it forbids neglect of them, contempt for them, or the doing of anything which may be injurious or offensive to them.

463. RULE IV. Where a duty is required, the use of all the means of performing it rightly, is required; and where a sin is forbidden, every cause, and even every occasion of it, is prohibited.

464. When a precept enjoins justice, it enjoins diligence in business, prudence in conducting our affairs, and . economy, that we may be able to satisfy every lawful demand upon us; and hence it follows that if a man has brought himself by indolence, folly, and extravagance, into such a situation that he cannot pay his debts, he is not so much to be pitied, as to be condemned.

465. (1.) When the Scriptures prohibit uncleanness, they prohibit drunkenness, gluttony, idleness, and all the provocations of the sensual appetites.

(2.) When the law forbids murder, it forbids also, wrath, malice, and revenge, which prompt men to commit that crime. Matt. v. 21, 22.

(3.) When it prohibits theft, it forbids covetous desires; and it forbids idleness, which may prompt us to steal by reducing us to want.

466. RULE V.-That which is forbidden, is at no time to be done; but that which is required, is to be done only, as opportunity is afforded.

467. It is never lawful to murder, to steal, to commit adultery. No situation can occur in which a man shall be permitted to do these things. A man is bound to refrain, although he should expose himself to the loss of his life.

468. That which is required, is to be performed, as often as opportunity is afforded, and when it does not interfere with the performance of our other duties.

(1.) We ought to minister, with our substance, to the wants of the indigent; but to do so is not our duty if we are ourselves so poor as to have nothing of it to spare.

(2.) We ought to worship God, but we cannot be constantly engaged in acts of devotion, for we are commanded to abound in other duties equally necessary.

469. RULE VI.-The precepts of the second table of the law must give place to those of the first when both cannot be obeyed. This rule does not help us to interpret the law;

RULES OF INTERPRETATION.

207 it is intended to point out the relative importance of its duties. The illustrations usually given of this rule are more apparent than real, because, on reflection, it will appear that in such cases there is no interference of duties. 470. (1.) The love of our relatives must be subordinate to the love of God, and Christ has said that we must hate father and mother when fidelity to him requires us to do so; by which is meant that we must love parents less than Christ. See Matt. x. 37, 38; Mal. i. 2; Gen. xxix. 30, 31.

(2.) When the commands of our earthly superiors interfere with the commands of God, we must prefer the latter to the former.

471. In such cases there is really no interference of duties. The authority of men over others is limited, and ceases the moment it is exercised in requiring anything unlawful. When the commands of parents and magistrates are opposed to the commands of God, there is no choice of duties; the will of God is the sole obligation which an enlightened conscience will acknowledge.

There can be no jarring moral obligations; and it is ignorance or inattention which makes them appear incompatible. We can never owe that to man which God claims for himself.

472. RULE VII.—Whatever we ourselves are commanded to be, to do, or to forbear, we are obliged to endeavor, in our several stations in society, to make others around us to be, to do, or to forbear.

473. (1.) It is the duty of other men, as well as of ourselves, to glorify God by obeying his commandments; and zeal for his glory will excite us to use all lawful means to induce them to do it.

(2.) Whatever sin is forbidden to ourselves, we are forbidden to partake with others in it, either by example, advice, connivance, or by giving them occasion to commit it: "Be not partaker of other men's sins; keep thyself pure." [Dr. Dick's Lectures; Colquhoun on the Law.]

455. In what light are these Ten Commandments to be regarded? 456. What is the first rule of interpretation; and how is it established? 457. What is the second rule of interpretation?

458. What example may be given of the first part of this rule?

459. What example may be given of the second part of this rule?

460. What is the third rule?

461. What example may be furnished, of affirmative precepts being included in the negative?

462. What example may be given of negative precepts being included in the affirmative?

463. What is the fourth rule?

464. What example can be produced, in regard to the first part of this rule? 465. What examples are there of the second part of this rule?

466. What is the fifth rule?

467. How can you illustrate the first part of this rule?

468. How can you illustrate the second part of this rule?

469. What is the sixth rule?

470. What illustration may be given of this rule?

471. How does it appear that in such cases there is really no interference of duties?

472. What is the seventh rule?

473. What examples of the application of this rule may be furnished?

SECTION III.—PERFECTION OF THE MORAL LAW DELIVERED

AT SINAI.

474. By the judicious application of the rules just set forth for the interpretation of the Law, with the assistance afforded by other passages of Scripture, we may deduce from the ten precepts of the Decalogue all the duties which we owe to God, and to man. It is a complete code of morality. As no man can attempt without impiety to take anything from it, so there is no need that anything should be added to it.

475. Those who affirm that Christ has corrected and enlarged the law, unjustly accuse it of imperfection in its original form; and they totally misapprehend the design of his commentaries upon it in the Gospels, which was not to new-model the law, but to free it from the corrupt interpretations which the Scribes had given of it, on the authority of tradition. He evidently recognized its perfection in his answer, formerly quoted, to the question "Which is the great commandment of the law?" and the apostle Paul, who was enlightened by his Spirit, pronounced it to be "holy, just, and good."

[Dr. Dick's Lectures.]

The Skeptical Lawyer.

476. MANY considerations might be urged to excite to the diligent study of this law, and to show its perfection and importance. The exposition of the law will discover to us these qualities-but as a preliminary to it, the experience of an eminent lawyer of one of the northern United States may be submitted. Its authenticity may be relied on, as it is published in one of the papers of the American Tract Society.

PERFECTION OF THE MORAL LAW.

209

477. This lawyer was once a very profane man, and a skeptic. On a certain occasion he asked another lawyer what books he should read on the evidences of Christianity. He was advised to read, in the first instance, the Bible itself, inasmuch as most infidels are very ignorant of it, and furthermore, in order to reason correctly on any subject, it is necessary to understand what it is that we reason about. It was stated to him also, that the internal evidences of the Bible are even stronger than the external. He was advised to begin his perusal of the Bible, with the book of Genesis.

This advice was complied with; the aid of commentaries, and of his legal friend, was employed in solving difficulties.

One evening, some time after this course of study was commenced, the Christian lawyer called on his skeptical friend, and found him walking his room, and so profoundly engaged in thought that his own entrance into the room was not noticed, until he asked his friend what it was that occupied his attention.

The skeptic replied, "I have been reading the moral law."

66

Well, what do you think of it?" asked the other. "I will tell you what I used to think of it," said the skeptic. "I supposed that Moses was the leader of a horde of banditti; that having a strong mind, he ac quired great influence over a superstitious people; and that on Mount Sinai he played off some sort of fire works, to the amazement of his ignorant followers, whe imagined, in their mingled fear and superstition, that the exhibition was supernatural."

"But what do you think now ?" followed his friend.

"I have been looking," replied the skeptic, "into the nature of that law. I have been trying to see whether ] can add anything to it, or take anything from it, so as to make it better. Sir, I cannot. It is perfect.

"The First Commandment," continued he, "directs us to make the Creator the object of supreme love and reverence. That is right: if he be our creator, preserver, and supreme benefactor, we ought to treat him and no other, as such.

"The Second Commandment forbids idolatry. Tha precept certainly is right.

"The Third, with equal justness, forbids profanity. "The Fourth fixes a time for religious worship. If there be a God, he ought certainly to be worshiped. It is suitable that there should be an outward homage, significant of our inward regard. If God is to be worshiped, it is proper that some time should be set apart for that purpose, when all may worship him harmoniously, and without interruption. One day in seven is certainly not too much; and I do not know that it is too little.

“The Fifth defines the peculiar duties arising from family relations.

66

Injuries to our neighbor are then classified by the moral law. They are divided into offenses against life, chastity, property, and character. And," said he, applying a legal idea with legal acuteness, "I notice that the greatest offense in each class is expressly forbidden. Thus, the greatest injury to life is murder: to chastity, adultery to property, theft: to character, perjury. Now the greater offense must include the lesser of the same kind. Murder must include every injury to life; adultery every injury to, purity; and so of the rest. And the moral code is closed and perfected by a prohibition, forbidding every improper desire in regard to our neighbor.

"I have been thinking," he proceeded, "WHERE DID MOSES GET THAT LAW? I have read history. The Egyptians and the adjacent nations were idolators; so were the Greeks and Romans; and the wisest and best of Greeks or Romans never gave a code of morals like this. Where did Moses get this law, which surpasses the wisdom and philosophy of the most enlightened ages? He lived at a period comparatively barbarous; but he has given a law, in which the learning and sagacity of all subsequent times can detect no flaw. Where did he get it? He could not have soared so far above his age as to have devised it himself. I am satisfied where he obtained it. It must have come from Heaven. I am convinced of the truth of the religion of the Bible.”

474. How may we learn all our duties from the ten brief precepts delivered at Sinai?

475. What mistakes concerning the Decalogue require to be corrected? 476. What purpose is answered by the account of the skeptical lawyer? 477. What, substantially, are the facts concerning this lawyer, and what did he discover in the study of the Decalogue?