The articles in this number on the works of mercy take the necessity of these works as axiomatic, as something so self-evident that it would be tedious to labour it. In this, surely, they are true to the spirit of St Vincent de Paul, who is the subject of the next article, by a Vincentian father, in honour of his tercentenary. The gospels leave us in no doubt at all about the Christian obligation of almsgiving—of'giving mercy'; all that the practical Christian is concerned to discuss is the matter of ways and means.

Yet a little ‘theory', perhaps, may be useful in order to put this very practical, down-to-earth obligation in its full context of the Christian life. Why is almsgiving such a strict and universal duty? Because it is the acid test of charity. ‘If anyone says “I love God”, and hates his brother, he is a liar’ (I John iv, 20).