Proverbs 17

Proverbs 17:1-7

LECTURE XLV.

Proverbs 17:1-7 .

“Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts. A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue. Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker; and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers. Excellent speech becometh not a fool; much less do lying lips a prince.”

This chapter, you perceive, commences with a proverb much the same as others that have been already under our notice:*1-“Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.” The word “sacrifices” has reference to the practice of feasting on the flesh of the slain victims, when they were not holocausts-to be entirely consumed on the altar.*2 The preposition “with” is supplementary. The words have been rendered “sacrifices of strife;” that is, such as, in the appropriation and consumption of them, occasion contention and brawls. On the margin the proper sense of the word, in such a connexion, is evidently given-“a house full of good cheer with strife.” I do not dwell now on the sentiment-the superiority of the feast of love-the feast of souls, to the banquet of royal dainties, where there is no heart. But let all feel its truth. Let the poor especially feel it, when called to partake of their frugal and necessarily stinted meals. If they sit down to these in the smiling cordiality of domestic love, and with the supplicated blessing of Him who “feeds the ravens” and “clothes the lilies of the field,"-they are happier far than those whose houses are full of good cheer; but full, along with it, of the bitterness of contention. Love sweetens the stinted portion, hatred embitters the full one.

*1 See Proverbs 15:16-17 . rr

*2 Compare 1 Samuel 9:12-13 ; 1 Samuel 9:22-24 .

Verse Proverbs 17:2 . “A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.” The general maxim here is, that wisdom-true godly discretion-the exercise of genuine principle in steady fidelity, prudence, diligence, and general propriety of conduct,-tends to advancement-to elevate to higher station, and to secure approbation and reward. A servant whose character has been long tried and proved, will be highly respected and valued, and will obtain the most important trusts. Even the care of a refractory and wayward child may be committed to such a domestic, as one in whose fidelity and prudence the most entire confidence can be reposed. Or the phrase, “shall have rule over the son who causeth shame” may only signify his becoming the superior of such a son and heir, in the amount of his influence and weight in all domestic arrangements. Such a servant is a treasure in the family to which he or she belongs. And in many instances, with great propriety, have such servants found a place among the legatees of their masters;-obtaining, as their reward, and their testimonial of grateful approbation, a portion of the family patrimony. This was the case of old, in a special manner, with servants who had been born and brought up in the family, or on the estate, and had worn out the vigour of their youth and manhood in the faithful service of the one or of the other. Such a servant to the patriarch Abraham was Eliezer of Damascus.

Let me say, then, to servants, that there is hardly any other class in society who have more in their power, in either promoting or preventing domestic comfort and happiness. By faithfulness, industry, good temper, and respectful demeanour,-by putting your hearts into the interests of the household with which providence has associated you, and identifying yourselves with its well-being, you effect the former; you make yourselves happy, and you contribute no unimportant share to the happiness of all around you. It is thus too that you render both your station and yourselves respectable and honourable. It is the man that adorns the station; not the station the man. The very highest station can never secure respect to the occupant who acts unworthily of it,-who disgraces it. On the contrary, the very contrast between the station and the character will serve to deepen the dark shades of the latter, and aggravate both private and public disrepute. The dutiful servant is incomparably the more honourable and entitled to respect when set in comparison with the mean, the unjust, or the profligate master. No station will detract from you, if you adorn the station. And then-while you gain and fix affectionate and grateful regard, and secure from every generous master and mistress an earthly recompense; if you act under the influence of gospel principles, and, in serving your earthly masters, “serve the Lord Christ,” you will enjoy the smile of divine approval, and, in the end, obtain “the reward of the inheritance.”*

*See Colossians 3:22-24 .

Verse Proverbs 17:3 . “The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts."-There are two things effected on the silver and the gold when subjected to the process of the fining-pot, or crucible, and the furnace. These are-trial and purification; the first with a view to the second. Trial detects the proportion of extraneous matter in the ore,-or of alloy in the metal; and the process which detects, at the same time, and as the designed result, separates the extraneous matter, or the alloy, and by separation, purifies, and so renders the remainder the more precious.

“But the Lord trieth the hearts.” It is obvious that a comparison is intended: “As the fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; so the Lord trieth the hearts.” Trying is more than simply discerning. The Lord does not need to try, in order to make any discovery for himself. He “knoweth what is in man.” But He “tries,” in order to bring to light what may lie concealed from men, and especially from the individual himself. And this He does in order to the person’s conviction and benefit, and that He may be vindicated in his final judgments.

He “tries,” in different respects, both “the wicked and the righteous.” By the dispensations of his providence, He often elicits the latent evils that are in the hearts of the ungodly and the worldly. He brings out their hidden abominations. He manifests the deceitfulness, the hypocrisy, the “desperate wickedness,” of their “inward parts,"-their rebellious and unsubdued dispositions. He exposes the simulation of dissemblers; and of those whose religion only seems to thrive when their profession of it brings no suffering and demands no sacrifice. How many has God thus tried and exhibited in their true characters!-how many has He thus “weighed in the balances, and found wanting!"-In the same manner too does God try, and bring out to view the inward graces and virtues of his children. And, while disclosing, He refines and purifies them, He detects and removes the alloy-the dross and tin of self and the world; separating “the vile” from “the precious,” and so rendering the precious the more excellent;-purging away the earthly from the heavenly, and bringing the heavenly out of the furnace more spiritual and divine.*

• See Malachi 3:3-4 ; Zechariah 13:9 ; Isaiah 27:9 ; 1 Peter 1:7 .

Let the Lord’s people, then, in every season of affliction, seek above all things its refining virtue. Seek that, when “tried” you may “come forth as gold.” O how sad to suffer, and not to profit! Pray that the gracious end of your heavenly Father may be answered in you; that you may be made more like himself,-more “holy as he is holy,"-more meet for heaven, while sojourning on earth:-that so you may not bear the heat of the furnace without acquiring the purity which the heat is meant to impart.

Verse Proverbs 17:4 . “A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.” These words are capable of two meanings. They may mean, first, that the man is wicked who lends his ear to calumny and slander; who takes up, with easy and malicious credit, all injurious reports: and that he is deceitful and not to be trusted, who listens to and encourages the tongue of detraction and envy and inventive malignity,-gathering up evil, and making what he can of it for the stirring up of mischief.-Or rather, secondly, that the wicked and untruthful are prone to give heed to flattery of themselves, and calumny against others. The more ill they can hear of others, the better. They are supported and comforted by the knowledge that their neighbours are as bad as themselves or worse. They delight in “false lips” and in a “naughty tongue.” They keep them in countenance. They furnish them with the means of evil, on which they can proceed in their own tales of falsehood and scandal-grafting one lie upon another, and forging all manner of calumnies. It is their highest gratification to get a good story, which they can turn to account in their own way.-“A wicked doer,” too, “giveth heed to false lips;” because they are lips of which he can avail himself in time of exigency for his own safety. “A liar” is of essential use to the evil-doer. He can suborn him. He can get him to bear witness in his favour-to perjure himself to get him off, when in danger of being convicted.

Such characters too, it may be noticed, are fond of the lies of false teachers. They keep their ear greedily open to these. They are soothed and flattered and encouraged by them in their evil courses. They cannot but like the doctrine that allays their fears; that palliates sin; that makes light of future punishment; that tells them of a God all mercy; that assures them of ultimate universal salvation. Thus it was of old; and thus it is still.*

• See for example Isaiah 30:9-11 ; Jeremiah 5:31 .

O let thoughtless sinners beware of this wretched delusion! Lies may serve a present purpose; they may keep the mind easy for the time:-but their detection must come; and then the emphatic application of the prophet’s question-“What will ye do in the end thereof?” It is strange how men should wish to be deceived; should be satisfied if they can but keep themselves in present quietness, though at the risk, or with the certainty, of everlasting disappointment, regret, and anguish.

Be assured, my friends, they are not your enemies who “tell you the truth.” The truth may agitate for the time-may give present pain; but it is salutary; it tends to everlasting benefit. They are not your enemies who warn you that “the wages of sin is death;” when they add with the same breath, that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” They are not your enemies who sound in your ears the terrors of a broken law, when they sound along with them the gracious promises of a divinely accredited gospel. They are not your enemies who tell you of the “wrath of God revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men,” when they tell you, at the same time, of the love of God revealed to “the chief of sinners” in the cross;-of God’s delighting in mercy;-of “God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”

Verse Proverbs 17:5 . “Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker; and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.” The poor are of two descriptions-the industrious and virtuous; the idle and profligate; the one, poor, not by their own misconduct, but in consequence of circumstances over which they could exercise no control; the other, poor through indolence and vice.-Mockery is not the sentiment for either. We do, indeed, regard the one and the other with feelings widely dissimilar. In the one case we approve, in the other we condemn; on the one we smile with complacency; on the other we frown with indignation; to the one we cheerfully stretch the hand of our bounty; from the other we hold it back, through a hesitating sense of duty, lest our beneficence should be abused, and bad made worse. We may see it right to allow them to feel the effects of their folly and sin, in order to their future good.

The words before us have manifestly reference to the former-to those whom divine providence has placed in poverty and prevented from rising, or has been pleased, by what we are accustomed to call misfortunes, to reduce to poverty from a better condition. To “mock” at such is to “reproach their Maker.” That Maker has assigned them their lot, and to mock them is to mock Him,-to mock the wisdom and the kindness of his administration. He who is the Maker of the poor is the Maker of the rich,-the Maker and Ruler of the mocker as well as of the object of his scorn. It is a sad thing when one “potsherd of the earth,” because it happens to have got from the hand of the potter a little gilding and superficial decoration, mocks at another “potsherd of the earth” which chances to be somewhat more homely in its outward appearance, or perhaps formed of a little coarser material, than the other; both the work of the same hands, and both alike frail, brittle, and perishable.

It is one of the features of the divine greatness to regard the poor; and one of the features of human littleness to despise them. O what are all the distinctions of earthly condition in His eyes, who is “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity!” That “high and lofty One” regards the man of low degree who “trembleth at his word,” while the proud scorner of the poor he “knoweth afar off."-Vast is the multitude of poor amongst us at this moment. O let there be anything but “mockery”-anything but making light of their lamentable privations and sufferings! May God keep all, whether in private or public station, from thus reproaching their Maker, and provoking his wrath!*

• See on Proverbs 14:20-21 ; Proverbs 14:31 .

Verse Proverbs 17:6 . “Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” We have had one crown of old age before.*1 Here we have another. A numerous progeny was, among the Hebrews, an object of high estimation and earnest desire. In the Scriptures, we find the number of a man’s children frequently specified:-and at times it is represented as a token of divine favour and blessing.*2 As an example of one who enjoyed this crown, look at Joseph.*3 When we read the narrative of him, as the envied and persecuted stripling of seventeen, we feel towards him a warm and sympathising affection. But when we have followed him through all the intensely interesting steps of his history, and come to the touching close, we feel our affection for Joseph the youth, rise and ripen into veneration for Joseph the aged-the hoary patriarch-in the midst of his descendants of four generations. All these look up to him, with deep reverential love, and honour him for his years, his character, and his paternal authority. They thus invest him with a respectability and dignity which, as a solitary individual, he could not have possessed.

*1 Pro 16:31 . rr

*2 See Psalms 128:6 . rr

*3 See Genesis 50:23 . rr

But this is not all that is intended. The meaning and truth of the saying depend greatly on the character of the children. It expresses what they ought to be.

This, then, implies the duty of parents, on the one hand, so to attend-diligently, affectionately, prayerfully, perseveringly, and with all the accompanying power of consistent example-to the education of their children, or, it may be, of their children’s children,-as that they may be an honour to them,-and a comfort and support to their advancing and declining years-to the evening of their life’s long day.-And it implies, on the other, the duty of children to be an honour to their fathers and grandfathers;-to lay to heart the influence which their behaviour cannot fail to have on the respectability, the character, the happiness of their parents.

Yes, my young friends; you may be their honour, or you may be their disgrace. “Which would you wish to be? If you are not “without natural affection,” I need not answer the question. For your fathers’ and mothers’ sakes, then,-and to some of you I may say, for your grandfathers’ and grandmothers’ sakes, as well as for your own, let me urge you to goodness-to the adoption and cultivation of right principles, and especially of the principles of true godliness. O remember, that by one course of behaviour you will weave a garland of honour for the aged brows of those you love;-by another, you will encircle those brows with a crown of thorns,-ay, and, it may be, “bring down their gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”

What an honour was young Timothy, who “from a child knew the holy Scriptures,” to “his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice!” And what a stain upon his reputation-a sword in his bones-a weight of oppressive sadness on the spirit of his old age, were the profligate sons of Eli!-and Eli, let parents remember, was himself to blame; for “his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.”

“And the glory of children are their fathers:"-that is, I need hardly say, when their fathers are what they ought to be; when by character they have earned for themselves general affection, esteem, reverence, and honour. When this is the case, these feelings naturally attach themselves to their descendants. And when children follow their example and conduct themselves aright, this serves to double their honour. “The sons are honoured in the honoured sires.”

Alas! it is not always the case, that fathers are, as they ought to be, “the glory of their children.” Too frequently are they the reverse. Their children and grandchildren have to struggle into life against all the disadvantage arising from the disreputable characters of their sires. Let parents bethink themselves of this. They do not stand alone in the effects of their evil ways. Whatever disgrace they incur becomes a drag upon their children’s advancement. The child that comes of so disreputable a stock, is unavoidably regarded with a suspicious and uneasy jealousy. There is a fear to trust him; a fear that he may inherit his father’s principles, and follow his father’s example. The effects of the father’s infamy thus descend to him; and if ever he rises above it, and by his virtuous, honourable, and pious behaviour, commands our confidence and esteem, our admiration, respect, and love-no thanks to that father; he owes no part of it to him. It is self-acquired; or rather, let us say, he is indebted for it to the superintending providence and distinguishing mercy of Heaven; and he will be disposed, humbly and thankfully to say-“By the grace of God, I am what I am!”

Verse Proverbs 17:7 . “Excellent speech becometh not a fool; much less do lying lips a prince.” The plain sentiment of the first clause is, that the language of wisdom and piety is unsuitable to the lips of a foolish, unprincipled man:- rr

1. There is, what first and immediately strikes us, incongruity. To use the comparison of Solomon on another subject, it is “like a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout.” We wonder where the man can have got what he utters. “We are quite sure it is not his own. He gets no credit for it. The surprise we feel in hearing it, only awakens our attention the more to his folly and wickedness. The latter are the more strongly and loathingly impressed by the power of contrast. There is superadded to former impressions of his character, the further one of hypocrisy; and the suspicion of a mask assumed for some selfish end.

2. There is a total want of force, or weight, in such sayings from such lips. You all know and feel the native power of name and character. The sayings of one whose reputation is justly high for wisdom and goodness, are in danger at times of being received even too hastily. Whatever bears the “image and superscription” of such a man, we are ready to accept without testing or looking at it, as mint coin. On the contrary, and from the converse influence of the same principle, we suspect the sayings of the foolish. We shake our heads and say, We must think again, before we put our seal of acceptance on anything that comes from such a quarter. We must examine it; we must test it, especially before we venture to act upon it. The sayings sound well; they seem good; but they are so very unlike the man, we fear there must be more surface than solidity.

3. Hence arises want of influence. When a fool utters a wise, or a wicked man a good, advice, he to whom it is given thinks himself, by the very circumstance of its coming from such a person, at liberty to disregard it. The advice having no worth of character to support and recommend it, goes for nothing,-falls lifeless and pithless to the ground.

It well becomes the public teachers of religion to lay these thoughts to heart. More “excellent speech” cannot be uttered than the doctrines and precepts, the counsels and warnings, of the word of God. But if the character of him who utters them is notoriously at variance with his instructions, the incongruity shocks, disgusts, and revolts the hearer. It draws tears from the pious, and mockery from the profane. The latter feel the admonitions pointless. Good they may be; but they are blunted by the character of the speaker. They scoff, and exchange the sly wink with each other; or they are provoked at the thought of their being schooled by such a man! and, with the one feeling or the other, they leave the sanctuary, whispering or exclaiming with a careless shrug-“Physician, heal thyself.”

“Much less do lying lips a prince.” In such a case the incongruity, the indecency, the outrage on all consistency and propriety, is most flagrant. The prince ought to be the guardian of truth and honesty, of righteousness, and virtue, in the community. He who is officially their guardian, ought personally to be their example. The example is valuable; and so is the infusion of such principle into the administration of the government. There is nothing of more consequence for inspiring the community with confidence and so maintaining satisfaction and peace, than that rulers should keep their word to the people, redeeming every pledge, fulfilling every authorised and legitimate expectation. “Lying lips” may serve a present purpose, and suspend for the time a threatening evil,–but they will inevitably work mischief, and aggravate the dreaded calamity in the end. Simulation is bad in private life; worse in public; and worst of all in stations of high authority, example, and influence.*

• For further illustration, see Proverbs 16:10-13 .

I close with two reflections:

1. Let none mistake the nature of the connexion between parents and children,-so as to imagine that the grace and the godliness of the one will avail and be accepted for the other. Every individual, old and young, must stand before God for himself. Godly parents and godly forefathers will not, in the great day, profit ungodly children, or be any protection to them from the avenging justice of God:-on the contrary, their godly ancestry will come in among the aggravations of their guilt and condemnation. They can have no share in their glory, since they have not “followed their faith,” and traced the path to heaven in the footsteps of their holy example. Religion is a personal thing. There is no having it by proxy. Eli’s sons were not accepted for Eli’s sake. Let parents beware, and let children beware. If they would meet in heaven, and be each other’s “joy and crown” in the final day,-let parents seek by all divine means, to have their children for their spiritual as well as their natural offspring; and let children receive the instructions, and emulate the Christian excellences of their godly parents. Then shall parents and children be the glory of each other, and Christ the glory of both.

2. Spiritual children are the glory of aged ministers and fathers in the Christian church-the house of God:-and when these are useful in their turn in bringing others to God, those of whose conversion they are the instruments, are children’s children. So Paul and so John regarded their converts. It is not wrong surely for Christ’s ministers to covet the honour of such a spiritual family,-who may be to them their “joy and crown” in the day of the Lord. Alas! that after even a long lifetime of labour, the number of such should often be so small! It gives reason for “great searchings of heart,” whether, and how far, the cause may be found in deficiency of faithfulness, and earnestness, and prayer. I would humbly thank my God for the number of the members of this church to whom He has been graciously pleased to render the ministry of his gospel within these walls the means of saving benefit. And I would say to the congregation at large-I long for your salvation, and pray God, “that I may have some fruit among you also!” We must stand together at “the judgment-seat of Christ.” O that I may then be found to have delivered my own soul by faithfulness to yours;-and that you may be found so to have profited by your privileges and opportunities, as that you may give your account with joy; so that minister and people may rejoice together!

“BRETHREN-PRAY FOR US!”

Proverbs 17:8-15

LECTURE XLVI.

Proverbs 17:8-15 .

“A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it; whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth. He that covereth a transgression seeketh love: but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool. An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly. Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.”

Two views may be taken of the first of these verses. It may refer to the person who receives the gift, or to the person who has it to bestow.

1. In the former view of the words, they may be explained in this way:-A gift is a mark of regard, of approbation, of confidence, of honour. It gives the recipient of it credit and consequence. It thus contributes to obtain for him further favour. Wherever it comes to be known, it operates for his benefit. A modest man will not be disposed to puff it off;-but in proportion as he rather conceals it, or says nothing of it, the more effectually does it tell in his behalf when it is known. And this will be still more the case, if the gift has been bestowed by a person of eminence,-high in station, or high in character and in public esteem. The man also of a different disposition,-the artful, insinuating, self-sufficient man-may, in a variety of ways, turn a gift to good account,-so that it shall tell for his advantage. He knows where the character and the influence of the giver are highest; and there he makes the most of it. “Whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.”

2. Viewed in the other light, (which is the more likely sense of the words) as referring to the person who confers the gift, or has it to bestow,-we may notice first, that the reference may be to the man who is known to have something to bestow which all covet. In this case, every one desires his favour, strives to oblige him, tries every means of insinuation into his good graces. A man who has any skill in maneuvering may, in this way, render what he has to confer a capital instrument for pushing forward his own prosperity; keeping all in expectation,-cherishing hope,-making his desired and coveted gift look first one way, then another, then a third; perhaps partially bestowing, and still reserving enough to hold expectants hanging on, so as to have them available for his own ends. Secondly:-On the part of those who have gifts to bestow, uses may be made of them that are honourable and prudent,-quite consistent, not with mere self-interest, but with right principle. They may be employed to avert threatened evil, and for the more sure attainment of desired good. Such was Jacob’s gift to his brother Esau; when, in setting it apart, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward will I see his face.” Such was the gift of the same patriarch, at a later period, to “the man the lord of the country,” when he sent his sons the second time to Joseph in Egypt.-Thirdly:-The verse is generally, and probably with justice, understood of gifts that have the character and the object of bribes, the idea being that “a gift” is as tempting, as irresistible as a precious jewel;-that the man who has it and is disposed to give it, can seldom be at a loss to find another equally willing to receive it;-that such is its power that it “prevails over all men, dispatches all business, carries all causes, and effects whatever a man desires.” (Bp. Patrick.) Alas! for human nature, if this account of it be true. And, although there are not a few honourable exceptions from the inculpation,-yet wonderful it is to what an extent a gift, sufficiently tempting, and artfully managed, may be made to accomplish all that is thus ascribed to it; how many evasions and plausibilities men discover to satisfy their consciences, or rather to hoodwink and blind them, in accepting what no consideration can reconcile with common honesty. To what a fearful extent have these observations been verified in the system of parliamentary electioneering, and in all the varieties of public jobbing!-no matter whether by whig or tory. It is no business of mine to balance accounts between them. In either the one or the other, the practice is equally odious, and ought to be branded with public execration.*

• “A bribe, if accepted, will influence in many ways, even without a consciousness of its power, on the part of the receiver. Turn he which way he will, the influence of it will follow him.” So Stuart, but the language seems hardly susceptible of such an interpretation, however true the sentiment.

Verse Proverbs 17:9 “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love: but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.” We have, in this verse, a new aspect of a sentiment formerly under notice.* The verse before us may be applied to offences committed against ourselves, or to those committed against others.

• Proverbs 10:12 ; Proverbs 16:28 .

As to the former:-we should be slow to take offence. We should throw the veil of concealment, in the spirit of the love which the verse before us inculcates, over everything that can be passed by without violating the precept of “not suffering sin upon our brother."-Then, further, when, in consequence of our dealing, the wrong has been confessed, and forgiveness for it extended, it must be buried; there must be no “repeating” of it to others,-no recalling of it to mind and to notice on future occasions. This is extremely hurting to the feelings of the offender, when he has confessed and been forgiven; and is the sure way to renew the breach, and to make it wider and more hopeless than ever. If we are to confirm attachment and give permanence to reconciliation, we must be silent as the grave as to the past.

With regard to trespasses against others:-there are many little things which we may come to know of, as having been said or done by one friend respecting another,-said or done, perhaps, without any evil intention whatever,-yet of such a nature, that, if told to the person, are fitted to produce in his mind an unpleasant impression. The very repetition of them invests them with an importance that does not belong to them. It makes him to whom they are reported, think much more of them than he would have done, had he heard or seen them himself. These, then, charity and discretion alike demand that we hide in our bosoms.

Then with regard to cases of serious importance, observe-

First:-If we alone are privy to the fact, our first business is with the offender; just as much as if the trespass had been one against ourselves. We should represent his conduct to him in love-the inconsistency of it with the claims of friendship-and try to bring him to a sense of his error. If we succeed in effecting this, let not the friend against whom the evil has been said or done, but who is in entire ignorance of it, be ever informed of the matter at all. Let it be as though it had not been; except as to the offender’s disabusing the minds of others on whom he may have made a similar impression.

Secondly:-If it be a case in which the aggrieved party must be informed; the information must be imparted with a faithfully, and carefully minute adherence to truth; without exaggeration; without irritating representations; in the evident spirit of sincere regret and love. When we succeed in making up the breach,-which, in every case, ought to be our great end,-then the same rule as before must be followed; we must never “repeat” the matter,-either to the one or to the other of the parties, or to any neutral persons. That might only tear open the recent wounds, make them bleed afresh, and perhaps fester into incurable sores.

Thirdly:-Let another lesson be remembered, which we are exceedingly apt to forget; namely, that all unnecessary repetition even of real faults comes under the category of scandal, and is sinful and mischievous. You may fancy you are within the limit of blameworthiness, when you are telling no more than what is true:-but, if you are telling even truth needlessly, for no good and laudable end, you are chargeable with the offence. Some people have a strange delight in repeating grievances. They are ever coming out with-“What do you think such a person did?” and, “What do you think such another person said?” They gather up every idle rumour-catching it from the passing wind;-giving to every evil report an additional pair of wings. Sometimes they pretend to be very confidential. What they have heard they tell to you alone,-” and remember,” say they, (putting their finger significantly on their lips,) “it is a profound secret.” Generally, however, such persons will be found selecting for their confidants those whom they well know to be incapable of keeping a secret to themselves. And thus it finds its way at last to the quarter where the mischief was intended: the schemer of it, all the while, wearing the mask of friendship-all kindness, all regret, all sympathy.

O these “tattlers and busy-bodies, speaking things which they ought not!"-they are the very pests and vermin of social life,-as despicable as they are annoying and noxious.

Verse Proverbs 17:10 . “A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.”

The “wise man” understands aright his own interest. The knowledge of truth and of duty is the object of his sincere and earnest desire. He is thankful to be freed from his own errors, instead of being doggedly tenacious of them, when he can obtain truth instead; and readily relinquishes whatever practices he has been accustomed to follow, when made to discern their inconsistency with the claims either of God or man. The “fool” clings pertinaciously to whatever is his own-his own thoughts, his own projects, his own ways,-simply because they are his own. He possesses neither a genuine love of truth, nor a candid and humble solicitude to know and to do what is right.

Now “a reproof,” or even the simple intimation of his fault unaccompanied by any direct rebuke,-a mere look of disapprobation-“entereth more” into the former “than an hundred stripes” into the latter. It affects him, that is, more deeply, with conviction, compunction, shame and sorrow; and produces more of practical effect in the way of “confessing and forsaking.”* Even taking wisdom in its lower sense, as relating to a man’s discreet understanding of his temporal advantage, he who possesses it will keep his ear and mind open to intimations of error and danger, even though conveyed in the form of sharp reflection on his own prudence, rather than ruin himself by a headstrong and selfwilled opinionativeness.

• Comp. Proverbs 9:7-9 .

The spirit of the verse may be applied to the influence of the word of God and the providence of God. A simple notification of evil, coming from the word of God, will “enter more into the wise man,” who “trembleth at that word,” than a hundred of the sharpest strokes of His providential rod will into the ungodly and the froward. The latter, indeed, without divine grace accompanying the strokes, will be provoked by them, rather than subdued. And even amongst the children of God themselves, there are great diversities of temper; some requiring harder dealing than others to bring them down, and to reclaim them from their follies: as is the case often with children in the same family. A word, or a look, will go with melting and heart-breaking power to the very soul of one; while the severest correction, and oft-repeated, will fail to bring down the stubborn and fractious spirit of another. O for more of the spirit of Job, and less of the spirit of Jonah!-for more of that truly child-like disposition, which gives way before every divine admonition, which melts into penitence under the eye of an offended God, and looks up with a child’s submission at the slightest touch of his corrective rod!

Verse Proverbs 17:11 . “An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.”

This rendering accords with that of the Septuagint. By others it is inverted:-“A rebellious man seeketh only evil or mischief:"-and others still understand the verse as meaning-“A seditious man shall surely fall into mischief.” In the general effect, different renderings bring out much the same sentiment. The character appears to be one which, in the experience of Solomon, as well as of other princes, had often occasioned great trouble;-that namely, of an unprincipled, discontented, intractable, indomitable spirit-ever seeking to disturb the public peace, to stir up and foment broils and insurrectionary tumults; whose element is strife; who loves it for its own sake; and who seeks by it, not the ultimate attainment of the public good, but the adoption of some empirical nostrum of his own political quackery;-who is reckless of consequences, regardless of the sufferings of all who stand in his way. “A cruel messenger shall be sent unto him.” This seems to mean, the inexorable executioner of the sentence of the law. Such is generally the end of the turbulent man of mischief and wrong. He brings upon himself the punishment required for the protection of the lives and property, the liberty and well-being of others, of the community at large.

O my friends, let the reproofs of God’s word, and the corrections of God’s providence, be attended to and obeyed now; for “who hath hardened himself against Him, and hath prospered?” “A cruel messenger” shall be at last sent unto him. Death shall be such a one to you-“ye that forget God,” and love evil;-for death will summon you to the bar of the Eternal. O take warning. “To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.“God now sends a merciful messenger, to testify to you the riches and freeness of his grace, and his willingness to save. He speaks to you by his own Son, and prays you to be reconciled to himself. If this gracious Messenger be rejected, he shall be succeeded by a messenger of vengeance that shall shut you up in the prisonhouse of everlasting darkness and despair. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”

Verse Proverbs 17:12 . “Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.”

A strong expression!-but, when the subject of it is rightly understood, not a whit too strong. The reference is, not to the mere teasing and vexatious talk of the loquacious, emptyheaded, and self-conceited pedant or coxcomb. In that there is more of the troublesome and annoying than of the dangerous. But the comparison before us expresses, and is designed to express, real danger. And the danger intended does not seem to be the murderous rage of the infuriated fool or wicked man,-when stung by resentment, and, under the impetuous power of his headstrong passions, ready for all mischief:-although I would not say that this idea is to be excluded; for “a bear robbed of her whelps” is no unapt comparison for an unprincipled man in a passion. But in harmony with the frequent warnings of this Book, the reference is most probably to the spiritual danger arising from the society of foolish and wicked men. The bear, in all the fury of its disappointment and privation, can do no more than kill and lacerate and tear in pieces the body. The “fool.” if he succeed in his unprincipled attempts, especially on unsuspicious and simple-hearted youth, will murder the soul-seducing it from virtue and from God, and consigning it to the death that never dies. A “bear robbed of her whelps” seems anything but an appropriate emblem of him, in regard to temper and kindly pretensions. But this only augments the danger. The very smoothness and flattery of his manners is the peril.

O my young hearers, beware of “the fool in his folly”-of the unprincipled libertinism of the licentious, with all their fascinating temptations! Would you flee from the rage of an infuriated wild beast-from the paw and jaws of the lion and the bear?-flee with still greater terror from the company of the wicked.

Verse Proverbs 17:13 . “Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.” On this subject the Bible takes high ground. Good for evil is the Bible law from first to last.* It has been said very truly-“To render evil for good, is devil-like; to render evil for evil, is man-like; to render good for evil, is godlike.” The ungrateful forgetfulness of favours, is bad; but the requital of good with evil is the very utmost stretch of depravity. Yet alas! even this is far from being a rarity. Selfishness is the besetting sin of our fallen nature. It reigns paramount. It sets aside the claims of both God and man. Selfish men receive the good bestowed upon them, merely for its own sake. They have no consideration for the giver, further than as conveying the benefit to them. They feel no attachment on account of the principle by which the bestowment of it has been prompted,-though to a generous spirit that is a gift’s chief value. They snatch the good, and, in the enjoyment of it, never think more of the hand from which it came. What is that to them? Their own interest is promoted:-and, should the interest of the kind friend from whose bounty it has come ever stand in the way of theirs, they laugh at the thought of obligation, and sacrifice it without a scruple. Every man for himself, is their base and sordid maxim.-O shun selfishness. Cultivate the generous and forgiving spirit of the Bible. “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

• Exodus 23:4-5 ; Deuteronomy 22:1-4 ; Job 31:29-30 ; Proverbs 24:28-29 ; Proverbs 25:21-22 ; Matthew 5:43-48 ; Romans 12:17-21 ; 1 Peter 3:9 .

All persecution of good men, in return for the affectionate zeal with which they set themselves to promote the best interests of others,-their spiritual and eternal good,-comes fully under the condemnation of this verse. That is indeed “rewarding evil for good.” How writes the poet of Whitefield?-and what is true of him is but a portraiture of every genuine servant of God:-

“He loved the world that hated him: the tear

That dropp’d upon his bible, was sincere.

Assail’d by scandal and the tongue of strife,

His only answer was-a blameless life;

And he that forged and he that threw the dart

Had each a brother’s interest in his heart.”

And when this fraternal interest,-animating to self-denying earnestness of effort to impart the very best of blessings, is requited with reviling, and persecuting, and casting out the name as evil-what a melancholy manifestation of the tendencies of our fallen nature to render evil for good!-and how awfully was this displayed in the person of the blessed Redeemer himself! All that he did and suffered was for men; yet men, instead of requiting him with grateful love, “pierced and nailed him to the tree.”

The temper of mind, and the conduct proceeding from it, that are here condemned, are very displeasing to God. They are contrary to His nature, contrary to His example, contrary to His commands. Many a time in retributive righteousness has God testified to this; and how often-as in the case of Saul for his persecution of David, which was from first to last a “rendering of evil for good”-has the closing denunciation been realized-“Evil shall not depart from his house.”

Verse Proverbs 17:14 . “The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.”

“When in the embankment of a canal, a river, or a reservoir of water, a very slight fissure is made,-the water at the first only oozes through, and comes by drops; but by degrees the opening widens; the mound is gradually sapped and weakened; and. at length it gives way, and the bursting inundation sweeps everything before it. So, from what trivial beginnings have discords the most extensive, distressing, and ruinous, often originated!-Thus we find it among children:-and in this respect, as in some others, “Men are but children of a larger growth.” A single word, the motion of a finger, the glance of an eye, happens to be noticed; and being interpreted as conveying a certain meaning, is resented;-the measure of the retaliation is of course excessive, and it provokes a return; the quarrel rises; the breach is widened; irreconcileable alienation ensues; and the alienation of the individuals spreads to families, to circles of friends, to neighbourhoods, to communities!

In Scripture, an evil is sometimes condemned and reprobated in itself; and at other times, on account of its consequences. The latter is the case here. “Strife” is in itself an evil, and as such to be shunned. But it is the more to be shunned, that its tendencies and effects are as here described. “Leave it off before it be meddled with,” is a strong way of conveying the admonition to have nothing at all to do with it. Rather let the offence pass than risk the consequences. “When the fissure in the embankment appears, let the first drop of oozing water be the signal to stop the leak, and prevent the threatening flood.

And nowhere is the maxim or the counsel more appropriately or more strongly applicable, than in the churches of Christ. The contention of two individuals may soon embroil a whole church. Let each feel the duty, then, of selfcontrol. If one word has passed their lips, let them beware of a second; for a second will lead to a third, and a third still more certainly to a fourth. He who is able to return bitter with sweet, will be most approved by the divine Master. Look at the consequences; and “leave it off before it be meddled with.” And where the fissure of passion has unhappily, to any degree, widened, let all unite in throwing in the materials of love, and stopping up the gap.

There is one kind of strife, which of all possible descriptions, it is wisdom to “leave off before it be meddled with,"-with which indeed there can be no greater infatuation than to meddle at all:-it is the strife of sinners with their God. Sinner! God has a controversy with you. It will be well for you to submit in time,-to submit in humble selfcondemnation. Persist not in a strife so unequal and so hopeless. If you spurn at your sentence, and return the holy frown of an offended God with the proud look of sullen rebellion,-you are widening the breach; you are “provoking the Lord to anger.” That anger is in the meanwhile suspended; but in the end it will infallibly burst forth, like an overwhelming flood, and sweep all his enemies away. “Behold,” He says, “I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place,” Isaiah 28:16-17 .

Verse Proverbs 17:15 . “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord."-To “justify the wicked”-is to take part with him, in opposition to evidence,-and, though the evidence condemns, to make the sentence one of acquittal. To “condemn the just” is, of course, the counterpart of the same crime; pronouncing sentence, contrary to, or unsustained by evidence, against the innocent. There may be various motives, by which individuals are tempted to this crime:-the fear of evil from the power and influence of the wicked man, or the hope of benefit from his favour; self-interest, in one or other of its various forms:-and in the other case, spite and envy; malicious dislike of principles or of conduct by which their own are condemned; revenge of fancied injury; considerations of expediency; and others of a similar kind. How fearfully was the motive of expediency exemplified in the case of perfect innocence and righteousness, in the person of the Son of God!*

• John 11:47-50 .

No consideration can ever, in any case, warrant the act.*1 The judgment of God is denounced against all who are guilty of it.*2

*1 See Exodus 23:7 ; Deuteronomy 25:1 . rr

*2 Isa 5:23 ; Ezekiel 22:27-29 ; Amos 5:12 .

And yet, manifest and universally admitted as is the evil here declared to be “an abomination to the Lord” there are those who would have the Lord himself to set the example of it. Men are sinners. They have broken God’s law. That law has condemned them. This of course is the same thing with their being condemned by the Lawgiver-by God himself. If they are condemned justly,-that is, if they have sinned and are wicked, he never can justify them in the sense in which the word is used in this verse. That would be to contradict himself,-to condemn and acquit,-declare guilty and declare innocent-at the same time. It would be to take part with sin. It would be to give false judgment, and to do that himself, which He pronounces “abomination” in his creatures. This God cannot do, any more than He can pass sentence of perdition on an innocent angel,-or than He would have inflicted death on man while he continued to “hold fast his integrity”-continued without sin. God could not condemn man in innocence; neither can He acquit man in his guilt. In the one case, He would “condemn the righteous;” in the other, He would “justify the wicked.”

And yet God does justify-and justify the ungodly. It is the very purpose of the gospel to provide for this being done in a way consistent with truth, and with all the claims of righteousness and law. How is it done? The answer is-that sinners are condemned on their own account, but justified on account of the merits and mediation of another-even of Him whom Jehovah has appointed as the atoning and interceding Redeemer. In so justifying the ungodly, the divine righteousness stands as unimpeachably clear as the divine mercy; “mercy and truth meeting together, righteousness and peace embracing each other.”

Let two closing reflections suffice.

1. As in the administration of justice,-in the world or in the church,-so in the official declaration of doctrine and of duty,-faithfulness is the first and most essential qualification. No “gift,” no bribe, no love of gain,-or, in the apostle’s phrase, “greed of filthy lucre,” must ever be allowed to corrupt “the man of God,” and tempt him either to pervert or to keep back the truth,-to “shun to declare” any part of “the counsel of God,” or to utter a single sentiment but what he believes to be a lesson of God’s word,-a divinely authorised message. For a minister of Christ either to say what is false or to withhold what is true, from a wish to please those on whom he may feel himself dependent, is as unworthy of him as for a judge on the civil bench to pervert justice; and may be to others unspeakably more mischievous. The decisions of the latter can affect only what is temporary; the effects of the former’s unfaithful temporizing may extend to eternity. The guilt of the former, therefore, may be greater than that of the latter, in the proportion of the value of the soul to the body, of eternity to time. There must be no bribery and corruption here. O to be able to say with Paul-“I AM CLEAR FROM THE BLOOD OF ALL MEN!”

2. How vast the benefit, were the precepts of Christ, especially on the subject of offences, regarded and followed out with a more conscientious and practical strictness! And on this particular subject, O never fancy yourselves at liberty, in any one case, to dispense with any one of His directions. I speak the experience of thirty-eight years of pastoral superintendence, when I say, that in no single instance has departure from the prescribed course failed of producing the most pernicious results. The rules of Christ are the rules of Him who “knoweth what is in man.” And an incalculable amount of the discord and trouble, which are ever and anon occurring in the churches, would be prevented, were His people only to follow with scrupulous exactness the prescriptions of those rules.

Proverbs 17:16-20

LECTURE XLVII.

Proverbs 17:16-20 .

“Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend. He loveth transgression that loveth strife; and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. He that hath a froward heart findeth no good; and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.”

Wisdom is frequently pronounced to be inestimably precious-a good for which no price can be found. What, then, can be meant by “a price to get wisdom?” By some another turn-but, as seems to me, a turn far from natural,-has been given to the sentence:-“Of what avail are the rich fool’s riches to him, since he has not a heart to get wisdom by means of them?” The sentiment thus expressed is true; but it is no more than a branch of the more general sentiment conveyed by the words; one form-one variety only, of the evil. We understand the term “a price” as signifying, whatever puts it in any one’s power to acquire the particular object. The phraseology is borrowed from the market. Any article, we are wont to say, may be had there, if a man has but the price to pay for it. What the “price” is to the article wanted, the means of acquiring are to “wisdom.” When we wish to put any article of ordinary merchandise within a person’s power, we furnish that person with the price at which it is valued. There are cases, however, in which this may not be enough. The price may be in a man’s hand, and yet the article may not be within his reach-not, at the time, to be had. Happily, it is never so with the wisdom here spoken of. If the means are possessed of acquiring it, it may always be acquired. It is in the hand of God himself; and He is never either at a distance that we cannot repair to him; or unwilling to bestow it upon us, when we come to him for it-bestow it I say; for we must remember, with regard to divine wisdom, that “in a literal sense, it cannot be purchased. It must be had “without money and without price.” It is not to be “gotten for gold.”*

• See Isaiah 55:1 . There is a contradiction in the idea of buying “without money.” The word has been rendered more generally, procure. The original term is used to denote what is usually effected by means of a price in money. And such is the case here.-(Author).

Why is it, then, that in so many cases in which “the price is in the hand to get wisdom”-the means of securing it possessed-its lessons remain unlearned, the mind ignorant, the heart unimproved? Whence the sadly prevailing deficiency, and oven destitution, in the knowledge of the very simplest elements of divine truth? Whence is it that we find the ideas of so many minds so strangely crude, superficial, and confused? How comes this to be so frequently the case, even where all means and opportunities have been fully and long enjoyed?-where there has been early tuition; where the word has been in the house and in the hand, and the ministrations of it in the ear for many years of Sabbaths?-Here is the answer-the only one that can with truth be given,-there has been “no heart to it."-The principle is of wide application, and might be largely illustrated.

Why, for example, is not the knowledge of God learned by the heathen themselves from the volume of nature?-or rather, how has it been that they have not retained the knowledge originally possessed, though surrounded, in creation, with all that is fitted to keep them in mind of it? The apostle answers the enquiry-” They did not like to retain God in their knowledge.” In other words, they had “no heart to it.” “Why were the Jews, with all their superior means of knowledge-possessing, as they did, God’s “lively oracles”-many of them-ay, the large majority, so miserably ignorant of the character of their own Jehovah? Why? because they had “no heart to it”-the inclinations of their minds lay to the idolatrous follies of the surrounding nations. Why “forsook they the fountain of living water, and hewed out unto themselves broken cisterns which could hold no water?” The answer is the same, they “had no heart to it.”

There is no maxim more thoroughly established by experience, than that a man cannot excel in anything to which his heart does not lie. When do men succeed best in the pursuit of any object? Is it not when they have a heart to it? What is it that keeps all men astir in the pursuit and acquisition of wealth?-Is it not that they have a heart to it? How do men acquire celebrity in any of the departments of science or of art? Is it not when they have a heart to it?-some measure of enthusiastic eagerness and persevering delight in the pursuit?-My young hearers know well, that they acquire most readily, and attain to the greatest proficiency in, those branches of knowledge to which they have most heart–which are most congenial to their inclinations,-to the taste and bent of their minds. You then set about it in earnest; you prosecute it with energy and perseverance; you let no difficulties deter you, nor cease application till you have mastered them:-it is your pleasure, and success in it becomes your distinction. If you “have no heart to it,” the work is all up hill; you begin it with reluctance; you yawn and nod over it; you are pleased with every little apology for neglecting or shortening your lesson; your knowledge is partial and superficial; and you quickly let slip the little you have learned.

The lessons of the Bible,-those of them especially which it is of most importance to know, and which are the most essential elements of true wisdom,-are far from being beyond the apprehension of any of your understandings. Why then-to bring the matter home-have you not an extensive acquaintance with these lessons, and with all the contents of the sacred volume?-its histories, its doctrines, its precepts, its promises, its prophecies, its devotional compositions? Is it not-speak the truth-because you “have no heart” to the study of the book that contains them? Can you, in conscience, assign any other reason for the difference between your attainments in this department of knowledge, and your attainments in others that are of a more secular and worldly, or merely literary and scientific, character,-than that you have less of interest in the one study than in the others-less pleasure in it-less heart to it?-Why is it that you do not cherish the fear and the love of God by the contemplation of those views of his character which He has, in his works and more especially in his word, revealed?-is not the reason the same-that you have no heart to it? This, the Bible tells you, is wisdom. But, although your judgment cannot refuse its assent-its constrained and reluctant assent-to the proposition, your heart goes not along with it. It is not the “wisdom of this world;” nor what the world will ever regard as a recommendation. It is not the wisdom, therefore, which you choose and which it gives you pleasure to think of acquiring. I put it to your consciences,-whether there be anything else whatever, that keeps you from the knowledge and the fear of God, wherein true religion consists-than your having no heart to them?-Talk not to me of inability:-your inability is entirely moral; and consists in nothing else whatever than your “having no heart” to that which is good. And is this not criminal? If not,-then is there no sin nor crime on earth, in hell, in the universe; nor is the existence or the conception of such a thing as moral evil possible. The want of heart to that which is good, is the very essence of all that is sinful. You offer anything but a valid excuse for your want of religion, when you say you “have no heart to it.” You plead in excuse the very essence of your guilt. If you desired to fear God, and could not help the contrary, your inability might be something in your behalf. But the thing cannot be. To desire to fear God, and not to be able, is a contradiction in terms. The having of the desire is the having of the principle. There can be no desiring to fear without fearing; no desiring to love without loving. Would you admit it as an apology for a rebellious child, that he desired to love his father but could not?-Yes; there is one case in which the apology might stand-if there was nothing in the father that was lovely, but everything fitted to repel and to quench affection,-And will you venture to offer this plea in your case? If indeed you can make it out that there is no loveliness in God, your plea may stand!-If you can make it out that there is no beauty in Christ, why you should desire him,-then may your disaffection to him be excusable. But if in Christ and in God there is everything lovely, and that ought to be loved,-then your “having no heart to it” must be your guilt and condemnation. O what a hopeless task you would undertake, were you to plead the want of loveliness,-the absence of all that is amiable-in God and in Christ! Your own lips would condemn you. Give up your plea. Acknowledge your sinful alienation. Turn to Him who says-“Behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you:”-“Ask and ye shall receive:”-“A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.”

Verse Proverbs 17:17 . “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” These words contain the just commendation of faithful constancy in friendship and brotherly affection.-A false and faithless friend professes great attachment-is the extreme of devotedness, when the object of it is in prosperity and honour, and when connexion with him is a credit and a benefit. But when the world ceases to smile upon him, when their plaudits are hushed, and their court is withdrawn-though without any cause in the forsaken and the fallen, whose character and deserts remain the same,-he cools, and skulks, and disowns him. When attachment is of service to himself he will gladly share all the good,-bask in the light of his countenance, make his favour a stepping-stone to his own advancement;-but when the evil day comes, and association with him ceases to be a credit and a benefit, he sheers off, and knows his dear, his valued, his esteemed, his excellent and honoured friend no more!-abandons him in the very hour-when the worth of true friendship is most deeply felt, and the sustaining and sweetening influences of its genial sympathy most keenly needed!-shakes himself loose at the very moment when he should stick fastest!-A genuine friend-the only friend worth having, and when found, of inestimable value,-is the same in all changes of condition; the same in every respect but one,-that his heart gets warmer to his friend as the world gets colder; he becomes the more a friend to him as other friends fail;-stands the more firmly by him, and avows his attachment the more openly and the more fervently, in proportion as, by the false and faithless, he is unworthily deserted. His attachment is to the man-not to his wealth or his honours; and if the man remain the same, no change of circumstances will lessen the ardour of his friendship.-Of such disinterested and steadfast friendship, we have a fine exemplification in the case of Jonathan and David. In opposition to a father’s unreasonable and groundless jealousy, and at the sacrifice of his own interests and prospects as heir to the throne, did the faithful Jonathan cleave to David, through all his trials and dangers and shifting fortunes,-guarding him from harm; encouraging and cheering him in his difficulties; and clearing the way for his advancement, till he himself met his death on Mount Gilboa.-Other instances are on record in the pages of history;-and in a greater and less degree, in more private life, have the same principles of selfdenying and generous attachment-true even to death-been manifested.

“And a brother is born for adversity.” Some would render the words-“And he” (i.e. the true friend) “is born to be a brother in adversity."-But more probably, as the previous part of the verse describes what a friend should be; the latter clause describes what a brother-or any near relation-should be.*

• “‘A brother for adversity’ is one who will act the part of a brother in a season of adversity. Of such an one it is said, he must or shall be born, (possibly) he is born. I do not understand this last clause, unless the assertion is, that none but such as are born brethren, i.e., kindred by blood, will cleave to us when in distress. Yet this is true only in a qualified sense. But another shade of meaning may be assigned to the passage; which is, that such a man as a friend in adversity, is yet to be born, i.e., none such are now to be found; thus making it substantially equivalent in sense to the expression: ‘How few and rare are such faithful friends!’”-(Stuart).

Adversity is the time when affection is put to the proof. It is hardly at all tried among relatives, when all is going-well, and there is no call in providence for sacrifices on the part of any members of the domestic circle, in behalf of the others. But when, through unforeseen circumstances, privation and distress become the lot of any of them, then is the test of the sincerity and strength of natural affection. Brethren are born to help each other in need. This is the will and purpose of God in placing them in their near relationship. It is sad when this fails; and beautiful when it is displayed. It is not when Naomi “goes out full,” but when “the Lord brings her home again empty,” that the fond attachment of Ruth draws to the eye the tear of approving and delighted sympathy. It is in the reverses and fallen fortunes of his kinswoman-widowed, desolate, and dependent-that the fidelity and generosity of Boaz are brought out into conspicuous manifestation.-We shudder at the unnatural conduct of Joseph’s brethren; while in Joseph himself-whether viewed in the providential arrangements of his history, or in his amiably pious and forgiving disposition,-we see “a brother born for adversity.”

Verse Proverbs 17:18 . “A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.” The sentiment of this verse appears as if suggested by the preceding.-It might naturally be asked-If “a friend loveth at all times,” is not the time of his reduction of circumstances just one of those times of need when the sincerity of friendship is tested, and when the love is called for?-The answer is-Unquestionably. Solomon does not mean to say that in no case ought friendship thus to express itself. But he certainly does mean to say, that it should not be done in all cases; that it should not be done with reckless and inconsiderate hastiness. He does mean to say that there are other claims besides those of friendship, which even those of friendship must not exclude from consideration. There are some enthusiastic sentimentalists on the subject of friendship, who talk wildly and at random of its paramount claims. O! there is nothing that must be allowed to stand in the way of friendship:-everything must yield to it! They seem ready-in words at least, to sacrifice at its shrine all other claims of men whatsoever, and even the very claims of God himself. Now, right and amiable as the earnest desire to help a friend may be, we must beware of what may be termed the romance of friendship. Let as great sacrifices be made as self can bear, when self alone is implicated. But the extent of ability must be considered. Circumstances must be rationally weighed.

There are claims of family; there are claims of creditors and of partners in business; there are claims of the cause of God. Imperious as the claims of friendship may be, the claims of wife and children, and the claims of obvious justice, must not be disregarded and put out of account for them.-And then, in every case, it should be well considered, whether by our advances and suretiship the friend is, after all, ultimately and in the long run, to be benefited. He may think so. It may be quite clear to him. No doubt about it. But sanguine minds, under the pressure of immediate difficulty, are of all others the most in danger of imposing on themselves. And in such cases, when neutral eyes, seeing more clearly and further forward, discern the illusion and its cause;-painful as it may be to disappoint the eager wishes and confident anticipations of the friend who may be looking to you as his last resource, and assuring himself of your standing by him,-yet to go forward with the certainty, instead of ultimately doing him service, of only making bad worse, and involving yourself with him in common loss and ruin, would assuredly be a very mistaken exercise and evidence of friendliness.-And again, it may be remarked, friendship should be very cautious of pressing such claims,-of urging to such proofs of its sincerity. There is good ground for suspecting the soundness of the friendship, and for fearing there is in it too much of the selfish, when a man is very eager to draw his friend into such engagements.*

*On this subject see Proverbs 6:1-5 .

Verse Proverbs 17:19 . “He loveth transgression that loveth strife; and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.” The former of these propositions requires no proof. For, first, strife itself is transgression. “Wars and fightings come of our lusts which war in our members.” The angry and resentful passions cannot be indulged without sin.-And, secondly, strife leads to transgression. It is the unfailing occasion of much evil-in temper, in word, and in action. If a man is desirous to bring himself and others into sin and suffering-into trespass and punishment,-he cannot accomplish the end more effectually than by fomenting contention. Strife at once springs from, and gives strength and exercise to, the principle from which all men’s evil deeds and words against each other proceed-the opposite principle of love: love being the fulfilling of the law, and enmity its universal breach. Wisdom then and duty alike say, “Give place unto wrath.”*

• Romans 13:8-10 .

“And he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.” Some take this for a comparison:-As surely as he that exalteth his gate (enlarging it out of due proportion) seeketh destruction to his house, by thus weakening its structure,-so surely does he that loveth strife generate transgression.

The phrase “exalteth his gate,” however, instead of being thus understood literally, may, with more propriety, be interpreted of a man’s ambitiously affecting a style of living beyond his income-disproportionate to the amount of his means of maintaining it. The general character is described by one particular manifestation of it-the high style of the exterior of his mansion. The “exalting of the gate” applies to the entire style of his household establishment-not to his dwelling merely, but to his equipage, his table, his servants, his dress, and every thing else.-He who does this “seeks destruction:” he courts his own downfall, as effectually as if it were his direct object to ruin himself. Matthew Henry, in his own quaint and pithy way, says-” He makes his gate so large, that his house and estate go out at it. “A man’s manner of life may, with perfect propriety, be proportioned to his circumstances; though a man of christian principle will rather keep within the allowable boundary than go beyond it-rather keep below than go above his means. But-,

1. A man sets out in high style upon little or no capital-desiring to get credit by giving the impression of abundance. The man who does this, acts not foolishly only, but falsely. It is an imposition-a practical lie. There is too much of this; too much of a departure from the soberminded prudence of our forefathers. If a young man, in ordinary station, sets up a domestic establishment, it must now be all at once in such style, that it presents a hindrance to many from entering into married life, and thus operates to the prevention of domestic habits, and to the fostering of dissipation and vice:-and at the same time, it embarrasses business at its outset, and exposes to many anxious fears, and many serious risks, which might, and ought to be shunned by the good old-fashioned way of beginning on a small scale and in a plain way, and working a gradual rise. This is the way of prudence and security:-the other is the way of speculation and hazard.

2. If a man of principle rises in his style of living as his means advance, he should, on a corresponding principle, cheerfully and proportionally, retrench on their decline. The contrary is another of the evils frequently to be seen in our day. A man is what the world calls unfortunate. He compounds with his creditors; and he lives on just as before; still “exalting his gate,” still maintaining all the show and style of his former course, to the utter perplexity and amazement of simple and honest minds,-that can’t at all comprehend how it is that a man contrives to keep up on nothing-or on what they think, in their honest simplicity, ought to be nothing,-the same style of living that he maintained when his business prospered and his riches increased. The contrary is required by many considerations.-Submission to God requires it. The course described bears the aspect, and, it must be feared, is the reality, of rebellion against His providence.-Justice to men requires it. He who, in a reverse of circumstances, continues to keep up his full style of expenditure, neither acts like a Christian, nor like a man of common honesty. His first business is with his creditors; and his first aim, at every cost of self-denial, to pay them, what every honest man must wish to pay them, twenty shillings in the pound.-Peace of conscience requires it. How can a man, who has a remnant of sound principle left, enjoy himself, when he is “faring sumptuously every day” on money that belongs to others?-And let me add-a just regard to his own interest requires it. He who never comes down, or who does it, not spontaneously but by sheer and stem compulsion, takes the surest way to impair respect and to forfeit confidence and credit and reputation in business. He who, on his fall, gives all up, in the spirit of integrity and honour, commands universal esteem, secures trust, and produces in every rightly principled mind a desire to help him again forward, and promote his prosperity.

On the closing verse we need not dwell, as we have had the same sentiments frequently under review:* only let all mark afresh the assurance and ponder it well-” He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.”

• Proverbs 3:22 ; Proverbs 6:12-15 ; Proverbs 10:14 ; Proverbs 10:31 , &c.

Proverbs 17:21-28

LECTURE XLVIII.

Proverbs 17:21-28 .

“He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. Wisdom is before him that hath understanding: but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him. Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity. He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

“He that begetteth a fool."-A child of weak capacity? No. Such a child, though a trial in one sense, may be a source of joy in another-true, sweet, lasting joy: for it is almost impossible to say how feeble the powers of intellect may be, and yet a parent’s heart be gladdened by witnessing that child a subject of divine grace;-the mind, as far as its powers go, apprehending, though but imperfectly and glimmeringly, the elements of gospel truth, under the secret teaching of Him who “hides these things from the wise and prudent, and reveals them unto babes,"-and the heart experiencing, though in much simplicity, the influence by which the affections are drawn to God, and the conscience rendered sensitive to his authority.

“A fool” means a graceless child,-froward, unprincipled, a “despiser of that which is good,” without the “fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.” Such a child brings to a godly parent’s heart “grief,” “sorrow,” “bitterness.” These are the terms here employed, (Proverbs 17:21 ; Proverbs 17:25 ) and along with these we have the strong negative form of expression:-“The father of a fool hath no joy.” The meaning is more than that he has no joy in that son. The character and conduct of that son serve to infuse “bitterness” into everything else. There may be many things in his domestic lot fitted to inspire cheerfulness and delight:-but at the happy moments, when his heart, yielding to all the fond impulses of conjugal and parental tenderness, is swelling with the emotions of gladness, the thought of his perverse, rebellious, profligate boy comes over him, sends through that heart the pang of agony, “turns his harp to mourning, and his organ to the voice of them that weep."-Nothing but blinding partiality can prevent this in the case of a pious parent. And such partiality, alas! is too common, and very mischievous and very cruel to the youth who is its object. There is no cruelty worse than this mistaken blindness; this shutting of the eyes to a child’s sinful propensities; this incredulity of evil; this easy, indulgent disposition, that cannot bring itself to apply a check, and still goes on hoping the best,-smiling at trespasses, in its own, as venial faults, which, in other children, it would condemn with gravity as serious offences; and looking, or professing to look, to grace, while neglecting the ordained means by which grace operates. David “never had displeased Adonijah in anything, by saying to him, “Why hast thou done so?"-and the upshot of it was, in the old age of his indulgent father, ambitious rebellion, and the risk of civil war:-and there is every reason to fear that, to a certain degree at least, he owed to the same parental partiality and indulgence, the still more atrocious and unnatural conspiracy of Absalom, whose premature death drew from his eyes the bitterest tears they ever shed, except those for his own sins.-For a man who has the affections of nature, and who believes God’s word, to see a son, “bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh,"-the object of his yearning love,-the subject of his early care, of his tears, his prayers, his watches, his anxieties, his fears, his hopes,–walking in the way of sinners, refusing instruction and admonition, taking his side with God’s enemies, living in ungodliness and vice, going on, in all appearance, to perdition, unawed by correction, whether from the parental or from the divine hand, and untouched and unsubdued by entreaty:-O! if there be a drop in the cup of life of pure undiluted “bitterness,"-this is that drop. And special emphasis is here laid on the sorrow and heart-break of a pious mother-” bitterness to her that bare him;” bare him, with the throes of a mother’s anguish; but those were throes which introduced the joy of a mother’s love, and were light when compared with the agony of a mother’s wounded spirit for her child straying from God.-On the contrary, if there is a draught of pure delight in this valley of tears, it is the joy of a godly parent in a godly child!

Do you wish, then, parents,-how strange and needless a question!-do you wish to have joy in your children, and not “sorrow,” and “grief,” and “bitterness?"-Mind your duty. Neglect not means; and when you use them, use them with an affection that is regulated by judgment, and a judgment whose firmness is softened by affection. Mind instruction, example, correction, and prayer. Their corrupt nature our children derive from us. If we neglect instruction, or mislead them by our example, or fail to correct, and to draw down by prayer the blessing of a covenant God upon them,-we become ourselves the causes of our own sorrow, as well as of their danger and ruin.-And children:-O! knew you but the “bitterness” you infuse into the parental cup,-could you but put your lips to it and taste it,-it would-had you a drop remaining in your heart’s-blood of a child’s sensibility,.-it would send a pang through your spirit; it would arrest you in your wild and godless career. If ever you have a serious reflection, and your parents should then be no more, how bitter to yourselves will be the cup of your remembrance! For your parents’ sakes, and for your own-“remember your Creator in the days of your youth:”-“forsake the foolish, and live.”

Verse Proverbs 17:22 . “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones."*1-The first clause stands in the original-“A merry heart doeth good-a medicine;” and we may either supply like or is; and read “doeth good like a medicine,” or, “doeth good-is a medicine.” In the margin we have “to a medicine;” by which is meant, what undoubtedly is included in the general sentiment, that a cheerful, contented spirit, contributes to promote the beneficial influence of a medicine in the recovery of health.*2 A spirit that is cast down and “broken”-not so much, in this connexion, by afflictive visitations, (though in that case too, there is truth in the representation) as by impatience, thanklessness, disappointment, discontent, envy-“drieth the bones.” Under the influence of this gnawing, carking, dissatisfied spirit,-the spirit of peevish dulness, that never smiles on the lips or sparkles in the eyes, but is oppressed with a weightier heaviness by the very cheerfulness of others, as if it hated everything so unlike itself,-the body pines and wastes. Instead of the bones, in the terms of the prophet, “flourishing like an herb,” they wither for lack of moisture; the healthy secretions fail; the strength decays; all is fretful debility and indolence.-I would not confine the expression, however, to this description alone of a dull and cheerless spirit; it is true, as has been hinted, of the effect of the burden of affliction,-and it is specially true also of the load of conscious guilt and the heavy, soul-depressing apprehension of coming wrath. This is indeed a cankerworm, that secretly consumes the very vitals, and, if not effectually relieved, may lay the body, like a skeleton ere it dies, in the grave.

*1 Compare Proverbs 15:13 ; Proverbs 15:15 . rr

*2 Stuart renders, “will do the body good.” The word גהה , which only occurs here, is translated body in the Chaldee and Syriac. “This makes,” says Stuart, “a more congruous sense, for body then corresponds to גﬧﬦ , bone in the other clause, which last is only a tropical appellation to the word corpus.”

In sickness, cheerfulness “is a medicine.” In some disorders especially, an easy and happy mind is the very best of healing antidotes, and assists in the efficiency of every other.

And what is the nature of the cheerfulness or “merry heart,” which Solomon here commends? We are sure it is not the “laughter of the fool;” for of it he says “it is mad”-and short-lived too, “like the crackling of thorns under a pot,” only leaving, when the blaze is over, a gloomier sadness. What he here and elsewhere commends is the cheerfulness of a heart that has found peace with God, and the joy of God’s salvation. There may, it is true, be a natural buoyancy and lightness of spirit, to which, in a limited acceptation, the words before us may truly enough be applied. But above all, and in the fulness of their meaning, are they true of the heart in which there has settled the “peace that passeth all understanding”-the happy sense of God’s love, the cheering hope of God’s glory. Here is sunshine,-here is gladness. A commentator, (Henry) whom I occasionally quote for the pithy comprehensiveness of his remarks, observes-” It is a great mercy that God gives us leave to be cheerful, and cause to be cheerful; and especially if, by his grace, he gives us hearts to be cheerful.” Yes-

“Ten thousand thousand precious gifts

Our daily thanks employ;

Nor is the least-a cheerful heart,

That tastes those gifts with joy.”

O let us be thankful above all for those springs of spiritual and never-failing joy which God, in the fulness of his mercy, has opened for us, when, so far as our deserts were concerned, every fountain of sweetness might have been “sealed,” or converted into a fountain of bitterness. Let us drink of the “wells of salvation,” and “go on our way rejoicing!”

Verse Proverbs 17:23 . “A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.” We have had this subject so recently before us, that we shall not again dwell upon it. (See verse Proverbs 17:8 .)

The only phrase here that suggests a remark in addition to those formerly made is-” taking the gift out of the bosom.”

The phrase implies concealment. He who gives from the bosom, and he who receives from the bosom, are both desirous to have the action hidden. The “gift”-the bribe, must both be given and received covertly.

Let the briber and the bribed, alike bethink them of the words-“Thou, God, seest me!” The secret bribe may to men remain a secret-a secret through life-a secret till the judgment-day. But then-God will “bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” He abhors the deed. He will visit it with vengeance.

And let all my hearers bear in mind-there is a judgment which can by no possible means be perverted. There is no bribing the Judge of all. He is infinitely beyond the reach of “gifts.” All receive-from Him. He can receive from none. The universe, with all that it contains, is his own. Where is the creature who possesses any thing, that is not God’s in an infinitely higher sense than it is his? And in that dreadful day that shall sum up and close the history of our fallen world, when all shall be summoned before the bar of the Eternal; when not one shall be able either to evade or to resist the summons; when the sentences of all that have ever lived shall come forth from an authority whence there is no appeal, and shall take sure effect the instant they are pronounced, and settle for ever the doom of each unbelieving and unpardoned culprit there-then,-O then “what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"-how shall he buy off his doomed and trembling spirit?-Were the universe his, he would offer it all. But where is the influence that can shake eternal justice? What “bosom” contains the bribe that can command even a commutation of the sentence?-There is One, who has paid the ransom of a fallen world. God has accepted the ransom. It is not “a gift that perverteth the ways of judgment.” It is a “propitiation, to declare God’s righteousness in the remission of sins.” This ransom may avail for you in all its blessed fruits of pardoning mercy, sanctifying grace, and life everlasting, in a way that “brings out God’s righteousness as the light, and his judgment as the noonday.”

Verse Proverbs 17:24 . “Wisdom is before him that hath understanding: but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.”

One translator renders the words-” In the countenance of a wise man wisdom appeareth; but the fool’s eyes roll to and fro:"-the rolling of the eyes being understood as the indication of an unsettled and vacant mind. But there is more, surely, in the sentence than mere physiognomy,-or than the mere expression of the mind in the countenance. Another understands the contrast as meaning that wisdom is near to the one and far from the other:-“wisdom is before”-that is, ever near to-“the man of understanding;” “but the fool’s eyes are in the ends of the earth”-seeking it; it is far from him.

The meaning seems rather to be simply this:-The maxims and principles and directions of true wisdom are before the man of understanding; that is, they are kept ever in his view. They are familiar to him, and constantly applied for his guidance in the right way,-ready for immediate use, in all circumstances. In whatever condition, and whatever emergency, “wisdom is before him:"-the word of God is before him,-the fear of God is before him; the one the rule of wisdom, the other the principle of wisdom; both, before his memory, his conscience, and his heart. Wisdom leads, and he follows.

“But the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth."-He has no fixed and steady principle or rule; nothing on which he fixes his eye for his guidance. His thoughts are incessantly wandering after matters he has nothing to do with,-anything and everything but that which he should at the time be minding;-roving after every vanity, and keeping steadily to no pursuit. It is specially true of “things pertaining to salvation.” Wisdom, in this matter above all others, is “before him that hath understanding.” He looks to one point. He sees one thing to be needful. He sees the wisdom of God providing for it. There he fixes. And this is wisdom. It is ever before him. One end-one means. Whereas “the fool’s eyes are in the ends of the earth,” He has examined nothing. He roves at random, with no determinate ideas about the most interesting, by infinite degrees, of all concerns. Ask him how he hopes to be saved; you immediately discover his thoughtless unsettledness. He is in “the ends of the earth.” His answer is to seek. It is here; it is there; it is nowhere. He hesitates; he supposes; he guesses; he is at a stand; he cannot tell. This is very mournful; but it is very common. My friends, wisdom is before you-in this Book of God. But it is in vain that it is here, if you set it not by faith before the eye of your mind and the contemplation of your heart, that you may follow it. Wisdom may be fixed in the book; while your eyes are roving away from it in every possible direction. O be persuaded to learn it here, to set it before you, and to follow it for your good.

There is another character that may here be meant-by the fool whose eyes are in “the ends of the earth;"-namely the schemer-the visionary projector. The truly intelligent man applies the plain and obvious dictates of common sense and prudence to the attainment of his ends; and in the quiet and persevering application of evidently appropriate means, he pursues and gains them. But the scheming, visionary fool is for ever after out-of-the-way plans, new and far-fetched expedients; ever experimenting, where experiment is useless; ever theorizing, and ever failing:-yet by no failure convinced or corrected; but still, instead of fixing his eye on the near, gazing out on the far off;-and instead of patiently looking for the regular produce of his own proper occupation, projecting something new, and generally as wild and harebrained as new; looking for his income from a distance, from something yet, and yet to be tried,-expecting good to come to him from “the ends of the earth.”

Thus, in every view, the fool resembles the man who, on a road that is full of traps and pits and snares, and beset with dangers on right and left, instead of having (to use a colloquial expression) all his eyes about him, has them roving, in idle vacancy, on far distant objects.

Verse Proverbs 17:26 . “Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity."-The word rendered prince signifies noble, and is differently understood. It may be applied to the nobility of station, or to that of mind. Some give preference to the latter; and by interpreting it of the nobleminded, and the “just” in the former clause, of the righteous or the people of God, make the two clauses thus to correspond, and to have much the same import. It seems, however, both more natural and more comprehensive, to consider two ideas as expressed; the one relating to the duty of the ruler, and the other to that of the ruled. It is the incumbent duty of the ruler, on the one part, to administer justice with strict impartiality. It is the duty, on the other part, of subjects to countenance, encourage, and support the ruler in the equitable administration of his trust. To “strike” is evidently to be understood, not literally alone of actual striking, but of “smiting with the tongue” as well as with the fist or the rod,-of all kinds of vituperation and abuse, and attempts to bring the throne into disrepute and odium, and unsettle its stability, by shaking the confidence and attachment of the community. There are many occasions in which a man may be tempted to this. He may, in particular cases, have his mind biassed by pride, by self-interest, by partiality towards a friend, by political predilections; so that even when all has been done with impartial investigation, and the judgment pronounced according to the legitimate rules of evidence and demands of equity, there may be unfair, unreasonable, and angry dissatisfaction; and the prince may be smitten for justice. Every man ought to be on his guard against this. The higher the responsibility,-the more burdensome and difficult the trust,-and the more serious the results of bringing authorities and the laws into disesteem, and unsettling public confidence in them,-ought to be the amount of our reluctant caution in pronouncing censure.

Another remark may be ventured. One of the great difficulties with which governments of great nations have to contend, arises from the variety of crossing and contending interests with which they have to deal. How anxious soever they may honestly be, to allow no undue bias to draw them from the line of impartial justice, yet there is hardly a measure they can adopt that does not affect differently different classes of the community; so that, from their various predisposing circumstances, that shall appear to one class,-to those in one particular department of trade or commerce,-the very essence of injustice, which by another is lauded as a most unexceptionable exemplification of impartial equity. This ought surely to have the effect,-I do not by any means say of forbidding the most vigilant observance and the freest and most searching scrutiny and discussion of every measure, and the exposure of its evil or questionable character and tendency,-but assuredly of procuring some allowance for the difficulty of the task of pleasing all parties, and some moderation in the tone of censure even where to us the grounds for it are clear and palpable. No man who knows himself will affirm, in almost any case, that, placed, in other circumstances, he might not see with other eyes.-I speak in general. There are cases, in which the interests of a suffering country are to a vast extent, involved, in which it becomes every man’s paramount duty to speak out and to speak plainly, and to make the ears of the rulers to tingle with the outcry of humanity and justice.

I would further apply the spirit of this verse to the case of arbitrators. We have ourselves, it may be, consented to submit a litigated point to arbitration. We do so with a full persuasion of our being in the right-of our claim being the just one. But the arbiters unite in giving it against us. It would be most unreasonable on our part to retain a grudge, especially at the one appointed by ourselves, on this account. Our reference implied confidence in his impartiality and honour, and implied a pledge of cheerful acquiescence. To grumble, to censure, and to withdraw our friendship, would be indeed to “strike him for equity.” He would have proved himself unworthy of his trust, if his disposition to please and serve us had been too strong for principle, conscience, and oath.

There is one government, in which “the just” are never “punished,"-all whose laws and all whose sanctions are the perfection of equity. But alas! it is under that very government that the spirit expressed by the phrase “striking princes for equity” is most fearfully manifested. All the murmurings of sinners against either the law of God or its revealed and threatened penalty, are the very essence, in its deepest malignity, of this spirit. There can never be reason for it here. Let sinners submit to God; own the righteousness of His law, and the equity of its sanction, and bow to the outstretched sceptre of His grace.

Verse Proverbs 17:27 . “He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.” *

• Comp. Proverbs 10:19 . and Proverbs 15:28 . and see too James 1:19 ; James 1:26 .

Modesty and diffidence, sound judgment and discretion, make the wise man “sparing of his words;” but the connexion naturally leads me to the view generally given of the passage-namely, that the wise man lays his tongue under restraint when his spirit is warm, and when he feels he would be in danger of speaking unadvisedly, improperly, injuriously to others or to himself. The phrase “an excellent spirit” is on the margin, more literally, and in the present instance, I should think more appropriately-“a cool spirit.” He has the power of self-control, of the government of his passions;-he is meek and lowly in heart; conciliatory and forgiving in his disposition. It is this that enables him to maintain coolness in his manner, even when inwardly, were he giving way to corrupt nature in its felt tendencies, his blood would boil over, and his lips utter perverse things.

The fool might get a character for wisdom, had he only wit enough to be quiet;-“Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” Folly, to be known, must be uttered. If it is kept in, it may pass undiscovered; and the very reserve might contribute to give a stranger the impression of wisdom; since “he that hath knowledge spareth his words.” But the loss of the fool is, that he “cannot withhold himself from speaking; and thus he cannot conceal his folly.”