"Shrewd remarks
Of moral prudence, clothed in images
Lively and beautiful."
Wordsworth.
Printed by Hazell Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.
[CONTENTS.]
| page | |
| INTRODUCTION | [1] |
| I. | |
| THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM | [9] |
| II. | |
| WISDOM AS THE GUIDE OF CONDUCT | [24] |
| III. | |
| THE EARTHLY REWARDS OF WISDOM | [37] |
| IV. | |
| EDUCATION: THE CHILD'S THOUGHT OF THE PARENT | [52] |
| V. | |
| THE WAYS AND ISSUES OF SIN | [65] |
| VI. | |
| CERTAIN EXAMPLES OF THE BINDING CHARACTER OF OUR OWN ACTIONS | [79] |
| VII. | |
| REALISM IN MORAL TEACHING | [92] |
| VIII. | |
| THE FIRST-BORN OF THE CREATOR | [106] |
| IX. | |
| TWO VOICES IN THE HIGH PLACES OF THE CITY | [122] |
| X. | |
| WEALTH | [135] |
| XI. | |
| GOODNESS | [149] |
| XII. | |
| THE TONGUE | [163] |
| XIII. | |
| PRIDE AND HUMILITY | [179] |
| XIV. | |
| THE INWARD UNAPPROACHABLE LIFE | [191] |
| XV. | |
| A PASSIONATE DISPOSITION | [203] |
| XVI. | |
| A JUST BALANCE | [215] |
| XVII. | |
| FRIENDSHIP | [227] |
| XVIII. | |
| THE EVIL OF ISOLATION | [239] |
| XIX. | |
| HUMAN FREEDOM | [250] |
| XX. | |
| IDLENESS | [262] |
| XXI. | |
| WINE | [275] |
| XXII. | |
| THE TREATMENT OF THE POOR | [288] |
| XXIII. | |
| EDUCATION: THE PARENT'S THOUGHT OF THE CHILD | [303] |
| XXIV. | |
| FORGIVING | [314] |
| XXV. | |
| THE KING | [325] |
| XXVI. | |
| THE FOOL | [337] |
| XXVII. | |
| LIVING DAY BY DAY | [350] |
| XXVIII. | |
| AN ASPECT OF ATONEMENT | [362] |
| XXIX. | |
| THE NEED OF REVELATION | [375] |
| XXX. | |
| THE WORDS OF AGUR | [386] |
| XXXI. | |
| A GOOD WOMAN | [396] |
| INDEX OF PASSAGES | [411] |
| GENERAL INDEX | [416] |
[INTRODUCTION.]
In attempting to make the book of Proverbs a subject of Expository Lectures and practical sermons it has been necessary to treat the book as a uniform composition, following, chapter by chapter, the order which the compiler has adopted, and bringing the scattered sentences together under subjects which are suggested by certain more striking points in the successive chapters. By this method the great bulk of the matter contained in the book is brought under review, either in the way of exposition or in the way of quotation and allusion, though even in this method many smaller sayings slip through the expositor's meshes. But the grave defect of the method which is thus employed is that it completely obliterates those interesting marks, discernible on the very surface of the book, of the origin and the compilation of the separate parts. This defect the reader can best supply by turning to Professor Cheyne's scholarly work "Job and Solomon; or, The Wisdom of the Old Testament;" but for those who have not time or opportunity to refer to any book besides the one which is in their hands, a brief Introduction to the following Lectures may not be unwelcome.