in a zealous passion much less in a melancholy mood but remember that I have long sat upon a Throne ruling over God's own peculiar people in that City which is the very School of Wisdom where I wanted nothing either for the body or the mind and had both opportunity and ability to make tryal of all things wherein men place their happiness and therefore may be believed when I declare nothing but from my own experience See Annot. g 13. And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven this sore travel hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith 13. And being thus instructed with all the helps and assistances that the power of such a King could afford I applied my mind in the first place and set my Wits to work with all imaginable care and diligence to search into the nature of all Creatures here below thinking I should be happy if I could but find out the causes beginnings and progresses of things especially the counsels contrivances and endeavours of Mankind with the events of all their actions But alas I soon found that this was a tedious business in which when I had travelled a great way I met with small satisfaction nay found it to be the torture of the mind unto which God hath condemned mankind as a punishment for their vain curiosity and gross negligence of heavenly Wisdom See Annot. h 14. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun and behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit 14. And having now finished these Studies and taken a serious view of all that falls within the compass of humane knowledge I cannot say that they have given me any solid contentment for we can know but little and what we do know of natural things doth us small service it puffs us up indeed like Wind but gives no nourishment it fills us with Notions but of little or no use and therefore vexes us at last and breaks our heart to consider that we have spent so much time and so many thoughts which have even eaten up our Spirits to so little purpose See Annot. i 15. That which is crooked cannot be made straight and that which is wanting cannot be numbred 15. For as there are inexplicable difficulties in all sorts of knowledge of which no man can give an account so with all our study we cannot get skill enough either to prevent misfortunes or to remove out of the way that which crosseth our designs much less to alter the nature of things no not so much as in our own Constitutions nor to redress the disorders in Government the defects in which and in all other things and conditions we are so far from being able to supply that we cannot number them and yet the folly of Mankind represents every thing to their desires as if it were completely good and wanted nothing to make one happy See Annot. k 16. I communed with mine own heart Saying Lo I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem yea my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge 16. I my self still persisted in my reach after knowledge though I found it so painful and so unsatisfactory thinking within my self that there was this Good at least in it that it had gotten me a very great Name and raised me so high in all mens opinion that I was noted for the wisest person that had ever been in these Parts of the World there being no sort of knowledge wherewith my mind was not stored in great abundance See Annot. l 17. And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit 17. And as the nature of all knowledge is to excite a thirst after more this made me apply my mind more earnestly to comprehend not only the greatest but the meanest matters to mark for instance the actions and occupations of mad men and Fools as well as the motions of wiser persons but I perceived that to be pleased merely with fame was to live upon Air and it was an afflicting thought to observe how little the most of the World tho' they thought themselves very wise differed from Lunaticks and distracted Folk See Annot. m 18. For in much wisdom is much grief and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow 18. So that though knowledge be the most excellent of all other Earthly Goods being the Ornament of the mind which is the best part of us yet this also is insufficient for our happiness because after it hath cost a man infinite pains and sometimes exhausted his spirits and made him melancholy and morose nay thrown him into many Diseases to acquire that little Wisdom he can attain which raises also more doubts than it can resolve and meets with troublesome opposition from various Opinions that clash against it it cannot but fill him with indignation to find folly generally applauded more than his wisdom and grieve his very soul to see that it is dangerous for a man to know more than his Neighbours and that he is so far from being able to remedy what is amiss that he is hated if he endeavour it and rewarded with reproaches for his care of the publick good See Annot. n ANNOTATIONS a V. 1. The Wisdom Vertue and Dignity of an Author making his Work more valuable and regarded Solomon or he who composed this Book from what he had heard him deliver or found in his Writings begins with his Quality not merely as a King and as the Son of a Great King and of a great people in a famous City but which was most of all considerable as a publick Instructor having ability and authority to inform all men where they should find that happiness which they ignorantly sought but could not meet withal This he proclaims with a loud voice desiring serious attention to such a weighty Discourse and that they would often recollect as he had done all which may be the import of the word Koheleth * See Preface num IV. how frivolous and trivial all those things are which most men pursue with the greatest earnestness b V. 2. This is the Subject of this Book to show how sensless it is to place our happiness in these frail and inconstant things that we enjoy upon this Earth which he not only pronounces but proves to be mere emptiness So Vanity signifies and what is consequent upon that dissatisfaction trouble and affliction See Psal LXXVIII 33. And this beyond what can be expressed for our Translators take it to be a word of the same import with Tohu which is used in the Hebrew language when they would signifie that of which they speak to be so trivial that it is below less than nothing XL. Isai 17. And yet Solomon is not content with this single word but doubles it to
present possession be not much moved with this fond humour nor make any great matter of it as neither Scylla nor Tiberius did nay they smile it is possible at the levity of men and do not stand to fight with Dreams for Hope is but the Dream of a man awake yet it cannot but inwardly vex them to see themselves slighted even by those on whom they have bestowed many benefits merely in hope of receiving more from their next supposed Successor For they cannot reasonably expect more perhaps from him that now reigns and therefore they make timely applications to the next Heir He hath done enough for them and therefore they betake themselves to him who hath yet done nothing And besides old men grow tenacious morose and sowre whereas Youth is commonly liberal jocound without care and ambitious to do great things especially at his entrance upon the Kingdom This saith another learned Writer makes the long life of Princes and their power troublesome and grievous both to Courtiers and people of which they that live at Rome do not want ocular demonstration There is nothing more needful for the explication of this Verse but only to observe that the Child or Youth who is here called the second doth not suppose another Child or Youth that is first but only signifie that this Youth is second in the Kingdom Not second in respect to another Son but second in respect to his Father who reigns before him and when he dies this Son succeeds him i V. 16. The first words of this last Verse L. de Dieu seems to me to have expressed better than any other Interpreter they running thus word for word in the Hebrew There is no end to any people That is no end of their fickleness no bounds to their inconstancy but one Nation is as subject to it as another And as this Age follows the former so the next will follow this in its levity and mutability And therefore those young Princes who are transported with the acclamations of the people do but feed upon Wind as some I observed upon the first Chapter translate those words which we render vexation of Spirit For their applauses are like to their affections as changeable as the Wind which will turn another way to some other person when this present Prince grows old or he rules ill or the peoples fancy and humour alters And then it will indeed be a sore affliction to him to see himself despised by those who formerly cried him up as if he had been their Darling It may be referred also to the very Government it self with which the Israelites were not pleased For when they were under Judges they desired a King and then they were not pleased with the Monarchy but wished for the old Aristocracy again Though that in truth was the most exeellent Monarchy which they would not understand under the immediate Government of God Himself CHAP. V. ARGUMENT Under an ill Government in the State Religion it self is commonly corrupted in the Church And therefore having set forth the miseries people endure under the oppressions of an abused Power and the extreams of folly into which it drives them he begins this Chapter with a Correction of those errours that are in Religion Which is the only remedy indeed the only comfort we have against all the troubles to which we are subject in this World but such is the Vanity of Mankind they spoil their very remedy and take away all the Vertue of that which should be their support turning it into mere Ceremony whilst their minds remain impure and without any true sense of God For they do not consider that He who is a pure mind Himself must be better pleased with pure thoughts and affections composed to the observance of his Will and acquiescence in his pleasure than with all the Sacrifices and Offerings in the World which the wicked may bring Him as well as the good To prevent therefore this new folly into which men are apt to run when they intend to cure all the rest Solomon shows all those who would attain true tranquillity of mind what they must do and what they must avoid in the Worship of God And about the middle of the Chapter as I shall observe in the Annotations proceeds to consider the last of those four things wherein men place their happiness 1. KEep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools for they consider not that they do evil 1. AND now lest any man add to the affliction and torment of his Spirit even by that which is the only cure for it let every one who would be a true Worshipper of God in whom alone lies the happiness we seek take care to avoid that negligence which is observable in many people and to opproach with all reverence both of Body and Soul into his Blessed Presence but do not think to please Him with mere postures of Devotion no nor with Sacrifices and Incense without the Oblation of an obedient heart disposed to do what He would have thee For the worst men in the World may be able to offer Him the richest Sacrifices but are very impious as well as foolish if they think He delights in the fat and the Blood of Beasts save only as testimonies of love to Him and acts of obedience unto his Will for in that very thought they offend Him and make no conscience what evil they do while they believe their Sacrifices atone for all See Annot. a 2. Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few 2. And next to this when thou makest thy Prayers to God or givest Him thanks for his benefits deliberate with thy self beforehand what it is fit for thee to ask of Him or to vow unto him and let not any sudden passion make thee inconsiderately either with thy mouth or in thy mind desire what is nor fit for thee to have or promise what is not fit for Him to receive or thou art not able or willing to give But remember first how infinitely great the Lord and Governour of the World is who comprehends all things and then how little and vile thou art who prostratest thy self before Him and therefore do not dare to speak to Him as an Equal whatsoever comes into thy mind much less to make Him large promises which thou canst not perform but let a sense of his Majesty and of thy meanness overcome thee into a profound Reverence of Him expressing it self rather in ardent sighs and groans than in abundance of words which signifie nothing but want of a serious apprehension of Him See Annot. b 3. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business and a fools voice is known by multitude of words 3. It is so difficult at the same time
sins or other mens calamities is apt to do his Soul good by giving him a right understanding of God and of himself and of all things else See Annot. c 4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth 4. Whence it is that Wise men affect to think of such things when they do not see them as show them how vain all our worldly enjoyments are but Fools seek all occasions to put by such thoughts and to divert themselves with merriment and pleasure See Annot. d 5. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools 5. And he that would be in the number of these wise men must look upon this as one of the first steps towards it to lend an obedient ear unto the reproofs of him who is truly wise and vertuous which though never so sharp and rough are to be infinitely preferred before the smooth praises and commendations of a great many Fools nay ought to sound more gratefully in our ears than the most delicious Musick Songs and Jests of all the merry Companions in the World See Annot. e 6. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot so is the laughter of the fool this also is vanity 6. These jolly Fellows indeed make a great noise and show as if they were the only men that enjoy this World but alas their mirth and joy is but for a spurt and then ends in heaviness like the crackling of Thorns which sometimes blaze under a Pot as if they gave a mighty heat but leave the Water in it as cold as they found it All there jollity therefore is mere vanity See Annot. f 7. ¶ Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad and a gift destroyeth the heart 7. And there is the greater need to be well instructed and therefore to hearken to the wise v. 5. because there are other things besides vain pleasures and flatteries to disturb and unsettle our minds if we be not well fortified against them For the better any man is the more he is in danger to suffer from slanderers Revilers and all sorts of injurious persons whose violence sometime is so great that unless a man be provided with more than humane Wisdom and it be deeply rooted in his heart it will not only miserably disquier but even distract him Nor is this his only danger but that Power and Authority which raises him above the former may expose him to another unless he be armed with great integrity for his mind may be corrupted by Gifts and Presents to do injustice unto others which he hates should be done to himself See Annot. g 8. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit 8. And he will be the better able to resist them both who is so wise as to look not merely to the beginning of them but attend to their conclusion For that which seems grievous at the first appearance in the issue proves very advantageous and on the contrary that which promises fair at first hath a deadly farewel with it and therefore it is much better to endure patiently and humbly wait to see the issue than to be provoked by pride and disdain hastily to precipitate events for he that scorns to wait and attend upon the leisurely progressions of things commonly undoes himself and his Affairs by his fierce and violent attempts presently to compass his desires See Annot. h 9. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry for anger resteth in the bosom of fools 9. It is another Point therefore of that Wisdom which must make us happy to repress the motions of anger that we seel in our selves and not suffer them without great deliberation to have any effect for anger is an enemy to counsel and advice and is indeed the property of Fools who out of weakness of mind and shortness of thoughts are familiarly transported with it upon the slightest causes and not easily appeased again as wise men are when they chance to be incensed 10. Say not thou What is the cause that the former days were better than these for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this 10. It is Wisdom also to correct in our selves that complaining humour which is apt to be ever finding fault with the present times and commending the foregoing Ages as far better and happier than the present For perhaps it is not true and thus much is certain that he is foolishly inconsiderate who imagines that then there was no evil and that now there is no good or if it be true that there was more good in those times let us not murmur and repine asking why we are cast into a troublesome Age full of oppression suppose and violence and wrong v. 7. but rather submit to the Providence of God considering that there is no Age so bad as to hinder us which is the principal point of Wisdom from being good and therefore let us do our Duty believing God hath such reason for suffering the times to be as they are that we have no reason to quarrel at them or to call in Question his Wisdom Goodness or Justice See Annot. i 11. ¶ Wisdom is good with an inheritance and by it there is profit to them that see the sun 11. Yet do not think that Wisdom or Vertue consists in despising Riches but only in using them well when we have them and in being contented without them for as we cannot be happy by Riches alone without Wisdom so we cannot be compleatly happy with Wisdom alone without Riches For he hath a vast advantage to do good every way who is Rich as well as wise it giving him an authority even to speak more freely than other men and making what he speaks to be more regarded but of the two Wisdom and Vertue must alway be preferred which can do greater things and bestow nobler benefits upon Mankind than Treasures alone can do See Annot k 12. For wisdom is a defence and money is a defence but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom giveth life to them that have it 12. For as Wisdom for instance contrives many ways whereby a man may innocently defend himself from danger so can Money oft-times purchase his protection and safety but herein is the preheminence of Wisdom that when neither of them can shelter a man nor stave off the calamity that invades him it marvellously supports revives and comforts the Souls of those who are Owners of it under all the evils which it could not help them by honest means to avoid See Annot. l 13. Consider the work of God for who can make that straight which he hath made crooked 13. And in order to it the highest Piece of Wisdom is to live in a serious sense of the Sovereign Power of God and to consider that as he hath settled all things in