How to be Able [pp. 334-336]

How To BE ABLE.
was a mountain; One who wvent about doing
goodl, and who gave his life a ransom for many.
Thus hle did think and speak of his duty, and
he thought he meant to do it.
About the time the elderly man, without any
overcoaIt, reachled his forlorn dwelling, this dclisciple sprang up the marble steps of a palace on
avenue, and just as a poor, sick-looking woman,
in a faded calico gown, greeted the wet and cold
pedestrian with the news that the fire had gone
out, and there was nothing left in the house
Ad itlh whichl to rekindle it, a lady clad in soft
raiment, flashing with jewels, and radiant with
smiles, glided dclown the broad stair-way, and
thrlou,lgh the fiurnace-heated hall with a imerry
welcome to the gentleman of the carriage. Ah,
poor broker! no wonder you can not afford ten
dollars to a sick and suffering man. Behold
these parlors! Hundreds of dollars wvent for
the lhangings of each window; hundreds more
for these mirrors; thousands for the furniture,
pictures, and ornaments. What are the jewvels
that flash so on these ladies, your wife and
dcaughters? Diamonds! as sure as deathmore than twenty diamonds. And they are
"only dressed for home." Well, very well.
Home should have the brightest things in the
house. And here is a French doll for the pet
of the household, little Blanchle, an adopted
diughter. It was right to adopt the pretty
creature; but is it right to bewilder and overload her xvithl all manner of luxuries? That
doll's outfit, Saratoga trunk and all, she wvould
never have thou,ght of desiring, and the price
of it would have made poor Mr. and IIMrs. Mason,
and their suffering lodger, comfortable for the
whole Winter.
"How is Chunder Sea?" asks the broker.
" I do n't know, pa," answers his wife. "I
do not keep account of the horses. You must
ask Chestnut."
Madam strikes the table gong.
"Send Chestnut here," orders the broker, as
a wvaiting-maid appears.
Chestnut, the coachman, comes and makes
his report, Nwhereby it appears that this poor
broker, wxho has to hire money and can not
afford to keep on helping people so much as he
has done, keeps six blooded horses, and three
or four carriages in his stables at the back of
his park. And if we look the whole length of
the parlors xve shall see that glass doors open
into a large conservatory, where is a beautiful
fountain in which are gold fish and xvater plants
growing, and shells and mosses, and where are
hundreds of magnificent plants, and orangetrees hanging full of yellow fruit.
A man who seems at home among these
things is moving about there, and by their talk,
when Chestnut presently joins him, we find that
he is the gardener of this poor broker, and that
there is a greenhouse on the place, where are
thousands of rare trees, and plants, and vines.
0, the poor broker! There he sits in brilliant
dressing-gowxn before the open fire, almost
buried in the luxuriant easy chair that his
daughters dlrewv for him to its accustomed place.
He has had his supperd-clinner, it is-and was
ever any other poor money-hir-er's face so
placil d?
Would it change any in its expression could
he hear the groan with which the sick man received word of the failure of his kind landlord's
effort in his behalf?
It would change, 0, fearfully! could he hear
what awaits him if hle takes counsel of selfishness and self-indulgence too far and too long,
as there are many signs that hle has already
done. For if he was one of the true followers
of the Master would hle not better know how
to be able to do good as hle has "opportunity?"
Of course a man can not be able to help others
when he spends all he can get on himself and
his family. The way to be able to do good, to
carry ever an open, kindly hand, is to "mind
not high things, but condescend to them of low
estate"-is to "deny self" and live far xwithin
one's means. Doing this there will be no need
of hiring money at ruinous rates, and there
will always be something to give to him that
has need; and there will then be no danger of
hearing at the last, "Inasmuch as ye did it not
unto the least of these my disciples, ye did it
not unto me," and, " In thy life-time thou hadst
thy good things." If people would faithfully
lay aside even one-tenthl of all their increase
for the Lord and his poor, they would generally
have something to do for the needy with,
whether they had any thing for themselves or
not.
"You must be rich," said a villager to a
stranger in the place, "you are always giving
away to the poor, and you could n't if you were
not rich." Tile speaker was worth her thlousands the one she addressed owned just one
hundred dollars in the world; but while tlhe
first held tight all her money and felt poor, the
second always set off a tenth part of every
dollar she earned for the Lord; that is, for the
poor. Thus it happened, not unfrequently, that
she was ready to give, when those ten times
richer were not, and wxhen she had not a cent
left of her part of her earnings.
Whether it is right for any man to live in the
style kept up by the broker we can not decide;
but it certainly is not right if the doing so
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