8. Become sometimes mad, then great mischief arises, Phil. 3. 2.

9. Lazy; hence the proverb, "A dog's life, hunger and ease;" the prodigal son fed on husks, Luke 15. 16.

10. Shut out of doors. Without are dogs, Rev. 22. 15. Some dogs watchful, loving, and protecting; yet all dogs throw up when sick a loathesome vomit and swallow it again; so those who turn back to sin, Prov. 26. 11; applied to the Gentiles by Jews, Matt. 15. 27.

Beware of dogs, Phil. 3. 2; unfaithful ministers dumb dogs, Is. 56. 10. A false teacher, so called, I Sam. 24. 14; so the Sodomites; Pharaoh.

Chanak.-What use of science to a man without sense, or a looking-glass to a blind man ?

Telugu.-What does a bullock know of the taste of parched grain? What does an ass know of the smell of perfume?

Bengal.-Krishna's name in a crow's mouth. Feeding a dog with pulse.

Arab. The world is a carcase, and they who seek it are dogs. Telugu.-Will a dog recognize the priest; it will only snap at him, seize and tear the calf of his leg, Mat. 7.6. Telugu. If authority be given to a low-minded man, he will chase away all the honourable: can a dog that gnaws shoes taste the sweetness of the sugar-cane?

Bengal. The thief and hog have one road-i.e., impurity.

Meek as a Dove.-MATT. 10. 16.

A soft tongue breaketh the bone, Prov. 25. 15. David, suffering from the wicked, wished to have the wings of a dove, which flies very rapidly, and loves freedom like the dove imprisoned in the ark, Ps. 55. 6.

The meek resemble a dove in four points:

1. Harmless in the midst of a crooked generation, Phil. 2. 15; yet he is to be wise as a serpent, Matt. IO. 16.

2. Hates impure things, not like the crow or jackal; the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended on John at his baptism, Matt. 3. 16.

3. Shuns birds of prey; its mild eye very different from the hawks; it is mild, but sharp, enabling it to flee from danger.

4. Loves its home: if taken hundreds of miles away, it will find its way back; hence it is used to carry letters tied to its legs. The believer's home is with dove-like men in the clefts of the Rock of Ages.

Abraham, though the elder, waived his right of choice for the sake of peace, and promptly removed all occasion of strife, Gen. 13. 7-9; and God put honour upon him after his disinterestedness, Gen. 13. 16. It is called sheepishness to be meek, but it is a likeness to Him that was as a sheep before the shearers, not opening his mouth, Isa. 53. 7; it is a portion of His spirit. The meek shall inherit the earth, Matt. 5. 5.

Hebrew.-Kindle not the coals of a sinner, lest thou be burnt with the flame of his fire.

Persian. A pleasant voice brings a snake out of his hole. Turk.-One drop of honey catches more bees than a ton of vinegar.

Turk.-Tread not on a sleeping snake.

Turk.-Have in life the force of a lion, the sagacity of an elephant, and the sweetness of the lamb. China.-Rousing a sleeping tiger exposes to harm. China-Stir not the fire with a sword-i.e., provoke not by anger.

Russian.-Good greeting softens a cat.

Telugu.-The Ganges flows with a tranquil course, but a foul stream rushes with a roar. Thus the base can never be mild as the noble, Luke 21. 19.

The Wicked are Dross.-Ps. 119. 119.

The wicked are made of the earth, and return to it; they prosper in the earth; not so the righteous. Nettles grow in any soil, Ps. 37. 1, 2; not so flowers.

1. Resemble the metal, but only in appearance; so the wicked, Ps. 66. 10, have a name to live, Rev. 3. 1.

2. To be burnt and consumed in the fire; not so silver, which is only refined; wicked like a house on the sand, Matt. 7. 27; Ezek. 22. 20.

3. Mixed with pure metal only temporary; so the wheat and chaff, Matt. 13. 30; the sheep and goats are only together for a time.

4. Unprofitable; the good are gold or diamonds, though esteemed in the world the offscouring, I Cor. 4. 13.

5. God takes away the dross by judgment, Matt. 3. 12; by church censures, I Cor. 5. 5. Dross more abundant, Luke 13. 23, 24.

6. Not improved by fire as silver or gold is; Jerusalem was thus compared to a pot, Ezek. 24. 6.

Tamul.-What avail heights in the dunghill? is the town disparaged by being low?

Modern Greek.-This fig-tree is for the fire-i.e., a useless. person.

Tamul.-Of what use is the ripening of a poisonous tree in the middle of a village?

Man's Corruption like the Ethiopian's Skin.—JER. 13. 23.

Man is said, Job 15. 16, to drink in iniquity like water—i.e., allusion to the prodigious quantity of water swallowed by a camel on setting out on a journey. Though the corruption from Adam cannot be changed by nature, yet God's Spirit can do it by supernatural power thus Paul, from being a persecutor of the Christians, in three days so changed as afterwards to become a preacher of Christianity.

wolf.

Russian. The wolf changes his hair, but yet remains the However you bind a tree, it will always grow upward. Though you put oil on a dog's tail, it will never become straight.

Urdu.-If you put a crow in a cage, will it talk like a

parrot ?

Sanskrit. The nim tree will not be sweetened though you water it with milk.

Niti Sar.-Though the crow's beak be gold, and his feet diamonds, yet the crow cannot become a swan. Persian.- -A black cat will not be washed white by soap. Kurd.-Out of a dog's tail you cannot get fat.

Veman.-If you take a bear-skin and wash it ever so long, will it, instead of its native blackness, ever If you beat a wooden image,

become white ?

will it hence acquire any good quality?

Turk.-In washing a negro we lose our soap.

Urdu.-Will the gall-nut become as sweet as the cocoanut, though watered with honey?

Bengal. The nightingale lays its young in the crow's nest, but the young do not behave as crows.

Tamul. Are young fish taught to swim?

Tamul.-Though we feed a snake with milk, it will yield

poison.

Sanskrit. By slitting the ear and cutting the tail, a dog is but a dog, not a horse or ass.

The Eye of Faith.-HEB. II. 27.

The eye of faith differs from the eye of sense in two points. The eye of sense grows dim with age, I Sam. 3. 2; the eye of faith brightens; the eye of sense sees not far ; the eye of faith sees beyond the stars, like Stephen, Acts 7. 55; or Jacob, who lay at night on the desert, with a stone for his pillow, yet saw a vision of angels, Gen. 28. 12. There are eyes full of uncleanness, 2 Pet. 2. 14; the eyes of the fool are in the ends of the earth, Prov. 17. 24; the proud eye is a lofty one, Psa. 131. I. Eve was deceived by the eye, Gen. 3. 6; so Achan's eye by the garment, Jos. 7. 21; so Samson's eye by Delilah, Judg. 16. 1; so Ahab, 1 Kings 21. 2; so Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 4. 27-33. There are three eyes-the eye of sense, common to the brute; the eye of reason, peculiar

D

to man, Mark 8. 18; and the eye of faith, peculiar to the righteous, which can see beyond this world, can see the future, John 8. 56, can see minute things. Bartimeus was blind, yet he had the eye of faith, Mark 10. 46.

Telugu.-The God who destroyed the eyes gave understanding as a compensation.

Turk.-Invisible things are more numerous than visible. Modern Greek.-The eyes of the hare are one thing, those of the owl another.

Veman.-Large is the eyeball, minute the pupil; yet in the pupil alone exists the source of vision; such are the media through which we see the Deity. Afghan.-Though the eyes be large, they act through small pupils.

Bengal. The lame can leap over mountains by God's aid. 2 Cor. 12.9.

Sanskrit.-Who are destitute of sight? Those who do not perceive the future world.

Kurd. All those who know have eyes and see; all those who know not have only two holes in the forehead. Badaga.-The son of a king sees more with half an eye than the son of a fool with two.

Arab.-Dim eyes do not ensue when the mind's eyes are bright.

Veman.-Like as the fish in the waters, through desire of

the delicious bait, is fixed on the hook and perishes; so a man, if seized with desire, is also ruined,

Jas. I. 15.

Veman. A good work performed with a pure heart, though small, is not trifling. How large is the seed of the banyan and the mustard tree? Luke 21.2. Arab.-The eyes are of little use if the mind be blind. Mark 8. 18.

Solomon writes: "A soft tongue breaketh the bone," Prov. 25. 15; so Jacob found, Gen. 32. 4, that a gentle answer softens the heart. The Bengalis say, "Quiet water