in their
several spheres; yet the relative perfection of the lower is infinitely
inferior to that of the higher. A college student in his freshman or
sophomore year may be perfect as freshman or sophomore; his record may
possib