powel' of putting an end to it." But the universal instinct of man condemns this, and life .is valued even for its own sake, and so it ought to be, "All the days of tny appointed time will I wait till my change come "-such should be the soul's language, even under the heaviest trial. But the right regard of life and death is that of St. Paul. He was "willing to wait, but ready to go" (Phil. i. 23, 24). To be in his "sttait" is the best position for us. 'l'o be evenly balanced between the two desires for life and for death-that is the happiest mood. in which a man can be. For the desire of life greatly to preponderate is to come under that fear of death which makes some" all their lifetime subject to bondage." And a preponderating desire for death is certainly not i;ood. 'l'he strait of St. Paul is the place. God bring and keep us there!. His desire for the "far better" lot of companionship with Christ was met and counteracted by his desire to glorify Christ in life through being helpful to his brethren, for whom it was "more needful" that he should abide in the flesh. And so he was kept in equilibrium, as it were, by these opposed forces, and the result was, as it ever will be, a saintly and devoted life. Paul's "strait" is the only easy position on the earth. Oh, to be in it I If you are held by both of these bonds you will not fear a fall on either side. "Althouah your life, instead of being in your Father's hands, were at the disposal of your wo;st enemy, in his utmost effort to do you harm he would be shut up between these two- either to keep you a while longer in Christ's work or sen.d you sooner to Christ's pre- sence. That were indeed II charmed life that should tremble evenly in the blessed balance. This way, we shall do good to men ; that way, we shall be with the Lord." Weep not, then, either for the blessed dead or for the holy living; bemoan neither, but bless God for both. But we may weep sore for him that goeth away an exile fro!ll C'TO!l, ne.er in this life, so far as we can see, to return. That sorrow is just; all other is misplaced.-C. • ' Ver. 13.-The Nemesis of oppression. "Woe _unto him that buildeth his house ·by nruighteousness ! " It is one of the many precious characteristics of the ~iple _that it ever represents God as the Avenger of the poor and oppressed. It tells over and over again how God "plentifully rewardeth the proud doer." And it is interesting and most instructive to note the manner in which God does this. Not so much ·by direct punitive inflictions of his wrath as by the results of those laws according to which his universe is -0rdered. 'l'hat law of his uuiverse is against the oppressor, and sooner or later overtakes and overwhelms him.
"Though the mills of God grind slowly, Yet they grind exceeding small." Now, here, in these verses, we have a Divine denunciation of oppression: "Woo·uuto him," etc. I And we note- • L 'l':aEB.E JIAB JlEEN, AND YET IB, OPI'REssto:i:r. We trust that there is far less of it than 011ce there was, but that it has disappeared we cannot affirm. Here, in our own land of liberty, we may know but little of it, but in the lands of the East, its ciri~innl home, it prevails still to terrible extent. And the ancient kings of Israel were sorely tempted to allow themselves in it, and often did so, and would have more largely had it not been for the perpetual protest maintained against it by the prophets of God. But if we feel, as we do, that a tyrant and an oppressor would meet but with short shrift in such a liberty-loving land as our own, how was it that oppression became so easy antl so common in other lands? Therefore note- II. THE CAUSEB OF OPPRESSION. 'l'hcse will be most readily seen by noticing the lands wherein it bas most prevailed. It has ever been where the earth has brought forth fruit of itself abundantly and without demanding much labour from the culti- vator. And these lands, with scarce an exception, lie along that belt of the earth's surface which reaches from the East Indies antl on westward to Mexico and Peru. It includes the Euphrates valley, Egypt, and then, crossing the Atlantic, it compris_es the extinct civilizations of Equatorial America. It may be remarked in passing that Judah antl Jerusalem were, at the time or Jcrcmiah's prophecy, in alliance with Egypt, one of these lands or oppression and whence tho evil lesson would be cosily lea.rnt. Ilut it will be asked, Wherefore 'was oppression more rifo in these lauds than in othel'S? It OH. xxu. 1-30.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. so:-;