The national Republican., 1869-02-08

rERs.-The fourth Of this series OF lectures
was delivered by DR.. Gray at the street
Baptist church last evening. The Increasing
Interest In them ls manifested BY the nightly
Increasing audiences. The character &C.
lected for last nights lecture was Solomon,
Royal Preacher IN the vestibule Of Vanity"
and the text was Ecclesiastcs IL 1-2: "fhe
words OF the preacher, the son Of David,
king OF Jerusalem; vanity Of vanitics, saith
the preacher, vanity Of vanities. all IL van
ity."
The life OF Solomon, the speaker said, was
exceedingly rich and instructive In incident,
for though he was king, he was also man;
and hence In oil his trials and triumphs, sor-
rows and sins, wisdom and folly, glory and
shame, he appears In like nature with our
selves.
This celebrated monarch was born In the
year Of the word ly;!. The expectations NJ
his father and others concerning him were
strongly raised by the prophecies that he
should be q man Of rest, and that he should
build house unto the Lord, which his father
David was not allowed to do because he was
man Of war. Concerning his infancy we
know nothing, but IL was reasonable to sup
pose David would not neglect the education
OF q child Of so much promise. The bril-
liancy OF the early part Of his reign was such
as had never been equalled In the history Of
Israel, and the cause was because he loved
the Lord and walked In the statutes OF his
father David. For his piety q voice from
heaven promised him whatever he might
ask, and he asked for "wisdom and knowl.
edge" q request that met the Divine appro-
baton, and to the promise Of most extensive
wisdom was added that Of riches and honor
and length Of days.
Solomon entered Into many new arrange
ments for the benefit Of his kingdom; he
made treaties OF peace with the nations
around him, thus Increasing his commerce.
For the support Of his caravans and ships
Solomon built many cities, protecting the
trade upon the borders of his dominion,
which extended fra the Euphntes to
Egypt, as IL had been prU.I!rci to his ances-
ter, Abraham, 1000 years before. The
Hebrew nation was now at the hight OF pros
perity. By his wisdom Solomon had en-
riched his subjects and acquired powerful
allies, and he commenced and completed the
temple which for splendor and gorgeousncss
never had parallel.
The magnihcence of Solomon's palace,
with its hall Of justice, which was called the
house Of the forest OF Lebanon, were next
graphically described as was also his i'm
mcnse wealth and powerful influence. The
fame OF his wisdom, his wealth and his
splendor spread abroad and attracted crowds
Of distinguished persons to his court. Even
sovereigns came to visit him, and among
others the Queen Of Sheba. The heghth OF
his glory was reached. Some men, said the
speaker, live too long for their own reputa-
tlon or the good Of the world. What pity
Solomon could not have died at this time.
Years OF peace and luxury had passed and
Solomons youths wisdom passed with them.
Age, luxury and sensual pleasures had
brought him low, and prophet was sent to
reprove him and assure him Of the Divine
wrath. This prophecy was fulfilled, and he
passed his last days ID anxiety, uneasiness
and vexation, In the midst Of which, It is
supposed the book Of Ecclesiastes was written.
Having rapidly sketched the life Of the
king, the speaker turned to the royal
preacher. Some books Of the Bible, he said,
required a koy, aud perhaps none required II
more than this book. II had always been
a fayorite book with infidels; but with the
key all their reasoning are refuted. Solo
mon In the beginning "set his heart to
search out by wisdom concerning all things
that are done under heaven" In the eIer-
else Of his poetic power he conveys his reader
back into those days Of vanity, so that In
the course OF his rapid monologue he stands
before us the mnn Of science, the man Of
pleasure, the fatalist, the materialist, the
sceptic, the epicurean, and the stole, till at
the end we have the conclusion Of the
whole matter "-"Fear God and keep His
commandments, for this is the whole duty
| Of man,"
The book, DIR. Gray said, was the history
Of solomon the Prodigal, written by Solo
mon the Preacher; q dramatic biography In
which Solomon not only records, but re-
enacts the successive scenes Of his search
aftcr happiness, recording bow he felt, what
he said, and what he did. With this key the
book could be read without difficulty, while
without II we so stumbling through the book
He then reviewed the various directions In
which solomon sought happiness. He
sought 1t In knowledge, and found Ii not
Disappointed here, he searched 1t In power
and failed. He sought 1t In pleasure, ant
found 1t not there. In all these things hi,
spirit came fuming back In complaint ant
vexation. His experience has been the eX
pcrience OF all fortune-hunters and joy
seekers.
The truth Is, said the speaker, this world
was never designed to make man happy
Hence Solomon amer passing through all the
great departments Of the world happiness
hunting and coming out Of each declaring
II vanity Of vanities at last reaches wis'
and sane conclusion, and with 1t he winds W
his book.
God, he said, raised up Solomon us
model man to show to us by his eIperienc
under the most favorable possible circum
stances, the vanity of worldly things. Upol
this point he dwelt at some length.
The character selected for the next lectur
will be the Queen Of sheba, the Royal Visl
tor, and from the able manner In which tn
other characters have been presented, W
anticipate n particularly interesting dis
course.
RoBBERY AT Ex-MAIoR wALLACH's RES
DEScE.-On Saturday evening while receI
tion was In progress at the residence Of EN
Mayor Richard wallach, adjoining Genera
Grants dwelling, some adroit thief succeede
In obtaining an entrance to the house an
secreted himself In one of the basemen
rooms. After the guests had departed an
the family had retired, the robber wen
through the house, and departed finally wit