nations" (2 Chron. xxxii. 23). It may be said that nll this was abnormal, and belonged lo "the agti of miracles;" but the principles of God's action do not change, and if we examine human life at the present day dispassionately, we shall find that still, as a general rule, if men cleave to the Lord, and keep his commandments, iind depart not from following him, he will be with them, aud will, more or less, prosp<'r them. Vers. 18-17.-The danger of trusting to a pu1·chased peace. I. IN THE HISTORY OP NATIONS a purchased peace is seldom more enduring ~r more trustworthy than this peace which Hezekiah bought of Sennacherib. Once st.1ccessful in extorting money by threats, why should an enemy refrain from repeating the process? Why should he st-op till he has squeezed the sponge dry, and there is no more to be gut from his victim? Even then, why should he not step in and execute his original threat of destruction and ruin? So Samaria found when she gave her thousand talents to the Assyrians (eh. xv. 19). So Rome found when she bribed Attila and Alaric. So will all nations ever find who seek to prolong their lives a little bit by paying for being let alone. And so also-- TI. IN THE HISTORY OF INDIVIDUALS. Persons frequently get themselves into some trouble or other, which they do not wish to be known, and their secret is discovered by some unscrupulous individual, who proceeds to trade upon it. What will they give him to remain silent? If they once consent to purchase a peace of their enemy, all peace in life is gone from them. A man's appetite is only whetted by the first bribe, and still more by the second. "Increase of appetite doth grew by what it feeds on.n Demand follows demand, threat follows threat. The blood-sucker is insatiate. True wisdom consists in not yielding to the first threat, in declining to purchase peace, and defying the enemy. He may as well do his worst at once as at last. It will generally be found that his worst is not so very bad. Even if it is, it is the just penalty whicb has to be paid for our past transgression, and which must be paid in some way or other, and at some time, here or hereafter. It is best for ns that it should be paid soon; for the penalty of sin., if not so paid, is apt to be demanded at last with a heavy accumulation of interest. Vers. 20, 21.-Bruised reeds. It is astonishing what trust is still placed, by generation after generation of mankind, in "bruised reeds." Whatever may be the case with individuals, mankind, the human race, learns nothing from experience. Men still trust implicitly in such "bruised reeds" as these- I. Bm BATTALIONS. They think they are safe if they have sufficient "strength for the war." They go on increasing their military establishments, adding regiment to regiment, and battery to battery, and corps d'armk to corps d'armk. They count the armies of their neighbours; they reckon up man against man, and gun against gun, and ship against ship; aud calculate, and plan, and act, as _if the "multitude of au host "-the number of troops capable of being brought at once mto the field-was every- thing. They forget that "it is nothing to the Lord to help, whether with many or with them that have no power" (2 Chron. xiv. 11). They forget, or misread, history, and fail to note how often "the race has not been to the swift, nor the battle to the strong" (Eccles. ix. 11). IL PoWEBFUL ALLIES. Weak powers have always some "Egypt n to which they look for succour. Strong powers count on" triple" or "quadruple" alliances to augment their stren!a!"th, and render them irresistible. They forget how easily alliances are broken up, how sure they are to aroUBe discontents and jealoUBies, how little dependence can be placed on the promises of state8men, or the persistence of a particular mood in a nation, or the view which a state may take of its interests. They forget that the friend of to-day may be the enemy of to-morrow, and may fail them at the moment of greatest need. III. SAGACIOUS STATESMEN AND GENERALS. It is forgotten, or at any rate not borne steadily in mind, how i□ tellect decays, how mental power lessens, as men grow old; bow often under a prolon~ed strain the strongest intellect suddenly snaps and is no longer of any account. 'Nor is it generally felt and recognized how limited an_d imperfect even the greatest intellect always is-how incompetent to forecast all posst• bilities, or to deal with all emergencies. "The weakness of God is stronger than man, OB. xvm. 1-37.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 369
and the foolishness of God is wiser than man" (1 Cor. i. 25). Man's wisdom is at beat e. poor purblind wisdom, apt to err, apt to fail when most needed-a very "bruised reed " to trust in. IV. Gooo LU0K OB A FORTUNATE STAR. The trust of the first Napoleon in his "star" is well known. It is not so well known, but it is sufficiently attested, that the third Napoleon bad nearly M implicit a trust. Thousands of persons deem themselves '' lucky," and trust in their "good luck," as if it were an actual tangible possession. Otherwise there would be far less gambling than there is. The poor peasants of Italy and Germany would waste less money in lotteries, and the simpletons of England less in bets upon horses. Persons'" luck" is, on the whole, probably about equal, and if a man has been "lucky" hitherto, he should expect to be "unlucky" in the fn tore. V. SOMETHING TURNING UP, 'fhe phrase is a vulgar one, but it would need a long periphrasis to express the idea otherwise, and even then we might not make our meaning clear. Men who do not think themselves particularly lucky are still constantly waiting for "something to turn up," looking for it, trusting in it. The trust is made an excuse for idleness, for inaction, for waste of the best years of life, even for dissipated courses-for gambling, drinking, frequenting evil company. This "bruised reed" is more rotten even than mcist of the others. For the idler, the waster of his time, the haunter of smoking saloons, billiard-rooms, and race-courses, nothing ever does " turn up." He offers no temptation to steady business-like men to employ him. He does not seek work, and work is not very likely to seek him. He is an idler, and will remain an idler to the end of the chapter. There is no help for him, unless be gives up his silly trust, and betakes himself to a better one.