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in other words, the entire neighbourhood has but one eye as to this matter. This eye seems to be possessed of a sort of omnipresence, and so the curious fact is explained. What I am saying applies quite as truly to the poor as to the rich-it applies to all ranks and conditions, in all countries. Why is it that John Silly, the joiner, thinks it a capital thing to go to the Red Lion to buy a headache with the money for which he has been working hard all day? Because Tom Stupid does the same thing: Tom Stupid does it because John Silly does it, and John Silly does it because Tom Stupid does it; and each does it really because he does not look at the matter with his own eyes. The fact is, neither of them has any eyes, because each has given his own to the other. Why does Jemima Vain, the housemaid, spend her money with the hawker on a silk dress which is not worth the making up, when her boots are in holes, and her under-clothing perhaps in rags? Why, because Angelina Gaudy, the cook, does the same thing; and they do it because others, equally foolish, do it; and because they think their young men will like it. And what does it all come to? Not one of them uses her own eyes, for if she did she would see the intense folly of the thing. Again: why is it that Mrs. Brown, of The Turnips, plagues her hard-working husband till she gets curtains, or some other article of furniture or clothing, like that which Mrs. Jones has, who lives at The Carrots? not because she has really looked at the thing for herself, and deliberately judged it to be good and desirable, but because she thinks it the proper thing to have what Mrs. Jones has; or at all events thinks it nice to be admired as Mrs. Jones is admired. In other words, she falls into the common fault of not using her own eyes. If space allowed, I could give many other illustrations, but all can supply them for themselves. I suppose no one would call in question the correctness of what I have just said; and yet, singularly enough, you cannot offend the majority of people more than by showing them that you think them lacking either in the power or habit of independent judgment. "What, do you think I cannot judge for myself?" they will tartly reply. Mrs. Brown, and Jemima Vain, and John Silly, would all alike repudiate with indignation the insinuation that they were so much under the influence of Mrs. Jones, or Angelina Gaudy, or Tom Stupid. O, wonderful human nature! And as that once-noted American writer, Artemus Ward, admirably remarks, "There is a great deal of human nature in all of us!" There is not a single one of us that does not like to be looked upon as very independent in his judgments and ideas. All that I have said applies with, perhaps, special force to religious matters. Every one of us ought to look at these with his own eyes; very few of us do so; and yet I believe there are few who do not talk as though they did. We are not consistent Protestants unless we do; for one of our fundamental principles is that of "private judgment," and private judgment is a mere farce unless we use our own eyes. Inasmuch, therefore, as too many of us fail in this matter, we are very inconsistent Protestants; nay, more, seeing that whilst not doing so in reality, we pretend to do so, we are not only inconsistent but pretentious and self-deluded Protestants. If

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space allowed, I could give you many examples of this inconsistency and self-delusion. I will just refer to one: Years ago a gentleman whom I knew very well, one day met another, who, after a few introductory remarks on that favourite theme, the weather, said to him: "I hear you have taken up with neologian views." "Indeed," replied my friend, "indeed, who told you so ?" "Never mind," said he; "just answer me this question, is it true?" After that good quaker fashion of answering one question by asking another, my friend retorted: "I will answer your question if you will first answer one I shall put to you." "Well," said he, Well, I will see; what is it?" "What do you mean by neologian views ?” "Why," answered he, "Why I mean by neologian views: I mean, I mean, why I mean neologian views." Having given this very luminous response, he looked at his watch, and found it was time for him to be going on his way. Now, do you think this gentleman had been using his own eyes? Certainly not; if he had he would either have known what to answer, or would have refrained from using words of whose meaning he was totally ignorant. If there is any class that needs to see with their own eyes, it is clearly the teaching class-especially those teachers whose subject is religion; for there is no subject so important as religion; mistakes are nowhere so sad and melancholy as there; nowhere, therefore, should a man be more careful to use his own eyesight than in religion, and that both for his own sake and for the sake of others. There is no exception to the rule. We are all, in some sense, teachers of others. Do we know what we are teaching our pupils? Are we sure we have really looked at it with our own eyes? Suppose we had to feed them with bodily food, I suspect we should look at their bread to see whether it were adulterated with alum, or potatoes, or whitening; and at their milk to see whether it were half or merely one quarter water, and so on. We should not-at least I hope we should not, though a good many probably do—take for granted all was right; and, therefore, we should examine. Now, what are we doing with their intellectual and spiritual food? Do we look at it with our own eyes before we give it? or are we content to regard it as the Rev. Jacob Longwindy, or the Rev. Tobias Stronglungs, has looked at it? If we are in the latter case, I do not see how we can justify ourselves. But now I dare say some of my readers would like to ask, as my friend asked his accuser-"What do you mean by looking at things with one's own eyes?" I have taken up so much space with the rambling remarks already made, that I shall not be able to give a full answer to the question; but at all events, I will try not to do as the gentleman did to whom I have alluded. I shall do my best to tell you how, as it seems to me, a person ought to go to work who wishes really to see any point with his or her own eyes. The first thing necessary is to fix it. Take fast hold of it; put it in a vice, so that it may not shake about, and move up and down, to and fro. In doing this, many find it helpful to take their head between their hands, and by squeezing their head and using their hands as blinkers, they manage to fix in some measure the point before them. The next requisite is to separate it carefully from what surrounds, or precedes, or follows it. As

But if we want to see for ourselves

long as we let things run into each other, we cannot possibly look at them fairly. If my reader should ever have the chance, let him note the different procedure of a professional buyer and of a lady customer. The lady customer too often looks at a whole quantity of things together. The professional buyer takes each by itself apart, and goes away with it to the light; in a word, he separates it from the rest. A further need is to analyse it into its parts. Take it to pieces, if necessary, word by word, clause by clause. I might here again refer to a good buyer. He cannot of course take the goods to pieces, but he does the next best thing to it. For example, if he be purchasing cotton goods, he pulls out a little magnifying glass, with a square below it, and counts the threads; or if he have cloth before him he gives it the peculiar snip, so familiar to tailors. So must we do. We may find it at first a tedious process; but it will pay us well to go through it, and after a time we shall be able to see almost at a glance. The next thing to be done is carefully to define the sense of each part. There is little use in taking a thing to pieces unless we are able to tell what each piece is. We might as well save ourselves the pains. we must take this trouble. It would be well for us always to have a dictionary by our side. Many of us have no idea what vague notions would in this way get dispelled, and how much conceit we should thus be able to knock out of our own heads; in other words, how we should begin to see with our own eyes. And lastly, we must put all our pieces together again in order that we may understand their relations to each other. Perhaps this is the most difficult part of our task, but it is necessary. It is easy to pull a puzzle to pieces; it is pretty easy to look at its separate parts, but the real work is to put it together again. When we have done that we know all about it, we really see it with our own eyes, and are not using those of other people. I should like now, if it were possible, to convert my readers into a large class, and taking up some point or other, to ask one and another to perform the operations I have described. But I am afraid they would be too shy to answer my questions, or too shame-faced, too afraid to show their ignorance! And there's the difficulty. People do so much dislike to acknowledge that they are ignorant or fallible. Everybody likes to be looked up to as a sort of small Pope, and if he or she has a circle of admiring male or female friends that laugh when they laugh, or shake their heads when they shake their heads, or look solemn when they pull a long face, and accept all their utterances as oracles, then the infallibility is as settled as though it had been pronounced by a Council. In this case one would fain reverse Burns' wish and say—

"O wad some power the giftie gie us,

To see ourselves as others dunnut see us."

But to conclude: do let us use our own eyes. There are things enough to be seen, there is light enough to see them by. Eyes have been given. us; let us use them, then, and if we do, depend upon it we shall soon have something of our own to tell, and shall attain to the goal of most men's longings-the being an original thinker and an interesting companion.

DELTA.

COGITANDA.—II.

I.

There's one thing more lovely than love;
More beautiful even than beauty;

A pleasure all pleasures above-
The faithful discharging of duty.

II.

All men for freedom loudly cry;

What freedom is but few can name;

For most to others will deny

What for themselves they proudly claim.

III.

Our needs are few, but many are our wants,
And measureless desire our being tries:

But God, for wisest purpose, often grants

What least we wish; what most we ask denies.

IV.

Though all the world should empty seem,

And all thy life a failure be,

Despair not; keep thy hope supreme,

In thinking of eternity.

V.

O happy heart, which ne'er by doubt was torn,
Whose childlike faith has never lost its bloom;
Look not with haste, with anger, or with scorn,
Upon thy brother struggling in the gloom.

But brother-like stretch forth a helping hand;
With loving words his painful efforts cheer;
Reveal the splendours on life's other strand,
The glorious goal which is for ever near.

VI.

Work for the many, and the end will be
That in life's noblest things you help the few;
Work for the few, and such is Fate's decree,

That e'en the few are little helped by you.

VII.

Purse-proud, you need not hold your head so high!
The world is mine as well as thine;

Your gold can only what is gold's worth buy,
While my possessions are divine.

VIII.

The loveliest thing on earth is children's play,
So innocent, spontaneous, bright;

O blessed is the man, whose hairs are grey,
Who still in childhood's games can find delight!

IX.

By prayer, hope, courage, fortitude are wrought;
But foolish they who all on prayer rely;

The great old Puritan this lesson taught-
Trust in the Lord, but keep your powder dry.

X.

Work with the Lord, or all in vain you pray;
Keep clean the heart, or sins will nestle there;
Foul places cleanse, or fevers still will slay
Your best-beloved in spite of ceaseless prayer.

XI.

With many rules bind not the soul,

Nor e'er the slave of habit be;

Bow only to the high control

Of truth and right, with conscience free.

XII.

Hide not thy light! Of what's been given, give;
Though but a little taper, it may shed

Some rays on those who still in darkness live,
Whose steps, henceforth, may be divinely led.

XIII.

With patience still thy burden bear,

Though great the load, and rough the way; He conquers who can wait and dare,

Nor fears the end, be what it may.

XIV.

Impute not motives; freely take the good,
Nor scan too closely why the good is done;
The hungry never quarrel with their food,
But eat and are content; so life is won.

XV.

Count up your stores, and I will count up mine;
Let gold and gems be yours to vaunt and prize;
I've rarer treasures: poesy divine,

And harvests garnered by the good and wise.

J. A. L.

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