own, appropriate all its sorrc,wful experiences, and think and speak and feel towards others, as well as do unto them, as we would they should do unto us? But the~ demands for an Ideal friendship are not, after all, to be satisfied by frail human nature. Let us, then, think: 4. These qualities of friendship can be only fullyfmmd in God. The Divine Friend I-he whose unfailing, self-replenished love alone is equal to supply the thirst of our hearts, whose sympathy is that of One who knows us better than we know ourselves; who numbers our hairs, and gathers our tears into his bottle; who needs to exercise no imagination in order to realize our condition, because he knows I 0 God I greater than our hearts, whose knowledge is the measure of thy sympathy, whose sympathy is fed from the eternal well-spring of thy love; God manifested in Jesus Christ; thou only art the Friend of our sorrow, the Sustainer of our help. LESSONS, May we listen with humble obedience to the voice which says to us, 11 Henceforth I call you friends" I As life wears, and many shallow torrents of earthly kindness are dried, may we experience more profoundly thy never-wasting fulness !-J. Vere. 22-27,--,Friendship: its rights and its disclaimers. In his agonized yearn- ing for sympathy and tenderness, Joh further appeals to the conscience and memory of bis friends, seeking to put an end to this lacerating contention, and to be reconciled to them in peace. I. D1scu1MERB. True friendship disclaims the right to be exacting. We have no right to lay a tr.x on the property, or time, or energy of those whom we desire to grapple to us as with hooks of steel. All must be spontaneous, volnntary, free, in the mutual offices of friendship. Tbere are a few noble hearts, indeed, with whom every benefit is 11 reason for another. Shakespeare bas drawn the sublime picture of such a one in his • Merchant of Venice,' who stops not short at the loan of goods, but pledges bis very flesh for his friend. But the counterpart is not to be found in actual life. God is he who a.lone invites our largest asking, wearies not of our urgency, giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not. The life laid down for us is the pledge tbat we cannot claim too much from him. The gospel does not fail to point us to tbe frailty of human nature, even in its noblest moods, in order to set in contrast the illustrious sacrifices of Christ for us. Job had not asked for gifts of substance from his friends to redeem him from d11ra.nce, or for any other purpose. He had been wiser than to kill the tender plant of mutual good will by unseasonable exactions. And let us read ourselves the lesson that nothing will more surely or speedily break our happiest ties than to allow the band we offer in affection to be put forth to buy, to traffic, to exact. II. CLAIMS. But we have great rights and privileges in frienclship. These the patriarch insists upon now. He has a right to good words, which are worth much and cost little. He has a right, so long as he is regarded as a friend, to have the truth of his own statements accepted. He has a right to confidence. In distress he is entitled to tenderness, compassion, and efficient guidance by those whose minds are calrn and unimpaired by woe. And above all, perhaps, just now, tbe right of self-defence is most precious, wbich these advisers seem obstinately to deny. How often is this tragedy enacted I We condemn good men, honest hearts, unheard; we refuse them a fair hearing. They do not ea~ily explain themselves, or we, with our preoccupations and prejudices, are slow tu understand. There may be greater ability to defend one's self against the accusations of bitter foes than against the misconceptions of intimate friends. In fact, this is one of those severe trials in relation to our equals of which a recent preacher has so finely discoursed (Mozley, 'University Sermons'). Ill. SELF-DEFENCE, Against what fault or sin are these monotonous and harsh reproofs directed? ls it against Job's evil deeds? But they are not specifietl, and Job denies that they have been done. There is no keener injustice than vague attacks on a man without specification of the exact nature of the charges. Is it the present language of Job? '!'rue, hasty words may have escaped him; he fean it; but is the languagfl of health nnd joy to be tested by the same measures, weighed in the same s('ales, with that which pain and intense distress extort from the lips 1 Job knows his heart has not been unfaithful to his God, whatever cries of agony aud despair bave been borne upon the wind. The whole section thus contains a pathetic appeal to the human conscience for human love; and it teaches us indirectly, but with great feeling, ihe duties of friend11 minist.ty tq otliers iu their d~tr~sit, JOU, S 114 THE BOOK 01!' JOB. [(ill, Vl. 1--30.
Ll:ssom. 1. CRlm gnidsnoe, he<hy BUggeetiona for the morbid intelligance. 2. The "sweetness" (ver. 25) of right word& of tender sympsthy, 8. Abstinence from argument in such ciroumstan08I! which only irritates snd never BOOthes. 4. Cunslderato listening to explnn&tions. 6. Hearty acceptance of honest self-vindications. In all these p11rticule.rs we have bright onmples set us by our blessed Se:tiour, who never broke the brnised r<>ed nor quenohed the 11tnoking flax. By suoh methods of miniMtry we are to earn and prove the holy name of "friend to our brethren, and lead men to believe that God has angels of blessing in human shape p&Sl!ing about the worn paths of misery in this world.---J. •