TRU BNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. LONDON: PRINTED BY BALIjANTTNE, HANSON AND CO., CHANDOS STREET AND PAUL'S WORK, EDINBUROH EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS ILL USTRA TING OLD TR UTHS BY THE REV. J. LONG MEMBER OF THE BENGAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, F.R.G.S. LONDON TRUBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL 1881 \_All rights reservedl W PREFACE The materials from which this little work has been com- piled are scattered over more than looo volumes, some very rare, and to be consulted only in libraries in India, Eussia and other parts of the Continent^ or in the British Museum. The field has been so wide and the materials so immense, that the work of condensation has been almost as difficult as that of collecting ; many statements are, therefore, simply suggestive; amplification would require several volumes. The Author has spared neither time nor labour in collecting and classifying the treasures drawn from the rich and new storehouse of Eastern Emblems and Proverbs, with the view of helping those who have neither the means of collecting a large reference library nor the time to spend in the search. This work, begun a quarter of a century ago in the jungles of India for the instruction of peasants and women, is designed to afford some help to the following classes — Orientalists, Lovers of Folk-Lore, Teachers, and Preachers. The former desire to open a vista into the recesses of Eastern thought on moral and religious subjects, especially in relation to women and the masses ; the latter are anxious to fix in the school, the pulpit, or the press great spiritual truths by means of emblems and illustrations drawn from the depths of the popular mind. Those classes may. 470174 vi PREFACE. in the pithy and pointed illustrations of Proverbs, find a quarry out of which to draw some of their materials. Orientalists are at last recognizing the truth* that Proverbs are as deserving of their research as coins and inscriptions ; and that whereas the latter refer chiefly to kings and the upper classes, Proverbs throw a light on \ the dark recesses of social life, on archaisms, old customs, history, and ethnology. Even the Zenana, barred to the stranger, opens its portals to let man have a peep in and spy out the thoughts and feelings of woman, who, in the \ East, depicts her feelings and thoughts in Proverbs and racy sayings. The Proverbs selected in this book, though limited to those serving to illustrate moral and religious subjects, show how widely scattered nations under similar circum- ^ stances have come to similar conclusions ; many of these resemblances arise from the identity of human nature, or are a portion of the spiritual heritage which men brought away with them from the cradle of the human race, and improved on by subsequent communication ; by shewing ' the acute observation and sharp moral sensibility of the masses, they prove God has not left himself without witness in the human breast; they, therefore, form a f basis for those who are labouring to bridge over the gulf between Eastern and Western thought. The nineteenth century is pre-eminently distinguished .for the attention it gives to elevating the masses by knowledge conveyed to them through the acceptable medium of parable and illustration. On this one point East and "West concur — that, to tell on the minds of millions, we must make full use of illustrations* from Nature and PREFACE, vii picturing by words. Buddhist preachers and Sufy teachers alike hoist the flag of Emblems, Parables, and Proverbs. Even the Divine Founder of Christianity Himself adopted the same method ; for " without a parable spake He not to the people." The modern missionary in the East, Spurgeon, Trench, and Eyle in England, bear, in their preaching and writings, testimony equally with the Buddhist and Biblical writings to the value of the Emblem, Parable, and Proverb. The following statement of Scarborough, in his " Chinese Pro- verbs," echoes the same sentiment from far-off Kathay : — " Used as quotations, the value of proverbs in China is immense. So used in conversation, they add a piquancy and a flavour which greatly delights the Chinese, and makes mutual intercourse more easy and agreeable. But it is to the missionary that the value of an extensive acquaintance with Chinese proverbs is of the highest importance. Personal experience, as well as the repeated testimony of others, makes us bold to assert that even a limited knowledge of Chinese proverbs is to him of daily and inestimable value. A proverb will often serve to rouse the flagging attention of a congre- gation, or to arrest it at the commencement of a discourse. A proverb will often serve to produce a smile of good nature in an apparently ill-tempered audience, and so to call forth a kindly feeling which did not seem before to exist. And very often a proverb aptly quoted will serve to convey a truth in the most terse and striking manner, so obviating the necessity for detached and lengthy argument, whilst they fix at a stroke the idea you are wishing to convey." The proverbs in this book have been selected for the illustrations they contain. Proverbs are not the produc- tions of the book-worm or the midnidit oil. Proverbs viii PREFACE. were 'before looks — they come from the great books of Nature and common sense — from powers of observation, not blunted by book-cram ; hence among the Proverbs in this book, though principally Eastern,"^ there are very few that are not intelligible to the European mind; like the Proverbs of Solomon, the Psalms, Bunyan's " Pilgrim's 1 Progress," and the Arabian Mghts, they speak in a language " understanded by the common people." While illustrations by Emblem and Proverb are indispensable as media for conveying instruction in the East, they are highly valued in Europe also. The fol- lowing observations of Archbishop Trench will find a response with all those who have aimed at winning the attention of the working classes, the peasantry, and " the Arabs of Society :" — " Any one who by after investigation has sought to discover how much our rustic hearers carry away, even from sermons to which they have attentively listened, will find that it is hardly ever the course or tenor of the argument, supposing the discourse to have contained such; but if anything has been uttered, as it used so often to be by the best Puritan preachers, tersely, pointedly, epigrammatically, this will have stayed by them, while all the rest has passed away. Great preachers to the people, such as have found their way to the universal heart of their fellows, have ever been great employers ofproverls." The Author will feel greatly obliged for any corrections or additions to this work forwarded for him to the Publishers. * Many Eussian Proverbs are given, whicli were collected by the Author in Moscow; but tbe Eussians are a semi- Oriental people, and their Proverbs have an Eastern ring about them. CONTENTS. PART I. PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS CHIEFLY MORAL. PAO The Ant teaches the Sluggard i Appearances Deceitful — Avoid the appearance of Evil. . 2 Angry as a Bear robbed of her Whelps .... 3 Man a Wild Ass's Colt 4 Beauty in the Ignorant as a Jewel in a Swine's Snout — Beginning and Unable to Finish 5 The Glutton's God his Belly 6 Book Oram — Anger rests in the Fool's Bosom ... 7 Braying a Fool in a Mortar 8^ The Shameless have a Brow of Brass 9 Deceitful Brethren as a Brook — a Busybody, as one taking a Dog by the Ears 10 The Hypocrite's Words Smoother than Butter — Strife from Wrath as Butter from Milk 12 Caste — Ceremonialism 13 The Wicked are Chaff— Cheerfulness 15 The Body a Clay House crushed before the Moth . . t6 The Wicked are Clouds without Water — A Boaster like Clouds without Eain 18 The Fickle Hke the Morning Cloud and Early Dew— A For- giving Spirit as Coals of Fire on an Enemy's Head . 19 Contentment with Godliness, Great Gain — A Threefold Cord of Brotherly Unity 21 Worldly Joy is the Crackling of Thorns . . . . 22 Courteousness — A Cruel Man troubles his own Flesh . . 24 The Cursing of the Wicked Vain — Bad Company the Unfruitful Works of Darkness 25 Owe no Debt but Love — Decision ; No Serving Two Masters 27 :e contents. AGE Deeds, not Words — The Double-Minded ; Unstable as a Wave 28 Cast not Holy Things to Dogs 29 Meek as a Dove 30 The Wicked are Dross 31 Man's Corruption like the Ethiopian's Skin . ... 32 The Eye of Faith 33 The Fire of the Tongue 34 Little Sins like Dead Flies in Ointment . • • • 35 Life a Flood 3^ Life passes as a Flower 37 God-fearing the Fountain of Life— The Heart the Fountain of Action — The Wicked are Foxes 38 Friendship, like Perfume, rejoicing the Heart • • • 39 The Wicked like Goats— All Flesh is Grass .... 40 Gratitude the Memory of the Heart 41 Idleness makes the House drop through .... 42 The Inner and the Outer Man 43 The Lamp of the Wicked put out — Man Fades as a Leaf . 44 Lip Love as Sounding Brass — Use the Means ... 45 Gravel of Deceit fills the Mouth 46 The Safe Guide 47 The Hoary Head of the Eighteous a Crown of Glory — The Body a House 48 Hearing, not Doing, as a House on the Sands . . . 49 Moderation, i.e., Avoiding Extremes 50 The Mote in a Brother's Eye, a Beam in your Own — Stiff- necked 51 Woman's Ornament the Hidden Man of the Heart . . 52 Patient as the Husbandman ....... 53 Cast not Pearls before Swine 54 Perfection — Sin as a Poisonous Serpent • • • • 55 Man as Clay ; God as the Potter 56 Prudence . 57 Punctuality, or Work while it is Day 58 God's Influence as Rain on the Mown Grass • • • 59 Redeeming the Time — Sparing the Rod, hating the Son . 61 The Root of all Evil is the Love of Money 62 Rottenness of the Bones is Envy 64 Hypocrites' Hope a Rush in the Mire — Hypocrites are Whited Sepulchres 66 The Righteous the Salt of the Earth 67 Our Days on Earth a Shadow — God a Shepherd ... 68 Sowing to the Flesh Reaping Corruption .... 70 CONTENTS. xi PAGE The Hypocrites' Hope a Spider's Web 71 The Lord the Stay of the Eighteous 72 The Nick of Time Taught by the Stork— The Sting of Death is Sin 73 The Sinner's Heart Stony 74 The Swallow knows her Time, not so the Ignorant . . 75 Slander is a Mall, a Sword, and a Sharp Arrow — False Sympathy 76 Temperance or Self- Control 77 Temptation . ^ ........ 78 Avoid Temptation 79 The Body a Tent 80 Life a Vapour 82 The Wages of Sin is Death — Providence a Wall of Fire to protect the Good ^'^ No Discharge in Death's Warfare 84 The Beginning of Strife the letting out of Water ... 85 The Dead as Water spilled upon the Ground . . . 86 The Wicked pass away as a Whirlwind . . . . 87 The Worm of Conscience 88 Man a Worm 89 The Tongue Fires the Wheel of Nature .... 90 PAKT II. PKOVEEBS AND EMBLEMS MOEAL AND EELIGIOUS. The Wicked deaf as an Adder to the Charmer's Voice . . 93 The Anchor of Hope 94 The Arrows of God's punishment — The Axe of punishment at the Boot of the Tree .96 Sinners are Blind 98 The Book of Life 99 Who are Brands plucked from the Burning — Doing Good is Bread cast on the Waters .100 God a Builder loi The Burden of Sin — Trusting in Eiches compared to a Camel passed through a Needle's Eye 102 The Wicked are Captives 103 Choked with Care — Chastity 104 xu CONTENTS. PAGE God chastises Ms Spiritual Sons 105 Humble as little Children 107 Death of Righteous as a Shock of Corn . . . .109 Charity covers a Multitude of Sins— Let the Dead bury their Dead iii The Congregation of the Dead and the Fool — Drunkenness. 113 Riches have Wings like an Eagle 114 Education, or Bending the Twig — The Righteous are Epistles not written with Ink 115 Providence guards the Righteous as the Apple of the Eye . 116 God our Father 117 Faith without Fruits is Dead .119 The Earth waxes old as a Garment 121 The Strait Gate and Narrow Way to Eternal Life— The Girdle of Truth 122 Seeing through a Dark Glass 124 Hearers not Doers gazers in a Looking-glass . . .125 The wild Goat on the Mountains protected, so the Righteous 127 The Tongue a Helm — Providence as a Hen sheltering her Chickens 128 Honesty — Hospitality — Who are God's Jewels . . .129 God a Judge 131 Knowledge 132 Sin, a Leprosy . . 133 God's People graven on the Palms of his Hands . . -135 Light — The Righteous Bold as a Lion 136 Time like a Mail-post, Swift Ships, Eagles . . . .138 An Oppressor like a Crouching Lion 139 A Living Dog better than a dead Lion — Man and Wife one Flesh 140 The Miser — False Peace like Untempered Mortar . . 141 Mountains 142 The Spiritual Net — The Night of Life and Day of Eternity. 143 The Sensualist's Old Age 144 Oppressing the Poor a Sweeping Rain 147 The Righteous as the Palm Tree 148 Perseverance as the Husbandman — Polygamy . . .150 Prevention better than Cure — Pride . . . . .151 Punctuality and Watching opportunity — The Heavenly Race 152 God will not Break the bruised Reed 154 God a Refuge and Shield 155 Rend the Heart not the Garment .156 Resignation — God's Grace a River ..... 157 CONTENTS. xiii PAGE "The Sacrifices of the Body and of Praise . . . 159 The Troubled Sea of Evil Passions 160 Conscience seared as with a Hot Iron . . . . .164 The Seed of God's Word 165 Self-conceit — Selfishness 168 The Righteous as Sheep 169 The Shipwrecked Soul — Silence 170 Death a Sleep to the Righteous — Conscience Asleep . . 171 The Smoke of God's Anger 172 The Righteous a Soldier 173 The Righteous shall Shine as the Stars . . . .174 The Rich are only Stewards 175 The Stronghold, Faith in God 176 The Death of the Righteous an unsetting Sun . . .177 Earthen Vessels hold the Soul's Treasures .... 178 Christ the Lily among the Thorns 179 Treasures laid up in Heaven — Death's Shadowy Yalley . 180 The Spiritual Warfare 182 The Righteous are Watchmen 184 The Waterer Watered, or Fatness for the Liberal . . 186 The Wedding Garment, or Meetness for Heaven — The Wilderness World . .187 The Wicked are Wolves and Locusts — The Words of the Wise Goads and Nails 190 PART III. PEOVERBS AND EMBLEMS RELIGIOUS. Who is the Altar for Believers ? — Who has the Everlasting Arms? 192 What Bags wax not Old 193 How Born again ? — Who is the Bread of Heaven ? . ,194 Who are Buried with Christ ? — Satan in everlasting Chains of Darkness 195 The City in Heaven — Content 196 Christ drank a Bitter Cup . . . . • . . . 197 Hell is the Blackness of Darkness — Death-bed Repentance, or making Swords when the War comes , , .198 xiv CONTENTS. PAGE Sin as a Debt Blotted out — The Dew of God's Providence . 199 The Spiritual Life mounting on Eagle's Wings . . . 202 The Earnest of the Spirit 203, The Angelic Encampment — Example 204 The Great Family of Believers — Satan the Father of Lies . 205 Keep the Feet in God's House 206 God's Name on the Believer's Forehead — Christ the sure Foundation 208 God the Fountain of Living Waters 210 The Fowler of Souls 211 Christ the first Fruits of them that Slept — Affiction's Furnace 213 The Church a Garden enclosed 215 Faith more Precious than Gold 217 The Eighteous groan in their Bodily Tabernacle — The right Hand of God dashes in Pieces his Enemies . . . 21S The Soul thirsts for God lilce a Hart 22a The Heavenly Home 221 The Righteous are God's Husbandry 222 The Incense of Prayer 224 Begotten to an Unfading Inheritance 225 Christ has the Keys of Death and Hell .... 226 The Eighteous are Kings 227 Christ's Kingdom Immovable 228 Who knocks at the Door of the Heart ? — Christ the Lamb of God 229 The Spiritual Legacy 23a Who comes as the Lightning ? 231 Christ the Lily of the Valley 232 Looking to Jesus 233 Meekness — Church Membership 234 Who are Spiritual Merchants ? 236 The Church compared to the Moon 237 The Holy Spirit's Influence like Oil 238 Who is the Great Physician ? 239. Who are Pilgrims on Earth ? 241 Providence Eescues from a Horrible Pit — Atonement a Propitiation through Faith in Christ .... 243 Death Eest to the Eighteous 244 Sparing the Eod hating his Son ...... 246 Who shall see God ?— Sins like Scarlet made White as Snow 247 Who are the Sealed Ones ? 248 The Woman's Seed bruises the Serpent's Head — Self- respect — Who are Servants of Christ ? . . . . 249 CONTENTS. XV PAGE The Shield of Faith . 250 Aflaiction refines as the Fire does Silver . . . .251 What are the Dead sown for ? 252 Who is the Morning Star ? 253 The Storm of God's Wrath 255 Who are Strangers on Earth ? 256 The Sun of Eighteousness with Healing on his Wings . 258 The Sword of the Spirit 26a Heavenly Treasures in Earthen Vessels . . . .261 Man revives not as a Tree — ^Who walks with God ? . . 262 The Holy Spirit like Water 263 The Way to Heaven 264 Christ a Well of Water— The Holy Spirit's Influence like the Wind 266 Christ's Yoke easy and his Burthen light .... 267 QrESTIONS ON AND HeADS OF THE EMBLEMS , . .268 Scripture Similes Illustrative oe Texts . . . .271 Illustrations in the Bible of Oriental Customs . . 274 Index ... 276 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS. PART I. The Ant teaches the Sluggard.— Peov. 6. 6-8. Animals teacli us — tlms the ass knowing his owner while man knows not God, Is. i . 3 ; the crow having no barns, yet God provides for it ; the swallow knowing his time to emigrate, but man forgets his time for departm^e from the world, Jer. 8.7; and the ant here teaches. Chanahyea states, the lessons which the dog teaches us are — " of con- tentment with little — vigilant watching, gratitude and forti- tude, the power of patience, indifference to cold and heat. Tlie crow teaches providence for the future and agility ; the cock — early rising, sharing food, and protecting w^omen." With respect to Ants, their uniform care and promp- titude in improving every moment as it passes, the admirable order in which they proceed to the scene of action, the perfect harmony which reigns in their bands, the eagerness which they discover in running to the assistance of the weak and the fatigued, the readiness with which those that have no burden yield the way to their fellows that bend under their load, or when the grain happens to be too heavy, cut it in two, and take the half upon their own shoulders, furnish a striking example of industry, benevolence, and concord. The sldll and vigour which they display in digging underground, in building their houses, in constructing their cells, and their 2 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS prudence and foresight in making use of the proper seasons to collect a supply of provision sufficient for their purpose, are admirable. Hebrew. — As rust comes on iron, so do weeds on a field unused. Persian. — Water long stagnant becomes putrid. Arab. — A well is not to be filled with dew. Telugu. — Lame in the village, an antelope in the jungle. " If you talk of work my body becomes heavy ; If you talk of dinner my body swells with, delight." Italian. — An idle brain is the devil's workshop. Badaga. — The sluggard, like the peacock, is afraid of rain. Tamul. — The horse opens the mouth when one says oats, shuts it when one says bridle. Appearances Deceitful. — Gen. 13. 10-13. JBengal. — How long does a dam of sand last ? Tamul. — A face like the moon, a mind of deadly poison. Oriental. — Trust not to appearances — the drum which makes much noise is filled with wind. Turh. — Be the pig white or black it is still a pig. JRussian. — The cow has a long tongue, but she is not allowed to speak. Tamul. — While squatting a cat, when springing a tiger. Turh. — The vessel leans, but her course is straight. China. — You may draw a tiger's skin, not his bones. You may know a man's face, but not his mind. Avoid the appearance of Evil.— i Thess. 5. 22. Jajpan. — In a field of melons do not pull off your shoes. Under a palm-tree do not adjust your cap. Bengal. — Even a holy cow, if found in company with a stolen one, may be impounded. Basque. — Cover yourself not with the skin of a wolf, if you would not be considered a wolf. Telugu. — One associating himself with the vile will be ruined ; it is like drinking milk under a palm- tree, i.e., where, however innocent, it would be suspected he was drinking toddy. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 3 The Angry Fool as a Bear robbed of her Whelps. Peov. 17. 12. The female bear is eminent for intense affection to her young, and dreadfully furious when deprived of them. Disregarding every consideration of danger to herself, she attacks, with intense ferocity, every animal that comes in her way, and, in the bitterness of her heart, will attack even a band of armed men. The Eussians of Kamt- schatka never venture to fire on a young bear when the mother is near ; for, if the cub drop, she becomes enraged to a degree little short of madness, and, if she get sight •^of the enemy, will only quit her revenge with her hfe. A she-bear destroyed the forty-two children who mocked the prophet, 2 Kings 2. 24. God's fury with the idolatrous Jews is compared to a bear bereaved, Hos. 13.8. David had to defend himself against a bear, I Sam. 17. 34-36. Saul, I Sam. 20. 30, and Herod, Mat. 2. 16, are striking examples of a fool in his wrath. Jacob's sons, like a bear, for one man's faults destroyed a whole city. Gen. 24. Said similarly destroyed the innocent priests, i Sam. 22. 11 — 19; so Nebuchadnezzar when he heated the furnace seven times, Dan. 3. 13-19. Bengal. — Scratching the itch only produces a wound. Telegu. — Pouring ghi on fire. Giijerat. — Anger and water descend. Tamul. — The irascible is like a man on horseback without a bridle. Bengal. — A fire in the thatch is quickly kindled, so anger. Badaga. — If a jackal howls, will my old buiFalo die ? If an angry man curses me, what shall I lose ? Tamul. — Like the man who would not wash his feet in the tank because he was angry with it. Modern GreeJc. — The rancour of a camel is unforgiving. Turk. — The torrent (anger) passes, the sand remains. B 2 4 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Man a "Wild Ass's Colt.— Job ii. 12. The wild asses commonly inhabit the deserts of Great Tartary, they migrate to feed in summer to the north and east of the Aral Sea, in winter they retreat towards India, they go also to Persia. Like wild horses, they are very shy ; they will suffer the approach of man for an instant, and will then dart off with the utmost rapidity, fleet as the wind. The vast salt desert is their home,, they scorn the multitude of the city ; the wild ass smiffetli up tlie wind at her pleasure, Jer. 2. 24. The European ass is an emblem of obstinacy and immobility, not so the wild one. The Tartar asses exceed horses in speed, and are never caught alive. Job 39. 5—8. Ishmael is called a wild man like an ass. Gen. 16. 12. Epliraim is compared to a wild ass, Hos. 8. 9, as he traversed the desert as earnestly in pursuit of idols as the wild untamed ass did in search of his mate, Jer. 14. 6. The asses snuff up the wind like dragons, i.e., seek the air for want of water to cool their internal heat. Job 24. 5. Bohhers are called wild asses, so the Bedouins ; the desolate city, a joy of wild asses. Is. 32. 14. Nehuchadnezzar lived among wild asses, Dan. 5.21. The natural tenacity of sin is also compared to the Ethiopian's skin, Jer. 13. 23. Turlc. — In washing a negro we lose our soap. Tamid. — Though he wash three times a day, will the crow become a white crane ? Kurd. — Out of a dog's tail you cannot get fat. Veman. — No man's disposition will alter, neither can a dog'& tail be made straight ; the stubborn woman will even put her husband in a basket and sell him. Veman. — If you take a bear-skin and wash it ever so long, will it, instead of its native blackness, ever become^ white ? If you beat a wooden image, will it hence acquire any good quality ? Badaga. — Even if you give milk to a young snake, will it leave off its habit of creeping under the hedge ? ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 5 Syriac. — If ye would be king (master of yourself) become a wild ass, i.e., retire to solitude in tbe desert. Beauty in the Ignorant as a Jewel in a Swine's Snout.— Peov. II. 22. A body may be beautiful, but the soul loathsome — such were Absalom and Jezebel. ChanaJcyea. — A handsome youth of high family, but without learning, is like the palas (Butea frondosd) tree, fair to see, but without scent. Hindu Dramatist. — Men are foolish in cherishing the gay blossoms of tbe palas^ whilst they neglect the fruit- bearing amon, because its flowers are insignificant. Drislitanta Shatak. — A bad person, though decorated, remains the same as cowdung, which, though it be fertilizing, does not become pleasing. Bengal. — Outside smooth and painted, inside only straw — like Hindu idols stuffed with straw. Russian. — A head without a mind is a mere statue. Urdu. — The fruit of the colocynth is good to look at, not taste. Tamul. — An ignorant man is despised even by women. Afghan. — My friend is black, but so is molasses black, i.e.y which is the best medicine for the wounded. Persian. — The diamond fallen into the dunghill is not the less precious ; the dust raised by high winds to heaven is not the less vile. Malay. — Like a broom bound with a silk thread. Aral. — Thorny trees produce gum. TurJc. — Man's perfection is interior ; a beast's, exterior. Banslcrit. — The beauty of the cuckoo is the voice ; of women, chastity ; of the deformed, learning ; and of ascetics, patience. Helrew. — The bee is little among such as fly; her fruit is the chief of sweet things. Beginning and Unable to Finish; not Counting the Cost. — Luke 14. 28. Bengal. — The bird cannot fly, it flaps its wings in vain. Banjdbi. — A rat, too big for his hole, ties a blanket to his back. Banjabi. — A rat, having found a bit of turmeric, set up as a druggist. EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Sanskrit. — In the fighting of she-goats, in the gathering of clouds at the dawn, in the squabble of husband and wife, the beginning is great and the doings small. Bengal. — Digging for a worm, up rose a snake, j.e.,said when quarrels arise from jesting. Telugu. — Make the hedge when you have sowed the seed. The Glutton's God his Belly.— Phil. 3 19. The Bengalis call a glutton one all belly. The Egyp- tians, on embalming a body, threw the belly into the river, as the cause of all sin. Meat itself is not sinful, hut the inordinate desire of it, longing after delicacies, eating at unseasonable times, Ecc. 10. 16, 17, eating too much, Luke 21. 34, injuring the understanding, Prov. 23. 2 1 . Solomon says put a knife to thy throat if thou be given to appetite, Prov. 23. 2. Isaac's appetite was a snare to him, Gen. 25. 28, 27. 4 : so Esau's, Gen. 25. 30; Eli's sons, I Sam. 2. 12; Belshazzar, Dan. 5. i ; not so Daniel's, Dan. i . 8-16. Veman. — Why suffer anxiety for the belly ? As to having a belly, the frog that lives in a rock is thy equal. Tamul. — The epicure digs his grave with his teeth. China. — His eyes are bigger than his stomach.^ ^Russian. — A full stomach is deaf to instruction. Fool come to thrash — my stomach is aching. Fool come to take wine — stop, let me take my caftan (coat) from the nail — i.e., he is great at drinking, slow at work. Talmud. — The lion roars,not in a crib full of straw,but in one full of flesh ; i.e.^ fulness of bread leading to pride. Arab. — The belly of a man is his enemy. Afghans express their belief that the evils of gluttony arise more from the man than the food, by the following: "Though the food was another's, the mouth is your own ;" i.e., you eat too much, and you throw the blame on the food. Telugu. — He slipped, fell, and then said the ground was^ unlucky. * We have the same in EngHsh— which was tlie first used ? ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 7 Talmud. — Eight things are difficult to enjoy in abundance, but in moderation are good : Labour, sleep, riches, journeyings, love, warm water, bleeding, and wine. Afghan. — The full stomach speaks Persian, i.e., makes one proud. Persian as spoken only by the learned adds to their pride. Book Cram. — 2 Tim. 3. 7. MriclihaTcate. — Nature is woman's teacher, and she learns more sense than man, the pedant, gleans from books. Talmud. — He is a box of books, i.e., learning without judgment, or use of it. Tamul. — He who is very learned is a learned fool. Persian. — One pound of learning requires ten of common sense to acquire it. Sanslcrit. — Is the man possessed of books a pandit ? Sanskrit. — Women are instructed by Nature, the learning of men is taught by books. Telihgu. — Though he have read all that can be read, and be an acute disputant, never shall the hypocrite attain to final happiness. His meditations are like those of a dog on the dunghill. Sanskrit. — Learning in the book is not learning, and money in the hand of another is not money, in a time of need. Anger rests in the Fool's Bosom.— Ecc. 7. 9. The bosom is the seat of love, so Christ carries the lambs of the Church in his bosom, Is. 40. 11. The beggar rested in Abraham's bosom, Luke 16. 22. Christ took on him our natural infirmities ; he wept, and was angry, on the Sabbath question, Mark 3. 5, in driving away the money-changers, John 2. 13, 17, which shows there might be gall in a dove, passion without sin, fire without smoke, and motion without disturbance, for it is not bare agitation, but the sediment at the bottom which troubles and defiles the water, and when we see it windy and dusty, the wind does not make, but only 8 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS raises, a dust ; true anger, like the sword of justice, is keen but innocent, Eph. 4. 26 ; it sparkles like the coal on the altar with the fervour of pity. Anger passes through a wise man's heart, but does not rest in it, as it did with Cain, Gen. 4. 5—8, with Jacob's sons, Gen. 34. 7 ; and with Herod, Mat. 2. 16. A gust of anger puts holy- feelings to flight, as with David, i Sam. 25, Elijah, I Kings 19. 4, Job, 3. i, Jonah, 4. 4, Paul. Telugu. — Getting angry with a rat and setting a house on fire. Bengal. — Cutting off one's nose to hinder another's journey. Bengal. — His anger exploded like gunpowder. Bengal. — Should an angry man retire even to the forest there is no peace for him. Malay. — Anger has no eyes. Modern Greek. — Anger is the last that grows old. Arah. — Three things are only known in the following way — a hero in war, a friend in necessity, and a wise man in anger. Arab. — Anger is the fire of the heart. Prov. 25. 28. Telugu. — A man ignorant of his own powers and those of his opponent, blustering in wrath, is like a bear performing the torch-dance, i.e., in which of course he will be burnt. Arab. — Cure your anger by silence. Sanskrit. — A good man's anger lasts an instant, a meddling man's for two hours, a base man's a day and night, a great sinner's until death. Braying a Pool in a Mortar.— Pko v. 27. 22. Veman compares the trying to produce good qualities in a crooked heart to pouring milk and sugar over bramble- berries, and boiling them, which will give no flavour. In Turkey great criminals were beaten to pieces in huge mortars of iron in which they usually pounded their rice. The Jews were in Babylon under captivity, yet were their proud hearts not humbled ; God sent them messengers, but they ill-treated them ; the Chaldeans came. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 9 yet they bound the Prophet Ezekiel, Ezek. 2.3. The plough breaks the earth in many places, but does not better it if nothing is put in ; if nothing be sown, thorns and thistles will come up : so afEictions may break our estate, yet if God do not sanctify these afflictions they yield only the harvest of tares. Mere affliction changes not the disposition, as the fire softens not a stone ; pour vinegar from vessel to vessel it never becomes wine, Is. i. 5. Sanskrit. — Whoever treats kindly a bad man, ploughs the sky, paints a picture on water, and bathes the wind with water. Tit. 3. 10. Telugu.—'No man's disposition will alter, say what we may ; neither can a dog's tail be made straight ; the stubborn woman will put her husband in a basket and sell him. Sanskrit. — It is possible to stop an elephant with a kick ; for everything there is a remedy ; but no cure for the headstrong. The Shameless have a Brow of Brass.— Is. 48. 4. Brass is a strong metal, hence the brazen serpent in the wilderness was made of it, Num. 21. 9 ; so were the gates ■of Babylon. The sinners' obstinacy is compared to a brow of brass ; while the righteous, on the other hand, set their faces like a flint against sin : of the former were Pharaoh, Ex. 5. I ; Saul, i Sam. 15. 9-23; Jeroboam, i Kings 12. 28-33 — of the latter, Jacob, Gen. 32. 24-28 ; David, I Sam. 17. 45 ; Stephen, Acts 7. 57. Sinners are also said to have a hard or stony heart, a seared conscience, to be past feeling; they are likened to the deaf adder which will not hear the voice of the serpent-charmer. Such were Samuel's sons, i Sam. 2. 25, 6. II ; Jerusalem, Ez. 9. 9, 10. Mnnish. — The pig does not blush for its face. Shdnti Shatak. — Dogs delight to devour human bones, which are so disgusting, filled as they are with worms and moisture, and they eagerly lick the putrid lo EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS juice as if it was palatable. Thus do mean people appear shameless when perpetrating vile actions, 2 Pet. 2. 22. Deceitful Brethren as a Brook. — Job 6. 15. Job lived in the barren dry desert of Arabia, where no river is, and water is scarce ; there are torrents in winter, swelling from the melting of the snow on the hills, as the Ganges does, very noisy, but in summer dried up or absorbed in the sand. The Arabs call a false friend a mirage, or a torrent, swelling, noisy in prosperity, but soon absorbed in the sand. Valleys in Arabia, that have a quarter of a mile wide of water in winter, are yet quite dry in summer. Tyre trusted in its walls and port, and is now become only a place for fishermen to dry their nets on. The rich fool trusted in his wealth, Luke 12. 19, and it left him. Solomon states : " Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint," Prov. 25. 19. That affection which is knit in God alone is indissoluble. The Jews trusted the Egyp- tians, who proved like a broken reed (Is. 36. 6), which not only fails the band that leans upon it, but pierces and wounds it. Bengal. — A loose tooth and feeble friend are equally bad. Bengal. — A dam of sand and the love of the vicious have the same fate. CJianaJc. — A wicked person, though sweet speaking, is not to be trusted ; honey is on his tongue, but in his heart poison. Busybody, as One taking a Dog by the Ears.— Peoy. 26. 17. Prom an idle whim or a foolhardy venture, a man thinks to show his prowess, fancying that he is able to master the dog which others scarcely dare come near. When he has taken it by the ears, he finds bis folly, for, , ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. w if he continues to hold it, his time is lost, and if he lets it go, it will fly at him before he can get beyond its reach. He has exposed himself both to pain and ridicule by a foolish attempt to get credit for courage and dexterity. Of the eleven Apostles, as Peter spoke most, he erred most, Mat. i6. 22, 26. 74. Paul condemns tattling women,, I Tim. 5. 13. Telugu. — Like a snake in a monkey's paw, i.e., Jacko finds it difficult to hold it, and dangerous to let it go. Bengal. — Oil your own wheel first. English. — He that intermeddles with all things may go shoe the goslings. Fersian, — A babbler, a dog without a taih Bengal, — I bind him and he shrieks out, I loose him and he wants to fight with me. Tu7'Jc. — One rushing between two camels is kicked by both. To live in peace one must be blind, deaf, and mute. Persian. — Whoever pats scorpions with the hand of com- passion receives punishment. Japan. — If dogs (busybodies) go about they must expect the stick. China. — It is not as safe opening the mouth as keeping it shut. Tamul. — Why should a man meddle with a hatchet lying on the road and hurt his foot ? Aral. — God grant us not any neighbour with two eyes. China. — Let every man sweep the snow before his own doors, not busy himself with the frost on his neighbour's tiles. Kurd. — When your house is of glass do not throw stones at your neighbour's house. Cingalese. — The man without clothes busying himself in making jackets for dogs. Telugu. — The tale-bearer is the associate of the villain; a stripling is a fit minister for an inflexible king ; . and the monkey is the only companion for the baboon. Hebrew. — Give the water no passage ; neither a wicked woman liberty to gad abroad. 12 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The Hypocrite's Words smoother than Butter.— Ps. 55. 21. These words were applied by David to his son Absa- lom, who drove him from Jerusalem, 2 Sam. 15, which made the father wish for the wings of a clove to fly away and be .at rest, as the dove, sent forth from the ark, found no rest for the sole of her foot. Such a hypocrite was Judas, who betrayed Christ by kissing him. Bengal, — A hypocrite a ?waH«Za fruit, beautiful outside, bitter within ; a tiger in a tulsi grove ; outside smooth and painted, inside only straw, i.e.^ like the Hindu idols stuffed with straw inside. The crow and the cuckoo have the same colour, but a very different voice. Baghuvansa. — They concealed their anger under signs of joy, as a lake with tranquil surface hides an alligator. Bengal. — The attachment of the insincere a razor's edge. Afghan. — Under his arms a Koran, he casts his eyes on a bullock. Malay. — He sits like a tiger withdrawing his claws. Telugu. — A bear's hug. Telugu. — At home a spider (demure), abroad a tiger. Bussian. — He kicks with his hind feet, licks with his ^ tongue. Malay. — To plant sugar-cane on the lips, i.e., a pleasing manner, a false heart. Modern Greek. — The mien of a bishop with the heart of a miller. Sanskrit. — A face shaped like the petals of the lotus ; a voice as cool (pleasing) as sandal ; a heart like a pair of scissors and excessive humility — these are the signs of a rogue. Strife from Wrath as Butter from Milk.- In Arabia and Palestine butter is made from milk, put into a goat's skin, turned inside out, pressed to and fro in -one uniform direction, till the unctuous parts are separated, Job 29. 6. An angry man is compared to a city whose walls are broken down : such \vere Samson, Judg. 1 6 ; ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 13 Saul, I Sam. 20. 30-33 ; the mob at Epliesus, Acts, 16. 28-34 ; Christ was different. Mat. 27. 14. The fool's wrath is heavier than a stone, Pro v. 27. 3. SJidnti ShataJc. — The soul excited by anger is like furious elephants breaking the cords with which they are bound. Turlc. — Anger is suppressed by sweetness, as a great wind by a little rain. Malabar, — Anger is as a stone cast into a wasp's nest. Cingalese. — Provocation is a stone cast at a cobra. Japan. — The cracked will break, i.e., people at variance waiting for an opportunity to split. Arab. — The highest government is governing anger. Talmud. — Passions are like iron thrown into the furnace, as long as it is in the fire you can make no vessel out of it. Malay. — Smouldering like burning chaff, i.e., nourishing resentment. Modern Oreelc, — The rancour of a camel is unforgiving. Caste. Honour all Men. — i Pet. 2. 17. Telugu. — The elephant is an elephant whether on high ground or low. Canara. — Does a light in the house of a low caste man not burn ? Turh. — White or black, a dog remains a dog. Veman. — Why should we constantly revile the Pariah ? Are not his flesh and blood the same as our own ? And of what caste is He who pervades the Pariah as well as all other men ? Acts ly, 26. JPersian. — Contemn no one. Kegard him who is above thee as thy father ; him who is thine equal as thy brother ; and him who is below thee as thy son. Bengal. — Why not a squirrel instead of a cat, if it catch mice? Ceremonialism. — Mat. 15. 20. China. — He sought his own ass, though he was sitting on it. .Prahodig Chandrodag. — If funeral oblations nourish the ,14 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS deceased, why is not the flame of an extinguished taper renovated by pouring on oil ? i Kings i8. 26. Veman. — Those who mortify their bodies, calling themselves saints, are yet unable to cure the impurity of their hearts. If you merely destroy the outside of a white-ant hill, will the serpent that dwells therein perish ? Veman, — A thief if he goes to a holy place will only pick the pockets of the comers ; he has no leisure to draw near and bow to the God. If a dog enters a house will he tend the hearth ? 2 Pet. 2. 22. Veman. — Heligion that consists in contriving various pos- tures and twisting the limbs, is just one straw inferior to the exercises of the wrestler. Is. 58. 5. Telugu. — Though a man may remove the distance of fifty miles his sin is still with him. Gen. 42. 21. Veman. — Will the application of white ashes do away the smell of a wine-pot ? Will a cord cast over your neck make you twice born ? Canara, — Is a serpent killed by beating its hole ? Is sal- vation obtained by castigating the body ? Is. 58.6. Cingalese. — Charcoal cannot be made white even though you wash it witli milk. Cingalese. — Tour hands and your feet are the same even though you go to Tutocorin. Telugu, — Those who roam to other lands in pilgrimage to find the God that dwells within them, are like a shepherd who searches in his flock for the sheep he has under his arm. John 4. 20-24. Telugu, — Even a goat can attain to such " corporeal per- fection" as consists in living on leaves : how apt men are to fall into foolish whims ! Tamul, — Will a crow become a swan by bathing in the Ganges ? Urdu. — Filth is got rid of by washing, but not bad habits. Tamul, — Thougb one carries a thousand shells to Benares his sin sticks to him. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 15 The Wicked are Chaff.— Mat. 3. 12. Chaff is liglit and easily carried away by the wind ; such are sinners, light in their behaviour, and easily carried away by the wind of temptation and persecution. It is of little valioe, and therefore given over to the fire, Mat. 3. 12. A pound of wheat is worth a hundred- weight of chaff; the husk, or chaff, however, is of use to the corn in protecting the grain, so the world sometimes protects the good. Grown together with the wheat for a time, the flail in threshing separates it, so the Judgment Day will for ever divide the sheep from the goats. Mat. 25. The wicked are also compared to had money, Jer. 6. 30; to had fish, Mat. 13. 48; to moth-eaten clothes. Is. 50. 9 ; to wells ivithout water, 2 Pet. 2. Bengal. — The white ant, the cat, and the wicked spoil good things. Veman. — Profitless are some men, and what though they be born in the world, and what though they die ? Are not the white ants of the hillock born also, and do they not die also ? Bengal. — 'Tis but threshing the chafi", i.e., labour in vain. Tamul. — Though a kalam of chafi" be pounded, it will not become rice. Veman. — Even the poison-nut and the bitter margosa are useful as drugs ; but the unfeeling vile wretch is utterly unprofitable. Sanskrit. — To address a judicious remark to a thoughtless man is a mere threshing of chaff". Cheerfulness. — Peov. 17. 13. China. — A hut of reeds with mirth therein is better than a palace with grief therein. Modern Greek. — A hungry belly has no ears. Tatnul. — Pood without hospitality is a medicine. 2 Cor. 9. 7. Turh — Vinegar given is sweeter than honey. i6 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The Body a Clay House crushed before the Moth. Job 4. 19. These words were spoken by a spirit from the other world, who addressed Job at midnight. The grave is called the lioiise appointed for all living, Job 30. 23. The body is compared to a house of day which is easily sivcpt away by torrents, the walls of which, owing to rents, are the abodes of snakes. Swal- lows make their houses of clay. MoMii calls the body " a mansion with bones for its rafters and beams ; such a mansion let the soul cheer- fully quit, as a tree leaves the bank of the river, or as a bird leaves the branch of a tree ; thus he has his body delivered soon from the ravening shark the world." In Arabia the houses in general are built of white clay, and covered with reeds. Their foundations are laid in the dust or sand, the country affording no firmer basis on which to build ; they are exposed to all the acci- dents of that climate, such as violent winds, and large moving pillars of sand, called sand-floods, by which they are liable to be blown down, or overwhelmed and crushed to the ground, together with their inhabitants, unless they can effect a timely escape. These desolating calamities more generally begin about sunrise, and usually continue till towards evening ; and thus men perish from the morning to evening, without any one regarding it. Eobbers easily dig through the walls of houses of clay, as is the case very often in Bengal. Job 24. 16. The moth is a small insect which noiselessly and gradually eats through garments, though very feeble. Job 27. 18. The rich are no more spared than the poor, but it especially attacks things not kept clean, and does its works secretly, spoils by degrees ; so God gives cleanness of teeth, the palmer worm, the pestilence. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 17 Amos 4. 8 ; the moth eats the inside when the outside is good, so Sampson said when his locks were gone, I will rise up, Judg. 19, 20 ; so the Jews, 2 Kings 15. Small insects are a great plague. In Arabia and parts of India people drink bad water^ from which comes an egg that produces a worm in the body, from which often comes palsy, gangrene, death. The clothes-moth is of a white, shining, silver, or pearl colour. It is clothed with shells, fourteen in number, and these are scaly. This insect eats woollen stuffs ; it is produced from a grey speckled moth, that flies by night, creeps among woollens, and there lays her eggs, which, after a little time, are hatched as worms, and in this state they feed on their habitation, till they change into a chrysalis, and thence emerge into moths. The young m-oth, or moth-worm_, upon leaving the Qgg which a papilio had lodged upon a piece of stuff, commodious for her purpose, finds a proper place of residence, grows and feeds upon the nap, and likewise builds with it an apartment, which is fixed to the ground- work of the stuff with several cords and a little glue. From an aperture in this habitation the moth- worm devours and demolishes all about him ; and when he has cleared the place, he draws out all the fastenings of his tent ; after which he carries it to some little distance, and then fixes it with the slender cords in a new situation. This perishing condition of a moth-eaten garment, as also of the insect itself, is referred to in Isa. 51. 6, 8 : " TJie earth shall wax old as doth a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner." He who builds his fortunes by methods of injustice is by Job 27. 18 compared to the moth, which, by eating into the garment wherein it makes its habitation, destroys its own dwelling. The structure referred to is that provided by the insect, in its larva or caterpillar state, as temporary residence during its wonderful change from a chrysalis to a winged insect. c i8 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Urdu, — The body is a skin filled with wind. Bengal. — Plastering an old hut. Tamul. — The body is an inscription on water. The Wicked are Clouds without Water. — Jude 12, 13. Wicked like clouds without water in four points : — Clouds without water may be of some use in giving shade, but they do oiot fertilize the land, which full clouds, called the bottles of Heaven, Job 38. 37, do; they are empty, and easily carried away, as is seen in famines in India arising from droughts ; they darken heaven, hence the day of the Lord is called clouds and darkness, when storms and lightning arise ; the clouds are God's chariot, and He holds the winds in His fist, Prov. 30. 4. Christ is the bow in this cloud, as he was the pillar of cloud in the wilderness, the guide of His people, which had a dark side to the enemy and a bright one to friends. Clouds are sometimes very beautiful, but useless ; so a bad person doing well in the world. Malay. — Plourishing like a weed beside a cesspool. A Boaster like Clouds without Rain.— Peov. 25. 14. Such were the builders of Babel, Gen. 1 1 . 4-9. Bengal. — A pedlar in ginger getting tidings of his ship. Syriac. — Mount not a horse which does not belong to you — i.e.^ boast not of an art you are ignorant of. Tamul. — He is on foot, his words are in a palankin. Tamul. — If a low-bred man obtain wealth he will carry an umbrella at midnight. Bengal. — A devotee of yesterday, with matted hair down to his heels. Tamul. — A gold vessel does not sound, a brass one does. Bengal. — A truly wealthy man, one plough to seven tailless oxen. Bussian. — Boast of the day in the evening, Jas. 4. 13. Sanskrit. — The little fish splashes in even a mouthful of water. Arab. — A learned man without work is a cloud without rain. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 19 The Fickle like the Morning Cloud and Early Dew. — Hos, 6. 4. The Lalita Vistara compares life to an autumnal cloud. 'The Shdnti Shatak says: "As the lightning by its flashes merely drives away the darkness for an instant, so are those who decide for a while to root out sensual desires from their minds." The morning cloud is very beautiful with its golden hues, and colours shifting and changing every minute. Early in the morning every blade is glistening with the early dew, and the light clouds are painted with all those gorgeous colours by which they seem to prepare themselves for the return of their absent king, the sun ! Thus beautiful is early piety, as in Samuel's and Timothy's case, though it did not pass away. But how soon do those hues and those jewels of the early morning pass away ! Long before the sun has attained his meridian height, the sky has become cloud- less, and the parched land seems in vain to thirst for the refreshing dew and the kindly shower. While in Egypt it rains sometimes only once in two years, were it not for the dews of night and inundations of the river, all vegetation would perish. Peter's resolution not to deny Christ passed away as a morning cloud before the sun of temptation; so did Judas's before the sun of gold. Telugu. — Like the post fixed in the mud, which swings to and fro. China. — Who stands still in mud sticks in it. Tamul. — A pUaut thorn will not penetrate. Bengal. — One foot on land, the other on water. Polish. — The stone often moved gathers no moss. Malay. — Like a saw with a double edge. Telugu. — Waking the master, giving the thief a stick. A Forgiving Spirit as Coals of Fire on an Enemy's Head. — Peov. 25. 21, 22. Metal is difficult to melt placed on the top of a lire of burning coals ; it may be placed at the sides, still c 2 20 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS 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 he softened by kind- ness 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, i Sam. 24. 16— 21, whose hard heart was melted by David's spirit of forgiveness. A forgiving spirit, or charity, covers many sins, Prov. 10. 12. 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. TurJc. — Provoke the bees, they only sting. Aral. — Punish your enemy by benefiting him. Aral. — The generous can be known by his eyes, as the horse's age by its teeth. ''ussian. — Love will teach even a priest to dance. Mussian. — Sweet words break the bones. Russian. — Bread and salt humble even a robber. ^adi. — The sharp sword will not cut soft silk. Sadi. — Ey gentleness you may lead an elephant by a hair. Tamul. — The tree afibrds shelter to him who fells it ; the earth supports him who digs it. Welsh. — Paults 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, I John 4. 19. Tamul. — A fracture in gold vanishes when exposed to fire ; the anger of the good in like manner passes away. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 21 Contentment with Godliness, Great Gain.— i Tim. 6. 6. Contrast Paul in prison, Phil. 4. 11, 13, 18, with Ahab in a palace, i Kings 21. 4. He is poor that wanteth more. Chanakyea, — Contentment with Httle, sound sleep, vigilant watching, gratitude and fortitude, are virtues inherent in the dog, and are to be learnt from it, Job 12. 7. Aral. — 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. 1 1. 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. — Pood supports life, contentment the soul, I Tim. 6. 8. -Fersian. — Live contented, you will be a king, I 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 pas- sions. 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 22 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS of Adam in Paradise, " It was not good for man to be alone/' Gen. 2. 18. The Bmnsanchis, 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-led, 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. i; 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. 1 8. 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 j a companion- less traveller finds the journey tedious, Ecc. 4. 9. Bussian. — 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. MaJiahJiaraf. — 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. * Eeferring to the Pauchayat, or Indian jury of five iDersons. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 23 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 fore- shewn by a handwriting on the wall, Dan. 5. 5, 6. Syrian. — Girl, do not exulfc 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. i 24 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Arab. — The worst day for a cock is when his feet are washed — i.e., previous to being killed, Jas. 5- 5* Versian. — 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. Shdnti 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. CoTirteousness. — 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. — Peov. ii. 17 ; 12. 10. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. So Pilate, Luke 23. 16. JosejpKs hrethren illustrated it in their treatment of their brother, whom they cast into a pit, Gen. 37. 24. Adonizehek had his barbarity in cutting off men's toes visited on himself, Judg. i. 6, 7. Hamans 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. Urdic. — Boy's play is death to the birds. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 25 The Cursing of the Wicked Vain.— Peov. 26. 2. Balaam^s curse came not on Israel, Neh. 13. 2 ; nor ^Goliath's, i Sam. 17. 43. Badaga. — The jackal howls — will my old buffalo die ? Turh. — The dog barks — still the caravan passes. Cingalese. — Will the barking of the dog reach the skies ? Bengal. — A dog's bite is below the knees. Tamul. — If a dog bark at the mountain, will the mountain be injured, or the dog ? Badaga. — If the cock crow, daylight will appear ; will it be so if the dog barks ? Therefore do not listen to a fool. Bad Company the Unfruitful Works of Darkness. — Eph. 5. II. Shdnti Shatak states : " Oli ! ye mind like fish, swim not in the waters of woman's beauty, for women are like nets." The Telugus say : " Unless you had touched garlic, your fingers would not have smelt ;" " among a hundred crows what could one cuckoo do ?" ^' what does a weaver want with a young monkey ?" " bad company is friendship with a snake fencing with a sword." Veman compares " entertaining a bad man in your house to a fly entering the stomach ; will it not torment you ? How should the saint mingle with men ? When a drop of water is converted into a pearl, will it again unite with its former wave ?" Bad company is called the unfruitful works of dark- ness ; they turn God's grace into lasciviousness, Jude 4, like the soldiers who said, " Hail, king !" yet spat in Christ's face. Fellowship with the wicked is necessary in business, i Cor. 5. 10; the tares and the wheat are together in the Church ; Christ went, however, as a physician, not as an associate ; such as Joseph in Egypt, Nehemiah in Persia, Lot in Sodom, Daniel in Babylon. Raghuvansa. — A good woman, beset by evil women, is like the chaste mimosa surrounded by poisonous herbs. 26 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS bengal. — He who goes to Ceylon becomes a demon. Arab. — "When the crow is your guide he will lead you to the corpses of dogs, Mat. .23, 16. Malabar. — When we strike mud we get smeared over, I Cor. 15. 33. China. — The stag and the tiger do not stroll together. Arab. — A torrent mixed with mud flowing on in darkness, Ps. 5. 9. Arab. — Follow the owl ; he will lead you into a ruined place. Talmud. — No man can remain with a snake in a cage. Persian. — Friendship with a fool is like a bear's embrace. Chanah. — Shun a wicked person, though endowed with knowledge. A serpent, though adorned with gems, inspires terror. China. — The stag and the tiger do not tread the same path. A friendship between coal and ice. Talmud. — To the wasp we must say, Neither thy honey nor thy sting — i.e., with some people have nothing to do. Arab. — Converse with the bad is going to sea. Persian. — Yoke not a camel and a cat together. Afghan, — A bear's friendship is to scratch and tear. ^ Turk. — Yoke not to the same carriage a camel and an ox. Afghan. — Who lives with a blacksmith will at last go away with burnt clothes. Bengal. — You only stink your hand by killing a musk rat. Modern Greek. — If you sit down with a lame man, you w:ll learn to halt. Bengal. — The ram has entered the horse's stable — i.e., a fool among the intelligent. Tamul. — The fowl brought up with the pig will eat dirt. Polish. — Inquire after a neighbour before you purchase a house ; inquire after a companion before you m.ake a journey. Bengal. — Elackness leaves the coal when the fire enters — i.e., the improving effect of good company. Talmud. — Near to the perfumer is fragrance. Persian. — One scabby goat infects the flock. Urdu. — No twisting a rope of sand. Is the bullock's sore tender to the crow ? Telugu. — Among a hundred crows what can one cuckoo do ? ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 27 Telugu. — The bullock pulled towards the sun and the buffalo towards the shade. Malay. — Will oil mix with water ? Kurd. — Who talks with the smith receives sparks. China. — Near putrid fish you will stink. Though convers- ing face to face, their hearts have a thousand hills between them. Telugu. — If you drink milk under a date-tree, they will say it is toddy. Modern Greeh. — If you sit down with one who is squint- eyed in the evening, you will become squint-eyed or cat-eyed. Sanskrit. — A bad man, though adorned with learning, is to be shunned. Is a snake adorned with a gem not to be feared ? Owe no Debt but Love.— Rom. 13. 8. See Parable of Debtor, Matt. 18. 28. Bengal. — The goat tied up is at the will even of a child — i.e., the debtor. Matt. 18. 30. Turk. — Eather hungry on going to bed than debts ou rising. Telugu^. — Bice, water, and salt without debt are good. Japan. — An angel in borrowing, a devil's face in returning. JBas^ue. — He shuts one hole by opening another — i.e., he pays his debts in opening new loans. Decision. — No Serving Two Masters.— i Kikgs 18. 21. Malay. — We don't feel cold on going into the deep water.. Arab. — It is hard to chase and catch two hares. Afghan. — Do not take hold of sword-grass ; but if you do, grasp it tight. Modern Qreeh. — Two water-melons cannot be carried under one arm. Mussian. — Better not to fire on the tiger than to wound her. Syriac. — Be not water, taking the tint of all colours. Galic. — Strike at every tree, yet none is felled. Malay. — To be out of temper with water in the hold — i.e., to be sulky and do nothing when the boat has sprung a leak. .:2-8 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Talmud. — To the wasp we must say, Xeither thy honey nor thy sting — i.e.^ with some people have nothing to do. Basque. — "Who goes quickly goes twice. Telugu. — Before cutting down the forest, is it necessary to consult the axe ? Deeds, not Words. — Jas. 2. 6. Afghan. — Who loves, labours. Telugu. — Sweet words, empty hands. Telugu. — Your mouth a sweet plum, your hand a thorn bush. Urdu. — A lofty shop, but tasteless sweetmeats. Urdu. — Kindness, but no milk. Turk. — Though they are brothers, their pockets are not sisters. Turh. — To speak of honey will not make the mouth sweet. Turk. — It is not by saying Honey, honey, that sweetness comes into the mouth. Bengal. — By words he softens the minds, but words will not soften the rice. Galic. — The nodding of the head does not make the boat to row. Telugu,— 'W\^ words leap over forts, his feet do not cross the threshold. Telugu. — Grreat words, but small measure. ^Russian. — A tale is soon told ; a deed is not soon done. Italian. — Words are women, deeds are men. Telugu. — It is easy to talk, but hard to stay the mind ; we may teach others, but cannot ourselves under- stand : it is easy to lay hold on the sword, but hard to become valiant. Matt. 7. 26. Bussian. — Many counsellors, few helpers. Telugu,. — If you do not ask me for food and raiment, I will care for you as my own child. Canara. — Knowledge consisting of words is an earthen vessel with holes. China. — We do not cook rice by babbling. The Double-Minded.— Unstable as a Wave.— Jas. i. 8. There are doiibU-tongiced, i Tim. 3. 8 ; the double- minded, as tepid water, to be spued out, Eev. 3. 16. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 29. Malay. — Do not embark in two boats, for you will be split and thrown on your back, Luke 16. 13. Arab. — Eiding two horses at the same time. Turh. — Who stands hesitating between two mosques returns- without prayer, Matt. 6. 24. Russian. — He hunting two hares does not catch even one. Arah. — Doubt destroys faith as salt does honey, Eom. 14. 23. Bengal. — He sees Jagannath's car, and sells plantains at the same time. Modern Greek. — A rolling stone gathers no moss. Telugu. — A double-minded man is a post in the mud swing- ing to and fro — i.e., one who wakes the master, and gives the thief a stick. Cast not Holy Things to Dogs.— Matt. 7. 6. Sacrificial remains were not to be given to dogs, a» they were counted so unclean. The wicked resemble dogs in ten points : — 1 . Biffer in disposition and size, yet all are dogs. The young man that Jesus loved was a sinner as well as Judas ; the Pharisee as well as the publican, Mark 10. 21. 2. Some are vile, beastly, eat dead bodies in the river, licked Lazarus's sores, Luke 16. 21 ; Ahab's blood, I Kings 22. 38. Such are men enslaved to diverse lusts. 3. Churlish, snappish ; bay at the moon ; so the Jews- gnashed on Stephen with their teeth. Acts 7. 54. 4. Bite and tear men ; so do bloodhounds, bulldogs, Jer. 15.3; such was Paul before his conversion. Some bark and bite not; others bite, but bark not; so some injure secretly, while chains are necessary for very fierce ones. 5. Some used as hunters; so the devil used persecu- tors, Ps. 22. 16. 6. Bite each other ; so the Egyptians destroyed each other as well as the Jews ; so in the case of Babylon and the Jews. 7. Greedy, Is. 56. ii ; never satisfied. 30 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS 8. Become sometimes mad, then great miscliief 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, Eev. 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 hack 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 ? JBengal. — Krishna's name in a crow's mouth. Peeding a dog with pulse. Arab, — The world is a carcase, and they who seek it are dogs. Telugu. — AVill a dog recognize the priest ; it will only snap at him, seize and tear the calf of his leg, Mat. 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 free- dom like the dove imprisoned in the ark, Ps. 55. 6. The meeh resemUe a dove in four points : — I. Harmless in the midst of a crooked generation, Phil. 2. 15; yet he is to be wise as a serpent, Matt. 10. 16. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 31 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 Eock of Ages. Abraham, though the elder, waived his right of choice for the sake of peace, and promptly removed all occasion of strife, Gen. i 3. 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 tbou be burnt with the flame of his fire. Fersian. — A pleasant voice brings a snake out of his hole. Turh. — One drop of honey catches more bees than a ton of vinegar. TurJc. — Tread not on a sleeping snake. Turlc. — Have in life the force of a lion, the sagacity of an elephant, and the sweetness of the lamb. China. — Eousing a sleeping tiger exposes to harm. China. — Stir not the fire with a sword — i.e., provoke not by anger. Bussian. — 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. i, 2 ; not so flowers. 32 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The wicked like dross in six points : — 1. Eesemble the metal, but only in appearance-, so- the wicked, Ps. 66. lo, have a name to live, Eev. 3. i. 2. To be hurnt 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 Cheek. — This fig-tree is for the fire — i.e., a useless person. Tamul. — Of what use is the ripening of a poisonous treo in the middle of a village ? Man's Corruption like the Ethiopian's Skin.— Jee. 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 ]Dersecutor of the Christians, in three days so changed as afterwards to become a preacher of Christianity. Bussian. — The wolf changes his hair, but yet remains the wolf. However you bind a tree, it will always grow upward. Though you put oil on a dog's tail, it will never become straight. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 35 TJrdu. — 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 become white ? If you beat a wooden image,, will it hence acquire any good quality ? TurTc. — In washing a negro we lose our soap. TJrdu. — Will the gall-nut become as sweet as the cocoa- nut, 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 Paith.—HEB. u. 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. I ; so Ahab, i Kings 21. 2 ; so Nebuchadnez- zar, Dan. 4. 27-33. There are three eyes — the eye of sense, common to the brute ; the eye of reason, peculiar D 34 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS 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 under- standing as a compensation. Turh. — Invisible things are more numerous than visible. Modern OreeJc. — The eyes of the hare are one thing, those of the owl another. Veman. — Large is the eyeball, minute the pupil j 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. Aral). — 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. The Fire of the Tongue.—JAs. 3. 6. The tongue like a fire in three 'points : — 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 ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 35 splits a stone ;" the Germans, " Patience breaks iron," Gen. 32. 11-20; I Sam. 25. 35. 1. Fire gives heat which makes (passion) boil over, while a man of understanding is of a cool spirit, Pro v. 1 7. 27; so Christ, Matt. 27. 12-14. 2. Kindles great things. Matt. 12. 36; hence fire called a good servant, but a bad master. Pro v. 26. 1 8—20. 3. Scorches and gives pain ; so the wicked compared to coals of juniper, Ps. 120. 4, which burn hot and long. The fire of the evil tongue is kindled from hell ; not so the zeal of the righteous, compared to a live coal, Isa. 6. 6 ; the cloven tongues of fire were harmless. Acts 2. 3. Tamul. — The words of a babbler are fine dust. AfgJian. — A great spear-wound is well to heal quickly ; a severe tongue-wound becomes a sore in the heart, healeth not. China. — A man's conversation is the mirror of the heart. Turh. — Who masters his tongue saves his head. Little Sins like Dead Flies in Ointment. — Eccl. 10. i, Telugu — " The remains of a debt, a sore, or a fire should not be left, as they may increase." Vcman — A stone in the shoe, a gadfly in the ear, a mote in the eye, a thorn in the foot, and a quarrel in a family, however small in themselves, are unspeakably tormenting, 2 Cor. 12. 7. The text refers to the acid salts in insects which dis- pose syrups to fermentation, and then to putrescence, causing a bad smell and sour taste, and so the whole ointment is spoiled, as a little leaven leavens the whole lump, I Cor. 5. 6 ; the tongue is a little fire, and kindles great things, as the little lielm of a ship turns a big vessel, Jas. 3. 4. A small leak will sink a great ship : break one link in the chain, the whole goes. D 2 36 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS China. — It is with law as with dykes — in whatever part they are broken, the rest becomes useless. No ease for the mouth when one tooth is aching. Malabar. — A coir improperly twisted will break the whole mass. 'Russian, — A spoonful of tar in a barrel of honey, and all is spoiled. Oriental. — Good qualities efface not bad, as sugar mixed. with poison does not prevent the poison being mortal. Kurd. — A vessel of honey with a drop of poison in it. Cingalese. — The tree which (when young) you could have nipped off with your nail you cannot afterwards cut with your axe. Modern Greeh. — A little bait catches a large fish. Urdu. — It is a sin whether you steal sesamum or sugar. Tamul. — Though the thorn in the foot be small, yet stay and extract it. China. — To spare a swelling till it becomes an ulcer, Jas. 2. 10. Malay. — One piece of arsenic suffices to kill a thousand crows. Telugu. — To look at it, it is like a musk rat ; but to dig into walls, it is a bandicoot. Tapan. — Poking out the eye with an insignificant twig. Sehrew. — Of a spark of fire a heap of coals is kindled."^ Life a Flood.— Ps. 90. 5. This Psaka was composed by Moses towards the close of his wandering in the desert, when human life had been shortened, and when out of 3,000,000 Jews that came into the wilderness only two adults were allowed to enter Canaan. There are more than 1,000,000,000 of people in the world, composed, like the Ganges and Brahmaputra, of streams of many nations ; they make a great noise ; like a flood, rise suddenly, and as suddenly go down to the * There is the well-known homely French and English proverb, "For want of a nail the horseshoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost ; for want of a horse, the rider was lost. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 37 ocean of Eternity. Some of these floods fertilize the soil, while others sweep away cattle and villages ; so some men lead the lives of sheep, others of goats. China. — The waves flowing away chase those that precede ; in the world the new-born chase away the old, and they also pass away ; no feast lasts for ever. Russian. — There are not two summers in one year, Jer. 8. 20. Japan. — As the stars, so man appears little at a distance. Persian. — The world is like an old building on the banks of a stream — it carries away piece by piece ; in vain you stop it with a handful of earth. Telugu. — If the priest does not come, will the new moon wait for him ? Tamul. — Does any one desire to chew his betel over again ? G-en. 47. 9. Life passes as a Flower.— i Pet. i. 24. Though the flowers are clad with a raiment superior in heauty to Solomon's, yet the scythe of death, sunshine, storm, rain, or worms sweep them away. The Prcibodh Chandrodaya says the society even of friends is a flash of lightning which is dazzling, but momentary. The righteous, like a plant, may lose his flower on earth, but he will he transplanted to the gardens of Paradise. China. — The swallow plastering its nest is labour lost — i.e., it soon migrates. China. — "We find trees in the mountains 1,000 years old ; we rarely find a man lOO years old. TurJc. — Have you ever seen a day which ends not in evening ? Turk. — Happiness is like crystal — when it shines the most it soon cracks. Aral. — Every day in thy life is a leaf in thy history. Modern Greek. — Many dead are sitting at the head of the sick man — i.e., many of those who visit a sick man die before him. Afghan. — Life is not such a mouthful that a man should gulp it down whole ; life is not so short that a man should live heedless. 38 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Arab. — Life like a fire begins in smoke, ends in ashes. China. — The moon is not always round ; the clouds some- times disappear. Japan. — Life is a light before the wind, Job 7. 7. Arab. — Like a moth falling on a lighted candle. God-fearing the Fountain of Life.— Peot. 14. 27. Fear of God differs fro^n the wicTced's fear in fve jjoints : — One kind of fear lias torment, i John 4. 1 8 ; such was Adam's, Gen. 3. 8-10, the devil's, Jas. 2. 19. The other is reverential, and leading to watchfulness ; as Joseph, Gen. 39. 9, Noah, Heb. 11. 7. This is the beginning of knowledge, Prov. i. 7. Arab. — The fear of God makes the heart shine. Afghan. — The shelter of a tamarisk is equal to that of a mountain for a man who fears not God — i.e., no restraint in wickedness for those not fearing God. Arab, — There are four things God cannot do : He cannot lie; He cannot die; He cannot deny Himself;. and He cannot look favourably on sin. The Heart the Fountain of Action. — Mat. 15. 19. , Sanskrit. — If the heart be impure, all actions will be wrong. TurTc, — The eyes are a balance of which the heart forms the weight. Telugu. — 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. Sanskrit. — The poison of a scorpion is in his tail, of a fly in his head, of a snake in his fang ; but of a bad man in his whole body, Isa. 1.5. The Wicked are Foxes.— Luee 13. 32. Herod the king was called a fox, because he tried to catch Christ by cunning, Luke 13. 32, Mat. 2. 8 ; false teachers are also so called, Ezek. 13.4; they used rough ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 39 garments to deceive, Zech. 13. 14, in imitation of tlie true teachers, who wore sackcloth and hairy garments. The wicked are like foxes in Jive points : — 1. Craftiness: The fox when pursued and caught pre- tends to be dead ; he uses his tail to catch crabs ; he has many entrances to his den ; he moves crookedly and steals up lightly, E"eh. 4. 3, yet he does not escape. 2. Cruel and destructive. He destroys more than he kills; makes havoc among grapes. 3. Attacks at night; the wicked called children of darkness, i Thess. 5. 5. 4. Greedy. The fox eats all kind of filthy putrid things, lives on filth, digs up dead bodies. 5. Moves in ]packs to destroy; so Samson used three hundred of them with lighted brands to their tails to fire the corn, Judg. 15. 4; the wicked combine to do evil. Christ said even the foxes had holes, but he had not where to lay his head, Luke 9. 5 8. Turk. — The fox goes at last to the shop of the furrier. Friendship like Perfume, rejoicing the Heart.— Ps. 27. 9. Abraham was the friend of God, Jas. 2. 23 ; Jonathan and David had close friendship, i Sam. 18. i. UrdtL. — The friendship of the base is a wall of sand. Arah. — A bad friend is like a smith, who, if he does not burn you with fire, will injure you with smoke. Arah. — A fool or unlearned is an enemy to himself : how is he a friend to others ? Arah. — Three things are not known except in three points : courage except in war, the wise except in anger, a friend except in adversity. Afghan. — God will remain, friends will not, Prov. 18. 24. Turk. — Priends are one soul in t«'o bodies. Gujerat. — A rat and cat's friendship. JBersian. — Friendship with a fool is the embrace of a bear. Talmud. — A man without a friend is a left hand without the right. 40 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS China. — It is only with the eye of others we see our own defects. China. — Without a clear mirror a woman cannot know the state of her face ; without a true friend a man cannot discern the nature of his actions. Afghan. — The ass's friendship is kicking. Telugu. — The friendship between fire and water. Japan. — A friend at hand is better than relations at a distance. Kirat Arjun. — The friendship of the bad is like the shade of some precipitous bank with crumbling sides, which, falling, buries him who sits beneath. The "Wicked like Goats. — Mat. 25. 31, 33. The devil is worshipped in some countries under the form of a goat. The goats like the wicked in four points : — 1 . Feed among sheep ; but the Great Shepherd will separate them at the judgment-day ; so hypocrites in a church as tares among wheat. 2. Mischievous; destroy trees, plants; hence bad princes so called, Zech. 10. 3. 3. Unclean ; so the wicked, 2 Pet. 2. 7. 4. Greedy. A hundred goats will eat as much as a thousand sheep; so Alutb coveted A^a&o^A's vineyard, though he v/as so rich himself, i Kings 2 i . Bengal. — What will not a goat eat or a fool say ? Chanak. — An uneducated man in society is a crane among swans. All Flesh is Grass. — Isa. 40. 6. What is more frail than grass ? In tropical countries it comes up in the spring, flourishes for a short period, and is then cut down ; or, if not severed from its root by the scythe, it soon withers away. In India especially the great heat of the sun quickly withers away the grass. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 41 which becomes quite brown, or disappears in the hot weather. So weak are we, and so unable to resist the stroke of death. We come np, and are cut down ! The spring-time of life is soon gone, the season of harvest comes, and death strikes the fatal blow. Nothing can make man a solid substantial being, but the being born again of the incorruptible seed, the Word of God, which will transform him into an excellent creature, whose glory will not fade like the flower, but shine like an angel's face. Gratitude the Memory of the Heart. Praise, the expression of gratitude, is called the fruit of the lips, Heb. 13. 15 ; a garment, Isa. 61. 3 ; see the case of the lame man in the Temple, Acts 3.8; of the chief butler. Gen. 40. 23; and of the parable of the two debtors, Luke 7. 41—43. Tamul. — A benefit conferred on the worthy is engraved in stone ; on the unkind, written in water. Malay. — The bean forgets its pod, Isa. ^l. I. Bengal. — Having eaten his salt, he esteems his virtues. Cingalese. — A line inscribed in water — i.e., the ungrateful. Telugu. — Blows with stones to the bearing tree. Talmud. — Do not throw a stone into the well out of which you have drunk. Tamul. — The physician who cured the striped tiger of his sickness became his prey. Tamul. — A benefit conferred on the worthless is an earthen vessel falling on a stone. Telugu. — A dog instinctively recognizes the kindness shown to it ; how base is the man who feels not the good that is done to him, Luke 17. 17. Tamul. — The scorpion stings him who helps it out of the fire. Turk. — The dinner ended, we value no more the spoon. Persian. — He eats the salt, breaks the salt-cellar. Tamul. — The rogue feels only when he is punished : the farmer feels grateful when the rain falls. 42 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Bussian. — The sheep does not remember its father ; it bears only grass in mind. Idleness makes tlie House drop through. — Eccles. io. i8. The ant makes hay when the sun shines — has no guide : not so the idler, who lets the house leak. The marks of the sluggard or idler are — ( i ) Loves not difficulties : will not plough by reason of cold, Prov. 20. 4 ; (2) loves not disturbance, though death's handwriting may be on the wall; (3) enjoys not the good in hand ; roasts not what was taken in hunting, Prov. 12. 27 ; (4) his way hedged with thorns, Prov. 15. 19; such were the ten tribes — too lazy to go up to Jerusalem, i Kings 12.28; so with the servant in the parable of the talents ; (5) allows weeds on his fields, Prov. 24. 30 ; (6) desires only, but makes no efforts ; so Balaam wished the death of the righteous, but led not the life of the righteous, Num. 23. 10 ; (7) makes no iwogress, turns as a door on the hinges, Prov. 26. 14 ; (8) makes excuses ; there is a lion in the way, Prov. 22. 13. Telngu. — The idle man eats like a bullock, and sleeps like a Telugu. — In a neglected house devils take up their abode ."^ Bengal. — The date fell on his moustaches ; he was too lazy to put it into his mouth. Hebrew. — Idleness is the mother of all vice. Tamul. — Opening the mouth when one says gram (oats), and shutting it when one says bridle. Tamul. — Being without work, the barber is said to have shaved his wife's head. Bersian. — Water long stagnant becomes putrid. Binnish. — By sleeping we do not gain money ; by sitting no- fortune is to be had. Arab. — A well is not to be filled with dew ; equivalent to the French — " He that will eat the kernel must crack the nut." * Yery similar to the Italian proverb, which has found its way into English, "An idle brain is the devil's workshoiD," ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 43. Tamul. — Plants of learning must be watered with the rain of tears. The Inner and the Outer Man.— 2 Coe. 4. 16. Also called the old and the new man, Eph. 4. 24; the old and new Adam ; the flesh and the spirit, Eom. 8. i. The Hindus write of various Jcoshas or sheatlis envelop- ing the body. Peter calls the inner man the hidden man, . I Pet. 3. 3-4. By the outer man is meant the body and senses ; by the mner man the heart and spirit ; both very different — the bodily eye might grow dim while the eye of faith grew brighter. The Arabs say, "Dim eyes do not injure when the mind's eye is bright." His youth is renewed like the eagle's, Ps. 103. 5. St. Paul's setting sun was fine ; he was, like the swan, said to sing as sweetly in winter as in summer. Atmahodh. — The wise man during his residence in the body* is not affected by its properties, as the firmament ' is not affected by what floats in it. Telugu. — The tamarind maybe dried,but it loses not its acidity. Bengal. — A clever woman is not old, though aged, but has the sweet sap of wit in her. China. — The man grows old, not so his heart. Persian. — Don't despise pepper because it is so small; eat, and see how pungent it is, 2 Cor. 10. 10. Bussian. — The needle is small, but pierces sharply. Veman. — Though a vessel be broken, a new one is easily procured. Is it then marvellous that after a man's death he should acquire a new body ? 2 Cor. 5. 2. Sanskrit. — The form is small, the qualities great. Telugu. — An old tree has a firm core. Tamul. — Though broken to pieces, a golden pot will still be gold ; of what use is an earthen pot when broken ? Cingalese.— A. gem is a gem, though found in a dunghill. Veman. — "Worked chasings are various, but all gold is the same ; these earthlg tenements vary, but the soul is one; viands are many, but hunger is always the same. 44 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Telugu. — If you look at a grain of pepper, it is externally- black ; if you bite it you perceive that internally it is pungent. Thus imperceptible is the worth of the excellent. The Lamp of the Wicked put out.— Pitov. 13. 9. Tlie wicked are driven away, Pro v. 14. 32. Lamps were used by tbe Jews at weddings and on festive occasions, a man in prosperity is compared to a blazing lamp in adversity, he is ready to slip with his feet, Job 12. 5, or to a lamp extinguished. The lamp of the wicked gradually fails of oil. Mat. 25. 3—8, and in its extinction a stench from the wick arises ; so the memory of the wicked. Canara. — The fly (the poor man) is eaten by the frog (the rich man), and both are eaten by the serpent death, Prov. 30. 23. SansJcrit. — -Time is stronger than all things else. Man Fades as a Leaf. — Isa. 64. 6. Life like a leaf in four joints : — The change comes on graducdly ; we scarcely perceive a difference day by day, but after the interval of a week it is distinctly seen; the leaf changes from a green to a pale hue when about to fall, the breeze snaps the link by which the shred was joined to its branch, and wafts it to its resting-place beneath the parent tree, where it rots or serves as fuel or manure. Such is the strength of men : the freshness of youth passes into the maturity of man- hood, and thus by gradual steps the feebleness of age comes on : grey hairs are on him, yet he knoweth it not, Hos. 7. 9. " The dust returns to the dust." The leaves with which the earth is strewn, and which serve to manure it, will know no second spring ; not so the body, which will rise in the morning of the resurrec- tion, Dan. 12. 2. A leaf is light and unsubstantial. A leaf fades in various ways silently. The myriad leaves that glitter in ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 45 the sunshine of spring or flutter in the breeze will be strewn on the ground in autumn ; but when one shall fall and how long another shall hang who can tell ? One falls withered by a worm at its root in early summer ; a second is nipped by the frost, a third is shaken off by a rough wind, and the fourth, soon after it has burst from the bud in spring, is smitten by mildew. All will fall at some time ; so with men. The population of the globe, 1,000,000,000, will in a generation be off the tree of life : some drop in childhood's spring, some in ripe man- hood, and some hang on till the winter of age arrive. The time is short to all, and the short time is uncertain to each. The conquerors in the Grecian games were crowned with leaves. These, though beautiful, soon faded away, beauty, like glass, is brittle ; trusting in fading beauty is like anchoring in a floating island. The righteous, though his outer man decay, is an evergreen leaf. China. — Man's life is like a candle in the wind, or hoar- frost on the tiles. Afghan. — Parents say, Our boy is growing up ; they forget his life is shortening. TurJc. — The dust of the tomb fills the eye of man. Lip Love as Sounding Brass.— i Coe. 13. i. Bengal. — By words only the moistened rice is not made into a confection. Bengal.— A false friendship is like a bank of sand. Bengal. — iN^ow, you, as it were, give me the moon, but shortly you will give me a flogging. Bengal. — In words a tiger, in fighting a lizard. Bengal. — My house is your own; but if you ask for food, you are my enemy. Telugu. — A barking dog never bites ; does gold ever ring like bell metal ? Use the Means. Tehigu. — Grod gives food, but does he cook it and put it in the mouth ? 46 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Telugu. — Can your house be burnt down with hot water ? Telugu. — By digging and digging the truth is discovered. Telugu. — "When the field was sown without being ploughed, it yielded without being reaped — i.e., it yielded nothing. China. — Better go home and make a net than go down the river and desire to get fishes. China. — No one can sew without a needle, no one can row without water. China. — A dry finger cannot lick up salt. Afghan. — Though God is almighty, he sends not rain in a clear sky. Turk. — Don't descend into a well with a rotten rope. • Turk. — "What can a stout ox do with a bad plough ? Turk. — Knowledge is not acquired in a feather bed. Turk. — AVho desires the rose must also consent to tlie thorn. Turk. — Knowledge is not gained on a bed of roses. Mussian. — God help us, but don't lie on your back. Russian. — -A good head has one hundred hands. Talmud. — If a man goes not after wisdom it does not come to him. Telugu. — Scratching one's head with a firebrand — i.e., the remedy worse than the disease. Telugu. — Swimming over the Godaveri by catching hold of a dog's tail, Luke 14. 31. Tlrdu^. — He sets up for a druggist with one bit of assa- foetida. Gravel fills tlie Mouth of Deceit.— Peov. 20. 17. The Lalita Vistara states : " Desires are regarded by the wise as the edge of a sword covered with honey, or as the head of a serpent leading to quarrels, as a corpse among dogs." Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord, Hos. 12. 7, Deut. 25. 13—16. A bribe-taking judge is called a briar, Micah 7. 4. Jacob deceived his father with a kid. Gen. 27. 9-14, &c. ; more than forty years after, his children deceive him with a kid. Gen. 37. 31, 32. David artfully contrived ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 47 the murder of Uriah by the sword, 2 Sam. 11. 14, 15 ; and the providence of God so appointed it that the sword never departed from his house, 2 Sam. 12. 10. So with Haman, Esther 7. 10, and the attempt to assassinate Ahasuerus, Esther 2. 21—23. The Jews put Christ to death that the Eomans might not come and take away their place and nation ; by that very act they drew down the vengeance of God, which God appointed the Eomans to execute, John 11. 48. Urdu. — A wooden pot cannot be often put on the fire — i.e., deceit cannot be often repeated. JBengal. — The low fellow's words are like the tortoise's head, which can be drawn out or put in according to circumstances. Turh. — The liar's house is on fire, but no one believes it. Telugu. — A trader in the air — i.e., an impostor. Bengal. — He tells the thief to rob ; he bids the house- holder be on his guard. The Safe Guide.— Ps. 48. 14. A guide is necessary in a strange place ; such the world is — a wilderness where there are bad roads, few wells, storms of sand arise, and the dread of robbers. God directs men's steps ; so Pharaoh's daughter found Moses when she went to bathe, Ex. 2. i 5 ; Saul, in search of asses, obtained a kingdom, i Sam. 9. 3-15 ; Paul, on his way to Damascus, saw Christ, Acts 9. ; David's case, I Sam. 17. 53. Biossian. — Man plans, but God fulfils. China. — Man sees but the present, God all things. Aral. — Man thinks, God guides. Urdu. — God is the guardian of a blind man's wife. China. — A man depends on God as a ship on its rudder. Urdu. — One door is shut, but a thousand are open. Mahalharat. — Like a gem strung upon a thread or a bull tied by a nose rope, a man follows the command of the Disposer (God) as the tips of grass are swayed by the blasts of a strong wind. 48 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The Hoary Head of the Righteous a Crown of G-lory. Pkot. 1 6. 31. The Jews required persons to rise up when at a distance of four cubits from an old man. The Romans punished with death those not rising up before the hoary ; and God sent two bears to devour the men who called Elisha bald- headed, 2 Kings 2. 23. The Germans call grey hairs death's blossoms ; the Bible says, if found in the way of righteousness, they are a cTovm of life — i.e., unfading, and an ornament, a sign of dominion and victory. Men are like vjiiw ; age renders the good mellow, but makes the bad sour, or like chimneys long foul, which, if not swept, are at length fired. Old sinners are like vessels long abroach, in which nothing is left but the lees and dregs of ignorance and sin. Examples of good old righteous people in Samuel, i Sam.- 2 5. I ; Elisha, 2 Kings, 13. 14; Jacob, (jqu. 47, 10 ; Anna, Luke 2. 36. The righteous, though old in body, is a new man in religion, 2 Cor. 5 . 17; his youth is renewed like the eagle's, Ps. 103. 5. Aral. — Hoary hairs are death's messengers, Hos. 7. 9. Afghan. — Though the mallet be old, it is sufficient to smash the pitcher. China. — In clothes we admire novelty ; in men, old age. Aral. — The gravity of old age is fairer than the flower of youth, Job 23. 6, 7. Hebrew. — Wisdom is the grey hair unto men. The Body of a House.-— 2 Coe. 5, i. The Prohodh Chandwclaya compares the soul to a taper confined in a dwelling which has nine openings. The Shctnti Shatah says : " It is absurd to lament the loss of youthful joy and a lively countenance, which floated off like the sportive and short-lived billows in the Jumna." Veman writes : " When a bubble stands on water, a rapid rush in passing destroys it. Alas ! what affection men feel for the frail earthen vessel of the body." ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 4^ The word " house" sometimes means property, as when referred to the Pharisees who devoured widow's houses^ Matt. 23. 14. But "house" more generally means a place to dwell in. The body is the earthly house in which the spirit dwells, and the grave is called " the house appointed for all living," Job 30. 23, because every one now living must at last abide there as in a house. The tabernacle and temple were called " the house of God," as there God dwelt among his people by the signs of His gracious presence, and His glory appeared in the cloud,, and shone forth from between the Cherubim over the Ark. And thus Jacob, when he set up the stone which had formed his pillow, called the place Bethel, or the house of God, to signify that the Lord had revealed himself in that place, Gen. 28. 17. Solomon says, Eccles. 12. 1-7, in old age the hee^pers of the house, the knees, the pillars, tremble with paralysis ; the grinders, or teeth, are like the women who ground meal ; the eyes are the windows, the sight becomes dim. Gen. 27. I ; 48. 10; the lattices of the windows afford less light to pass through. Judges 5.28; 2 Sam. 6.16; the doors are shut to enable the old to sleep ; the daughters of music brought low, are singing or nautch girls ; the house tumbles, and its tenant goes to his long home. Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright,, or a carpenter ? The gravedigger : the house that he makes lasts till Doomsday. The believer's sun breaks through the clouds of old age ; the golden chain, which binds his heart to heaven, is waxing stronger and stronger,, its links are growing more firm ; his house is tumbling, but he has a building made without hands, 2 Cor. 6. i,. in a city without foundations. Hearing, not Doing, as a House on a Sandy Foundation. Matt. 7. 26. Tamul. — By pronouncing the word fire, will the mouth be burnt ? E 50 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Telugu. — Will empty words fill bellies ? Arab. — He who has made a hole in the corn-sack has become a preacher. Aral). — A learned man without practice is a cloud without water. Taniul. — Hunger is appeased by eating : will it be so by looking at food ? Moderation—/.^., Avoiding Extremes.— Phil. 4. 5. Arab. — In shunning the bear he fell into the pit. Persian. — Be not all sugar, or the world will swallow thee up ; be not all wormwood, or the world will spit thee out. Turk. — To avoid the smoke, do not throw yourself into the fire. Bengal. — An excessive noise is of no use, Eccles. 7. 16. Malay. — Prom fear of the ghost to clasp the corpse. Talmud. — Eight things difficult to enjoy in abundance, but in moderation good — labour, sleep, riches, jour- neying, love, warm water, bleeding, and wine. Malabar. — If you engrave it too much, it will become a hole. Tamul. — If taken to excess, even nectar is poison. Malabar. — Even new clothes may be rent if pulled forcibly. Mussian. — He ran from the wolf and fell in with the bear. Talmud. — Three things in great quantity bad, but a little good — leaven, salt, and liberality. Malay. — To fall into the jaws of the tiger after escaping from the mouth of the alligator. Syriac. — Too much tying loosens. Bussian. — Sweet as is honey, two spoonfuls of it cannot be taken at one time. China. — While keeping a tiger from the front door the wolf enters in at the back. China. — The excess of joy is sorrow ; of wine, drunkenness. JBasq^ue. — The cord of a violin is broken in stretching it too much. Tamul. — Why eat, seeing you know not how to eat with moderation ? Telugu. — Because the sugar-cane is sweet, are you to chew it with the roots ? China. — To call the tiger to chase away the dog. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 51 Tamul. — It is said the snake, afraid of the charmer, sought the friendship of the rat. Basque. — By filling it too much the sack burst. Tamul. — Joy and grief must be regulated by moderation. Tamul. — Act as one who warms himself ; do not burn your- self. SansJcrit. — Excess is to be avoided in all things. Oalic. — Though the old woman is better of warming, she is not better of being burnt. The Mote in a Brother's Eye, a Beam in Your Own. Matt. 7. 3. Humility teaches us to regard others as better than ourselves. St. Paul, though the chief apostle, called him- self the chief of sinners, i Tim. i. 15. Russian. — A pig came up to a horse and said, Your feet are. crooked, and your hair is worth nothing. Bengal. — The sieve says to the needle. You have a hole in your tail. Tamul. — The defects in the eyelash are not apparent to the eye. Japan. — At the foot of the lighthouse it is dark. Kurd. — No one says my milk is sour. Cingalese. — The man without clothes busying himself in making jackets for dogs. China. — Let every one sweep the snow before his own door, and not busy himself with the frost on his neighbour's tiles. China. — The crow mocked the pig for his blackness. Kurd. — When your house is of glass, do not throw stones at your neighbour's house. Bohemian. — The pot punishes the kettle ; ye are both black. Malay. — The mortar's complaint to a drug. Modern GreeJc. — The ass said to the cock, Big-headed. Sanskrit. — They know not their own defects who search for the defects of others. Stifif-necked.— Ps. 75. 5. The Jews were called a stiff-necked people. Acts 7. 5 i. The old world had its neck hardened by resisting the E 2 52 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS preaching of Noali for 120 years, i Pet. 3. 20 ; its people were swept away by the Flood, altogether unexpectedly to themselves, Lnke 17. 26, 27. So were Sodom, Gen. 19, Eli's sons, I Sam. 3. 13. Pharaoh's hard neck was re- proved by the Ten Plagues ; but continuing obstinate in his rebellion against God, Pharaoh was overtaken with sudden destruction at the moment he thought himself sure of his prey, Ex. 14. 28. So Ahab, i Kings 17. i ;. 18. 18. Tamul. — A stubborn wife is a mat rolled up — i.e., useless. Bussian. — He bows to the ground, but bites his toes. Tamul. — A stubborn man and a crocodile are ahke, they will not lose hold of what they have seized. Woman's Ornament the Hidden Man of the Heart. I Pet. 3. 3, 4. The hidden man of the heart here means a meek and quiet spirit called the inner man, in contrast with the outer man, the body or countenance ; thus Paul states, though his outer man perish, his inner man is renewed day by day, 2 Cor. 4. 16. See Solomon's description of a virtuous woman, Prov. 31. 10—31; a contentious- woman is compared to a continual dropping, Prov. 27.15; she is a moth to consume her husband's estate. Women are to adorn themselves with shamefacedness, i Tim. 2. 8, 9. Ornaments in dress are condemned as exciting the passions, encouraging pride, hindering ahns, i Tim. 2. 9, 10; wasting time, Eph. 5. 16, the prophets wore rough garments, as Elijah, 2 Kings i. 8; Jezebel painted her face; Herod was arrayed gorgeously, and was eaten up of worms. Acts 1 2 ; so the rich man clad in purple before going to hell, Luke 16; so Absalom. Teltigu. — The tamarind may be dried, but it loses not its acidity. Veman. — Look closely at musk ; its hue indeed is dark, but ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 53 its fragrance perfumes all things; thus hidden are the virtues of men of weight. China. — We ask four things for a woman — that virtue dwell in her heart, modesty in her forehead, sweetness in her mouth, and labour in her hands. CJianah. — As the sea defends the earth, a wall the roof, a king the nation ; so does modesty a woman. Ghanak. — As the voice forms the beauty of the cuckoo, learning of an ugly man, mercy of an ascetic ; so is conjugal fidelity the beauty of a woman ."^ Arab. — An immodest woman is food without salt, Luke 14. 34- . China. — Modesty is woman's courage. Bussian. — The man is the head of the woman, but she rules him by her temper. Bussian. — The wife does not beat the husband, but her temper rules him. Japan. — When the hen crows the house goes to ruin. China. — A bustling woman and crowing hen, Are neither fit for gods nor men. China. — Silence and blushing are the eloquence of a woman. Tit. 3. 3. Fersian. — If you be a cock, crow ; if a hen, lay eggs. JRussian. — It never goes well when the hen crows. Bussian. — The hen is not a cock, nor is a woman a man, Prov. 31. 10-31. Bussian. — A woman's praise is in her household. Kural, — Of what avail are prisons barred, Their chastity is women's guard. Malay. — A whole herd of buffaloes might be shut up in a pen, There is one thing not to be guarded — a woman. Turh. — Long hair, little brain, i Tim. 2. 9. Patient as the Husbandman. — Jas. 5. 7. Turlc. — The tree falls not at a single stroke. Turk, — Patience is the key to joy. Turk, — We mount the ladder step by step, * The English proverbs are — Beauty is but skin deep ; is but dross if honesty be lost. 54 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Turk. — Bj patience grape juice becomes wine and the mulberry leaf satin. Turlc. — With zeal and patience the mouse pierces a plank. Turh. — We always make advance, says the tortoise — i.e., slow, but sure. Arab. — Many locks are opened by patience. Arab. — The noisy cat catches nothing. Arab. — It may be a fire, to-morrow it will be ashes. JPersian. — Patience is a tree whose root is bitter, but its fruit very sweet. Bengal. — Pull the ear, the head follows. Bengal. — Having a firm hold on all sides, mount the horse. Bussian. — The dog barks, the wind carries it away. Afghan. — When a stone is stirred in filth the stench increases. Malabar. — By running in the boat, do we come to land ? Tamul.— W\\\ the barking dog catch game ? Malay. — Hillocks even are filled up by white ants. Tamul, — If a cloth be spread on a thorn-bush, it must be taken ofi" with great care, Prov. 19. 2. Arab.— A. poor man without patience is a lamp without oil. Sanskrit. — A jar is gradually filled by the falling of water-^ drops. Cast not Pearls before Swine. — Matt. 7, 6. Tamul. — Like reading a portion of the Yeda to a cow about to gore you. Telugu. — ^A garland of flowers in a monkey's paw. Japan. — Grold coins to a cat. Tamul. — Though religious instruction be whispered into the ear of an ass, nothing will come of it but the accustomed braying. Arab. — He who brings up the young of a snake will only get stung. Bersian. — It is folly to give comfits to a cow, Luke 7. 32. Veman. — If an unlucky fool should even find the philoso- pher's stone, it would never remain in his hands, but vanish ; it would melt away like the hail- stones that come with the rain, Prov. 12. 27. Veman. — Though you anoint an ass all over with perfumes, it feels not your fondness, but will turn again and kick you, Mat. 7. 6\ Prov. 27. 22. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 55 Telugu. — What can a pig do with a rose-bottle ? Sanskrit. — Beneficence shown to the mean is writing on the sand. Perfection. — Ps. 119. 96. The more holy a man is, the more sensible he is of his unholiness. China. — There are two good men : one dead, the other unborn. Arab. — Only the grave-clothes change the physical nature. I*ersian. — Sweetmeats without smoke. Telugu. — The fire-place takes the crookedness out of the stick — i.e. J the funeral pyre alone takes away men's evil qualities. Tamul. — Even an elephant may slip. Persian. — Where is the person who has not soiled his garments ? Breton. — Who wishes a horse without defects ought to go on foot. Turk. — Who seeks a friend without a fault remains with- out one. Aral. — A good horse will stumble, a good knife will be blunted. Bengal. — Ink spots may be removed by washing ; natural disposition only by death. Japan. — The teeth sometimes bite the tongue — i.e., the best friends will sometimes fall out. China. — There are straight trees on the mountains ; no straight men in the world. Sin as a Poisonous Serpent. — Ps. 58. 4, 5. The poison of serpents is like sin in five points : — 1 . Inflames ; so the fire of passion. 2. Spreads very quickly ; there are Indian cobras whose poison kills in twenty minutes — like lightning the poison goes through the body. Adam's sin has spread through the world. 3. Small in the beginning, the wound of the cobra scarcely visible, as the Bengali proverb — " It goes in a 56 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS needle, comes out a ploughshare." Eve ate an apple, but it poisoned the whole human race. 4. Bite not painful, but the effect deadly, Deut. 32. 33; Job 20. 12 ; so the pleasures of sin for a season. 5. The serpent has a heautifid skin — such was Absalom, beautiful but disobedient to his father David ; he raised a rebellion against him. 2 Sam. 15. 6. Telugu. — A year to a potter and a day to a cudgel, Eom. 5. '13. Man as Clay ; God as the Potter.— Isa. 64. 8. The nations before God compared to the drop of a bucket^ Isa. 40. i 5 ; to the small dust of the balance, Isa. 40. 15. All things made on earth are frail, and easily broken : and though they are finely figured, painted, and gilded like porcelain, they are but earth still, and a fall destroys them. Man comes from the hands of the Maker, as clay from the hand of the potter ; and is called a vessel, because he has capacity to hold either good or evil, a vessel of wrath or a vessel of destruction. Paul is called a chosen vessel, and the wife the weaker vessel. We are as clay in God's hands, and formed of the dust ; He had the most absolute right to form us as vessels to honour or to dishonour, and to endue us with powers of mind and body of such extent, capacity, and efficiency, as might seem good unto Him. He had a right to deter- mine the duration and conditions of our being, to appoint the bounds of our habitations, and all the circumstances on which our happiness and welfare in any degree depend. He was pleased to create man in his own image as a vessel unto honour ; a little lower indeed than the angels, but still endued with noble faculties, and crowned with dominion over the beasts of the field ; when man " marred" this Divine image and beauty by his own sinful folly. God had the most absolute right either at once to "dash ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, $7 him in pieces as a potter's vessel," or to continue his existence, and appoint him a new probation, on such con- ditions as he might see fit to enjoin, with whatever advantages or disadvantages he might be pleased to assign ; man is like the moth which, flying at the candle, only- gets burnt. Persian. — The titmouse holds up its feet that the sky might not fall upon it. Telugu. — Like a grasshopper jumping into the fire — i.e., to try to extinguish it. Hussian. — The earthen pot cannot contend with the brass one. China. — On the %gg combating with the stone, the yolk came out. Persian. — The breath of the gnat will not put out the sun. Oujerat. — Biting a stone breaks the teeth. JBengal. — Who has made the thorn so sharp ? — i.e., a man's abilities are from God. Bengal. — "When one spits at the moon it falls back on one's self. China. — To run against a nail, Acts 9. 5. Bengal. — The tailless ox pushing at the elephant. Prudence. — Matt. id. 16. Noah showed foresight in building the ark, Heb. 4. 7 ; Pharaoh's servants, Exod. 9. 20, 21; so do the stork and ant, Jer. ^. y. Aral. — The chameleon does not leave one tree until he has secured the other. Bussian. — Measure your cloth ten times, you can cut but once. ^Chanak. — ^A wise man moves with one foot, stands fast with the other, and does not quit the station he occupies without well considering that which he intends to go. Arah. — If thou canst not take things by the head, then take them by the tail. Bussian. — A good fox has three holes. Malabar. — Before you leap, look at the ground, Prov. 22. 3. 58 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS African. — No one measures the river with both his feet. Arab. — The servant, deceived by the cold of the morning, provided no water for the heat of the day. Sanshrit. — A king perceives by his ears ; the learned by their intellect ; a beast by scent ; and fools by the past. Afghan. — Though your enemy be a rope of sand, call him- a serpent — i.e.^ do not despise an enemy. 'Bengal. — Who sets the weir betimes, eats plenty of fish. Gujerat. — A straight finger scoops not out clarified butter. Turh. — Speak not of stones to a fool lest he cast them at thy head. Tamul. — Ants before rain carry their eggs to a higher place. Turh. — Approach not bees without having thy head covered. Sanskrit. — Fools learn only by the past — i.e., experience is a dear school. Punctuality, or Work while it is Day.— John 9. 4. See the parable of the Foolish Virgins, who found the door shut. The coming of the Bridegroom surprised the wise virgins or bridesmaids with joy, the foolish with terror. Jeremiah {^.7) reproves the people for not using their opportunities ; he recommends them to be like the swallow and stork, who prepare at a suitable moment to leave a wintry climate for sunlit lands ; not like the ostrich, who when pursued hides its head between its legs, fancying, because he does not see the danger there will be none. Time and tide wait for no man. Mat. 25. 10. JPersian. — A poor man waited 1,000 years before the gate of Paradise ; then, while he snatched one little nap, it opened and shut. I^ersian. — The stream which has passed down does not come back to its former channel. Arah. — Pour things cannot he brought back — a word spoken, an arrow discharged, the Divine decree, and past time. Arah. — Occasions, like clouds, pass away. Arah. — It is little use to hammer cold iron. Bengal. — Having drunk the water, he asks the caste of the giver. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 59 China. — It is little use to light a fire when the breeze is blowing. Talmud. — The owl and the hen waited together for the morning: " The light is of use to me," said the hen ;. . "but of what use is it to you?" I Theas. 5. 5. God's Influence as Rain on the Mown Grass. — Ps. 72. 6. The heart of man is often compared to the hard ground y. which must be ploughed or softened before it can either receive the good seed, or can bring forth such crops as the sower looks for in their season ; it is sometimes called a " stony heart ;" and the doctrine is then spoken of as " a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces ;" or " a two-edged^ sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow." God's gentler influence is alluded to when it is likened to rain or dew ; more gentle, but not less powerful, than when it acts as a sword, or " as a firel' or as a hammer, or as the rain of God's fury on the wicked. Job, 20. 23. The ground is sometimes so hard and parched in sum- mer in tropical countries that it might almost be taken for rockj and can be broken only by the most violent effort ; yet, when " a gracious rain" is sent upon it, by degrees the hardness gives way, and it is again such as to receive into its bosom the seeds which shall bear fruit in due season. And thus has many and many a heart, which seemed " as hard as a piece of the nether millstone," been softened and penetrated by the heavenly doctrine in due time. Job 23. 16. Eain deserves to be called a present from heaven. As the consequences of a continued drought would be fatal to us, as seen in India, so the advantages which the re- freshing showers afford are equally precious. The heat of the sun acts without interruption on the different bodies on earth, and continually draws thin particles from them, which fill the atmosphere in the form of vapours. We should breathe those dangerous exhalations with the ^o EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS air, if now and then tliey were not carried off by the rain, which precipitates them upon the earth, and thus clears and 'purifies the air. The rain is not less useful in mode- rating the burning heat of the atmosphere, as we see in the rainy season in India, Isa. 44. 3, when the rain falls from a higher region, and brings to the lower a refreshing coolness, of which we always feel the agreeable effects when it has rained. It is also to the rain we must partly attribute the origin of fountains, wells, lakes, brooks, and consequently rivers such as the Amazon of America, 180 miles wide at its mouth. We are supplied in abundance with those sources of water in the wet and rainy seasons, whereas they evaporate during a long drought. The earth and vegetables languish for want of these fruitful showers, without which everything would perish, for rain is in many respects the food of vegetables; it circulates in their finer veins, and in the vessels of plants and trees, and conveys to them those beneficial juices which pre- serve their life' and give them growth. When it pours on mountains, it sweeps from them a soft, rich, and fruit- ful earth, which it deposits in* the valleys where it falls, and which it fertilizes. The valleys of the Ganges and Nile have been thus formed. Among the Egyptians the prophet carried in his hand a pitcher, as a symbol of his dispensing the water of learning. In the Lalita Vistara it is said that Sakhya Muni "will render calm and cool by the rain of the law those who are devoured by the fire of envy and passion." God's influence like rain in four 'points : — 1. Sometimes comes irresistiUg, Isa. 60. 10, 11. 2. Varies — sometimes in torrents, at other times in showers. The feast of Pentecost, when 3,000 were con- verted, was a torrent. Lydia's case was the gentle shower. Acts 16. 14; so was Timothy's case. 3. Falls in drops in succession ; so line upon line, Isa. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 6i 28. 10. Men, like narrow-mouthed vessels, cannot receive much at a time. 4. At God's 'pleasure. In some countries the rain falls in torrents ; in Egypt scarcely any falls. Redeeming the Time.— Eph. 5. 16. The text treats of laying up time as a thing of value, such as the dying, who know the preciousness of time ; there is only one building eternal, 2 Cor. 5. i. Solo- mon says, Eccles. 3. 3-7, there is a time to break down, such as happened to the walls of Jerusalem, 2 Kings 25. 4-15; there is a time to cast away stones, as in building memorials. Gen. 30., Jos. 4. 1-9; so Paul threw things overboard in the shipwreck. Acts 27. 38. The English say, " Time and tide wait for no man ;" the Bengalis say, " When the rice rises in the pot, quick, quick, quick ;" in hell they know the worth of time ; the sinner's to-morrow will never come ; Jerusalem had its time, but it knew it not, Luke 19. 42 ; a Jewish rabbi, asked when a man should repent, said one day before his death. Christ came in the fulness of time, Gal. 4. 4 ; and our times are in God's hands, Ps. 31. 15. Time brings changes ; thus one man who in the morning was worshipped, in the evening was hung up as food for crows, Esth. 7. i— 10; one great king became mad, Dan. 4.32; see the fate of a king in the midst of a feast, Dan. 5. 30. Arab. — Opportunities pass away like clouds. Persian. — The arrow, once shot, never returns to the bow% Eccles. II. 3. Mussian. — Summer never comes twice in a year. Arah. — The best teacher is time. Sanskrit. — Hepairing the tank after the water had escaped. Sparing the Rod, hating his Son. — Peov. 13. 24. Sweet honey is sucked out of the bitterest herbs; -62 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS scouring makes a vessel shine the brightest ; so with punishment. Eli neglected to restrain his sons, i Sam. 3. 13; this proved their ruin, i Sam. 4. 11. Such apparent kindness was cruelty. David did not restrain Absalom, 2 Sam. 14. 25, and it led to his ruin, I Kings 12. The best horse needs breaking, so the best child restraining. bengal. — Sand sharpens a knife, a stone an axe, good words a good man ; so a thrashing does a rogue. Talmud. — A word is enough for a wise man, a stick for a fool. — So in Arabic. Tehigu. — An iron ladle for a stone pot. Afghan. — The porcupine says, my soft httle son, softer than butter. The crow says, O my son, whiter than muslin. Afghan. — The ungrateful son is a wart on his father's face. To leave it is a blemish : to cut it a pain. Illustrate Eli's sparing the rod by an Afghan proverb ? The Root of all Evil is the Love of Money.— i Tim. 6. 10. St. Paul calls covetousness idolatry, Eph. 5. 5 ; covet- ousness imphes distrust of God, Luke 12. 29; we are to ask only for our daily bread. Mat. 6. 34 ; hasting to be rich leads to wrong means, as with Judas, Balaam, Ahab, Ananias, Simon Magus ; their root of money-love spreads like the banyan, its branches very wide in discontent and carelessness of the poor. (See the parable of the Unjust Steward and Eich Worldling, Luke 12. 15-21.) Christ said, " Ye cannot serve God and Mammon ;" or, as the Bengalis have it — " One foot on land, the other on water." The ostrich cannot fly high because of its wings ; and Jacob with his flock had to travel slowly. Gen. 33. 13. He is not rich who possesses much, but wdio desires little ; the evil lies not in the mere acquisition of money — thus Abraham, the father of the faithful, was wealthy. Gen. 1 3 . 2 ; so was David, the man after God's own heart. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 63 I Cliron. 28. 10; 29. I- 1 6. Theirs was not filthy lucre, 'Tit. I. 7. TurTc, — The stomach of the covetous is satisfied ; his eye never. Malabar. — Money is the hatchet to separate pleasant friends. Arah. — The gaping mouth of covetousness is not filled except by the earth of the grave, Ps. 146. 4. Arab. — Covetousness is the punishment of the rich ; a rich miser is poorer than a poor man. Arab. — Kiches are the fomenters of desire ; the thirst after wealth is more vehement than after water. Arah, — Covetousness has for its mother unlawful desires, for its daughter injustice, for its companion vileness. TurTc. — To ask bounty from a covetous man is to dig a trench in the sea. Syrian. — Like the monkey's fat, which does not melt or soften. Kurd. — The camel carries sugar, yet eats thorns. Telugu. — Avarice knows not shame ; sleep (of the covetous) knows not comfort. Persian. — The miser has locked up the gate of heaven. MaJiabJiarat. — The bolt of the door of heaven is made by covetousness. Persian. — Fat does not come from a stone — i.e., the miser is stony-hearted. Bengal. — An ox carrying sugar — i.e., a miser enjoying not what he has. bengal. — Even iron swims for gain; from covetousness came sin, from sin death. Persian. — A man attempted to swim with a load of iron on his back, Hab. 2. 6. Afghan. — Though the river be large, it is on the dog's tongue — i.e., misers have much, but can spend little on themselves. Afghan. — "Wealth is his who eats it (enjoys), not his who keeps it. Tamul. — Patient endurance is the root of religious merit ; avarice the root of sin. Arab, — The thirst after gold is worse than the thirst after water. Sanskrit. — Man is the slave of money. 64 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Rottenness of the Bones in Envy.— Peov. 14. 30. If tlie bones, the mainstay of the system, be rotten, the whole body becomes sick — a slow and torturing death takes place ; so envy is the soul's rottenness. Envy converts the happiness of which it is the witness into wormwood and gall for its own cup, and transforms the honey of another man's comfort into the poison of asps for its own bosom : it is an instrument of self-torment — a burning ulceration of the soul — a crime which, par- taking of the guilt, partakes as largely of the misery of hell. Gain, the first murderer, slew his brother at the instigation of this vice. Gen. 4. 4 ; ^aiil, under the influ- ence of envy, plotted for years the slaughter of David, I Sam. 18. Ahab, the king of Israel, pined for the vine- yard of Naboth, and shed his blood to gain it, i Kings 21.; it was envy that perpetrated that most atrocious crime on which the sun refused to look, and at which Nature gave signs of abhorrence by the rending of the rocks — the cruci- fixion of Christ, Mat. 27, 18. The envious man is a man of the worst diet, for he consumes himself, and delights in pining : a thorn-hedge covered with nettles ; a peevish interpreter of good things ; and no other than a lean and pale carcase, quickened with a fiend. Envy is painful to ourselves, and injurious as rust is to iron or the moth to cloth ; therefore called " the rottenness of the bones." It arises from pride, and is carried out in covetousness and evil desire, ending in discontent. Envy is discontentedness at another man's good and pros- perous estate, holiness, esteem, renown, and ability. In carnal things it is sordid, in higher things it is devilish. In the one we partake with the beasts, who ravenously seek to take the prey from one another ; in the other with the devils and evil angels, who, being fallen from happi- ness, now malign and envy those that enjoy it. St. James 3. 14, calls it " hitter envying," to distinguish it from that holy emulation which makes us strive who shall excel ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 65 each other in the ways of godliness ; as also from true zeal for God's glory. It proceeds from the overflow of gall and choler, that root of bitterness that is in the heart ; it is bitter to ourselves and others, it makes us unpleasant to those with whom we converse ; and though it be sweet for the present, yet, when conscience is opened, and we taste the fruits of it, it proves bitterness in the issue. Envy is but a cockatrice ^gg, that soon brings forth strife. The world had an early experience of it. Satan envied Adam and Eve. Pride the first sin in Adam ; envy the second in Cain. There was envy between Abraham and Lot's herdsmen, Gen. 13. 7, then Joseph's brethren envied him, and conspired to slay him. Gen. 37. 4. So in Saul and David's case, i Sam. 18. 9. Bengal. — In seeing another's wealth, it is not good to have- the eyes smart. Gulistan. — I can avoid injuring the mind of any one, but what shall I do to the envious man who carrieth the injury in his own breast ? Die, thou envious wretch, since thou canst not be cured of the disease under which thou labourest, but by death. Arab. — Envy is a raging fever ; envy has no rest ; the wise- no poverty. TurTc. — No mountain without mist ; no man of merit with- out detractors. Oriental. — Virtue is always exposed to envy ; we cast not stones at a barren tree. Afghan. — The horses were shoeing themselves, the frogs held up their feet — i.e., to be shoed also. Tamul. — An enemy's envy is his own punishment. Tamul. — Envy thou not the glory of a sinner. Tamul. — Thou knowest not what shall be his end, Prov, 24. 20. Japan. — Lepers envious of those with sores. JEEelrew. — The ear of jealousy heareth all things. Hebrew. — Envy and wrath shorten the life. Hebrew, — Carefulness brings age before the time. Hebrew. — The envious man has a wicked eye. 66 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Hypocrites' Hope a Rush in the Mire.— Job 8. 11-15. The Tehigus compare visionary hopes to a bag of money seen in a looking-glass. The rush springs out of the mire, and its growth is as rapid as its greenness is bright " before the sun ;" while the bed in which it grows is filled with the season rains, it flaunts itself as if in scorn of the more valuable blade in the neighbour- ing furrow, and gains more notice from the uninstructed eye, yet it is always a worthless plant, and as soon as the torrent is dried up by the heat of summer, it withers in a day ; so the rich fool's hopes of long life, Luke 1 2. 16-20. So Goliath's head was cut off with the very sword he hoped to kill David with, i Sam. 17. 44-51. Hypocrites are Whited Sepulchres. — Mat. 23. 27. Sepulchres were beautiful without, loathsome within; hence they were away from cities, as those who touched the dead were accounted polluted. Hypocrites likened, Luke 1 1 . 44, to (/raves that appear not, because covered with grass and weeds — their throat an open sepulchre, Ps. 5. 9. Paul called Ananias a loliited wall, Acts 23. 3. These hypocrites worshipped God with their lips, while their hearts were far from him. Mat. 15. 8, and by their extortions they devoured widows' houses. Mat. 23. 14. Cain was a hypocrite in worshipping God without sacrifice and pretending not to know where his brother was when he had killed him. Gen. 4. 9 ; so Judas when he kissed Christ after he had betrayed him for 30 pieces of^silver. Mat. 26. 49. Chanah. — A friend who injures your business in your absence, but speaks smoothly when you are present, should be shamed as a bowl of poison with milk on its surface. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 67 bengal. — The heron is (in appearance) a saint as lonj as thejlsh is not in sight. JBengal. — The female devotee pretends not to eat Jish, hut there are three on her leaf. The Righteous the Salt of the Earth.— Mat. 5. 13, The righteous like salt in three '■points : — Salt is remarkable for its own peculiar savour, by wliicli its presence in any substance with which it can* unite itself is at once detected ; spreading itself through any thing with which it is thus mixed, it imparts its own quality of saltness to the previous taste or savour. It has also the quality of preserving from corruption, even for a number of years, many substances that would other- wise perish ; hence it is an emblem of what is enduring or perpetual. God appointed that salt should be used in all the sacrifices offered to him : salt was the opposite to leaven, for it preserved from putrefaction and corruption, and -signified the purity and persevering fidelity that are necessary in the worship of God. Every thing was seasoned with it to signify the purity and perfection that should be extended through every part of the divine service, and through the hearts and lives of God's worshippers. It was called "the salt of the covenant of God," because, as salt is incorruptible, so were the covenant and promise of Jehovah. Among the heathens salt was a common ingredient in all their sacrificial offer- ings ; and as it was considered essential to the comfort and preservation of life, and an emblem of the most perfect corporeal and mental endowments, so it was supposed to be one of the most acceptable presents they could make unto their gods, from whose sacrifices it was never absent. Salt is the symbol of luisdom, Col. 4. 6 ; of perpetuity F 2 68 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS and incorruption, Numb. 1 8. 19; 2 Chron. 13. 5, 4; of hospitality, and of that fidelity wliicli is due from ser- vants, friends, guests, and domestics, to those that entertain them, and receive them at their tables : it is used in this sense, Ezra 4. 14, where maintenance ;fronv the kings taUe means salted loith the salt of the palace,. In Eussia at the present day when the Emperor visits- any of his subjects, bread and salt are presented to him as an emblem of hospitality. A little salt seasons much meat, and prevents its perishing ; so Lot w^as the salt of Sodom, and had there been ten righteous persons in it, the city would have been preserved. Gen. 18. 32. Salt preserves the human body from worms, so the righteous save society from corruption. Hebrew. — Alms are the salt of riches. Badaga. — If the curry is without savour, you can put salt into it ; but if the salt has lost its savour, with what can it be seasoned? Mat. 5. 13. Our Days on Earth a Shadow.— Job 8. 9. Gotthold compares time to an image in the water easily broken ; yet 'the shadow gives shelter for a time, as Jonah found at Mneveh under the gourd, 4. 6. Life like a shadow has little suhstance, is fleeting ; it is com- pared in Job 8. 1 1, to a o^ush springing up in the mud,, and drying up before the influence of the sun. Afghan. — As the sun's shadow shifts, so there is no per- manence ou earth. Bengal. — A service fleeting as the palm tree's shade or the cloud's shadow. Bengal. — There is no hand to catch time. Sanskrit. — Time is stronger than all things else. God a Shepherd. — Ps. 23. i. God a sliepherd in seven points : — The shepherd knov:s his sheep, so as to be able to dis- ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 69 tinguish them individually, John 10. 14. Their number, names, place, character, and condition. " I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep." He provides for them. The shepherd jprotects them, and for this purpose he is usually provided with a staff or rod, a sling, and if need be 'with a sword or spear ; so David, i Sam. 1 7. 40. He leads them often in a barren wilderness with no paths or water, surrounded by wild beasts ; so God guides his people by his Providence, Word, and Spirit. " I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight." " He leadeth me," says the Psalmist, " in the paths of righteousness" in •an even and quiet path, in opposition to a path among thorns and stones and cliffs. When exposed to the scorching heat of the sun, or when weary and exhausted, he conducts them to some shady place where he " causes them to rest at noon." By " noon is meant " " fiery trial," whether arising from temptation, affliction, or per- secution, or all together. The lamhs are the objects of his special care and affection, when they become tired, or come to some difficult part in the track, which they can- not get over, the shepherd may be seen " gathering them in his arms," and even " carrying them in his bosom." Christ said, " Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them," Mark 10. 14-16. Hence also his charge to Peter, "Feed my lambs," John 21. 15. He numbers them when they return to the fold to see that none be missing, and if there be an under-shepherd, that he may account to the owner for the sheep committed to his trust and care. When the flocks are large and numerous, and several shepherds are required, 07ie is ap- pointed over the rest as the chief shepherd. He restores the sheep that has strayed, and goes after that which is lost until he finds it. God, as a shepherd, has an immense flock all over the world ; gives them peculiar food ; a,lways abides. Believers are sheep, easily scattered when. 70 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS away from the slieplierd, as were the Jews l3y the- Babylonians. Mahratta. — An herdsman, with his staff in his hand, guides and protects his cattle. Will not God, with the staiF of correction, guide and protect man ? China. — When heaven rears a man, he grows very fat. AVhen men rear one, he is but skin and bone. Te'lugu. — Will he who plants the tree not water it ? Modern Greek. — Appointing the wolf a shepherd. I'ersian. — The sheep are not designed for the shepherd^ but the shepherd for the service of the sheep. TJrdio. — Put ants and dogs to guard sweetmeats. Mussian. — The shepherd shears the sheep but does not flay them. Sowing to the Flesh Reaping Corruption. — Gal. 6. 8. The principles of ruin are in ourselves, like the iron which breeds rust, or like filthy garments which j)roduce moths, or ill-humours in the body causing a fever. The husbandman's labours are often blasted, not so those of the righteous ; God will not forget the labour of love, Heb. 6. lo. Husbandmen have to reap every year, the righteous all at once. Adonizebeh was paid in his own coin, Judg. i. / ; Ahah's blood was licked up by the dogs ; and Haman was hung on his own gallows, Esth. /. i o. David sowed adultery, reaped the sword, 2 Sam. 12.9, 1 1 ; Joseph's brethren sowed envy. Gen. 42. 21; Judas sowed coveteousness,, reaped a halter. Matt. 27. 5. The Buddhists of Ceylon say — " If any one speak or^ act from a corrupt mind, suffering will follow the action, as the wheel follows the lifted foot of the ox.'-' An English proverb — " He has made his bed, and he must lie in it," Job 4.8; they that plough iniquity reap the same,, they sowing the wind reap the whirlwind, Hos. 8. 7. The. Persians say, " He that plants thorns shall he not gather roses; the field of wrong brings forth death as its fruits,, ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 71 Prov. 5. 22 ; lie is liolden with the cords of his own sin so fire in his lips, Prov. 16. 27 ; Job 5.2. Burma. — Suffering is the necessary consequence of sin, just as when you eat a sour fruit a stomach complaint ensues. Bengal. — Put your hand in the fire, whether willingly or no, you will get burnt. Shanti Shatak. — To wherever you roam in sky or ocean, yet your actions from birth up will follow you before the Judge as the shadow the substance. Telugu. — A man's shadow remains near himself. Telugu. — If you expect much fruit from few offerings, will it be obtained ? Bengal. — Prom the jack do you get the mango juice ? Bengal. — " As the sin, so the atonement." Bengal. — " The ant's wings produce its own death.'* Bane. — Whoever will eat the kernel must crack the nut. Malabar. — When any one has learnt to steal, he must also learn hanging. Talmud. — The crow brought fire into the nest ; it warmed him, but it burnt the nest. TarJc. — Those who sow thorns can only reap prickles. Bersian. — He that plants thorns shall not gather roses. China. — Ivory does not come out of the rat's mouth. Mussian. — It is not necessary to sow fools, they grow of themselves. Grod is not in haste, but His aim is sure. The Hypocrites' Hope a Spider's Web.— Job 8. 14. The Italians, to express the community of goods between true friends, say they tie their purses with a spider's web — i.e., easily broken. The spider weaves its web out of its own bowels, and with wonderful skill prepares a network which far sur- passes the most curious product of human workmanship, even the Kashmir shawl in the regularity and fineness of its texture. The spider succeeds in fixing himself even in the mansions of the great, and clings tenaciously to 72 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS the haunt or home which she has chosen. Pro v. 30. 28. Her web is admirably woven for the purpose which she has in view ; and such insects, as are incautiously entangled in it, become an easy prey. Yet is it also so frail and slight that a breath might rend it ; and at last it is brushed away in a moment by the meanest servant of the house, the sweeper. So the hypocrite's hope is spun out of his own fancies, as the spider's web out of her own bowels ; and it consists either in a groundless con- ceit of his own merits, or in an equally erroneous notion of God's character. The spider when he suspects his web — here called his house — to be frail or unsure, leans upon it in different parts, propping himself on his hinder legs, and pulling with his fore-claws, to see if all be safe. If he find any part of it injured, he immediately adds new cordage to that part, and attaches it strongly to the wall. Wlien he finds all safe and strong, he retires into his hole at one corner, and supposes himself to be in a state of complete security ; the web looks very beautiful in sunshine, in a moment, however, any accident, to say nothing of a dirty broom, sweeps away himself and his house. 'Bengal. — Trust to the cat, and the buttermilk on the shelf. Arab. — More faithful than the earth — i.e.^ which renders all things deposited in it. Tamul. — Will they let a bug escape because it did not bite ? Japan — A key to a thief. Welsh. — To pawn a piece of flesh with a cat. Bengal. — Dancing on an unbaked water vessel. Talmud. — Be very humble ; the hopes of men are worms. Oriental. — More disappointing than the fire of a glow- worm. The Lord the Stay of the Righteous.— 2 Sam. 22. 19. A house or wall is tottering, a beam of wind stays it up, such are the ropes to a ship, so creeping plants, unable to stand upright, cling by their tendrils to some ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 73 stick which becomes their stay ; similarly the soul clings to God by the tendrils of faith. The Nick of Time Taught by the Stork.— Jer. 8. 7. In many countries the storks and many birds are not able to stand the winter ; on its approach they congregate and depart in a body for the sunlit lands, returning in the spring, so do the crane and swallow. Men know the signs of the weather, and when it is time to start on a journey ; but when the shadows of life's evening are coming, people do not see the signs of death's approach, Hos. 7. 9. The Italians- say, " time is an inaudible file," which destroys gradually without its being noticed. Christ reproached the people, that though knowing the •signs of bad weather, they did not know the drift of spiritual things, Mat. 1 6. 3 ; so God in Jeremiah reproaches the people for not, like the birds, looking into the future ; the wicked are like the ostrich, which, when pursued, hides its head between its legs, fancying because it does not see the coming danger that it will not ensue. The Sting of Death is Sin. — i Coe. 15. 56. There are various stings — those of an asp, a bee, a nettle, a wasp ; all, however, infuse poison quietly and sharply, and give pain. The devil is the old serpent, who injects the poison of his sting into afflictions and ■death, while Christ is the brazen serpent, by looking to Whom the wounds are healed. No sting of death was felt by David, 2 Sam. 23. 5 ; by Joseph, Gjen. 50 ; by Jacob, Gen. 49. 1 8. There is, however, a love stronger than death, and death may buzz about our ears, but it has lost its sting. Is. 25, 8. Bengal, — The commision of sin produces the fear of death. 74 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The Sinner's Heart Stony.— -Ezee. 2,'^. 26. The heart of the vAched is like a stone in four ^points : — 1. Hard, yields not to a blow, hence Job 41. 1—34,, refers to the heart of the crocodile, hard as the nether millstone ; arrows and spears are as stubble to him, they will not enter — such were St€{phen's murderers. Acts 7. 57. There are stones in India on which the rains and winds- have been beating for many thousand years, yet they are not worn, while the instruments used to break these stones are often broken themselves, Luke 4. 29. The seed that falls on stony soil springs not up, as there is no- moisture in a stone. 2. Senseless, no feeling, Eph. 4. 19 ; the wicked go as- an ox to the slaughter, feeling no danger of their lives ; they have no shame, but a brow of brass. Is. 48. 4. 3. Heavy. — The thoughts of the wicked are not up to- heavenly things, but down to the earthly ; their God is their belly; they are of the earth, earthy, i Cor. 15. 47, 3. iVb motion, therefore no life. 4. Cold, as being without life. But God's hammer, his word, Jer. 23. 29, breaks the rock in pieces, and gives a heart of flesh, such as Paul had, who from a persecutor became a preacher of Chris- tianity ; so the hardened jailor when he became softened, he began to cry out, Acts 16. 30. This hammer fastens conviction as a nail in a sure place. Is. 22. 23. It softens, and smashes the hardest rock. Persian. — A drop of rain makes no impression on a bard stone. Kurd. — Grass grows not under a stone. China. — The heart of the worthless is as unfixed and changeless as a mountain stream. Persian. — He tries to extract oil from the sand. Tamul. — The solemn thoughts of the funeral pyre last till. each one returns home. Tamul. — Even stones may be dissolved, the heart of a fool' not. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 75 He, Hastening with his Feet, Stumbles.— Peov. 19. 2. Turk. — Step by step we mount the ladder. Arah. — Patience is the key of joy, but haste is the key of sorrow. Telugu. — Why do you cry before you are beaten, he asked ; you are going to beat me in future, replied the boy. Afghan. — The Patau boy and his brother taking a short cut fell over the cliffs. Afghan, — He takes off his clothes before he reaches the water. China. — Silly birds fly first. Mussian, — Hurry is good only for catching flies. Sanskrit. — A small beginning is good. Sanskrit. — Debt, a sore, and a stain, will be effaced by time.. Sanskrit. — Slowly, slowly place the foot. The Swallow knows her Time, not so the Ignorant. — Jee. 7. 8. The swallow, like various other birds, is a bird of pas- sage. What was it that skimmed over the stream, where the ripples are so bright in the morning sunshine ? It was the first swallow of the returning spring. It has come back in its season — the spring and summer — nor will it leave again till the leaves, which in spring burst from their buds, are withered and falhng. When cold and winter are coming, the swallows often remain in a torpid state in the holes of walls or the banks of rivers. The swallow, like the Indian adjutant, is true to the divine law which concerns its return and its departure. It knows the time to come and the time to go, and neither loses the summer pleasantness by delaying its return, nor runs the risk of suffering from the winter frost by prolonging its stay too late. How many do not begin the work of sal- vation till summer is over, and the winter of life is well- nigh at hand ; when, if they work at all, they work with every disadvantage ! Kiiral. — The learned have eyes, the ignorant have merely two spots on the face. 76 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Slander is a Mall, a Sword, and a Sharp Arrow. Peov. 25. 18. The slanderer wounds three at once — himself, liim he speaks of, and him that hears. If we cannot stop other's mouths, let us stop our own ears. As soon as a person takes pleasure in hearing slander, he is to be ranked in the number of slanderers. By the approbation of evil we become guilty of it. The witnesses against Naboth showed that a false witness is, in some respects, as bad as a murderer, i Kings 21. 13. In the case of the two false witnesses against Christ the words were true, the evidence false; while they reported the words, they misreported the sense, and thus swore a true falsehood, and were truly foresworn, Mat. 26. 60, 61. So the witnesses against Stephen, Acts 6. 13, 14; Prov. 12. 17. In these last two instances it was not by direct falsehood, but by a partial statement of truth, that they involved themselves in the murder of the innocent ; such were the masters of the damsel possessed with a spirit of divination. Acts 16. 21. China. — Sitting alone, meditate on your own faults — i.e.., in conversation talk not of others. China. — The world's unfavourable view of your character and conduct is like the fleeting clouds from which the brightest day is not free. Bengal. — The mud sticks not to the back of a pankhal fish ; (which is smooth) ; so calumny with respect to an innocent person. False Sympathy. — Rom. 12. 15. Urdu. — One man's house is on fire, another warms himself by it. Aral). — He roasted his fish in the conflagration. Telugu. — "When the sheep cries will the wolf be grieved ? Telugu. — When one man cried that his beard was on fire, another followed him asking him for a light for his cigar. Telugu. — Is the bullock's sore tender to the cow ? ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 77 China. — He may sit in a tub of cold water, but it will not steam. Bengal. — Sprinkling salt on a new cut wound — sic Job's comforters, Job 16. 2. Polish. — The ox bores with his horns the wounds ; the woman with the tongue in her mouth. Tamul. — A word that lacks sympathy and a rafter that lacks a nail, are useless. Tamul. — It is said that the wolf wept because the sheep were wet. TiirJc. — If my beard is burnt, others try to light their pipe at it, Luke 10. 32. Temperance, or Self- Control.— Peov. 13, 28. jRussian. — It is not the sword that kills nor the wine that makes drunk. Turk. — The knife does not make the cook. China. — Who can govern himself is fit to govern the world. Kural. — As the hook guides the elephant, we should with the hook of firmness restrain our passions. Turlc. — The chimney never takes fire except from within. Mussian. — The nail is not guilty that the hammer beats it into the beam. Mahratta. — Man has five senses ; if any is not under control his reason will ooze out there as water out of a skin that is rent. Bussian. — Shut the door on the devil, but he will enter by the window. Afghan. — Though the food was another's, the stomach was your own — i.e., over-eating not the fault of the food. Tamul. — Why blame the arrow, the archer going free ? Tamul. — No one cuts ofl" the hand because it has struck the eye. Mahdhhdrat. — The gods do not, like cattle herds, guard men by carrying clubs ; but they endow with under- standing him they wish to preserve. Mahratta. — Man's body is a chariot, the charioteer is him- self, and his passions are the horses ; if the latter are well managed all goes well. 78 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Temptation. — i Coe. 5. 9, 10. Temptations to sin are represented in the Bible as •stumbling-blocks to trip up the unwary ; as the wiles of ihe devil ; as thorns in the flesh ; as fiery darts ; as sent for sifting ; while we are to flee from sin as from the face of a serpent. Afghan. — Shoes are tested on the feet ; a man on trial. TurTc. — If you wish to keep company with a wolf have the dog near. JBTiagavatgita . — He who, as the tortoise does with its limbs, Withdraw^s the senses from the sensual objects everywhere, His wisdom is confirmed. China. — One dressed in clothes made of leaves going to put out a fire is in danger. €hina. — It is not beauty that beguiles men ; men beguile themselves. China. — Leisure breeds lasciviousness. JRussian. — ^. The priest comes to us by the trodden path ; The devil comes to us by crossing the fields — i.e., temptation comes from unexpected quarters. Gruilty is the wolf that has eaten the sheep } Not guiltless is the sheep that strays into the woods — i.e., we must be on our guard, however, not to go into his path. Turk. — The heart is a child, it desires what it sees. IktrJc. — The devil tempts man, but the idle man tempts the devil. Aral. — Where the eye does not see the heart does not grieve. Telugu. — 'J3y experience we learn our weakness. Telugu. — A man will not build a hut until he has been drenched, nor stoop until he has hit his head. Veman. — The crocodile in water can destroy an elephant ; The crocodile out of water is destroyed by a dog — i.e., go not on the devil's ground. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 79 Avoid Temptation.— Col. 2. 21. Arab. — Follow the voice of a dog, not of a jackal ; the one leads to the village, the other to the desert. If you do not want a fool's medicine, keep away from him. Afghan. — Who lives with a blacksmith will at last carry away burnt clothes. Afglian. — Have your ass tethered if you have a thief as your friend. Afglian. — A low friendship lights a fire on the forehead. Russian. — Do not tread, doggie, in a wolf's footsteps ; he will turn round and eat you. Russian. — Our eyes are our enemies. China. — Throwing on stubble to put out the fire. Tamul. — To roast a crab and set a fox to guard it. Telugu. — Without eating, you can't tell the taste j with- out going down into the water, you cannot tell the depth. China. — What the eye sees not, the heart is not vexed over. The well fed and well warmed indulge impure thoughts ; the pined and starved encourage thoughts of stealing. Afghan. — The bird sees the grain but not the snare. Japan. — The bird flying in the air troubles not the water. Telugu. — The fox offered his services for nothing — to guard the sheep. Urdu. — Can fish remain in a kite's nest ? Telugu. — Like ghi (melted butter) poured on fire. Veman Telugu. — A crocodile while swimming in water can destroy an elephant ; out of the stream it is dis- comfited easily by a dog. In the water a ship will float smoothly ; out of it it cannot crawl even a cubit. Malahar. — If you sit close to the mortar you will be struck by the pestle. Tamul. — Play not with snakes ; sic English " Play not with edged tools." Afghan. — When edged tools are used, blood flows. Persian. — Where there is much fire the elephant's foot slips. China. — Throw on stubble to put out the fire. Tu^rJc. — He who fears the fire shuns smoke. 8o EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Arab. — It is only a wise man who despises himself. It is only a fool that trusts his own judgment. Syriac. — If you wish to be a king become a wild ass — i.e., if you wdsh to be master of yourself withdraw from society as the wild asses do. The Body a Tent. 2 Cob. 5. 1-4. All men are but passengers and pilgrims through this world ; not real possessors of anything, but only tenants and occupiers in this transitory life. Some dwell in stately palaces ; and many more in poor cottages ; but all are born to the same mortality. If the poor man's hut drops into decay, he dies never the sooner ; and if the house of the rich is founded upon a rock, he lives never the longer. The holy patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, inha- bited no lofty cities, built no strongholds, but lived in tents or tabernacles, with which they removed from place to place, as God was pleased to order them, Heb. 1 1. 9 ; very remarkable in their case, in the land which God had promised to them for an inheritance : thereby signifying that they did not accept of the earthly land, but looked for a better country, that is, an heavenly. The children of Israel, journeying to Canaan, lived by encampments in a wilderness, removing their tents from place to place for forty years, and ending their days in that unsettled way of life. Even when the people were fixed in Canaan, good men still devoted themselves to live as sojourners and pilgrims ; thus the Bechabites, who renounced the pleasures and possessions of the world, dwelt in tents as their holy fathers had done before, Jer. 35. 7. Even God himself was pleased to partake of the condition of his people ; making himself even under the law, that stranger upon earth which he was to be afterwards under the Gospel as the place of his worship in the wilderness, and long afterwards, was not fixed as a house, but movable as a tent and a tabernacle ; and when Christ ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 8r the Word was made flesli lie is said to have tabernacled amongst us ; living as one who renounced this world and all its possessions ; more unprovided with house and land than the foxes of the earth or the birds of the air. The passage from this world to the other is much more easy to those who live in this manner. The man of the world,, who fixes his abode here, is violently torn away at his death, like the banyan tree pulled up by the roots, and has no prospect after it : but he who lives in a tent can easily remove. It was an act of faith in Abraham to dwell in taber- nacles in the land of promise as in a strange country. His practice in this respect was a perpetual confession that he regarded himself only as a stranger and traveller on the earth, and that " he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God," The feast of tabernacles was appointed to remind the children of Israel of the wanderings of their forefathers in the wilderness (when they dwelt in tents), and thus to suggest to them continually the same thought, that this life is only a pilgrimage, and that our true home is elsewhere, that we have here no continuing city, but seek one to come. The Jews even now live in tents or booths made of trees when this feast comes round. Tents were some- times placed on the house-tops, 2 Sam. 1 6. 22; some- times under trees. Gen. 18. 8. The Moguls lived often in tents, miles in circumference, which cost many lacs of rupees, being decorated with silk and gold ; still they were but tents, and exposed to being blown down by storm or consumed by fire. By faith the righteous continually regards the body as a tent or tabernacle, a frail and uncertain habitation,, suited to the condition of one who is only a traveller to his true home, offering no effectual protection against the many dangers to which he is exposed — a dwelling-place which may be struck or taken down in a moment, opened to heat or cold, rain or lightning. Peter (i Pet. i. 14) G 82 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS regarded the putting off his tabernacle as emancipation. This short life is the first steps of a ladder, the top of which, like Jacob's, is lost in the glories of heaven. Hebrew. — The corruptible body presseth down the soul ; The earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind. BJiagavatgita. — As men abandon old and threadbare clothes to put on others new ; So casts the embodied soul its worn-out frame to enter other forms. Telugu, — Though a vessel be broken a new one is easily procured. Is it, then, marvellous that after a man's death he should acquire a new body? 2 Cor. 5. 2. Bengal. — "When a cow dies, she is taken up and carried to the river. When a man dies they cover him up too, and do the same. TurJc. — The Tartar who lives in a city believes himself in prison. BrclodJi Chandroday. — Tou should consider the society of friends as a momentary flash of lightning. JShdnti SJiataJc. — Our place is like a terrible wilderness ; our body like a building with much fleshy lattice- work in it ; our earthly friends are like travellers whom we meet by chance and are soon separated from. Life a Vapour. — Jas. 4. 13, 14. The Lalita Vistara compares life to the view of a 'dance — to the lightning — to a torrent rushing from the mountain, — and so said Sakhya Muni, the Budhist, when tempted to remain in his father's palace. SJidnti ShataJc. — Human existence is like a bottomless gulph, and human life like the fleeting scum of its rolHng waves. MaJia Mudgar, — Life is quivering like a drop of water on a lotus-leaf. Flrdusi. — Look at the heavens, how they roll on. And look at man, how soon he's gone ; ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. Z3 A breath of wind and then no more — A world like this should man deplore. Bengal. — An employ the shadow of a cloud. The Wages of Sin is Death. — Eom. 6. 23. The wicked are said to be liolden with the cord of their own sins, Prov. 5.22; such was Saul : hence death to the wicked is called the king of terrors, Job 18. 14 ; it is likened to a wolf, Ps. 49. 14 ; a flood, Ps. 90. 5 ; dark- ness. Job 10. 22. God's punishment of sin or wages is compared to dashing in pieces like a potter's vessel ; treading down as the mire of the street or ashes ; grinding to powder ; melting as a snail ; gnashing of teeth. Even in this life the wages are — sickness, Deut. 28. 59 ; famine, Mat. 24. 7 ; war; fear. Job 18. 11. In the next it will be the blackness of darkness, 2 Peter 2. 1 7 ; the wine of God's wrath, Eev. 14. 10 ; everlasting contempt, Dan. 12. 2. The devil is a bad master ; his servants work hard, they are fed with husks in this life, Luke 15. 16. The pay of sin is sickness. Lev. 26. 16 ; famine, Lev. 26. 19; war. Lev. 26. 17. China. — Unjustly got wealth is snow sprinkled with hot water ; lands improperly obtained are but sand- banks in a stream. China. — "When the melon is ripe it will drop of itself. China. — The day will come when the tumour will be punctured. Urdu.— -The cow will speak in the thief's belly, Gen. 4. 10. Malay. — "When is it the ants die if not in sugar ? Providence a Wall of Fire to protect the Good. Zech. 2. 5. Babylon had walls 300 feet high and 70 feet thick, so that six carriages could drive abreast, yet the city was taken owing to the gates having been left open when the people were drunk. The walls of Gaur in Bengal were G 2 84. EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS 1 00 feet liigli. The walls of Jericlw were high, but they fell down at the command of God, Jos. 6. 20, who often destroys walls by earthquakes. Eastern shepherds and travellers, to protect themselves- and their flocks from wild beasts at night, make fires all around them, over which the most furious animals dare not pass, not even the tiger, — being afraid of lire. The righteous is travelling as a pilgrim through this world, a howling wilderness ; the devil is a dragon, and the wicked as lions are ready to devour him, but he sleeps secure, surrounded with God a Wall of Fire ; so the Jews walked through the Eed Sea, the waters stand- ing up on both sides as a wall, Ex. 14. 22. TurJc. — The nest of a blind bird is made by G-od. Bussian. — "Without God not to the threshold, with him- beyond the sea. Veman. — Just as a showman plays his puppets, while he lies hidden, so does the Deity, while he conceals. himself, admirably govern man. No Discharge in Death's Warfare.— Eccl. 8. 8. Death is a warfare in which the arrows of pain and fear are discharged, Eccles. 8. 8. The wicked are driven away by death, and all their joys end ; the righteous desire to depart, and all their sorrows end. Death is. abolished by taking away its sting — sin, 2 Tim. i. 10. Turlc. — Death is a black camel which kneels at every man's gate. Arab. — Caution secures not cowards against death ; it comes from the sky. TTrdu. — He who is prepared to die, what will he not attempt ? Arah. — When fate arrives the physician becomes a fool. Tamul. — The ocean is knee deep to him who is dying. Turh. — There are two things which no man fixedly regards, the sun and death. /Sanskrit. — All rivers go to the ocean. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 85 'Bengal. — The rain never streams up the thatch. Bengal. — The milk once drawn never enters the cow's dug again. Afghan. — My father died and his fever ended — i.e., death settles all accounts. The Beginning of Strife, the Letting out of Water. Peov. 17. 14. A narrow channel cut in a dam will soon enlarge itself and make a wide breach. So with strife. The strife be- tween the herdsmen led to the separation of Abraham and Lot, Gen. 1 3. 5 > Paul and Barnabas separated, Acts 15. 39. Daniel, dreading the beginning of sin, would not take even the king's meat, Dan. i. 8-16. They felt that sin was first thin like a spider's web, but soon becomes thick like a cart rope. Urdu. — Let him touch your finger he will soon seize your wrist. So Solomon, 2 Kings 23. 13 ; Peter, Mat. 26. 34, 58, 64. Tamul. — Will the flood that has burst the dam return to it at one's cry ? Persian. — The tree that has just taken root may be pulled up by the strength of a man. Veman. — If there be one dry tree in a forest, it will pro- duce flame by friction and sweep away the rest ; thus if a base wretch be born in a noble race, he will destroy it all. Bengal. — Groing in a needle, coming out a ploughshare. Bengal. — One drop of filth from a cow will spoil a vessel of milk. 'Glianak. — To pay off" debts, quench a fire, and remove disease is good, for should they increase, they will not be stopped. Italian. — If thou sufler a calf to be put on you, they will soon put on the cow. Spaniard. — Give me to sit down, I shall soon make a place to lie down. Tamul. — Where there are dogs there is quarrelling. Servian. — Out of one quarrel one hundred sins. 36 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The Dead as Water spilled upon the Ground. 2 Sam. 14. 14. The dead return no more to this world ; they are as water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again, like Pharaoh and his host which went to the bottom of the Eed Sea (Ex. 15. 10), or David when he lost his child, and stopped weeping, saying — I shall go to him but he shall not return to me, 2 Sam. 12. 23 ;. Job 14. 1-2 1. Solomon uses a similar emblem of the tree fallen rising no more, Eccl. 1 1. 3. The sound of the woodman's axe gives note that some giant of the forest is about to fall : soon the crashing boughs tell plainly that the work is done, and the pride of the summer foliage is brought down to the ground. A gap is made in the screen of wood, and the eye can now wander over the soft meadows, and the distant village, that were hid before. The fallen tree lies in the direction in which it fell. While it still flourished in its pride and glory, the direction as well as the period of its fall was uncertain. It was possible that it might fall toward the nortli, or toward the south : nor was there any reason why it should not enjoy the sun- shine and the rain through many a verdant summer. But the word was given that the axe should be laid unto its root; and now the direction in which it should fall is no more a question. It is a fixed and unalterable fact. The period during which one or the other direction could have been given to its fall is past and gone for ever. So the stroke of death fixes the direction and the character of our future state of being, Malahar. — Can jou draw out the water that has been absorbed by a piece of iron ? Japan. — A fallen blossom does not return to the twig. Gujerat. — The deed is forgotten, but not what is written.. Tamul. — If rice be spilled it may be picked up, but can w^ater ? Gujerat. — Drowning yourself the world is drowned. • ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 87 Cliina. — The roots of an old tree in the earth you may find ; But a dead man is fully cut off from his kind. Badage. — As long as you hold it in your hand it is a vessel, fling it on the grouud you have only useless pieces. — *~^-* — The "Wicked pass away as a Whirlwind. — Peov. 10. 25. In eastern countries so rapid and impetuous some- times is the whirlwind, that it is in vain to think of flying ; the swiftest horse, though running a mile in two minutes, or the fastest sailing ship, could be of no use to carry the traveller out of danger. Torrents of burning sand roll before it, the firmament is enveloped in a thick veil, and the sun appears of the colour of blood. In the frightful deserts of Senaar is pointed out a spot among some sandy hillocks, where the ground seemed to be more elevated than the rest, where one of the largest caravans which ever came out of Egypt, to the number of several thousand camels, was covered with sand, and every one perished. The destruction of Sennacherib's army was probably effected under the direction of an angel by the blast of the hot pestilential south wind blowing from the deserts of Lybia, called the simoom. Sennacherib and his immense army had come like a whirlwind, threatening to bear down all before them, but they quickly vanished ; 1 85,000 Assyrians being destroyed in one night, 2 Kings 19. 35. The world of the ungodly perished by the flood. Gen. 7. 21. In one day 23,000 Israelites who had joined Baal-peor, were killed, Numb. 25. 4. Afghan. — Priority is good in all things but death. Sinners often die in a rage, like a poisoned rat in a hole. The life of the wicked like a whirlwind rises suddenly, Acts 2. 2. Jonah's ship was caught in a whirlwind, Jon. 1.4; it is very swift, hence said to have wings, 2 Sam. 22. 14 ; very destructive, I Kings 19. 1 1 ; yet God SS EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS who holds the winds in his fists, Pro. 30. 4, made a whirlwind to serve as Elijah's chariot to heaven, 2 Kings 2. 1 1. Canara. — "When the washerman's corpse is brought out, his secrets may be discovered — i.e., in the clothes he has stolen, Is. 15. 4- Yeman. — How long does the ball retain its elevation ? Afghan. — When the knife is over a man's head, he remem- bers God. Selrew, — The hope of the ungodly is like dust (thistle- down), that is blown away with the wind : like a thin froth that is driven away with the storm ; like as the smoke which is dispersed here and there with a tempest, and passeth away as the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but a day. What wicked army passed away as a whirlwind ? The Worm of Conscience. — Maek 9. 48. Conscience compared to a ivorm in three points. I. Sprung hom filth ; earth is a dunghill; 2. produce death by gnawing the internals, so Herod was eaten up of worms ; 3. source of great _/9am, Acts 12. 23)4. medicine, required, otherwise no internal cure. Conscience is compared to a candle ; such Joseph's "brethren found it; Gen. 42. 21, 44. 16 ; Pharaoh, Ex. 9. 27, 10. 17; Saul, I Sam. 24; Herod, Mark 6. 26 ; Judas, Matt. 27. 4; Eelix, Acts 24. 25. It is called a witness, Eom. i. 9, as Cain's wounded spirit led him to wander as a vagabond. Bengal. — No sin is hidden to the soul : only strike the ground, and the guilty start up in terror. Hussian. — The horse may run quick, but he cannot run away from his tail. China. — Men who never violate their consciences are not afraid if you knock at their door at midnight. Telugu. — When the thief, who stole the pumpkin, was spoken of, he felt his shoulders — i.e., thinking some mark mio;ht have been left there. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 89 jirah. — The worms of the vinegar are from the vinegar itself — i.e., family disagreements are from the family itself. Tamul. — To a gloomy eye all obscure things are demons. Man a Worm— Job 25. 5, 6. {J^an like a luorm in five points.) The SJidnti Shatak compares the wicked to dogs who delight in swallowing human hones filled with worms and moisture, eagerly licking the putrid juice as if it were palatable. Man is compared in the Bible to earth, dust, grass, a lie, vanity, in this text to a worm. The butterfly spreads its wings, and the sun shines upon its plumes ! The wisdom of the Creator has adorned it with beautiful lines, and painted it with .glorious colours ! It flies about and finds the plant which is proper to feed its brood of caterpillars; and there it lays its eggs to be hatched by the sun. In its infant state it crawls about as a helpless worm, and feeds upon green leaves. Then it folds itself up in a case like a coffin, where it lies, as it were, asleep, till the time of its change : when it breaks this covering, it comes forth with wings and feathers like painted birds, to fly about the air, and the dew of the fields and meadows, and visit every sweet and pleasant flower. The white ant in India ^Iso has its change when it gets wings. We are now like the infant worms crawling about upon this earth. But if we go on in the ways of God we shall at length be changed from a worm into an angel. But first we must be shut up in the grave, and hide ourselves in the state of death till the resurrection. Then we shall be raised to life and liberty, and put on a spiritual body, and be able to visit and enjoy all the wonders of God's works, such as poor helpless mortals •cannot now see or understand. ! let us not forfeit this go EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS expectation for tlie 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. 1 6. 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. 1 3. 4 ; Herod was eaten up of worms. Acts 1 2. 23 ; great men, like glowworms at night, may seem great, but in the morning they are like others. 4. Various hinds, but all are worms, so the silkworm which spins its dress out of its own bowels, the muck- worm, the glowworm^ the caterpillar, Joel i . 4, the palmer- worm, Am. 4. 9. 5. Alodc 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. 4 1 . 14 ; though man is now a worm yet he will hereafter nestle above the clouds. The Tongue fires the Wheel of Nature.— .Tas. 3. 6. " This course of nature," means the vjlieel 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 w^ords 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 ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 91 humility be not applied. The tongue sets on fire the wheel of human Hfe, 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 — ^.e., eat your own words. TurTc. — The tongue kills more than the sword. Turk. — Two ears to one tongue, therefore hear twice aa much as you speak. Turk. — A laden ass brays not. China. — A word once spoken an army of chariots cannot overtake it. Urdu. — Tou 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. JPersian. — A long tongue makes life short. Bersian. — 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. ^2 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS, 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. Tkirh. — Who masters his tongue saves his head. Tamul. — A slip of the tongue is worse than that of the feet. PART 11. 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 ttncirciimcised ears, Acts 7. 5 I, 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 righteous- ness), but he has no virtue. ChanaJc. — 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 ^94 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS honey ; the illiterate living near the learned remain ignorant. Tamul. — Reciting from the Yedas to a cow about to gore you. Telugu. — A bad man with your money, no 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- ceive not the future world. Who are the deafest ? Those who listen not to good advice. Malahar. — Ey 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 chaif. MaJiabharat. — 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 N'oah, 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, i Thes. 5. 8, pro- tecting the head against spiritual enemies. The Arabs ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 95 'Call a water-melon hope, because of its tendrils which cling to a prop. The merchant trades and the ploughman ploughs in hope. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, Prov. 13. 12, and the hope of the wicked is as the giving up of the ghost, Job 4. 20 — i.e., like the last puff of breath when the person is dying. Hoj^e, is like an anclior in three ^points : — 1 . The anchor secures the vessel against tides or storms, Heb. 6. 19. 2. The anchor is out of sight, so hope dwells on things invisible, as Abraham hoped against hope in reference to the birth of Isaac, waiting 2 5 years, Eom. 4. 1 8. So Paul in the case of shipwreck, Acts 24. 15. 3. This anchor rests on the ground : the spiritual anchor is fixed not on the mud of this world, but on the rock of ages. Maha Mudgar. — Day and night, evening and morning, winter and spring come and go ; time sports with our passing age, still the wind of hope ceases not. The body dissolves, the head gets grey, the mouth becomes toothless, the handsome stick trembles in the hand, yet hope ceases not to jest with us. Arah. — He dehghting in the world drinks the milk of vain hopes. Bengal, — Dancing on an unbaked water- vessel. Telugu. — Mountains are smooth at a distance and rugged when near. Arah. — Worldly hope is like the mirage, deceiving him that sees it and hopes from it. Telugu. — Measuring the air. Talmud. — Be very humble, the hopes of men are worms. Arab. — Hoping from the vile is seeking fat in a dog's tail. Tamul. — The crane hoping to eat dried fish when the sea should be dried up, wasted away in vain hope. Arab. — The more you hope the more you suffer. 96 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The Arrows of God's Punishment.— Deut. 32. 42. " Arrows " mean God's judgments on the wicked, which often fly through the world to punish them. The light- ning and tempest, war, pestilence, and famine, all may be his arrows to slay the ungodly, and to cut them off from the earth. So God threatened the inhabitants of Jeru- salem by his prophet, Ezekiel, and assured them that for their wickedness he would " send upon them the evil arrows of famine," Ez. 5. 16. Arrows wound quickly and unexpectedly ; no noise is made ; they stick sharply in the w^ounds ; such are God's arrows of pestilence, Ps. 9 1 . 5 ; famine, as in David's case, and the sword ; Job said (6. 4) God's arrows of disease- and the sword were within him ; God's arrows for crushing the wicked are compared to treading down the grapes in a wine-press, Eev. 19. 15. Persian. — God's club makes no noise, when it strikes there is no cure for the blow. Arah. — The corn goes from hand to head, but at last falls into the mill. Turk. — Even the Indian elephant fears the gadfly. Mahahharat . — When men are ripe for slaughter, even straws turn into thunderbolts. Japan. — No escape from the net of heaven. The Axe of Punishment at the Root of the Tree. Mat. 3. 10-12. Time has been figured as a scythe mowing down the grass .; here God's vengeance is compared to an axe. The King of Assyria is so called. Is. 10. 15. The Church of God is often likened to a vineyard or garden of fruit trees, from which the owner looks for fruit in due season, and too often finds none. He is unwilling, however, to relinquish his hope of a return for all his labour, and continues year by year to prune with ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 97 the greatest skill, as well as patience, the plants which so ill-repay his toil. However high and stately may be the tree, and how- ever green and luxuriant its foliage, the time comes when the owner is tired with waiting for fruit, and trying the effect of only cutting off branches ; he deter- mines that he will lay the axe to the root, and remove- the tree itself from the ground which might be so much better filled. See parable of Barren Fig Tree, Luke i 3.. How fearfully the event, thus figuratively described,, was accomplished, when the temple of Jerusalem was burnt, and the city taken by the Eoman General ; and how afterwards, when the nation rebelled against their- conquerors, Jerusalem was utterly destroyed ; and the miserable survivors sold in vast numbers as slaves ! What God wants is fruit, not leaves ; however rich may be the foliage — in other words, however high the- profession — it is utterly worthless in His sight, if there be not the true fruits of repentance. The Soul bartered for the World.— Mat. 16. 26. BuddhagosJia, — Evils follow the fool, smouldering as fire covered by ashes. Malay. — The loss of a little mustard- seed is observed, while that of an elephant is unknown. China. — To gain a cat but lose a cow. Badaga. — In trying to save a drop of ghe he upset the ghe pot. Tamul. — Is the foot to be cut off to try on a shoe ? JBadaga. — For the nourishment of a day he sacrificed the food of a year. Tamul. — Like burning down the house for fear of rats. Shdnti Shatak. — How vainly have I passed the whole of my life ! Alas ! how inestimable a jewel have I bartered for mere glass. PancJiat antra. — The fool, in seeking riches, suffers one hundredfold more than he who strives to attain eternal happiness. Sitojpadesha. — It is right to sacrifice one person for a If ^8 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS household, a family for a village, a village even for one's country, but for one's soul we should give up the world.* Turlc. — For to save the head we sacrifice the beard. Sinners are Blind. — Rev. 3. 17. The Atmdbodli states, " The eye of ignorance does not heboid God, as a blind man does not see the light." Sinners are like the blind, who are not able to see the sun, to know what colours and lights are; they see not the dangers in the road. Mat. 15. 14. Those naturally blind regret not seeing the light of the sun, and desire a guide ; not so those spiritually blind ; the eyes of the rich man's understanding were not opened till he reached hell, Avhere he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, Luke 16. 23. The man in the tombs was naked ; the wicked are also blind ; they see not the light of life, discern not the sun of righteousness ; have no true knowledge of si)iritual objects ; nothing is nearer them than God, his unspeak- able gifts, and their own heart, yet nothing is less known. How oft they stumble and fall into sin without any proper cause ! How constantly they wander out of their proper course, and mislead those who follow them ! How useless is the clearest light of the Gospel to them ! — hence they feed on the w^ind, Hos. 12. i, and on husks, Luke 15. 16, Deut. 28. 29. Diseased in every w^ay the wicked, have the Uinchicss of ignorance, the deafness of spiritual unconcern, the fever of impurity, the jaundice of malice, the swelling tyinpany of pride, the vertigo of inconstancy, the dropsy of covetousness, the palsy of stupidity, the rottenness of envy, the rheumatism of ■discontent, the delirium of constant levity, the moonstruck madness of passion and rage, hardness of heart, and the stings of conscience. Chanak. — He who has no sense, what does the Shastra do for him ? What does a mirror do for a man without eyes ? "What does an eloquent man * Engtish. — Sometimes the best gain is to lose. Mat. 5. 29. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 99 where there are no hearers ? "What do washer- men in a country of naked y«^ir^ ? Sanskrit. — Is a lamp pleasing to the blind, a song to the deaf, or science to the fool ? Sanskrit. — He who regards other men's money as clods of earth, and all creatures as himself, he sees. Persian, — He asked the blind man what did he want ; he said the sight of my two eyes. Mat. 10. 46. Servian. — Better sometimes a woman blind than one too beautiful. The Book of Life.— Rev. 20. 12. There are the books of Nature, Providence, Revelation, And here " the Book of Life" — an allusion to tlie register book in which the names of all the tribes and families of Israel were entered from generation to generation, so that their claims to property and to the privileges of their fathers could not be disputed, or a reference to a custom in the courts of princes, of keeping a list of persons in their service, of the ofticers in the armies, and even of the names of their soldiers. When it is said that any one is " blotted out of the book of life," this signifies erased from the list of God's friends and servants, like as those guilty of treachery are struck off the roll or list of officers belonging to a prince. There are also books of judgment, which are said to be -opened, and the dead judged out of them according to their works. Rev. 20. 12 ; alluding to a custom of the Persians, to write down every day what had happened, the ^services done for the king, and the rewards given to those who had performed them, as we see in the history of Aliasuerus and Mordecai, recorded in the Book of Esther. Ex. 32. 32. This book of life is the oldest book. Rev. 13. 8 ; it is written in Heaven, Heb. 12. 23; time destroys not its writing as it does that on tombs or pillars. The life it writes of is spiritual life, which differs from natural life in — (i) the Holy Spirit being the parent, i Cor. 15. 45 ; .there is hidden manna to eat, John 6. 55; (2) eternal, II 2 loo EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Natural life is common to devils, worms, trees, flies ; man dies as the beast, but lives for ever in his soul. Life preserves from corruption, so does spiritual life. Who are Brands plucked from the Burning. — Zech. 3. 2. The fire is already Itlackening and scorching the brand ;: but there is yet time to snatch it from the flame, and to- save it for some nobler use. Linger not, but seize it, ere too late. Another minute, and you could not have plucked it from the fire. It bears the marks of the j)eril from which it has been scarcely saved ; but having thus far concerned yourself to preserve it, you will not lightly throw it back again in to the flame. All we are as brands plucked out of the fire, and bear indeed the marks of the scorching flame ; but God has not plucked out the brand only to cast it into- a yet fiercer furnace. The Apostle Judas bid us, " save others with fear, pulling them out of the fire." Each of US is as a brand phicked out of the fire ; and it is owing to the distinguishing mercy of God that we were not left in the guilt of original sin, or were not left to perish in our sin's fuel for hell-fire. Persian, — He should be exposed to danger of death in order that he may be content with fever. Doing Good is Bread cast on the Waters.— Ecci. 11. i. In the East rice is sown upon the waters, but before sowing, the ground, while still covered with water, is trodden by oxen which go mid-leg deep ; and as the rice is sown on the water so it springs up through the water, and the height of its stem is generally in proportion to the depth of the water on the surface of the soil. It is in reference to this practice of the rice in the rains being formed into balls, and sunk in water, that the passage in Is. 32. 20, is to be explained, " Blessed are ye that sow ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. lor 'beside all waters." In Egypt a rice crop comes up in six months. The relief given in secret to a stranger, who may never be seen again, shall be blessed not only to him, but still more surely to the donor ; it shall be found after many •days ; so Abraham entertained angels, Heb. 13. 2, who afterwards requited him. And the same may be said of the word of good advice, given " in season" to some one at a period of brief intercourse ; nor shall any effort fail of due fruit, by which persons have shown forth their love to •Christ their Saviour, Mat. 10. 42, Luke 19. 16. The corn-seed thrown into the mud, at the subsidence of the Xile, seems lost, but nothing is lost that is done for Ood. The fruit will be found at the resurrection of the just, Luke 14. 14; so also is the case with instruction. Is. .55. 10, Prov. 19. 17, charity is loan to God. JPersian. — Give in this world, receive in the next (Mat. 10.42). Turh. — What you give in charity in this world you take with you after death. Do good and throw it into the sea — if the fish does not know it God does. Bussian. — Throw bread and salt behind you, you get them before you. God a Builder. — Heb. ii. 10. God as a builder different from earthly hnilders in five points. A good builder must be clever to plan, so known to God are all his works ; there was the pattern on the Mount, Heb. 8.5; he lays a good foundation, so God laid the pillars of the earth ; man's foundation has often bad materials in it ; employ a variety of v^orkmen, so God has angels, men. Nature, the firmament, in his hands, Ps. 19. A variety of work — God made the fountains of the great .. deep, the windows of heaven, hell the prison, and paradise the garden ; he tells the number of the stars. I02 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Eartlily builders are mortal ; limited in knowledge ;. build for others : improve in tlieir plans ; require materials for a building. Ahraham looked for a city without foundations, Heb. ii. lo. The :Z'f%?;s compare one who uses bad agents to one scratching his head with a firebrand ; but God can make the wrath of man to praise him, Ps. y6. lo. The Burden of Sin. — Mat. ii. 30. A burthen presses heavily on the chest as the tenderest part, so sin on the heart, provided it be not past feeling, Eph. 5. 14 ; Christ, pressed by the weight of the world's sins, sweat blood, Luke 22. 44 ; a burthen impedes action, so does sin, Heb. 1 2. i ; believers are to bear one another's burthens. Gal. 6. 6 ; not so did the priest who passed by on the other side of the way, Luke 10. 31; the Jewish law ordered one to relieve even the ass of an enemy. Sin is to be carried not as a golden chain round the neck, but as an iron chain round the feet. The devil, when he mocked Eve, did not see sin a burthen, neither did the old world when it ridiculed Xoah's building the ark,. Gen. 3. 4. 5. A burthen is unpleasant. CJiina. — Eorethought is easy, repentance is hard. Bengal. — Eaith in God is the root of all devotion ; deliver- ance from evil is only her servant. Japan. — Good physic is bitter. Trusting in Riches compared to a Camel passed through a Needle's Eye.— Mat. i. 24. Wlien Christ says it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, he meant those who trusted in riches rather than in God, those who use riches for purposes of pride, oppression, sensuality, Jas. 2, 6 ; as Haman, Esth. ^. 11 ^ Usan, Gen. 36. 7 ; for Ahraham was a rich man yet good^ ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 103 Gen. 13.2; so were Isaac, Gen. 26. i 3 ; so Jose^pJiy Gen. 45. 8; Joseph of Arimatliea, Mat. 27. 57. Oriental. — Unmitigated evil is as rare As wings upon a cat, or flowers of air, As rabbits' horns, or ropes of tortoise hair, Bengal. — Putting an elephant into a narrow dish ; a horse'a eggs, or a flower in the air. Cingalese. — Like seeking feathers from turtles. Telugu. — Like fixing a pump in the sea. Talmud. — To let a camel go through the hole of a needle. Fersian. — A needle's eye is wide enough for a friend ; the whole world is too narrow for foes. The Wicked are Captives.— 2 Tim. 2. 26. Truth only makes free. Christ, in his first sermon which he preached at Nazareth, stated he came as a Eedeemer to purchase the captives. Men are captives to — (i) sin, Eom. 7. 14 — 26; ancient tyrants fastened captives to a dead body face to face until they were suffocated by the stench; (2) Satan, 2 Tim. 2. 26; (3) the Law, Gal. 4. 25 ; (4) Death, in Heb. 2. 15, called the king of terrors. The believer's body may be captive, but his mind is free as in Paul's case. Captives in war were often stripped naked, and thrown into -a dungeon ; their eyes were put out, as Zedekiah's, 2 Kings 25. 7 ; or as the Mahrattas gouged out the eyes of the Great Mogul in Delhi ; they were often loaded with chains, devoured by vermin, fed on bread and water, living in darkness among rats. Bengal. — One at the will of another, an ox with his nose pierced. Japan. — The bird that flies upward does not ruffle the water. Telugu. — A scorpion under a shoe — i.e.^ held under restraint. 104 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Choked with Care. — Luke 8. 14. Cast thy burthen on the Lord, Ps. 55. 22; Bnth committed her cares to God, Euth i. 16, 2. 12 ; so Ezra in the desert, Ezr. 8. 21-23, 32. China. — Past events as clear as a mirror, future as dark as lacquer. Bengal. — Anxiety is the fever of the mind ; the burning sun acts like a fever on clothes. Turlc. — To everyone his own care, the miller's is water. Turh. — You cannot contract for the fish in the sea. Turh. — Sorrow is to the soul what the worm is to wood. Malay. — To grind pepper for a bird on the wing — i,e., care for uncertainties. Bengal. — Grass at a distance looks thick. Sanskrit. — Mountains are beautiful at a distance, rugged when near. Bengal, — My mind is troubled in collecting money to pay the rent, how then can I worship Vishnu ? Bussian. — llust eats iron, care the heart. Arab. — A heart free from care better than a full purse. Oriental. — The grief of the morrow is not to be eaten to-day. Mat. 6. II. Bengal. — The ant's wings grow to its own death. JLitopadesha. — Strive not too anxiously for thy support, thy Maker will provide. No sooner is a man born than milk for his support streams from the breast. Chastity. Samson, a giant, was made a dwarf in soul through his passions; he ground in fetters of brass, Judg. 16. 20. Lot was vexed with the filthy conversation of Sodom. Kural. — Of what avail are prisons barred, Por chastity is woman's guard. Hebrew. — Impurity in the beginning like a spider's web, in the end like a cart rope. Tamul. — Beauty without chastity, a flower without fragrance. Solomon. — A bad woman's lips a honeycomb, her end wormwood. Prov. 5' S* Badaga. — The unchaste will vanish away like a handful of mud. Is. 51. 6. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 105 God Chastises his Spiritual Sons. — Heb. 12. 6, 8-1 1. Chastisement is compared to a fan, Mark 3. 12; a pruning hook, John 15. 2 ; plough, Jer. 4. 3 ; 2^ furnace, like Egypt to the Jews, Is. 48. 10; corc?5, Job }i^. Z. In Jer. 31. 18, Ephraim is represented chastised by- God as a hulloclc unaccustomed to the yoke ; the bullock rebels against the will of his master, though nourished and supported by him ; it will not subserve his interests ; when chastised, it rebels the more ; repeated strokes only serve to inflame its rage ; nor will it ever submit until it be wearied out, and unable to maintain its opposition ; thus the sinner generally fights against God. God chastised Solomon and David for their improve- ment ; but he punished Saul with death for his offering sacrifice and sparing Agag, i Sam. i 5 ; Peters denial of Christ was worse than Ananiah's denial of a portion of his goods ; yet how different the punishment. Pain is God's chiselling to produce his likeness. Christ learnt obedience from suffering, Heb. 5. 8 ; so the Prodigal, Luke 15. 17; and we are silly sheep, prosperity makes us stray the more, as sun- shine on the dunghill only produces a greater stench, so Jas. I. 2. The Germans say a child may have too much of its mother's blessing. Better the child weep than the father. The Spaniards say more sprigs in the garden than the gardener ever sowed. Did God hate his people, lie would suffer them to go merrily to hell. Calm weather lets Christ sleep ; the storm rouses him. Friiits of Chastisement : — 1. Tests reality, as Solomon's sword did the true mother, i Kings 3 ; as the storm did Peter's faith. Mat. 14. 30— 3 1 ; a painted faith no more avails than a painted helmet. 2. Fructifies, as the palm-tree, by pressure, so prayer, as io6 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS with Manasseh in fetters, 2 Ch. 3 3 ; so Paul when blind,. Acts 9. 9 ; the hammer of chastisement squares the stones for the heavenly temple. 3. Kot a mark of vengeance for sin, Job 42. 10 ; Paul's, Acts 28. 4 ; Siloam's tower, Luke 13. 4—5. Saint Amhrose would not stop a night in the house of a man who had never seen chastisement, lest some judgment should seize him. 4. PcaceaUe fruits : the Prodigal, in some points,, happier among swine than he had been in his father's house. Unsanctified affliction fjarhoils a wicked man for hell ;. to the righteous affliction is not a fiery, but a brazen, serpent. God beats his children as we do our clothes in the sun only to beat out the moths. Manasseh got- more good by his iron chain than by his golden chain. JELitopadesTia. — On affliction's touchstone a man may learn the value of his family and of his own mind. Fersian. — Without a supple rod the ox or ass would not obey. Malay. — As a hen pecks her chickens — i.e., lightly. Afghan. — Until you heat iron you will not lengthen it — i.e.^. punishment makes the obstinate tractable. Tamul. — Is it proper to tame a parrot and give it into the claws of a cat ? Afghan. — The prick of a needle on a cat's head is plenty. Gvjerat. — "Water on a stone wets but enters not. Russian. — No bones are broken by a mother's fist. Vemana. — The washerman torments the cloth to take the stains out, and then folds it. What then though he who teaches thee chastises thee. IPralodh Chandroday. — After mortifying the body, pure spirit is discerned by reason, as rice is separated from the husk by beating it. Sanskrit. — A bad man, gold, a drum, a bad woman, a bad horse, stalks of sugarcane, sesamur seed, and low people, should be beaten to improve their qualities. Tamul, — A fruit must ripen of itself, must not be beaten. by a cane into ripeness. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. loT Humble as little Children. — Mat. i8. 2. Christ the Lord of Glory became an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes ; he carried the lambs of the flock in his- own bosom. When his disciples repelled them he took the little children up in his arms and blessed them, and he has used children as an emblem of humility. He was a teacher of babes, and has taught us humility by babes, and particularly when the disciples disputed about pre- eminence he set a child in the midst. See parable of Marriage Feast, Luke 14. 7-1 1. The Immhle like little cJiildren in six points. 1 . Docile; no prejudice, no habit to prevent its receiving impressions, " train up a child in the way he should go,"" Pr. 22. 6, so believers are made new men by the Spirit; the mind of a child is compared to a sheet of white paper on which you can write anything. David calls himself a weaned child, Ps. 131. 2. 2. Confiding ; the young of animals are not so dependent in reference to the world as are infants. This, however, causes more love. The mother's smile and breast are every- thing to the helpless babe ; so the believer depends entirely on God for many years ; the father's house is its home. " Ask and ye shall receive ; so Abraham went forth, not knowing whither he went," Heb. 11. 8. Jacob in the same spirit went down to Egypt. Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the king. Paul said, I know in whom I have believed. 3. Humble and contented with little things. Christ said,. I am meek and lowly in heart. Paul said, in whatever state I am, I have learned to be content, Phil. 4. 1 1 ; sub- missive obedience is easily taught to a child ; so with the believer every high thing is cast down ; whom the Lord lovetli He chasteneth. 4. Simple-minded ; a child tells its meaning at once, its desires and aversions ; so the believer has God's glory as io8 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS his sole guide. " Beliold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile," John i. 47. Still, to prevent imposition in the world, the wisdom of the serpent is to be united to the harmlessness of the dove. Gentle love to be without dissimulation, anger endures only for a little. The Christian -does good unto all, especially to those of the household of faith. 5. Detached from the world, i Cor. 15. 20; to it business, ambition, wealth, pleasures are nothing ; on the Exchange it would find no pleasure, " not a grey head upon green shoulders ; so the believer is not conformed to the world ; his joys a stranger intermeddles not with ; weeping as though they wept not, i Cor. 7. 30. 6. Attached to its father's house. Early recollections lead him to it as a bird to its nest; so Jacob, domesticated in Padan-Aram, longed for his father's house ; so Joseph when he saw his brethern ; so the believer longs for heaven, as the hart after the water brooks, for Jerusalem above is his home, we in this tabernacle groan. China. — "Who flies not high, falls not low. Malay. — The leech wants to become a snake. Mussian, — The blind cannot see, the proud will not. China. — A great tree attracts the wind. Arab. — His nose looks to heaven, his legs are in the water. JPersian. — The bending of the humble is the graceful droop of the branches laden with fruit. Turh. — A low ass is easy to ride on. Bengal. — Can the boat bear the ship's mast ? Sanskrit. — Fruitful trees bend down ; the wise stoop ; a dry stick and a fool can be broken not bent. JPersian. — The humble man is like the earth which alike kisses the feet of the king and of the beggar. Japan.— 1^0 standing in the world without stooping. ■iSj/riac.r—l^ you mount not on the ladder, you will not get on the roof — i.e., submission to a superior, the way to be superior. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 109. Death of Righteous as a Shock of Corn. — Job 5. 26. Death of righteous like shock of corn in eight points. The wicked are compared to weeds to be burned, but the righteous to corn in the harvest. See parable of Taret and Wheat, Mat. 1 3. Autumn after the hot season is pleasant, a time of the joy of harvest. Is. 9. 3 ; the righteous in death is compared in the text to the cutting of grain and to harvest home. 1. Sown in order to be reaped again; at first the leaf is fresh, and the stalk firm, but not so beautiful as when the stalk is thin, and the leaf sere, but grain yellow ; so the body must die to be raised again. 2. Require 'preparatory agency ; so shoivers of grace to- nourish the sun of God's favour and harden the grain, the cleivs of the Spirit to refresh, and the winds of affliction to keep the roots loose. Jacob, not knowing the preparatory agency, said, All things are against me. Gen. 42. 36, when he was on the eve of great prosperity ; God's chastening gives the peaceable fruits of righteousness. 3. Only cut when fully ripe ; if cut too soon the ear is watery, if too late dried up ; the sower waits for the early and latter rain, the wicked are driven away, but the righteous are always prepared by hope, Pro v. 14. 32; Abijah and Josiah had their harvest in early youth; Xoali and Abraham in advanced years. 4. The ripe corn is handled with care ; the scythe of death is put to tlie roots, but the sheaves are bound up with care. Lazarus was nursed by dogs in life, but angels took charge of him in death, Luke 16. 21; many grains in the natural harvest are lost, but not so with the righteous,, John 10. 28. 5. WJien ripe housed in safety ; there may be anxiety about the weather, but harvest home is a time of joy; the grain is lodged in the granary ; no more tears. 6. WJien ripening hangs its head ; so with increasing humility the righteous see more of their sin and of God's no EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS goodness ; Job repented in dust and aslies, Job 42. 6 ; so Peter took off his coat at first through zeal, but finally toaits to put off his tabernacle, 2 Pet. i . 14; so Paul at first calls himself the least of the Apostles, next less than the least of all saints, finally chief of sinners. 7. Ripening hcconics weighty ; the believer, a father in grace, has a zeal and love with a steadier flame ; his graces are complete ; hope with joy makes not ashamed. 8. Eipening corn becomes gradually looser, less need of the earth, so Paul learned to be in all things content ; the worldling is attached to a shadow, but Paul thinks the world only dung. 9. Eipening easily distinguished from tares by the smell and fruit; the righteous bring forth fruit in old age/ Ps. 92. 15 ; tares are then distinguished from wheat. I o. Eipened corn more susceptible of injury, as showers 'Or wind may lay it level, so Jacob on his bed said, My soul, come not thou into their secret. Gen. 49. 6 ; David wished for wings like a dove to flee away. 1 1 . Eipened corn apt to fall of its own accord, so Paul wished to depart. The righteous seek a heavenly country, Heb. 11. 16 ; hence no tears for them, Eev. 7. J 4 ; they are clad in white robes. TurJc. — Weep not over the dead but over the fool. Canara. — An old man may have a youthful heart ; a poor man may have a noble incUnation. Canara. — Nothing like newness in clothes, like age in men. Oriental. — A good old man is like old wine which has deposited its lees. Arab, — The remembrance of youth is a matter of sighing ; the remembrance of death refreshes the heart. BogTiuvansa. — The men of feeble mind think the death of a friend a thorn fixed within the heart, whereas the wise men look on it as extracted — for death is the gate to happiness. RagJiuvansa. — The king performed the obsequies for his deceased wife, of whom nothing, except her virtue, was left. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, iir Charity covers a Multitude of Sins.— Proy. io. 12. Love pours water not oil on the flame, so with a conciliatory demeanour; love has a large mantle to liide faults ; so with Christ and his disciples, Mat. 26. 31,41 ; John 20. 25-27. Talmud. — To love a thing makes the eye blind, the ear deaf. Arah. — Love is the companion of blindness. Galic. — Eaults are thick where love is thin. Let the Dead bury their Dead.— Mat. 8. 23. One of Christ's disciples asked him leave of absence to go and bury his father. He replied, Your business is to preach my religion, and let those who are dead to God attend to burying the dead. A man in England, who lived to the age of 84, but was converted when 80 years old, had the inscription on his tomb : — " Died, aged 4 years," — i.e., he reckoned that he was only really alive when he served God. To be carnally minded is death, saith St. Paul, Eom. Z. 6 \ and the poor Prodigal son in the parable, having lived in that state of mind till his conversion, the father says of him : " This thy brother was dead, and is alive again," Luke 15. 24. Man has a soul and body, each of which dies in its own way ; and so either of them may be alive while the other is dead. There is a sense in which Adam died on the day when he sinned ; and there is another sense in which Adam lived 930 years. Adam delivered down a natural life to all us that are born of him; but the only inheritance he could leave to our spirits was that death to which he was fallen. It is this death of the spirit which makes it necessary for every man to be born again. There are multitudes of people who seem to live but are no better than dead ; they are unburied dead ; in 1 1 2 EASTERN PRO VERBS AND EMBLEMS them no siglit, no sense of spiritual things, no appetite, no- affection for them. We may preach to them all day long, and do no more good by it than if we were to preach ta a man in his coffin. If we were to cry into their ears, or- blow a trumpet to give them warning of the fire of judgment, and of eternal damnation, they would hear nothing. If we offer to them the bread of life, they want it not ; for a dead man hath no appetite. Were the souls of men as visible as their bodies, we should see as much difference betwixt devout believers and the children of the world as between a living, healthy body and a corj)se. They are tivicc rZeac?, as Jude 12 saith, dead once by nature and dead again unto grace. The pleasures of this world will extinguish the life of a believer ; she that liveth unto this world is dead while she liveth, i Tim. 5. 6. All heavenly affections will die. On the other hand Abel while dead yet spoke — i.e., by his works. Sanslrit. — A man of evil repute is, though Hving, as one- dead. China. — Let the dead care for the dead, the Hving for the living ; i.e., in reference to excessive sorrow for the^ dead. Kural. — He lives whose life in love is led : Another reckons with the dead. Arab. — A benefactor is aUve though removed to the mansions of the dead, Heb. ii. 4. The wicked is dead though in the mansions of the- living. JPersian. — AVhose soul is alive, his sensual desires are- dead. Syriac. — Seek death to obtain life. Persian. — When I am dead the world is dead. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 113 The Congregation of the Dead and the Fool. Peov. 21. 16. Eight marks of fools, 1. Understand not who will show them any good, Ps. 4. 6 ; prefer corn to peace ; leasts in man's form. 2. Hitrt themselves ; run into a hornet's nest, play with serpents ; harbour a thief in the house. 3. Strive with one stronger ; so the potsherd with its maker, Ps. 2. 9. God has even frogs, worms, and every- thing at his disposal. 4. Take brass for gold ; so the mean things of earth for heaven, Phil. 3. 8. 5. Feed on ashes, among swine, Is. 44, 20, Luke 15. 1 6 ; so the Prodigal son ; he labours for the wind, Ecc. 5. 15. 6. Sow when they should reap. So a death-bed re- pentance. 7. Delight in mischief Ps. 28. 3. 8. To save their hat lose their head. ChanaJc. — In the dusk we lose our way, and a fallen woman is like a corpse. Syrian. — Seek death to obtain life — i.e., kill passion to save your soul. Sijviac. — Put not a candle before a wall — i.e., by teaching a fool. Turk. — The fool is a cock which sings at the wrong time. Turk. — Making a fool understand is like making a camel leap a ditch. Drunkenness. — Eph. 5. 18. Exemplified in Noah, Gen. 9. 21 ; Belshazzar, Dan. 5. 4 ; Mneveh, Nah. i . i o. Finnish. — The anvil proves the iron, the drink the man. Turk. — -Yagabonds are at home in the drinkiug-shop. Bussian. — A drunkard's money is in his hand but goes through his fingers. I I 14 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Mussian. — Drink one day, a headache the whole week. Mussian. — A drunken peasant will fight with a turnip. Bich.es have Wings like an Eagle. — Peov. 23. 5. The eagle is the king of birds ; he has long wings ; he can carry off a sheep in his talons, and fly high above the storms and lightning. Wings mark speed ; hence the expression, wings of the wind, Ps. 104. 3. Ships are said to have wings. Is. 18. i — i.e., their sails. The four wings of riches are, water, fire, debts, thieves. If Nebuchadnezzar be in the palace among his nobles anon, he is soon in the park among the beasts. Adonijah was one day on the throne, on another seeking refuge for his life at the horns of the altar. Zedekiah, on Jerusalem being taken, saw his sons slain before his eyes, then his own eyes being put out, he was bound in fetters and sent to Babylon. Saman had great wealth, yet in one day he was hung on a gallows sixty feet high, and thus his riches fled. Josiah goes forth to battle, and is slain. Ahah goes forth against the Assyrians, and is slain also. Judas got thirty pieces of silver for betraying Christ, but he went out and hanged himself. Arab. — Riches diminish in the using, wisdom increases by use. TurJc. — Every ascent has a descent. Afghan. — Wealth is a Hindoo's heard — i.e., uncertain. The Hindoos shave when in mourning, which often occurs, as the family connexions are numerous. Teliigu. — Worldly prosperity is like writing on water. Telugu. — Hiches flourish, like the charms of women, for a season, hut rapidly fade away ; as moonlight dies when a cloud passes over the sky. Bengal. — Riches are like a tree on a river hank. Bengal. — The boat is now carried on the cart, and the cart on the boat. Hindi. — Fleeting as the sunshine of noon. Mahamudgar. — Boast not of wealth, family, youth ; fortune takes them all away in the twinkling of an eye. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 115 Lalita Vistara. — Everything compounded is soon dissolved ; frail as a vessel of earth or a city of sand. JPrasJiotar Mala. — What is unsteady as the water drops on the lotos leaf? Youth, riches, life. Education, or Bending the Twig. — Phot. 22. 6. ■ Japan. — Pearls unpolished shine not. Malay. — A pestle by chiselling at last becomes a stick. Malay. — A young buffalo need not be taught. Malay. — Sores are not to be shown to flies, and children are not to be taught to lie. Malay. — You may place on the lap a betel-nut but not a betle-nut tree. Malay. — To give a calf to be brought up by a tiger. ChanaTc. — Parents are the enemies of their children if they refuse them education ; for they appear in society as herons among the flamingoes. Prov. 22. 6. Bulgarian. — We bend the tree when young, Japan. — Like learning to swim in a field. The Righteous are Epistles not Written with Ink. 2 COE. 3. 3. God's writing things m a hook denotes his perfect know- ledge, exact remembrance, and continued just regard to them. His writing litter things against one, signifies his gradual afflicting of him with severe and lasting troubles, as he did Job. His writing his law in men's heart, and sealing them with his Spirit, imports his applying his word by his Spirit to their heart, that they may be conformed to his image -and law, and comforted by his influence, Eom. 2. 15. His writing men's names in heaven in his book of life, with the living, with the righteous, imports his particular and fixed choice of them to obtain everlasting life, Luke 10. 20. His writing his name in their foreheads imports his rendering them like him in holiness, and enabling them to make an open profession of his truth, Eev. 14. i. His putting their tears into his bottle, and marlcing them in his I 2 ii6 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS book, imports his kind observation, and careful rewarding thereof. Afghan. — "What is white shines best amid black. Providence guards the Righteous as the Apple of the Eye.— Ps. 17. 8. The ball of the eye is secured by the eyebrows, which turn aside the perspiration of the forehead from the eye, while dust and insects are kept off by the eyelids ; the socket of bone the eye is placed in, protects the apple or pupil of the eye, which is in the centre of this, surrounded by the white of the eye. Such is God's protection. Bengal. — He who has given Hfe will give food. The Single Eye of pure Intention.— Mat. 6. 22. Turk. — The eyes are a balance of which the heart forms the- weight. China. — A hair's breadth at the bow is a mile beside the butt. Aral. — The contemplation of vice is a vice. Prov. 23. 3 r. Turk. — The chimney catches fire from within. Veman. — A feast given without kindness is a mere waste of flour-cakes ; worship devoid of piety is a waste of the sprouts used in sacrifice ; and gifts devoid of charity are a mere waste of gold. I Cor. lO. 3 1 . Oriental. — You cannot drive a straight furrow without a straight eye. Telugu. — Observances void of purity of heart ! to what end are they ? to what is the preparation of food without cleansing the vessel? Mat. 15. 8. Telugu. — Those who mortify their bodies, calling themselves saints, are yet unable to cure the impurity of their hearts. If you merely destroy the outside of a white ant hill, will the serpent that dwelt therein perish ? Telugu. — The hypocrite's meditations are like those of a dog on a dunghill. Tamul. — Like a jackal going round the grave of a child — i.e.y not from respect, but to tear up the corpse. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 117 SJidnti Shatalc. — Praise to the stomach which is satisfied with little food, but shame to the heart, which, though it has a hundred desires satisfied, is pur- suing after more. Sanskrit. — As the spokes of a wheel are attached to the nave, so are all things attached to life. God our Father.— Heb. 12. 9. Authority and dignity belong to a father, hence the rulers of Israel were called fathers. Abraham com- manded his children, and was hence called the Father of the Faithful. God like a good father in fifteen points : — 1. Compassionate to children, so were the Apostles, 1 Thes. 2. 1 1 ; hence Paul calls Timothy his son. Tit. 3. 4 ; John 3. 16 ; Ps. 103. 13 ; God treats them as lambs, Is. 40. I I. 2. Reverenced by children and not rebuked. 3. (TO^'e?'?is with wisdom. 4. Gives being, so Jacob to the twelve Patriarchs, so Abraham to the Jews numerous as the sand of the sea, Acts y. S ; believers are begotten by the word of truth, Jas. 1 . 18; I Cor. 4. I 5 ; God is the father of all men, ' especially of all regenerate, Gal. 4. 6 ; Eph. 4. 6. 5. Nourishes, believers as new-born babes receive the milk of the word, i Pet. 2. 2 ; a father gives a fish, not a serpent. Mat. 7. 10; Ps. 34. 8-10. 6. Clothes, so Jacob made for Joseph a coat of many •colours. God clothes the grass, so will He us. Matt. 6. .30 ; He gives the robe of salvation, Isa. 61. 10. 7. Protects, covers them with his wings, so David, I Chr. 16. 21, 22. 8. Delights even in their lisping, so prayer the language of a sigh, Eom. 8. 26 ; though they chatter like a crane, Isa. 38. 14; the publican only smote on 1 18 EASTERN PRO VERBS AND EMBLEMS his breast, yet God delighted in his humility, Luke i8. 13. 9. Sets a good example, merciful, Luke 6. 36 ; patient, Col. I. II. 10. Loves best those most like Him, so Daniel was greatly beloved, Dan. 9.2; so David a man after God's own heart. Acts 13. 22 ; John the beloved disciple. 1 1. Educates; God's word makes wise unto salvation,, 2 Tim. 3.15; sends Prophets, Eph. 4. 1 1 ; in Christ hid treasures of wisdom, Col. 2. 3. 12. Eeady to hear requests, 2 Cor. 6. 2 ; grants not injurious things, Jas. i. 5,6; but takes away hurtful things, so hedges their way with thorns, Hos. 2. 6. 1 3. Eegards them even at a distance, so in the parable of the Prodigal son, Luke 15. 20. 1 4. Patient ; values sincerity ; the children have re- belled. Is. I. 2-5. 15. Chastises, Pro v. 22. 15 ; He rebukes transgression with a rod, sometimes he only remonstrates, Mic. 6. 3; to be without chastisement a note of bastards, Heb. 1 2. 8 ; punishment a mark of love, Eev. 3. 19; for our profit^ Heb. 12.10; even then he is pained ; this chastisement is in measure. 16. Makes provision for. Earthly fathers, often passionate, though they be kings, yet of poor dignity, often know not the condition of their distant children, who may become poor. Is. 54. 10; cannot convert, Heb. 2. 14; Ex. 36. 26 ; estate divided or only given to one; are mortal. The wickedness of a child does not estrange the heart of a parent, so God remembers we are but dust, Ps. 103. 1 4 ; he pities ; Christ our High Priest is touched with a feeling of our infirmities. Bengal. — The tree feels not its own fruit weighty. Badaga. — Mix milk with water, it is still milk. Tour mother might behave badly, still she is your mother. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 119 Arab. — A blow from a lover as sweet as the eating of raisins. Bengal. — If you love me do not beat my dog. Afghan. — Though a mother be a wolf she does not eat her cub's flesh. B^agJiwoansa.—H^sQ father can no more destroy his son than the cloud can extinguish by its water the light- ning which proceeds from itself. Faith without Fruits is Dead.— Jas. 2. 17. Eaith is the root, works are the fruit : to try to do works without faith is like what the Bengali proverb states, " Cutting away the root and watering the branches." The Egyjptians painted a tongue with a hand under it, to show that knowledge and speech are efficacious and good, when that which is known and said is done. We must be golden-handed as well as golden-mouthed. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, Eev. 22. 14. Knowledge with- out action is a man without arms ; it is wine shut up in the vessel, that does good to none, and will corrupt at last and mar the vessel. Such knowledge will be like the poison that lies long in the body and at last kills without remedy. So she that liveth in pleasure, i Tim. 5. 6. In rain, not mere water fructifies, but a secret spirit or nitre that descends with it. Doing is the noblest improve- ment of being. The soul's essence is action. Eeligion, if confined to the heart, is not so much entertained as im- prisoned, that, indeed, is to be its fountain but not its channel; fountains would not be so much valued if they did not produce rivers. God planted religion among men as a tree of life, which though it was to spring upward directly to himself, yet it was to spread its branches to the benefit of all helow ,- like incense, which, while it ascends to heaven, it perfumes all about it. Not like the man who tells me his heart is right with God when his hand is in my pocket. I20 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The unripe fruit has little beauty, little flavour ; is plucked with difficulty from the tree. But let the air and light, the warm sun and the fruitful showers, unite to swell it, and to ripen it ; it is beautiful, it is sweet, falling from the bough into the hand of him that touches it. In Gal. 5. 22, 23, the fruits which the righteous ought to bear are described ; those of the wicked are given Gal. 5. 19— 21 ; the barren fig-tree was cut down, Luke 13. 7. Afghan. — Cold is not kept out with a " for God's sake," or "for the Prophet's sake," but with four seer (2 lb.) of cotton — i.e., cotton is used to stuff quilts and make tbem warm. Telugu. — Worship without faith is a mere waste of flowers — i.e., flowers are used in worship. ChanaJc. — Learning placed only in books, and wealth in the hands of others, are of no use, as not available in time of action. Arah. — Where the mind inclines, the feet lead. Love climbs mountains. Arah. — There are three things never hidden: love, a moun- tain, and one riding on a camel. Persian. — Love and musk do not remain concealed. China. — To come to the river wishing to fish is not enough ; you must bring the net in your hand. Sadi. — Though the water of life from the clouds fell in billows, And the ground were strewn over with paradise loam : Yet in vain would you seek, from a garden of willows. To collect any fruit as beneath them you roam. Oriental. — Expecting good fruits from the wicked is draining swallow's milk, plucking a hog's soft wool, sands yielding pomegranates. Bengal. — One knows the horse by his ears ; the generous by his gifts ; a man by laughing ; and a jewel by its brilliancy. Tamul. — Will the tiger's young be without claws ? Arab. — A learned man without works is like a cloud without rain. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 121 Balhins. — A basket full of books — i.e., a man of knowledge, but without using it. Sanskrit. — A fallen woman is dead. Fanch Tantra. — As shade and sunlight are ever closely- joined together, so an act and the agent stick close to each other. The Earth waxes old as a Garment. — Heb. i. 10-12. The earth itself is millions of years old, and lias changed its garment — i.e., the surface — many times. The Himalayas were once islands in an ocean which covered all India, and the Bay of Bengal washed the foot of the Himalayas. India was once not a continent but an archipelago; its present mountains were then islands, while the valley of the Ganges was formed from the earth brought down from the mountains. England itself was then a tropical climate ; sharks, alligators, and elephants lived there, though it is now too cold for them. The heavens will be folded up as a scroll, Is. 34. 4, Eev. 6. 14. Arab. — The garment of salvation never grows old, Is. 59* 17, Ps. 104. 2. China. — The pleasure of doing good is the only one that will not wear out. Hebrew. — All flesh waxeth old as a garment. JBhagavatgita. — As their old garments men cast oiF, anon new raiment to assume ; So casts the soul its worn-out frame, and takes at once another form : The weapon cannot pierce it through, nor wastes it the consuming fire ; The liquid waters melt it not, nop dries it up the parching wind; Impenetrable and unburned ; impermeable and undried : -Perpetual ever- wandering, firm, indissoluble, permanent, iQvisible, unspeakable. 122 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The Strait Gate and Narrow Way to eternal Life. Mat. 7. 12. The Katha Upanishad of the Yajur Veda states, " The- way to the knowledge of God is considered by wise men difficult, as the passage over the sharp edge of a razor." Though the way to heaven does not allow the unclean or lions to pass on it, the wayfaring man, though a fool,, may find it, Is. 35. 8; it is not like the broad way, crowded, or on an inclined plane, or easy like a boat going with the tide, or ending abruptly as Sodom did in brimstone; the way of transgressors is hard, as Samson, Judg. 16. 16, Saul, I Sam. 31. 4, and the licentious found, Prov. 2. 18, 5. 11 ; Josiah found the way that seemed right to him ended in death, 2 Chr. 35 ; the way of life goes to the eternal city, John 14. 6 ; the broad way has many on it and is easy, leading to death, Prov. 4. 19. Arab. — The ascent to virtue steep ; the descent to vice smooth. Fersian, — The water of life is in darkness — i.e., search is necessary. Persian. — Travel the highway, though it be roundabout — i.e., short cuts are dangerous. mtopadesh. — A stone is rolled up a hill by great exertions,. but is easily thrown down. The Girdle of Truth.— Eph. 6. 14. Some girdles are made of gold or fine linen, yet are perishable ; but truth is immortal ; as the Russian proverb states. Truth is not drowned in water, nor turned m Jlre, and the Bengali proverb, " False words and sprinkled water remain not long." Better totter in our bodies than in our words. Truth means the unleavened bread of sincerity, i Cor. 5. 8. The Shdnti Shatak, treating of the marks of the friends of truth, states "they have as a father patience, as a. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 123. mother forgiveness, as a wife peace of mind, their heir truth, their sister pity, their brother temperance, the earth their bed, their garment the air, and wisdom their nectar." The Marhanda Purana writes of truth : — Through truth only the sun sliines, on truth the earth stands. To speak the truth is the highest duty, on truth the heaven rests ; Though we weigh a thousand Asvamedhs against truth, Yet will truth outweigh a thousand Asvamedhs. Hypocrisy and malice are called leaven as being sour^ and making other things sour, working secretly, puffing. Leaven also, from its diffusive nature, symbolized the rapid spread of the Gospel, Mat. 13. 33. Nathaniel was an example of sincerity, a man without leaven, John i. 47 ; such was Paul. Truth or sincerity is like a girdle in seven joints : — 1. A belt used by soldiers to protect the stomach and vital parts. We are told to gird up the loins of our mind, i Pet. i . i 3 — i.e., restrain earthly affections. 2. Cleaves close all round : therefore the clothes were not easily loosed. The righteous should not turn to the right hand or the left, i Kings 13; as the Bengali proverb, " One foot on land, another on water." 3. Strengthens the loins : gird up thy loins, 2 Sam. 22. 40 ; God girds the loins of kings. Job 12. 18; sincerity strengthens, i Kings 20. 1 1 ; sincerity is the girdle to faith, hope, love. Matt. 6. 22. 4. A ]3reparation for tattle, Ps. 65. 3 : a war of words necessary to contend for the faith, as the righteous is a soldier. 5. A loreparation for travelling, as the garments were long ; so Elisha's, 2 Kings 4. 29 ; so the spiritual pilgrims have to travel far, and the storms of persecution will blow away loose garments. 6. Preparatory to serving : so the servant ploughed with loins girt, Luke 12. 35. Z24 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS 7. An ornament, covers the joints of the armour, hides seams ; sincerity covers low birth even in one of low ■descent, Is. 43. 4 ; it covers poverty. All are yours, I Chr. 3. 22. China, — An untruthful man is iron without steel ; An untruthful woman is rotten grass and tangled hemp. Afghan. — To lie is to leap from the house-top — i.e., a leap in the dark. Bengal. — A hero's word and an elephant's teeth remain fixed. Talmud. — Lies have no legs. JBengal. — Only a shrimp moves backward ; only a mean person backs out of his word. Turh. — The house of a liar is burned, but no one believes it. Bengal. — In promise he puts the moon in your hand. JBengal. — A lie is water sprinkled — i.e., remains not. Bengal. — Truth as a stone dissolves not in water. Seeing through, a Dark Glass.— -i Cob. 13. n. The eastern mirrors were made of ^polished steel, or brass, hence the shy i^ compared in Job 37. 18, to a molten looking-glass. The Moorish women in Barbary hang look- ing-glasses on their breasts. There were in Paul's time no windows of glass, but talc or horn ones ; through these people saw very dimly ; and such is our vision now of God's attributes, and of the mysteries of religion ; Providence is a wheel within a wheel, Ez. 1 . 16. Ships get on the rocks in a fog. Bussian. — At night all cats are grey. Tamul. — As the blind quarrelled about an elephant they had examined. Afghan. — The frog mounted on a clod, said he had seen Kashmir. Japan. — A small-minded man looks at the sky through a reed. Ja][)an. — To lap up the ocean with a shell. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 125, Japan, — The frog in the well sees nothing of the high seas. China. — Sitting in a well and staring at the stars. Telugu. — Like one who does not know the alphabet attempt- ing multiplication. Tamul. — Sounding the ocean with a jackal's tail. Hussian. — They will not see all the world by looking out of their own window. Prahodh Chandrody. — How can an answer be given to him who does not comprehend his own spirit, any more than it is possible to inform a blind man respect- ing the figure of his body ? Bengal. — Many elephants cannot wade^ the river ; the mosquito says it is' on}y knee deep. Is. 45. 9. Persian. — Thfe legs of those who require proofs of Grod's existence are made of wood. Telugu. — We cannot see our own forehead, our ears, or our backs ; neither can we know the hairs of our head ; if a man knows not himself how should he know the deity ? Sanskrit. — He who does not go forth and explore all the earth is a well frog. Aral. — The man is strange — who seeking a lost animal, suffers his own soul to be lost — who ignorant of himself seems to understand Grod — who doubts the existence of God when he sees his creatures. Hearers not Doers gazers in a Looking-glass. Jas. I. 23, 25. God lias given us a mirror in wliicli we may see the true character of our soul ; we may thereby grow in self- knowledge, and may adorn ourselves, not with what ministers to pride and worldly vanity, but with the ornaments of meekness and holiness, which are of great price in God's sight. This mirror is his holy Word, which holds up to ns the true lineaments and features of the soul, and shows lis how greatly it has lost the beauty of the image and likeness of God, and how it is disgraced and deformed by spots and blemishes of sin. The swellings of pride, the lines of envy and care, the shades of sensuality, sloth, and 126 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS •earthliness appear too plainly, when we look into tliis faithful mirror, which is not like flattering friends who say ^smooth things to us, and sometimes puff us up witli the notion that we are clothed with various graces ; but it tells us the very truth concerning our spiritual state ; and no veil of false excuses, or artful cloaking and colouring of our faults, will disguise from us our true state, if only we never neglect to consult this mirror in sincerity and with earnest prayer. There is looking without helping, as the Levite did, Luke 10. Hearers not doers are also compared to those leading captive silly women ever learning never coming to the truth, 2 Tim. 3. 7 ; or to those hearing a fine song, Ezek. 33. 32 ; children with rickets have large heads, but weak joints. God's word was designed as milk to enable persons to grow, I Pet. 2. 2. A fresh corpse can have the image of an object painted on the eye, but it reaches not to the heart. Some hearers are like a sponge which suck up everything, but all goes out again ; others like a strainer letting go the good and retaining the bad ; while some are like a sieve dropping the chaff and retaining the good grain. China. — The doctrine that enters only into the eye and ear is like the repast one takes in a dream ; Ez. 33. 32. China. — Better return home and make a net than go down the river and desire to get fishes. China, — To look at a plum is not to quench one's thirst. Bengal. — One man is being impaled, while the other counts the joints on the stake. Veman, — Let the sinner listen to holy texts he will not relinquish his vile nature : though you wash a coal in milk — will the blackness be removed ? Yeman. — Whatever he devoid of understanding may read, his virtue continues only so long as he is reading ; even as a frog is dignified only so long as it is seated on a lotus leaf. Turk, — It is not in speaking continually of honey that sweetness comes into the mouth. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 127 Arab. — Experience is the looking-glass of the intellect. JPersian. — A mirror in an Ethiopian's hand, ZJrdt^. — If the camel could see his hump, he would fall down and break his neck. China. — "Without striking the flint there is not even smoke. Tamul. — If the men be ugly ; what can the glass do ? Arah. — A learned man without practice, a cloud without water. JPersian. — One pound of learning requires ten of common sense to apply it. Buddhagosha. — A reciter of the law, but not a doer, is like a cowherd counting the cows of others. The Wild Goat on the Mountains protected, so the Righteous. — Ps. 104. 18. How safely does the wild goat rest on the side of the precipitous mountain, or climb the dizzy height, where man's brain would turn, and his feet would inevitably slip 1 How freely and fearlessly does she leap from rock to rock ! Her eye is as true, and her foot as sure upon the steep and slippery crag, as on some beaten road ! God has fitted her for "the high hills" on which he has appointed her to live, and has endued her with those faculties of the foot and of the eye, which enable her, even in the darkest night, to walk on rocks and precipices where man could not tread securely under the noonday light. The lesson taught is God's protecting providence, which tempers the wind to the shorn lamb ; it is like Jacob's ladder, extending from heaven to earth, though God's way to us maybe in the sea. Is. 43. 16 — ^'.e., leaving no track. God's acts are like clouds, which though black have the rainbow of hope from Christ the Sun of Kighteousness, or like wheels of quick and easy motion, which, though wheel within wheel, are regulated by the main wheel. 128 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS The Tongue an Helm. — Jas. 3. 2-5. We are told to keep the door of our lips ; tlie tongue is little like a helm, or a bit in a horse's mouth, yet it guides. Sennacherib's tongue brought death on 185,000 soldiers, 2 Kings i 8. 28 ; so Ananias and Sapphira's tongue brought death. Acts 5. 8-10. bengal. — His tongue is a sweeper's shovel. Solomon. — A soft tongue breaketh the bone ; a wholesome tongue is a tree of life. Telugu. — If your foot slip you may recover your balance, but if your mouth slips you cannot recall your words. Providence as a Hen sheltering her Chickens. Mat. 23. 27. A hen, on seeing the hawk that is hovering over her young, hastens forward to meet her frightened brood. Fearless in that defence she places herself in front of the danger. She gathers her chickens under her wings. Not one of them is denied admission to that hiding-place, which they all so fondly seek, under a sense of their own utter helplessness. Christ had previously called the Pharisees the Gurus (teachers) of that day — hypocrites, blind guides, serpents ; in this text all is love to the people of Jerusalem, 700^000 in number. Man is more inconsiderate than animals, than an ox or ass. Is. 1.3. 1 . A lien is mry compassionate to her young ; so Christ wept over Jerusalem, Mat. 23. 13. The hen even flies at a dog approaching to her young ; so Christ resisted the devil. Mat. 4. 6, 8. 2. A hen becomes tveaJc from nourishing her young ; so Christ sweat great drops of blood. Mat. 26. 30; he bore the heavy cross, Luke 23. 14. 3. A hen cluclis to warn her young of danger; so God pleads — why will you die ? Ez. 14. 6. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 129 4. A hen's wings receive her young, Ps. 91.3. God says, I have spread out my hands, Is. 65. 2, come to me all that labour. Mat. 1 1. 28, 29. A hen scratches to get meat for her young ; she fasts herself to give meat to them; so God says, Ho every one that thirsts. Is. 5 5 . i . A hen soon forgets her young when grown. ]N'ot so God. Can a woman forget her sucking child? Is. 49. 15. A hen loses her young in spite of herself, God's people neyer perish, John 10. 28. Telugu. — Will he who planted the tree not water it ? Luke 12. 24. Fersian. — The provider of food (God) gives to daily food wings in order to come. Honesty.— EoM. 13. 13. Christ gave the golden rule. Mat. 7.12. Bengal. — The thief and the hog have one path. Hebrew. — He that builds his house with other men's moneys is like one that gathers himself stones for the tomb of his burial. Hospitality. — Rom. 12. 13. Justus was hospitable to Paul, Acts 18.7. Badaga. — He does not ask his friend to go away, but he makes such a smoke in the house that his friend is obliged to leave. Telugu. — A kind reception is better than a feast. Who are God's Jewels.— Mai. 3. 16, 17, Jewels are much valued in every country ; hence the New Jerusalem's gates are represented as made of pearls, Eev. 21. 21. The jewels on the High Priest's breast- plate symbolized the twelve tribes as dear to him. An K I30 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS esteemed wife is called by tlie Hindus a jewel of a woman. See parable of the Pearl, Mat. 13. 45. TI1& righteous are like jeivels in seven points : — 1. All jewels are dug out of the earth from rubbish, except the pearl found in the oyster ; the diamond is only crystallized carbon or coal hardened in the earth ; so believers at first of the earth earthy (i Cor. 15. 49) dead in trespasses. ^ 2. Jewels receive a fine polish, which requires a long time. A wheel is used for this purpose, so adversity polishes believers to put on the new man as it did to Joh and David ; the polishing continues till all the flaws are removed, thus the Church hereafter by affliction's rubbing, will be without spot or blemish. 3. Jeivels are rare. Many stones and metals are not equal in value to a small one, so believers a little flock, Luke 12. 32, not many wise called. Silver and gold were, however, as stones in Solomon's times, i Kings 10. 27, so again in the New Jerusalem. 4. Jewels are very heautiful — yellow, green, purple ; so the graces are beautiful — as love with John, humility as in Mary, patience as in Joh — whatever things are lovely, Philip. 4. 8. Believers like jewels shine in the dark, so believers are the light of the world, so Peter and John's boldness was admired, though they were ignorant men. Acts 4. 5. Stephen's face shone when dying. Jewels are ornamental, set in a croivn, ring, or seal, used by brides and kings ; so the believer's crown will be an ornament to Christ's crown, Ex. 28. 29. To angels is manifested the love of God to man. 5. Jewels are duralle ; such as the Kohi Nur of Eanjit Sing. This is one cause of their value, so the hidden man of the heart, i Peter 3. 4 ; when earthly jewels shall be destroyed at the last day the righteous shall shine forth. Mat. 13. 43 ; many seeming jewels are only glass, so with hypocrites. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 131 6. Jewels are very valuable ; so the righteous are the pearls of creation, of great price, Mat. 13. 45, redeemed not with corruptible things, i Peter i. 17, the precious sons of Zion were esteemed by the Chaldeans as earthen vessels. Lam. 4. 2, yet regarded as the apple of God's eye, Deut. 32. 10. Ten jewels — i.e., good men — would have saved Sodom could they have been procured. 7. Jewels are kept carefully ; so believers are kept by the power of God ; angels have charge over them, Mat. 4. 6. The Lord is their shade. CTianak. — That jewel knowledge, which is not plundered by kinsmen, nor carried off by thieves, which does not decrease by giving, is great riches. Urdu. — Among men some are jewels and some are pebbles. SaiisJcrit. — The sandal grows not in every wood. God a Judge. — Rev. 20. 12. From God's judgment-seat there is no escape by bribery. God spared not the devils, neither N'ebuchad- nezzar nor Pharaoh. He is the Father of Lights, and knows the law he himself made ; he is patient, because he is eternal; he spared the world in ^N'oah's time 120 years; and the world has been spared now 6,000 years. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, leholding the evil aiid the good. There is no secret place in which the sinner can hide himself ; for God, who is present every- where, sees in the dark as well as in the light. He hears us when we do not speak, because he hears our thoughts. As the light of the sun reaches to the ends of the world, .-so his power is everywhere, Ps. 139. God differs from earthly judges in four points : — The judge, who punishes sins in a court of justice, receives his information from others, and can know only that which the witnesses tell him. But God is both judge and witness, and knows all things. When the K 2 132 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS judge has condemned a man and lie is put to deatli, lie has no more that he can do ; but the power of God reaches heyond the grave, for he can destroy both the soul and body in hell. His hand shall find out those whom the grave has hidden from our sight, and they shall be brought forth, and placed before his judgment- seat to be judged for their past lives. Thefts, murders,. and other sins which were committed in the dark, and were hidden from men so long as the offenders lived, shall then all be discovered, and made known. With the fear of this, the guilty shall tremble when they rise from their graves ; then shall they call upon the mountains to fall upon them, and hide them from the face of their judge, Eev. 6. i6. Bengal. — Sand sharpens a knife, a stone the axes, good words a good man, a thrashing a rogue. Bengal. — Before a turniDg-lathe a thing cannot remain crooked. K-*-< Knowledge.— I Sam. 2. 3. Empty knowledge puffs up, i Cor. 8. i, 2. Menu. — A wooden elephant, an antelope of leather, and a Brahman without knowledge — these three things only bear a name, Eev. 3.1. Atmabodh. — By ignorance the soul is ruined ; when this is removed, the soul shall shine forth as the sun when the clouds disappear. Atmabodh. — The flame of knowledge which blazes forth when the contemplation is unceasingly rubbed upon the fuel of the soul, consumes all the stubble of ignorance. Atmabodh. — Knowledge alone effects emancipation, as fire is indispensable to cooking. Avyar. — He without knowledge is blind. Kural. — Those who know have eyes and see ; those who know not have only two holes in front. Sanskrit. — The gem of learning is great wealth ; it cannot be shared by cousins, nor lost by robbery, nor exhausted by liberality, Mat. 6. 19. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 133 Sanskrit. — A reasonable word should be received even from a child or parrot. Arah. — Ignorance is the greatest poverty. Sanskrit. — One void of learning is a beast. Sanskrit. — The spring is the youth of trees, wealth is the youth of meo, beauty is the youth of women, intelligence is the youth of the young. jirah. — One day of a wise man is worth more than the life of a fool. Niti Shatak. — The man without learning is a beast. Sin, a Leprosy.— Is. i. 6. Disease called an arrow flying at night, Ps. 90., such -as cholera. David was a man after God's own " heart ;" though living in a palace of cedar, he could not prevent disease, the fruit of sin, from entering ; no soundness in his flesh, no rest in his bones^ an emblem of sin ; this was the man once so lively who danced before the ark, Ps. z^. 7. Sill is like leprosy in tiuelve 'joints : — 1. Painful. Pain is often useful in warning of danger to the body ; thus fire warns, but the absence of mental pain is often an opiate to the conscience ; thus Cain did not feel at first that he was guilty of murder; he said, Am I my brother's keeper ? Gen. 4., 9. So when David committed murder he slept well. On another occasion, however, he states the arrows of the Almighty are within him. A pain often points out the seat of disease ; opiates are not good in such a case. The pain of future punishment should be anticipated like as in the case of the men that heard Peter, and who were pricked to the heart, Acts. 2. 37, others, however, as in Judas's case suffer pain without any benefit. 2. Wastes the tody and heanty. His beauty consumes like a moth, Ps. 39. 11. The Nazarites, whiter than snow, became black as a coal, Lam. 4. 8. God saw once every thing he made was good, even man's body, but sin has 134 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS dimmed the fine gold. " They are altogether become filthy.'* The jaundiced eye does not always see its own ugliness ; so with the sinner. 3. Impairs the strength of the limhs. The strong becomes rery weak, so the sinner — '•' sin revived, I died." The sick man tries to walk, but falls ; he has the will, not the power. The law in the members warring against the law of the mind, Eom. 7. 23. 4. Spoils the appetite. Food is necessary, yet there is no relish, hence death ensues ; the manna of God's word is despised ; the honeycomb of the promises is loathed ; the wine and milk of Gospel truth are rejected ; he turns as a dog to his vomit, and eats husks. Job 31. 21. Behold he prayeth, was the sign of Saul's spiritual appetite. Acts 9. 1 1. 5 . Blasts the comforts of life. The ear enjoys not music ; Job when a leper said. My soul chooseth strangling rather than life. Job 7. 15. Vanity of vanities, says Solomon^ Eccl. 1 . 2 ; as vinegar upon nitre, so songs to a heavy heart, Pro v. 25. 20. 6. Unhinges the whole hody. The heart and limbs feel local complaints. I am poured out like water, Ps. 22. 14; so the conscience calls bitter sweet, the whole head is sick. Tit. 1.5. The imagination is only evil. 7. Ternfiinates in death. The blood is affected, and then the dust returns to dust ; he that liveth in pleasure is dead, i Tim. 5. 6. How fearful are plagues, such as small-pox, cholera, yet how much more so the disease of sin. 8. Deeply seated. Not skin deep, but affecting the vital parts of the blood and the heart, which is deceitful above all things. 9. Widely spread since Adam's time ; small-pox, leprosy are spread to every part of the body, so man's members are made instruments of unrighteousness ; " his tongue, a world of iniquity ;" his eyes full of covetousness ; his hands defiled with bribes ; his feet swift to shed blood. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 135 10. Extremely complicated. Now the fever of agitated passion, the palsy of want of natural affection, the decay of spiritual affection — a complication of disorders, so that what is a remedy in one case is a poison in another. 1 1. Hereditary. "What is born of the flesh is flesh." " In sin did my mother conceive me,^' Ps. 5 i. 5. By one man sin entered into the world, Eom. 5 . 12; so Gehazi's family inherited from him the leprosy, 2 Kings 5. 27. 1 2. Most infectious. The atmosphere of the earth is charged with disease which is caught from the air of a room or from clothes ; but sin from a glance, or a word, as in David's case. Evil communications corrupt good manners. Only Christ was exempt from this infection ; like a sunbeam he could penetrate impurity without being soiled. 13. Very loathsome and malignant. The drunkard's and libertine's complaints are such. The body, as in leprosy, is often a putrid mass, so that friends cannot come near. Paul says, " Who shall deliver me from the (putrid) body of this death ?" 14. Incurable hy human means; sin, when it hath conceived, brought forth dead. Quack doctors will not do. No doctors can cure this leprosy. Hussian. — The fleetest horse escapes not from its tail. Tamul. — Is the young jackal to be trained to howl ? Arah. — The shadow of the deformed is deformed. Tamul. — A lame man is a hero before a cripple. Tamul. — As if one changed his pillow to cure the headache. Persian. — If you keep sour milk in a leathern bag lOO years, it will still be sour milk. John 3. 5-7. Urdu. — Put a dog's tail into a straight pipe for 1 000 years, it will still be as crooked as ever. God's People graven on the Palms of his Hands. Is. 49. 15, 16. God says a mother may forget her sucking child, but he will not forget his people. Is. 49. 15. An engraving is not 136 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS impressed on the surface as writing but is cut in or graven with a pen of stone or of writing iron ; this impression is not rubbed out like that of ink or on palm leaves, but remains like the impression of the style on leaves. God's having his people graven on the palms of his hands, means their being in a secure place, and one easily observed by the individual, Hitopadesh. — He by whom swans are made white, and parrots green, and peacocks variegated, will provide thy subsistence. Sanskrit. — A mother curses not her son ; the earth suffers no harm ; a good man does no injury ; God destroys not his creation. Light.— Ps. 36. 9. God the sun, the source of light, Jas. 1 . 1 7 ; communi- cated to the body through the eye. Mat. 6. 22 ; the path of the just like the shining light, Prov. 4. i 8 ; the favour of God is light, Ps. 27. i, and is therefore agree- able, Ecc. II. y. TIpanishad. — It is through God's shining that all else shines ; by his lustre the universe is illuminated. The Righteous Bold as a Lion. — Peov. 28. i. The roaring of a lion in quest of his prey resembles the sound of distant thunder, and being re-echoed by the rocks and mountains, appals the whole race of animals, and puts them instantly to flight. So great are the terror and dismay which his roaring produces, that many animals, which by their swiftness might escape his fury, astonished and petrified by the sound of his voice, are rendered incapable of exertion. He never flies from the hunters, nor is frightened by their onset; if their numbers force him to yield, he retires slowly, step by step, frequently turning upon his pursuers. He has been. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 137 known to attack a whole caravan, and when obliged to retire, he always retires fighting, and with his face to his enemies. " An army of deer with the lion as leader is more terrible than an army of lions with a deer as leader." A lion was the symbol of a king; Judah is called, from its brave character, a lion's whelp, Gen. 49. 9 ; Babylon is called a lion on the eagle wings of conquest, Dan. 7. 4 ; Paul was delivered out of the lion's mouth — i.e., from the wicked — 2 Tim. 4. 1 7 ; ^N; ebuchadnezzar was called a lion, Jer. 4. 7 ; Christ called the lion of the tribe of Judah, Eev. 5. 5. A lion is 1. Courageous; such was David, Ps. 27. 3 ; so Nehemiah said, shall such a man as I flee, 'Neh. 6. 1 1 ; so Paul boldly avowed his doctrine to be what the governor called heresy. Acts 24. 14; he fought with beasts, i Cor. 15. 32 ; the Apostles said they must speak of the things they had seen. Acts 4. 20 ; so Elijah, i Kings 10. 15, 19 ; Is. 41. 14. The lion called the king of beasts, so believers are more than conquerors, Eom. 8. 3 ; other beasts fear it, so Herod feared John, Matt. 15.5. 2. Strong. Samson says, out of the strong lion came forth sweetness, Judg. 14. 14; Christ as a lion is mighty to save. Is. 9. 6 ; at times the lion is still when he crouches -down before his spring ; Christ is now a lamb, but after- wards will be a lion, on the last day, Am. 3.8. 3. Mild : to these submissive, yet firm ; so John before Herod ; Paul before Pelix ; so Moses. Russian. — Pear has many eyes ; he fearing the wolf enters not the forest. China. — Men who never violate their conscience are not afraid of a knock at their door at midnight. Urdu. — The leaf cracked, and your servant fled. JPersian. — He fled from his own shadow. -Arab. — No rehgion without courage. 138 EASTERN PROVERBS AND ExMBLEMS TuvTc. — Among ten men nine are women. Canara. — An elephant fears not fishes, neither do the good the bad. African. — If a mouse were as big as a bullock, yet it would be the slave of the cat. Time like a Mail-post, Swift Ships, Eagles. — Job 9. 25, 26. Time, in its rapid devastating course, is compared to a flood, Ps. 90. 5 ; to a tale that is told, Ps. 90. 9 ; a liand- Ireadtli, Ps. 39-5; a dream, Ps. 73. 20; a weaver's shuttle. Job 7. 6f In Job's days human life had been gradually shortening from 500 to 70 years. The dromedary post, though not as quick as a horse in a given space, yet maintains an uniform continued progress. Time is like a mail-post, in four points : 1 . The postman rides on swift horses 150 miles a day, while the caravan moves only at two miles an hour. 2. Changes in order to increase speed. 3. Delays little for rest or mere salutation, Luke 10. 4. 4. Alloivs no ohstruction on the road. The Persian messengers could, by royal authority, press horses, men, or ships, so as to expedite them, Esth. 3. 15. The post may be stayed, but the sun never stops. Swift ships — i.e., made of papyrus of the JSTile — which cut through the water with easy speed. Italian. — Time is an inaudible file. Greek. — Man is a bubble. Bengal. — There is no hand to catch time. Canara. — Life is a lamp exposed to the wind, Jas. 4. 14. Arab. — Who is able to restore Mhat was yesterday, or to plaster over the rays of the sun ? Persian. — The best teacher is time. China. — As wave follows wave so new men take old men's places. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 139 China. — Men live like birds together in a wood : When the time comes each takes his flight. China, — A generation is like a swift horse passing a crevice. China. — "When we take off our boots and stockings to-day, That we shall wear them to-morrow who can say ? Canara. — The pearl though originating in water does not- become water again, Prov. 4. id), I Cor. 13. II. Oriental. — The world has nothing constant, but its insta- bility. Aral). — Every day in thy life is a leaf in thy history, Prov. 27. I. Kathd Saritsdgar. — The rivers, the flowers, the moon's- phases, disappear but return, not so youth. An Oppressor like a Crouching Iiion.— Ps. 10. 9. A lion is proud, strong, and crafty, lying in wait for the prey ; such were Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 3, Manasseh, 2 Kings 21. 16, Behoboam ; Satan is compared to a roaring lion, I Pet. 5. 8, active as with Job, knowing his time is short, Eev. 12. 12. Oppression is an abuse of power, the practice of unjust and uncharitable actions as to a hired servant, Deut. 24.. 14, or widow, Ex. 22. 21—24. Oppression makes a wise man mad, Ecc. 7. 7 ; grinds the face of the poor, Is. 3. 15; flays the poor, Mic. 3. 1-3. Envy one cause of oppression, as in Ahab and ^aboth's case ; pride another,, as in Jezebel's case. Telugu. — There is no justice in oppression, and no sight in a blind eye. Bengal. — The landlord loves the peasant with the same love as the Musalman has to the fowl — i.e., which. he fattens in order to kill. S40 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS A Living Dog better than a dead Lion.— Ecc. 9. 4. *' Half a loaf'i^ better than no bread." " He with one eye sees the better for it." " A standing thistle better than the falling cedar." " A living sheep better than the dead camel." " A living hodman better than the dead Emperor." This text points out the value of life, using as an em- blem the dog, the meanest of animals. Matt. 15. 26, and the lion, the noblest, Pro v. 30. 30. Man and Wife one Flesh.— Matt. 19. 5. There is an union, but not like the one in Nebuchadnez- zar's image, Dan. 2. 33. No bitterness is to be shown, Col. 3. 19. The Egyptians represent a man without a woman by a single mill-stone, which cannot grind alone. Talmud. — Even though the wife be little, bow down to her in speaking, i.e., do nothing without her advice. Jainwriter. — The husband and wife must, like two wheels, support the chariot of domestic life, otherwise it must stop. Aral. — "Women are parts cut out of men. Gren. 2. 23. China. — Husband and wife in perfect accord ; Are the music of the harp and lute. China. — A good man will not beat his wife ; A good dog will not worry a fowl. Badaga^ — If you yoke a buffalo and an ox together, the one will push for the swamp and the other for the hill. Arab. — A mule yoked with horses. 2 Cor. 6. 14. Persian. — Tied by the neck, i.e., married to a bad woman. Persian. — A bad wife is a tree growing on the wall, i.e., like the fig tree which undermines the wall by its roots. Mussian. — A wife is not a guitar, i.e., which having done playing with you hang on the wall. Telugu. — The house is small and the wife like a monkey. China. — A widow is a rudderless boat. Basque. — He who marries a wolf often looks towards the forest. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 141 Talmud. — Grod did not make woman from man's head, that she should not rule over him ; nor from his feet, that she should not be his slave; but from his side, that she should be near his heart. JBhagavalgita. — Women like flowers are of tender fabric ; and should be softly handled, Eph. 5. 25. Badaga. — A passionate wife is as bad as a house that leaks. Bartrihari. — This is the fruit of love among married people, one mind among two persons ; where there is dis- cord, it is the marriage of two corpses. MrichJiahati. — Look round the garden, mark these stately trees. Which duly by the king's command attended ; Put forth abundantly their fruits and flowers, And clasped by twining creepers ; they resemble The manly husband, and the tender wife. The Miser. — Luke 12. 19. SansJcrit. — A miser's wealth goes by fire, robbers, and kings. Telugu. — Practising the humility of a fox, he heaps up wealth and does not use it ; thus is rice sprinkled at the mouth of a bandicoot trap, Prov. 13. 11. Badaga, — A miser is a tree with fruit you cannot get. False Peace like Untempered Mortar.— Ezek. 13. 10. In Persia, proper mortar is made of plaster, eartli_, and chopped straw well kneaded together ; but often to save expense they put much water to a little plaster, which looks as well but is not plaster. There is no cement in a house so built ; it is like the house on the sand, which the whirlwind or flood breaks down, Mat. 7. 27, like some of the bridges in India, cemented by rubbish, not by mortar, or like the virgins without oil, Mat. 25. i — 1 3. Such is all false peace without repentance and faith in the atonement of Christ, like that of the rich fool, Luke 12. 19. Bhagavadgita. — The soul floats like the lotus on the lake unmoved, unrufiled by the tide, Acts 20. 24 16-25. 142 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Modern Greek. — No one is disgusted with his own bad smell. Telugu. — Like sprinkling rose-water on ashes. Arab. — Temperance is a tree which has contentment for its root, and peace for its fruit. Malayalim. — Time shows the value of a bridge built of wood, Prov. 5. 3, I Cor. 3. 13. Modern Greeh. — Neighbour ! your house is on fire. Impos- sible, I have the keys. 'Russian. — The bell calls to church, but goes not in itself. Oriental. — The prosperity of an ignorant man is like a garden on a dunghill. China, — "We never wander so far away as when we think we know the way. Cingalese. — Like changing the pillow when suffering from headache. Modern Greeh. — He who eats flax-seed eats his own shirt — i.e., the future sacrificed to the present. Tamul. — As quiet as a snake in a box. Bhagavatgita. — "Without quiescence there can be no bliss. E'en as a storm-tossed ship upon the waves, So is the man whose heart obeys his passions, "Which like the winds will hurry him away. BuddhagosJia. — "Who subdues his passions is a lake without mud. Arah. — Patience is the key to joy. Mountains.— Dan. 2. 45. Their solid strength, untouched by visible decay, gave ^mountains the name of the pillars of heaven, Job 26. 11. Their majesty defies the turbulence and confusion of the ■world at their feet, yet God weighs them in a balance. Is. 40. 12. MagJiuvause. — The storm may uproot the trees, but not the mountains, Ps. 125. 2. A-vah. — "When we cross one mountain, another appears. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS, 143 The Spiritual Net. — Mat. 13. 47. As the sea is a frequent type or emblem of the world, so " the fishes of the sea," which take their course at willj and so often prey upon one another throughout that waste of waters, represent the vast numbers who know not God, and walk in the way of their own hearts, with- out any sure guide or rule of conduct, and too often only envying and provoking, hating and devouring, one another. Into this broad sea of the whole world a net was to be cast ; and instead of their lowly labours on the little sea of Galilee, the Apostles were to be employed in gathering men out of every clime and country into the Church of God, and in drawing them under the blessed restraints and holy discipline of " the obedience of faith." A net will indeed gather of every kind, and when it is drawn to the shore, a separation is made of the fishes which are worth the pains of taking out of the sea, and of such as are nothing worth, and may be cast away. Thus among those who are gathered into the visible Church of Christ, there " are good and bad," many false professors as well as sincere servants of God ; nor will the good be separated from the bad until the net is drawn completely to the shore, which will not be till the end of the world. The fish, whether big or little, are taken out of the sea of this world, a stormy place full of rocks, subject to tempests. The Night of Life and Day of Eternity. — Rom. 13. 12. The Shdnti Shatak states, '' The world is like a wild desert, the house of our body is full of holes, our fancies are a night which throws the veil of illusion over us : be watchful and defend yourself with the sword of know- ledge, the shield of resignation, and the armour of 'Caution." Morning comes after night, so the morning of eternity. 144 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Ps. 49. 14; morning longed for, Ps. 130. 6; morning makes things manifest, Isa. 58. 8, i Gor. 4.5; morning brings joy, birds sing, flowers are fresh, Isa. 26. 19; morning foreshows the king of day. Life like niglit in four points : — 1. A state of darkness; whereas light symbolizes knowledge, Is. 8. 20; holiness, i John i. 7; comfort, Ps. 97. 11; and glory, Col. i. 12. 2. The time of sleep, i Thess. 5. 7, hence sleep is called the son of night. Half our days we pass in the shadow of the earth, and the brother of death (sleep) extracts a third part of our lives. 3. Time of danger beasts and thieves prowl about,. Is. 21. 12; heaven is light, " the inheritance of the saints in light." 4. Inactivity y ignorance, Luke i. 79, night an emblem of death, John 9. 4. The Arabs say he who has done- justice in the night has built himself a house for the- next day. Afghan, — "When night comes fear is at the door; when day comes fear is on the hills. Aral. — Night is blind, I Thess. 5. 7. Mussian. — At night all cats are black. Oriental. — The prosperity of the ignorant is like a garden on a dunghill. Arab. — Nightly prayer makes the day to shine. Bengal, — AVhere there is fear of the tiger it is evening. Arab. — The day blots out the dread of night. Turk. — JSlight is the day of the wicked. The Sensualist's Old Age.— Eccles. 12. 1-7. This is a description of the dreary old age of the man who when young would go on in the way of his heart ; not as the good old age of Abraham and David, Gen. i 5 . 15, I Chron. 29. 28, or the serene old age of Isaac^^. Jacob, Moses, and Joshua, Is. 40. 30-31. The pious ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 145 old renew their youth as the eagles, they bring forth fruit in old age, Ps. 92. 15. In the 1 2 th chapter of Ucclesiastes, the Preacher Solomon admonishes to dedicate youthful days to the service of our Creator, considering the evil days of the winter of life which are coming on, when the faculties of our minds and bodies often fail. For then, the sun and the moon and the stars are darkened — i.e., the superior powers, which rule in the body of man, as the heavenly luminaries do in the world — viz., the understanding and reason, the imagination and the memory — are obscured as when the clouds interpose between us and the lights of the firmament. In the earlier season of life, the clouds of affliction having poured down their rain, they pass away, and sunshine succeeds ; but now the clouds return after the rain — i.e., old age itself is with the wicked a continual sorrow, and there is no longer any hope of fair weather. The keepers of the house, the arms and hands, which are made to guard and defend the body, begin to shake and tremUe ; and the strong men, the shoulders, where the strength of the body is placed, and which were once able to bear every weight, begin to stoop and how themselves / the grinders, the teeth, begin to fall away, and cease to do their work, because they are few. Also those that look out of the windows are darkened — i.e., the eyes, those windows of the soul, through which we look at all things abroad, become dim ; and he that uses them is as one who looks out of a window in the night. Tlie dooi^s are shut in the streets — i.e., difficulties and obstructions attend all the passages of the body, and digestion becomes weak when the grinding is low. The youthful and healthy sleep soundly, and are apt to transgress by taking too much rest ; but the aged sleep with difficulty, and rise up at the voice of the hird, at the crowing of the cock. The daughters of music are brought low ; the voice falls, and becomes hoarse ; the hearing is dull ; and the spirits, now less active than they used to be, are less affected by the L 146 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS powers of harmony ; and so the old sit in heaviness, hanging down their heads, as virgins drooping under the sorrow of captivity. Old age, being inactive and help- less, becomes afraid of that ivliich is high ; it is fearful of climbing because it is in danger of falling ; and, being unfit to endure the hardships of fatigue, and the shocks of a rough journey, the fears which are in the way dis- courage the old from setting out. Then the almond tree flourishes — i.e., the hair of the head becomes white as the early almond blossoms in the hard weather of the winter before the snows have left ; and even the grass- hopper becomes a burthen — i.e., the legs, once light and nimble to leap, as the legs of that insect, and which used with ease to bear the weight of the whole body, are now become a burthen, and can scarcely carry themselves ; and, when the faculties thus fail, the desire fails along with them, for nothing is desirable when nothing can be enjoyed. Such are the evil days which come upon many when their youth is passed in sin, and prepare the way for death, when man goeth to his long home. Then the silver cord, the nerves^ whose coat is white and shining as a cord of silver, is loosed, and no longer does its office. The circula- tion of the blood stops at the heart, the fountain of life, as when a pitcher, which draws water, is broken at the ivell, or the watering wheel, circulating with its buckets, which it both fills and empties at the same time, is broken at the cistern. Thus do the vital motions all cease in death ; and the dust returns to the earth, to become such as it was before man was made out of it ; and his immortal spirit returns ^mto God, the fountain of immortality from whom it pro- ceeded. Arab. — Hoary hairs are death's messengers. Arab. — The gravity of old age is fairer than the flower of youth. China. — In clothes we value novelty : in men old age. China. — A wall is cracked and lofty, its fall must he speedy. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 147 Afghan. — Oh ! greybeard, thou eatest earth — i.e., money to an old man is as useless as earth. Afghan. — The ass grown old did not know his master's house. Arab. — The cat became blind but still was hankering after mice. Bengal. — Plastering an old hut with clay and cow dung — i.e., passing off a vile article as excellent. Helrew. — Old age is a crown of nettles : youth is a crown of roses. .SansTcrit. — The old who cannot enjoy sensual objects nor yet abandon them, resembles a toothless dog lick- ing a bone. ■SansJcrit. — Wealth stops at the house, friends and relatives at the grave, good and evil deeds follow the dying man. Oppressing the Poor a Sweeping Rain.— Peov. 28. 3. The periodical rains which follow the long-continued drought of summer in Eastern countries, sometimes occasion a devastation unknown in a European climate. The rivers and brooks, in consequence of the periodical rains, over- flowing their bounds, carry ruin into the most cultivated districts, but especially among the dwellings of the poor, which, being usually built of mud, or of bricks burnt only in the sun, are the first to fall before the torrent, involvina: the inhabitants in destruction. The giants before the flood were oppressors. Gen. 6. 4, 1 2, 1 3 ; so were the Egyptians, Ex. i . i 3 ; so Jezebel, i Kings 21. 7—13, devoured by dogs, 2 Kings 9. 30-37 ; not so Job, 31. 13-15 ; or those obeying the law of Moses, Deut. I 5. 7-1 1, 24. 10-15. See the parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Mat. 18. 30-34. Oppression of the poor is called d. 'panting after the dust on their head, Amos. 2. 7 — i.e., thereby the oppressors incline to rob them of everything, and crush them to the dust of death. It is represented as a selling the poor for a pair of shoes, Amos 8. 6^ to mark how ligMy the oppressor L 2 148 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS esteems tliem, and for how little lie is disposed to ruin tliem. It is called a criisliing and treading upon them, Amos 5. 1 1, to signify the grievous, afflictive, and debasing tendency thereof. It is called a slaying of them; a cliopping their hones, Mic. 3. 3 ; a frightening and tearing them in the manner of lions, wolves, or bears ; to denote the inhuman cruelty contained in it, and the utter ruin effected by it. It is rej^resented as a huilding of houses and cities hy Mood, Hab. 2. 12; because oppressors rear these structures with the wealth extorted from others, to the endangering of their life. It is called an eati7ig of God's people as bread, Micali 3. 3, to mark the pleasure and greed wherewith wicked men persecute the persons, ruin the character, and consume the substance of the godly. The widow of Zarephath, i Kings 17. 12, was happier than Queen Jezebel, the oppressor ; while the rust of the rich man's gold shall eat his flesh as fire, Jas. 5. 2—3, it shall also, like the dust, be a testimony against him, Mark 6. II. Solomon writes, the teeth of the oppressor are knives to. devour the poor from off the earth, Prov. 30. 14. We are to open our mouth for the dumb, Prov. 31.8. bengal. — The relation of the carviDg knife to the pumpkin. China. — Unjustly-got wealth is snow sprinkled with hot water. Lands improperly obtained are but sand- banks in a stream. The Righteous as the Palm Tree. — Ps. 92. 12. The righteous resemUe the palm tree in five points : 1. The 'palm tree grows in the desert. Earth is a desert to the righteous ; true believers are even refreshed in it as a palm is in the Arabian desert ; so Lot amid Sodom's wickedness, and Enoch, who walked with God amongst the antediluvians. 2. The palm tree grows on the sand, hut the sand is not its food ; water below feeds its tap roots, though the heavens above be brass. Some righteous live not as the ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 149 lily, by green pastures, Hos. 14. 5, or willow by water- courses, Is. 44. 4, but as the palm of the desert ; so Joseph among the Cat- worshippers of Egypt, Daniel in voluptuous Babylon. Faith's penetrating root reaches the fountains of living waters. 3. The palm tree is heautiful, with its tall and verdant -canopy, and the silvery flashes of its waving plumes ; so the believer's virtues are not like the creeper or bramble, tending downwards ; their palm branches shoot upwards, and seek the things above. Col. 3. i ; some trees are •crooked and gnarled, but the righteous is a tall palm, as ^ son of the light. Mat. 3. 12, Phil. 2. 15. The Jews were called a crooked generation, Deut. 32. 5, and Satan a crooked serpent. Is. 27. i; but the believer is upright like the palm. Its beautiful unfading leaves made it an emblem of victory ; victors in heaven are represented as having palms in their hands, Eev. 7. 9 ; it was twisted into verdant booths at the Feast of Tabernacles ; and the multitude, when escorting Christ to his coronation in Jerusalem, spread leaves on the way, John 12. 13. No dust adheres to the leaves as it does with other leaves ; the righteous is in the world, not of it ; the dust of earth's desert adheres not to his soul. The leaf of the palm is the same — it does not fall in winter, and even in the summer it has no holiday clothing ; it is an evergreen : the palm tree's rustling is the desert orison. 4. The palm tree is very useful. The Hindus reckon it has 360 uses. Its shadow shelters, its fruit refreshes the weary traveller ; it points out to water. Such were Barnabas, a son of consolation. Acts 4. 36, Lydia, Dorcas, Acts 9. 39, and others, who on the king's highway showed the way to heaven, as Philip did to the Ethiopian eunuch, Acts 8. 34. The palm tree hears fruit even to old age. The best dates are produced when the tree is from thirty to one hundred years old, and 30olbs. of dates are annually yielded ; so the righteous grow happier and more useful ISO EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS as they become older ; knowing their own faults more,, they are more mellow to others ; like the sun settings beautiful, mild, and large, looking like Elim in the desert, where the wearied Jews found twelve wells and seventy palm trees, Ex. 15. 27. Perseverance as the Husbandman. — Jas. 5. 7. Arab. — A poor man without patience is like a lamp without- oil. Arab. — When you are an anvil, be patient ; when a hammer, strike. Malabar. — You must not cast away the paddle when you approach the shore. Bengal. — The bundle was pressed hard, but the knot was left loose — i.e., business neglected at the close. Malabar. — By practice you may lift up even elephants. Telugu. — With a single blow he opens not nine nuts. Niti Shatah. — The perseverance of a man of constant mind can never be overwhelmed by misfortune, as the flame of the torch turned upward never goes down, 2 Cor. 6. lO. TIrdu. — The crows keep cawing, but the corn grows not- withstanding. Turh. — Little by little we become fat. Telugu. — He watched the field until the harvest, and then let it go to the jackals. Polygamy. Malay. — Two wives under one roof: two tigers in one ,cage. Bengal. — Who has two wives has much sorrow, I Kings II. 4. Telugu. — Two swords cannot be contained in one scabbard. Afghan. — Who likes squabbles at home contracts two- marriages. Tamul. — Why fire the house of a man who has two wives ; i.e., the fire of anger and jealousy is enough. Malay. — The desire of the heart might be to grasp moun- tains, but what use when the arm will not reach ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 151 round ? — i.e.^ a man desiring to marry above his station. Prevention better than Cure. bengal — When the thief has escaped men are very wise. Gujerat. — Diseases and delays indulged augment. 'Polish. — What I see not with the eye cannot pain the heart. Arab. — Shut the window from which a bad smell comes. Sanskrit. — Keeping away from the mire is better fhan washing it off. Tamul. — Eelying on the efficacy of the proposed remedy, will you put your hand in a snake's hole ? Pride. — Peov. 21.4. Exemplified in Haman, Esth. 3. 15, Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 4. 30, Agrippa, Acts 12. 21-23, Herod, Acts 12. 21-23, Pbaraoh, Ex. 5. 2. Afghan. — To every man his own understanding is king. China. — We fill tanks, but the heart of man who can fill ? Telugu. — Like the bat, which thinks it holds up the sky. Canara. — He has to live on gruel, yet requires some one to wipe his moustache. Afghan. — The fox thought his own shadow very large. Basqiie. — Pride sought flight in heaven, fell to hell. Canara. — What is extended will tear : what is long will break, Prov. 16. 18. Telugu. — A tooth projecting beyond the lips ; a wick too big for the dish. Arab. — His head in the dirt, his tail to the sky. Mahabharat. — The sinner is ever like a great inflated skin ; The imaginations of conceited fools are baseless. Turk. — He who falls from a horse or ass prepares a bed ; He who falls from a camel prepares a tomb. Tamul. — When a sieve full of pride is sifted nothing re- mains. Sanskrit. — No greater enemy than pride. 152 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS China. — To pretend to satisfy his desires by possession, Is extinguishing fire with straw. Arab. — Content enjoys riches, covetousness produces cares ; every ambitious man is a captive, and every covetous one a pauper. Jajpan. — Be a serpent save in the poison — i.e., learning without pride, Mat. lO. 1 6. Punctuality and Watching opportunity.— Ern. 5. i6. Telugu. — When the dog comes a stone cannot be found. When the stone is found the dog does not come. Japan. — To cut a stick when the fight is over. China. — Lighting a fire when the breeze is blowing. Canara. — A word in season is good ; out of it, like a silk cloth torn. Arab. — To hammer cold iron. Talmud, — While you have the shoes on your feet tread down the thorns. JBengal. — They fetch the salt after rice is eaten. Hussian. — Hurry is good only for catching flies. Sanskrit. — By delay (in using it) nectar becomes poison. The Heavenly Race. — Heb. 12. i, 2. World's race differs from the heavenly in six points : — It was the practice in ancient Greece to celebrate once every four years with great solemnity certain games, as trials of bodily strength or skill in wrestling, leaping, running, the quoit ; these were attended by a vast assemblage of people of all ranks. The p^Hze that was contended for was a crown or chaplet of leaves, with which the victor was crowned, while his name was proclaimed by heralds in the presence of the whole assembly ; judges were appointed to decide on the merits of the candidates, and to see that the several contests were conducted according to the laws that were laid down. ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 153 The foot-race was one of the principal of these games ; -and St. Paul has in many places alluded to it in illustra- tion of the Christian life, I Cor. 9. 24—27, as a continual strife or contest for victory over our manifold, corrupt, and deceitful lusts ; and he encourages us to maintain the conflict by the thought that we are contending for •a glorious prize in the presence of a great crowd of witnesses. The croion for which we contend is not a chaplet of fading leaves, but a crown of righteousness and glory, i Cor. 9. 25. The witnesses of our manful efforts are the great company of those cited by the Apostle, who have before us gained this mastery over sin, the world, and the devil, and have now by faith and patience attained the promises ; we contend for the prize of our high calling in the presence of God and of his holy angels. A man, who was about to contend in a foot-race, would first lay aside every %veiglit that might be about his person, and would disencumber himself of every needless garment. Yet Paul ran his race in Eonie, when he was a prisoner in chains. Thus we are to prepare ourselves for our course by laying aside every weight ; and " the sin that doth so easily beset us." He who does not take pains to divest himself of covetousness, sensuality, pride, and other too-easily besetting sins, is as one who should lade himself with thick clay when about to start upon a race, Habak. 2. 6. When once the candidates started on their course, they did not suffer themselves to relax in their efforts until they had reached the end. They did not linger on the way, nor stop to look back with satisfaction on the progress which they had made ; but they thought • only of what yet remained to be done ; and they kept the eye steadily fixed upon the mark or goal. If they found themselves disposed to give way, they remembered the prize which was such an object of desire, and pressed forward with renewed spirit, Eev. 2. 10. It will not do 154 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS for us to relax our efforts to obtain the mastery over our own lusts and passions as they will gain upon us if we give them the least advantage, Thess. 3.13. In the heavenly race all may be winners ; there is no jealousy, the strong are to help the weak ; there is joy in running, Ps. 19.5; the value of the prize is an exceeding weight of glory ; the spectators are angels, devils, and God ; the Judge is impartial, and perfect in knowledge. Tamul. — To advance a span and fall back a cubit. Japan. — Fall seven times, stand up the eighth time. Urdu. — Sweetmeats are not distributed during a battle. Tamul. — A noisy dog is not fit for hunting. Tamul. — He lacks sense who broods over the past. Tamul. — When on the way to heaven do you carry a spinning wheel under your arm ? Russian. — Who hunts the bear does not sleep over the sport. AfgTian. — He who stands still in mud, sinks. Japan. — To give wings to a tiger. God will not Break the bruised Heed.— Mat. 12. 20. See the parable of the Publican, Luke 18. 9—14, illustrating God's kindness to the humble and penitent. The bruised reed, which has been crushed by some weight that has passed over it, and appears to be bowed hopelessly to the ground, is the emblem of one who has been crushed under the burthen of his sins, and of all that sorrow and remorse which are sure to follow in their train. Judas was so weighed down with remorse that he went and hanged himself. Mat. 27. 5. " The smoking flax'"' is another emblem of the same case ;, and with this additional resemblance. If the flax which has been lighted will not burn, its smoke is so offensive, that all cry out impatiently to have it quenched as soon as possible. And this fact is elsewhere used to show how abominable are the wicked in the sight of their holy ILLUSTRATIVE OF OLD TRUTHS. 155 Maker ; for lie says of tliem, and especially of such as say to their fellow-sinners : " Stand by thyself, for I am holier than thou :" " These are a smoke in my nostrils (Is. 65. 5), a fire that burneth all the day" — that is, not a quick and pleasant flame, but a mere smouldering fire ; such as lingers in flax when too damp for any flame to break out, and emitting only a noxious smoke. God will not rashly snap asunder the last thread by which a spiritual life keeps its hold on the soul of one who has fallen. It is far better to be as a bruised reed (of a contrite and humble spirit), than to be as the cedars of Lebanon that are exalted and lifted up, or as the oaks of Bashan, on which the day of the Lord of Hosts shall be, Isa. 2. 1 3. God a Refuge and Shield. — Ps. 17. i ; Gen. 12. 1-4 ; Dan. 2. 16-19. God is a hiding place. Is. 32. 2, and a strong tower — i.e.y. a refuge in time of war. Pro v. 18.10. But the name "refuge" has a very particular meaning. If any Israelite killed a man by accident, God told Moses that he must not be treated as a murderer, because he did not design to murder, l!^um. 35. But, lest the kinsman or relation of the person killed should take away the life of the manslayer, which was allowed to be done in the case of murder, he was to hui'ry off with all speed out of his way, and to take refuge in one of the six cities appointed for the protection of such persons. These cities were well supplied with water, and plenty of provisions, so that there was no occasion to go out of them to buy, which would endanger the manslayer. The roads to these places were all plain and easy of access, kept in good order, and provided, wherever it was necessary, with bridges to cross streams of water, and wherever two roads met, there were hand-posts pointing to the proper direction, on which was written in large characters, so that it might easily be read, " Eef uge, Eefuge." So God is our 156 EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS refuge, to whom we may flee in distress, as tlie manslayer •did to the city of refuge. Rend the Heart, not the Garment. — Joel 2. 13. Eending the garment was a sign of grief, as Jacob did, Oen. 37. 34, Job. i. 20. The Eussians have a proverb " People sometimes sin like David, but do not sorrow like him," 2 Sam. 12. 13. Eepentance is compared to awakening, Eph. 5 . 1 4, a 'prick- ing at the heart. Acts 2. 37, smiting, Luke 18. 13, coming to oneself, Luke 15. 17. The tear of repentance is dropped from the eye of faith; repentance consists in attrition, as when a rock is broken in pieces, and in contrition, as when ice is melted in water ; the former is the work of the law, the latter of tlie Gospel — the one is like a hammer, the other like dew. Ice must not only be broken, but melted, so the coldness must be taken out of the heart. False repentance is the sudden torrent after rain in the mountains; or like people who throw their goods over in a storm, and wish for them again in a calm. False repentance is also compared to the sow returning to wallowing in the mire, 2 Pet. 2. 22. See parable of Prodigal Son, Luke 15. 11—32. The true is the stream flowing from a living fountain. Divinely applied to our heart, the Gospel is not only a net but a plough, breaks up the fallow ground, tears up the roots of corruption, and prepares us for receiving the good seed of grace. How proper for its operation, the winter of adver- sity and spring-tide of youth I How necessary that every application be attended with the dewy influence of the Holy Spirit ! The hypocrite's repentance is like Jonah's gourd, which