He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.— Luke 16:10. 



MYSELF AND MY NEIGHBORS. 



Blessotl are the pui 

 God.— Matt. 5:S. 



c ill heart, for thej- shall see 



DO not believe it is, as a general thing, 

 a good plan to visit our neigVibors on 

 Sunday ; but there is one kind of Sun- 

 day visiting tliat I have been doing for 

 ten years or more, and I have been so 

 greatly blessed in this kind of Sunday visit- 

 ing that I like to talk about it. It is visiting 

 the inmates of our county jail. A few days 

 ago I was told that a young man had got in- 

 to our jail, perhaps to stay many months. I 

 found him in his cell, lying on his bed, sick. 

 1 at once thought of the text, '• I was sick, 

 and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and ye 

 came unto me.'' As soon as he put out his 

 hand to me and smiled, something flashed 

 across my mind that I had seen him before, 

 lie was quite a good-looking young man, 

 dark eyes, and pearly -white teeth that 

 showed plainly when he laughed. Where 

 had I seen him ? Years ago he used to 

 come to our Abi)yville Sabbath-school, so he 

 told me. He was then but a boy, but now 

 he was a man— sick, and in prison, llis 

 temperament was one of those pecidiarly 

 happy ones : it is natural for him to be 

 pleased at all times with every thing. He 

 seems to be one of those individuals who see 

 something to be laughed at in almost every 

 feature of human life. Poor Henry ! I am 

 afraid, although he did not tell me so direct- 

 ly, that this boiling-over good nature of his 

 — this exuberance of fun, had something to 

 do with his getting into prison. Do you 

 think it strange that a happy disposition can 



be dangerous ? Well.' it ;> a little strange, 

 my young friends, but I am afraid it is nev- 

 ertheless true. Henry's pleasing ways, to- 

 gether with his good looks, I am inclined to 

 think, made him a general favorite; and as 

 he grew toward manhood he got to be a fa- 

 vorite with women-kind as well as men, and 

 this brought him to prison. I can not well 

 explain tlie details before our juvenile read- 

 ers here, but I may say this : He had just got 



I married to one woman, when, according to 

 the laws of our land, and the laws of God, 

 he should have been married to another 

 woman. I can easily imagine that a dispo- 

 sition like his might lead him into such 

 troubles. I presume likely. he was'easily^in- 

 tluenced, and may. be he was coaxed into 

 something he knew he ought not to do. He 

 was tempted, and gave way to temptation. 

 Had he held fast to the little text at the 

 head of our chapter, and declared in his in- 

 most heart that he would be honest in his 

 heai-t toward God and his fellow-man, no 

 matter what sacrifice he was called upon to 

 make to keep this i)urity, he would liave 



I been spared this trouble. His natural dis- 

 position is to be pleasant and good natured, 

 and he would do almost any thing for the 

 sake of pleasantness and peace— at least, 

 this is my impression of fhim. But on my 

 second visit, he seemed cast down and dis- 

 couraged, and in much of a fault-thiding 

 frame of mind. He had sent for'a doctor, 

 but the doctor did not come, and he was 

 sulfering, no doubt, severely. The doctor 

 did not come— nobody came. He even be- 

 gan to complain of his own brothei", and of 

 his nearest friends. He felt much inclined 



