all should remember that the ruler of men is really an usurper unless the title, Lord of Righteousness, suit him. Let us look at this name, and observe- r. We ho.ve here A GRAND TITLE FOR A RULER. Perhaps tbe people had degene- rated since the days of Abraham. Then tbis ruler was that Melchi-zedek, who was a "Priest of tl_10 Most High God." However degenerate, they cling to this title, o.nd o.s the kmgs of Egypt were Pharaohs ; and those of Gath, Abimelechs; and those of Damascus, Benhadads ; so those of Jerusalem were Adoni-zedeks. There is an instinct in all people that desires the throne to be filled with righteousness. Just as in our days, the Khan of Merv has carried the same titles-King of Right- eousness and King of Peace-so in the absence of constitutional checks on regal power, they gave their kings the title which was meant to be at once impulse and restraint. The lesson of this title should be learned by all of us. In a ruler of men there are many qualities requisite. Wisdom to perceive the true necessities of those under hi~ care ; strength and energy enough to carry out the dictates of wisdom; courage to face and provide calmly against every danger. But when the utmost value has been allowed to these supreme qualities, an accurate judgment will still allow a higher value to one other-that of EQUITY. In outside relations, equity will enable a king to maintain peace with neighbouring peoples better than any diplomacy or strength could do. In ancient days, the king was the judge of all causes, from those of our County Courts to those of the Court of Chancery. What a boon to a people when the judge was an embodiment of justice - inaccessible to bribes, ready patiently to unravel the entangled case, never misled by partiality or by antipathy, but to those liked or disliked meting out even-handed justice. This old people saw all these things, and when a Magna Charta was an impossibilty, they tried to compass its ends by giving their king this stimulative and restraining title. Righteousness is still the most essential quality of a statesman. Fairness of mind that holds the balance evenly between all con- flicting claims-this has been the distinguishing quality of all the English states- men of this century who have earned the nation's gratitude. It is the quality needed in our Legislature· to-day. It is the quality needed by every employer of labour. The serving classes 'want no favour, nor mere amiability in a master. Fairness will ever secure their deepest attachment. A father in a family should be a "Lorcl of Righteousness." In short, this equity is the supreme want everywhere. People would be more cliaritable if they were more just. And peace in homes, in churches, in nations would be much less frequently imperilled, if only fairness of mind moderated the claims we make, and permitted us to see whatever element of right lay in the claims made upon us. If we have here a good title, observe secondly- II. We have A GREAT TITLE DORNE DY ONE OF A POOR NATURE. Name and nature do not always correspond. And here "The Lord of Righteousness" is found acting unrighteously. Gibeon with its sister cities wo.s probably disliked for its republican institutions by all those neighbouring states that maintained a mono.rchy. Now to the fault of liberty it adds the sin of wisdom. A maxim, unfortunately not obsolete to-day, wns accepted then-that the making of any alliance containing a possi• bility of danger to us is 11 sufficient casus belli against the state that makes it. His title had not sufficiently instructed this ruler to make him see the wrong of this position. He is perhaps the more easily led to make war against Gibeon because, jlllarding as it did one of the great passes into the heart of the kingdom, to seize 1t seemed the best way of securing the safety of the country from Israelitish .11ttack. And so unrighteously the " King of Righteousness" attacks his neigh- bours; and, like so many, shows that the grandeur of a title is not always matched by greatuess in him who bears it. A long way from us in time, locality, and cir- cumstances, how near us in nature does this characteristic bring him. Sometimes we inherit great names, and forget the lesson of the poet- " They who on the deeds of ancestors enlarge, Do but produce the debt, not the discharge." Sometimes God gives us names, which it is our duty to illustrate and justify. "Children of Light," " Sona of God," "Heirs of God," " Chosen Generation," 176 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [CH, X, 1-48,
" Ro)·1tl Priesthood." Is there neYer any discrepancy between the titles we hee,r nnd the liYes we lend? We c1tnnot help having these great names applied to 11s. They belong to all who have been born again by the birth which is from above. And God gives us them that they may "marshal us the way that we 11,re going,'' Let us try and act up t-0 our name, and not have the melancholy fate of being. con• <lemnecl by the very title that we bear. Lastly observe- III. PROFESSION CANNOT SAYJ,; FROM PERDITION. This man with the grand name perishes miserably-dishonoured, hanged, involving. in his own ruin that of his people and tlmt of :iJl those confederated with him. The providence and the judg- ment of God arf\ no respecters of persons. As we sow we reap. The obedience of fait.h is salYation. The unrighteousness of self-will is destruction. Let us see that we luwe more than the "name to live," lest the greater name only condemn us to the greater destruction.-G.