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thou shalt eat the labor of thy hands: happy shalt thou be and it shall be well with thee!" Happy shalt thou be! in this world; it shall be well with thee! in the world to come.-Who is honoured? He who honours his fellowmen; for thus it is written (1 Samuel ii. 30): "Them that honor me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed."

Ben Azai was in the habit of saying: Be zealous in the practice of the slightest virtue, and flee from all manner of sin; for one virtue brings another in its wake, and one iniquity is followed by others; for the reward of virtue is virtue itself, and sin is requitted with sin.-He likewise said: Despise no man, and consider nothing as too far-removed to come to pass; for there is no man but hath his day, and no event that may not come. Rabbi Zadok was in the habit of saying: Wear not the law of God as a crown to exalt thyself withal, nor use it as a spade to dig therewith for wealth. He who makes use of his learning in the Law to further his own selfish ends, loses all merit.

Rabbi Simeon was wont to say: There are three crownsthe crown of the Law, the crown of the priesthood, and the crown of royalty. But the crown of a fair name excelleth them

all.

Rabbi Matithya ben Cheresh was in the habit of saying: Give every man a friendly greeting! Be the lions' tail rather

than the foxes' head!

Rabbi Jacob said; This world is, as it were, the ante-chamber of the world hereafter; prepare thyself in the ante-chamber that thou mayest be admitted to the banqueting hall!

Rabbi Simeon ben Elazar was accustomed to say: Attempt not to soothe thy neighbor in the heat of his anger; obtrude not thyself upon him when his grief is fresh; keep him not too strictly to a hasty vow, and rush not to see him in the hour of his downfall.

Elisha ben Abuyah said: Learn early in life, for then memory is as a clean page whereon it is easy to write; learning in later years is like writing on paper that is already covered with writing.

9. Rabbi Jose ben Jehudah, from the village of Babli, said: Whom does he resemble who learns from the young? Him who eats unripe grapes and drinks the wine fresh from the wine-press! But whom does he resemble who learns from old Him who eats ripe grapes and drinks old wine. Rabbi Meir was in the habit of saying: Look not upon pitcher, but upon what it contains. Many a new pitcher is full of old wine, and many an old one does not even hold new wine.

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Rabbi Eliezer Hakkapor said: tion destroy life.

Envy, sensuality and ambi

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He likewise said: Those born into the world are doomed to die; the dead, to live on again, and those who enter the eternal life, to be judged. Therefore, let it be recognized, understood and remembered, that He, the Almighty, the Creator, the Architect, He is the counsellor; He, the judge; He, the witness; He, the accuser. He is always ready to give judgment: blessed be He! for, before Him, there is no injustice, no oversight, no regard for rank, no bribery. Know that all will in the account! Accept not the assurance of thy passions, that the grave will be a place of refuge for thee. For without thy consent wert thou created; wert born into the world without thy choice; thou art now living without thine own volition, without thine approval thou wilt have to die; so likewise, without thy consent thou wilt have to render account before the Supreme King, the Holy One, blessed be He!

CHAPTER. V.

SEVEN things mark the ignorant and seven there are for the sage. The wise man does not speak before those who surpass him in wisdom and years; he does not interrupt another in his speech; he does not ask questions rashly; asks with propriety and to the point; speaks first upon the matter first in order and last upon the last; when he does not understand the matter under discussion, he confesses 'I do not understand it'; and admits it when he has been convinced. The opposites of these

things mark the ignoramus.

Four sets of views are held by men concerning property. He who says: "What belongs to me shall continue to be mine and thou shall keep thine own," holds the common view. (Some consider this the view of the men of Sodom.) "Mine shall be thine and thine shall be mine," thus say the ignorant. "Mine shall be thine and thou shalt also keep thine own," thus say the magnanimous. "Thine shall be mine and mine shall continue

to be mine," are the words of the godless.

There are four sorts of dispositions among men. Some are easily enraged, but as quickly soothed - there the fault is neutralized by the merit. Some are slow to anger, but are calmed only with difficulty-there the merit is counterbalanced by the fault. One is slow to anger and easily pacified, he is of a gentle disposition. Another is easily irritated and hard to soothe, -he is a wicked man.

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There are four kinds of pupils: The one understands readily but forgets soon; there the advantage is swallowed by the failing. The other grasps but slowly and seldom forgets,-there the failing is outweighed by the talent. A third understands readily and is slow to forget-his is a happy talent. A fourth understands slowly and forgets quickly-his is an unfortunate lot.

5, The charitable are divided into four classes. He who gives but does not make others give, is unfriendly to the poor; he who makes others give but does not give himself, does not make the best use of his own; he who gives and makes others give, is called a pious man; but he who neither gives nor nor will induce others to give, is a cruel man.

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There are four classes among the disciples of the wise: Sponges, funnels, sieves, and fans. Sponges sucking up all things. Funnels-allowing all that is received in the one end to flow out at the other. Sieves-letting the wine run through and retaining the dregs. Fans-blowing off the bran and keeping the flour.

Love inspired by ulterior motives, dies out when that. motive disappears; but love without such motives never fades.. Jehudah ben Tema was in the habit of saying: Be courageous as the panther, light-winged as the eagle, swift as the deer, and strong as the lion, to execute the will of thy heavenly Fa ther!

Ben Bag-Bag said: Turn it and turn it again (the Torah), for everything can be found therein. Study it, get old and gray with it, and never depart from it; for there is no better gauge of a moral life than-the Torah.

ETHICS OF THE TALMUD.

(The following selection of ethical sentences from the Talmudical litera ture will convey but an imperfect idea of the inexhaustible source of moral wealth contained in the "Sea of the Talmud." To give an adequate presentation of the Ethics of the Talmud, would require a volume by itself, transcending the scope of this book. Enough, however, can be seen from this brief sketch, that the Masters of the Talmud, whom a vulgar prejudice mentions as the "Scribes and Pharisees," synonymous with hypocricy, time-serving and self-complaisance, fully deserve the appelation of Sages; for they practiced what they professed, and their wisdom was rooted in their fear of God.)

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ALL things are foreordained by Providence save the conduct
of man.
Whatever the Almighty doeth, is done for our best.
The balm was created by God before the wound.

Do your duty and leave the consequences thereof with Him who has commanded it. Bless God for evil as well as for good. God tries one man with riches and another with poverty; it requires no less moral strength to escape the dangers of riches than to resist the temptations of poverty.

They asked Wisdom: When a man sins, what shall his punishment be? Wisdom replied: The soul, that sinneth, shall die. The Law was asked: What shall be the penalty of him that sins? Law answered: Let him offer a sacrifice for his atonement. God was asked: What is the sinner's punishment? He answered: Let him repent, and he shall live.

4. Wisdom may be compared to water; as water leaves the heights and gathers in the depths, so is wisdom received from on high and preserved by a lowly soul. Whatever good you do, do it with a rejoicing heart.

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Woe to him that does evil, in order to bring about good; for his very merit rises to accuse him. Say not: I have done good with what belongs to me; you give only of that which has been lent to you. You ought therefore to render thanks to God for enabling you to do good. The greater the man, the greater are the passions which he holds in subjection.

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Sin, at first, is a mere cobweb, in the end it becomes a strong rope. At first sin is an indifferent stranger, that happens to pass by, later on a welcome guest, and at last the master of the house. The sinners are in the power of their passions, the pious have the passions in their power. He that in his youth made himself the slave of his passions, cannot help serving and obeying them also in his old- age. Commit a sin twice and you will think it perfectly allowable. Sin heardens the heart of man. Which are the strange gods in the heart of man? His evil passions!

"The LORD hath appeared unto you that you may fear before him and not sin." To fear God means to be shamefaced; he who is ashamed will not easily commit sin. There is a great difference between him who is ashamed before his own self and him who is only ashamed before others. It is a good sign in a man to be capable of being ashamed.

The dying benediction of Rabbi Jachanan ben Zackai to his disciples was: "I pray for you that the fear of Heaven may be as strong upon you as the fear of man. You avoid sin before the face of the latter, avoid it before the face of the All-seeing." If you feel ashamed of the wrong you have done, God will forgive you all your sins.

I would rather appear all my life a fool in the eyes of man, than to be for one single moment a sinner before God. He that sins in secret, denies God. "The spirit returns to God who gave it;" return to him thy soul as he gave it to thee: thou shalt give it back to him as pure as thou hast received it.

Give not way to anger, lest thou sin. The man, that is given to anger, destroys his own house. Man ought to be soft and pliant like the reed, and not hard and unbending like the cedar. Three kinds of men are pleasing to God; those that are longsuffering, those that are temperate and those that are ever open to conviction. Three kinds of men do not enjoy their life; the fainthearted. the wrathful and the gloomy.

Pride is idolatry; love of mankind is piety. Pride has many faults for companions. The proud is made sad by every breath of opposition. The proud is sensitive; he that is sensitive is foolish.

Not the place honors the man, but the man the place. He that humbles himself will be exaulted by God; he that exalts himself will be humbled by Him.

15. He that grows impatient with the slow pace of time, will be thrust aside by time; he that patiently bides his time, will be advanced by time. He that diminishes his own honor in order to increase the glory of God, his honor will wax along with the glory of God.