age.inst him, the courtier is reminded of the ruler's power, e.nd is admonished not to provoke him to the exercise of that power, for in that case disfavour may lead to disgrace and degradation. 3. Religious principle. This is the motive which, in the case of the Christian, is most powerful, The example of the patient and meek nedeemer, who reviled not again, and who besought mercy for his murderers, is never absent from the mind of those who trust and love him. His love constrains, his precept controls, his example impels. .And thus forbearance and forgiveness characterize Christ's disciples, in those circumstances in which otherwise resentment and revenge might animate the heart. IV. 'l'HE PACIFYING POWER OF PATIENT SUBMIBSIO~. "Yielding pacifieth [allayeth] great offences." His not required that the injured party should approve the action of his injurer; or affirmed that. no opportunity may occur of just and dignified rebuke. But silence, quictuess of spirit, and control of natural impulse, will ia many cases produce a good result. He who bears wrong patiently is the stronger and better for the discipline; and his demeanour may melt the wrong-doer to contrition, and will at all events lead him to reflection. Thus the threatened conflict may be avoided; a lesson may be adminis- tered to the hasty and arrogant, and the best interests of society may be promoted. Thus the Word of God is honoured, and witness is given to the power which Christ possesses to subdue e.nd govern the unruly nature of man.-T. Vers. 5-7.-Social paradoxes. The evil which the writer of Ecclesiastes here condemns is one of which the history of every nation affords many examples. Princes' favourites have too often been chosen from amongst the worthless herd who seek their own elevation and advantage by ministering to the vices of the young, profligate, and powerful. How many a reign has been marred by this mischief! How many a king bas been misled, to his own and his country's harm, by the folly of choosing companions and counsellors not for wisdom, sincerity, and patriotism, but because those chosen arc of congenial tastes and habits, or are flatterers and parasites I J. THE ELEVATIO:tl OF FOOLISH FAVOURITES TO POWER IS mJURIOUS TO THOSE SO PROMOTED, Men who might have been respectable and useful in a lowly station are corrupted and morally debased by their elevation to posts of undeserved dignity and emolument. Their heads are turned by the giddy height to which they are raised. II, THE ELEVATION OF FOOLISII FAVOURITES 'l.'O POWER IS mJURIOUS TO THE PRINOES WHOM THEY PROFESS. TO SERVE, What kings and rulers need is to be told the truth. It is important that they should know the actual state and needs of the nation. .And it is important that any weakness or wrong bias, natural or acquired, should be cor- rected. But the fools who are set in high places make it their one great rule of conduct never to utter unpalatable truth. They assume the faultlessness of their master ; they paint the condition of his subjects in glowing colours, and give the ruler all the credit for national prosperity. Their insincerity and flattery are morally injurious to the prince, who by the companionship of the wise might have been morally benefited. Ill. THE El,EVA'r!ON OF FOOLISH FAVOURITES TO POWER IS INJURIOUS TO THE COMMUNITY. 'J'he example of injustice thus presented is discouraging; to the upright and depressing to the reflecting. The tb.i·oue becomes unpopubr, and the people generally are demoralized. The evil is no doubt greater in despotic than in consti- tutional states, for these latter afford fewer opportunities for rapacity and oppression. Yet .. nothing more injuriously alfects the community generally than the spectacle of a court which prefers folly to wisdom, fashion to experience, vico to virtue, frivolity to piety.-'!'. Vers. 8, 9.-Tl,e rebound of evil. Under these picturesque and impressive figures o! speech, the Preacher appears to set forth the important moral lesson, that they who work harm and wrong to. their fellow-men shall uot themselves escape with impunity. I. THE SIGNS AND THE BIN OF MALICE. The case is one of intentional, dolibernte malevolence, working itself out in o.cts of mischief and wrong. Such a spirit so expressing itself rn_ay be characterize~ (1~ as a pervcrsi~n. of natural sc~ti~ont; (2) as e. wrong to our social nature, and a .v10la.t1on of the conil.1ti'J'ns of our social hfe; allll (3) os in flagrant contradiction to the comll',.nds of God, o.nd the precepts of our gracious and compassionate Saviour, 264 ECCLESIASTES ; OR, 'l'HE PREACHER.
II. THE RETRIBUTION OF MALI0E, The proverbial language of the text is paralleled by somewhat similar apophthegms in various languages, as, for example, in the Oriental pro,erb, "Curses, like chickens, come home to roost." 1. Such retribution is often ,nought by the ordinary operation of natural laws. The story of the pirate- ro,er who was wrecked upon the crags of Aberbrothock, from which he himself had cut off the warning bell, is an instance familiar to our minds from childhood. 2, Retribu- tion is sometimes effected by the action of the laws enforced in all civilized communities. The lea: talionis, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," may be taken as an example of a principle the applications of which are discernible in all the various states of society existing among men. 3. Those who escape the penalties of nature and the indigaation of their fellow-men cannot escape the righteous judgment of God; they shall not go unpunished.-T.