expectation for the sake of such low enjoyments as caterpillars are capable of-grovelling on the earth!

The worm of the text means that kind which breeds in flesh, such as the worms that came out of the manna which was reserved contrary to God's commands, Ex. 16. 24.

1. Earth sprung, from corruption and putrefaction, so man was made of clay, Gen. 2. 7; he loves earthly things, and feeds like swine on the dunghill of vice.

2. Mean looking, so is man by sin, though once in God's image and very beautiful.

3. Frail, trod on easily so man's life is sometimes ended by a fly or a bit of bread; a worm cannot easily escape from dangers, it becomes like seed a prey to fowls, Mat. 13. 4; Herod was eaten up of worms, Acts 12.23; great men, like glowworms at night, may seem great, but in the morning they are like others.

4. Various kinds, but all are worms, so the silkworm which spins its dress out of its own bowels, the muckworm, the glowworm, the caterpillar, Joel 1. 4, the palmerworm, Am. 4. 9.

5. Abode means suitable to those who dwell in it. Job calls the grave his house, Job 17. 13; yet God says,. fear not, thou worm Jacob, Is. 41. 14; though man is now a worm yet he will hereafter nestle above the clouds.

The Tongue fires the Wheel of Nature.-JAS. 3. 6.

"This course of nature," means the wheel of nature; and refers to a wheel catching fire from its rapid motion, spreading its flames around, and so destroying the whole machine, if not carefully greased or oiled to prevent friction or hard rubbing; so will the words of the tongue inflame the mind, and burn up the whole body with the fever of pas-sion, and the whole heart with anger, if the oil of love and

humility be not applied. The tongue sets on fire the wheel of human life, and thus destroys the whole life. So Korah's party, speaking evil of dignities, were punished, Num. 16. I.

Modern Greek.-The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks

bones.

Afghan.-May you never eat that leek which will rise

up in

your own throat-i.e., eat your own words. Turk.-The tongue kills more than the sword. Turk.-Two ears to one tongue, therefore hear twice as much as you speak.

Turk.-A laden ass brays not.

China.-A word once spoken an army of chariots cannot

overtake it.

Urdu. You might hold the hand that strikes you, but you cannot hold the tongue.

Persian.-A bad word is like the sound of a dome―i.e., it echoes back.

Arab. The heart is the treasury of the tongue.

Japan. The tongue, only an ell long, is angry with the body, five feet long.

Bengal. His tongue is a sweeper's shovel.

Telugu.—If your foot slip you may recover your balance, but if your mouth slips you cannot recall your words.

Syriac. A foul-mouthed man is like a cobbler's scissors, which cuts nothing but impure leather.

Turk.-We heal the wounds of a knife but not those of the

tongue.

Turk.-The tongue has no bone yet it crushes.

Turk.-The fool has his heart on his tongue : the wise his

tongue on his heart.

Turk.-An eye without light as a tongue without reason. Bengal.-Days go, words spoken remain.

Persian.-A long tongue makes life short.

Persian.-Take care lest your tongue should cut off your head.

Kural.

The burn will heal: but festering stays
The wound a burning tongue conveys.

Badaga.-A famine may cease, but abusive words will be always remembered.

Hebrew. To slip on the pavement is better than to slip with the tongue.

Badaga.-You may close a well, but you cannot shut the mouth of another.

Turk.-Who masters his tongue saves his head.

Tamul.-A slip of the tongue is worse than that of the feet.

PART II.

The Wicked deaf as an Adder to the Charmer's

Voice.-Ps. 58. 5.

SUCH were Pharaoh; the Jews, Mat. 23. 37, Mark 8. 18.

The wicked are said to have uncircumcised ears, Acts 7. 51, heaping up teachers they have itching ears, 2 Tim. 4. 3, stopped at the cry of the poor, Pr. 21. 21.

There are four different kinds of hearers, those like a sponge that suck up good and bad together, and let both run out immediately-having ears, and hearing not; those like a sand-glass that let what enters in at one ear pass out at the other—hearing without thinking; those like a strainer, letting go the good and retaining the bad: and those like a sieve, letting go the chaff, and retaining the good grain.

Profession without practice is compared to failing fountains, shells empty of kernels, tares among wheat, Matt. 13, foolish virgins without oil, Mat. 25. 13, the mirage; lilies fair in show, foul in scent; dead fish which float down the stream, while living fish struggle against it. Bengal.-In name he is Dharmadas (a servant of righteousness), but he has no virtue.

Chanak.-Knowledge only in books (without practice),

and wealth in the hands of others, are of no use, as in the time of action they are not available.

Tamul.-The toad living near the lotus tastes not its.

honey; the illiterate living near the learned remain ignorant.

Tamul.-Reciting from the Vedas to a cow about to gore

you.

Telugu.-A bad man with your money, nó men hear you call them to eat with you food.

Arab.-As food is useless to a sick body, so is advice to one in love with the world.

Tamul.-Will the cobra be affected by kindly intercourse? China.-A word is enough for the wise; a stroke of a whip for a good horse.

Sanskrit.-Who are destitute of sight? Those who per-
Iceive not the future world. Who are the
deafest? Those who listen not to good advice.
Malabar.-By closing the eyes it has become dark.
Sanskrit.-Who has no sense of his own, what will the
Shastra do for him? What will a mirror do for

him who has lost his eyes?

Sanskrit. To address a judicious remark to a thoughtless man is merely threshing chaff.

Mahabharat. He merely learned without understanding of his own learns not the sense of books; as a spoon does not taste the flavour of broth.

The Anchor of Hope.-Heb. 6. 19.

Every man has some kind of hope.

This world, full of uneasy cares and unlimited desires, is likened to the sea, which is ever restless; treacherous in its smiles; swept by frequent tempests; full of hidden rocks and quicksands, the ruin of many a gallant ship. Some on this sea make shipwreck concerning faith, I Tim. I. 19; the Church of God has, however, to cross its wild and stormy waves before it can reach "the haven where it would be." The ark of Noah, borne up in safety above the waters of the flood, was in this respect a type of the Church of Christ.

Hope is also compared to a house built on the sand, Job 15. 2; or to a helmet, 1 Thes. 5. 8, protecting the head against spiritual enemies. The Arabs