April Twenty-ninth.
THE MILLSTONE.
"No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge."—Deut. xxiv. 6.
EVEN in its literal sense, this is a law that could only originate in the divine mercy and clemency, and a law that was essentially necessary to be enforced among so worldly a people as the Jews. A man was not allowed to take from another in pledge, either the nether or the upper millstone, and a reason is assigned for this—"He taketh a man's life to pledge." The mill is the instrument by which a man procures his daily bread. If this were to be received in pledge, the debtor would be deprived of all the means of satisfying his creditor. Neither the nether nor the upper millstone was to be pledged, because if one of them were taken away, the other would be useless, both being required for the working of the mill. The mill, with its nether and upper stone, is the instrument by which wheat is ground into flour, and barley into meal; and if we can elevate our thoughts from earthly to heavenly things, the spirit of this law will shine forth in all its real value. No person can be a Christian who has not in his soul the love of God and the love of man! These two loves, so essential to human happiness, and to the growth and sustenance of true religion in the church, are, as to their qualities, celestial and spiritual. Celestial love is the love of God, and spiritual the love of man; the former is as the upper love, the latter, the nether. These, in Scriptural language, are the wheat and the barley! When
