Vers. 7-10.-Some traits of folly and sin. I. Trrn GROVELLING MIND. (Ver. 7.) Wisdom is too high for the indolent to climb to, for the sensual and earthly to mlwire and love. They a.re like Muck-rake, in Bunyan's paraQle. From such no goou counsel ever comes. They a.re dumb "in the gate," on every important occasion, when help, light, sympathy, are needed. The base prudence which inspires many popular proverbs-the prudence "which adores the rule of three, which never subscribes, never gives, seldom lends, and asks but one question of any project, 'Will it bake bread?' "-is indeed folly. "Selrs the man," says a Dutch proverb. But those who would j!ain all for self end by losing self and all. II. THE MALICIOUS TEMPER. (Ver. 8.) There are degrees in vice as in virtue. It is a short step from grovelling egotism to active malice. Extract the root of self- seeking out of o.ny dispute, private or public, in Church or state, and the other differences may soon be adjusted. To make mischief is a diabolic iustiuct, aud it certainly springs up in the mind void of healthy occupation and of interest for tho true, beautiful, and good; for the mind's principle is motion, and it cannot cease to act. III. Sm IN THE THOUGHT AND THE MOOD. (Ver. 9.) When busy :invention and meditation are at work in the mind of the wicked and the fool, nothin~ guod is produced. Still more is it the case with the scoffer. In him the ripeneJ. rrnd :practised [ctr. :txrv.1-S.t
powers of the mind are brought into alliance with evil desire. Such a habit of mind, once detected, excites the utmost odium and abhorrence. 'l'he man \\'ho can sneer at goodaess, or bold what is by common consent good and beautiful in contempt, is already an outcast from his kind, and need not complain if be is treated as such. IV. CowARDLY FAINT-HEARTEDNESS. (Ver. 10.) The pressure of circumstances should rouse in us the God-given strength. The man who makes duty his polar star, and trusts in God, can actually do more when things seem to be against him than when all is in bis favour. Moral cowardice is closely connected with the root-sin of unbelief. Indulgence in it impoverishes and weakens the soul, so that the man ends by being actually unable to do what once he only fancied himself unable to do. Here is an illustration of Christ's saying, "To him that bath shall be given, and from him that bath not shall be taken that which be bath."--J.
Yers. 11, 12.-0ompassionfor the wronged. I. THE HEART AND HAND SHOULD EVER RE READY AT THE CALL OF DISTRESS. (Ver. 11.) 'l'he picture seems to be placed before us of one arriving at the place of judgment, seeing an innocent sufferer, yet, lilco the priest and the Lovite in the parable, passing by "on the other side." "To see sad sights moves more than hear them told ; For then the eye interprets to the ear The heavy motion that it doth behold." To respond t,o these mute appeals from any of God's creatures is to obey a law immediately known within our breast; to resist them is to sin against him and against our own souls. II. NEGLECT OF DCTY CANNOT ESOAPE PUNISHMENT. (Ver. 12.) 1. Human nature is fertile in excuses. For the burden of blame and of conscious guilt is the heaviest we can bear. But searching is the truth of the proverb, "Whoso excuses, accuses himself." Imorance of duty needs no excuses; but excuses for neglect can never be valid. 2. Excuses may avail with man, but not with God. With fallible men they may and often do pass for truth. At all events, they must often be accepted by those who need in turn to make them. But God knows the truth of every heart, and in every case; and to him excuses are either needless or worse. 3. Judgment will be executed in spite of our ezcuses. Fur God is the Vindicator of the wronged, and the Reeompenser of all according to their deeds. Scripture is very impressive on the sin of neglect of kindly duties to others, in regard to which the conscience is so often dull (Luke xiv. 18, etc.). Men content themselves with the reflection that they have not done others positive harm-a negative position. But the other negative position, that we have not done the good we had a call to do, on this the teaching of Christ fixes a deeper guilt. Noble as it is to save a life from bodily death, still more glorious in ita consequences is it to save a soul from death, and bide a multitude of sins.-J. Vers. 13, 14.-Zeal in the pursuit of wisdom. I. THE SWEETNESS OF WISDOM. (Ver. 13.) Not without deer,, meaning is the sense of knowing the truth compared to the sensuous relish of the palate for swcet food. Here is, indeed, a "Perpetual feast of nectared sweets, Where no crude surfeit 1·eigns." (Cf. Ps. xix. 11.) II. ENCOURAGEMENT IN ITS PURsurr. (Ver.14.) It bringsatruesatisfaction both during the pursuit and at its end, which can be said of few other objects of eager ambition in this world. '!'he seeker for truth may be compared to the maiden of the parable, who timely fills her lamp with oil, and "hope that reaps not shame." The pursuit of wisdom, or of truth as understood and taught in this book, is no chase of dreams or abstractions; it is the affair of all. 'l'ruth is all that touches and convbces man, whether as an individual, or as a member of society, or the citizen of a nation. It is that which tells him that he is not isolated in the midst of unknown beings; but that beyond his individual life be partakes in a life that is universal. All that in the past, whether facts, thoughts, or sentimentF, are in question, that makes us contem- porary with the facts, fellow-heirs with humanity in great thoughts, sympathetic with great ~eotimonts, is truth.-J. OJI, XXIV, 1-34.] THE PROVERBS. 471