HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-4.-Love unfeigned. The precepts in these verses fairly anticipate the gospel love of one's neighbour, and even its inculcation of love to enemies (cf. Exod. xxiii. 4, 5). Whatever authority the scribes in Christ's time imagined themselves to have for their saying, "Thou shalt hate thine enemy" (Matt. v. 43), they did not find it in the Law. Even towards the heathen-save in the sense in which each nation desires the destruction of its enemies in war-they were not taught to cherish feelings of bitterness and hostility. Ch. xxiii. 6 forbids seeking the welfare of Moab and Ammon, but this does not amount to hatred of these peoples (cf. eh. ii. 9, 19), while the command to" blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven" (eh. xxv. l 9) is, like the command to exterminate the Cauaanites, grounded in special circum- stances, and is to be regarded as exceptional. Those who express horror of the sanguinary spirit of the :Mosaic code should study the precepts before us, _and reflect bow far the race is from haviug yet risen to the height of them. They forb1d- L SECRET REJOICING IN ANOTIIEB'S MISFORTUNE. Such rejoicing may. have its source in: 1. Enmity. 'l.'he statute in Exodus particularly specifies the o:x and ass of au "enemy" (Exod. :xxiii. 4). The enemy is further defined, not as one whom we hate but as one who hates us (ver. 5). Yet if his ox, or sheep, or ass is seen going astr~y, we are not to hide ourselves or forbear help, but are to bring it back to him. So with all his lost property-we are to take it home and keep it for him. Or, if ~is ass fall under a burden, we are to help him to lift it up. How natural the disposition to act otherwise ! lfo one kuows that we have seen the stray beast. We may reason that we are not bound to interfere. A secret joy, even, may steal into our minds at the thought of an enemy's misfortune. 'l.'he Law taught the Israelite to think and act on. XXII. 1-80.] THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 35\l
very difTerently. It gave him the lesson of forgiving injuries, of loving enemies, 0f rotuming good for evil. 2. Envy. Tbe precept in this passnge speaks merely of ,i "brother." Through envy or some other wicked feeling, even where there is no enmity, we may be tempted to rejoice in the lessening of another's prosperity. Uut neither is this hateful principle to be allowed to sway u~. 3. Malice. This is the dis- position which delights in what injures another for its own sake. So diabolical a state of feeling might be deemed impossible did not experience of the world afford too many proofs of its existence. There are unquestionably. malicious and spiteful natures wh", irrespective of any personal interest in the matter, derive an absolute gratification l'r<,m i,eeing misfortune overtake those around them. The faintest beginning of such a s1,irit ;ught surely to be most jealously guarded against. II. SEOllET RETENTION OF ANOTHER'S PROPERTY. What is found is not to be ap- propriated or concealed. If the owner is unknown, the beast or lost article is to be taken home, and kept till he can be discovered. Though he is an enemy, his goo,ls are to be faithfully restored to him. This,again, is a form of virtue which only streng1h of moral principle will enable one always to practise.-J. 0. Ver. 5.-Man and woman. Woman has her rightful place and function in society. So has man his. Their places, while complementary, are distinct. In modern society, a variety of influences-competition in business, difficulty of finding suitable employment, the levelling tendency of the age, which is impatient even of distinctions that have their ground in nature-combine to thrust women into spheres anu work not in keep- ing with womanly character. The distinction of the sexes is to be preserved: 1. In dress. 2. In manners. Unwomanly boldness and assertiveness in company or before the public is as unpleasant as foppish effeminacy is in men. 3. In occupations. Few would like to see women jostling men in the Exchange, pleading at the bar, or sitting in parliament. The feeling is not one of mere sentiment, but rests on inhereu t differences in the calling of the sexes. It deserves to be considered whether lhe line is not unduly crossed as it is in many forms of female occupation. It is certainly so crossed in some: barmaids; occupations involving an excessive tax on the female strength; manufactory work, where the system allows of the mingling of the sexes under conditions certain to demoralize, etc. (see Lecture on 'Sex in Industry,' by Joseph Cook-' Monday Lectures ').-J. 0. Vers. 6-12.-The minutire of conduct. The Law descends to very slight points of conqnct, It keeps in view that character is made up of the result of our actions in the million trivial details of life. "'!'rifles,'' said Michael Angelo, when a friend thus characterized the slight finishing touches he was giving to a statue-" trifles make perfection." Matters which in themselves are of little moment acquire importance from the associations they awaken, the ideas they suggest, the consequences they lead np to. Little traits of humane behaviour (vers. 6, 7), the habit of considering the bearings ,,f what we do on others (ver. 8), respect for the ordinary and obvious distinctions of creation (ver. 9), etc., have all their influence on character, their effect in making us what we ultimately become. We may suggest, as lessons from these verses, that our conduct is to be marked: l_. By humanity. (1) To animals. (2) To our fellow-men. In vers. 6, 7, the act forbidden is one akin to killing a cow and calf on the same day, or to seething a kid in its mother's milk (cf. on eh. xiv. 21)-an unfeeling violation of the sacredness of the relation between parent and offspring. Or the parent bird may be presumed to be taken only in wantonness, the young ones being really of service. 'l'his would bo an act of cruelty. Humanity may be a motive in the precept of ver. 10 -"ox" and "ass" being obviously "unequally yoked together" ( cf. Paul's allusion with application to marriage with unbelievers, in 2 Cor. vi. 14). 2. By caution. 'l'his is strikingly inculcated in ver. 8. How many accidents might be avoided if greater conscientiousness and caution prevailed in the different departrueuts of labour! A ship- builder puts in the side of a ship one wormy plank, and years after this costs the whole ship's crew their lives. 3. By simplicity. 'l'his is a lesson which may be learned from the precepts against mixing kinds (vers. 9, 11). 4. By mindfulness. The law of fringes in Numb, xv. 38-if this refers to the same thing-was intended to aid memory In another view of the precept, it inculcates decency and propriety.-J. 0. 360 'l'HE BOOK OF DlWTERONOM'Y, [ou. u.11. 1-30,