The vilest brute: both transient, frail, and vain, § k Draw the same breath, alike grow old, decay, And then expire: both to one grave descend, There blended lie, to native dust resolv'd.

The nobler part of man, 'tis true, survives This frail corporeal frame; but who regards The diff'rence? Those, who live like beasts, as such Would die, and be no more, if their own fate Depended on themselves. Who once refleets, Amidst his revels, that the human soul, Of origin celestial, mounts aloft,

Whilst that of Brutes to earth shall downward go, And its existence lose?m Since therefore thus

k [20] All go unto one place: all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 1 [21] Who knoweth the spirit of a man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? m [22] Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

that the words are to be referred to those in authority, who abused their power, particularly to the corrupt Magistrates, just before spoken of. The latter part of the verse I have turned, in conformity to the Vulgate, et ostenderet similes esse bestiis, as the scope of Solomon's reasoning plainly requires. It ought to be farther observed here, that from the present comparison of great wicked men to beasts, Solomon takes occasion to enforce the subject, by mentioning the state of mankind in general, with respect to the mortality of their bodies, and then, by an easy transition, touches, in the next verse, on the great point, which is of such infinite consequence to Religion,

S["Here he doubtless personates those minute Philosophers, who, like the Sadducees, denied a resurrection, and took pleasure in degrading human nature.

Boothroyd in loco. ED.]

ומקרה for המקרה Houbigant would read

Most modern Versions, following the Vulgate, make this question to be proposed by way of doubt, as if man could have no certain

Disorders reign, and here so short our stay,
The Preacher, by experience taught, has found
That 'tis by far the wisest course to make
The most of what this world affords, and taste
Its fleeting joys, with mind serene and calm,

knowledge, whether there is any real difference between the human soul and that of brutes. But here we have followed our own Translation, as nearer to the original, which evidently implies, that there is a most essential distinction, though wicked men seldom reflect on it, and when they do, wish that both were on a level. The two first words are rendered by Junius and Tremellius, quis animadvertit, which exactly comes up to the sense we have given them.

[An examination of the passage, will not only justify what the learned Author has above stated, but also shew, that nothing short of absolute misrepresentation, can make these words favour the hypothesis of the materiality of the soul.

ומי יודע רוח בני האדם העלה היא למעלה ורוח הבהמה הירדת היא למטה לארץ:

Literally, But who knoweth (considereth) the spirit of the sons of Adam? It ascendeth to above; or the the spirit of the brute? It descendeth to below, to the earth.

Many MSS. read, instead of as in the common editions. The version of the LXX. so read, and render Kai tis eide

pneuma. (Codex. Alexan. oiden to pneuma) & in the latter member of the sentence, to pneuma (Codex. Alex. pneuma) Bos. Desvoux and Hodgson translate the latter word, as in v. 19, breath. That this, breath, or living principle, is common to man and beast, together with the other properties in which they are compared, v. 19, 20, will hardly be denied. But the most important distinction in the nature and destiny of the spirit of the one, and the nature and destiny of the spirit of the other, is not only marked by two verbs of directly opposite meanings, but also by the opposite particles. And, moreover, the phrase , to the earth, is added, in the latter member of the sentence, to which there is nothing correspondent in the former, thus marking the difference thrice. That is sometimes employed to express spirit, or an incorporeal substance, as distinguished from flesh, or a ccrporeal one, see 1 Kings xxii. 21, 22, & Is. xxxi. 3. In ch. xii, v. 7, of this Book, Solomon has used the word for the spirit, or soul of man. By the other sacred writers, it is often so used. See Ps, xxxi. 5, Is. lvii. 16. Num, xvi. 22. Zech. xii. 1. ED.]

As reason wills: for 'tis our portion here,
And all that from the world we can expect.
How, or to whom thy wealth shall be dispos'd,
Or of thy toils and cares what the result,
When thou art gone, is no concern of thine:
For who shall bring thee back to see th' event
Of things, o'er which, in mercy, Heav'n has thrown
A veil too dark for mortal eye to pierce?

END OF THE FIRST BOOK.

BOOK II

a As when the weary Trav'ler, having past
Some lonely dismal Waste, in hopes to find
An easier road, sees mountains steep arise,
And craggy rocks impending o'er his head;
Or hears th' impetuous torrent fiercely roar,
Whilst night approaching, spreads her sable wings,
And adds new horrors to the dreary scene:
So when I turn'd indignant from the seat
Of Judgment, with corruption stain'd, and took
A more extensive view, gloomier appear'd
The prospect. Ev'ry rank of men I saw,
The methods vile by each pursu'd, t' increase
The weight of human woes. On ev'ry side,
The effects of force, or fraud, or calumny,
Spread universal mourning. All dissolv'd

In tears, th' Oppress'd sent up their sighs to Heav'n,
But no relief could find. Who dar'd resist
Th' Oppressor arm'd with pow'r? Not one presum'd
To shew ev'n pity to the sore-distress'd.*

CHAPTER IV.

a [1] So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.*

* The word, oppressions [opy ED.] comprehends all kinds of

b

Struck with the deepest grief, how blest, I cry'd,
Are those, who from Life's stormy sea have 'scap'd,
And rest within the grave! Still happier those
Who never liv'd at all, nor knew the plagues
That flesh is heir to! Prone the sons of men
Each other to torment, how widely spreads
The dire contagion, both in Small and Great
Alike malignant! Ev'n the meanest Wretch
Has pow'r to hurt, nor skill nor rancour wants
To wring his neighbour's heart. When just applause
The dext'rous Artist, to perfection brought
His honest labour, claims, how vain his hope!
For tho' from great Oppressors he escape,
Yet Equals or Inferiors oft combine

To murder his repose: by envy mov'd,
That canker of the soul, which, like a worm,
Preys on the fairest fruit, at his success
They pine, his worth depreciate, blast his name.†

b [2] Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead, more than the living which are yet alive. c [3] Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. d [4] Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.+

injuries done either to the person, estate, or reputation of any one; it is taken in the latter sense by the LXX. and Vulgate; and, as appears from the subsequent verses, is so chiefly applied by Solomon. Undoubtedly, there cannot be a more grievous oppression than robbing a man of his good name.

[V. 1. Then I returned and viewed all the oppressions effected under the sun and behold the tears of the oppressed, but they had no Comforter; [] even from the power of their oppessors, violence (came,) but they had no Comforter. ED.]

† Solomon intimates here, what every one may find by his own experience, to wit, that the great variety of distresses we see in the