danger. Timidity may fe.11 into worse sina than those it seeks to a.void. And in other ways extremes meet. While the ha.star to be rich casts an evil, envious eye on the property of others, he is blind to the menace of poverty from behind. In any case, poverty of soul follows from the constant drain of thought and energy towards things that "perish in the using." Bow much need have all to beware of those passions which are the "thorns" that spring up and choke the good word of God in the heartl-J. Ver. 23.-Faithful counsel. I. To GIVE IT MAY REQUIRE THE HIGHEST MORAL COURAGE. It may be in the teeth of the interest of the adviser; it may turn a friend into an enemy; it may inflict a keen smart. Nothing but the highest regard to truth on the one hand, to love on the other, may be sufficient to nerve for the task. I!. THE TEMPORARY DISPLEASURE OF A FRIEND IS TO BE FACED RATHER THAN THAT HE SHOULD SUFFER LASTING EVIL. To save a soul from death, this is the great duty imposed by Christian love. And to that principle we must be true, whether we gain or lose a brother to our heart. Ill. FLATTERY TURNS OUT TO BE BITTER, GOOD COUNSEL IIUl[JILY RECEIVED EVER SWEET IN THE END. 'l'he former, swelling our self-conceit, blinds us to both our advantage and our duty; lures us to folly and, perhaps, to rnin. The latter opens our eyes to ourselves and to our circumstances, and turns our foot from the precipice. We have reason to be thankful for the warning word that has saved us, and to bless the faithful heart which dictated it; reason ourselves to pray that we may miss no such opportunity of another's salvation.-J. Vers. 24, 25.-Sins of greed. I. THEY MAY LEAD TO UNNATURAL VICES-EVEN TBE ROBBERY OF PARENTS. (Ver. 24.) The heart must be profoundly corrupted that can sacrifice filial affection on the shrine of the base lust for go.in. Theft is not less but more a crime if committed against one's own blood. II. THEY LEAD TO STRIFE, (Ver. 26.) They overcome the instinct for justice and social right, and the man becomes an oppressor and e. murderer-if not in act, in spirit and purpose-of his kind. Wars and fightings oome of the "lusts in our members." It is confidence in the eternal God-his gracious providence and goodness, which calms excessive desire, and fills the heart with peace and content. And the riches the soul thus gains are surer and more permanent than any treasures laid up on ee.rth.-J. Ver. 26.-Folly and wisdom in the personal relation. I. THE PRmCIPLE oF FOLLY IS LIFE IN AND FOR SELF ALONE. The thought that is superior to counsel and compl\rison with other minds ; the feeling which shuts out consideration and sympathy; the will which would a.et as if it knew no law but its own ;-these are manifestations of that folly which is at once immoral and irreligious. II. PRACTICAL WISDOM WELL COMPARED TO A WALK. 'l'hie is the rising in thought towards universal truth. It is governed by the pulse of charity in the soul; it moves towards all worthy Divine and human_ ends. In folly we advance to perdition, in aiming at our wee.I, in wisdom, renouncing self, we enter blessedness.-J.
Vere. 27, 28.-The life that "breeds p1wpelual benediction." I. THE KINDLY AND OENEROUB HEART. (Ver. 27.) 'fhis prompts the generous hand; gathers more than it sows; is not suffered to want any good thing. It stands out in bright colours and winning o.spect against the dark background of the selfish, self-concentrated, hnrd- hearted life. Let us cultivate the open eye which drinks in the knowledge of all that concerns our fellows, and the open hand in harmony with it. II. ITS WORTH IS HEIGHTENED DY CONTRAST. (Ver, 28.) Men cower, their brows contract,· their mien becomes depressed, their soul enslaved, their mauhood unmanned, beneath the proud man's oppression and the wicked's scorn. Persecution drives tho moral sunshine out of the world, and tends to depopulate its moral life. As the increase of goodness depends largely on sound social and political conditions, it must be an object of prayer and of endeavour with all good men to overthrow tyranny and abolish fraud, that "the fruita of iiighteousness may abound and increase on every hand."-J. 548 THE PROVERBS. [OH, XXVID. 1-28,