e Yet let not such disorders thee provoke To entertain disloyal thoughts, or curse

རྣ

The Lord's anointed, who, with all his faults,
Though stain'd his glory, and with years depress'd,
Is still thy King: nor treat his Delegates
With harsh opprobrious words, which, on pretext
Of public grievance, oft from selfish views,
Or private rancour flow. Such words take wing,
And howsoe'er in secret utter'd, reach,
By least suspected means, the royal ear:
For Kings are Heav'n's peculiar charge: more swift
Than airy flight of Birds, the treason dark
Transpires; and vengeance, arm'd with thunder, waits.§

e [20] Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. §

unseasonable pleasures as indisposed them for the discharge of their duty, so in the verse now before us, he farther adds on the same subject, that they not only waste that precious time, of which those at the helm of affairs have very little to spare, but so far pervert the end of social mirth and recreation, which is to relax the mind, as to make pleasure their business, and to fall into the most luxurious excesses. The feasts they prepare, are not for strength, or to recruit the exhausted spirits, but for riot and drunkenness. In risum faciunt panem, et vinum ut epulentur bibentes, as St. Jerome renders the words.

With regard to the last clause, Moncy answereth all things, which hath so much perplexed Con.mentators, no doubt, the Jews of those times knew the use of money as well as the present; and it may be presumed, that dissolute ministers then, how indolent or remiss soever in the duty of their station, stuck at nothing to procure as much of it as they could, in order to maintain their excesses, which could not be otherwise supported.

§ Solomon here concludes his discourse concerning Government. It may be inferred from these words, compared with some of the preceding ones on the same subject, that though his conduct was, in some respects, justly censurable, as he himself seems more than once to acknowledge, yet he was still jealous of his authority, and sensible

of the respect and deference due to the royal character. And as there have been always murmurings at the best as well as worst of Princes, it is not improbable, that many of the grievances complained of, under his administration, were excessively aggravated by malcontents; and perhaps his wisest and faithfulest counsellors, and most salutary measures for the general benefit of his people, misrepresented and traduced by a set of incendiaries, purely to render him odious and contemptible, and to serve their own selfish designs, which is no uncommon case. He therefore intimates to such men, that their most secret practices could not be long concealed from his notice, and warns them of the danger. Not to enter here into a disquisition of the meaning of the words, bird of the air, and that which hath wings, it may be sufficient to observe, that in all ages and' countries, treasonable conspiracies have been detected in an unaccountable

manner.

[V. 20. Transgress not, even in secret, against kings and men in power; for though if nobody in earth should hear it, yet God can make even the birds of the air witnesses against thee. Rosenmüler

The beautiful and well known example of the Mantuan Bard, who likewise represents Fame as possessing wings, will perhaps oceur to the mind of the reader. Æn. lib. iv. 173–194. E.]

BOOK IV.

f Instructed thus how to deport thyself
To those above thee, learn with tender eye
To look on those beneath, and let them share
Some portion of thy comforts. Alms, bestow'd
On such as no return can make, perhaps
Unworthy or ungrateful, yet if giv'n

With heart benevolent, although they seem
Quite lost, like seed cast in the rapid flood,
Or sown on barren sand, Heav'n will requite,
When least expected. Thou at length shalt find

CHAPTER XI.

f[1.] Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it

[V. 1. van 5. Prop. Face or surface of the waters. (See Gen. i. 2.) The noun or is not only applied to any large collection of waters, as the sea, a lake, &c.; but it several times denotes the river Nile. (Ezek. xxxii. 2. Is. xix. 5. xxvii. 1. Job xli. 31.) The periodical overflowings of that river, and the fertility of the soil of Lower Egypt, caused by the slimy sediment of those waters, are facts well known. Of the manner in which the Egyptians avail themselves of this in raising grain, the following extract will shew.

"Rice is sown in Lower Egypt from the month of March to that of May. During the inundation of the Nile, the fields are covered by its waters; and in order to detain them there as long as possible, small dykes, or a sort of raised embankments, are thrown up, round each field, to prevent them from running off. Trenches serve to convey thither a fresh supply; for in order to make the plant thrive, its roots must be constantly watered. The ground is so moistened, that

Thy scatter'd wealth far more securely kept
Than Miser's hoarded treasure, and receive
Ampler increase than he that ploughs the deep,
And trusts his all to faithless winds, in hopes
Of gain. Howe'er so num'rous then, who crave
Or need thy bounty, though asham'd to beg,, !
Let none go unreliev'd; and when Distress
With meagre face appears, rather exceed

Thy pow'r, than with too sparing hand bestow:
Nor say, Why should I waste my store? Who knows
The turns of life? What doleful times may come,
When I shall want myself? Desponding wretch!
This thought alone should melt thy frozen heart,
Excite compassion, and more anxious make

T'embrace th' occasions offer'd, which will yield Comfort and succour, when thou stand'st in need

after many days. g [2] Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

in some places a person [would] sink in up to his chin. Rice is nearly six months before it comes to maturity; and it is generally cut down by the middle of November. Sonnini's Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt. Harmer, Vol. IV. p. 136. To this custom, there can be little doubt, allusion is made in the above passage.

As an adage, most writers agree with our learned Paraphrast in interpreting it: viz. as enforcing benevolence to the poor. ED.]

In this and the five following verses, we have a most noble exhortation to Charity, under a variety of figurative expressions, whose beauty and energy may be better conceived, on cousulting the origiginal, which is extremely concise, than explained in any modern language. Solomon says the same thing here, though in other words, which he had before said in the Book of Proverbs, He that giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord; which expression has more true sublimity aud meaning in it, than all that has ever been said by the best Heathen Moralists on the same subject.

Of others' merey. Lift thine eyes to Heav'n,
And imitate the clouds: for these, when full,
Empty themselves in kindly show'rs of rain
On the pareḥr'd glebez so let thine alms, diffus'd`
With lib'ral hand, the drooping soul revive.
For as the Tree, torn from its roots by rage.
Of storms, which way soe'er it chance to fall,
Or to the fervid South, or frozen North,

There must it lie;ṣe will thy doom be fix'd,
And, on the use of Riches here, depend ete
Thy lasting weal or woe. Should scruples vain,"
Distrust of Providence, or such pretexts
As Man's deceitful heart is wont to seek, ....!.
Protract the time, it then may be too late.
For as the Rustic, who with anxious eye

Is still observing ev'ry blast of wind, --
And, till from the expected point it blows,
His seed witholds, and lets the seed-time pass;
Or, scar'd with ev'ry low'ring cloud, forbears
To reap, till Heav'n with cloudless front appears,

pr

h [3] If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in and if i north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.* i-14] He that observeth the wind, shall not sow; and he that

**Both these expressions were, no doubt, proverbial: the application of the former is easy enough: as to the latter, of which there are many interpretations, the most probable is, that, in whatever disposition any man dies, in that shall he remain for ever. If he has lost the opportunity of doing good, whilst here, he can do nothing after he is dead, and not more change his state than a tree, torn from its roots, can bear fruit, or alter its position, in the place where it has fallen. This affusion conveys a most important truth, and there is sufficient reason to believe, that the Jews applied it to something of this nature, froin what immediately follows.