one that represses evil-doing and encourages those citizens that do-well), the licensed liquor traffic must be condemned as a mistake on the part of Government, which frustrates the very end and aim of righteous law. The purpose of all social arrangements should be, as Mr Gladstone has hinted, to make it hard to do wrong and easy to do right.

CHAPTER II. VERSE 21.

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps.

EXAMPLE] Hupogrammos, a word-or-writing copy'=pattern for imitation. This of course implies in like circumstances.' In John xiii. 15, we have hupodeigma, a sample set under' one's eyes for imitation or for warning, as the nature of the case or the context may determine.

No passage has been more abused than this, when employed to justify the gratification of our lusts. Men need no solemn exhortations to induce them to do what is pleasant to the sensuous nature, but only to that which will mortify their pride or curb their appetites; and in such connection, and for such ends, were these Divine injunctions given. 'Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,'-suffered patiently, piously, ungrudgingly, for you, that you might do the same for others. We are to think, feel, and walk as He did; observing His principles of self-denial, even where our circumstances may not be the same. "But," as Professor John Brown, D.D., pithily remarks, "His circumstances and ours are often very different; so that an action which was right in Him might be wrong in us. Knowing the hearts of men, for example, he spoke to hypocrites in a way that it would be presumptuous in us to speak to any man. . . We should err if we were to draw the conclusion that we ought to have as little to do with politics as Jesus Christ had; for our place, as citizens of a free commonwealth, is very different from His, who had no political standing at all in the existing forms of rule, whether Jewish or Roman."—'Expository Discourses,' x.) Our Lord had a higher mission than seeking mere political reform by a hopeless local agitation, for instance, against the corruptions and outrages of the slave-system then prevalent. In this respect He was no 'example' to Englishmen and Americans, who, having by Providence been invested with political influence and privileges, have righteously combined and organized their power for the total overthrow of the sum of all villanies,' thereby paving the way for the possible practice of Christ's law of universal brotherhood.

CHAPTER IV. VERSES 1-5.

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts,

excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: s Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

V. 3. EXCESS OF WINE] Oinophlugiais, 'vinous excesses.' Codex B reads oinophlugiois, and Codex Aleph (first hand) has oinophrugiois, probably a copyist's

error.

REVELLINGS] Kōmois, debaucheries,' the rioting and immoralities consequent on indulgence in wine.

BANQUETINGS] Potois, drinkings' drinking-matches, social tippling. Perhaps no better English equivalent could be suggested than 'wine-parties,'—a name given to certain social gatherings very frequent among the undergraduates of our national universities.

V. 4. THE SAME EXCESS OF RIOT] Teen auteen tees asōtias anachusin, 'the same outpouring (redundancy) of dissoluteness.' Asōtia, translated 'excess' in Ephes. v. 18, is here rendered 'riot.' Anachusis signifies the act of emptying out, as of a river pouring itself into the sea.

1. The apostle, in the above passage, draws a dark picture of the times, but the testimony of contemporary writers corroborates its truth. The profligacy of the Gentile world was boundless, and associated in all its exercises with the intoxicating liquors then in use. [See the testimony of Pliny and Philo in the Note on Gal. V. 19-21.]

2. That separation from all drinking associations which Christianity rendered imperative, would go far to secure a state of sobriety little short of that now connected with the Temperance movement; and the spirit of this passage favors the use of all expedients by which the blot of intemperance may be expunged orbetter still-averted. The surprise of the heathen that Christians did not exhibit 'the same' profusion of ruinous depravity as themselves, is not to be regarded as an admission that some profligacy was practiced by true Christians, or permitted by their religion. Because excess in vice was interdicted, no inference in favor of any indulgence in what was evil or dangerous could be properly drawn by them or by us. The flagon may be denounced as a curse without an implicit approval of the glass as being good or safe.

CHAPTER IV. VERSE 7.

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

BE YE THEREFORE SOBER] Sophroneesate oun, 'be ye sober-minded, therefore.' AND WATCH UNTO PRAYER] Kai neepsate eis tas proseuchas, and be abstinent in order to the prayers.' Codices Aleph, A, and B omit the tas, 'the,' before proseuchas, 'prayers.' That neepsate is here to be taken to refer to physical sobriety, is probable from its association with sōphronizō, denoting mental sobriety, and from the natural antithesis of such a state to the vices depicted in ver. 3. Bishop Jebb considers watching unto prayer' as =‘· ='vigilantly guarding against whatever is unfriendly to devotion'; and the term selected (drink not), upon the

face of it, suggests that 'strong drink' is specially unfriendly, by destroying watch. fulness. "The language," says Dr John Brown, "is peculiar. First, what is meant by watching? In the original signification it refers to a physical state of the body and mind rather than to a moral state of the mind. It is descriptive of that state in which all the faculties are awake and active." This, of course, is the fit state for watching. Hence Sir B. Brodie, in his 'Psychological Inquiries,' lays it down as a law, that night-nurses should abstain from the narcotic alcohol. And it hardly needs argument to show that what antagonizes physical alertness, and dims the physical eyes, is altogether incompatible with spiritual sensibility and moral watchfulness, the conditions of enlightened, true, and acceptable prayer. Wine, that tends to drowsiness in the brain,' cannot promote vigilance and piety in the soul. If neephō is thought to be used frequently in the sense of 'to be calm, cool, self-collected,' there is an implied reference to the state of body and mind consequent on abstinence from exciting drinks. The passage may be paraphrased, "The end of all things draws near; therefore be sober in mind and abstemious in life, in order that you may be the better able to engage in the exercises of devotion suitable to so solemn a crisis." [As to neepho, see Note on 1 Thess. v. 6—8]

CHAPTER V. VERSE 8.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

BE SOBER] Neepsate, 'be abstinent.' The English translators here render by 'be sober' the word they had rendered (chap. iv. 7) 'watch.'

BE VIGILANT] Greegoreesate, 'be wakeful.' This corresponds to the language of St Paul (1 Thess. v. 6), 'let us watch (greegorōmen) and be sober (neephōmen)'; and though the order is different, the sense is the same. St Paul mentions mental wakefulness, and then abstemiousness as the physical condition of it; St Peter first names the physical condition, and then the mental result.

FOR YOUR ADVERSARY] Antidikos, 'accuser,' a legal term originally applied to the plaintiff in a suit.

THE DEVIL] Diabolos, 'devil,' the tempter and calumniator of the good.

SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR] Zeetōn tina katapice, 'seeking whom he may swallow (drink) down.' The contrast between neepsate (from nee pino, 'not to drink') and katapiee (from katapino, ‘to drink down') has not escaped the observation of Dr Adam Clarke, who thus comments:-"It is not every one that he can swallow down. Those who are sober and vigilant are proof against him; these he may not swallow down. Those who are drunk with the cares of this world, and are unwatchful, these he may swallow down. There is a beauty in this verse, and striking apposition between the first and last words, which I think have not been noticed;-Be sober, neepsate, from nee, not, and piein, to drink-do not swallow down-and the word katapiee, from kata, down, and piein, to drink. If you swallow strong drink down, the devil will swallow you down. Hear this, ye drunkards, topers, tipplers, or by whatsoever name ye are known in society, or among your fellow-sinners, strong drink is not only your way to the devil, but the devil's way into you. Ye are such as the devil particularly may swallow down."

Professor John Brown, D.D., in his 'Discourses on the First Epistle of St Peter,' confirms this interpretation of neepsate :-"Its proper signification is 'to be abstinent,' etc. The word may be understood either literally or figuratively. If literally, we are here taught that temperance is necessary, in order to our resisting the devil. And, certainly, nothing can be more obviously true. The natural tendency of intoxicating drinks is to diminish the power of conscience and reason, and to increase the power of the lower principles of our nature, animal appetite and irascible feeling. It increases the strength of what needs to be restrained, and weakens the strength of what is fitted and intended to restrain. While this is undoubtedly true, and highly important, [yet] as the corresponding [rather, consequential] term, 'be vigilant,' is plainly to be understood in a figurative sense, we apprehend the expression before us must also be interpreted figuratively; an interpretation which substantially includes the literal meaning, while it includes much (iii. p. 356). This is certainly an oversight on the part of the Professor, since there is no canon of criticism to compel all words in a sentence to be understood collectively in a literal, or collectively in a metaphorical sense; quite plain that physical intoxication does induce moral narcotism. not clear what 'figurative' temperance can mean in this connection.

more

and it is here

Indeed, it is

THE SECOND

GENERAL EPISTLE OF ST PETER.

CHAPTER I. VERSE 6.

And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness.

TEMPERANCE] Enkrateian, 'self-restraint' (i. e. as to the appetites). The Vulgate has abstinentia, which is also followed by Wiclif, 'abstynence.' Tyndale has 'temperancy.' As to enkrateia, see Notes on Acts xxiv. 25, 1 Cor. ix. 25, and Gal. v. 25.

The whole paragraph (ver. 5—8) is a beautiful figure drawn from the ancient choral dance. The question whether the order of the graces here enumerated is accidental, has been generally answered in the negative, though there is some difference of opinion as to the purpose of the apostle in the arrangement as it stands. Some have sought the key in the tendency of one grace to induce the next in succession-the tendency of true 'faith' to produce 'virtue,' i. e. moral courage, of virtue to induce 'knowledge,' and of knowledge to beget 'temperance,' etc.; while others, with perhaps more insight, have sought the clue of connection in the necessity of so conjoining one grace with another, that a certain tendency to excess may be arrested; as if the apostle had said, “In order that faith may not indispose to active effort, add to it moral vigor; and lest acts of daring absorb you, add to them knowledge; and lest knowledge render you careless of a pure morality, exercise self-restraint over bodily desires; and lest physical continence make you too self-regarding, add to it patience"-the subjective and objective being so united as to prevent an undue preponderance of either. The importance attached to ' temperance' in the great code of Christian ethics cannot be denied; and experience has proved that the spirit of temperance cannot be more wisely exemplified than in promoting abstinence from intoxicating drinks. Knowledge, when sufficiently comprehensive, prompts to this course; and temperance, so exhibited, is followed by practical benefits, which knowledge in itself cannot impart, and is a guard against evils from which knowledge in the abstract cannot protect. Many are the warning examples of men who have vainly trusted in 'knowledge' and intellect to save them from the insidious and ensnaring influence of strong drink.