The state of the heart is that to which God looks"The Lord is far from the wicked:

But he heareth the prayer of the righteous" (ch xv. 29).

Trust in God is the only security in life

"Commit thy works unto the Lord,

And thy purposes shall be established" (ch. xvi. 3).

"He that giveth heed unto the word shall find good :

And whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he!" (ch. xvi. 20).

Gentleness and long-suffering are recommended

"A soft answer turneth away wrath:

But a grievous word stirreth up anger" (ch. xv. 1).

"The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water:

Therefore leave off contention, before there be quarrelling" (ch. xvii. 14).

Humility is strongly enjoined

"Pride goeth before destruction,

And a haughty spirit before a fall" (ch. xvi. 18).

Sioth and intemperance and other vices are severely reprobated

"Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep;

And the idle soul shall suffer hunger" (ch. xix. 15).

"Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty;

Open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread" (ch. xx. 13).

"He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man:

He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich" (ch. xxi. 17).

A good reputation should be sought and retained—

"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,

And loving favour rather than silver and gold" (ch. xxii. 1).

The section ends with an apothegm about rich and poor which is capable of more than one interpretation

"Whosoever oppresseth the poor, it is for his gain;

Whosoever giveth to the rich, it is for his loss" (ch. xxii. 16).

This is a religious statement concerning the moral government of God, affirming, on the one hand, that oppression and extortion inflicted on the poor man do in the end redound to his good; and, on the other hand, addition to the wealth of a rich man only injures him, leads him to indolence and extravagance, and sooner or later brings him to want. There is much said in this part about the king's prerogative

"The king's favour is toward a servant that dealeth wisely:

But his wrath shall be against him that causeth shame" (ch. xiv. 35).

"He that loveth pureness of heart,

For the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend" (ch. xxii. 11).

It is possible to take exception to the worldliness and low motives of

many of the maxims in this and other parts of the book. The wisdom often seems to be that of this world rather than of heavenly aspiration. And there have not been wanting persons who say such pronouncements cannot be deemed to be inspired, and that the work containing them was not dictated or controlled by the Holy Spirit. We will quote a few of those so-called worldly maxims. Obedience to the Law is enjoined in order to gain long life and prosperity (ch. iii. 1, 2), riches and honour (ch. viii. 18); diligence is to be desired with the view of obtaining a sufficiency, and averting poverty (ch. xx. 13); the great motive for charity and benevolence is the temporal reward and the favour of God which they secure (ch. xix. 17; xxi. 13); the same reason holds good for honouring God with our substance (ch. iii. 9, 10); humility is to be practised because it brings honour and life (ch. xxii. 4); self-control is a useful attainment because it preserves from many dangers (ch. xvi. 32; xxv. 28); a fine reputation is a worthy object of quest (ch. xxii. 1); sloth, drunkenness, and gluttony are to be avoided because they impoverish a man (ch. xxi. 17; xxiii. 20, 21; xxiv. 33, 34); we should avoid companionship with the evil because they will lead us into trouble (ch. xiii. 20; xxii. 24, etc.); it is unwise to retaliate lest we bring injury on ourselves in the end (ch. xvii. 13); we are not to exult over an enemy's fall lest we provoke Providence to punish us (ch. xxiv. 17, etc.), but rather to assist an adversary in order to secure a reward at the hands of the Lord (ch. xxv. 21, etc.); wisdom is to be sought for the temporal advantages which it brings (ch. xxiv. 3, etc.; xxi. 20).

Such are some of the maxims which confront us in this Scripture; and there can be no doubt that they seem at first sight to make virtue a matter of calculation; and though they are capable of being spiritualized and forced into a higher sphere, yet in their natural sense they do urge the pursuit of right on low grounds, and base their injunctions on selfish considerations. Is this what we should expect to find in a work confessedly appertaining to the sacred canon? Is this teaching such as. tends to make a man wise unto salvation, to furnish the man of God unto good works? The whole question turns upon the due employment of secondary motives in the conduct of life. Is this method properly employed in education? Does God use it in his dealings with us? We must observe that 'Proverbs' is a book written chiefly for the edification of the young and inexperienced, the simple who were still in the early age of moral growth, those whose principles were as yet unsettled and needed direction and steadfastness. For such teaching of the highest character would be inappropriate; they could not at once appreciate more elevated doctrine; their power of assimilation was at present too feeble to admit the strong meat of heavenly lore; and they were to be led gradually to a higher stage by a slow and natural process which would make no great demand on their faith, nor conscious interruption in their daily life. It is thus that we educate children. We employ the motives

of shame and emulation, reward and punishment, pleasure and pain, as incentives to goodness and activity, or as deterrents from evil; and though the actions and habits fostered by these means cannot be regarded as perfect, and have in them an element of weakness, still they are helps on the way to virtue, and facilitate the course of higher training. By such means, imperfect as they are, the moral principle is not injured, and the pupil is placed in a position where he is open to the best influences, and prepared to receive them. We have learned thus to deal with children from God's dealings with ourselves. What are gratitude to parents, faith in teachers, love of friends, loyalty to a sovereign, but secondary motives which control our lives, and yet are not distinctly religious? We build on these feelings, we expect and cherish them, because they lead to worthy action, and without them we should be selfish, loveless, animals. They keep us in the path of duty; they take us out of ourselves, make us regard others' interests, preserve us from much that is evil. Men act on such motives; they do not generally set before themselves anything higher; and he who would teach them must take them as they are, stand on their platform, sympathize with their weakness, and, by putting himself in their position, gain their confidence, and lead them to trust his guidance when he tells them of heavenly things. On such principles much of our book is framed. The moralist knew and recognized the fact that the persons for whose benefit he wrote were not wont to act from the highest motives, that in their daily life they were influenced by selfish considerations-fear of loss, censure of neighbours, public opinion, expediency, revenge, custom, example; and, instead of declaiming against these principles and in austere virtue censuring their defects, he makes the best of them, selects such as may suit his purpose, and, while using them as supports for his warnings, he intersperses so much higher teaching that every one must see that morality has another side, and that the only real and true motive for virtue is the love of God. Such teaching loses its apparently anomalous character when we consider that it is addressed to a people who were living under a temporal dispensation, who were told to expect blessings and punishments in their present life, and who saw in all that befell them providential interferences, tokens of the moral government of their Lord and King. It is consistent with the educational object of our book, and with the gradual development of doctrine observed in the Old Testament, wherein is seen that the Law was a tutor to bring men to Christ.

The first collection of proverbs is followed by two appendices enunciating "the words of the wise "-the first contained in ch. xxii. 17—xxiv. 22; the second, introduced by the words, "These things also belong to the wise," in ch. xxiv. 23-34. The former of these commences with a personal address to the pupil, recommending these sayings to his serious attention, and then proceeds to give various precepts concerning duty to the poor, anger, suretyship, cupidity, intemperance, impurity, and to urge the young

to avoid evil men and those who would lead them astray. It ends with the weighty saying of moral and political importance

"My son, fear thou the Lord and the king:

And meddle not with them that are given to change" (ch. xxiv. 21).

The second little appendix consists also of proverbial sayings, but is enlivened by a personal reminiscence of the writer, who in his walk passed by the field of the sluggard, noted its miserable condition, and drew a lesson therefrom (ch. xxiv. 30, etc.). This section also contains the almost evangelical precept

Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me:

I will render to the man according to his work."

We now arrive at the second great collection of Solomonic proverbs, "which the men of Hezekiah copied out" (ch. xxv.—xxix.). This is a series of some hundred and twenty gnomic sayings collected from previous writings, by certain scribes and historiographers, in the reign and under the superintendence of the good King Hezekiah, and intended as a supplement to the former collection, to which it bears a very marked similarity, and many sentences of which it repeats with no or very slight variations. Hezekiah, devoted to the moral and religious improvement of his people, seems to have commissioned his secretaries to examine again the works of his predecessor, and to cull from them, and from similar compilations, such maxims as would further his great purpose. Hence we do not find in this section, as in former parts, much instruction for the young, but sentences concerning government, ideas on social subjects, on behaviour, on moral restraint, and kindred topics that have to do with private and public life. There are in it some noteworthy utterances concerning the office of king

"The heaven for height, and the earth for depth,

But the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Take away dross from the silver,

And there cometh forth a vessel for the finer;

Take away the wicked from before the king,

And his throne shall be established in righteousness" (ch. xxv. 3, etc.).

"The king by judgment establisheth the land:

But he that exacteth gifts overthroweth it" (ch. xxix. 4).

There is also a mashal hymn in praise of agriculture, which looks like a protest against the growing luxury of the age, and a call to the simpler, purer life of earlier days—

"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks,

And look well to thy herds.

For riches are not for ever:

And doth the crown endure unto all generations?

The hay is carried, and the tender grass showeth itself,

And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in.
The lambs are for thy clothing,

And the goats are the price of the field:

And there will be goats' milk enough for thy food,

For the food of thy household,

And maintenance for thy maidens" (ch. xxvii. 23, etc.).

There follow three appendices of various origin and authorship. The first contains "The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, the oracle," addressed by him to two of his disciples (according to one interpretation of the words, "The man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal"), and containing proverbial and enigmatical sayings (ch. xxx.). This unknown author begins with a confession of his faith, a humble depreciation of his own acquirements, and an acknowledgment of the fruitlessness of endeavouring to comprehend the nature of God. There is much here and in other parts of the section to remind us of the musings of Job, who felt and expressed the same perplexity. The poet then utters two prayers to God, that he may be delivered from vanity and lies, and may be supplied with daily food

"Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that is needful for me" (ch. xxx. 8).

Then succeeds a curious collection of pictures, grouped into three or four sentences each, each stich having a certain connection in language and idea. Thus we have four wicked generations, denoting the universal prevalence of the sins therein denounced; four things insatiable; four things inscrutable; four intolerable; four exceeding wise; four of stately presence. If these utterances mean no more than what at first sight they seem to imply, they merely express the feelings of one who was a keen observer of man and nature, and took a peculiar method of enforcing his remarks: "There are three things, yea, four," etc. But if under these apparently simple statements of fact there are hidden great spiritual verities, then we have here examples of dark sayings, enigmas, difficulties, in the solution of which the opening of the Book promised assistance. That such is the case many early commentators, followed by some modern writers, have stated without hesitation; and much labour has been expended in spiritualizing the dicta of the text. Certainly in their literal shape these sentences are not of the highest type, nor distinctly religious; and it is but natural that, feeling this, expositors should endeavour to raise these commonplace and secular allusions to a more exalted sphere.

The second appendix (ch. xxxi. 1-9) is entitled, "The words of King Lemuel, the oracle which his mother taught him." The chief interest lies in the question-Who is Lemuel? (see § 3). The section is a brief lesson addressed to kings, chiefly on the subjects of impurity and drunkenness. The third appendix, which forms the conclusion of the book (ch. xxxi. 10-31), consists of the celebrated description of the virtuous woman, the type of the ideal wife, mother, and mistress. It is what is called an