care is what seems most essential at the present day, that sympathy may have full play. Let the indigent be sought out by humble self denying Christians; let deliberate exertion be made for their relief, in that form which is really most beneficial in each case; let us redress their grievances, provide them with better dwellings, more conveniences, and a larger supply of pure water, and above all teach them to help themselves, and to educate their own children, whilst we instruct them; let us not allow any to endanger their lives, or to impair their constitutions, or to corrupt their morals, in their service, and if their health is injured by their employment, let us secure to them and to their families an adequate indemnity; above all let us show, in word and in deed, that we regard them as brethren, and ourselves as stewards for the common good.*

§ 6.

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun

See on chap. vi. 1-4. Our all is lent to us, and may be recalled at will. The use only is ours, and that not for self exaltation, but for God, and therefore not to be concealed. Philo Quis Rer. Div. Her. § 21, 22; de Cerub. § 31, 33. God alone can truly say,—it is mine! Leg. Alleg. 1. iii. § 70.

to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (v. 43-48.)

We have already seen that Moses neither enjoins, nor permits, us to hate an enemy.* * Such an interpretation, however, might perhaps have been plausibly put upon one or two passages in the book of Deuteronomy; but it is plainly inconsistent with the force of the term neighbour, as expounded by the Lord in the parable of the good Samaritan. A prevailing feud prevented all friendly intercourse between his countrymen and the Jews, and frequently excited the bitterest feelings of rancorous hatred; but they were neighbours; and whenever the grace of God operated upon the hearts of individuals, kindly offices were freely interchanged, and love knit them together in holy fellowship.

Nationally, indeed, certain restrictions were necessary under a dispensation of races; and a people in the enjoyment of hereditary privileges could not consistently open them out to hereditary enemies. The Jews were to "dwell alone, and not be reckoned amongst the

* Trench, p. 237, contends that this is the spirit of the Old Testament, and regards it as a poor evasion to say that the exact words are not found there!

nations;" and they were, therefore, debarred from that dangerous affinity with idolaters, which would have tended, through their characteristic weakness and vacillation of purpose, to the corruption of their faith, and to the degradation of their morals. But, individually,* the door was open to every inquiring proselyte; and the beautiful story of Ruth, who belonged to a tribe the most hostile to Israel, shows that a loving welcome awaited even a Moabite.

The Psalmist, indeed, hated the enemies of God with a perfect hatred; and Nehemiah pronounced a solemn imprecation upon those who scoffed at the work, in which he was engaged, of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, and in the bitter enmity of their hearts laboured to hinder it by violence or fraud. Can, then, such facts as these be reconciled to the evangelical standard? We believe it.

It may be useful, at a time of so much cavilling and superficial comment as the present, to call more particular attention to a notable passage in the book of Proverbs. We there read, not without some feeling of astonishment, in one line, “ answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him," and then in the subsequent one, 66 answer a fool ac

* And throughout the Lord is laying down rules for individuals. A Jew might have said the Edomite is not my neighbour; but that error was not the one here in view. The law, however, is plain. Deut. xxiv. 7. "Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother." Psalm cxxxix. 21, 22. Nehem. iv. 4, 5, &c.

cording to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit."* This juxta position of two apparently inconsistent and contradictory precepts seems to be designed by special love and wisdom, to illustrate more forcibly the necessity of caution in the interpretation of Scripture, and to intimate the possibility of exhibiting in a clear light that admirable harmony and unity of design, which really pervades the whole volume of inspiration, though not recognised without attentive study, and thoughtful examination. It is apparent at a glance, that Solomon cannot intend to contradict and refute himself in this paradoxical passage; why then should we suppose that Paul and James are at variance, because their words, read superficially, seem to be contradictory? or why should we hastily determine, that this and the other portion of the divine word are in decided contrast, as belonging to different dispensations and moral codes, because the clue to their reconcilement is not immediately obvious? The precious vein of truth, though one in its origin, and uniform in its essential characteristics, as it traverses the strata of our earth, may perhaps be interrupted by an unexpected fault. But let us work on; the interruption is temporary and extrinsical, designed to stimulate that habit of research, which is its own best recompense; we shall meet with the vein at another level, at another point, where alone it can be profitably worked. Here, however, in the book of

* Prov. xxvi. 4, 5.

Proverbs, we have, as it were, two parallel veins of seemingly heterogeneous matter, inclosing a thread of silver; and if we simply pursue either the one or the other, we shall altogether miss the prize; for there are cases in which fools are to be answered according to their folly, and there are certain fools, who must never be so answered. The railer, the scoffer, the unscrupulous partisan must never be met with their own weapons; for if we attempted to do that, we should become like them. Passion must be repelled with meekness; abuse by silence; artful misrepresentations by simplicity of wisdom; and hasty supercilious ignorance by unostentatious learning. But when fools distracted the church of Corinth by lofty assumptions, and the claim of superior distinction, the apostle tells them that he also would boast himself a little, "seeing they suffered fools gladly;" and therefore speaks foolishly for a time, as one that gloried in the flesh, that in this assumed character he might the better unmask them, and show the vanity of their pretensions.*

In this way we may, perhaps, see more clearly, how inaccurate and false the most specious conclusions may be, which are merely derived from isolated passages, and how dangerous is the practice of straining parables, and of pressing a general rule to the very utmost, without reference to parallel or contrasted passages, and exceptional cases, from the combination of which

* 2 Cor. xi. 16-29; xii. 11.