And knew that he was wretched: all his Race
Have done the same.-Stop here, nor hope to find
What heav'n denies: for could'st thou count the Stars,
Describe their motions, sound the vast abyss,
Pass to Earth's utmost verge, make ev'ry art
And science thine, records of ancient times
Familiar as thy own, each secret spring
Of Nature, and the Moral World explore,
Stripp'd of their veil, and naked to thy view,
Still would'st thou be to seek for happiness.†

Tir'd with the fruitless search, yet anxious still
To find that inward peace, for which the soul
Is ever panting, Nature's pow'rful voice
Thus whisper'd, From the rugged thorny road
Of Wisdom, which so ill repays thy toil,
Turn back, and enter Pleasure's flowry paths;
Go, take thy fill of joy, to passion give
The reins, nor let one serious thought restrain
What youth and affluence prompt. The charming sound
Touch'd ev'ry fibre of my heart: I turn'd,
And enter'd heedless, but how soon perceiv'd,

CHAP. II.

r [1] I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

+ Though Solomon, it is certain, was no enemy to human Learning, yet, I believe, his remark on it, has been ever since found true, to wit, that, as the greatest Scholars and deepest Politicians are not always the wisest of men, so they are very far from being the happiest, and often the most wretched. There is something in the nature of all human Learning, which disappoints our expectations, and consequently disturbs that tranquillity of mind wherein true happiness consists.

F

'Twas all a cheat! 'Midst the licentious train
Of Dance and Song, Jesting with scandal mix'd,
Buffoon'ry vile, Tales, whether true or false,
Idle and vain, the loud tumultuous roar
Of midnight revels, with contemptuous glance
I look'd around indignant: (for mine eyes
Disdain'd to dwell on such unmanly scenes.)
• I said to Laughter, Thou art surely mad,*
And thine associates the contagion feel.

Straight hast'ning thence, What is that mirth, I cry'd,
Whose noise and frantic gestures thus enchant ?
What serves it, but t' intoxicate the mind,
And banish cool reflection? What the fruit,
But shame of time mispent, and sharp remorse?

Fly then the Sorc'ress, for she leaves a sting
Behind, and, when indulg'd, brings certain death:
False and deceitful are her smiles at best.
How often lurks beneath the visage gay

An aching heart, and loudest laughter ends
In deepest sighs! To opposite extremes,

$ [2] I said of laughter, It is mud: and of mirth, What doeth it?*

4

* Thus the words stand in our Translation, but may be rendered more elegantly and nearer to the original, I said to Laughter, thou art mad, or makest mad; and to Mirth, what is it doing? Colomon is not speaking here of a sober enjoyment of the things of this world, but of intemperate Pleasure, whose two attendants, Laughter and Mirth, are introduced, by a beautiful prosopopeia, as two persons; and the contemptuous manner wherewith he treats them, has something remarkably striking. He tells the former to her face, that she is mad; but as to the latter, he thinks her so much beneath his notice, that he only points at her, and instantly turns his back. This is a fiue contrast, and very natural picture of Man's restless disposition, which runs from one extreme to another.

In search of Happiness, we run, and still

Repent the change.

* Once more resolv'd' to try

1

Wherein consists that sov'reign good, which man,
During this toilsome pilgrimage of life,
Should to himself propose, a middle course
I steer'd, not wholly wrapt in studious thought,
Nor yet in joys of sense too deep immers'd,
But such as smiling cheerfulness points out,"
With Prudence temper'd. At the Feast I sat
Jocund, and freely quaff'd the sparkling Bow!!
Ev'n Folly enter'd there, and serv'd to smooth
The wrinkled brow; at her approach, I seiz'd
The wanton Trifler, ev'ry feature view'd,

*

And sometimes sported with her, yet restrain'd
From all excess, and master of myself:

For Wisdom, still presiding o'er my heart,

1

Its motions guided. Reason seem'd t' approve The choice, and with delight the plan pursu'd.f

t [3] I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, (yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom,) and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. †

+ Solomon having despatched, in few words, the former subject, as unworthy of farther consideration, now proceeds to what appears a more rational course of life, and therefore dwells more largely on it. The word, Wine, according to the Hebrew Idiom, implies à more cheerful and free manner of living, with all the usual gaieties of splendid entertainments, which he declares, from his own experience, is not incompatible with the wisdom here spoken of. There is a peculiar force and beauty in the expression, to lay hold on Folly, to which I have given a turn somewhat like that of Horace, which seems to bear some faint resemblance to it, Dulce est desipere in loco. Folly, it may be observed, is here also introduced as a per

"What: Fabrics I contriv'd, for public use, sal” Or to display my skill or grandeur, farurif Exceed description. Cedar, Marble, Gold,

Were the materials, with such wondrous arti

Dispos'd, that future times shall vainly strive snel

16

To equal to In the royal Seats I rais'd,
United shone magnificence and taste;
With ev'ry precious thing within adorn'd,
That wealth immense could furnish; planted round
With choicest vines, in beauteous order rank'd,'
Whose racy juice supply'd the sumptuous board,ofi
And cheer'd the heaviest heart. When tir'd with pomp
Of Court, and Solitude to rural - scenes i
Invited, entertaiment sweet I found

wid

In gardens, which with Eden might compare. 牛

V

I

u [4] I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted! me vineyards:† [5] I made me gardens and orchards, and [ planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: +

son, like Mirth and Laughter in the preceding verse, who, notwithstanding the familiarities she is admitted to, was so far from gaining the ascendant over Solomon, that he had her in his power, and con sequently could get rid of her company, when he pleased. In the interim, he kept her under proper restrictions, and laid hold on her like a wrestler, who seizes on his antagonist, and will not part with

him, till he has tried his strength, and seen what he not part wit

The Fabrics, which Solomon erected, were, according to the sacred history, superlatively magnificent. A German Author has, given us a fine plan of the Temple he raised, and shewn, by many probable arguments, in a treatise he wrote expressly on the subject, that the most admired pieces of architecture among the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, were taken from his models,tods The word, rendered, orchards, is, in the original, 5 from whence the Greeks called a large and delicious inclosure, conto taining all sorts of trees, plants, and flowers, a Paradise. We may easily conceive, how delightful Solomon must have made his gardens, who was so well acquainted with the nature of vegetables, that he wrote a treatise of their virtues and properties, from the Cedar to th to the Hyssop,

I

Here flow'rs profuse exhal'd their odours, more
Reviving than Arabia's spicy gales; st} NÚ
Nor could Aurora paint on clouds, nor bowbỰC 1,4
Of Heav'n, by solar beams reflected, shew
Colours so various, or of lovelier hue.
There lofty trees th' extended vista form'd,
Or shady grove. The most delicious fruits
Of ev'ry kind, so plenteous, that, beneath
Their weight, the branches sunk. Nor chrystal streams
Were wanting, which in pleasing torrents roll'd
From high cascades, or, in meanders slow,

Through artificial channels taught to glide,

Or rise in figur'd shapes from marble font. A
Each tender plant the kindly moisture shar'd,
Nor felt the scorching rays. In this retreat
I pass'd my vacant hours, the cares of life
In sweet oblivion lost.. * For though my works
Were great, and num'rous hands requir'd, the toil
On others fell; to me alone aceru'd tf I
Th' enjoyment. Thousands, when I gave the word,
To their respective stations flew, and all
Perform'd their tasks, to labour or inspected
Employ'd, or on my person to attend d

པ། །

1

With duteous care; yet still I purchas'd more.

W[6] I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees * [7] I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: *

We may learn from the first book of Kings, how exceeding numerous Solomon's Court was, and what a prodigious expence he was at to maintain it. We are there informed, that he consumed every