_Dead flies cause the ointment. .. to send forth a stinking savour._ DEAD FLIES Among the Jews, oil rendered fragrant by being mixed with precious drugs was used for many different purposes. With it priests and kings were anointed when they entered upon their offices, guests at the tables of the ri... [ Continue Reading ]
_A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left._ HEART AND HAND I. The wise man’s heart at his right hand means that his affections are at their proper objects. The heart is the moral power or seat of principle. “With the heart man believeth.” “A new heart also will I give... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth._ A SOCIAL SCENE IN HUMAN LIFE I. This social scene is common. 1. In the political realm. We see small-minded men occupying influential offices in the State. 2. In the ecclesiastical department. 3. In the commerci... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him._ RESPECT THE HEDGE We covet the apple on the tree and forget the snake in the grass; the consequence being, that when we essay to bite the apple, the snake bites us. Now, there are many protective hedges about us; and the trouble is, that we are... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby._ RAISING STONES AND CLEAVING WOOD The precise meaning of the maxim is not quite clear. Some think the stone is part of a cairn that marks a neighbour’s property, which a man tries to move. The tre... [ Continue Reading ]
_If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength._ THE IRON BLUNT, AND THE IRON WHETTED I. The less facilities in work, the greater is the strength required. The woodman who has to hew the old oak with a blunt axe must throw more muscular energy into the stroke... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! _ WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES (with Psalms 26:10):--Those two passages are descriptive of wickedness in high places. The morals of a nation hardly ever rise higher than the virtue of the rulers. Henry VIII. makes im... [ Continue Reading ]