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process of time fortifications were erected around them; so that the pile became, in some sort, a citadel within itself. But as Solomon designed it, the temple was a mere place of worship, resembling in all respects that fabric of curtains, and poles, and cords, over which, for many a day, the glory of God brooded in the wilderness. Many and gorgeous were the gifts which Solomon dedicated there to the Lord. The most precious of all, was, however, the ark of the covenant, which, as soon as the place was made fit for its reception, the Levites brought forth with great pomp and joy out of Zion, and placed in a resting place, whence they trusted that it would never be removed.

B. C. 1004. The ark having been placed within the veil, and the priests having ascertained that the tables of stone still lay within its shelter, though all the other memorials of past glories were departed, there fell upon the temple a cloud so dense, that no man who stood within its influence could see to go about his ordinary business. It was viewed by the king as a token that the Lord had been pleased to accept the offering thus made to him; and he proceeded to dedicate the pile, with all that it contained, by a series of solemn rites to Jehovah. Innumerable oxen, sheep, and goats were offered on the occasion; and throughout an entire week Jerusalem was a scene of religious feasting and gladness, such as had not been seen in Israel from the day of the deliverance out of Egypt.

B. C. 992. Having accomplished this great work, and established such an order in the priesthood, as that the service of God should never stand still from morning till night, Solomon began to turn his attention to the embellishment of other parts of his dominions. He had wedded a daughter of the king

of Egypt, and having got with her, as a portion, the city of Geber, he proceeded to fortify it with great care, and to render it a sort of outpost on that flank of his dominions. He built ships, likewise, and in partnership with Hiram, king of Tyre, he traded to distant lands, and brought home gold from Ophir. So many gigantic undertakings could not, however, be carried on, without taxing to a large extent, both the property and the physical powers of his subjects; and Solomon, sagacious as he was, and skilful in the application of his vast resources, began, by degrees, to lose his popularity. Proud of him the Israelites might be. It flattered their vanity to see kings and queens coming from remote lands to learn wisdom from his discourses; but the pressure of the burdens which he laid upon them began at last to be felt, and the seeds of future mischief were Sown. Moreover, the great and wise king being, like his father, a miserable slave of the body, formed connections which drew him by little and little into sin. He saw the daughters of Moab and Ammon, and of the Hittites, and other obnoxious races, that they were fair; and he gathered round him, as wives or as concubines, many hundreds of them. Το pass from such a state of domestic existence to idolatry of the most impure kind, was a step which was scarcely to be avoided. The women first besought him that he would suffer them to worship according to the customs of their fathers, and they, by and by, prevailed upon him, weak, because he was sensual, to worship with them. Then began enemies from without, and false friends within, to trouble him. Hadad, the last survivor of the princely house of Midian, returned out of Egypt, whither he had been carried for shelter, and harassed Israel on one side; Eliadah, the successor

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of Hadadezer, prince or king of Zobah, a district of Syria, threatened it on another; and, worse than all, Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, a lineal descendant of Joseph, began to plot against Solomon among his own people. Nor could it be concealed from Solomon, that God's anger had been stirred against him. Ahijah, one of that race of prophets which never ceased in Israel till the Babylonish captivity, made no secret of God's purposes to divide the kingdom in Jeroboam's favour; and though Jeroboam, by fleeing into Egypt, escaped the king's fury, the thought of evils about to come on him or on his posterity, darkened Solomon's mind as old age advanced on him.

B. C. 975. — Thus matters stood for many years. The wise king, whose judgments were quoted in distant lands, sank into folly among his own people. He wrote, indeed, like a philosopher, for the Books of Proverbs, of Ecclesiastes, and other treatises still extant, testify to his knowledge of men and of things. But he lived like one who has not learned to master himself, and he died in deep remorse, leaving but one son to preserve his name among men, and with the melancholy conviction on his mind that even of that youth he had been through life but too neglectful.

CHAP. XXVIII.

FIRST BOOK OF KINGS AND SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES.

REHOBOAM. HIS UNWISE PROCEEDINGS.

DOM DIVIDED. REHOBOAM

THE KING

KING OF JUDAH.

JEROBOAM KING OF ISRAEL. JEROBOAM'S SIN. THE YOUNG PROPHET.

B. C. 975. As soon as Solomon's funeral was ended, his son Rehoboam, then in his forty-second year, made haste to take up the reins of government. It would appear, however, that the law of succession was not, as yet, fully established in Israel. A confirmation by the people, in some shape or another, appears to have been necessary; at least we find that before acknowledging Rehoboam as their sovereign, the heads of tribes met at Shechem, a town in the province of Ephraim, and invited him to a conference there. At the same time intelligence of the death of the late king was forwarded to Jeroboam in Egypt, who lost no time in returning to his own place, and was in readiness to meet Rehoboam when he should arrive. It is not quite clear why Shechem should have been preferred to Jerusalem, as the scene of the projected gathering. Probably some latent jealousy of the power and influence of Judah stirred the remaining tribes, and perhaps Rehoboam would have acted with greater prudence, had he summoned the heads of families to meet him in the capital. But this he failed to do; and the greeting which awaited him at the place whither he proceeded to confer with his chiefs, taught him, when it was too late, that he had committed an

error.

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Jeroboam, from whose memory the salutation of the prophet had never passed away, became the mouth-piece of this meeting. He demanded, as a condition of acceptance of the new king, that he would lighten the public burdens; and did not object to Rehoboam's taking three days to consider the point. But the interval was unwisely spent by the king. He requested the advice of his father's counsellors, who recommended a conciliatory course; but acting on the suggestions of flatterers as inexperienced and heady as himself, he peremptorily refused to pledge himself to anything. Indeed, he went further: "He answered the people roughly, and spake to them after this manner: My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." No more was needed to blow up into a flame the embers of sedition which had long smouldered. With one accord the chiefs declared that they were bound by no tie of natural allegiance to the house of David; and departing from the assembly, set up Jeroboam to be their king.

With some difficulty Rehoboam escaped to Jerusalem that city, with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, still adhered to him; and, encouraged by their protestations of loyalty, he made an attempt to win back the revolted tribes. He sent an officer of state to collect the ordinary taxes, as if no revolt had occurred. But the tribes took the king's envoy and stoned him to death, in token that they were prepared to maintain their own course at all hazards. An appeal was then made to the sword. A hundred and eighty thousand men took the field in Judah, and were already on their march, when a prophet called Shemaiah interposed, and in the name of