This brings us then to the positive assertion that from the evident purpose of the book, the _divine_ purpose, no other than Solomon could be its author. He must be of a nation taken out of the darkness and abominations of heathendom;--there was only one such nation,--he must then be an _Israelite_. He must live at an epoch when that nation is at the summit of its prosperity;--it never regained that epoch,--he must then have lived _when_ Solomon lived. He must, in his own person, by his riches, honor, wisdom, learning, freedom from external political fears, perfect capacity to drink of whatever cup this world can put into his hand to the full--represent the very top-stone of that glorious time; and not one amongst all the sons of men answers to all this but _Solomon the son of David, king in Jerusalem_. To Him who is "greater than Solomon"--to Him who is "above the sun"--to Him whom it is the divine purpose of the book to highly exalt above all--would I commit this feeblest effort to show that purpose, and, as His condescending grace permits, further it. F. C. J. OLD GROANS AND NEW SONGS; OR, _MEDITATIONS ON ECCLESIASTES._ Perhaps there is no book within the whole canon of Scripture so perplexing and anomalous, at first sight, as that entitled "Ecclesiastes." Its terrible hopelessness, its bold expression of those difficulties with which man is surrounded on every side, the apparent fruitlessness of its quest after good, the unsatisfactory character, from a Christian standpoint, of its conclusion: all these points have made it, at one and the same time, an enigma to the superficial student of the Word, and the arsenal whence a far more superficial infidelity has sought to draw weapons for its warfare against clear revelation. And yet here it is, embedded in the very heart of those Scriptures which we are told were "given by inspiration of God, and which are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Then with this precious assurance of its "profitableness" deeply fixed in our hearts by a living faith, and in absolute dependence on that blessed One who is the one perfect Teacher, let us consider the book. First, then, let us seek to get all the light we can from all the exterior marks it bears before seeking to interpret its contents. For our primary care with regard to this, as indeed with regard to every book in the Bible, must be to discover, if possible, what is the object of the book,--from what standpoint does the writer approach his subject.