to contempt above all other laws, because the glaring imposture of their author had been openly detected by the event."* But the veracity of Moses would be sufficiently attested, if the promises and threatenings were made good generally and upon the whole. Had they taken effect immediately and invariably, in such a manner as to render the fact absolutely incontrovertible, it would have overthrown the free-agency of man. There can be no virtue or vice, where there is not a liberty of choice; there can be no exercise of faith, where there is no room for doubt. Such an overwhelming evidence is inconsistent with the liberty of the will, so necessary to moral and responsible agents. There were always, then, some seeming exceptions, some apparent

* Faber's Horæ Mosaicæ, lib. i. sect. 2, cap. 3, p. 292, Lond. 1818, 2d edit. "What appearances soever," says Bishop Warburton," there `may be of inequality in the administration of Providence, in the early times of the Jewish Theocracy, they are but appearances; that is, nothing which can really affect such a mode of administration."-(Div. Legat. of Moses, lib. v. § 4.) Peters, in his Crit. Diss. on the book of Job, p. 262, et seq. supposes that this extraordinary providence extended over the Jews as a people, but did not include or infer an equal providence to particular persons. Such a providence, however, watching over the state seems necessarily to include a just remuneration to individuals and the Mosaic promises of rewards and punishments consequent to obedience and disobedience must extend to the persons of the virtuous and vicious, or there would be no exercise of an extraordinary providence.

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contradictions, sufficient to exercise the faith of the godly, and enough to furnish folly with ridicule, and impiety with an excuse.

Some exceptions to the retributive justice declared by Moses existed at the age of David, of Jeremiah, of Habakkuk, and of Malachi.* Bishop Warburton thinks, that the common cause of these complaints arose from the gradual withdrawing the extraordinary providence, which began to abate at the commencement of the regal government, and entirely ceased at the full reestablishment of the Jews after the captivity. It would be difficult, however, to account for the rebellions, the murmurs, and the discontent among the Israelites, recorded in the Pentateuch, if the retribution had been uniformly apparent and indubitable. It is more probable, that some exceptions, or at least what were apparently such, always existed; designed to try the faith of the chosen people. The reasoning of a pious Jew, at the consideration of the seeming irregularities in the distribution of temporal blessings, is finely expressed by the Psalmist. "Verily," says he, after contem

* Ps. xxxvii. 1, 35; Jer. xii. 1, et seq.; Hab. i. 4; Mal, iii. 15. + Div. Legat. lib. v. § 4.

plating the prosperity of the wicked, " verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency; for all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning." But when he went "into the sanctuary of God," when he viewed the divine dispensations with an eye of faith and confidence, he then saw that the prosperity of the wicked was of momentary duration; it was the shortlived brightness of a passing meteor. How," says he,

are they brought into desolation as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors."*

The moral writings of Solomon are not, by the absence of future sanctions, less useful to those who profess a purer and more spiritual religion. The beautiful pictures of virtue, the excellent advice, and the weighty truths with which they abound, are equally valuable in all ages, and to all persons. They constitute an unerring rule of practical utility. Nor should their influence be less, now that a higher sanction is revealed. If the Israelite were induced to observe these moral lessons by the expectation of temporal blessings, much more should the disciple of Christ by the glorious hope of immortality.

Ps. lxxiii. 13, et seq.

Christianity teaches us to look for rewards beyond the narrow bounds of terrestrial existence. The faithful may suffer in this world, and their virtue may be tried in the school of adversity; but their hopes are elevated to a brighter region, where their momentary light afflictions will be remunerated with an exceeding eternal weight of glory.*

Some, indeed, have not scrupled to affirm, that the Proverbs, as a system of morality, are extremely defective; containing few things worthy the pen of an inspired writer, and supplying but little that can be profitable to Christians, who are blessed with so high a degree of spiritual knowledge. Grateful for the superior light of Evangelic truth, it would ill become us to despise any of the compositions in the Hebrew volume, all of which were undoubtedly admirably adapted to promote the designs of Providence, though their beams may be faint when compared with the meridian effulgence of Christianity. The Oracles of God will afford matter for serious reflection and devout admiration to the latest ages of the world; the more attentively they are examined, the more will they be esteemed; new beauties will

H

72 Cor. iv. 17.

daily present themselves; every perusal will bring fresh accessions of religious knowledge; and continued meditation upon inspired truth will ameliorate the heart, and, by encouraging a pious trust in God's mercy, and a humble, but joyful, hope of immortality, will contribute to the happiness of man, both now and for ever. The intrinsic excellence of the book of Proverbs points it out as an important part of the Holy Scriptures; and it has been the subject of reverent regard by the best and wisest men in the Jewish and Christian churches. The admiration of Christian antiquity is indicated by the appellation Panaretos Sophia, Wisdom embracing all virtue, which they gave to this compendium of morality and wisdom. The ancient Fathers unite in one grand chorus of unceasing panegyric. Parents taught their children this epitome of moral instruction; divines illustrated it in their public discourses; while saints and martyrs studied it for the guidance of their conduct, and the regulation of their lives.*

* The Proverbs are often called by the Fathers Παναρετον σοφίαν, Wisdom embracing all virtue, or rather, containing the precepts of all the virtues. (Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. 22. Carpzovii Introd. par. 2, cap. 4, § 1. Suiceri Thesaur. in both words.) The Jews, likewise, called both the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and, Books of Wisdom. Christ. Ben. Michalis, Notæ Uberiores, præf. § 10. Wolfii Biblioth. Heb. vol. ii. p. 119; and Dr. Gill's Bible in Proverbs.