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reality; where death is unveiled, and where even the most hardened of sinners may be struck with the silent yet eloquent scene before him-may remember that to-morrow it may be his turn to represent the same scene-and thus he may lay it to his heart, and return unto the Lord, and gain the victory over death and its horrors. Conversions at the sight of death are by no means of rare occurrence, though, alas! the ruin of souls in places of feasting and mirth is by far more numerous.

3. Sorrow is better than laughter:

For by the sadness of countenance the heart is

improved.

4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning : But the heart of fools in the house of mirth.

The serious state of mind produced by the sorrow and melancholy that accompany the scene of death, the sympathy awakened by the bereaved and mourning relations in the heart of the visitors, can never fail to do moral good to one or another of the latter. No argument is so strong, no advocate so eloquent, as the beholding of the corpse of a man well known to the spectators, and who recently lived and moved and had the choice of free action as they have it yet. Therefore it is that the heart and thought of the wise, who never forget their own nature and destiny, is in the house of mourning; that is to say, they constantly remember the destiny of man in general, and their own end in particular, and thus they seriously think about their preparation for the inevitable and important journey. Such being their chief occupation, they will seek to improve theinselves by visiting the sick and dying, by witnessing the happy state of mind of those who fall asleep in the Lord. They will even gather instruction by

seeing the agonizing death of the ungodly; in taking warning for themselves they will endeavour more ardently than ever to become wise unto salvation. Thus, while their countenances are covered with sadness at the scenes of sufferings, death, and mourning, their hearts improve more and more, and their preparations for death and eternity will be stripped of any fear or sorrow. The fools and wicked men, on the contrary, shut their eyes against the sight of death, and their ears against the melancholy voice of mourners, as if by so doing they could hide themselves from that unpitying visitor, and as if death was only visited where already there are the dead or mourners. In order to avoid the very thought of dying and death-in order to chase away the most distant idea of a visit paid to them by that very disagreeable guest, they bury themselves alive in the houses of wild mirth and mad jollity, where the brutish noises of drunkenness and blasphemy turn their heads for a while from beholding or thinking about the graves that are ready for their reception. But as death certainly finds them out at last, their end is terrible, and the horrid scenes of their death are a foretaste of hell which they courted, and of everlasting torments which they invited.

O Jehovah, our Lord, enable us to walk in the light of thy countenance, and thus when we shall have to pass through the dark valley of the shadow of death we shall fear no evil, for at thy light we shall pass through darkness into eternal bliss.

5. It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise, Than to listen to the song of fools.*

* We must understand this verse as if it were constructed in the following manner :

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6. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, Such is the laughter of a fool:

This also is vanity.

7. For distraction maketh the wise man stagger, And corrupteth the benevolent heart.*

When we are rebuked by the mouth of a wise man who is decidedly our spiritual friend, our vanity may be offended, flesh and blood may think to be injured, but our soul greatly improves by such lessons, and ultimately the benefits produced by that improvement will reflect even on our temporal happiness. The company of singing and merry fools, on the other hand, is pleasant and agreeable to our flesh, their jokes and profane songs cheer and animate our old Adam, but then our souls do suffer great injury, and the repeated sufferings of our souls reflect mightily upon our physical condition, and the health of body and soul may be ultimately ruined, when it be too late to become wiser and repair past destructions. The laughter and foolish merriment of the fools is compared by the experienced and wisest of all men to the crackling of thorns under the pot. When the thorns under the pot crackle, and seem to be merry and dancing, it is because a fire devours and consumes them from beneath and behind, and this their destruction produces that

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*Distraction (or, disorder). Some understand here the meaning of py (Oshek), which among its other significations means also "distraction," as it signifies in Prov. xxviii. 17, where it appears as a Parti. Paoul: a man distracted (in conscience) by the blood of a person," viz. by the guilt of murder. In Job xl. 23 it signifies disorder, "Behold he putteth a river into disorder," &c. In our verse it refers to distraction or disorder produced by merriment.

"A benevolent heart," this is the signification of (Lev Mattanah). So Prov. xix. 6,

benevolent man-or, a man that gives much.

TT

(Ish Mattan) a

seeming merry noise. When fools do sing and dance under the influence of drunkenness, a destructive fire burns in and under them at the same time; it consumes their spiritual welfare, and at last it proves desolation and destruction to their physical structure likewise.

But such distractions and violent merriments prove ruinous, not only to the habitual fool, but even to the wise man who begins to associate with such fools. In the beginning of such a dangerous career one is apt to call such things innocent, and to say half gravely and half smilingly, "O it is such an harmless amusement, the time passes by so agreeably-these men, these women, these actors, &c. &c. are so lively, so funny, so comical, the entertainment is so rich, that the time passes away like a moment, and one is really amused for his money." Ah poor victim hast thou so much time to spare in this short life, that thou canst employ it no better than to consume it, and to make it crackle like the thorns on the fire? Ask thy soul for a moment what she feels after such a pretended harmless, but really destructive play? Is she ready to approach the throne of her Creator, and claim the fellowship of the Holy Spirit after thou hast swallowed such a large dish of fun, mockery, vanity, and madness? If not, then be sure you have swallowed a large doze of poison, which, though perhaps slow, is certain in its operation; repeat the doze, and the Lord have mercy upon thee. There will be

a time and it cannot be far off--when thou shalt regard as venomous and destructive the very things which thou callest now innocent and harmless; but will it not be too late?

"For distraction makes the wise man stagger," it bereaves him of his sound judgment, and makes uncertain his spiritual steps, "and corrupteth the

benevolent heart," destroys his sympathy with his own spiritual welfare as with those of his fellowmen, and mar his compassion for the poor and needy ones around him. Our life is so short, our days so few, that no really good and benevolent man will waste a moment, but preciously employ it in the service of his God. And a man whose short time is too long, is his own witness that he is morally dead, and has no spiritual life in him.

8. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; Better is he who is of a patient spirit,

Than he who is of a haughty spirit.

9. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: For anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Every reasonable human action is planned, resolved upon, undertaken, and begun for a certain end and purpose. When do we see that a thing begun and proceeded well? when we see that it ended well, and answered the purpose for which it was begun. Hence it is on the end of a thing alone that the sentence of good can be pronounced, but not on the beginning of a thing. Any thing begun with a patient spirit of reflection and mature calculation, has a strong guarantee in its favour— a strong presumption that it will end well and answer its purpose. Any thing begun with a haughty and precipitate spirit, presages failure and ruin. A man given to unrestrained anger is a most unhappy being, for he cannot expect a good end of any thing; being precipitated and transported at the beginning, he acts at once without reflection; and such a man often draws misery upon himself, while had he waited for a calm moment to reflect before action, he would have avoided all. Ah, beloved patience, thou most valuable gift of heaven, thou pattern of

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