only he begins to form himself into the symmetrical figure of a man;
and to become perfect after the manner in which the Heavenly Father is
perfect.

The virtues all lock into each other. They cannot stand alone. Like the
stones of an arch, no one of them can be wanting without making all the
rest insecure. That Character alone is trustworthy in which each virtue
takes its relative position, and all are held in place and confirmed by
the key-stone of a living faith in the great central fact, that there is
a God of infinite goodness and truth, whose commandments are the laws of
life in this world and the world to come.

We cannot religiously obey one commandment unless we desire to obey all,
because in order to obey one religiously we must obey it from reverence
to the divine authority whence it emanates; and when such reverence is
aroused in the heart, it sends the currents of spiritual life to every
member of the spiritual frame, permeating the whole being, and suffering
no disease to remain upon the soul. He, therefore, who devotes himself
to some one object of reform enters upon an undertaking involving one
of the most subtle temptations by which man is ever assailed. Spiritual
pride will lie in wait for him every moment, telling him how clean he is
compared with those against whose vices he is contending; and unless
he is very strong in Christian humility, he will soon learn this
oft-repeated lesson, and will go about the world with the spirit of the
Pharisee's prayer ever in his heart,--"God, I thank thee that I am not
as other men, intemperate, a slaveholder, a contemner of the rights of
the weak. I am not, like many men, contented with fulfilling the common,
every-day duties of life. They are too small for me. I seek to do great
things; and to show my devotion to thee by going armed with all the
power the law allows, to put down vice by force, and drive it from the