ili!fcrC'nt forms, waiting for the day when "OUl' unhappy divisions" have ceased. "e wa:,. bowewr, aild one consiileration deriveil from this chapter alone. . SELFISH AIMS OUGHT NOT TO INTRUDE INTO A GREAT 0AUSE, This principle is illust.rateil (1) by the condnct of Judah, (2) by the conduct of Joshua. The rule of the world is (1) to covet power and possessions, and (2) that the successful conquerol' hns a right to be first considered in the division of the spoil. Observ-o how corn'. pletely the nan·ative of this chapter implicitly rebukes 11, view of things which is assmneil as n nrntter of Mm-se in the orilinary concerns of the world. In past history we rend of the greeil of indiviiluals anil nations for the annexation of terri- tor:,, and of the wars and bloodshed thus caused. It has been a ma,xim tha,t 0,ny ruler or an~- nation may, e.nil ought to, add to its teri:itories if it can, without much regard to the principles of justice or the general good. A man, it is still believed, may heap to himself possessions in la.nd or money as much ns he chooses, and would be :1 fool if he did not. The first of these doctrines has only lately begun to be questioned among us. The second is still an established p1·inciple of action. Yet J uclah rnltmta1;ly surrendered its territory to Simeon for the national welfare. And Joshua takes care that eYery one is served before himself. It is this marvellous self-abnegation on the part of the leader of a military expedition, unparalleled until Christianity came into the world, that is the best proof of the claim of the Mosaio dispensation to ha Ye been Dh;ne. Cases like those of Cincinnatus cannot be adduced in refutation of this argunient. His position is in no way parallel to that of the leader of an expeilition like J oshue.'s. Such utter self-abandonment as was displayed by Moses and Joshua marks them out as men fifteen or twenty-we might perhaps se.y thirty-centuries before their age. The invasion of Canaan has been declaimed against as ciuel; but its cruelty was at least the fruit of a moral idea, a righteous indignation against an obscene and ferocious religion, which was itself the cause of infinite misery to man.kind; while Joshua's cruelty was kindness itself compared to the revolting atrocities recorded at their own instance by the Eastern conquerors of old, Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Moabite. We hear ad nauseann of the_ impossibility of God's ordering the slaughter of the unoffending Canaanites (see thi~ subject further discussed in the Introduction). We hear nothing of the high morality, the sublime disinterestedness, the devotion to a grand and sublime ideal which characterised the giver of the Law e.nd the conqueror of Canaan. Such characters ha,e been rare since Christ came into the world. Save the two great men whom. we have just known, they were unknown before it.
HOMILIES BY VA.RIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 9.-Brotherhood. I. THE IDEA OF BROTHERHOOD MUST BE RECOGNISED IN ORDER THa.T TRUE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE MAY BE ESTABLISHED. Justice does not imply equality. To deal equally with a1:J is often unj~st, since di:ffer?nt men have different needs. It would have been UDJUst to have given equal portions to Judah and Simeon. In the family, justice does not _require . the_ tre'!'t_ment of all ~he children alike but the treatment of each accordmg to his dispos1t10n and reqmre- ments. But in order to do this there must be mutual understanding and sympathy. Therefore these are necessary for the administration of justice. Rude social equality will not regenerate society. The idea of _brotherh~od must come fir~t and bring with it the thoughtfulness and sympathy, without w Inch we cannot be JUSt to one another. Note: Providence is often more just than it app~ar~, _because it _d?es not aim at establishing a mechanical equality, but studies the ~nd1v1dual c<;>nd1t1on of each man, and acts according to special requirements of special cases which may Le entirely unknown to us. II. THE IDEA OF BRO'fHERHO0D MUST BE REALISED IF MEN WOULD SEE THE PilACTICa.L APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE, Judah had too much. Few men are willing to admit that they have too much, and hence they often wrong others and greedily hold what they do not need. Until men feel their brotherhood with others they will not see the measll?e by which to judge whether or no they OH, XIX, 1-ul.] THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 287