Further, certain special advantages of this quietness may be noted. 1. Depth. "Still waters run deep." We can look far into the quiet Jake, while only the surface-wave~ of one that is fretted with cross-winds can be seen. The calm, brooding soul know~ depths of thought and secret experience that are unfathomable to the foolish, restless, noisy soul. 2. Strength. The silent forest grows strong. The mind is made vigorous by patient endurance. One who is calm is master of the situation, while another who is fretted and flurried feels lost and helpless. 3. Fruitfulness. The calm, strong, silent sou}. vigorous and yet unostentatious, ripens best the fruits of experience. Such a one does most real work. 4. Beneficence. Noise vexes the world, and a restless, complaining spirit is a weariness to men. The quiet spirit breathes a perpetual benedic- tion. Its very presence is soothing and healing. III. THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUIET BPIBIT. No doubt there are great constitutional differences in this respect, and while some are naturally or by ill health restless, irritable, demonstrative, others are naturally quiet, self-possessed, even reserved. Due allowance must be made for these differences before we attempt to judge our brethren. Still, there is a measure of quietness attainable by the use of the right means, viz.: l. Seif-mastery. When a man has conquered himself, the tumult of civil war in his breast ceases. 2. Faith. To trust God, to know that he is doing all well, to seek and obtain the help of his Holy Spirit, are to find the secret of peace and quietness of soul. 3. Love. SelfishneSII makes us restless. "A heart at leisure from itself" can learn to be patient and calm. Ver. 34.-National righteousness. I. RIGHTEOUSNESS IS REQUIRED m A NATION. Morality has not yet been sufficiently applied to politics. It is forgotten that the ten commandments relate to communities as well as to individuals, because they are based on the eternal and all-embracing principles of righteousness. Men have yet to learn that that which is wrong in the individual is wrong in the society. Nations make war on one another for reasons which would never justify individual men in fighting a duel. Yet if it is wrong for a mn.n to steal a field, it must be wrong for a nation to steal a province; and if an individual man may not cut his neighbour's throat out of revenge without being punished as a criminal, there is nothing to justify a whole community in shooting down thousands of people for no better motive. If selfishness even is sinful in one man, selfishness cannot be virtuous in thirty millions of people. The reign of righteousness must govern public and national movements if the will of God is to be respected. II. RIGHTEOUSNESS IS A BLESSING TO A NATION. To the cynical politician such 11 counsels of perfection" as command conscience in government, and especially in international action, appear to be simply quixotic. He holds the application of it to be wholly impracticable; he imagines that it must involve nothing but national ruin. Hence, it is maintained, there is no right but might, because there is no international tribunal and no general authority over the nations. 'l'he two points must be kept dis- tinct-the internal life of the nation and its foreign policy. 1. Internal life. There are national sins in the sense of sins committed by a great part of a nation-sins that shamefully characterize it. Thus drunkenness is to a large extent an English national sin. 'l'he oppression of one class by another, a general prevalence of business dishonesty, a frivolous pleasure-seeking fashion, all affect the nation's life when they are largely extended among any people. These things eat out the very heart of a nation. For a nation's sin the punishment is on earth, because the nation goes on while individuals die, and so there is time for the deadly fruit of sin to ripen. So was it with Israel, Babylon, Rome, etc. 2. For~gn policy. Wars of aggression may aggrandize the vic- torious people for a time. But they rouse the hatred of their victims. A high-handed policy thus multiplies a nation's enemies. It is dangerous to be an outlaw among the nations. Above all, there is a just Ruler, who will put down the tyrant and punish the guilty nation. III. RI<lHTEOUSNESB MAY BE OBTAINED IN A NATION BY FOLLOWJ!(G THE RULE OP CHRIST, It is difficult to make an unchristian nation behave in a Christian manner. 'l'he sermon on the mount was addressed to disciples of Christ (Matt. v. 1). National righteousneHs will follow national submission to the will of Christ. The reason why the natioo.ll snarl at one another like wild beasts is just that the inhabitants Qj t4, 282 'l'HE PROVERBS. [oH, XIV, 1-35.
nations do not yet follow Christ. He came to set up the kingdom of heaven on earth, and when this kingdom is established in the hearts of the citizens, the nations, which are but the aggregates of citizens, will learn to follow righteousness.