Lesson:

1. To act with integrity and good faith was such a habit with Susan that she had never before thought of examining the Golden Rule: 'All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.' But the longer she reflected upon it, the stronger was her conviction that she did not always obey the precept; at length, she appealed to her mother for its meaning.


2. 'It implies' said her mother, 'in the first place, a total destruction of all selfishness: for a man who loves himself better than his neighbors, can never do to others as he would have others do to him. We are bound not only to do, but to feel, toward others as we would have others feel toward us. Remember, it is much easier to reprove the sin of others than to overcome temptation when it assails ourselves.


3. 'A man may be perfectly honest and yet very selfish; but the command implies something more than mere honesty; it requires charity as well as integrity. The meaning of the command is fully explained in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Levite, who passed by the wounded man without offering him assistance, may have been a man of great honesty; but he did not do unto the poor stranger as he would have wished others to do unto him.'


4. Susan pondered carefully and seriously on what her mother had said. When she thought over her past conduct, a blush of shame crept to her cheeks, and a look of sorrow into her eyes, as many little acts of selfishness and unkindness came back to her memory. She resolved that for the future, both in great things and small, she would remember and follow the Golden Rule.


5. It was not long after this that an opportunity occurred of trying Susan's principles. One Saturday evening when she went, as usual, to farmer Thompson's inn, to receive the price of her mother's washing for the boarders, which amounted to five dollars, she found the farmer in the stable yard.


6. He was apparently in a terrible rage with some horse dealers with whom he had been bargaining. He held in his hand an open pocketbook, full of bills; and scarcely noticing the child as she made her request, except to swear at her, as usual, for troubling him when he was busy, he handed her a bank note.


7. Glad to escape so easily, Susan hurried out of the gate, and then, pausing to pin the money safely in the folds of her shawl, she discovered that he had given her two bills instead of one. She looked around; nobody was near to share her discovery; and her first impulse was joy at the unexpected prize.


8. 'It is mine, all mine,' said she to herself; 'I will buy mother a new cloak with it, and she can give her old one to sister Mary, and then Mary can go to the Sunday school with me next winter. I wonder if it will not buy a pair of shoes for brother Tom, too.'


9. At that moment she remembered that he must have given it to her by mistake; and therefore she had no right to it. But again the voice of the tempter whispered, 'He gave it, and how do you know that he did not intend to make you a present of it? Keep it; he will never know it, even if it should be a mistake; for he had too many such bills in that great pocketbook to miss one.'


10. While this conflict was going on in her mind between good and evil, she was hurrying homeward as fast as possible. Yet, before she came in sight of her home, she had repeatedly balanced the comforts which the money would buy against the sin of wronging her neighbor.


11. As she crossed the little bridge over the narrow creek before her mother's door, her eye fell upon a rustic seat which they had occupied during the conversation I have before narrated. Instantly the words of Scripture, 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them' sounded in her ears like a trumpet.


12. Turning suddenly round, as if flying from some unseen peril, the child hastened along the road with breathless speed until she found herself once more at farmer Thompson's gate. 'What do you want now?' asked the gruff old fellow, as he saw her again at his side.


13. 'Sir, you paid me two bills, instead of one' said she, trembling in every limb. 'Two bills? did I? let me see; well, so I did; but did you just find it out? Why did you not bring it back sooner?' Susan blushed and hung her head.


14. 'You wanted to keep it, I suppose,' said he. 'Well, I am glad your mother was more honest than you, or I should have been five dollars poorer and none the wiser.' 'My mother knows nothing about it, sir,' said Susan; 'I brought it back before I went home.'


15. The old man looked at the child, and, as he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks, he seemed touched by her distress. Putting his hand in his pocket, he drew out a shilling and offered it to her.


16. 'No, sir, I thank you,' sobbed she; 'I do not want to be paid for doing right; I only wish you would not think me dishonest, for, indeed, it was a sore temptation. Oh! sir, if you had ever seen those you love best wanting the common comforts of life, you would know how hard it is for us always to do unto others as we would have others do unto us.'


17. The heart of the selfish man was touched. 'There the things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise,' murmured he, as he bade the little girl good night, and entered his house a sadder, and, it is to be hoped, a better man. Susan returned to her humble home with a lightened heart, and through the course of a long and useful life she never forgot her first temptation.





DEFINITIONS


1. Integrity: Honesty, uprightness.


1. Conviction: Strong belief.


1. Appealed: Referred to.


2. Temptation: That which has a tendency to induce one to do wrong.


2. Assails: Attacks.


10. Conflict: Struggle.


10. Balanced: Weighed, compared.


12. Gruff: Rough.


17. Murmured: Spoke in a low voice.


17. Lightened: Made cheerful or lighter.





EXERCISES


1. What is the Golden Rule?


2. What does the Golden Rule imply?


3. Can a man be perfectly honest and still not follow the Golden Rule?


4. What parable is a perfect illustration of its meaning?


5. How was Susan tempted?


6. What did she first think of doing?


7. What changed her intention?


8. Relate what happened when she returned the money.


9. What effect did her action have?