ehall return to the earth as it was." Our body, however fair and strong it may be, however trained, clothed, adorned, admired, must return to "dust and ashes," must. be resolved into the elements from which it was constructed. 5. It means departure. "The epirit ehall return unto God who gave it." This is by far the most solemn view of death. At death we "return to God" (see Ps. xc. 3). Not, indeed, that we are ever far from him (see Acts xvii. 27; Ps. cxxxix. 3--5). We stand and live in his very near presence. Yet does there come an hour-the hour of death-when we shall consciously stand before our Divine Judge, and when we shall learn from him "our high estate" or our lasting doom (2 Cor. v. 10). Death means departure from the sphere of the visible and tangible into the close and conscious presence of the eternal God. Ill. ITs M0RAT,. 'l'he one great lesson which stands out from this eloquent descrip- tion is this: Be the servant of God always; take care to know him and to eerve him at the end, by learning of him at the beginning, and serving him throughout your life. Remember your Creater in youth, and he will acknowledge you when old age is lost in dea.th, and dea.th ha.a introduced you to the judgment-scene. Happy is that human soul that bas drawn into itself Divine truth with its earliest intelligence, and that has ordered its life by the Divine will from first to last; for then shall the end of earth be full of peace and hope, and the beginning of eternity be full of joy and of glory.-0. Vers. 9-12.-The function of the teacher. 1. The wise man, because he is wise (ver. 9), teaches. There is no better, no other thing that he can do, both for his own sake and for the sake of his fellow-men. To know and not to speak is a sin and a cruelty, when men are "perishing for lack of knowledge." To know and to speak is an elevated joy and a. sacred duty ; we cannot but speak the things we have learned of God, the truth ae it is in Jesus. 2. The wise man also takes what measures he can to perpetuate the truth he knows; he wants to preserve it, to hand it down to another time; he therefore " writes down the words with truth and uprightness " (ver. 10); or, if he cannot do this, he labours to put his thought into those parabolic or proverbial forms which will not only be preserved in the memory of those to whom he utters them, but can be readily repeated, and will become embedded in the traditions and, ultimately, into the literature of his country (ver. 9). 3. The wise man restrains his literary ardour within due bounds (vcr. 12). Otherwise he not only causes a drug in the market, but eeriously injures his own health. He knowe it is better to do a little and do that thoroughly, than to do much and do it hastily and imperfectly. But what is the teacher's function, his sacred duty, as related to the people of his charge or his acquaintance? I. To SEAR0II DILIGENTLY FOB TBE TRUTH. It is for him "to ponder and eeek out," or to" compose with care and thought" (Cox'e tra.nsl.). Divine truth, in its various aspects and applications, is manifold and profound; it demands our most patient etudy, our most reverent inquiry; we should gain help from all possible eources, more particularly ehould we eeek it from the Spirit and from the Word of God. IT. To INTEREST AND TO 0ONil0LE. The Preacher sought to find out "acceptable " or" comfortable" words-" words of delight" (literally). 'l'his is not the main duty of the teacher, but it is one to which he should seriously address himeelf. 1. A teacher may be speaking in the highest strain, and may be uttering the deepest wisdom, but if his words are unintelligible aud, therefore, unacceptable, he will make no way and do no good. We must speak in the language of those whom we address. Our thoughts may be far higher than theirs, but onr language must be on their level-at any rate, on the level of their understanding. 2, The teucher will do wisely to epend much time and strength in consoling; for in this world of trouble and sorrow no words are more often or more urgently needed than "comfortable worde." III. To RETAIN. "The words of the' masters of assemblies' a.re like stakes (nails) which the shepherds drive into the ground when they pitch their tente;" i.e. they are instroments of fastening or of eecuring; they act as things which keep the cords in their place, and keep the roof over the head of the traveller. It is one function of the Chtletian teacher-and a most valuable one-so to speak that men shall retain their hold on the great verities of tho faith, on the true and real Fatherhood of God, 011 the atonement of Jesus Christ, oo the opennes& of the kingdom of heiwen to every seeking 318 ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. [OH. XII, 1-14,
soul, on the blessedness of self-forgetful love, on the offer of eternal life to all who bel•eve, etc. I Y. To INSPIRE. At other times the Preacher's words are "as goads" that urge the cattle to other fields_. To comfort and to secure is much, ~ut it is not all that they who speak for Christ have to do, They have to illumme and to enlarge men's vie,rn, to shed fresh light on the sacred page, to invito those that bear them to accom- pany them t.o fields of thought hitherto untrodden, to induce them to think and study for themselves, to unveil the beauties and glories of the wisdom "that remains to be revealed," to inspire them with a yearning desire and with a full purpose of heart to enter upon works of helpfulness and usefulness; he has to "provoke them to love and to good works."--C.