And from the sad end of Joab and Abiathar we learn that to be the companions of the good does not always teach goodness, and that if it does not, the punishment is the heavier. Of faithful, affectionate Abishai we hear nothing, and, therefore, may hope that he died in peace and honour.

LESSON CXXVII.*

THE WORDS OF KING LEMUEL, WHICH HIS MOTHER

TAUGHT HIM.

PROV. xxxi. 10-31.

B.C. 1015.—It is not quite certain, but there is great reason to believe that the poem that follows was Bathsheba's instruction to her son, on what the perfect woman ought to be, whom she hoped to see his wife. Lemuel means "dedicated to God," and might well be used to conceal the name of Solomon when the poem went forth among the Israelites. Not being Solomon's own, it appears not to have been added to the Book of Proverbs till Hezekiah's scribes collected such sayings as were current among the Israelites, but not written down. If it be indeed the queen's, it shows her to have had much wisdom and genius; and at the same time it is sad to think that she had fallen from her own high standard herself, or perhaps that, during her married life with David, she learnt what was the true glory of woman, and hoped to see in her son's wife what she could never be herself; though, alas! if she lived, it was to see how much stronger example is than precept.

Who can find a virtuous woman?

For her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her,

So that he shall have no need of spoil.

She will do him good and not evil

All the days of her life.

She seeketh wool, and flax,

And worketh willingly with her hands.

She is like the merchants' ships,

She bringeth her food from afar.

She riseth also while it is yet night,

And giveth meat to her household,

And a portion to her maidens.

She considereth a field, and buyeth it:

With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

*Not for the younger ones.

She girdeth her loins with strength,

And strengtheneth her arms.

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good:
Her candle goeth not out by night.

She layeth her hands to the spindle,

And her hands hold the distaff.

She stretcheth out her hand to the poor;
Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household:
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She maketh herself coverings of tapestry ; *
Her clothing is silk and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates,

When he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh fine linen, and selleth it ;
And delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strength and honour are her clothing;
And she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom;
And in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household,
And eateth not the bread of idleness.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously,
But thou excellest them all.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

But a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands;

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

COMMENT. This beautiful, most beautiful picture is an acrostic poem; that is, its twenty-two verses begin with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in succession, no doubt to assist in its being remembered. And, indeed, every Christian as well as every Hebrew girl ought to know it by heart; for, though a few of the customs are Eastern, the woman herself is, or ought to be, of all countries. The virtuous woman! This means more than merely keeping out of vice. It might be the valiant woman, strong, sensible, and wise, though gentle. She is more precious than the ruby, for her husband not only need not lock her up, as in the East, but can leave all to her as his other self. "A woman can only be kept by four walls or four Gospels," said a wise man; and many a woman, by fretfulness, chattering, and selfishness, if she has no worse fault, * Embroidery.

loses her husband's confidence, and is not like this valiant matron, who does him good all the days of her life. Her quiet home industry and activity come next; her spinning flax and wool, so that she is ready with her savings to help her husband in his purchases, and obtain fields and vineyards. She keeps good order, and is ever early astir ; but she is not niggardly. Her hands are ever stretched out to aid the poor and needy; her loins are girt, that is, she is always ready at the first call of distress: while yet her own household are well fed, on food brought by her providence from afar; and are clad in suitable and costly apparel, fenced against the snow in scarlet mantles. Her husband is known when he takes his seat among the elders by the gates of the city, by his air of well-being and ease of mind. It is like the curious saying, “What a man's wife is may be known by his shirt." But she has better clothing than her purple and needlework, even strength and honour, ever about her. And her speech is good to hear, for not only is it wise, but " on her tongue is the law of kindness." O most precious law! Yet she knows ́true kindness to her household is to look well to their ways, and not let them eat the bread of idleness; and so it is that her children, well-trained, rise up and call her blessed, and her husband praiseth her. "Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all." Favour, or charm of manner, cannot be trusted: beauty passes away; but the woman who fears the Lord shall be praised! And at the close of her life, that which she has done shall have its reward, and her works of piety and charity, her faithfulness and godliness, shall be her praise in the gates-which we know to be the gates of pearl of the heavenly Jerusalem.

There is the pattern of what woman may be ; and it ought to be far easier to a Christian woman to live up to it than for the Eastern wives, whom it first concerned.

[May the description, even while suiting the homeliest, go to the highest. For every wife may be the type and likeness of the Church, the spouse of Christ, and the mother of us all; and she it is who watches over us, feeds, enlightens, and tends us, as the valiant woman is here described as doing, until we come to the time when she shall present unto her Lord the children who will assuredly then stand up and call her blessed.]

LESSON CXXVIII.*

A FEW VERSES OF THE SONG OF SONGS.

CANTICLES ii. 1- -4; 8-17.

Solomon wrote many songs, but only one has been preserved. It may have been written in his early youth, when he married Naamah, the mother of his only son, or it may be his song of greeting to his Egyptian bride.

The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains,

Skipping upon the hills.

My beloved is like a roe or a young hart:

Behold, he standeth behind our wall;

He looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the

lattice.

My beloved spake, and said unto me,

Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For, lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of the singing of birds is come,

And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs,

And the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock,

In the secret places of the stairs,

Let me see thy countenance,

Let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice,

And thy countenance is comely.

Not for the younger; but I have thought it better to preoccupy the mind with some

idea of this wonder ul hymn.

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines :

For our vines have tender grapes.

My beloved is mine, and I am his :

He feedeth among the lilies.

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,

Turn, my beloved,

And be thou like a roe, or a young hart, upon the mountains of
Bether.

COMMENT.-The Song of Songs seems, as far as we can make out its history, to have been a poem written in Solomon's happy early youth, when the Lord was with him, and there was a glory round every action of his life. This, then, would seem to be the song of his happy marriage. Wedding feasts lasted seven days among the Jews, and some have thought that a part of this Song was sung on each of the days of the feast. It is a conversation between the bride and bridegroom, telling of the troubles that they have gone through, and their delight in being united.

The bridegroom is the Rose of Sharon, a rich tract under Mount Carmel: the bride is called the Lily among thorns; but she seems to have haḍ elder brothers, who made her tend their vineyard, and watch their flocks, so that she was dark and sunburnt because the sun had looked on her (i. 6). Solomon had a house upon the slopes of Mount Lebanon—foundations, supposed to belong to it, have lately been found—and there in the springtime, which he so beautifully describes, when the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard (ii. 12), do we find the scene of the poem. Solomon himself was a shepherd's son, and never forgot that "the king himself is served in the field” (Eccles. v. 9); and it was by the sheepfolds that he seems to have first met his beloved. What is meant for poetry, and what for fact, and what for allegory, is not clear; but it seems as if the daughters of Jerusalem had been sent to rece ve the maiden, and then as if there had been some separation, in which she sought him in vain; bụt at length he came, beaming with his glory, and was betrothed to her in her mother's house. The Song may have been composed to be sung on the days of the marriage feast, when they showed themselves to the people in royal state. “Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him