advice under three heads. We should lea.ve unanl!werable questions, and endeavour to do our duty with diligence and a.ctivity ; especially we ought to be la.rgely beneficent, as we know not how soon we ourselves may meet with adversity and need help (eh. xi. 1-6). This is the first remedy for impatience and discontent ; the second is found in e. spirit of cheerfulness, which enjoys the present discreetly and moderately, with a due regard to the future account to be rendered (cb. :ri. 7-9). The third remedy is piety, which ought to be practised from early years; life should be so guided as not to offend the laws of the Creator and Judge, and virtue should not be postponed till the failure of faculties makes pleasure unattainable and death closes the scene. The last days of old age are described under various images and analogies, which contain some of the most beautiful traits in the book (eh. xi. 10-xii. 7). The conclusion of the whole is the echo of the beginning, "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity" ( eh. xii. 8). The book ends with an epilogue (eh. xii. 2-14), commendatory of the writer, explaining his standpoint a.nd the object of bis work. The real Koheleth here speaks, tells of the care with which he has prepared himself for his task, and assumes the gift of inspiration. It is better to know a little well than to weary one's self with reading many things ; and the whole course of the discussion in the present case tends to give one lesson, viz. that man's true wisdom lies in fee.ring God and looking forward to the judgment. Such are the contents of this work as presented by the writer. But never was there a book whose plan, design, and arrangement were more widely disputed. While some enthusiastic admirers have found herein an elaborate artistical structure, a formal division into sections rhythmically distributed, others have deemed it a mass of loose thoughts heaped together without any attempt at coherence or logical system. Others, again, give the work a colloquial character, hearing in it the language of two voices -that of the wearied and exhausted seeker, and that of the warning and correcting teacher. Tennyson's poem,' The Two Voices,' has been used in illustration of this view of Koheleth. By others the unity of the book is wholly denied, and it is considered to_ be derived from many authors, being, in fa.et, a collection of philosophical and didactic poems, interspersed with gnomes and proverbs, hard qn-estions, and some solutions of the same. Few will now be found to uphold this theory, the identity of thought throughout, and the orderly progress of the one underlying reflection, being conspicuous to any unprejudiced reader, and (if we regard the closing verses as an integral portion of the treatise) leading to a grand and satisfying conclusion. Among the various theories concerning the design of the author in presenting this work, we may mention a few very briefly. Rosenmiiller divides it into two parts-a theoretical (eh. i.-iv.) and a practical (eh. v.-xii. 7); the former showing the vanity of human pursuits and gene- rally of mundane things, and the latter directing men's life to worthy objects, and giving rules for obtaining pleasure and contentment. 'l'yler uii INTRODUOTION TO
l and Plu.mptre see ~ it a struggle between revealed religion and the theories of Greek philosophies, in the .form of an autobiographical confession with~ out any regular plan. Rena.n looks upon the author as a sceptic; Hei:r;i.e calls the book 'The Canticle of Scepticism ; ' these critics consider that the leading thought of the vanity of human affairs, and the call to enjoy life, point to a disbelief in a present Providence and a future retribution, Schopenhauer and his school read pessimism in every utterance concei;11ing the shortness of man's life, the vanity of his pursuits, the disorders w~icp. prevail in nature and in society. One critic deems that the treatise points out the vanity of everything of earth; another, that its object~ to indicate the .su1nm,wm bonum; another, that the point proved is the immortality of the soul ; and yet another, that the author labours to show the. limits of philosophy, and the excellence of religion in comp_arison therewith, ,• One school of interpreters sees in our book a discussion between a pious Israelite and a Sadducee, or a youth vexed by his daily experien,ces and a senior who tries to allay his misgivings.and calm bis excitement. OtheJ,'S find a Hebrew, under the guise of Solomon, employing Gree;k sophisms, and a J ewjsh believer refuting him by citing maxims :11,nd proyerqs ;· or.-~ Solomon objecting to the common theory qf Divine providence 'and placing man's happiness in sensual pleasure, and a prophet arguing for the moral government of the world and assigning its right position to. human enjoyment. In this view all apparent, contradictions ~e explain~d away; all unorthodox sentiments appertain to the caviller, while the correctio.n is that which the Holy Spirit would enforce. We may say at once that it iit impossible to support this idea by reference to the text. There is no trace of different interlocutors; objections have no immediate answer, and what are regarded as replies present no connection with. preceding statements. The idea of dialogue must be considered as wholly chimerical. Equally without fonndation is the theory of the "two voices." What are regarded as the utterances of fatalist, materialist, Epicurean, are not refuted .or retracted; the voice that should have taken the opposite side in the COJ'.!.• troversy is obstinately silent, and the poison-'--if poison it be-,-is left to work its dire effect. Of course, those who maintain the traditional view of the authorship hold a totally distinct opinion concerning its scope and object. With them it is the result of a late repentance, _seeking to atone for past follies, and to enforce the warnings of a bitter experience, and thus to gather together the people whom Solomon foresaw w.onld be scattered. by his sins. Having prescience of the fate that awaited Israel after his death., he thus endeavours to comfort his countrymen in the ·evil days that were coming. He te11,ches the vanity of earthly things-things" under the sun "~that the blessedness of eternity may be rea,lized ; union with God implies detachment from the world. He surveys nature, he recalls his own varied experience, he lookt;J abroad: there i~ nothing satisfying in tliis view. He thinks of his successor, RchulJuam, a ;youth of weak wtellect, but strong passions; and finds no ECCLESIASTES; OR, '!'HE PREACHER. xxiii