There is a debt of mercy and pity, of charity and compassion, of relief and succor due to human nature, and payable from one man to another; and such as deny to pay it the distressed in the time of their abundance may justly expect it will be denied themselves in a time of want.  “With what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again.”—­Burkitt.

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.—­Seneca.

As the purse is emptied the heart is filled.—­Victor Hugo.

Then gently scan your brother man,
Still gentler, sister woman;
Though they may gang a kennin’ wrang,
To step aside is human. 
—­Burns.

Cheerfulness.—­Cheerfulness is full of significance:  it suggests good health, a clear conscience, and a soul at peace with all human nature.—­Charles Kingsley.

As in our lives so also in our studies, it is most becoming and most wise, so to temper gravity with cheerfulness, that the former may not imbue our minds with melancholy, nor the latter degenerate into licentiousness.—­Pliny.

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:  but a broken spirit drieth the bones.—­Proverbs 17:22.

Be of good cheer.—­John 16:33.

The mind that is cheerful in its present state, will be averse to all solicitude as to the future, and will meet the bitter occurrences of life with a placid smile.—­Horace.

An ounce of cheerfulness is worth a pound of sadness to serve God with.—­Fuller.

If good people would but make their goodness agreeable, and smile instead of frowning in their virtue, how many would they win to the good cause!—­Archbishop Usher.

Between levity and cheerfulness there is a wide distinction; and the mind which is most open to levity is frequently a stranger to cheerfulness.—­Blair.

You find yourself refreshed by the presence of cheerful people.  Why not make earnest effort to confer that pleasure on others?  You will find half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say anything gloomy.—­Mrs. L.M.  Child.

Inner sunshine warms not only the heart of the owner, but all who come in contact with it.—­J.T.  Fields.

The way to cheerfulness is to keep our bodies in exercise and our minds at ease.—­Steele.

Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never happen.—­Lowell.

A cheerful temper, joined with innocence, will make beauty attractive, knowledge delightful and wit good-natured.  It will lighten sickness, poverty and affliction, convert ignorance into an amiable simplicity, and render deformity itself agreeable.—­Addison.

Children.—­If I were to choose among all gifts and qualities that which, on the whole, makes life pleasantest, I should select the love of children.  No circumstance can render this world wholly a solitude to one who has this possession.—­T.W.  Higginson.