CHRIST AS A HUMANE TEACHER 65 



mankind to forgive offenses, to commiserate sor- 

 row, and relieve suffering. He commands us to 

 imitate the conduct of the charitable Samaritan, to 

 pity the distress even of an enemy, and to exert our 

 best endeavors for the relief of all suffering. 



If we know nothing of the compassion of Jesus, 

 we know nothing of what true compassion is, or of 

 how it has been perfectly and affectionately dis- 

 played. 



We love and admire the person who pities and 

 helps the afflicted, the distressed, the suffering. 

 We think with delight and exultation of the 

 tender and deep compassion of a Howard, a Brain- 

 ard, an Elliot, a Nightingale, a Bergh, a Cobbe, an 

 Angell, a Colam, and many others whose names are 

 justly inscribed on the pages of philanthropy. 

 They have been bright ornaments of humanity and 

 friends to the sorrowful and oppressed. 



But a far more compassionate personage than 

 any of these, or any human being, was the Saviour 

 of the world who set the example for all mankind. 

 This ready and benevolent tendency of His nature, 

 to pity and relieve the miserable, was one of 

 the loveliest features in the character of our 

 Saviour. 



