GIVE FROM YOUR ABUNDANCE.

AFTER the Proverbs, we have another book from the pen of the great Solomon; it is called Ecclesiastes, and is full both of wisdom and poetry. It appears to have been written late in the life of its illustrious author, for it is pervaded by a tone of melancholy at the fleeting and delusive pleasures of the world. Solomon himself had drained the cup of enjoyment; he tells us that he had ransacked both nature and art in the search of delight; he had revelled in every variety of pleasure, and turned from them all with a satiated appetite and sad heart, to seek in wisdom and religion the joys which revelry and abandonment had never afforded him. Turning from the sickening path of pleasure, he exclaimed, "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity! I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit!"

Very profound and beautiful were the precepts which this melancholy experience forced upon the mind of the Hebrew king; they possess an interest of a peculiar character, and reveal to us that lofty and reflective spirits will gather the sweet flowers of thought and wisdom, even from the most unpromising and seemingly barren soil.

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After all this enjoyment it is delightful to see that Solomon returns again to the subject that had so often occupied his thoughts, charity to the poor. The verse selected for illustration says, Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth." In the Hebrew language the word seven was synonymous with many, so that the precept of Solomon means, give to many, and to more than many, for you know not what evil may overtake yourself.

CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH.

THE Song of Solomon is a pastoral allegory which treats of love and rural beauty. But we are not to read it in a literal sense, for it has a far deeper and more beautiful meaning than is at first apparent. The loving and beautiful wife in it, who is spoken of as the lily among thorns, and the rose of Sharon, signifies the church, and is a type of all the faithful and religious Christians in the world. By the bridegroom we are to understand the blessed Jesus, the divine Christ, whose love for his church is as affectionate and tender as that of a husband to a young and beautiful wife.

You must remember that the language of the East is not only as warm and luxuriant as its climate, but also exceedingly figurative; Solomon too was a writer of a highly poetical turn. In fact, he was what in these times we call a poet, and a very noble one too; but we must not regard him as only a poet, for he was gifted by the Almighty with a knowledge of many things hidden from other men.

In the verse illustrated, the church, as the bride, is supposed to say, "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the birds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please!" "This," to use the language of Matthew Henry, " may very well be applied to the prospect which the Old Testament saints had of Christ's coming in the flesh. Abraham saw this day at a distance, and was glad. The nearer the time came, the clearer discoveries were made of it; and they that waited for the consolation of Israel with the eye of faith, saw him come, and triumphed in the sight.'