" The soul grows clotted by contagion,
Embodies and embrutes, till she quite lose
The divine property of her first being."

And, further, covetousness perverts the judgment as to
the very nature and meaning of life itself And herein we
see its fatal and malignant power. For to have false views
of life, of our existence, that of which all otjier things are
mere accidents and adjuncts, is the supreme evil. Hence
the solemn warning, " Take heed and beware of covetous-
ness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the
things which he possesseth " Christ recognized the fact that
covetousness tends to produce this estimate. This was the
feeling of the man who interrupted his discourse. It seemed
to him that without a part of the inheritance life would be
very thin and meagre. This was doubtless the general
estimate ; hence the timeliness of the warning against it,
and of the parable to prove its falsity.
And they will never cease to be timely. For, in the first
place, covetousness fixes the eye on only a part, a small
part, of life. The greater portion of existence it ignores.
The soul's great future is hidden behind the little and en-
grossing present. The spirit of covetousness always exclaims
with Ihe merchant who, under conviction of sin, was bal-
ancing the question of the service of God or the service of
self, ** Give me my portion here." It bids every man grasp
the present and "jump the life to come "

But of this fraction of existence it gives a distorted view.
