_Pride goeth before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall._[117] * * * * * _The wicked flee when no man pursueth._[118] _If a righteous man fall seven times, he riseth up again; But the wicked are overthrown by calamity._[119] * * * * * _He that despiseth small things shall fall by little and little._[120] _Be not wise in thine own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil._[121] * * * * * _Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; But a wish fulfilled is a tree of life._[122] _Woe unto fearful hearts and to faint hands, And to the sinner that goeth two ways! Woe to the faint heart, for it believeth not; Therefore shall it not be defended. Woe unto you that have lost your patience! What will ye do when the Lord shall visit you?_[123] * * * * * _There is no wisdom nor understanding, Nor counsel against the Lord: The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But the victory is of the Lord._[124] _Truth stands: Falsehood does not stand._[125] * * * * * This is a very long chapter; Think on these things. CHAPTER XVI The Body Politic The art of hurling texts dies out of fashion, is almost dead, perhaps because it yielded the delight of victory so seldom, but for deeper reasons also. It was ever a game at which two could play; the Scriptures proving so rich a quarry that your skilled antagonist would quote you text for text. Both Socialist and Individualist have found therein ammunition in plenty for their long quarrel, by reason of the disconcerting manner in which the Bible preaches both doctrines and gives its sanction to neither. Thus it never so much as questions the propriety of individual ownership, yet on the other hand continually and with awe-inspiring vehemence it is found denouncing the wickedness of individual owners and the wrongs arising from their sins and negligences. So for the unreflecting text-hunter confusion was apt to grow worse confounded. The existence of this _impasse_, which in reality pointed only to an error in method, has helped to create the notion, characteristic of the present time, that the Bible having failed to settle the difficulty, we ought to consider our problems entirely without its aid. So completely are we now supposed to be the sole arbiters of our conduct that, even if the Bible had been found to enjoin (or forbid) explicitly and beyond all possibility of doubt certain socialistic measures, it would in no way follow that what may have been right in Jerusalem long ago is right now, or what was wrong then wrong now. Up to a point this attitude is sound: not to consider our duties for ourselves, as if our ancestors or any external authority could rightly determine them for us without our active consent, is to fall