It is of course clear that Solomon cannot be described as the author of any book or compilation that we now possess. But neither did Boccaccio write Shakespeare's "Cymbeline," nor Dryden's "Cymon and Iphigenia," nor the apologue of the Ring in Lessing's "Nathan the Wise," nor Tennyson's "Falcon," all of which, however, are his tales. I select Boccaccio for the illustration because his defiance of "the moralities" led to his suppression in most European homes, thus facilitating the utilization of his ideas by others who derive credit from his genius, this being precisely what might be expected in the case of the great secularist of Jerusalem. For no one can carefully study the Book of Proverbs without perceiving that a large number of them never could have been popular proverbs, but are terse little essays and fables, some of them highly artistic, which indicate the presence at some remote epoch of a man of genius. And I cannot conceive any fair reason for setting aside the tradition of many centuries which steadily united the name of Solomon with much of this kind of writing, or for believing that every sentence he ever uttered or wrote is lost. It would require a separate work to pick out from the two Anthologies ascribed to Solomon (the First, Proverbs x. i-xxii. 16; the Second, xxv-xxix), the more elaborate thoughts, and piece together those that represent one mind, even were I competent for that work. But this fine task awaits some scholar, and, indeed, the whole Book of Proverbs needs a more thorough treatment in this direction than it has received. Of the last seven chapters of the Book of Proverbs, one (xxx.), containing the fragments of Agur and his angry antagonist, has been (vii.) considered. Chapters xxv., xxvi., xxvii., and xxxi. 10-31, may with but little elimination fairly come under their general heading, "These are also proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, King of Judah, copied out." Chapters xxviii. and xxix., with their flings at princes and wealth, contain many Jahvist insertions. The admirable verses in xxiv. 23-34, and those in xxxi. 10-29, 31, represent the high secular ethics of the Solomonic school.