i;ball see 11. strange woman, then thy mouth Version does : The:, have strioken me, ehalt shall speak perver8e things." thou say, and I was not eiok; or, 1 was not Ver. 34.-Aa he the.t lieth down in the hui·t. The drunken mcm hos been bee.ten midst of the see.. The dazed and uneon- (perhaps there is o. reference to the" oonten- i;cious condition of a drunkard is described tions," vcr. 29), but the blows did not po.in by one familiar with seo. life, as in Ps. civ. him ; his condition has roudered him· insen- 25, eto. ; cvii. 23, etc. The Hebrew hW! sible to paiu. He bas some vao-ue id~a tba "in the heart of the sea" (Jonah ii. 4), i.e. ho hns suffered certo.in rough treatment at the depth. l\111ny understand the idea. to the ]muds of bis companions, but it has be that the drunkard is compared to a. man made no impression on him. They have asleep in a fmil bnat. or to one slumbering bee.ten me, o.nd I felt it not ; did not even on board a ship sunk in the trough of the sea,. kn~w it. Far fr?m reoognizing bis degra- Dut the "lying" herecloes not imply sleep, but dation aud profiting by the merited chastise- rather immersion. The inebriated person is ment which be be.s incurred, be is repre- assimilated to one who is drowned or drown- sented o.s looking forward with pleasure to ing, who is cut off from all his former pursuits o. renewal of bis debauch, when his drunken and interests in life, and has become uncon- sleep shall be. over. When shall I e.we.kel scious of surrounding circumstances. This I will seek it (wine) yet ago.in, Some take much more exactly represents the case than •i:i,;i (matl1ai) as the relative conjun1Jtive: any notion of sleeping amid danger. Sep- "When I awoke I will seek it ago.in;" but tuagint, "Thou she.It lie e.s iu the heart of it is always used interrogatively, and the the sea." Or as he that lieth upon the top of expression thus becomes more animated, a m&St; the extreme point of the se.ilye.rd, as Delilzscb observes. It is os though the where no one could lie without the greatest drunkard has to yield to the effects of his peril of falling off. The drunkard is exposed excess and sleep off bis intoxication, but be to dangers of all kinds from being unable to is, as it were, all the time longing to be t.ake =e of himself, and yet is all the time able to rouse himself and recommence his uuconscious of his critical situation. Com. orgies. We have bad words put into the a Le.pide, followed by Plumptre, considers mouth of the sluggard (eh. vi, 10). The that the cradle, or look-out, on the top of the whole verse is rendered by the LXX. thus: mast is meant, where, if the watchman slept, "Thou she.It say, They smote me, and I wo.~ be would be certain to endanger bis life. not pained, and they mocked me, e.nd I Vulge.te, "like a pilot fallen asleep, who knew it not. When will it be morning, bas dropped the tiller," and is therefore on that I may go and seek those with wboru the way to shipwreck. Septuagint, "as a I may consort?" The author of the 'Trac- pilot in a great storm." tatus de Conscicutia' appended to St. Ber- Ver. 35.-The drunkard is represented as nard's works, applies this po.re.graph to the speaking to himself. The LXX. inserts, case of au evil conscience indurated by "and thou ahalt say," e.s the Authorized wicked habits and insensible to correction,
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-3.-Sycophancy and independence. The reader is here warned against the danuer of depending too much on the favour of great people. Possibly that favour is only offered as a bribe, and th.e unwary recipient of_it may be no better than a_d_upc, who has unconsciously sold himself. .At the best 1t teni;ls to destroy the spmt of iudependence. . I. HE WHO DEPENDS ON THE FAVOUR OF A GREAT MAN PUTS IIIMSELF IN ms POWER. Jn proportion to the power to help is the power to hurt. It is a danl!:erous thing to_trust ooe'H interests to man at all; but it is doubly dangerous where thtre is no equality of relationship. . ]l. DEPENDENCE ON THE FAVOUR OF THE GREAT TEMPTS TO DISBONOURADLE OON· DUCT. The sycophant is in danger of stooping t~ unworthy actio_ns ~n order to please his patron. He is tempted to deceive and flatter m the hope of wmmug favour, The will of the great man supersedes the colllicience of his dependant. 'l'hus sycophancy wrecks the moral nature. III. Tws DEPENDENCE DESTROYS TRUE MANLINESS, 'fhe po?r creature who lives on the favour of the great loses all self-reliance. The honest mdnstry that earns a night's repose is exchanged for miserable tricks of cringing sl~ve~y. Such _c~nduct mny E>arn the dainties of luxury, but only, at the cost of all that _life 1s worth hvrng for. It is infinitely better to be inderendcnt, though compelled to hve on the coarsest faro. Oli, XXIII, 1-35.] THE PROVERBS. 447