an apple tree.
Some one passing by, rudely accosted him with the inquiry, "Why do _you_
plant trees, who cannot hope to eat the fruit of them?" The old man
raised himself up, and leaning on his spade, replied, "Some one planted
trees before I was born, and I have eaten the fruit; I now plant for
others, that the memorial of my gratitude may exist when I am dead and
gone." It is a very narrow, selfish feeling that confines our views
within the circle of our own private interests. If man had been made to
live for himself alone, we may justly conclude that every one would have
been made by himself, and his bounds marked out, so that he might live
alone. But since God has made us to live in society, he designs that we
should be helpful to each other. The truly ingenuous, benevolent mind,
takes more pleasure in an act which will confer blessings upon others,
than in one that terminates on himself. The selfish man wraps himself in
his cloak, and cares not for the sufferings of others, so that he keeps
warm himself. This old man, however, remembered how much he was indebted
to those who had lived before him, and resolved to pay his debts. If we
would look around us, we should find ourselves indebted to others, on
every side, for the comforts which we now enjoy--first to God, and under
him, to those whom he has employed as his agents to give them to us.
Ought we not, then, to strive in some measure to repay these
obligations, by doing something to promote the happiness and well-being
of others? Who gave us the Gospel? The missionaries, who preached the
gospel to our Saxon ancestors, and the Reformers, who opened the
treasures of God's word, when they were hid under the rubbish of Popish
superstition. Ought we not, then, in return for this, to send the
blessed gospel to those who are now destitute? Who gave us our civil and
religious liberties? Our fathers who braved the ocean and the wilderness
to establish it, and the sword of the mother country to maintain it.
Ought we not, then, to transmit this precious boon to our posterity? And
so in whatever direction we look, we shall find some blessing for which
we are indebted to the noble generosity, public spirit, or christian
benevolence of others. Let us return the blessing, with interest, into
the bosom of others. Dr. Franklin, having done a favor to some one, and
being pressed with thanks, requested the person whom he had obliged to
embrace the first opportunity of doing a kindne