The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 381

his creation; the Divine agency for bis culture; a.nd the inexpressibly sa.d thing to say about any man, here or yonder, is that he does not work. And commerce, by con- stantly creating new demands and enriching our stores of raw material, makes work. All hindrances to commerce, such as taxation and war, injure the nations by putting limitations on work. Universal peace would mean a healthy activity throughout the world. Every man using his ability in the service of bis fellow, and getting, as his return, the service of bis fellow to him. But there are evils attending the spread of commerce. Especially such as follow the undue Bhare of wealth possessed by indi- viduala. Shelley speaks of it thus- "Commerce has set the mark of selllshnea, The signet of its all-enslaving power, Upon a shining ore, and called it gold ; Before whose image bow the vulgar great, The vainly rich, the miserable proud, The mob of peasants, nobles, priests, and king11, And with blind feelings reverence the power That grinds them to the dust of misery." To this a.lso must be addecl the tendency of commerce to crea.te selfish interesta--to destroy the idea and sentiment of personal and national honour, which seeks its vindi- cations in war, and to encourage the notion that we are to use other people ra.ther than to serve them, service being the supreme idea of Christ's regenerate humanity : "I am among you as he tha.t serveth." " The Son of man came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister."-R. T. Ver. 2.-The dependence of one nation upon another. Tyre was, according to some authorities, a colony of Zidon. And the figure in the text sets forth a corporate body, each part dependent on the other. Insular Tyre directly dependent on the mainland, and both closely related to Zidon. And yet further, the Egyptians bad in their coun- try no timber for the building of seaworthy ships, so their foreign trade was carried on for t.hem by the Phcenicia.ns. Some of the European na.tions now a.re pressing to secure ·seaports, in order to relieve their sense of dependence on others. Insular England does the carrying tra.de for the world, so all nations depend on her, a.ad she in tum depends on the trading of the nations. In the pottery districts we were told that the white clay, of which biscuit china is made, is brought all the way from Cornwall, because it ea.a be more easily carried than the heavier clay, and the coal, which are needed for the firing process. So even Staffordshire depends on Com wall, and Cornwall on Staffordshire. Some countries send us corn, some sugar, some spice, some cotton, some fruit. Countries vary in their genius. Rome finds law for the world, Greece finds art, and Palestine finds religion. For its highest well-being no one nation can seplrate itself from the others. It lives and thrives by its very dependence. We only note- I. THAT THIS MUTUAL DEPENDENOE TENDS TO CHECK THE w AR-SPIRIT. The people of the nations never want war. They may be roused to a fever-heat of passion, and so be driven into war; but the long experience of the a.ges proves that, whoever gets good out of war, the people always suffer. Classes of society want war; but only for the maintenance of selfish interests. 'fbe evil of wa.r is seen in its shutting the markets of the world. Such is England's dependence on foreign corn, and so nearly does it consume its stores in the face of the new harvest, that six months' war would threaten famine. All classes, except those who trade in wa.r and war material, pray acd strive for universal peace. Man's true interests support the Christian principles, II. THAT THIS MUTUAL DEPENDENCE ENRIOHES ALL SEOTIONS. God has ordered bis world so that nobJdy shall be" sufficient to himself." And the more a man seems to have, the more dependent he becomes, because of the increase of his wants. The most independent man is the ignorant labourer, who can lie anywhere and eat anything; the least independent, the wealthy man who has encoura~ed ten thousand needless wants and luxuries. God puts the abundance of one thing in one land, and of another thing in another. And the exchange of commodities enriches all. The world is one body," and ir one member suffer, all the members suffer with it." The interest of one nation is the interest of all. God is the God and Father of all.-R, T,  THE BOOK OF Tim 'PROPHET ISAIAH. [on. XXIIL 1-18.