The ostrich has tvings for show, notforJitght. 433 the conversion of princes she bears with the wicked pre- EJook tending to be good, which they are not. Whence Ahnighty^ — '-— * God, because IJe stated that this rhinoceros had been bound with thongs, immediately subjoined the hypocrisy of the wicked, saying; Ver. 13. The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk. 11. Who can be ignorant how much the heron and the viii. hawk surpass all other birds in the swiftness of their flight.? But an ostrich has tlie likeness of their wing, but not the celerity of their flight. For it cannot in truth rise from the ground, and raises its wings, in appearance as if to fly, but yet never raises itself from the earth in flying. Thus, doubt- less, are all hypocrites, who, while they simidate the conduct of the good, possess a resemblance of a holy appearance, but have no reality of holy conduct. They have, in truth, wings for flight, in appearance, but in their doing they creep along the ground, because they spread their wings, by the semblance of sanctity, but, overwhelmed by the weight of secular cares, they are not at all raised from the earth. For the Lord in reprobating the appearance of the Pharisees, re- proves, as it were, the wing of the ostrich, which did one thing in action, and made a show of another in its colour ; saying. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ; for Mat. 23^ ye are like unto lohited sepulchres, which indeed appear'^' ''^^' beautifid to men outwardly, hut are within full of dead men's bones; even so do ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men^ but within ye arefidlof covetousnessand iniquity. As ifHe were saying : The beautifulshow ofyour wings seems to raise you up, but the weight of your conduct weighs you down to the lowest depths. Of this weight it is said by the Prophet, Ye sons ofmen, how long will ye be heavy in heart? Ps. 4, 3. The Lord promises that He will convert the hypocrisy of this ostrich, when He says by the Prophet; The beasts ofU.AZ, the field shall honour Me, the dragons and the ostriches. ^^" For what is expressed by the word * dragons,' but minds openly wicked, which ever creep along the earth in most grovelling thoughts ? But what is designated by the word ' ostriches,' but those,who pretend that they are good, who re- tain a life ofsanctity in appearance, as a wing for flight, but use