much.— Luke 16: 



MYSELF AND MY NEIGHBORS. 



WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?— LUKE 10:29. 



The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.— 

 I. John 1: 7. 



«S I sit down this morning to write about 

 my neighbors, I am tired somewhat. 

 Do you know why ? Well, I got up 

 very early this morning, long before 

 daylight, and walked 7 miles on the 

 railroad track to reach the train that was to 

 take me home so as to be on hand for my 

 work.- I enjoyed the walk, however, even if 

 it did make me tired. The beautiful morn- 

 ing star that is seen nowadays when you get 

 up early enough was right up before me. and 

 a little while after the east was suffused 

 with a rosy glow, heralding tlie rising of the 

 sun. For some time I did not meet anybody ; 

 but pretty soon 1 saw a man in a lot, with 

 a halter, pr()bal)ly after his horse. 1 wanted 

 to aslv him how far it was to the station, and 

 tlien I began wondering how I should ad- 

 dress liim. I might liave said, '• Good morn- 

 ings sir;" or instead of "sir" I might have 

 said '' friend ;" but some way it seemed as if 

 the best way to call him would be " neigh- 

 bor." I have a good deal to say about 

 neighbors, you know ; and, come to think of 

 it, I am thinking a good deal about neigh- 

 bors these days. So 1 said, " Good morning, 

 neighbor." I then asked him the distance, 

 and he replied in a very friendly and neigh- 

 borly way. 



Pretty soon I met a man Avith a diiuier- 

 pail in his hand, and he looked as if he 

 worked on the track. I called him neighbor 

 too, and he was very polite and courteous. 



Does it really hinder a man from being a 

 neighbor because he has mud on his clothes, 

 or because he is a foreigner, and inieducated? 



A mile or two further on was a man sit- 

 ting on the track, smoking a pipe. Now, I 

 do not like pipes, you know, and I am dead 

 set against tobacco ; but for all that, I felt 

 that I could call him neighbor with as clear 

 a conscience as any of the others, and I do 

 not know but more so, for he Avas a neighbor 

 who, it seemed to me, was wasting his mon- 

 ey, probably injuring his health, and pretty 

 certainly setting a bad example. I felt 

 drawn toward him more than I did the oth- 

 ers, perhaps, for I felt anxious about him. 

 There was not time for me to speak and talk 

 with him about tobacco, even if that had 

 been the thing to do. But there was time to 

 let him know I felt kindly and neighborly 

 toward him, even though our opinions might 

 have been a good deal different on many 

 subjects. He, too, seemed to show by his 

 words and looks that he felt kindly and 

 neighborly toward myself. 



May be you woidd like to know how I 

 came so far away from home between four 

 and five o'clock in the morning. Well, I had 

 been to a great political meeting. Did you 

 think I never liad any thing to do with poli- 

 tics? Well, I have iiot had very much, but 

 I begin to think I ought to have more. I 

 went to hear a great' man speak, and I was 

 very glad iii(le(Ml tliat I did hear him speak, 

 for he tauglit me many things, and made me 

 feel how small a man I was, and how little I 

 knew of tlKMuachinery of this great nation 

 of ours. 1 told you he was a great man ; he 

 i is, In fact, a candidate for the presidential 



