reading) as he that putteth a precious stone on a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.-Prov. xxvi. 8.

Talk not much with a fool, and go not to him that hath no understanding: Beware of him lest thou have trouble, and thou shalt never be defiled with his fooleries. Depart from him, and thou shalt find rest, and not be disquieted. -Eccles. xxii. 13.

The abuse of good things is worse than the want of them.

Never fowl with a bird-call.-Lord Bacon.

Cease thy counsel,

Which falls into mine ears as profitless
As water in a sieve.-Shakspeare.

Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in his eyes,
Misprising what they look on... I never yet saw man,
How wise, how noble, young, how rarely featured,
But she would spell him backwards, . . .
And never gives to truth and virtue that

Which simpleness and merit purchaseth.-Shakspeare. Echar margaritas a puercos.-Spanish.

Trabajar para el obispo. The Spaniards say, "He who works for a bishop wastes both time and work."

THEME LXIX. A foolish Son is a Sorrow to his

1ST REASON.-Because the folly of a child reflects disgrace on his parents.

2ND REASON.-A mother will always feel self-reproach for her indulgence towards a child who grows in folly and wickedness as he grows in stature.

3RD REASON.-The mother of a wicked son will ver herself with regrets for a thousand fancied neglects or omissions, and a thousand things done for a child, which, had they been done otherwise, might have saved him from folly and infamy.

4TH REASON.-A foolish son is a great burthen on his parents, whose grey hairs he ought to comfort, and not "bring down with sorrow to the grave."

5TH REASON.-A mother can never forget a mother's love, and that love will make her weep over the folly and dishonour of a son.

6TH REASON.-Even a wicked mother trembles to see her son wicked;* and though she herself fears not the wrath of an insulted God, yet she fears it for her child. This "fearful looking forward to judgment and fiery indignation" would weigh down the spirit of a righteous mother with still greater sorrow, because she knows "that every word of God is true," and "without holiness no man shall see the Lord," no, not even her own son.

SIMILES. A sucker from a tree weakens and defaces the parent stock, without bearing fruit itself.

Excrescences on a wick consume the tallow or oil, while they detract from the brilliancy and beauty of the lamp or candle.

Ducks hatched by a hen are a constant source of sorrow and terror to her.

A drone in a bee-hive will cause trouble to the whole community.

A foolish son is like a thorn in the flesh.

The

* Thus the Italians say, "Il viti altrui dispiaci, alli stessi vitios!." Spaniards have a similar proverb, "Even a bad mother wishes her children to be good."

L*

As in the body, if one member suffer all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it;" so is it with a mother and her offspring.

As a sculptor grieves who finds a flaw in a block of marble on which he has been bestowing his time and skill; so a mother grieves for the folly of her child whom she has borne and brought up.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

QUOTATIONS.-A wise son maketh a glad father; but a foolish man despiseth his mother.-Prov. xv. 20.

Who loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father.-Prov. xxix. 3.

My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.—Prov. xxvii. 2.

My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.-Prov. xxiii. 15.

The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.-Prov. xxiii. 24, 25.

He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow; and the father of a fool hath no joy.-Prov. xvii. 21.

A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.-Prov. xvii. 25.

A foolish son is the calamity of his father.-Prov. xix. 13.

An evil nurtured son is the dishonour of his father that begat him; and a foolish daughter is born to his loss.Eccles. xxii. 4.

If children live honestly... they shall cover the baseness of their parents; but children being naughty... do stain the nobility of their kindred.-Eccles. xxii. 9, 10. Cocker thy child, and he shall make thee afraid:

...

disobedient unto thee, and so bring sorrow to thine heart. -Eccles. xxx. 9. 11, 12.

The mother suffers and partakes in the calamity of her son, because she is perhaps conscious that her indulgence has spoiled him and depraved him.-Lord Bacon.

Dos est magna parentium virtus.-Ovid.
Sapiens filius lætificat patrem.

CONCLUSION.

THEME LXX. 'Tis Cruelty to spare the Guilty.

INTRODUCTION.

1ST REASON. Because it encourages sin by the hope of impunity.

2ND REASON.-It lets loose the herd of evil-doers upon the innocent, making the guiltless suffer, that the guilty may be saved from punishment.

3RD REASON. It discourages virtue:-1. by giving it no protection; and, 2. by showing no rooted hostility to vice.

4TH REASON. It makes great severity and bloodshed ultimately necessary, in order to repress the increasing evils, which a little judicious severity would have "nipped in the bud."

5TH REASON.-It entails an unjust expense upon a community, for,

(1.) A larger and more expensive police will be needed:

(2.) Houses must be more securely guarded, and property more vigilantly defended;

(3.) The guilty will find no honest masters to employ them, and must be provided for by public funds.

6TH REASON. It is very prejudicial to a government, whose chief object is to protect its subjects from injury. Immediately the public perceives its interest disregarded by those in power, it will raise up in rebellion against its rulers.

7TH REASON. The infection of sin is proverbial; and who can tell how deep and how wide the infection of one villain let loose upon a nation may spread?

8TH REASON. As the consequences of sin do not cease at death, many may be drawn into everlasting destruction by the evil influence of one whose guilt has been suffered to pass unpunished, through the leniency of a mistaken policy.

SIMILES. Those who neglect to take a small dose of medicine at the beginning of a disease, will not only suffer much pain, but also render more severe measures necessary, in order to remove the complaint afterwards.

Cutting off lepers from all intercourse with man, was a severe injunction of God to the Jews; but it was a less evil by far than allowing them to carry contagion to "all the thousands of Israel."

cumbrance" but

A dead branch or tree is not only a also a great evil. It harbours insects, produces blight, screens off the sun, forms a bed for lichens and various parasites, &c.

He who spares the wolf spoils the flock.

Many a patient has lost a limb and even life, by refusing to bear a slight surgical operation.

Weeds in a wheat field greatly injure the corn, and no good husbandman will neglect to root them up with all diligence.

It would be great folly to suffer rats, mice, and other vermin to run ree, either from the sentimental sympathy of Robert Bu us,* or the false religious notion, “that God

See the beautiful lyric of Robert Burns, "On a Mouse whose Nest was turned up by a Ploughshare."