it was even with Solomon himself, on completing the grand experiment, by which may be ascertained the extent to which the things of this world can contribute to the satisfaction of the desires of the heart. Hear his own spontaneous confession, which he was directed to record, for the instruction and the warning of every succeeding age:"I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards; I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits :I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts:-and whatsoever

mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." There was an adaptation in many of these things to impart a certain degree of blameless pleasure, and innocent delight; but he had calculated upon a result of supreme satisfaction, instead of subordinate enjoyment; and such was the consequent bitterness of soul, arising from disappointed hopes, that in the very zenith of his prosperity, he added," therefore I hated life." Thirdly, Consider how much importance is attached to the character

of our desires by Him who searcheth the heart.

Brief as is the compendium of moral duty contained in the decalogue, one of the ten commandments aims expressly at the right regulation of the desires. "Thou shalt not covet" was one of the prohibitory mandates written, by the finger of God, upon the tablets of stone, and designed to be written on the more susceptible tablet of the heart. It was as if Jehovah had said," Not only shalt thou abstain from taking that which is not thine own, but thou shalt abstain also from desiring that which is not thine own." And it is deserving of remark that it was this very command, which conveyed to the Apostle Paul a clearer

view of the extensive and spiritual requirements of the divine law, than he had derived from all its other precepts. "I had not known sin," said he, “but by the law:"-" for strong desire I had not known to be sin unless the law had "'* Has the

said, Thou shalt not covet." holy law been understood and applied by us in all this latitude of meaning? If we are indeed aware of the nature of the obedience which it demands, oh, what materials of self-condemnation must we find in the retrospect of every day! What profound ignorance should we betray, both of ourselves and of the law which is just and holy, were we to flatter ourselves with the delusive notion of some innate or habitual

goodness of heart! If, in the sight of God, evil desire, of every gradation, is a sin which deserves his anger, what need have we to flee for refuge to Him who came into the world to save sinners, "lest we perish from the way, even when his wrath is kindled but a little."

Nor let it escape our remembrance, that the righteous Judge takes cognizance, not only of desires positively evil, but also of the absence of such as he justly requires us to cherish. A characteristic description of the wicked, is contained in these few words;

They say to God, Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways-what is the Almighty that we should serve him; and what