The officer recovered from his wounds; but he never forgot the kindness of that Confederate soldier.  And when the war was over, and he was engaged in his business again, he wrote to James Moore, telling him that he intended to send him the sum of ten thousand dollars in four quarterly installments of twenty-five hundred dollars each; and that he wished him to receive the same in token of the heartfelt gratitude with which his generous kindness on the battle-field was remembered.  Certainly these were two noble men.  It is hard to tell which was the more noble of the two.  But when the crippled soldier thought of the drink of water which he gave to the wounded officer, and of the ten thousand dollars which he received for the same, he must have felt how true our Saviour’s words were, when he said:  “Give, and it shall be given unto you.”  And he must have felt sure of the lesson we are now considering, that “Giving is God’s rule for getting.”

“The Secret of Success.”  Some time ago a Christian gentleman was visiting a large paper mill that belonged to a friend of his, who was a very rich man.  The owner of the mill took him all through it, and showed him the machinery, and told him how the paper was made.  When they were through the visitor said to his friend, “I have one question to ask you; and if you will answer it, I shall feel very much obliged to you.  I am told that you started in life very poor, and now you are one of the richest men in this part of the country.  My question is this:  will you please tell me the secret of your success in business?”

“I don’t know that there is any great secret about it,” said his friend, “but I will tell you all I know.  I got a situation, and began to work for my own living when I was only sixteen years old.  My wages, at first, were to be forty dollars a year, with my board and lodging.  My clothing and all my other expenses were to come out of the forty dollars.  I then made a solemn promise to the Lord that one-tenth of my wages, or four dollars out of the forty, should be faithfully laid aside to be given to the poor, or to some religious work.  This promise I kept religiously, and after laying aside one-tenth to give away, at the end of the year, besides meeting my expenses, I had more than a tenth left for myself.  I then made a vow that whatever it might please God to give me, I would never give less than one-tenth of my income to him.  This vow I have faithfully kept from that day to this.  If there be any secret to my success—­this is it.  Whatever I receive during the year, I feel sure that I am richer on nine-tenths of it, with God’s blessing, than I should be on the whole of it, without that blessing.  I believe that God has blessed me, and made my business prosper.  And I am sure that anyone who will make the trial of this secret of success, will find it work as it has done in my case.”

This man was certainly proving the truth of our Saviour’s words, when he said—­“Give, and it shall be given unto you.”  And his experience shows most satisfactorily that “giving is God’s rule for getting.”