,,ffort of one me.y not secure e. jn~t jnrlgmont, lmt C11Ch individual must do his part. Th<'n the stain of inju~tice is not on his ~armcnts. II. At. IN,JURED PERflON MUllT KEEP cu;AR OF PERBONAI, ANIMOSITY IN THE PURSUIT o!' m~ RIGHTS. An illustration is given from the misfortune which may happen to his erwmy'~ ox. or e.ss (vel'!!. 4, 5). We must never forget that our enemy is also our nei~bhour. If e. me.n wrongs us, it does not ce.ncol that wrong to do him wrong in return. There is a corte.in appointed way of getting all such wrong put right, and if it cannot be put ri~ht in that way there is no othor to be found.,-no other at least so fN" a, human aid a,,ails. For a ma.n to see his enemy in this position, with ox or ass goLe astray or in any way needing help, is a capital chance for showing that no petty grud.gl actuates him in legal proceedings. He who is treated wrongly must seek for justice, but he will gladly hail the opportunity of showing that it is justice only that he seeks. It is often those who are most unyielding in the matter of right who are also most tender and a.~siduous in the matter of compassion. It is an easier thing through sentimental weakness to countenance a poor man in his cause than to take the trouble of driving home a lost ox or ass to its owner. 'l'he very same considerations of right which make a man feel that he cannot sit down tamely under injustice, should also make him feel that he cannot allow the property of others to go to ruin, when his tirnelv intervention will save it. 11i: TnERE ARE DIBECTIONB IN PARTICULAR FOB THOSE WHO HA.VE TO JUDGE. The instructions in vers. 6-9 seem specially to concern the judge. Plaintiffs, defendants and witnesRCS are only occasionally in courts of justice, but the judge is always there. 1t is his daily work to settle right as between man and man. Those who have to come l~•fore him are instructed and cautioned to come in a just spirit; but inasmuch as many of them will not 11.ttend to the instructions, it is the business of the judge to neutralise as far as he can their unrighteous approaches; and it seems to be particularly implied that he must keep himself from all temptations such as come so fascinatingly through the rich and the powerful. He with whom judicial decisions rest will have many to tempt him if he shows himself at a.11 open to temptation. Let the judge remember that his judgment, though it may gain n cause, does not effect a fine.I settleme.nt. Through prejudice or bribery he may justify the wicked; but that does not hold them justified. He must not say of anyone who comes before him, that he is only a poor man or a foreigner and therefore his interests cannot matter. It should be his joy to feel and hie pride to say that no one went away from him with wrongs unredressed., so far as any searching of his could discover the doer of the wrong. .A. judge has great opportunities. Every upright, discerning and scrupulous judge does much in the circle of his own in- fluence to keep a high standard of right a.nd wrong before the minds of his fellow men.-Y.
Vers. H-17.-.A threefoul cord is not qV,ickly broken. To forget is far easier than to remember. Festivals are like posts to which we can fasten the cords of memory, so tl.ia.t, securely f'ast.ened. we may not drift down the stream of Lethe. To forget facts is to ignore the duties to which facts prompt us. We must leave undone what we ought tu do, unless we take measures to keep us in remembrance. The great fact which the bra.elites needed to remember was the relation of dependence in which they stood tQ God. He had freed them from slavery, he had provided them with food, he had given them, besides, the means of enjoyment-wine and oil-above all that they could ask or think. By mea.rui of the three great annual festivals threefold security was given agaiust forgetfulness of this fact. To keep the festivals was to realise the relation, and Lu strengthen it by practice.I acknowledgment. Consider- 1. THE FEAST OF FREEDOM. In this connection (ver. 15) the unleavened bread is the poiut emphasised-to be eaten for seven days, a full week, at the commencement of tl,e sacred year. .As a reminder it suggested-I. Past slavery. The tyrannous oppres- ~iun of Egypt; hopeless condition ere God looked upon them; life but a synonym for l,are etisteuce; even slliltenance depending upon the caprice_ of others. 2. i'ast de- li,w,·ana. The paschal night; unleavened bread the accompamment of the first paschal foast; food a very secondary con;;ideration when freedom was in question. 3. Pre.sent dutin,. God had delivered them from slavery that they might serve him as hiK free pt,<•J'le; au iuuer slavery wor,;e than the outer; a purifi(.al;ion needed in the heart even en. xxm. 20-31.] TTTF: nooK OF EXODUS. 21L