convey this instr11ction the anthor does not compose a carefolly ordered and well-arranged dissertation, nor does he propound a moral discourse ; he takes another method; he puts forth his views under tbe mask of Solomon, the king whose name had become proverbial for wisdom. He makes this celebrated personage recount his wide experiences, and, under this veil, hiding his own personality, he presents his peace offering to his contem- poraries. No one had such varied knowledge of man's powers and circnm- stanccs as Solomon; no one like him could command attention and respect at the hand of the Hebrew people; the impersonation secured an audience, and enabled the writer to say much to them that would have come with Jess grace and weight from another. Tbongh the work has a certain unity, and its great subject is continually recurring, the writer does not confine himself within narrow limits ; he takes occasion to give rules of life ; he mingles practice with theory. It is as though he commenced his work with some idea of writing formally and methodically, and then, carried away by the influence of his subject, overwhelmed by the thought of the nothing- ness of human endeavour, he cannot get beyond this reflection, and while uttering maxims of wisdom and parables of common sense, he connects them with his predominant view, mingling aphorisms and confessions with some incongruity. It seemed good to him to record the opinions which crossed his mind at various times, and the modifications which he felt constrained to admit; thus he shows the progress of his thought towards the great conclusion which closes the treatise. This conclusion is the clue to the interpretation of the whole. Resting on this rock, Koheleth could relate his doubts, perplexities, disquietudes, without fear of being mis- understood or leading others astray. The work has its natural place in the teaching of revelation and the progress of true religion. If the literal tendency of Mosaic legislation was in the direction of the strong belief in temporal rewards and punishments, and if this notion cramped all higher aspirations and set the heart on gross earthly hopes, ·it was Koheleth's business to introduce a spiritual element in these ·expectations, to supplement the earlier reticence concerning the life beyond the grave by giving expression to the belief in immortality. By showing the inapplicability of the ancient idea to all the circumstances of the present, life, he led men to look to another life, and to see another meaning in those antique utterances which spake of temporal rewards and punishments, earthly success, earthly calamity. It was ordered by Provi- dence that religions knowledge should be communicated gradually, that it should be revealed as men were able to bear it, here a little, there a little. Each book adds something to the store of dogma, just as each saint in old story reflects some feature of perfect manhood, and helps the conception of the character of Jesus Christ. The doctrine of future retribution, which is taken for granted in the New Testament, forms a very slight portion of the teaching of the earlier Scriptures; and the Holy Spirit has allowed the writers of Job, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes to express the scnm of perplexity ECCLESIASTI,;S. cl xxxiv INTRODUCTION TO
which the appa.rent anomalies in moral government presented to tho thought,ful observer. Our author, indeed, finds a solution; but it is only by an exercise of faith in God's justice and goodness that he rises superior to the depressing effect of experience; and beyond this conviction of the ultimate victory of goodness he has nothing definite to offer. The way to the fuller revelation of the gospel is thus laid open. The mental struggles of this ancient Hebrew seer are a lesson for all time, and point to a need of further explication, which was duly to be given. And as the same questions have always been a source of solicitude and disquieted men's minds in e,cry age, it has seemed good to Divine Providence to set these trials of faith in the pages of Scripture, that others, reading them, may see that they stand not alone, that their doubts have been the experience of many minds, and that as such as Koheleth, with imperfect knowledge and a partial revelation, rose superior to difficulties and let faith conquer mistrust, so Christians, who are better instructed, who stand in the full light of com- pleter knowledge, should never for a moment feel misgiving concerning the dealings of God's providence; but in unswerving trust " commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator," casting all their care upon him, knowing that he careth for them.
§ 4. CANONICITY, UNITY, AND INTEGRITY.
Ecclesiastes has been received without controversy in the Christian Church as a book of the Bible. In all the extant catalogues, conciliar and private, it occurs undisputed. The Jewish Church, however, has not been q nite so unanimous in its full acceptance; for although it is found in all the lists of sacred books,'.and had its place among the five rolls (Megilloth), there was, towards the end of the first Christian century, some hesitation in rabbinical schools to recognize its complete inspiration, and to commend its public recitation. Objections were made on the ground of apparent contradictions contained in different parts, of its want of harmony with other portions of Holy Scripture, and of certain heretical statements. Of these objections it is to be observed that they regard rather the retention of the book in the canon than its admission therein; and that, appearing :first in the :first Christian century, they show that up to that time, at any rate, Ecclesiastes had been included in the sacred catalogue. The seeming contradictions and discrepancies arise from a partial view of the contents, from taking isolat.ed passages uncorrected and unexplained by other state- ments and the general tendency. For instance, Koheleth is said, in eh. ii. 2 and viii. 15, to commend mirth; and in eh. vii. 8 to prefer sorrow to laughter; in one place to praise the dead ( eh. iv. 2) ; in another to prefer a live dog to a dead lion (eh. ix. 4). So ~~ain we read, "Rejoice, 0 young man, in thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart" (eh. xi 9), whereas MoRes warns against seeking after one's own heart and one's own eyes (Numb. xv. 39). These misapprehensions were soon set at rest, the ortho- EUCLESIASTES; OR, THE PR.BACHER.