made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches_.
With that audacity which the touch of property breeds in Us, he said, 'I
am sure of to-morrow,' plunged into cruel plans, _gloried in his
mischief_, and was himself again.

Trusting in riches--we all do it, when we seek to drive away uncomfortable
fears and the visitations of conscience by self-indulgence; when, instead
of saying _I will lift mine eyes unto the hills, whence cometh my
help_?--and seeking the steep and arduous consolations of duty, we look
into our nearest friends' faces and whine for a sympathy that is often
insincere, or lie down in some place of comfort that is stolen or unclean.

No man with such habits stops there. This big man _strengthened himself in
his wickedness_ and in all manner of guile and cruelty. It is a natural
development. The heart which finds life in material wealth is usually
certain to go farther and seek for more in the satisfaction of base and
sullen appetites. We hear, it is true, a great deal about the softening
influence of wealth, and moralists speak of luxury as if its bad effects
were negative and it only enervated. But if riches and the habit of
trusting to them, if the material comforts of life and complacency in
them, only made men sleek and tame--if luxury did nothing but soften and
emasculate--the world would have been far more stupid and far less cruel
than it is to-day.

They are not negative tempers, but very positive and aggressive ones, which
the Bible associates with a love of wealth, and we have but to remember
history to know that the Bible is right. Luxury may have dulled the
combative instincts in man, but it has often nursed the meanly cruel ones.
The Romans with the rapid growth of their wealth loved the battlefield
less; but the sight of the arena, with its struggling gladiators, and