Brotherly Love.

shalt love thy neighbour as thyself . Love worketh no ill to his neighbour : therefore love is the fulfilling of the law " ( Romans viii ., 8-10 ) . The whole of the Apostle ' s precepts in the Ep istle to the Romans , and in the Eirst Epistle to the Corinthians ,

concerning tenderness towards weak brethren , and the abstaining on their account , from things otherwise lawful are founded on this great law of love or charity . It were easy to multiply quotations from his writings , but we refrain , adding only this one verse from the Epistle to the

Galatians , " Bear ye one another s burdens , and so fulfil the lawof Christ" ( Galatians vi ., 2 ); and this from the Epistle to the Ephesians , " Let all bitterness , and wrath , and anger , and clamour , and evil speaking , be put away from you , with all malice : And be ye kind one to another , tender hearted ,

forgiving one another , even as God . for Christ's sake hath forgiven yon" ( Ephesians iv ., 31 , 32 ) . Erom the Epistles of Peter we adduce only one sentence , the exhortatation , " Love as brethren , be pitiful , be courteous : Not rendering evil for evil , or railing for railing , but contrariwise blessing" ( 1 Peter iii ., 8 , 9 ) . We see how

the Scriptures of the New Testament are full of the inculcation and praise of brotherly love , and that there is no discordance between one writer and another , but in this they are perfectly and evidently at one . Let us turn now to the Old Testament ; we shall find there the same doctrine , the

same . law . And this accords with the saying of our Lord when He stated the love of God to be the first and great commandment , and the second " like unto it" to be "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself , "— " On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets "

( Matthew xxii ., 37-40 ) . Here also we find in part at least an explanation of the statements of the Apostle John—at first sight somewhat paradoxical— " Brethren I write no new commandment unto you , but the old commandment , which ye heard from the beginning . The old commandment is

the word which ye have heard from the beginning . Again , a new commandment I write nnto you , which thing is true in Him and you ; because the darkness is past , and the true light now shineth " ( 1 John ii ., 7 , 8 ) . The love of the brethren in immediate connection with which these things are said , was indeed the . law of

the older dispensation , but was now set forth in a clearer light , and with a new reason for it , even the love displayed by Jesus Himself , according to His own words : " A new commandment I give unto you , That ye love one another " ( John xiii ., 34 ) .

We may begin our examination of the Old Testament Scriptures with the 133 rd Psalm . The whole Psalm relates to our subject , and to it alone . "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in

unity . It is like the . precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard , even Aaron ' s beard : that went down to the skirts of his garments : As the dew of Hermon , and as the dew thatdescended on the Mountains of Zion , for there the Lord commanded the blessing , even life for evermore . "

The exquisite beauty of this Psalm is not perceived by the reader who does not take account of , and fully understand , its reference to the peculiar rites and solemnities of the Jewish dispensation . The " precious ointment upon the head , that

ran down upon the beard , even Aaron ' s beard , that went down to the skirts of his garments , " is the holy anointing oil used at the consecration of Aaron to his office as high priest , to which the Jews were forbiddenunder the highest penaltiesto

, , make anything similar for any ordinary use . ( Exodus xxx . , 32 , 33 . ) In this Psalm therefore brotherl y love is connected with all that was most sacred in the estimation of the Jews , as well as with the beauties of nature . The abundance of the holy

^ oil is strikingly significant . It " ran down upon the beard , even Aaron ' s beard , " and " went down to the skirts of his garments , " even as the dew of Hermon falls in abundance gladdening the pasturesand making

, them fruitful . So brotherly love produces joy wherever it extends , and the more that it prevails , ' the greater is the benefit .

" Let us turn back to the Law . of Moses , and see how brotherl y love is there inculcated . In Leviticus xix ., 17 , we find these words : "Thou shalt not hate thy brother hi thine heart : thou shalt in any wise rebuke thyneighbour , and not suffer sin npon him "—words which enjoin one of the greatest , most difficult , and most neglected duties of brotherly love . The