by the dark clouds of death and the grave; we are constrained to conclude that the fact of its being the last production of a great man, a great king, a great favourite of God, a great backslider, a great sinner, and lastly, a great penitent, invests it with special importance and interest.

Solomon, who when yet a tender babe received the tokens of Jehovah's love, when the prophet conveyed unto him the name "Jedidiah "the beloved of God-Solomon, who by Divine authority was preferred to all his older brothers, and chosen as the crown-prince in David's family, made the successor of that devoted, victorious and mighty king of Israel— Solomon, who was appointed to build a temple unto the Lord of Hosts, as a dwelling-place for His glory -Solomon, whose glorious throne, prosperity and peace, wisdom and splendour, were promoted and established by God according to His repeated promises made through the prophets unto his father David, and twice to himself directly-Solomon, who in answer to his devout and earnest prayers at the dedication of the Temple, received again the testimony of the Lord's approbation, when His glory descended in a cloud of fire and filled the splendid house which he had built-Solomon, whose wisdom and magnificence provoked the astonishment of distant nations, and attracted the attention and admiration of mighty and illustrious princes in distant lands-Solomon, whose immense riches and great power put him in possession of everything that was then rare, splendid, beautiful, delightful, glorious and admirable ;-even that brilliant star of the human race, when he had mounted to the highest pinnacle of happiness and pleasure, grandeur and power, possible for a mortal prince, was lost in the clouds of vanity, by the excessive love of transitory and decaying pleasures, and by devotion to ignoble pursuits. His great soul and

once devoted heart were ensnared and conquered by idolatrous and wicked women; and thus entirely estranged from God, he plunged himself into the rapid and turbid stream of foolishness and worldly absurdity.

Like the reappearance of the radiant sun in a smiling azure'sky, after many dark and cloudy days, and heavy showers, so, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, we see once more the great Solomon, the matchless teacher of morals, reappear, to teach us divine wisdom and truth, after having slumbered for many years in the enervating bosom of worldly pleasures. Once more we see the magnificent King of Israel, the great author of the Book of Proverbs, employing his pen and consecrating his powers to the composition of his last work, which contains a retrospective view, and an impartial judgment, of his vast experience, during a long, prosperous and eventful life.

With a mind full of elevated thoughts regarding a world to come and its mysteries,-with a great soul looking forward into a bright region where the flowers of real glory never wither, and where all the beauties and magnificence of this material world appear like pale shadows of a past dream,-with a shaken and age-worn body, which indicates the rapid process of decay,-with dim and feeble eyes, to which every thing material now appears in quite another light from what it appeared at the age of vigour and youthful imagination,- Solomon considers the past, and judges, and anxiously looks forward towards eternity. Gold and silver have now become unto him useless dross; precious stones and pearls have lost their value; richly decorated palaces, blooming flower-gardens, all verdure, brilliancy, and gay colour, seem now as if enveloped in the shadows of death. Delicious fruits and dainty

meats, and kingly beverage, flatter no more the dry palate. Women, in the prime of beauty, who once ravished his eyes and enchanted his heart and soul, have been stripped of all attraction, and appear now to him like fading and decaying lilies and roses. The world, with its seducing vanities, is now gone, for ever gone, with all its pleasures and delights. Eternity now stands waiting without, and the cold arm of death knocks slowly, but continually, at the door. The weak and trembling old man responds, "Behold, I am preparing, wait but a little while until I make up the sum of my account, and see how I stand with my God: wait a while until I see if, and how, I am prepared to meet my Creator and Benefactor; wait a moment, until I set my house in order, and leave a few words expressive of my present feelings and sentiments for generations to come; and then I shall be ready to follow thee with my shattered body into the dreary regions of thy dark dominions, and my soul shall wing her flight towards heaven, to appear before the tribunal of the Ancient of Days." Ah, reader! is there yet another work produced by the pen of mortal that can be possessed of similar attractions? Is there a Book in existence that can command more interest? Come, then, inquisitive soul, and let us see and hear attentively what that great and experienced Solomon says now -how he now judges in the midst of new circumstances how he now considers the past-how he prepares for the future-and what is the lesson which he gives us concerning things of this world, or concerning our never-dying souls and the world to come!*

* We did not enter here into a description and analysis of the special characteristics of the Book of Ecclesiastes, and of the different subjects it treats (as might certainly have been expected in an Introduction), because we perceive that the

There are, however, several topics of considerable importance, which require our attention, before we enter the rich and goodly heritage bequeathed unto us by the wisest of men, and these topics are the following:

1st, Almost all the different Books composing that invaluable treasure that we call the Holy Bible, have been more or less exposed to the violent attacks of the determined and deadly enemies of Revelation, as well as to mistranslation, false interpretation, and injudicious application on the part of their ignorant and sometimes most daring friends. But the Book of Ecclesiastes, in particular, was and is a ready prey to violence and error, ignorance and doubt. The infidel and worldling stretch forth their sacrilegious hands, and triumphantly (but falsely) pretend to have detected and grasped at a substantial cloak sufficient to cover all sensuality, scepticism, and brutal propensities. Mistaken friends (though sometimes very lovely and zealous men) in their turn have often, influenced by imaginary difficulties, or seeming contradictions, wrested and perverted some of the sublimest passages of this peculiar Book, and squeezed them into the narrow limits of their own hypotheses, and made them involve, confirm, and attest doctrines and counsels, of which the royal author perhaps never dreamed, far less inculcated and advocated in this work. Directing our eyes to Him who alone can afford aid and grant strength to the weak and weary, wisdom to the simple, and understanding to those that seek knowledge, we undertook the translation and exposition of this seemingly obscurest portion of the Holy Scriptures, in order to disarm both classes above mentioned. A

first eleven verses of this Book were intended and set apart by the author as a general Introduction to the whole work; we shall thus have to treat there what we omitted here.

scrupulous translation, a thorough critical examination, and a careful, impartial exposition, may, we trust, serve these purposes. It will shew to the sceptic and carnally-minded man that this imagined cloak was but a reflection of his own wickedness, a dream of his corrupt imagination, a torn and rotten tent which will never protect him from the fiery storm and thunderbolts of a terrible judgment to come. It will show him that Solomon, in this noble work, instead of tolerating, abhors and condemns scepticism, infidelity, sensuality, and carnal-mindedness, in most vigorous, expressive, and irresistible terms, and by sound arguments deduced from daily practice and his own experience. It may also, by the blessing of the God of truth, indicate the errors and subvert the misinterpretations which have defaced some of the most important passages, and which originated either in the mistranslation of the text, or in misapprehension of the scope of the book. As the passages most exposed to the above described abuses form always a conspicuous part of the respective chapters in which they occur, and where they shall be treated at large, we therefore thought it proper to refrain from advancing here some instances in illustration of our remarks.

This

2d. Towards the end of the last century, there was a wild plant introduced into Protestant Germany, which by this time has already sent forth its branches, not only into all the countries of continental Europe, but also to Great Britain, and even America. monstrous plant is the daring abuse of the liberty gained by the glorious and dearly bought work of Reformation; and its bitter branches are a certain class of Biblical critics, who spend uselessly and destroy willingly a great portion of their time and energy (which otherwise might be employed, if not advantageously, at least harmlessly) in speculations