cial corruption, examples
lay ready to his hand in human history; especially in the practice of
oriental empires, ancient and modern, it is easy to find cases in which
the supreme authority, civil and criminal, is vested in a deputy who
habitually sacrifices justice to his own ease or interest.

The thorough badness of this judge, although stated distinctly, is
stated briefly; it is not made prominent in the parable, and should not
be made prominent in the interpretation of the parable. That badness on
both sides, towards God and man, is I apprehend not introduced here for
its own sake, but for the sake of a particular effect that resulted from
it;--the frequent, persevering appeals of the widow for redress. This is
the thing that is needed and used in the Lord's lesson; and although the
injustice of the judge stands distinctly out on the face of the parable,
it is like the forest tree in the vineyards of Italy, used only to hold
up the vine. Earnest, repeated, unyielding appeal by a needy, feeble
suppliant before the throne of power;--this is the fruit which is
precious for the Teacher's purpose, and the hollow heart of the
epicurean judge is employed only as the trunk to bear it. When it has
held up that fruit to be ripened, itself may be thrown away.

At certain points in frequented routes through romantic scenery it is
customary to fire a gun in order to afford the tourists an opportunity
of hearing the echoes answering each other in the neighbouring
mountains. The explosion is in place nearest, in time first, and as to
sound loudest, but this the most articulate and arrestive fact is
employed exclusively for the purpose of producing the subsequent and
more distant echo. The explosion is instantly dismissed from the mind
and attention concentrated on the reverberation which it called forth.
The conduct of the judge in this parable stands precisely in the place
of that explosion. When it has produced the widow's importunity it is of
no further use; it must be thrown aside.

Let us hear now the interpretation,--"And the Lord said, Hear what the
unjust judge saith," &c. God's own chosen and redeemed people correspond
to the suppliant widow in the parable. They are like her in her
suffering and her weakness; they should be like her too in her
unintermittent, persevering cry.

Like other similar lessons, this one bears equally on the Church as a
body, and on an individual Christian. The Church collective, in times of