no melting; but put the coals on the top or head of the vessel, and the metal soon flows down in a stream. So your enemy's hostility to you may be softened by kindness in every way; as fire to the metal, so kindness to an enemy. The Italians, however, say, revenge of a hundred years old has still its sucking teeth-i.e., never grows old.

The sandal-tree, most sacred tree of all,
Perfumes the very axe which bids it fall.

Forgiveness, like fire, consumes the dross of passion, purifies the metal of the soul, melts and makes malleable the hardest metal of envy.

The hardest metals are melted by heaping coals of fire upon them. Such was Saul, 1 Sam. 24. 16-21, whose hard heart was melted by David's spirit of forgiveness. A forgiving spirit, or charity, covers many sins, Prov.

IO. I2.

Tamul.-The rock not moved by a lever of iron will be opened by the root of a green tree.

China. The more we approach an enemy, the more the tigers of the heart become lambs.

Turk.-Provoke the bees, they only sting.

Arab.-Punish your enemy by benefiting him.

Arab. The generous can be known by his eyes, as the horse's age by its teeth.

Russian.-Love will teach even a priest to dance.
Russian.-Sweet words break the bones.

Russian.-Bread and salt humble even a robber.

Sadi.-The sharp sword will not cut soft silk.

Sadi.-By gentleness you may lead an elephant by a hair. Tamul. The tree affords shelter to him who fells it; the earth supports him who digs it.

Welsh.-Faults are thick when love is thin.

Mahalherat.-Conquer a niggard by generosity, a liar by truth, a cruel man by patience, and a bad man by goodness.

Sanskrit. With fire, fire is kindled, 1 John 4. 19. Tamul.-A fracture in gold vanishes when exposed to fire the anger of the good in like manner passes away.

;

Contentment with Godliness, Great Gain.

.—I TIM. 6. 6.

Contrast Paul in prison, Phil. 4. II, 13, 18, with Ahab in a palace, 1 Kings 21. 4. He is poor that

wanteth more.

Chanakyea.-Contentment with little, sound sleep, vigilant watching, gratitude and fortitude, are virtues inherent in the dog, and are to be learnt from it,

Job 12. 7.

Arab. The world is a corpse and those who seek it are dogs. Afghan.-Like a mad dog, he snaps at himself.

Malay.-Will the dog be ever satisfied, however much rice you might give him.

Tamul.-Wash a dog, place him in the middle of the house; he will wag his tail, go out and eat filth. Sanskrit.-Who has reached the limit of desire? Malabar.-Though you dip in the sea, you receive only as much as your vessel will hold, Ph. 4. II.

Arab.—The ass went seeking for horns, and lost his ears. Telugu. If you are content with a girdle, no poverty will distress you, I Tim. 6. 8.

Arab.-Food supports life, contentment the soul, I Tim. 6. 8.

Persian.-Live contented, you will be a king, 1 Tim. 6. 6. China.-Tanks may be filled up, but man's heart can never

be closed.

Telugu. When a Jangam (fakir) was told his house was on fire, he said, I have my bag and my bowl with

me.

Arab. To abstain from desires is riches.

Tamul.-A contented mind is a specific for making gold. Talmud.-Who is the rich? He who has subdued his passions. Who is the wise? He who learns from all.

Who is the hero? He who subdues his passions. Badaga. He had nothing and was content. He became rich and is discontented, Eccles. 6. 9.

A Threefold Cord of Brotherly Unity.-ECCL. 4. 12. There is more pleasure in what is shared with another, and help is often necessary—if one man, as Joseph, is in a pit, he requires some one to take him out. God said

of Adam in Paradise, "It was not good for man to be alone," Gen. 2. 18. The Ramsanchis, a sect of Western India, say regarding society, "A solitary lamp, however brilliant, casteth a shadow beneath it; place another lamp in the apartment, and the darkness of both is dissipated." Soldiers' union is their strength. A father, on his death-bed, represented unity by a bundle of sticks.

Love, like fire, streams forth by natural results and unavoidable emanations; like the vine, it withers and dies if it has nothing to embrace.

The Apostles were sent forth two by two, Luke 10. 1; in the body all instruments of action are by pairs-hands, feet, eyes, ears, legs. The live coal left alone soon loses its vital heat. Iron sharpens iron, Prov. 27. 9, 17; Ex. 18. 7,9.

Bengal. With men of one mind even the sea might be

dried up.

Bengal.-Love, like a creeper, withers and dies if it has nothing to embrace.

Turk.-The vessel which trusts to a single anchor is soon

wrecked.

Badaga.-A single coal does not burn well; a companionless traveller finds the journey tedious, Ecc. 4. 9.

Russian.-With one hand I do not even tie a knot. Tamul.-Gruel served in the house of a united family is enjoyable.

Afghan. You cannot clap with one hand alone. Mahalherat.-Kinsmen resemble firebrands; separate they smoke, united they blaze.

Mahabharat.-Those well united trees which stand together in a clump, resist the fiercest winds, owing to their mutual support.

Sanskrit.-A chariot will not go on one wheel.

Sanskrit. Stay with five,* walk along with five, eat along with five, with five there is no sorrow.

Worldly Joy is the Crackling of Thorns.-ECCL. 7. 6. Thorns at first blaze under a pot as if they would give out a mighty heat, but the water in it is cold. Such is * Referring to the Pauchayat, or Indian jury of five persons.

worldly enjoyment: all noise and smoke-no heat; cold as moonbeams. Such is drunkenness a sweet poison. The wicked are compared to thorns because they are very troublesome and useless, and often cause great pain; while the crackling is quickly over and with little effect, as thorns when blazing, though they make such a noise. and fire, give little heat to the water. Similar is the Bengali proverb, a fire of rags; or the Basque, a fire of straw.

All earthly things are like the earth, founded on nothing; they are like Absalom's mule, they will most fail us when we have most need of them, 2 Sam. 18. 9; a velvet slipper cannot cure the gout.

Dried cow-dung was the fuel commonly used for firing, but this was remarkably slow in burning; a very striking contrast to thorns and furze, speedily consumed with crackling noise. On this account the Arabs would frequently threaten to burn a person with cow-dung, as a lingering death.

Worldly joys are short, like a fly buzzing about a candle. Herod the king was gorgeously arrayed, so that the people worshipped him, but he was soon after devoured by worms, Acts 12. 23. Queen Jezebel, a handsome woman, enjoyed her grandeur but a short time, and was eaten up by dogs, 2 Kings 9. 10, 35. Belshazzar in his grand banquet at Babylon, a city larger and mightier than Delhi, had his empire taken away at once, as foreshewn by a handwriting on the wall, Dan. 5. 5, 6.

Syrian.-Girl, do not exult in thy wedding dress, see how much trouble lurks behind it.

China.-Look not at the thieves eating flesh, but look at them suffering punishment

Cingalese.-Like getting on the shoulder of a man sinking in the mud.

Talmud. The world is like a wheel with buckets attached -the empty become full, the full become empty. Bengal. The actor's promotion is nothing, only lasting

two hours.

Arab. The worst day for a cock is when his feet are washed-i.e., previous to being killed, Jas. 5. 5. Persian. No honey without a sting, no rose without a thorn.

China.-Dragging for the moon reflected in the water. Badaga. For the nourishment of a day he sacrificed the food of a year.

Badaga. In trying to save a drop of ghi (butter) he upset the ghi-pot.

China.-To gain a cat but lose a cow.

Telugu.-Like going to Benares and bringing back dog's

hair.

Telugu. Like a bag of money in a looking-glass, Ps. 73. 20. China.-To fell a tree to catch a blackbird.

Talmud. The thorns make a loud noise in burning; not so

wood.

Shanti Shatak.-The stomach is satisfied with little food, even with vegetables; but the heart, although gratified with the fulfilment of more than an hundred desires, is incessant in pursuing after more, Eccl. 6. 9.

Courteousness.- -I PET. 3. 8.

Afghan. Be it but an onion, let it be given graciously. Sanskrit.-Complaisance empties the purse.

A Cruel Man troubles his own Flesh.-PROV. II. 17; 12. 10. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. So Pilate, Luke 23. 16. Joseph's brethren illustrated it in their treatment of their brother, whom they cast into a pit, Gen. 37. 24. Adonizebek had his barbarity in cutting off men's toes visited on himself, Judg. 1. 6, 7. Haman's cruelty involved his own sons, Esth. 9. 25; on the other hand, David showed his kindness by rescuing a lamb, even endangering his own life for it, I Sam. 17. 34.

Afghan. The kid's bleating is the wolf's laughter.
Urdu.-Boy's play is death to the birds.