So that, although Dr. Johnson had not read the Apocrypha, he had read a passage which must have appealed profoundly to him as a man who once said humbly, "Sir, I considered myself as entrusted with a certain portion of truth," and on another occasion, “Without truth there must be a dissolution of society."

The Book of the Wisdom of Solomon contains splendid passages. Hear the writer's praise of Wisdom:

Wisdom reacheth from one end to another mightily,

And sweetly doth she order all things.

I loved her and sought her out,

From my youth I desired to make her my spouse,
And I was a lover of her beauty.

In that she is conversant with God, she magnifieth her nobility:
Yea, the Lord of all things himself loved her.

If a man desire much experience:

She knoweth things of old, and conjectureth aright what is to come:
She knoweth the subtleties of speeches, and can expound dark sentences:
She forseeth signs and wonders, and the events of seasons and times.
Therefore I purposed to take her to me to live with me,
Knowing that she would be a counsellor of good things,
And a comfort in cares and grief.

Thus is Wisdom praised, but now hear Wisdom praise herself in the wild and lofty music of Hebrew poetry through the pen of Jesus the son of Sirach, the writer of "Ecclesiasticus":

I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus,

And as a cypress tree upon the mountains of Hermon.

I was exalted like a palm tree in Engaddi,

And as a rose-plant in Jericho,

And as a fair olive tree in a pleasant field,

And grew up as a plane tree by the water.

I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon, and aspalathus,
And I yielded a pleasant odour like the best myrrh,
As Galbanum and Onyx, and sweet Storax,
And as the fume of frankincense in the Tabernacle.

I also came out as a brook from a river,
And as a conduit into a garden.

I said, I will water my best garden,

And will water abundantly my garden bed:
And lo, my brook became a river,

And my river became a sea.

I will yet make doctrine to shine as the morning,

And will send forth her light afar off:

I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy,

And leave it to all ages for ever.

Such is the exalted poetry, such the exhaustion of language, to be found in the Apocrypha.

Two Noble Eulogies

In addition, it is packed with worldly wisdom, common sense, shrewd counsels about marriage and friendship, and lending and borrowing, and bargaining, and tact, and everyday prudence. One could show some of our best-known proverbs can be traced to these books. But we conclude by quoting a passage in which the writer we have just quoted turns his eyes-with a charity surpassing, perhaps, anything in the canonical books of the Old Testament-on the average man. After picturing the ploughman, the ox-driver, the carpenter, the graver of seals, the smith, and the poor potter, each at his work, he exclaims:

Without these cannot a city be inhabited.

And they shall not dwell where they will, nor go up and down:
They shall not be sought for in public counsel,

Nor sit high in the congregation:

They shall not sit on the Judges' seat,

Nor understand the sentence of judgment:

They cannot declare justice, and judgment,

And they shall not be found where parables are spoken,

But they will maintain the state of the world

And all their desire is in the work of their craft.

That may not be the whole of man's civic wisdom, or of his social vision, to-day, but if not it is one of the noblest eulogies ever

penned. It deserves to be as well known as that great tribute to genius and leadership in the same book:

Let us now praise famous men,

And our Fathers that begat us.

The Lord hath wrought great glory by them,
Through his great power from the beginning,
Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms,

Men renowned for their power,

Giving counsel by their understanding,
And declaring prophecies. ...
Such as found out musical tunes,
And recited verses in writing,

Rich men furnished with ability,

Living peaceably in their habitations.

All these were honoured in their generations,
And were the glory of their times.

Their seed shall remain for ever,

And their glory shall not be blotted out.

Their bodies are buried in peace,

But their name liveth for evermore.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Literary Study of the Bible: An Account of the Leading Forms of Literature represented in the Sacred Writings. By Richard G. Moulton, M.A. (Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons).

Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews. Translated from the Latin of Robert T. Lowth, D.D., 1787.

The Bible in English Literature. By J. H. Gardiner (T. Fisher Unwin). The English Bible: An External and Critical History of the various English Translations of Scripture. By John Eadie, D.D. (Macmillan). An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament. Driver, D.D. Library).

By S. R. T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh (International Theological

The Psalms in Human Life. By Rowland E. Prothero, M.V.O. (Lord Ernle) (John Murray).

Passages of the Bible chosen for their Literary Beauty and Interest. Sir J. G. Frazer (A. & C. Black).

By

The Literary Man's Bible: A Selection of Passages from the Old Testa ment, Historic, Poetic and Philosophic, illustrating Hebrew Literature, with Introductory Essays and Annotations. Edited by W. L. Courtney (Chapman & Hall).

The Literary Man's New Testament; the Books arranged in Chronological Order, with Introductory Essays and Annotations. By W. L. Courtney (Chapman and Hall).

The History of the English Bible. By W. F. Moulton (Epworth Press).

English Versions of the Bible: A Handbook with copious examples illustrating the Ancestry and Relationship of the several Versions. By Rev. J. I. Mombert (Samuel Bagster & Sons).

Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, being a History of the Text and its Translations. By Sir Frederic G. Kenyon (Eyre & Spottiswoode).

The Building of the Bible, showing the Chronological Order in which the Books of the Old and New Testaments appeared according to recent Biblical criticism. By F. J. Gould (Watts & Co.).

On the Art of Reading. Pages 141-182. Quiller-Couch.

The English Bible. J. Eadie. Macmillan.

V

THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST