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What regard, it will be said, is to be paid to a Preacher, with all his Character of Wisdom, who runs so contrary to the Sentiments and Tenor of this world, as to tell us—

"That the day of a man's Death is better than "the day of his Birth; the House of Mourning better " than the House of Feasting; Sorrow better than "Laughter; Rebukes better than Praises; Wisdom "better than Riches; and the end of a thing better "than its Beginning?"

But, before we pass judgment on his Sermon, let us hear him speak or preach a little for himself— The subject is the most interesting that can engage the heart of man; namely, to determine, wherein consists the Supreme Good, or chief Happiness, of our nature. And, in this inquiry he lays it down as a great and incontestible first Principle, or Axiom-" That whatever is vain, transient and perishable, cannot be the true materials of Happiness, to Beings constituted

as we are."

He begins his Address in the most solemn manner; and his Sermon is to a large Audience, the whole people of Israel;-" Hear, O Congregation of Israel! the words of a Preacher whom you did not expect, even the son of David your king; whose Wisdom and Experience stand highly extolled and confessed among all your Tribes! My subject is Happiness, and an estimate of the Good Things of this World; which men consider as the materials thereof."

But be persuaded by me, that the Happiness, which all desire, is not to be found in yourselves, nor in this world, where you seek for it. "All things

you

here below, are vain, and Man the most vain. This inanimate Earth abideth from one generation to another. The sun rises and sets, and rises and sets again, still the same. Even the Winds, the most fluctuating and shadowy part of this Creation, go towards the South, and towards the North, following their circuits continually. The rivers run stedfastly unto the sea;-unto the place from whence they were exhaled and came, thither do they return. But man hath no continuance. One generation passeth away, and another cometh; and all the works of man are equally vain-In them there is nothing new, and nothing permanent; and when once they are gone there is no remembrance of them left.-Nor are the other endowments of man, his Good Things and Acquisitions, more stable than himself. I will speak first of the acquisitions of the Mind and of Wisdom, the chief and principal things, brighter than rubies and more to be preferred than Riches.

"I the Preacher, was king over Jerusalem the City of God and of the Prophets; and the School of Wisdom. Here I set my heart to search and seek her, in all the works done under the Sun. I communed with myself, and said-Lo, I have come to great estate, and gotten more Wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem-I have been conversant in all Sciences, searching into the Depths of God's consummate Wisdom, and the wonderful works of his Creation; but found my searches vain, and myself lost in Mazes and Difficulties inextricable-That which was crooked, I could not make

straight, and that which was wanting, could not be numbered."

And now, what more than this can our wisest men, or philosophers of the present day, ascribe to their Researches, Wisdom and Knowledge? Have we yet attained to a perfect understanding of the smallest flower of the field? Can we say, why the grass should be green rather than red? The Sciences and Discoveries of one age are considered as Errors, and neglected in the next; leaving the Imagination in a thousand labyrinths. What is all we know, compared with what we know not? Are we even yet, in any way, agreed about what constitutes the Chief Good or Felicity of Man? The literary Renown of one age, by which men think they have become immortal, is as slender as the Paper to which it is committed. A multitude of words, the transient boast of one age, is scorned by the next, and sported with, as vain conceits; taking Truth for Fables, and often Fables for Truth! How many millions never hear the name of the most famous Writers; and how few of those who have heard their names, turn over their pages; but treat them, as we do old garments-cast them aside for a new and more fashionable mode?

Solomon, therefore, wearied or despairing in the pursuit of abstruse and speculative Science, turns himself to a lighter, and easier sort of science, in which many applaud themselves, and seem to pass joyous through life-namely, in the exercise of their Wit and Parts, upon ludicrous subjects-" I gave my heart, says he, not only to seek wisdom in her severer retreats, but likewise to know madness and

folly; but this also he found to be vanity and vexation of spirit, yielding no substantial joy-He then determines, that although he would not entirely forsake the search after Wisdom, he would try to mollify its severity, and sooth its disappointments, by joining with it the pursuit of other pleasures.

"I sought to give myself to Wine (yet still acquainting my heart with Wisdom,) and to lay hold of Folly, till I might see whether there was any real happiness upon earth-any good for the sons of men, which they should do all the days of their life. To this I added other Pleasures-I made to myself great works-I builded me houses, stately and magnificent Palaces, sumptuously furnished and decorated with all the luxury and elegance of the East. I planted me Vineyards, and made me Gardens and Orchards, stored with all kinds of Fruits; tempting to the Sight, and delicious to the Taste-I made me Forests also, and Parks of Pleasure adorned with Fountains and Cisterns and Pools of water; to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees of every kind, from the cedar of Lebanon to the humblest Hyssop; so that Eden seemed once more to be brought down upon Earth, and Paradise itself to bloom around me.*"

"I got me also a splendid retinue of Servants, with great and small cattle for the Luxuries of the Table, such as was never seen in Jerusalem before; using every day thirty measures of fine flower, threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen from the stall, twenty from the pastures, one hundred sheep, besides harts and roe-bucks and fallow-deer and fatted fowl; having

Ecl. Ch. II, &c.

dominion over all things on this side of the river; and, (to add to my happiness) Peace was on all sides round about me-In this prosperous situation, I gathered Silver and Gold, in rich abundance into my treasury, from all the Kings and Provinces tributary to me-And lastly, to crown my Festivity, the enchanting Voice of Music lent its aid. My Palaces and Gardens, and my Bowers of Joy, were rendered Vocal with the Syren strains of Men-Singers, and Women-Singers, collected out of all my dominions; and the melodious warblings of every instrument of Music joined in the accompaniment.-In short, whatever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, nor withheld my heart from any joy; neither the Pleasures of Love, nor the Luxuries of Taste-I encreased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem, yet tempered and regulated all my enjoyments by the maxims of Wisdom; for all this while, my Wisdom remained with me!"

Come now, ye Sensualists and Voluptuaries of the present day; ye who bask in the sun-shine of Fortune, and are mounted on the pinnacle of Grandeur and Power! Strain your imaginations to the utmost pitch! Call in every Earthly Joy and Refinement, which your labouring fancy can suggest; and say, what can you add to this picture of our Preacher's Bliss? If ever Happiness, complete and satisfactory, could fix her abode with mortal man, must she not have been found a contented Guest, in the courts of Solomon? Will she not make some permanent abode with him; allured by the dulcet sounds of Music, by the captivating Call of Wisdom, by the intoxicating

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