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allowed to exercise your power of benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and per: fect. All good acts tend to make us pure and perfect. What can we do at best? Build a hospital, make roads, or erect charity asylums ! We may or: ganize a charity and collect two or three millions of dollars, build a hospital with one million, with the second give balls and drink champagne, and of the third let the officers steal half, and leave the rest finally to reach the poor; but what are all these ? One mighty wind, in five minutes can break all your buildings up. Włat shall we do then? One volcanic eruption may sweep away all our roads and hospitals and cities and buildings. Let us give up all this foolish talk of doing good to the world. It is not waiting for your or' my help; yet we must work and constantly do good, because it is a blessing to ourselves. That is the only way we can become perfect. No beggar whom we have helped has ever owed a single cent to us; We owe everything to him, because he has allowed us to exercise our powers of piety and pity and
