The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-09-10
UR learned critic, E. E. E in
his "Very Poor Logic" in
forms us that "because it is

~ UR learned critic, E. E. E, in
his "Vtry Poor Logic" in
= forms us that "because it is
not known who did write
Ecclesiastes, is not evidence to prove
Solomon wrote it. 1t might be said
with equal reason, If the moon is not
made of green cheese, what is it made
of? Therefore it is green cheese" 1
hope Mr.. E. will kindly forgive an un-
learned man for pointing out the differ
ence beween the two questions pro-
posed: All the known data relating to
Eccesiastes point to Solomon as the
author of the book; and all the known
data relating to the body of matter
called the moon, point to some admix-
ture radically different from green
cheese. Mr.. E. may not admit the
truth of the first proposition, but if he
has given little Of his time to the
study of astronomy-andh he undoubt-
edly has-he cannot gainsay the sec
ond. l respectfully call Mr.. E.'s atten-
tion to the following: The Preacher
admits that he was the son of David,
king over Israel in Jerusalem. (Ecclesi-
astes 1: 1, 12) The name of the son of
David who was king over Israel was
Solomon. This we may learn from the
Bible and from Josephus. The Preacher
further admits-and with modesty
that is truly charming-that he had
gotten more wisdom than all they that
had been before him in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1: 16.) We are told in
/. Kings Is: 80, 81, that "Solomon's wis
dom excelled the wisdom of all the
children of the east country, and all
the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser
than all men. In III. Chronicles g.: % we
read, "King Solomon passed all the
kings of the earth in riches and wis.,
DOM" Josephus corroborates these
statements.
The Preacher tells of the great
works he made; and the houses he built;
and the vineyards he planted; and the
pools of water he made to water his
gardens and orchards; and the gold and
silver he gathered; and the musical in
struments he had made, etc., etc. (Ec-
clesiastes 2: 4, 81 The historical books
of the Bible mention the name of one
man only who did all these things, and
his name was Solomon. Josephus not
only tells us that Solomon had musical
instruments made for the Levites,
but also states that they were made of
wood of pine trees, brought from Aurea
Chersonesus. He also mentions Solo
mons morning excursions to Ethan,
about fifty furlongs from Jerusalem,
place ''very pleasant in fine gardens,
and abounding in rlvulets of water"
The Preacher wrote proverbs; so did
Solomon. The Preacher says: "One man
among thousand have found; but
woman among all those have 1 not
found" Solomon had 700 wives and
300 concubines; an even thousand who
claimed him as lord and master; and
they Ted him into all kinds of wickedness
and foolish extravaganza. In short: The
Preachers experience is the experience
of Solomon; and Solomon's experience
tallies with the experience of the
Preacher. If Mr.. E. can say aught to
the contrary let him do SO by all means.
/ am willing and anxious to listen and
learn.
In answering the question: "How
do we know it (Ecclesiastes) was orig
inally written in Greek ?" our critic de-
livers himself of the following: "Prob-
ably there is no positive proof; yet the
ancient Greek copies of this book are
as ancient as those of the Hebrew, and
ut date not so far distant from the
time of the occurrence of the events
described in said book as to prove to
as that their authors were men famil-
lar with the actual facts as well known
events of their own day." just what
idea the author of "Very Poor Logic"
means to convey in this sentence is not
altogether clear; but, will he kindly en-
tighten us as to the particular events
he finds enumerated in Ecclesiastes /?
He admits further on that the author