who had stolen the child, had no real tenderness or affection for it, and must also have been a cruel and wicked woman; for she liked what the king said, and begged that it might be divided between them. But the real mother of the child could not endure the idea of its being put to death : her heart sickened at the thought, and she cried out, “ O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it." Then the king felt sure that this woman, who would rather give her child to another than consent to its death, was the real mother; and he said, "Give her the living child, and by no means slay it; she is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment." And the Lord raised Solomon to the utmost height of human honour and glory. The extent of his kingdom was great; for he reigned over all kingdoms from the river Euphrates, which bounded his dominions on the east, to the country of the Philistines, bordering on the Mediterranean to the west, and to the land of Egypt on the south; so that we shall find, if we look on the map, that the great kingdoms of Syria, Moab, and Ammon, were all in subjection to him.

Nor did he only rule over a vast extent of country; the abundance, and comfort, and peace, which were enjoyed by his people, were such as they had never known before : for he had peace on all sides round about him, and the earth seemed glad to yield her increase, bringing forth corn, wine, and oil, in abundance. To give you some idea of the plenty that was found at this time, I must tell you that,

VOL. II.

Egypt; as famous, too, for their learning and wisdom, the countries which lay to the east of him, Chaldea, Persia, and Arabia; but Solomon excelled them all; for he was wiser than all men, and he was talked of in all nations round about. For he spoke three thousand wise sayings, some of which are found in that part of the Bible called the Book of Proverbs ; he understood and spoke also of all kinds of trees and plants, from the greatest to the smallest, from the fine spreading cedar-tree which grew on Mount Lebanon, even unto the hyssop, that springeth out of the wall. He spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

E. What sort of plant was the hyssop, mamma?

M. Some have supposed, my love, that the plant here spoken of, was a kind of moss very common on the walls of Jerusalem ; and others, that it was a little plant, still called hyssop, which is often found on rocks in the Holy Land. But there is another kind of hyssop mentioned in Scripture, with bushy stalks, and branches covered at the end with spikes of flowers, which is a valuable spicy plant with a fine bitter taste. It grows abundantly on the mountains of Jerusalem.

So great, my love, was the wisdom and learning of king Solomon, which people of all countries came to hear, even “from all the kingdoms of the earth,” where the sound of his wisdom had reached. all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.”

You will think, perhaps, after hearing all this, that Solomon was too full of his own glory and honour,

“ And

and too much occupied in receiving all the great people that crowded around him, to think much of that house for the Lord, which his father had so anxiously given to his care. Not so, my love. Almost as soon as he became king of Israel, he began to set about this great and interesting work. The first thing he did, was to send to Hiram, king of Tyre, whose father had been always a kind friend to David, begging that he would allow his servants to assist those of king Solomon, in hewing down and preparing some of the cedars and other valuable trees, which grew on Mount Lebanon, for the temple which he was about to build.

E. Did the trees of Lebanon belong to Hiram, king of Tyre, mamma ?

M. No, my love; the whole or a great part of Lebanon lay within the dominions of king Solomon; so that its lofty cedars and all its other beautiful trees were his own; but his people were not so skilful in hewing timber as the people of Tyre and Sidon, who had always been famous in every work of the kind. The message which king Solomon sent to Hiram was this. "As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house, even so deal with me. For behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate (or to set it apart) to him, to burn before him sweet incense of spices: and the house which I build is great; for great is our God above all gods: seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him. Now, therefore, send me cedar-trees, fir-trees, and algum-trees, out of Lebanon; for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and be

hold my servants shall be with thy servants; even to prepare me timber in abundance; for the house, which I am about to build, shall be wonderful great. Send me also a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave (or carve) with the cunning men that are with me in Judah, and in Jerusalem, whom David, my father, did provide." · Now when king Hiram received Solomon's message, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people;” and he sent to Solomon a man of Tyre, who was very skilful in all the more rich and beautiful works, with which Solomon wished to adorn the house of his God: he told him also, that he was quite willing to do all that he wished about timber of cedar, and timber of fir, and that his servants should convey them down from Mount Lebanon to the sea side, probably to Tyre or Sidon, from whence they should be sent to Joppa, a place from which Solomon could easily move them to Jerusalem. This important part of the work, Hiram willingly took upon himself, only requiring, in return for the time and labour of his servants, that king Solomon would supply him with food for his household. Then Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat, for food for his household, and for the persons who were hewing timber for the temple, and the same quantity of barley, besides a large supply of oil and wine. And Hiram gave Solomon cedar-trees, and fir-trees, according to all his desire, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon. And king Hiram's servants hewed and prepared the timber that