CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Sacrifices,+ literally _killings, i.e.,_ slain
beasts, not necessarily animals killed for sacrifice. +2. A son that
causeth shame,+ rather, a _degenerate son. (Delitzsch and Zöckler)_.
+4. A liar,+ literally, _a lie, falsehood._ +7. Excellent speech,+
literally "a lip of excess or prominence, an assuming, imperious
style of speech" (_Zöckler_). +A prince,+ rather, _a noble,_ a man of
lofty disposition. +8. A gift.+ Some expositors understand this in
the sense of a bribe. Delitzsch translates the whole verse--"The gift
of bribery appears a jewel to its receiver, whithersoever he turneth
himself he acted prudently," _i.e.,_ "it determines and impels him to
apply all his understanding, in order that he may reach the goal for
which it shall be his reward." Zöckler understands it to refer to the
gift of seasonable liberality which secures for its giver supporters
and friends. +9. Repeateth a matter.+ Most expositors understand this
repetition to refer to a revival of a past wrong, but Miller
translates "He who falls back into an act," _i.e._, transgresses
again after forgiveness. +11.+ Many commentators translate the first
clause _"Rebellion,"_ or _"a rebel"_ seeketh only after evil, _i.e.,_
brings retribution upon himself. +12.+ Miller translates the latter
clause "but not a fool his folly." (See his comment.) +14. Meddled
with,+ rather _"pours forth."_ +17. "Friend+ and +brother+ are
related the one as the climax of the other. The friend is developed
into a brother by adversity." (_Lange's Commentary._) +20. A froward
heart,+ rather, _a false heart._ +22. A broken spirit.+ Miller
renders _"an upbraiding spirit," i.e.,_ spirit which cavils at God's
providential dealings. +23. A gift,+ _i.e., a bribe,_ +judgment,+
_i.e., justice._ +24.+ Many explain this verse to mean that the wise
find wisdom everywhere while the fool seeks it everywhere but in the
right place. Delitzsch and others understand the proverb to mean that
wisdom is the aim of the man of understanding while the fool has no
definite aim in life. +26. Also,+ rather, _even._ It emphasizes the
verb immediately following, viz., _to punish, i.e._, to inflict a
pecuniary fine. Zöckler renders the verse, _"Also to punish the
righteous is not good, to smile the noble contrary to justice,"_ and
explains the meaning thus, "The fine as a comparatively light penalty
which may easily at one time or another fall with a certain justice
even on a just man, stands contrasted with the much severer
punishment with stripes; and as these two verbal ideas are related,
so are also the predicates 'not good' and 'contrary to right' (above
desert, beyond all proportion to the justice and reasonable) in the
relation of a climax." Delitzsch reads, _"Also to inflict punishment
on the righteous is not good; this, the one overthrows his noble on
account of his righteousness," i.e.,_ it is not good when a ruler
makes his power to punish to be felt by the innocent as well as by
the guilty. Miller translates, _'Even deserved punishment to the
righteous does not seem good, when designed to chasten the willing
with a view to holiness,"_ and explains his translation of the word
generally translated _princes,_ or _the noble,_ by a reference to the
Hebrew root from which it is derived and which may be rendered
_willing_ or _generous._ +27. Excellent,+ rather a _cool_ spirit.
The homiletic teaching of verse 1 is the same as that of chap.
xv. 17. (See pages 421, 422).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.
THE FOOLISH SON AND THE WISE SERVANT.
+I. High social position is not necessarily the outcome of mental
ability or moral worth.+ Many a man is born heir to a great estate,
or even to a throne, who brings shame upon the name he bears and the
place he occupies. He may be inferior in intellectual power to many
of the dependents upon the house, or he may be worse in character
than they are. Or if he is not so degraded in character, or in such
limited ability as to be surpassed by the majority, there may be one
who serves him whose aim in life is far more lofty than his own, and
who has far greater capabilities than he has.
+II. A wise man will acquire influence, whatever position he fills.+
A servant who understands his duties, and conscientiously fulfils
them, will win respect and confidence; and these will give him
influence in his master's house, and over all with who his business
brings him into contact. There are many instances, both in the
history of private families and in the history of courts, in which
the judicious conduct of a subordinate person has averted evils which
would otherwise have followed the crimes of a son of the house, and
the father of such a son can but acknowledge such services, and
reward them, if he is possessed of any gratitude. But whether he does
so or not, it is an ordination of God's providence, which we see in
constant operation around us, that _a wise man is a fool's master._
It is a law of nature that a stronger physical body shall govern the
weaker, if no other power interferes, and it is a law in the universe
of mind that the stronger mind shall rule the weak, and make it
server his purpose in some way. This is the secret of many of the
social changes which are always going on, in which some who were born
to affluence come down to penury, and those who were born in
obscurity take their places.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Eliezer will show the custom that suggests the type. He was a _wise
servant._ Abraham thought he would have to be his heir (Gen. xv. 2,
3). All commentators put _"son"_ in apposition with him _who causes
shame; i.e.,_ makes them the same person. But to be the same person
they should be in the same form grammatically, and _"son"_ is in the
construct. The _causer of shame,_ therefore, is the father. And this
is more consistent, for a wise father could uphold a _son,_ or could
give the inheritance to other _brethren._ In the worldly sense there
could be no difficulty. In the spiritual what noted instances!--in
the Israelites, who, unlike Abraham, failed to command their
households (Gen. xviii. 19), and who gave place to their bought
servants, the hated Gentiles!--in Satan, who has given place to man
(Psalm viii. 2)!--in modern men who have professed the faith, but
have debauched their children till they see them hardening under
their very eyes, and some far-off waif gets before them into the
everlasting kingdom. Better, says the last proverb, the utmost
poverty, with peace and love; better, says the proverb, the poorest
hold upon the Church, if there be the humbler hold upon the service
of the Most High.--_Miller._
If wisdom make us free, then are we free indeed: as on the other
side, he is altogether a servant that dealeth unwisely. But he that
is wisdom's freeman is not only a freeman but a master, not only a
master but a _son,_ not only a son but an _heir, an heir among his
brethren._ So highly doth wisdom exalt. But thus it is with the
Father of the world, it is not so with worldly fathers. Their foolish
love doth honour their son, though his foolish life doth fill them
with shame: their proud carriage despiteth their servant, though his
wise carriage exalteth their estate. The son shall have all though he
deserve nothing, the servant shall not have his wages though they be
due unto him. But the wisdom of God bestoweth His love, the justice
of God divideth His inheritance in another manner. Oftentimes, even
in this life, he putteth the servant in the son's place. . . . Be
wise, then, though thou be a servant, and thou shalt be His son who
is the Father of wisdom. Be not wicked, though the son of rich
parents, and, if may be, heir to a great estate, for He, the Lord of
all, can quickly make thee a poor servant for thy sins, who has made
thyself a servant to thy sins.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.
THE TRIER OF HEARTS.
We have here an analogy implied between men's hearts and gold and
silver.
+I. Both have an intrinsic worth.+ Gold and silver have not only an
artificial value, but they have qualities in themselves which render
them of especial worth. So the heart of man--that spiritual and
immortal part of him which constitutes him a man--is of priceless
worth because of its infinite capacities of good and evil, its
infinite capabilities of enjoyment and of suffering.
+II. Both must be separated from worthless alloy if they are to
attain their real value.+ Gold and silver are comparatively worthless
until they are separated from every other mineral; they must be
unalloyed with baser metal, or nearly so, before their intrinsic
excellence and capabilities become apparent and they can be put to
the uses for which they are so peculiarly fitted. So the human soul
cannot rise to the high destiny to which it is appointed until there
is a separation made between it and sinful habits, motives, and
desires.
+III. Both human souls and precious metals are subjected to a testing
process.+ The gold and the silver ores are thrown into the crucible
and placed over the fire, in order that it may be made manifest how
much there is of real worth in them, and the human soul is subjected
to trials of various kinds by the Great Searcher of hearts, in order
that both the good and the evil that is therein may be seen, and the
one separated from the other. The proverb seems rather to refer to
the _testing,_ than to the purifying process.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
_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
rebellions and unsubdued dispositions. He exposed 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. . . . 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.--_Wardlaw._
Silver is refined by getting the silver out from among the dross.
Christians are refined by putting the silver in among the dross, and
refining the dross away. Men in a natural state are not an ore of
silver, but are dross, and they are nothing else. He who sits to
purify them (Mal. iii. 3) does not disengage the gold, but supplies
it as He goes along. In other respects the emblem is complete.
(1) The _"furnace"_ takes out the dross. So does _"Jehovah."_ (2) The
_"furnace"_ burns out the dross. So does _"Jehovah,"_ with biting
flames. (3) The _"furnace"_ is a gradual worker. So is God.--_Miller._
Man trieth many things, and many things in man are tried by man. The
_silver_ of a man's _word_ is tried by a wise care: the _gold_ of a
man's _deeds_ is tried by the fruit of them: the _silver_ of a man's
_wit_ is tried by dangers and distresses, the _gold_ of a man's
_understanding_ is tried by weighty and important business; the
_gold_ of a man's _strength_ is tried by hard and burdensome labour;
the gold of his _knowledge_ by hard and difficult questions; the
silver of a man's _diligence_ is tried by the haste of affairs: the
gold of a man's _faithfulness_ by trust reposed in him: the silver of
a man's estate is tried by a careful account, the gold of his virtues
by troubles and temptations. Thus there is a _fining-pot for the
silver, and a furnace for the gold:_ and the heart of man trieth
other things, but the _trier of the heart is the Lord alone._ The
fine silver, the pure gold that lie in that, can be proved by nothing
but by His touch. Whoever else taketh upon him to search the secrets
of the heart, layeth open his own sin and folly. The heart itself
cannot try itself; God is the goldsmith for it. Or else the original
will bear well this sense, that God, by troubles, trieth the heart of
man. Wherefore Tertullian saith, When we are burned in the heat of
persecution then are we tried in the hold-fast of our faith. . . .
And surely if Seneca could say, "I give thanks unto fortune because
she would try how much I esteemed honesty, so great a thing ought not
to stand me in a little," then certainly the servants of God ought to
thank God when He, by troubles, trieth how well they love
Him.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.
THE EVIL SPEAKER AND THE LISTENER.
+I. That which men give heed to reveals their character.+ If a man
will listen to another who he knows to be false--if he permits him to
be continually pouring into his ear that which he knows to be
untrue--he is a liar himself. He could not make himself a receiver of
lies if he were not of a kindred spirit with the liar. We classify
animals according to the food which they eat, and we can classify men
when we know upon what mental and moral food they love to feed. He
who gives heed to falsehood and lying lips is a false man himself.
+II. Delight in wicked speech leads to wicked actions.+ Those who use
ungodly language never stop there. There is but a step between wicked
words and wicked deeds. Neither do those who begin by giving heed to
men whose speech is prompted by him who is the father of lies (John
viii. 44) stop with the mere listening. The listening, as we have
seen, implies a certain degree of sympathy with the listener; this
sympathy leads to imitation, and he who gives heed to false lips not
only becomes himself a man of wicked speech but a "wicked doer."
+III. The liar and he who listens to him divide the responsibility of
the sin between them.+ These two characters help to increase each
other's guilt by strengthening each other in their ungodliness. The
liar is encouraged to go on in his lying by those who give heed to
his lies; if there were none willing to listen to him he would soon
cease to sin in this direction. So that the receiver of falsehood
will have to share the punishment of him who propagates it. Then the
liar increases the wickedness of the wicked doer by his false words,
which help to make his heart yet more ungodly and his doings yet more
wicked. Thus ungodly men exert a reciprocal influence upon each other
for evil.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Wicked men have a great treasure of evil in their hearts, and yet
have not enough to satisfy their own corrupt dispositions. They are
like covetous men, in whom their large possessions only increase
their lust of having, and therefore they carry on a trade with other
wicked men, who are able to add to their store of iniquity, by
flattering and counselling them in sin.--_Lawson._
_"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 smoothed, 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 (Isa. xxx. 9-11).--_Wardlaw._
A man most mischievous himself yields most mischievously to the
mischief of other sinners. _"A lie"_ is the most weakly credulous.
This is often noticed among the earthly. The biter is often most
bitten, the tyrant most tortured. The cunning is often most caught,
and what is singularly the fact, the sceptic is often the most
believing. It is not a complete proverb, thought, for earth, because
it is not universal. It is spiritually, as with all these other
texts, that the truth has no exception. The greatest harm-doer is
Satan, and so the greatest harm is done to Satan. He is the father of
lies, and has been the most lied to. He was more deceived in Eden
than his victim, and on Calvary than the men who crucified our Lord.
And all his followers take from the world equal mischief with that
which they inflict upon it.--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.
A DOUBLE REVELATION.
+I. Revealing crime.+ _He who mocketh the poor reveals his own
character._ If we find one brother of a family mocking another
brother, we feel that his conduct is a revelation of the state of his
heart. We feel that such a man must be destitute of all right
feeling--that he has no regard for their common parent--none of that
tender feeling which ought to bind members of the same family. God
has made of one blood all nations of the earth, and he who mocks the
poor mocks one of the same great human family as himself, and thus
shows that he lacks all true humanity and all right feeling towards
the common Father of both. _The displeasure with which God regards
such a man reveals the Divine character._ If the ruler of a country
identifies himself with the most defenceless and friendless of his
subjects--if he exacts the severest penalties for any wrong done to
them--if, in short, he reckons an offence against them as committed
against himself--he reveals that he is a man of true benevolence. The
displeasure with which God regards not only them who oppress the
poor, but also those who mock them--and a man does this when he gives
empty words but no sympathy and help--reveals the tender compassion
of His nature. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. xiv. 31,
page 389.
+II. An aggravated crime.+ _"He who is glad at calamities,"_ etc. It
is a sin both against God and human nature to mock the poor--to treat
men with indifference and contempt because they are in a lowly
station--because they are compelled to labour much and labour hard
for the supply of their daily wants: he who is guilty of such conduct
reveals a nature that is entirely opposed to the nature of God, and
lays himself open to retribution. But when a man is not only
indifferent to the miseries of others, but can actually find in them
an occasion of gladness, he is as near to Satan in character and
disposition as a man out of hell can be. He is not only ungodlike,
but is devilish. It is a prominent characteristic of the evil one
that he finds a fiendish delight in the calamities of men, and a man
cannot give a more convincing proof that he is of his "father the
devil" (John xiii. 44) than by imitating him in this particular crime.
+III. A heavy retribution.+ We can form some estimate of the weight
of punishment which must fall upon this last offender, by remembering
how God regards the first. If He convicts him who mocks the poor of
casting reproach upon his Maker, how much more will He visit him who
"is glad at calamities."
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
So Tyrus is threatened, because she was glad at Jerusalem's
calamities, saying, "I shall be replenished now she is laid waste"
(Ezek. xxvi. 2). And Edom similarly (Obad. 12).--_Fausset._
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.--_Wardlaw._
Why should I, for a little difference in this one particular of
worldly wealth, despise my poor brother? When so many and great
things unites us, shall wealth disunite us? One sun shines on us
both; one blood bought us both; one heaven will receive us both, only
he hath not so much of earth as I, and possibly much more of
heaven.--_Bishop Reynolds._
To pour contempt upon the current coin with the king's image on it,
is treason against the sovereign. No less contempt is it of the
Sacred Majesty, to despise _the poor,_ who have, no less than the
rich, the king's image upon them (Gen. ix. 6). This view marks the
contempt of the poor as a sin of the deepest dye.--_Bridges._
If God should appear in human shape, would we dare to insult him?
Would not the fear of a just and dreadful vengeance deter us? And to
mock the poor, amounts to the very same thing. God did actually
appear in our nature, and He was then poor for our sakes; and those
that despise the poor, despise them for a reason that reflects upon
our Saviour Himself when He dwelt among us.--_Lawson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.
FATHERS AND CHILDREN.
Two things are implied in this proverb:--First, that the fathers are
good men. An aged man who is not a godly man cannot in any sense
reflect any glory upon his descendants. Secondly, that the children
are also godly and true, otherwise they are anything but a crown to
their parents. The Wise Man is here speaking of those who are in both
relations what God intended them to be. When such is the case--
+I. The children bring honour to their parents.+ They testify that
the parents have trained them in the way that they should go--that
they have given them a good example as well as good advice, and every
child is then like a separate mirror, reflecting the character of the
godly parent by whose influence he has become what he now is. And the
greater number of these mirrors there are, the more brilliant is the
crown of honour which is worn by the godly ancestor whose virtues are
thus reproduced in his children and in his children's children, even
long after he has left the world. Every tribute of respect that is
paid to the children is another jewel placed in the crown of the
godly ancestor.
+II. The parents are the glory of their children.+ Men glory in being
descended from ancestors who have been great warriors or who have
left them a vast inheritance of material wealth, but an inheritance
of goodness reflects as much more glory upon those who are its heirs
as the glory of heaven exceeds that of earth. Goodness holds a very
old patent of nobility, and when children can boast of a long line of
God-fearing ancestors, they can boast of a dignity which is as old as
God. To be the descendants of those who are now before the throne of
God is a glory before which all earthly glory fades away.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 7.
A TWOFOLD INCONGRUITY.
+I. Truth from the mouth of a godless man.+ This is not an unknown
case. A man of immoral practices may inculcate precepts of purity--a
dishonest man may, for the purpose of cloaking his own character, be
loud in his praises of integrity and uprightness. But the speech of
such a man will fall powerless on his hearers, even if they do not
know thoroughly the character of the speaker. There will be a lack of
the true ring of sincerity about his words--being words only, and not
convictions, they will be "as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."
Suppose that a barrister, who was very ignorant of law and possessed
of very limited mental capacities, having undertaken the defence of
an important case, were to apply to one of his most learned and
eloquent legal brethren to write his speech for him. When he got up
to deliver that which was not the production of his own mind--that
which he was not able thoroughly to appreciate himself--would not the
listeners be struck with a sense of incongruity, would they not feel
that, however good the arguments, however vivid the illustrations,
however powerful the appeals, there was something lacking--that the
speaker was a stripling wearing the armour of a giant? Something of
this same feeling is experienced when an immoral man gives utterance
to moral sentiments--he does not know the meaning of his own words,
he lacks the experience necessary to give weight to what he says. He
speaks what is in itself true, but he is not a true man himself, and
consequently the utterance is like a "jewel of gold in a swine's
snout."
+II. Untruth from the mouth of a man of exalted station.+ A prince
(_i.e.,_ one who holds a high place among his fellow-men) is
especially bound to be a man of truth and honour. It is here implied
that he is to be an embodiment of truthfulness--that whether he owes
his position to wealth, to birth, or to intellectual gifts--whatever
else he lacks, he ought to be a truthful man; his words ought to be
excellent, and they ought to be the reflection of excellence of
character.
+III. The second incongruity is more mischievous than the first.+
"Excellent speech becometh not a fool, _much less_ do lying lips a
prince." If a moral fool is a man who holds no position in the world,
what he says will not be of so much consequence, because his
influence upon others is little. He will injure himself, and those
immediately connected with him, but the harm done will not be so
widely spread as if he were one of the great of the land. The first
man, if he puts on a garb of morality, and adopts language which does
not represent his true self, is a liar, but his lying does not injure
others so much as it does himself. But a "lying prince" is an
instrument of wide-spread evil. To lie in a cottage is a sin against
God and man, but to lie in a palace is a greater sin, because the
inmate of the palace holds in his hand an immense power for good and
for evil. What he says and does is felt more or less indirectly
throughout his dominion, and as his responsibility is so great, the
guilt of using it wrongly is great also.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
God likes not fair words from a foul mouth. Christ silenced the devil
when he confessed Him to be the Son of the Most High God. The leper's
lips should be covered, according to the law.--_Trapp._
Lying lips are no less unbecoming in the mouth of a prince, who ought
to honour the dignity of his station by the dignity of his manner. A
prince of our own is said to have frequently used this proverbial
saying, "He that knows not how to dissemble knows not how to reign."
You may judge from the text before us whether he deserved to be
called the Solomon of his age. It was certainly a nobler saying of
one of the kings of France,--that if truth were banished from all the
rest of the world it ought to be found in the breasts of princes. A
man's dignity obliges him to a behaviour worthy of it, and of him
whose favour has conferred it. All Christians are advanced to
spiritual honours of the most exalted kind. They are the children of
God, and heirs of the eternal kingdom, and ought to resemble their
heavenly Father, who is the God of truth. When a young prince desired
a certain philosopher to give him a directory for his conduct, all
his instructions were comprised in one sentence, "Remember that thou
art a king's son." Let Christians remember who they are, and how they
came to be what they are, and act in character.--_Lawson._
Force not thyself above, degrade not thyself below thy
condition.--_Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.
THE POWER OF GIFTS.
+I. All men value gifts.+ Whether they be gifts which are of
intrinsic value from their beauty or their rarity or whether they are
of little worth in themselves, but are the expression of the love and
gratitude of those who offer them, there is a certain pleasure in
receiving them. A free-will offering is more acceptable to a
right-minded man than that which is bestowed upon him as a matter of
necessity. The fact that it is a gift invests it with a value beyond
that which would otherwise be attached to it--makes it as a "precious
stone" to the receiver. The good-will that prompts the gift turns a
pebble into a diamond.
+II. All the blessing of a gift does not rest with the receiver.+--As
a precious stone reflects rays of light in whichever way it is held,
so generous-hearted liberality blesses him who gives as well as him
who takes. The giver has the gratitude and love of the recipient and
experiences the truth of the words of the Lord Jesus: "It is more
blessed to give than to receive" (Acts. xx. 35). (For the opposite
meanings which different commentators attach to the word "gift," see
Critical Notes.)
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
1. Those that have money in their _hand_ think they can do anything
_with_ it. Rich men, whithersoever they turn this sparkling diamond,
expect it should dazzle the eyes of all, and make them do just what
they would have them do in hopes of it. 2. Those who have money in
their _eye_ will do anything _for_ it. It has great influence upon
them, and they will be sure to go the way it leads them.--_Henry._
Viewed 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 manœvering 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.--_Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.
HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND HOW TO SEPARATE THEM.
We have before noticed ways in which love covers sin or
transgression. (See Homiletics of chapter x. 12, page 157.) This
proverb sets forth--
+I. That he who thus covers sin is a great benefactor of the human
race.+ The great need of a fallen world is such a state of heart as
will promote love among men. One of Christ's last commands to his
disciples was _"Love one another as I have loved you"_ (John
xvi. 12). And there is no more effectual way of promoting love than
by freely forgiving an offence and at the same time endeavouring to
turn the transgressor from the error of his way. A stream in winter
may, by reason of the biting cold, be congealed into a rock-like
solid mass, but when the summer sun shines upon it, it cannot long
resist the influence, but melts and begins again to ripple and
sparkle under its beams. So a sense of guilt and shame hardens the
human heart, but a consciousness that the sin has been freely
forgiven and forgotten melts it into contrition and love if it is not
utterly dead to moral influences. This is the great power which binds
sin-forgiven men and women to God--having been forgiven much they
love much (Luke vii. 47-50).
+II. A man of opposite character is a curse to his race.+ Friendship
is the greatest boon of human existence, and he whose words or deeds
tend to break any such tie does his fellow-men a great wrong. There
is no more effectual way of doing it than by a constant repetition of
the faults of others, either by reminding the offender himself of his
shortcomings or by speaking of them to a third person. Solomon may
refer to either of these habits--both are bad, and show a disposition
entirely opposed to that of Him who, when he forgave His ancient
people, promised that He would "remember their sin no more" (Jer.
xxxi. 34).
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
_Seeketh love!_ A beautiful expression, much to be kept in mind! It
shows a delight in the atmosphere of _love_--man's highest elevation
in communion with his God (1 John iv. 16). It implies not the mere
exercise of _love,_ where it is presented, but the searching and
making opportunity for it. But how seldom do we rise to the high
standard of this primary grace, exalted as it is pre-eminently above
"the best gifts" (1 Cor. xii. 31; xiii.); and illustrated and
enforced by no less than the Divine example! (Eph. v. 1, 2). Yet too
often it sits at the door of our lips, instead of finding a home in
our hearts; forgetting that the exhortation is not, that we should
_talk_ of _love,_ but that we should "walk in it;" not stepping over
it, crossing it, walking by the side, but _"in it,"_ as our highway
and course. One step of our feet is better than a hundred words of
the tongue.--_Bridges._
_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.--_Wardlaw._
Alas! how many things are there to be suffered, how many things to be
forgotten, how many things, though seen, to be as it were unseen,
that love may be preferred. He that covereth transgression warmeth
affection, and he that seeketh the love of man shall be sure to find
the love of God. The way to seek and find other things is by
uncovering that which is hid; but the way to seek and find love is by
covering the offence.--_Jermin._
If one has been our enemy it has been for some trespass. The best way
to abate the enmity is to cover up and smother over, and thus erase
from memory our act against him. He that does this _"seeks love."_
"He who falls back into the wrong," _i.e.,_ iterates or doubles over
his offence, drives away everything. (See Critical Notes.) . . .
Spiritually, a man is not to complain of the alienation of his Maker,
if he wilfully retain his sin. If God has given us a special way for
_covering sin,_ and we postpone it, and go tumbling back into our
acts, the strife is ours.--_Miller._
There are two ways of making peace and reconciling differences: the
one begins with amnesty, the other with a recital of injuries,
combined with apologies and excuses. Now I remember that it was the
opinion of a very wise man, and a great politician, that "he who
negotiates a peace without recapitulating the grounds of difference
rather deludes the minds of the parties, by representing the
sweetness of concord, than reconciles them by equitable adjustment."
But Solomon, a wiser man than he, is of a contrary opinion, approving
of amnesty, and forbidding a recapitulation of the past. For in it
are these disadvantages: it is as the chafing of a sore; it creates
the risk of a new quarrel (for the parties will never agree as to the
proportions of injuries on either side); and lastly, it brings it to
a matter of apologies: whereas either party would rather be thought
to have forgiven an injury than to have accepted an excuse.--_Lord
Bacon._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.
CORRECTION MUST BE ADAPTED TO THE CHARACTER OF THE OFFENDER.
+I. Some men can be influenced by moral means.+ A man whose moral
nature is developed can be brought to a sense of error by an appeal
to his own sense of right and wrong. Although he has fallen into sin
he does not love it, and the rebuke from without finds an echo in the
monitor within his own breast. His susceptibility to reproof
arises--1. _From a deep sense of his obligations to God._ He knows
what God has done to put away sin and its effects from the universe,
and gratitude to Him opens his ear and his heart to reproof. 2. _From
a sense of his own true interest._ A man would be counted a fool if
he were to be angry with the physician who desired to free him from
the dominion of a bodily disease, and a morally wise man is too
keenly alive to the worth of his own soul not to listen to a wise
reproof.
+II. But there are men who can only be aroused to a sense of
wrong-doing by physical suffering.+ Such men, by a long course of
crime or by a constant resistance of moral influences, have sunk
almost to the level of the brute. They are like the horse and mule
which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held with bit and
bridle (Psalm xxxii. 9). Nothing can awaken their sleeping
consciences but severe and startling judgments or bodily
chastisement, and even these "stripes" may fail to bring them to a
right state of mind. Let men, then, beware, lest being often reproved
and hardening themselves against it (ch. xxix. 1), they become so
callous to the words of God and good men, or to the visitations of
Providence, as to be "past feeling" (Eph. iv. 19).
_ILLUSTRATION._
It was a maxim of Bishop Griswold--"when censured or accused, to
_correct_--not to justify my error." A certain minister, with more
zeal than discretion, once became impressed with the thought that the
bishop was a mere formalist in religion, and that it was his duty to
go and warn him of his danger. Accordingly he called upon the bishop,
very solemnly made known his errand, and forthwith entered upon his
reproof. The bishop listened in silence till his visitor had closed a
severely denunciatory exhortation, and then in substance replied as
follows:--"My dear friend, I do not wonder that they who witness the
inconsistency of my conduct, and see how poorly I adorn the doctrine
of God my Saviour, should think I have no religion. I often fear for
myself that such is the case, and feel very grateful to you for
giving me the warning." The reply was made with such evidently
unaffected humility, and with such deep sincerity, that if an audible
voice from heaven had attested the genuineness of his Christian
character it could not more effectually have silenced his kindly
intending but mis-judging censor, or more completely disabused him of
his false impressions.--_Episcopal Record._
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Fools have sometimes received correction and made a good use of it,
but they were fools no longer, for the rod and reproof gave them
wisdom; but it is a sign that folly is deeply ingrained when an
hundred rods leave men as great fools as they found them.--_Lawson._
A look from Christ brake Peter's heart and dissolved it into
tears. . . . But Jeroboam's withered hand works nothing upon his
heart.--_Trapp._
The folly of simplicity is a softness of nature; the folly of sin is
a hardness of heart; the folly of conceit is a stiffness of will, and
little doth a rod enter into any of them. For though the first be
soft, it is hard to work upon it, although it be with hard and many
strokes of the stick. The woolliness of a sheep's skin keeps back the
force of the beating rod. . . . The rock in the wilderness first
denied water to the Israelites, as, withstanding nature's force and
the first stroke of Moses, it resisted as opposing the infidelity of
sin, to the second stroke it yielded as submitting to God's power.
But it is not the power of God's rod that enters into a
fool.--_Jermin._
A needle pierces deeper into flesh than a sword into
stone.--_Bridges._
David is softened with _Thou art the man;_ but Pharaoh remains
hardened under all the plagues of Egypt.--_Henry._
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!--_Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11-13.
PHASES OF EVIL.
+I. The main characteristic of a sinner is that he is a rebel against
the moral order of the universe.+ "He seeketh only rebellion." The
planets in their courses describe their orbits in obedience to the
law of gravitation, and because they do so the order of the heavens
is preserved. God is the sun of the moral universe, and before sin
entered it all His creatures kept the path of obedience to His will,
held to their allegiance by the love and confidence which they bore
to their Lawgiver. But sin snapped the bond, and the word sinner
stands for one who has broken away from the moral law of God; every
sinner seeketh rebellion.
+II. A sinner is a restless being.+ He _seeks_ rebellion. These words
seem to depict the restless character of the ungodly man. When a soul
has lost its centre of gravity--when the will of God is not the
polestar of life--it drifts about in obedience first to one lawless
passion and then another, following in the footsteps of the great
leader of rebellion, the first sinner, who, by his own confession, is
continually going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in
it (Job i. 7).
+III. A sinner is an injurious man.+ No man can set himself in
antagonism to the law of God, which leads to the happiness of his
creatures, without bringing misery upon others, and the more
determined his rebellion the more cruel are the effects of his sin
upon them. A bear is naturally a cruel beast, but then a bear is
robbed of what her instinct leads her to guard most jealously she is
an object to be dreaded and avoided. Yet a wicked man is more to be
feared, for there are in him capabilities of mischief beyond those
possessed by the furious brute. The anger of the beast might be
diverted or appeased--even a bear robbed of her whelps would forget
her anger if a carcase were thrown in her path upon which she might
wreak her vengeance. But the wrath of an angry man is less easily
appeased. The mischief which the furious bear can do is more limited.
The superior skill of man can soon put a stop to the ravages of a
wild beast, but the angry folly of a single fool has often destroyed
many lives and broken many hearts.
+IV. A sinner is an ungrateful thing.+ Many an ungodly man would deny
this charge, but everyone who continues in a state of rebellion
against God is continually rewarding evil for good. But the sin of
the text doubtless refers to the ingratitude towards a fellow-man.
This sin cannot be charged home upon every ungodly man--there are
those who, though careless of rendering to God that which is His due,
are content with rendering to their fellow-men evil for evil, and
would not knowingly render evil for good. But while the heart is in a
state of rebellion against its rightful sovereign, every evil
tendency is continually growing stronger, and men by degrees descend
to depths of evil from which they would once have recoiled with
horror.
+V. God will, sooner or later, call His rebellious subjects to
account.+ Although men sometimes go on in open rebellion against God
for many years, not one shall finally escape. A writ has been issued
for the apprehension of each one, although the execution is in some
cases deferred. _"Every one of us shall give an account of himself to
God"_ (Rom. xiv. 12), and the messenger that summons the ungodly man
to the Divine tribunal will be "cruel" because looked at through the
medium of a guilty conscience.
+VI. The sinner brings evil upon his posterity.+ It is a truth which
is illustrated by the experience of our daily life that no man stands
alone in the world--that the sins of the fathers are, in some
measure, visited upon the children--that "whoso regardeth evil for
good," not only brings evil upon himself but upon _"his house."_
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 11. God sometimes employs terrible messengers to chastise His
own people. When David numbered his subjects, 70,000 of them were
destroyed in three days by a visible messenger of severity, under the
direction of an invisible minister of providence. If God takes such
vengeance of the rebellions of some whom He pardons, what will the
end be of them that seek only rebellion!--_Lawson._
God hath forces enough at hand to fetch in His rebels. . . . The
stones in the walls of Aphek shall sooner turn executioners than a
rebellious Aramite shall escape unrevenged.--_Trapp._
Many things there are which an evil man proposeth to his seeking:
sometimes pleasures, sometimes profit, sometimes honour, sometimes
favour, but in truth it is only rebellion against God that is sought
by him. For these things are not to be found in the ways of
wickedness, and therefore it is only his deceived imagination that
looketh for them there. But rebellion against God is found in all his
ways.--_Jermin._
There are men that are summoning a cruel messenger to be sent against
themselves. . . . They are "only the rebellious." A door of mercy!
and a ransom fixed for sin! and only one class to fail! and they
spontaneously rebels! These are the men that go in search of evil,
and this is the meaning of the wise man.--_Miller._
Verse 12. Witness Jacob's sons putting a whole city to fire and sword
for the folly of one man; Saul slaying a large company of innocent
priests; Nebuchadnezzar heating the furnace sevenfold; Herod
murdering the children in Ramah; "Saul breathing out threatenings and
slaughter against the disciples of the Lord"--was not all this the
rage of a beast, not the reason of a man? Humbling, indeed, is this
picture of man, once "created in the image of God" (Gen.
i. 27).--_Bridges._
For the "fool," what a meeting! when he has been robbed of every
earthly chance! and is dead eternally! and the _"folly,"_ that has
robbed him, is shut up with him in everlasting misery!--_Miller._
See Miller's reading of the verse in Critical Notes.
Verse 13. To render good for evil is Divine, good for good is human,
evil for evil is brutish, evil for good is devilish.--_Trapp._
The most striking illustration of this sentence, is the history of
the Jewish nation. Never was such ingratitude showed to any
benefactor, as they showed to the Son of God, and never was the
punishment of any people so dreadful, and of so long continuance.
That scattered people proclaim to every nation under heaven how
dangerous the sin of ingratitude is, especially when God our Saviour
is the object of it.--_Lawson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.
THE BEGINNING OF STRIFE.
+I. This moral pestilence is of great antiquity.+ It began with the
angels who "kept not their first estate" (Jude 6), and from that
far-distant period until now the universe has never been free from
discord--good and evil have striven against each other, and strife
has also reigned between those who are on the side of evil. There was
strife between the first two human brothers born into this world, and
since the day when Cain slew Abel because his own works were evil and
his brother's righteous, this terrible enemy of human happiness has
been slaying his victims wherever men were to be found.
+II. Strife is a thing of growth.+ There is a moment when the fire
which will presently destroy a town is only a tiny spark which the
breath of a child could extinguish,--the leak which at last sinks the
vessel and sends a hundred brave men to a watery grave was once no
larger than a pin-hole--and the breach in the dam through which a
torrent of water rushes, leaving desolation behind it, begins with an
opening through which no more than a few drops of water can force
their way. So it is with strife. It does not attain to its full
dimensions in a moment. The hatred in the heart which is the root of
strife may be at first but a passing feeling, but if it is not
overcome at its first appearance it grows in strength from day to
day. And its outward manifestation in strife may begin with but a few
angry words--an apparently trifling disagreement. But those who have
indulged in it will presently find themselves in the grip of a
giant--overmastered, and carried headlong by passion to crimes of
which they once thought it impossible they could ever be guilty.
+III. If the miserable effects of strife are to be avoided, it must
be attacked in its beginnings.+ Seeing how disastrous are the effects
of the leak in the ship, and how much desolation is caused by the
ravages of fire or the bursting forth of pent-up water through its
banks, it behoves all who are in any way responsible in these matters
to be watchful for the first indications of mischief, and to put a
stop to it before it gets beyond their power. And if a man would
avoid being a party to a quarrel, he must watch narrowly the first
risings of anger in his heart and take care that he never utters the
_first_ angry word. If the _first_ remains unspoken, a _second_ can
never pass his lips; but if in an unguarded moment the angry feeling
finds an outlet in angry speech, the speaker himself cannot tell
where and how the mischief will end. It may go from words of strife
to deeds of strife, and both will entail more misery upon their
author than upon him who is the subject of them. The self-interest of
every man ought to prompt him to check the beginnings of strife in
himself and in others; it is so great an enemy to our social
well-being that we are all as much interested in putting a stop to
its ravages as we are in arresting the progress of a pestilential
disease. But the children of God are specially called to this work.
They are bound to be imitators of their Father in this matter, and He
is "the God of peace" (Rom. xv. 33). All the plans and purposes of
God have for their aim "peace on earth" (Luke ii. 14), and His
children ought to emulate His example. And they cannot do otherwise.
They have been made partakers of the Divine nature (2 Peter i. 4),
and the nature of God is eminently peace-loving. If, therefore, a man
has been born of God he must delight in social peace and harmony--he
must recoil from strife and discord. It is _peacemakers_ that shall
be called _"the children of God"_ (Matt. v. 9), and _"He that saith
he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until
now"_ (1 John ii. 9).
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Man is a sociable-living creature, and should converse with man in
love and tranquility. Man should be a supporter of man; is he become
an overthrower? O apostasy, not only from religion, but also from
humanity! The greatest danger that befalls man comes from where it
should least come, from man himself. Lions fight not with lions;
serpents spend not their venom on serpents; but man is the main
suborner of mischief to his own kind. . . . God hath hewn us all out
of one rock, tempered all our bodies of one clay, and spirited our
souls of one breath. Therefore, saith Augustine, since we proceed all
out of one stock, let us all be of one mind. Beasts molest not their
own kind, and birds of a feather fly lovingly together. Not only the
blessed angels of heaven agree in mutual harmony, but even the very
devils of hell are not divided, lest they ruin their kingdom. We have
one greater reason of love and unity observed than all the rest. For
whereas God made not all angels of one angel, nor all beasts of the
great behemoth, nor all fishes of the huge leviathan, nor all birds
of the majestical eagle, yet He made all men of one man.--_T. Adams._
We are but several streams issuing from one primitive source; one
blood flows in all our veins; one nourishment repairs our decayed
bodies; we are co-habitants of the same earth, and fellow-citizens of
the same great commonwealth; and he that hates another detests his
own most lively picture; he that harms another injures his own
nature. . . . The heavenly angels, when they agree most highly to
bless and to wish the greatest happiness to mankind, could not better
express their sense than by saying, "Be on earth peace, and goodwill
among men."--_Barrow._
It is easier to abstain from a contest than to withdraw from
it.--_Seneca._
Both the destructive elements--fire and water--illustrate the danger
of the beginning of strife (chap. xxvi. 21). To neither element can
we say, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further!" (Job
xxxviii. 11). . . . Seldom when we have heard the first word, do we
hear the last. An inundation of evil is poured in. . . . The bank is
much more easily preserved than repaired. . . . For, as one strongly
observed, "Man knows the beginning of sin, but who bounds the issues
thereof?"--_Bridges._
Quietness is like a pleasant pond full of sweet fish sporting
themselves up and down in it, and multiplying continually to a great
increase; so in a quiet life men's affairs do prosper, and their
estate is increased to plenty and abundance, so that they bathe
themselves in the comfort of it. But let the sluice be taken up, the
fishes are quickly gone, the waters stay not until they be gone also,
and nothing but mud and mire is left; and even so let the gap of
contention be opened, all comforts flee away, and usually the estates
sink lower and lower until it be dried up to beggary and misery. Make
up, then, all breaches as soon as they appear, or rather keep all
sound by watchfulness, so that no breach may appear. And let not the
serpent get in his head, for, because the scales of his body stand
the other way, it is not easy to get it out again; because the mind
of thine adversary is made averse from thee, it is not easy to end a
strife begun.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.
INVERSION AND RESTITUTION.
+I. A present inversion of moral order.+ There is an established law,
by which things spiritual are governed as well as things material.
According to this law, punishment ought to come to the unrighteous
and the righteous should be justified; that is, they should be
declared to be righteous and treated accordingly. This law must and
will prevail in the upshot and issue of things, because the Great
Lawgiver of the universe is perfectly just and holy; but it does not
always govern the dealings of men with men. Injustice may be meted
out to a man by his fellow-man from _ignorance._ A human judge may
pass an unjust sentence upon a prisoner, or society may condemn a man
undeservedly simply because they are ignorant of all the facts of the
case. We are so little capable of weighing all the motives of our
fellow-creatures, that we may unwittingly sometimes justify the
wicked and condemn the just. But the proverb is evidently directed
against those who do it because they are themselves
_unrighteous_--against those who are prompted by motives of
self-interest or malice or by a simple hatred of good wherever it is
found.
+II. A future restitution of moral order.+ If a man has an ear for
music, all discordant tones are displeasing to him; but when the law
of harmony is entirely subverted, all his musical sensibilities are
outraged. So when a righteous man becomes cognizant of some gross
injustice his whole soul rises up in protest against it. What
therefore must be the light in which the perfectly pure and just God
regards such subversion of moral order? He can but regard it with
repugnance. But the certainty of this fact makes another fact no less
certain--viz., that there will come a period in the history of the
universe when this inversion shall cease, when moral order shall be
restored, and it shall be no longer possible for the wicked to be
justified, or for the righteous to be condemned. Thus saith the Lord,
_"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness
for light, and light for darkness. . . . Which justify the wicked for
reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him.
Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth
the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom
shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord
of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel"_ (Isa.
v. 20, 23, 24). When this sentence is completely carried out moral
order and harmony will be restored to the universe.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
This verse shows that the term justify (Hebrew, _matzeddik_) is
forensic, to _pronounce just_ one, even though not just in himself: a
keyword in the doctrinal Epistle to the Romans: the opposite of
_"condemn"_ or _pronounce impious_ (_mareshiang_).--_Fausset._
That _"both"_ should be, to the expression _"even"_ seems to point to
as wonderful. They are both very plain propositions; and yet neither
of them, in the mind of the sinner, is free from half-conscious
surprise. That God "will by no means clear the guilty" (Exod.
xxxiv. 7) and, therefore, that "without the shedding of blood is no
remission" (Heb. ix. 22), when learned, is half the Gospel. To learn
it easily, would imply that "then hath the offence of the Cross
ceased" (Gal. v. 11). God will not condemn Himself in his "righteous"
action, and He cannot _"justify the wicked"_ without a mediator; and
Solomon, without being able to clear all the difficulties, sets in
this sentence as one of the great timbers of thought, which he looks
to to defend the Gospel.--_Miller._
He spareth the wolf and so hurteth the lambs; He toucheth the members
of Christ and the very apples of the Lord's eye.--_Muffet._
But let us place ourselves before the "Judge of all" accused by
Satan, our own conscience, and the righteous law of God; convicted of
every charge; yet justified. Does God then in thus "justifying the
ungodly" (Rom. iv. 5) contravene this rule? Far from it. If He
_justifies the wicked,_ it is on account of righteousness (Ib.
iii. 25, 26). If He _condemns the just,_ it is on the imputation of
unrighteousness. Nowhere throughout the universe do the moral
perfections of the Governor of the world shine so gloriously as at
the cross of Calvary. The satisfaction of the holy law, and the
manifestation of righteous mercy, harmonise with the justification of
the condemned sinner. And this combined glory tunes the song of
everlasting praise.--_Bridges._
That condemning the just is a grievous crime, there is no doubt. But
some will be startled at the wise man's assertion, that justifying
the wicked is a crime of the like nature and malignity. But we rebel
against God by turning to the right hand, as well as by turning to
the left, from that way in which we are commanded to walk. Justifying
the wicked has an appearance of mercy in it, but there is cruelty to
millions in unreasonable acts of mercy to individuals. It was not
altogether without ground observed by a senator to the Emperor
Cocceius Nerva, when his detestation of his predecessor's cruelty
seduced him into the extreme of clemency,--That it was bad to live in
a state where every thing was forbidden, but worse to live in a state
where every thing was allowed. Historians tell us, that the provinces
of the empire suffered more oppression under the administration of
this mild prince, than in the bloody reign of Domitian.--_Lawson._