Vers. 3, 4.-Tlie 'Vio1a.fion of maternal instincts. I. MATERNAT, INBTINOTS ARB AMONG THE MOST WIDE~J>READ AND DEEP-SEATED ORDINANCES OF PROVIDENCE. ]. Wi:dPspread. They are shared by the lower animals as well as by human bein"S. The fiercest monsters 1tre careful of their cubs. 'l'he most stupid know how to tend a;d rear their offsprinii;. Roaming jackals of the desert have their lairs where they give i,uck to their little ones. 'l'he vnried fil'lds of animal life all bear evidence to this wonderful instinct. It is seen o.mong all races of men. Brutal degraded classes, untrained sa1·ages, fierce warlike people, all possess it. 2. Deep-seated. These instincts are far deeper than any merely !:lOcial tendency. They are strong and vital as appetites. '!'he mother feels for her child as for part of herself. Many desires and habits will bo ahandoned before these instincts will fail. 'l'bey outlive virtue and principle and dwell still in the vicious. JI. 'l'HE VIOLATION OF MATF.RNAL INSTINCTS IS ONE OF THE MOST HORRIBLE EVENTS. I. In proportion to the profound and almost universal character of these instincts is the outrage on nature itself that the violation of them involves. We judg;e of an influence by the forces it has to overcome. It muEt be very strong if it can conquer great resist- ance. To conquer such resistance as that offered by the maternal instincts the evil influence must be powerful indeed. Therefore the violation of these instincts must be a proof of a most exceptionally energetic force of evil. Lady Macbeth must have sold herself to a very demon of ambition before she could unsex herself enough to say- " I have given suck, and know How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it wo.s smiling in my face, Ha~e pluck'd my nipple from bis boneless gums, And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn, etc." 2. Moreover, the fatal effect of the violation of maternal instincts is another proof of the terrible evils of the corruption that can make it possible. These instincts are essential to the very continua.nee of life on our globe. Creatures that come into the world with so much feebleness as is the case with human beings would perish were they not pro- tected in infancy by the wonderful passionate care of maternity. ill TlliT MUST BE A FRIGHTFUL CALAMITY WHICH CAN LEAD TO THE VIOLATION OF MATERNAL INSTINCTS. Such was the calamity of the siege of Jerusalem. Then hunger and despair led parents to neglect their children. The worst mad violation of maternal instincts had been anticipated in a siege of Samaria, when a mother devoured hP,r own child (2 Kings vi. 24-29). Such things have been done since. They force us to realize the barbarow; cruelty of war which some would hide beneath its foolish pomp and pageantry. They also make us see the evil of extreme misery. There is a point beyond which suffering ceases to be beneficial. It then becomes a positive curse. It tears up the very roots of the most precious !!fOwths of nature. It drives to worse moral degradation than luxury tempts to, though in the eyes of a merciful God the guilt cannot be regarded with so much wrath where the misery that urges to it is so pitiable. 'l'heref,,re it should be the work of the Chrbtian philanthropist to remove physical wretcbe<lness, not only for its own sake, but also as one of the first means for preventing crime and vice. Ver. 5.-BeverseB of fortune. I. REVERSES OF FORTUNE ARE NOT UNCOMMON. It is not only in the rare case of a protracted siege, when at last rich and poor both suffer from the severities of famine, that we may see some who once fed delicately wandering desolate in the street. All who have gone down into the haunts of tho very poor and have investigated the severest cases of wretchedness know how many of the most abject on. 1v. 1-22.] THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 69
paupers have enjoyed wealth and luxury in former years. Even in an orderly snciety such as our own the numb•!r of these violent reverses of fortune is appalling. Let nu one boast of his assmed comfort.. II. REVERSES OF FORTUNE ARE MOST PAINFUL. \Ve rarely miss what we have never known. '!'here is, therefore, much mitigation to the hardrrnss of tbe lot of tbose "bo are born in the most miserable circumstnnces, arisinp; from the fact that th,:iy have never experienced anything better. But the greatest distress is in coming down from affluence, comfort, and honour to poverty, distress, and shame. III. REVERSES OF FORTUNE ARE FREQUENTLY MERITED. We must beware of the errOT of Job's friends. The innocent may and often do suffer from a most griev"us s11cccssin11 of calamities. Still, those three men had much to say for their view. Their mistake was in making it universal in its application. It is rarely that the seed of the righteo1111 man bas to beg for bread. Good men may have a humble lot and sometimes m;i.y have to suffer considerable loss. But usually the greatest degradation and misery follows the folly or sin of the sufferer. Probably the one vice of intemperance i.s the cause of more than half the cases of the very worst reverses of fortune. IV. REVERSES OF FORTUNE SHOULD EXCITE PECULIAR COMMISERATION. The happy and prosperous should look out for such cases. The most sad among them are often the hardest to find. They hide in shame and misery. Especially when the rle~ada.tion is moral it becomes a Christian work to seek to restore the fallen. The Son of man came, not so much to preserve the prosperous nor to raise those who had never known better things, as to seek and to save the lost sheep of the house of Lirael, i.e. those who had once been privileged and had fallen from their first estate. • v. REVERSES OF FORTUNE DO NOT JUSTIFY LOSS OF FAITH IN Goo. They tempt men that way. "Curse God, and die," a voice whispers into the ear of the despairing man. But it is the voice of folly as well as of sin. For: 1. We must expect to be governed in many mysteries by the great and all-wise God. It may be rational to disbelieve in the existence of God ; but it cannot be rational to believe that he is, and yet to doubt his wisdom or goodc.ess. 2. The reverse is often due to the fault of the sufferer. 3. It may be overruled for his good. VI. REVERSES OF FORTUNE MAY BE REVERSED. So was it in Job's case; the end of the patriarch's life was even brighter than the beginning of it. 1. This may happen on earth. In suffering we are too ready to lose heart. We pa.int the future in dark ijhades manufactured solely from present experiences. But there are more resources iu the world than we dream of. 2. It will surely come in the next world to all who trust in God. Then the second reverse will be as joyous as the first was miserable. For the same principle will avply in both cases, and the great change will heighten the sense of the new condition. Happy a.re they who, in Christ, though suffering and despised, arc looking forward to this glorious reverse of their present dark fortunes.