because, while the end is gain, H is not solely gain; seller and buyer both obtain advantnge. I. Ou& 0ONDUOT IS TO DE IlEOULATED BY RELATIONSITTP. Kin<lly feeling is due unto nil men. We should honour man as man. Yet the conduct which is commendable to a stranger is not commendable to a father. According to the degree of propinquity shouid be the degree of affection, A brother bas claims upon us which a strancrer has not. Our stock of affection is limited; we are to bestow it on most suitable objects. Our capacity for doing good is measurable; we must expend it with care. II. MONEY 0AIN IS NOT THE BUSINESS OF LIFE. There are occupations nobler than money-getting. Contentment is better than gold. The culture of the mind is better. The :l.lsciplino of the moral powers is better, Brotherly kindness is better. The diffusion of knowledge is better. Earthly prosperity is to be haile<l especially as a condition for doing good. To have, and yet to refuse to help, is a sin. That man'~ gold is a curse. III. YET MONEY GAIN, WITHIN PROPER LIMITS, IS WISE AND HONOURABLE. Properly viewed, moderate usury is but a. species of commerce. If with my Joan of a thoUll&n<l pounds a. shrewd merchant makes a gain of a hundred pounds in addition, it is just that I should receive a. pa.rt thereof, as the earning of my loan. If one has money capital and another bas skill and a. third has time, it is simply equitable that the temporal earnings of the partnership should be divided, in some proportion, among all. If f obtain fair usury for the use of my money from honest traders, I have power to help impoverished brethren to an extent I could not otherwise. God had not intended that the Hebrews should be a commercial nation. Their bnsiness was to be witness- bearers to the world of heavenly truth.-D. Vers. 21-23.-The place of vows. It is not obligatory to make vows; it is obligatory to fulfil them, We are often free to contract an obligation; we are not free to violate H. A man is not bound to marry; having married, be is bound to cherish bis wife. I. Vows IMPLY SPECIAL ACTS OF KillDNESS ON THE PART OF GoD. The ordinary course of God's bounty baffles verbal description. The forethought, the active energy, the well-laid plans, the unslumbering attention, the changeless affection, which are required for the preservation of human life, no language can express. But this is not nil that God does for us. In times of unusual perplexity, special guidance is often vouchsafed to us. When surrounding events seemed most adverse to our interests, in answer to prayer, sudden deliverance has come. A precious life was in jeopardy : human help was unavailing; but God graciously interposed, and midnight suddenly 'became a summer noon. II. Vows IMPLY, ON OUR PART, DEFECTIVE PIETY. Vows are made under the influence of excessive fear or from an influx of sudden joy. In a. time of sharp distress, e. man will put himself under special obligation, if Gud will grant his request. Or, when some expected good has fallen to one's lot, in the impulse of sudden gladness we vow to devote some special offering unto God. Now, this is not wrong. Still there is something better. It is better to be always in a frame of trustful feeling, so that we may welcome whatever God ordains, and realize that what God does is best. It is better to rely upon his promise that help shall come in times of need! It is better to cultivate tho habit of frequent offerings to God's cause, so that no vow is needed to prick us up to the full discharge of duty, The vow implies that we cannot trust our- selves at all times to give to God his due. Therefore our endeavour should be to cultivate a childlike and u steadfast faith. It is good that the "heart be established with grace." III. Vows CREATE FOR us A NEW OBr.IOATION. Having me.de a debt, we are bound to pay it; but it is better not to accumulate a debt. Men lay a trap to catch them- ~elves. Conscious of doficient trust and love towards God, they take advant,1ge of some favourable state of feeling to make new obligations from which it shall be difficult to escape. In their better moods of mind they create new moti vcs and new sanctions for religious conduot, which they cannot remove when the better feeling has vanished. '!'hey use the rising tide to bear their barque away. They utilize summer piety tc, provide for winter coldness. Bt)~ ha~ing framed B religio1_1s _vow, truth requires th,~t it 1hould be 8erupulously kept. lo v10late n vow would mJure our own soul's life- 380 THE BOOK OF DEUTEHONOMY. [en. x.nv.1-22.
would dl'Aden and stupefy conscionce, would justly provoke our God. No common ein is thi~.-D.