The Parson here paused a moment, and his eye glanced toward the pew near the pulpit, where sat the magnate of Hazeldean. The Squire was leaning his chin thoughtfully on his hand, his brow inclined downward, and the natural glow of his complexion much heightened.
"But," resumed the Parson softly, without turning to his book, and rather as if prompted by the suggestion of the moment—"But he who has cultivated sympathy commits not these errors, or, if committing them, hastens to retract. So natural is sympathy to the good man, that he obeys it mechanically when he suffers his heart to be the monitor of his conscience. In this sympathy behold the bond between rich and poor! By this sympathy, whatever our varying worldly lots, they become what they were meant to be—exercises for the virtues more peculiar to each; and thus, if in the body each man bear his own burden, yet in the fellowship of the soul all have common relief in bearing the burdens of each other.
"This is the law of Christ—fulfill it, O my flock!"
Here the Parson closed his sermon, and the congregation bowed their heads.
(To be continued.)
FOOTNOTES:
[32] By the pounds Milanese, Giacomo means the Milanese lira.
[33] JEREMY TAYLOR—Of Christian Prudence. Part II.
[34] Ibid.