NA.TUM •. ,ArUsLic work seems to emanate so entirely from a man himself, to be so purely hfo owq absolute creation, that it naturally raise~ in him an admiration of himself and an exa\ted conception of his own powers. How shall he not be proud of faculties .that ennLlc him to produce works which, sen,l a, thrill of delight through crowds, and are l'Ccognized as possessions for all time! Again, the beautiful is so cha;ming, so attrac- tive, that it is apt to seem sufficient foi- a man, and so to abaorb all his attention, and shut oul; all thought of higher and nobler things. In our own time the cult is actually 1>reached as a sufficient religion, and men ·are asked what more they can possibly desire than to feast the eye perpetually on beautiful objects-beautiful buildings, beautiful furniture, beautiful clothes, pictures, statues, statuettes, harmonious colours, delicate textw·cs, soft and subdued light, graceful forms, plP.asing contra,ts. A weak and effe- minafe race i~ produced by such a training; tbe robuster virtues are uncared for; men become lapped in a luxurious sensnalisrn, and need a warning voice, like that of the prophet, to wake them from their delightful dream to life's stern realities. Il. TIIAT TIIE EXCLUSlVE CULT OF THE DEAUTIFUL PROVOKES Gon's ANGER AKD JEALOUSY. Tyre is not acoused of crimes. She is not a" bloody city," like Nineveh (Nab. iii. 1); she is not" full of lies and robbery." Her p~nishment does not come upo1f her" because of the violence" that is in her, nor for extreme arrogancy, nor for hypocrisy. Her sin seems to be in her luxury, in her softness, in her" perfect beauty" (Ezek. xxvii. 11). She is. rich, she is comely, she has things of beauty all about her, and she is content. She wants no more. The beantiful and the enjoyable satisfy her. But God is angered thereby. He will not.have even the beautiful, though it is a shadow of himself, shut him out from the first plac.e in men's thoughts. He will vindicate his owri honour. He will suffer no rival near his throne. If men are so wnpt np in anything as to forget him; he will remind them of himselr by some terrible judgment, whi~h can be ascribed_ to n~ne but him (vers. 8-11). Yers. 17, 18.-,2j'he pursuit of wealth culpable or praiseworthy according to the object had. in vi~w. To:seek g!lin for gain's sake, either for the mere purpose of hoarding and accumulating, and so having the salisfaction of feeling that one is rich (Hor., 'S.1t.,' i. 1, 11. 66; 67), or oo expend it on one's self in luxuries and enjoyments of various kinds, though perhaps beneficial to the oommunity whereto a man belongs, is injurious to his own moral character, and an offence to God. Covetousness, the apostle astitires us (Col. iii. 5), is idolatry,.i'nd so is selfishness of every kind. Those who havu their heart set on apy other end except plea.sing God, are idolaters, whatever the en<l may be. 'l'hey let something, which is not God, absorb their thoughtd, occupy their minds, engage their affections. They gradually and silently, perhaps even nnconsciously, lose the sense of God's presence, of his provioence, at last of his very existence. They b~comc practical atheists. On.the other hand, to seek gain for the purpose of makin6 a right use of it, to spend it fo. •the service of God, either directly in church-building and endowing, or indirectly in ameliorating the con<lition of mankind at large or of any special class of men, is elevating to the moral character and pleasing in God's sight. Any occupation not in itself wrong is rendered honourable, a!ll1 in a certain sense sanctified, by being pursued in this spirit. Detter to be a "publican," like Zacchaius, ho,vever .discreditable the calling iu the sight of man, if one-half of the gains made be devoted •to feeding the poor, tban to follow the most elevated calling and appropriate all the proceeds to one's self. "Gaiu" becomes "godliness" when the great wealth, which is the, result of high qualities wisely employed, and blessed by God in such employmei:~:is made an offeriqg t.o him, in the person of_his Church or of his poor.
· IIOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. . Vers. 1-18.-The f~l ~f Tyre .. I. THE ~~,lENT FAME OF TYRE. Consecrated tu Molkarth, the principal.god of the city, the temple on the island, the supposed site of the ancient city, is said. by Arriau to hl\Ve· been the most ancient within the memory of man. Ezekiel speaks of 'l'yre as "in the midtit of the seas" (xxvii. 25, 26). The 'J.'yrio.ns were closely connecte,1 with the Ziuonians, those famous " hewers of timber" (1 Kings v. G). And perhnps the Zidouians of Homer (' u..• vi. 290; u.ili. 743; 216 Ti3.E BOOK OF THE PRONlET tSAIAil. (on, x:t.nt. 1-1g,