gives to life its chief fragrance and charm. As children are the pride and ornament of the po.rents, so the sons, on the other hand, so long as they themselves are not fathers, can only fall back upon the father. The family tree, the higher it rises and the more widely it extends, increases the honour of the race. VIL NOBLENESS OF SPEECH. (Ver. 7.) The first element of this is, as so often insisted upon, truthfulness in the inward parts. The second is appropriateness, re(7ard to what is becoming. Thus a high assuming tone ill befits the fool; much less fal~ity, affectation, hypocrisy, a noble mind. To recollect what is becoming in us is a great safeguard to morality and guide to conduct. In the common affairs of life we should not seek to rise above our station, nor should we fall below it. In religion there is also a just mean-the recollection of what it is to be a Christian; and the effort not to rise above the humility of that position, as not to fall below its grandeur ancl nobility. "If truth be banished from all the rest of the world," said Louis IX. of France, "it ought to be found in the breast of princes." Let us substitute the word "Christians." VIII. THE VALUE OF GIFTS. (Ver. 8.) There seems to be no reason for taking this only in the bad sense with reference to bribery. Lawful gifts and presents have their charm as well as unlawful. 'l'he power of gold to corrupt; the saying of Philip of Macedon, that there was no fortress so strong but that it might be stormed if an ass laden with gold were driven to the gate ;-all this is well known. But equally true is it that honest gifts of kindness, having no impure purpose in view, are like jewels. They sparkle with the .lustre of human love when turned in any light, and win friends and good will for the giver wherever he goes. It is the generous freedom to give, not necessarily of silver and gold, but of "such things as we have," which is here commended and noted as one of the secrets of happiness. The deepest joy is, in all true gifts, to be expressing the one great gift of the heart to God. IX. CoNOEALING AND FORGIVING LOVE. (Ver. 9.) Let us remind ourselves that in the Law the word for forgiving or atoning is "cover." And frequently wo read of God covering the sins of the penitent. This relation is for the imitation of Christians, " followers of God as dear children." "Love covers a multitude of sins." Like the heal- ing hand of Nature, which we see everywhere busy concealing unsightlines~, veiling the old ruin with the beautiful ivy and other creeping plants. On the contrary, the tale- bearer has an eye for every crack and seam in the structure of society ; tears open and causes to bleed the wounds that might have been healed. Be true, be gentle, be generous, be God-like and Christ-like,-such are the main lessons of this section.-J. Vers. 10-l!i.-Dark phases of human character. We may take ver. 10 as an introduction to what follows. Exhortations are to be given, and the preacher would prepare us to receive them. On the sensitive mind the censure of the good makes a deeper impression than a hundred blows on the back of the fool. Sincerity, loTe of truth and tender sympathy, bet'Ome the exhorter, and humble docility the object of his warnings or rebukes. "Let the righteous smite me, and it shall be a kindness" (Ps. cxli. 6). I. 'l'HE CONTENTIOUS SPIRIT. (Ver. 11.) 1. His temper. He seeks rebellion. In private life he may be the mnn who revolts from the established usages of society, delights in singularity for its own sake, in defying opinion, showing disrespect to names of authority. In public life he may become the heartless demagogue and pest of the commonwealth. 2. His doom. A cruel angel shall be sent against him by God; that ie, generally, his offence will be visited upon him severely. The curse upon the conten- tious spirit is the counterpart of the great evangelical blessing on the peacemakers, who shall be called" the children of God." 3. His dangerous qualities. (V or. 12.) Rage is the principle of his action, the motive of his life. 'l'o irrit.'lte him, to thwart him, is like bringing on one's self the fierce attack of the bear robbed of her whelps .. Rage united with intelligence is the most fearful combination of deadly force known Ill the world. From so dread a picture we turn with the prayer. "From hatred and malice, good Lord, deliver us!" "Oh, may we live the peaceful Ji.Kl!" II. THE UNGRATEFUL MAN. (Ver. 13.) 1. His conduct. He requites good with evil. As there is no virtue so nalural, so spontaneous, so pleasurable, as gratitude, so there is no mere negative vice so odious as ingratitude. But the positive reversal of gratitude in. returning evil for good-for this there ~ ~ one word in our (nor probably 342 '.l.'HE PROVERBS. ton. XVII, l-2S,
in nny) language. It is a wickedness indeed unutterable. 2. Ilis doom is punish- ment from God. And the severity of the punishment teaches by contrast how dear is gratitude to God .. As evil shall e,·er haunt the house of the dark rebel nga.inst light nnd love, 110 shall JOY and peace attend the steps of the peaceful child of God. III. THE CONSEQUENCES OF MISCHIEF IlWALCqLABI,E. (Ver. 14,) A homely figure impresses the truth in a way not to be forgotten. Similarly, James compares the pro- ~~s of mischief to the spa1:ks which may be easily fanned into a. great conflagration (m. 5). How great the service that may be rendered by those who, in the interests of peace, at once trample out the sparks or seal up the avenues of the flood. 'l'hese rules are good for the avoidance of strife. Consider : 1. Whether the dispute is not about words rather than things. 2. Whether we really understand the subject, 3. Whether it is worth disputing about. . IV. MoRAL INDIFFERENCE. (Ver. 15.) To speak the bad man fair, to justify or excuse his e,·il, and to censure or criticize or condemn the good, from prudence or other motive,-this shows a blindness to moral distinctions, a wilful insensibility which is incompatible with religion, and incurs the deep disapproval and judgment of Jehovah. We have examples in E:;r.ra iv. 1-16; Acts xxiv. 1-9. Religion teaches us to dis- tinguish between things that differ; if we have not learnt that lesson, we have learned nothing. If, haviug learned it, we disregard it, our profession of religion becomes con- verted into an hypocrisy and an abomination.--J. ,