the mighty men; and, after he had spoken to the congregation, he thus addressed his successor :- "And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind? for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever." To know God, in the Scripture sense, is to love and serve him. Solomon walked in his father's footsteps. While he made the knowledge of the moral character of God his chief study, it was also the chosen theme of his instructions to his own descendants and to mankind. This unrivalled monarch was, in relation to science and literature, a man very much to your lordship's liking. His biographer thus delineates his character:-" And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. And he spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar-tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom."† What are all the sages of heathen antiquity, my † 1 Kings iv. 29. * 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. Lord, when compared with Solomon? To say that he stands at the head of the whole host of moral and natural philosophers, and literary men, is a very inadequate tribute to his merits. The distance between him and them is immeasurable. His mighty mind delighted to expatiate among the works of God. Nothing that came from the Creator's hand was beneath his notice. Never were the manifold and multiform subjects of human knowledge so thoroughly blended and harmonized in a human understanding. He was attentive equally to all the aspects in which the Creator has presented himself to the creature. His religion was one which comprised whatever could then be known of God, whether from nature, or from revelation. He was far from satisfied with the knowledge of God to be obtained from his works. This he viewed as secondary, and therefore unsatisfactory. He felt and taught that the soul required a knowledge of God which nature cannot communicate. My Lord, on this point, I beg your attention to Pascal's touching delineation of a man who has wearied himself in searching after God with the aid of the dim lights of mere natural science :-" When I consider," says he, "the blindness and misery of man, and those amazing contrarieties which discover themselves in his nature; when I observe the whole creation silent, and man without light, abandoned to himself, and, as it were, strayed into this corner of the universe, neither knowing who placed him here, nor what is the end of his coming, nor what will befall him at his departure, I feel the same horror as a person who has been carried in his sleep into a desolate and savage island, and who awakes without knowing where he is, or by what way he may escape. I behold other persons near me, of a nature like my own; I ask if they are any better informed than myself, and they tell me they are not; and, what is more, these wretched wanderers, having looked about them, and espied certain pleasurable objects, are become attached and devoted to them. For my own part, I cannot rest here; I cannot repose in the society of these persons, whose condition is no better than my own, being equally wretched, equally helpless. I find they will be able to give me no assistance at my death; I shall die alone; and, therefore, I must proceed as if I lived alone. Now, were I really alone, I should build no houses; I should perplex myself with no tumultuary pursuits; I should court no man's esteem; but should devote myself solely to the discovery of truth. Hence, reflecting how probable it seems, that there may be something besides what I see, I begin to examine whether that God, who is talked of by all the world, has not left some intimation of himself. I look around, and discover only general darkness. Nature offers no consideration but what occasions doubt and disquiet. Could I nowhere discern the least token of a God, I would resolve not to believe in any. Could I trace a Creator on all sides, I would rest satisfied in this belief. while I see too much for denial, and too little for conviction, I am an object of pity; and I have a thousand times wished, that if nature have, indeed, a God, she would distinctly manifest him; or, if the tokens which she offers are fallacious, she would entirely conceal them, that she would either say all or say nothing, so as to determine which course to adopt. Whereas, in my present situation, being ignorant of what I am, and of what is expected from me, I know neither my con But dition, nor my duty. My heart is intent on the search of real good, that I may follow and secure it. I should think no price too dear for this acquisition.' My Lord, this is an unexaggerated picture of the condition in which your lordship's system leaves your pupil. That in which he is unutterably interested, you have not told him. There is much within him, in his own moral character, to awaken the most solemn inquiry respecting the moral character of God. As is his nature so is his conduct; he knows that he has but seldom obeyed the voice within him; but of this transgression he knows not the consequence. Both the law and its penalties-if law and penalties there really be-are shrouded in deep obscurity. Your lordship's system has no answer to the following question, which is one of infinite moment, and common to all mankind : “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"+ The answer to this question involves an exposition of principles, and an illustration of Divine attributes, of which your lordship's philosophy knows nothing. This question is most abundantly answered in the sacred Scriptures. The answer to it is what the Scriptures emphatically designate "the knowledge of God." Of this transcendental knowledge, Solomon thus speaks :My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my *Thoughts, No. VIII. † Micah vi. 6. commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path."* This, my Lord, is the method of study which must be adopted, in order to the acquisition of this higher philosophy. The last lesson, in this spiritual course, is imparted by God himself. : I cannot leave the subject of Solomon and his wisdom, which consisted in the knowledge of the justice, truth, love, and mercy of God, without just glancing at the results of the reign of this most enlightened ruler. One of the first results which flowed from his wisdom and rectitude, was the love of peace, and the pursuit of it. The greatness which he sought was not military, but moral. Desirous of peace himself, he had no difficulty in establishing and perpetuating the relations of peace with all other countries. His empire was one of vast dimensions, and yet "he had peace on all sides round about him." It is important to inquire into the effect of peace on population and prosperity. The answer is full of instruction and rebuke to warlike * Prov. ii. 1-9. † 1 Kings iv. 24. |
