transgress the narrow bounds allowed, we shall soon find that we have done ourselves harm in the estimation of our neighbour. And even to talk, without prniso, of ourselves is a habit to be held well in check, or it will run into an oJTensive and injurious egotism (see homily1on eh. xvii. 2). II. Sm.F-EXAMINATION. 'l'o "search out our own glory" is not glorious, but rather inglorious. It is allowable enough for a man sometimes to recall what he has been to others, and what he has done for others; but ho may not practise this beyond a very circumscribed limit. To hold up his_ own achievements before his own eyes is to begct a very penlous complacency; to fina them out for other people's edification is quite as dangerous. And, on the other hand, for men to be searching their hearts or their lives to discover what is evil in them, to be instituting a constant exnmination of their souls to ascertain whereabouts they stand,-this is open to grave mistake, and may soon become unwise and hurtful. Self-examination is very good up to a certain point; beyond that point it becomes morbid and is a serious mistake. III. BODILY EXERCISE AND INDULGENCE. This is very pleasant and (the latter) very "sweet," like the eating of honey. .And to go some way in both of these is good and wise. But let the athlete beware lest his very love of bodily exercise betrays him into excesses which undermine his strength and bring on premature decline and death. And as to bodily indulgence, let us be often reminding ourselves that only in the ;:up of strict moderation-whatever that cup may be-is real pleasure or _lasting health to be found. All excess here is as foolish as it is sinful. IV. SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT. Can we have too much of this? Undoubtedly we can. Those who are perpetually partaking of one particular kind of religious nourish- ment, however good that may be in its way and measure, are over-eating of one kind of food, and they will suffer for so doing. They will not grow as God meant them to grow, proportionately and symmetrically; there will be a lopsidedness about their mind or character which is very noticeable and very ugly. Whether it be the con- templative, or the poetical, or the speculative, or the evangelistic, or the didactic, or any other side of truth in which men surfeit their souls, they make a mistake in so doing. They should underslltnd that Divine truth bas many sides and aspects, that there is not any one of them that constitutes wisdom or is sufficient to fill the mind and build up the character of a man. Our wisdom is to partake of the various dishes which are on the table our bountiful Host has provided for us; for as the body is the beLter for eating of many "meats," so is the soul all the stronger and all the fairer for partaking in moderation of all the various sources of spiritual nutrition that are within its reach.-C.
Vers. 20, 25.-The inopportune and the acceptable. "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly" ( eh. xviii. 24). . And if we would do this we must be careful to choose our time for speaking the truth to our friends, and must study to do not only the right but the appropriate thing. We must- I. ABSTAIN FROM THE INOPPORTUNE. (Ver. 20.) It should require but a very humble share of delicacy to understand that what is very valuable at one time is altoaether misplaced and unpalatable at another. We should carefully abstain from: 1. All merriment in the presence of great sorrow. By indulgence in it then we only add fuel to the fire of grief. 2. The discussion of business or the proposals o_f pleasure in the presence of ear.iest spiritual solicitude. When men are profoundly anx1o~s about their relations with God, they do not want us to harass and burden them with talk about temporal affairs or about social entertainments; these are good in their time, but not at such a time as that. 3. Entering into the affairs of life in the presence of the dying. Those w~o stand very nea_r indee~ to the future ~orld do n_ot_want ~o be vexed with matters which they are leavmg behmd for ever. Sumln.rly, it 1s a mistake to be always or even often di~cussing death and_ the future wi_t~ _t~ose who! wh_ile not unready for either, are charged with the duties and respons1b1!1ties of ~ct1ve h~e. 4. An ur..,ent insistance upon spiritual obligations in presence of acute bodily suffering or severe destitution. The Chribtian course, in such a case, is to call in the doctor or the baker. 11. CULTIVATE THE ACCEP'l'ABLF.. (Ver. 25.) How acceptable to the human hen.rt is : 1. Goud news from our frknds and kindred when afar off from us. It is worth wbile CH. XXV. 1-28.) THE PROVERBS. 497