had to make choice of these comparisons, to represent the pleasure of ardent love between man and wife, when it is natural without constraint; sincere, simple, gentle, without moroseness, suspicions, or pride; which good qualities are not to be found in harlots, but may be met withal in a wife. From whence he shews the unreasonableness, nay, unaccountable folly of preferring fornication and vagrant lusts before the innocent joys of a married life, (ver. 20.), to which a man, who considers his own good, would choose to be tied, that he may avoid the inconveniencies, or rather miseries, to which the lusts of uncleanness reduce him; but especially the heavy judgement of God, who, having ordained marriage for the comfort of mankind, and the preserving society, (ver. 21. &c.), will not therefore let the contempt of it go unpunished. The principal things to be learnt in this chapter are:not to believe every thing to be good for us, that pleases the flesh for the present, ver. 3. &c. but in the beginning of any pleasure, to look to the end of it; to avoid the company of harlots; to use due care in the choice of a wife; to love her too much rather than too little; to restrain ourselves from inordinate affection, by the consideration of God's omnipresence, &c.

The proverbial sayings are obvious enough, in ver. 3.4. 15. I shall only give an account of my translating y ver. 14. [b] the assembly of judges; for in many other places, besides those quoted there in the paraphrase, it signifies the 70 elders or senators, who judged the people; as in Josh. xx. 6. and Numb. xxvii. 21. where R. Solomon thus expounds all the congregation. And so truly it seems plainly to be used, Numb. xv. 24. &c. where the sacrifice is different from that prescribed in Levit. iv. 13. &c.; and therefore the sin was different, and the congregation for whom this was offered were the representatives of the whole congregation, or, as they now speak, the great Sanhedrin.

Ver. 1. MY son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding.] I cannot too often awaken thine attention, (whoever thou art that puttest thyself under my instruction, see chap. ii. 1. iii. 1. 21. &c.), especially in things of such moment as I am going to treat of; and therefore again I beseech thee, both to mind diligently, and to consider what I take to be true wisdom, and more than ordinary prudence.

Ver. 2. That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.] Which, if thou observest, it will make thee so skilful and discreetly cautious, that thou shalt not only be able to preserve thyself from the most subtile and dangerous deceits, but upon occasion to advise others, and keep them from being cheated;

Ver. 3. ¶ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an boney-comb, and her mouth is smoother than oil.] As too many are by the arts of an harlot, from whom thou oughtest to estrange thyself as much as if she were not of the commonwealth of Israel; for she,

pretending the greatest love, allures inexperienced youth by her flattering speeches, and sweet voice per haps and songs, wherewith she enchants them; and making them believe they shall taste nothing but the most delicious pleasures, her soft and smooth enticements slip down glibly into their unwary hearts which are taken with her.

Ver. 4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.] But the beginning of this love is not so sweet, as the conclusion is bitter; and, therefore, think of both together, and believe what I now tell thee without making a trial,-that after a short pleasure follows long pain, by the impairing men's health, strength, estates, and credit; which they cannot reflect upon without trouble and vexation, and (if she do not quite destroy their reason) be filled with reraorse of conscience and anguish of spirit; for, like a sword that cuts on both sides, she wounds both soul and body:

Ver. 5. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.] In short, leads those that follow her to an untimely, shameful, and miserable end; to have never so little to do with her, is to approach to certain and inevitable destruction, not only here, but in another world.

Ver. 6. Lest thou`shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.] For though thou mayest think to make a retreat in time, thou wilt be deceived; she having more ways than thou canst ever know, (winding and turning herself into a thousand shapes), to keep thee from so much as deliberating abont thy return to a virtuous course of life.

Ver. 7. Hear me now, therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.] All which considered, should incline those that read these things to be obedient to me, who do not desire to restrain them from any thing that will make them happy, but in tender affection advise them, not to be enticed by her Hatteries to depart from those fatherly counsels, which out of mere kindness I give unto them.

Ver. 8. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house :] If all will not be governed by them, yet do thou, whose mind is awakened to attend unto me, wholly shun all familiarity with her; nay, so much as the least aspect towards her; avoid her as thou wouldest the plague; and be so far from going into her chamber, as not to come near the door of her house.

Ver. 9. Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel.] Lest thou forfeit all the reputation which perhaps thou hast got by worthy actions, and grow contemptible among thy friends and acquaintance; who see thee prefer the company of harlots, and their base attendants, before that of the most virtuous persons; and thereby thou lose, not only the fame, but sacrifice the flower of thine age, and thy precious time, to one that doth not love thee a jot, but could see thee perish without any pity.

Ver. 10. Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labours be in the house of a stranger.] And that will be the issue of thy impurity, which wastes first.

the strength and vigour of thy body, and then thy money and estate, upon a strange family, perhaps of another country; whose filthy lusts are satiated at the expence of thy spirits, and whose house and table are furnished with the fruit of thy care and labours.

Ver. 11. And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,] And when things are come to this pass, that thy credit, thy friends, thy precious time, thy health, thy estate, and thy pleasure too, are all gone, and nothing left but an heavy heart, and skin and bone, then thou begin unprofitably to groan and lament; nay, perhaps to roar out thy grief in a most deplorable manner :

Ver. 12. And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!] Saying, How stupidly foolish have I been, in not considering all this sooner! how senselessly bent upon my own ruin! I am amazed to think how I hated the cautions that were given me to avoid her company, and inwardly despised (how civilly soever in outward show I received them) the just reproofs I had afterward for going to her.

Ver. 13. And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers; nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!] I wanted no good instructions of my parents, tutors, friends, and God's ministers, who informed me of the danger, and taught me how to escape it; but, alas! I was so sottish as not to obey them; so contumacious, that I did not so much as consider what they said unto me;

Ver. 14. I was almost in all evil, in the midst of the congregation and assembly.] But gave up myself to follow my lusts, which in a short time engaged me in almost all kind of wickedness; from which the reverence of no persons could restrain me; but openly, in the face of the most public and solemn assemblies of God's people, even before the magistrates and judges, (Numb. xxv. 7. XXXV. 12.), I boldly committed them. See Arg. [b]

Ver. 15. ¶Drink waters out of thine own cistern; and running waters out of thine own well.]¶ Such are the fruitless moans of a man, that hath quite exhausted himself in those lewd courses; which shew how much better it is to follow the advice which I now give thee; marry, and in a wife of thine own enjoy the pleasures thou desirest, and be content with them alone; innocent, chaste, and pure pleasures; as much different from the other, as the clear waters of a whole. some fountain are from those of a dirty lake or puddle.

Ver. 16. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.] Of whom thou mayest have a lawful issue, which thou needest not be ashamed to own; but openly produce and send them abroad like streams from a spring, to serve the public good; nay, a numerous progeny may be derived from your happy society, and match into divers other honest families.

never to admit any stranger to thy bed, but to keep it solely unto thee.

Ver. 18. Let thy fountain be blessed; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.] Happy shalt thou every way be in such a wife; whom I advise thee to take in thy youth, and, avoiding those filthy cruel harlots, (ver. 9.), to solace thyself in her innocent and delightful company; whereby thou wilt long preserve thy youth, which they speedily deflower, ver. 10.

Ver. 19. Let her be as the loving hind, and the pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times, and be thou ravished always with her love.] Love her and cherish her, with a most tender affection, and let her always seem amiable in thy eyes: if thou wouldest recreate and disport thyself, (as some are wont to do with young fawns, and other beautiful creatures of like kind), let it be with her, as the sweetest companion, in whose embraces take such satisfaction, as to forget all other, and to be excessively transported with her as long as you live. as you live. See Arg. [a]

Ver. 20. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?] Consider, my son, (ver. 1.), what I say, and deny if thou canst, that it is an unaccountable folly to seek that in a vile harlot, (to whom thou oughtest to be as great a stranger as to her religion), which thou mayest more fully, more pleasantly, securely, and constantly, as well as more innocently, enjoy in a pious wife of thine own nation;

Ver. 21. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.] And, which is most considerable, enjoy with the approbation and favour of the Lord; from whom no man can hide his most private actions, but he plainly sees and weighs all he doth, wheresoever he be; and will exactly proportion rewards and punishments, according as he behaves himself.

Ver. 22. ¶ His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be bolden with the cords of his sins.] ¶ If he be a wicked fornicator or adulterer, for instance, let him not think to escape, because he is so cunning that nobody observes him, or so powerful that none can call him to account, for his own manifold iniquities shall arrest and apprehend him; and he shall need no other chains to bind and hold him fast to answer for them to God.

Ver. 23. He shall die without instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.] Whose sentence upon such a person is this; that he shall inevitably perish, (ver. 5.), because he refused to follow those instructions; and not only miss of his aim of deing happy, but, like men that wander from the right way, precipitate himself into unexpected ruin, (ver. 9. 10. 11.), because he was such an egregious fool as to take no warning, by all that could be said to him, but still to commit innumerable sins, (ver. 13. 14), though he was told the many inconveniences, nay, mischiefs they would bring upon him.

CHAP. VI.

happiness of a married life, (which the wise man had commended in the foregoing chapter), he here adds two cautions; one against suretiship, the other against sloth; which make great discontents in a family, by bringing it to poverty. He illustrates both by elegant similitudes, especially the latter, by the example of the ant; who borrows of none, and yet is not in danger to starve, laying up in store, by a notable industry, sufficient provision in due season against a time of need. Which the great Lord [a] Bacon ingeniously applies (in the beginning of his sixth book of the Advancement of Learning) to the improvement of arts and sciences, by every one's bringing his grain. And in this business he defines the slothful to be, whose only care it is to live upon the main stock, but not to improve it by sowing the ground of sciences over again, and reaping a new harvest. This is the

sum of the eleven first verses.

And upon this occasion he annexes the description of a deceitful knave, (ver. 12. &c.), who cares not by what wicked arts he lives, when he is reduced to poverty. Whose character he gives from his mouth, his eyes, feet, fingers, heart, and tongue. And after a septenary of vices, (ver. 16. &c.), which he represents as most odious to God, he returns to his former argument, to give cautions against uncleanness, especially adultery, (ver. 20. 24. &c.); which, as it is many times the effect of idleness, so he shews is the way to bring one to poverty; nay, to endanger one's life, or to bring inevitably upon him some other mischief, not only infamy, but the hatred and revenge of that person who is wronged by the adulterer, who hereby puts himself into a worse condition than that of a thief. [b] They that would see the terrible effects of this jealousy fully and lively described, let them read Saint Chrysostom, Пais, chap. lii. where he observes, among other things, that doμíav μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ θυμὸν, &c. this disease is wont to breed and bring forth, not only an intolerable heaviness of mind, but an insupportable rage; and that such is the madness of this distemper, that it is not cured, no, not by the revenge it takes upon him that is the cause of it.

The principal points of wisdom to be learned in this chapter are these :-care of our family; caution in engaging for others; diligence in some honest employment; hatred of idleness, as contrary to nature; not to contemn the meanest instructor, but to learn something even of the smallest creature ; and to improve the present time; to dread the mischievous effects of poverty, especially that which comes by idleness, (the effect of which is too oft the loss of all conscience, ver. 12. 13. &c.); to give good heed to the admonitions of our parents and instructors, when they teach the will of God; and above all things, to fortify ourselves against the sins of uncleanness. About which the wise man gives the more frequent cautions, because youth is not more prone to them, than they are pernicious to youth; who ought therefore not only

to weigh diligently the miserable consequences of them, especially of adultery, (which he represents in the conclusion of the chapter), but carefully to avoid the occasions of such sins; and faithfully to suppress the first motions towards them, ver. 25. › &c. [c] Where he gives a particular charge to watch over our eyes, (which are the inlets to love), and uses a remarkable phrase to express the danger of gazing upon an evil woman, lest he be taken or caught with her eye-lids; which he seems to compare to nets, as other authors do; particularly Philostratus, in his Fistles, where he often speaks of the τὰ τ' ὀμμάτων δίκτυα, nets of the eyes; and hath in these elegant words expressed the power of love which resides in the eve-lids, here mentioned.. ὁ Ἔρως τω τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀκράπολιν, ο ξύλοις ἐδ' πλίνθοις, ἀλλὰ μόνοις βλεφάροις τειχησας, ήσυχῆ κατὰ μικρὸν εἰσδύεται, &c. Epist Tovaní.

It would be too long to note the proverbial speeches in this chapter. I shall only give a brief account of them, and of one phrase in this chapter, that needs a little explication.

[d] As for the proverbial speech, it is ver. 11. upon which the Lord Bacon had made a very ingenious observation, distinguishing in this manner between the poverty that comes as a traveller, and the want that comes as an armed man; that the "shipwreck of fortune falls upon prodigals, or such as are careless of their estates, by insensible degrees of the first; with soft silent paces, like a traveller, and is hardly perceived; but soon after, necessity invades him, like an armed man, that is, presses upon him so hard, that he feels it plainly, and perceives there is no resistance to be made." And thereupon he gives this prudent advice, " to prevent the traveller, and to be well provided against the armed man." But it is sufficient to have noted this here, (out of the eighth book of the Advancement of Learning, chap. ii. par. 5.), which they that please may make use of upon occasion. in my paraphrase I have waved this exact curiosity, because I observe the wise man generally repeats the same thing in other words, without any such distinction. [e] As for the phrase I spoke of, it is ver. 31. where it is said, a thief shall restore sevenfold, (as we translate the word), when the law of Moses enjoins no such restitution, but much less, (Exod. xxii. 1. 4.); and there is no reason to think the law was altered in after-times. Therefore I have followed another use of the word Schivatajim, which signifies not any determinate number, but only such as is perfect and complete in its kind; as may be seen, Gen. iv. 15. 24. Psal. xii. 7. Isa..

Xxx. 26.

stranger, whose honesty or ability is unknown to

thee.

Ver. 2. Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.] Young men, indeed, think this no great matter, but if thou hast been so incautious, as to be drawn into such engagements, look upon thyself as no longer a free man, but hampered and enslaved in dangerous obligations.

Ver. 3. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.] And therefore, in that case, immediately follow the counsel which I now give thee, my son; do thy utmost endeavour to be discharged, by pressing thy friend forthwith to satisfy the debt, or to give thee security against the creditor; make no delay, and stick not, if need be, to cast down thyself before him on the ground, and beseech him as readily to grant thy request, as thou wast forward to comply with his; be not modest at all, nor cease to urge and importune him by thyself and by thy friends, till thou hast prevailed with him.

Ver. 4. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eye-lids.] Be not quiet till this be accomplished; nor take so much as a wink of sleep till thou art eased of this care; which, if thou understandest thyself, may well disturb thy rest.

Ver. 5. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.] For thou art in the same condition with a young roe, or silly bird, that is taken in the toil of the hunter, or the snare of the fowler; and therefore struggle, like them, with all thy might, to get loose, (if it be possible) and to be released from the bond wherein thou art entangled.

Ver. 6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:] Nor is industry and diligence requisite in this alone, but in all thy affairs; to which, therefore, if thou art slothful, I must excite thee by the example of the ants, whose orderly and unanimous diligence, in collecting and preserving food for themselves, if thou wilt mark and observe, thou mayest be ashamed to be an idle spectator of their labours; and learn hereafter to imitate their provident care. See Arg. [a]

Ver. 7. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,] Which is the more remarkable, because they have none to lead and direct them, (as mankind have), no overseer to exact their labour, no supreme governor to call them to an account for any negligence.

Ver. 8. Provideth her meat in the summer, and ga thereth her food in the harvest.] And yet they never omit the opportunity they have in harvest, to make provision against the winter, but toil perpetually in gathering and carrying food into the cells they have digged for it in the earth, where they lay it up, and secure it with admirable art, that it may neither be injured by the weather, nor stolen from them by other creatures.

Ver. 9. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? O the strange

idleness of mankind! who have many monitors and governors, that call upon them again and again, and stir them up in vain to labour. What wretchedness is this, which makes thee, O sluggard, indulge thyself in laziness and sloth! as if thou wast made for nothing else but to sleep and take thine ease!

Ver. o. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the bands to sleep] Rolling thyself in thy bed, and ridiculously desiring thy pains may be spared, and thou mayest be suffered still, without any disturbance, to enjoy a little more sleep; when thou hast loitered too long, and put off the care of thy affairs from time to time, till thou hast none left to do it in.

Ver. 11. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.] But poverty comes apace upon thee, and before thou art aware leaves thee as naked as if thou wast stripped by a highwayman; nay, extreme want seizes on thee unavoidably, like an armed man, which thou canst find no means to resist. See Arg. [d]

Ver. 12. A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.] By which means thou: mayest be tempted to become the worst of men, a perfect shark, void of all faith and honesty, whose mouth never speaks a word of truth; but makes it. his business, by lies, or flatteries, or slander, or perjuries, to maintain himself in his idle courses.

Ver. 13. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers.] His very eyes are instruments of deceit or mischief, for he makes signs with them to his companions, when they are to play their pranks; or if that be too broad, he secretly treads upon their toes, or signifies his mind by the motion of his fingers; for every part of him is employed to make his wicked meaning understood.

Ver. 14. Frowardness is in his beart, he deviseth mischief continually; be soweth discord.] How should it be otherwise, when his heart is a shop, furnished with nothing but all manner of perverse inclinations, which are perpetually at work to contrive some mischief or other; and (if they can do nothing else) by casting suspicions into men's minds one of another, to stir up hatred, dissension, strife, brawlings, law-suits, and all manner of discord, which is the destruction of families and kingdoms !

Ver. 15. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall be be broken without remedy.] And shall prove his utter ruin; which, for this very cause, shall, sooner than he thinks of, in a terrible manner come upon him; when he fancies he hath carried his matters so cunningly, that nobody discerns his villany, he shall on a sudden be looked upon as the worst of mankind, and, like a vessel broken into little bits, be incurably undone.

Ver. 16. These six things doth the LORD bate ; yea, seven are an abomination unto him:] For, among offences of this kind, nothing is more odious to the Lord, (who is the dispenser of rewards and punishments), nothing more opposite to the divine nature, and which he more severely punishes, than these six or seven things; which are commonly

found in loose companions such as I have now described.

Ver. 17. A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.] First, Pride and haughtiness of spirit, which, swelling a man with a vain opinion of himself, makes him contemn all others, and overlook them as below his notice. Secondly, Falsehood, or treachery, which stick not at any lies, or flatteries, or calumnies. And, thirdly, A violent, cruel disposition, which makes a man rather imbrue his hands in the blood even of an innocent person, than not have him removed, who stands in the way of his designs.

Ver. 18. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,] To which add, the fountain of all these, and of those that follow, a mind that studies nothing but how by fraud or force (though never so injurious to others) to satisfy some desire of pleasure, covetousness, or revenge; which produces three other abominable vices. First, Forwardness to execute such mischievous intentions and desires chearfully, without any check or delay. Ver. 19. A false witness that speaketh lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.] Secondly, An atheistical impudence, which makes a man, in open court, (when he is upon his oath), testify any falsehood against his neighbour; and, lastly, such malicious envy as loves to make the dearest friends fall out, and takes pleasure to see those at variance, who ought to be most closely united in brotherly affection.

Ver. 20. My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother.] ¶And here, my son, I must remember thee of what I said in the beginning, (chap. i. 8.), about a reverend regard unto thy parents; especially when they warn thee against such wickednesses as these; do not make light of their admonitions, but observe the precepts of thy father, and let thy mother's commands be a law to thee. See chap. i. 8.

Ver. 21. Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.] Fix them in thy mind, and link thy affections so fast to them, that they may not only be continually before thine eyes, but seem the greatest ornament to all thy words and actions, when they are ordered by their directions.

Ver. 22. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.] Thou wilt find the benefit of giving early entertainment to such good counsel from thy parents, in every passage of thy whole life, for when thou goest about any business, it will guide thee to do it honestly and successfully; when thou liest down to sleep, it will make thee rest secure of the guardianship of the divine Providence over thee; and when thou awakest in the morning, suggest to thy thoughts how thou oughtest to behave thyself at home - and abroad.

Ver. 23. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: In the darkest times, and the most dubious cases, it will both direct and comfort thee, for every particular commandment of God (which they teach

thee) is like a candle, and the whole law is like the light of the sun, to shew thee thy way, and to exhilirate thy spirits, while thou walkest in it; nay, the severest reproofs, which correct thy errors, and reduce thee to obedience, are the way to the greatest happiness;

Ver. 24. To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.] As those instructions and reproofs, for instance, ought to be accounted, which preserve thee from being deluded by the flattering speeches and enticements of a lewd woman, from whom thou oughtest perfectly to estrange thyself, as from a sink of all wickedness.

Ver. 25. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eye-lids.] Let me advise thee again (though I have done it oft, ii. 16. v. 3. 4. &c) not to gaze upon her beauty, or upon her fine attire, but suppress the very first desire which a glance of her may have kindled in thy heart; do not consent to pursue it in the least, much less suffer thyself to be caught in the nets of her wanton eyes, and thereby drawn into her dangerous embraces. Arg. [c]

See

Ver. 26. For by means of a whorish woman, a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.] For such is the cunning of a harlot, that having got a silly youth into her toils, she will hardly let him go, till she have reduced him to the extremest beggary; and if she be another man's wife, a train is laid for that which is more precious by far than all the treasures he hath spent, viz. his dearest life, which he foolishly loses for the short pleasure of a sinful lust.

Ver. 27. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burnt?] He may think, perhaps, to enjoy his pleasure so privately, that none shall know it; but that is as unlikely, as that a man should take fire secretly into his bosom, and so conceal it that it shall not break out, and burn his clothes.

Ver. 28. Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?] Who ever heard that fire will do no hurt, because it is closely lodged? or that any body ever walked barefoot upon red-hot coals, and his feet escaped from being burnt?

Ver. 29. So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife;. whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.] Even so it is sottish folly to imagine that a man shall suffer nothing, who lies with his neighbour's wife : let him be who he will that commits that crime, he shall not escape unpunished:

Ver. 30. Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry:] For he is not a common thief, who only steals a man's goods, and that perhaps out of extreme necessity, merely to satisfy his hungry appetite, which he knows not otherwise to fill; such an one we are apt to pity, and do not expose him to shame, by whipping him, and lay- ing stripes upon his back;

Ver. 31. But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.] But when he is found out, he shall make as complete a restitution (Psal. lxxix. 12.) as the law requires,