That the passion of acquiring a knowledge of God’s works and ways in general was strong in Solomon, we cannot doubt. He, indeed, tells us that in the exclusive pursuit of intellectual truth there is no real satisfaction to be gained, “that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun . . . yea, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.” All passionate seekers after undiscovered truth know that much mental toil, and probably years of wearisome watching, are demanded before any one can hope to snatch a new secret from the close keeping of the unknown. This must be humiliating to the man of sanguine temperament, but profitably so, because it cultivates within him a longing for the happy time when “we shall know as also we are known.” Then intellectual attainments, though calculated to satisfy the wants of the perceptive and reasoning faculties, cannot still the cravings of the conscience, cannot meet the demands of the moral and religious emotions. These can find in such food only a stone when hungering for bread, the apple fair to the eye, but ashes under the teeth. When Solomon, therefore, sought for full satisfaction of soul in the exercise of his intellect, and the acquisition of its related knowledge, meanwhile starving his moral and religious nature, it was only to be expected that such a course should be found to lead to “vanity and vexation of spirit.” But while admitting to the full the humiliating limitations of the mind which Solomon deplores, and that the soul cannot live by intellectual food only, even though it be contained in God’s own Word, yet we fully believe that it is man’s duty, as well as his privilege, to seek for truth wherever to be found; and that he can so cultivate his intellect, and store his memory, as to ensure thereby a greater nearness of soul to his Father in heaven. The operations of the giant-intellect, we know, are not acceptable to God, except they are imbued with that glow of soul which constitutes the babe-like spirit. But how can the giant-intellect, when thus wedded to the love of holiness, better serve God than by ever realizing more and more of His divine fulness as displayed in all his works and ways?