for them and rose again. The man who makes self the end of his labour degrades his nature and damns his soul. "He that seeketh

his life shall lose it."

II. THE SPRING OF LABOUR. "For his mouth craveth it of him. Hunger is the spring of human activity. "All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled." Ecclesiastes vi. 7. First: Hunger is the spring of bodily labour. The labourer in the field, the mariner on the sea, the mechanic in his shop, the merchant in the market, in fact, all men are moved by the same impulse. It is the main-spring in the great machine of human activity, keeping every wheel in motion. Appetite is not an evil to be mortified, it is a blessing to be valued. Secondly: Hunger is the spring of intellectual labour. There is a hunger in the soul for knowledge. "Where shall wisdom be found?" &c. This thirst for knowledge has given us our philosophies, our sciences, and all the arts that bless and adorn our world. Mental hunger is a blessing.

Thirdly: Hunger is the spring of spiritual labour. Deep in the soul is there a hunger for a better moral state-Peace of conscience and friendship with God. This hunger stimulates men often, alas, to work with wrong methods. Still it is a good. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness."

(No. CLXVII.)

MISCHIEVOUS MEN.

"An ungodly man diggeth up evil; and in his lips there is as a burning fire. A froward man soweth strife; and a whisperer separateth chief friends. A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good. He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things; moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass." -Prov. xvi. 27-30.

THESE verses represent a mischievous man, a man who makes it the business of his life to injure society.

He is designated here by three terms, "ungodly." In the original, as in the margin, a man of Belial; "froward,"—perverse and refractory; "violent,"-fierce, cruel, and bloody. Such is a mischievous man. No uncommon character, alas, throughout all the social circles of the world. His delight is to snap the links of friendship, to sow the seeds of strife in the fields of affection. Quarrels are music to his soul. The verses lead us to predicate three things concerning him.

I. HE SEARCHES AFTER EVIL. "He diggeth up evil." The old quarrel, suspicion, grievance, which had been buried for years, he digs for, as a miner for his ore. He belongs to the class described by the Psalmist, "They search out iniquities, they accomplish a diligent search, both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart is deep.' First Time buries the grievances of men. Years entomb old quarrels: this is a merciful arrangement. Secondly: The mischievous man is an explorer of those tombs. He opens the graves of old disputes, brings their ghastly skeletons up, and endeavours to put new life in them. He is a fiend that lives among the tombs.

II. HE IS INSPIRED BY EVIL. "In his lips there is as a burning fire. The fires of jealousy, envy, and all other malign emotions that burn in his heart, throws its burning sparks into his words, and kindle flames of discord. "The tongue," says James, "is a fire, a world of iniquity, it defileth the whole body, and it is set on fire of hell." The tongue of the mischief maker burns what? Not falsehoods, suspicions, jealousies, and other dissocializing elements, but all that mutual confidence, trustfulness, and esteem that form the basis of true friendship. On these his syllabic sparks fall as on tinder.

III. HE PROPAGATES EVIL. "He soweth strife," "he separateth chief

friends," "he enticeth his neighbour," "he bringeth evil to pass.' First: He produceth social strife by insinuations. "He whispereth.' The whisper is his mode of speech, and for his purpose it is mightier than the loudest thunders of oratory. It gives the hearer to understand that there is something so terrible behind, that words cannot, or ought not, to communicate. Ah me! what bright reputations have been stained, what lovely friendships have been destroyed, by the whispering inuendo, and the silent shrug of the shoulder. Secondly: He leads astray by enticements. "He enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good." He uses the winning and seductive in speech to carry out his mischievous designs. Thus he turneth his neighbour in the wrong course. Plausibility is the characteristic and instrument of a mischievous man. Thirdly: He pursues his designs by deliberation. "He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things." "A man shuts his eyes," when he wishes to think closely and undistractedly. The

ungodly man does it for the purpose of planning and maturing mischievous devices. When he "shuts his eyes," even in bed, while others sleep, it is to meditate on schemes of evil, and then, having digested his schemes inwardly, he employs his "lips" in their artful accomplishment. Thus mind and mouth are in concert for evil-the latter the agent and servant of the former."

"He that shall rail against his absent friends,

Or hears them scandalized, and not defends,

Sports with their fame, and speaks whate'er he can,

And only to be thought a witty man,

Tells tales, and brings his friends in disesteem,

That man's a knave-be sure beware of him." HORACE.

(No. CLXVIII.)

THE GLORY OF AGED PIETY. "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." Prov. xvi. 31.

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SOME have dispensed with the little word "if," and read the text thus, "The hoary head is a crown of glory, it shall be found in the way of righteousness; but this takes away the truth of the passage, for "hoary head," apart from righteousness, is not a 'crown of glory." It is a degradation. The silverlocked sinner deserves "shame and everlasting contempt." Age cannot be honoured for its own sake, the older the sinner the more contemptible the character. "The sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed." Isaiah lxi. 20. But when age is found in the way of righteousness, then it radiates with the moral diadem, before which our inmost spirits bow in homage. Two things are noteworthy in passing. Although they are not implied in the text, they are suggested by it. First: That righteousness is conducive to old age. This is a fact sustained both by philosophy and history. Physical health depends upon obedience to the laws of our organization. Genuine righteousness includes the obedience. Secondly: That piety is conducive to honour. Righteousness is the only true respectability, goodness the only true greatness. A crown on the head of ungodliness is as "a jewel in a swine's snout." We make three remarks concerning the glory of aged piety.

I. IT IS THE GLORY OF SPIRITUAL RIPENESS. There is something glorious in maturation. The seed ripened into an autumnal crop, the youth ripened into mature manhood, the student ripened into the accomplished scholar, are all objects of admiration. In an old saint there is a truly glorious ripeness. There you have all the seeds of truth and holiness, as sown by holy teachers, cultured by experience,

fostered by the sunbeam and the showers of God, tried and strengthened in their roots by the storms of adversity, hanging in rich clusters on the boughs ready to be gathered in. "Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." Job V. 26.

II. IT IS THE GLORY OF SPIRITUAL

COMMAND. Even Egypt's proud despot bowed before it. "And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou ? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh." Gen. xlvii. 7-10. Samuel was an old saint when he died. "And

Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house, at Ramah." 1 Sam. xxv.

1. "Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died, an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died. And they buried him in the city of David, among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both towards God, and towards his house." 2 Chron. xxiv. 15, 16. No object on this earth, is more truly royal to me, than that man whose noble brow time has whitened with snowy locks, whose intellect unwarped by prejudice, is still in quest of truth, whose heart beats in sympathy with all that is true, philanthropic, and divine; whose past is sunnied by the memory of useful deeds, whose future is bright with the promises of grace, and who sits in calm majesty, in "the old arm-chair," on the margin of both worlds, waiting his appointed time. Where on this earth is there a king like him?

III. IT IS THE GLORY OF SPIRITUAL PROSPECTS. Simeon, who took the infant Jesus in his arms, and sai "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation," is a glorious example of this. Though his foot was on earth, heaven was in his eye, and flooding his heart with joy. "The outward man is decaying, but the inner man is strong. The body of an aged saint, is to him what the chrysalis is to the insect, whose wings are perfect enough to enable it to break forth into life, sip the nectar of the flowers, sweep the fiells of beauty, and bask in the sunshine of day. We conclude with the utterance of a modern author. ripe fruit is sweeter than green fruit, so is age sweeter than youth, provided the youth were grafted into Christ. As harvest time is a brighter time than seed-time, so is age brighter than youth; that is if youth were a seed time for good. As the completion of a work is more glorious than the beginning, so is age more glorious than youth; that is, if the foundation of the work of God were laid in youth. As sailing into port is happier than the voyage, so is age happier than youth; that is when the voyage from youth is made with Christ at the helm."

THE

(No. CLXIX.)

"AS

CONQUEROR OF SELF THE GREATEST CONQUEROR.

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty: and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."-Prov. xvi. 32.

These words imply-First: That man has a spirit. By the spirit is to be understood his moral heart, with all its impulses, affections, powers. Secondly: This spirit should be ruled. There should be An self-command, self-control. uncontrolled spirit is a curse to itself, and the universe. Thirdly: That the ruling of this spirit is the

greatest of works.

It is greater than taking a city.

I. It is the most NECESSARY of conquests. It is necessary-First: To the freedom of man. A man with an uncontrolled teniper is the worst of slaves. It is necessarySecondly: To the peace of the man. An uncontrolled spirit, is in eternal conflict with itself. It is necessary -Thirdly: To the progress of man. A man cannot really advance in intelligence and worth, unless he is able to command his own intellect

and powers. Men can do without taking cities, but they cannot without ruling their own spirits.

II. It is the most RIGHTEOUS of conquests. Taking cities, physical wars of all description defensive as well as aggressive, are, to say the least, undertakings of questionable morality. I believe they are wrong, essentially and eternally wrong. But to conquer self, is a righteous campaign. Man has a right to dethrone evil passions, to crucify old lusts, to pull down corrupt prejudices. His spirit is his own domain. It is the Canaan God has given him to conquer and possess. He must drive out the Canaanites before he can truly enjoy the land. He goes with a Thus saith the Lord,"

into this battle.

III. It is the most DIFFICULT of conquests. Cities may be taken by fraud or violence. The most cunning man with reckless daring will make the most successful worldly chieftain. This difficulty arisesFirst: From the nature of the enemy. Subtle and strong. Paul after wrestling with this enemy, cries out in agony, "O wretched man that I am." This difficulty arises -Secondly: From the nature of the weapons. No force can do it, swords, bayonets, cannons, all use

less here. They cannot reach this enemy. There must be meditation, prayer, self-denial, perseverance, &c., &c. This difficulty arisesThirdly: From the uncooperativeness of the campaign. In taking cities, in all material campaigns, men co-operate, not merely individually, but regimentally. The spirit of emulation, and the love of applause, and the hope of glory, urge them on, but in this conquest of the spirit, man must go alone. He must work in solitude and in shame. He must tread the winepress alone.

IV. It is the most BLESSED of conquests. First: It wins the highest trophy. What are towns, cities, fleets, armories, continents, won by physical warfare, compared to a soul, which is won by self-conquest? A soul is more valuable in itself. "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" More lasting in its duration. All that is material will one day vanish as a cloud. Secondly: It awakens the highest applause. The applause of worldly conquerors is the boisterous shout of an empty crowd, but the approbation which the self-conqueror gains is the approbation of his own conscience, of the whole universe, and of his God.* "The command of one's self, says Drexelius, is the greatest empire a man can aspire unto, and consequently to be subject to our passions, the most grievous slavery. Neither is there any triumph more glorious than that of the victory obtained of our selves, where whilst the conflict is so short, the reward shall ever last."

There is an excellent germ by the Rev. G. Hughes. See HOMILIST, Vol. vi., fourth series, p. 111.

PREDESTINATION.

OUR Lord concludes the parable of the Wedding Guest by saying, "Many are called, but few are chosen." Now the word "chosen" or "elect "-for they are the same word in the original-is one which has given rise to great disputes and much perplexity. But all of this is owing chiefly to a misapprehension of the real character of our sacred writings, which are not scientific treatises, but popular addresses, in which each word is to be understood, indeed, in the place where it occurs, but understood in reference to the context, to the writer's object in the very passage where it occurs. It is not so in a scientific treatise. treatise, for instance, of mathematics, or chemistry, or anatomy we expect to find each term that pertains to the subject confined to its strict technical sense, and always employed in that sense. And the student is asked, What is a triangle or a circle? what is hydrogen or oxygen? what is a muscle? what is a nerve, &c.? is expected to be able to answer correctly, without reference to any particular passage. But it is quite otherwise with the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles, who were not

In a

composing regular systems of scholastic theology, but popular narrative and popular instruction. And if, therefore, any sensible man well acquainted with the real character of their writings is asked, "What is the meaning of this or that word ?" he will reply by asking, "In what passage If, for instance, he is asked, "Who are the elect (or chosen) ?" he will say, "Chosen for what?""* In the parable of the Wedding Feast the guests first bidden represent the Jews, and these are perpetually called in Scripture God's "chosen people." But to what were they chosen? Evidently to be favoured with a Divine revelation of the true God, and to be keepers of his oracles, and to have the Gospel first preached to them. But those of them who provoked God in the wilderness, and refused to enter into the promised land, were cast off by Him, and not allowed to "enter into his rest." And their descendants, having rejected and crucified the Holy One, were destroyed as a nation, and scattered over the face of the whole earth, as it is this day. And, lastly, when the poor travellers on the highway were called to partake of the feast, this was from the free choice and elec