Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-12-10

pendent.
The writer of the Proverbs brings
into view, within the compass of a few
sentences. the three principal supports
to right living.
The first is the fear of God. THE
fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge" ". y. In general, it is
true that the Proverbs incite to right
eousness through motives that arc sim
ply prudential. The ruling idea is that
prosperity is the portion of those who
do right. But in the first eight chap
tiers of the book we find a higher spirit
ual tone. In these chapters there is
4 clear and positive recognition of the
truth that relationship to God is the
master secret of human morality. This
note that is muffied in the Proverbs is
the dominant note of revelation as a
whole. 1t teaches from first to last that
the sincere response of a human heart
to the claims of God is the living root of
personal and social Righteousness. While
it is not true that before the captivity
the Hebrews were ignorant of future
life, yet there is no room for doubt that
this doctrine was taught more clearly
in the later developments of Judaism,
and in the New Testament the dusk of
morning has become high noon. But it
is mistake to assume that because
the Hebrew did not have the light we
have as to future rewards and penal
ties he was bereft of the highest mo-
tives to righteousness. On the con-
trary, the Hebrew who could say, 81
beheld the Lord always before me, " had
transcendent motive to righteousness.
The recognition of the fact that we are
living before a present and righteous
God is what leads men to the choice of
goodness, when they choose it in the
noblest way, for the sense of guilt is
nobler than the fear of penalty. 1t was
a true insight which put 1.-The fear of
the Lord in the forefront of a book
that is devoted to the maXims Of true
living.
But next to 1.-The fear of the Lord"
is Difference to parental instruction.
My son, hear the instruction of thy
father, and forsale not the law of thy
mother" No one has a more disin-
terested regard for the welfare of the
child than the true parent. The parents
experience of life, his knowledge of
the world and knowledge of God,
suffused with self-sacrificing love,
are freely offered for the guidance
of the child. 1t is through the nat
ural channels of parentage that the best
there is in the past is brought into the
childs life. Parents may make mis-
takes; they often do; no one is in
fallible, but for all that - emains true
that the surest guidance for young hui
man life, next to 'the fear of the Lord"
is 1.-The instruction of the father" 1.-The
law of the mother"
But the writer does not leave us here.
A third support to right living is found
in the innate apprehension of character.
We do not need to follow out the con-
duct of men to it's remote consequences
to know that to accompany them is to
walk in an evil way. There is that in
us that tests the character of others,
rs the eye distinguishes colors. my
son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou
not" "Ah," we imagine one as reply
ing, show shall we know that they are
sinners?" That is just the point of the
precept. We can detect SINNERS" in
part without knowing how they propose
to mislead us. The pure-minded girl,
the noble-hearted boy, do not need to
have a detective follow an evil COM
panion to know that his ways are evil.
There is within the soul q fine moral
sensitiveness that declares it. A look,
suggestion, point of view, reveals
"the sinner" as truly as the history of
his career. The author of the Proverbs
knew that men did not have to know all
about some men to know enough about
them. His instruction amounts to this:
Recognize the skinner" by your God
given sensitiveness, and arm yourself
against his enticements in advance. 1t
is not necessary to experiment or inves.
tigate. The inner voice is far safer
guide than the knowledge gained by an
experience that may stain the SOUL
Boston Waterman.
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