st'tlndl!''lfy'whtili his conscience 'tlT ·contclousness tells him, th11t hla con:Mience i8 neces- snrily in the right. St. Paul pointed out this (Acts xxvi. 9; 1 Cor,iv. 4). Still, a man must hold by conscience ns the nearest oracle till he gets better light, which is certain in the end to come when needed. 4. Equally important, on the other hand, is the rebuke to cant, which this book eo powerfully supplie~. Cant is the habit of repeating s~cond- ho.nd opinions, of tnking certain things for granted because they a.re commonly asserted, al though we bnve no sufficient ground in our own experience of their truth. It is the habit of pretending feelings which we have not, because they are considered to be the correct feelings under certain circumstances. It is imitation in thought and affectation in sentiment. It attends on genuine thought and sincere emotion, as the shadow on the sun. No one will deny that the religious world is full of it. There is a fine illustration of it in the discourses of Job's friends, and rebuke of it in the manifestation of the Almighty at the end. 5. While we have a presentation of the great enigmas of life in the course of the poem, we have also an exposure of the per- plexities of human thought and the vain attempts to solve them. The narrow dogma. that all 6Uffering is explained by guilt, on which, in one form or other, the friends of Job are never weary of insisting, along with that grand principle, the strict justice of the Almighty, which, in their view, renders the dogma indisputable,-this is the only clue offered to guide the poor darkened sufferer out of the prison of bis thoughts. But it fails to lead him to the light. And, indeed, how utterly inadequate are such partial principles, drawn from a 'v'ery limited area of experience, when applied to measure the height; and depth, and length, and breadth of God's moral universe! Another great lesson, then, which this book reads us is that of modesty and silence-the need of the confession of failure and incapacity to penetrate the secrets of the Divine mechanism to the bottom. We see but in part and know but in part; cannot by searching find out God unto perfection. Higher than heaven this knowledge, what can we do? deeper than hell, what can· we know? There are clear and undoubted revelations of his good- ness which fill the heart· with joy and stir the tongue to praise. There are other, mysterious, hints of hims~Jf in pain and sadness, which overwhelm the heart with awe and check the effusion of the 'lips. But since nothing can ever disprove, or justly be brought, on any pretence of reason, to the disparagement of his justice, wisdom, and love, let us adore in silence. Let our souls wait patiently for him, until he again appeJ.r, shining upon us with the brightness of noonday ! 11. SOLUTION OF LIFE'S ENIGMAS. 1. The book appears intended to convey a solution of our mental trouble and doubt of mind, so far, that is, as any solution is
l possible. A complete solution is impossible; Scriptnre, philosophy, experience, all unite in declaring this. Could we know the secret of pain and evil, suffering and j calamity, in all their forms, we should touch the very secret of life itijelf; and in touching that secret we should touch the secret of God's Being-nay, we should be as God. Humanity is another name for limitation; God is the Infinite. We live at points on the circumference of existence ; he is the Centre. Is it not an absurdity
I when man refuses to learn and acknowledge once for all that in seeking to know too much he is travelling out of his bounds; in bis impatience with enforced i)!;nora.nce he is impatient of being what he is, and raises a quarrel against his Maker and against the scheme of things which can but encl in his complete discomfiture and overthrow? 2. But there is some solution, although not a. complete, not a. positive and all-explaining one. There is a negative solution, which is very comforting to every true and pious heart. All suffering has not its root in personal sin. There may be intense suffering in the ve~y bosom of innocence, ns a frost or blight may settle on the purest rose of the garden. This point is clearly established by the Divine vindication of" my servant Job." He has not been singled out as a mark for the arrows of the Almighty because he is a. peculiarly bad man. Rather the opposite is true. It is the good who a.re reserved for trial. It is the beloved of the Eterno.1 whom he chastens, in order that it may be seen what power has faith in the soul of man, what enduring constancy 01 virtue, like thrice-proved gold, has every man who confides in the eternal rectitude and love. 3. Suffering is, then, consistent with the relative innocence of the sufferer. This is one result of Job's long trial. Suffering is consistent with the perfect goodness of God. This is another. He may give, and he is good; he may take away, still, blessed be his Name I He may replace blooming health by loathsome leprosy; cause the once 16 THE BOOK OF JOB. [OIi. L 1-BII.