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affection of the child toward its parent should be the life of its
opening mind. The mere logic of religion, Sunday schools and teachers,
may supply one day out of seven; but to animate that logic and make it a
practical thing, a faith instead of a belief, it must be made concrete
and living in the loving life of home. In this case no one does the duty
or assumes the responsibility of the parent.
Our duty to our fellow men is not charity as we use the word--a bill
dropped into the contribution box, or a subscription to a charitable
society; but [Greek: charis] in the old meaning of love and help.
Poverty springs from two causes--improvidence, a lack of the
_savoir-faire_ in the affairs of life, or overwhelming circumstances,
which have broken the spirit of the man and made him sit down
discouraged and despairing. In either case, money is no remedy. If the
man be improvident, it only helps the evil for a moment, and the want
soon returns: what the man needs is instruction and care from those
better versed in the art of living. And in the second case, to give
money is no avail, but rather an evil; for instead of thus recognizing
his degradation, the man needs encouragement, the enthusiasm of a strong
and successful heart, giving life and light to him who thus sits in
darkness. This demands the time and careful thought of every man, or the
duty is left undone. Charitable institutions are well enough: the only
error is in supposing that they can assume the responsibility of the
individual. 'This ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other
undone.'
Our country cannot be left to politicians, for its first great demand is
the careful thought of every man in the direction of its affairs; and
this, no single man or class of men can supply. The action of Government
should be conditioned by the needs of the people, and these can be known
only by the people themselves. It is for every man, therefore, to keep
an earnest and heedful eye to his own needs and the wants of those about
him, if the _vox populi_ would be _vox Dei_, the utterance of God's
truth; otherwise the opinion of the people will be the voice of
demagogues, which is as far as possible from the voice of God. Another
need is that of continual watchfulness, lest the country be defrauded,
or its rulers become corrupt. No class of men can be appointed as
watchmen, lest they also go in the same way: but it is the unalienable
duty of the whole people. When th
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