the heights of Gerizim a voice of ill omen-it might seem a prophetic voice, certainly n voice hig with unwelcome truth-rang in the streets of Shechem. The passers-by, the throng in the market-place, the base adherents and ffatterers of the new-made king, were startled by the sound, and looking up to the rock which overhung their town, sFLw Jotham, the youngest son of their great benefactor and deliverer Jerub- baul, of him who had saved their country from slavery, and their people from Baal- worship, and the one member of his family who had escaped from the murderer'~ hund, standing upon the rocky ledge. With ready eloquence he caught their ea rand fixed tl1eir attention, while he uttered his cutting rebuke, and poured out his prophetic curse. Surely the sweP.t morsel in the mouths of the successful conspirators must have turned to gall nnd wormwood as their own base ingratitude and treachery ,rnd the vileness of their worthless king were thus gibbeted before their eyes. Surely their guilty hearts must have sunk within them as the sure consequence of their mi8- rleeds was held before their eyes with such marvellous power of conviction. It is this inevitable Nemesis, this certninty that men will reap what they have sown, thi~ exposition of the nakE'd hideousness of wrong-doing, this vileness of sin, breaking through all the glitter of success and nil the glare of present prosperity, wealth, or power, in a word, the just judgment of God written by the finger of God upon the wall, or declarP.d by the voice of God from the pulpits of his truth, that men so obstinately close their ears and shut their eyes to, but which the word of God so resolutely declares. It is the teacher's oflfoe to proclaim it, to enforce it, to urge it, to insist upon it, whether men hear or whether they forbear. But there are certain bye-truths connecterl with this central one of the ultimate bursting of ungodly pros- perity which we sl,all do well also to consider. One is the absence of cohesion in the various elements of evil. There can be no real lasting friendship between bad men; they are incapable of love. The bonds of interest and of some common evil purpose may bind them together for a time, but the shifting of these interests bursts those bonds asunder, and real hatred succeeds to seeming love. Unscrupulous ambition may r.oalesce with base ingratitude, but it is only for a moment. The only real and lasting union is that of love in Jesus Christ; and here is the security of the Chnrch of God. The divers instruments of the powers of darkness may combine against her, and harm her for a moment, but they have no principle of cohesion in them. But the love which unites the saints to one another and to Christ is indissoluble and eternal. Thus, for example, infidelity and superstition may combine to destroy the faith, but they will ~oon turn against each other with deadly hatred as exasper- ated foes. They that are Christ's will be one in Christ for ever and ever. The fable l1as also some striking touches of character which are very instructive. The for- wardness and levity of empty self-conceit, the love of power just in proportion to a person's unfitness to wield it, the utter unscrupulousness of u selfish ambition, the meanness of personal pride, the fickleness of men who liave not the ballast of integrity to steady them; and, on the other hand, the humility of true greatness, the true dignity of being useful to others rather than of being exalted ourseJ.,.es, the propriety of mind which enables n man to discern l1is right pince and to perform his proper duty-these and many other traits of character which it is most profitable to discern come out spontaneously from the sharp imagery of the fable. It is no mean part of personal religion to perfect a man's character in these and such like respects. The neglect of tlie lessons of Scripture in such practical details has sadly lessened the influence of religious men in the society in which they live. It has diminished their usefulness and lowered their happiness, while it hns deprived the world of the full evidence which it might have had that God was in them of a truth.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 7---20. - Joeham's fable; or, popular election, its dangei·l and abuses. The eurliest instance in Scripture of this literary form. Proneness of the Eastern mind to npologue. Advantage of vivid, picturesque personification of principle& aTJrl of nuturnl objects. Cryptic teaching nnd political s11ggl'stio11 may be thus fllnhodied. Christ's parables instances of noblest use of this vehicle of thoug;l1t. 'l'he following principles are taught by Jothum : - 10, TRE BOOK OF JUDGES. Lclt, 1x. 7-21.
I. NATIONS MAY BE ACTUATED J!Y CAPRICE AND FALSE CRAVINGS, AS WELL AB DY MORAL ODLIGATION. II. Goon AND WORTHY MEN WILL REFUSE TO BE THE PLAYTHINGS AND VENAL INSTRUMENTS OF OTHERS. Ill. THERE ARE SACRIFICES FOR WHICH POLITICAL ADVANCEMENT DOES NOT COM• PENSATE, AND WHICH IT DOES NOT JUSTIFY ONE'S MAKING, IV. THE CHARACTER OF A PEOPLE IS REFLECTED IN THEIR POLITICAL REPRE· SE1'"T ATIVES. V. HIGH POSITION MAGNIFIES POWERS OF MISCHIEF AS_ OF BLESSING. VI. THE TRUST THAT HAS BEEN WON BY UNWORTHY ACTS WILL BE AB BASELY BE'l'RAYED.-M.
Ver. 21.-Strenqth in wealcness. How ridiculous does it sound: "Jotham ran away I" The ?odily presence and ~mtward achievem:nts of really great men o.re o~en contemptible. But Jotham, hke many another, 1s not to be estimated from without. I. THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NATION WAS APPEALED TO THROUGH ITS IMAGINATION. ~e had shown hil:1;lself to the w~ole people. The literary aimplicity and charm of his fable would nvet the attention of men upon the essential wrong committed, and the folly. II. THE MORAL FORCES OF THE WORLD ARE ITS STRONGEST, AND WILL IN THE END PREV AI~. The " case " had been portrayed by a stroke of genius, so that no craft ?r soplnstr,r could ever justify it. T_he claim of ;Abimelech, &c. was stripped of all its pretens10ns. To leave a matter with the conscience of men and with God is often harder than to contest it by force of arms. Christ yielded to the physical force and perverted authority of the Jews, but by his bearing at the judgment and by the matchless clearness of his statements he put his persecutors for ever in the wrong, and became the mightiest Ruler the world has known.-M.