New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-10-22
SOLOMON,S THRONE.

1t is not long since subscription was
set on foot for the purpose Of erecting a
golden throne fer tie pope; even as, the
| propectus stated, ga wonderful throne
had been erected, by dint of many pres
ents, to the wisest of the wise, Solomon
the king" Unfortunately the plan had
to be abandoned, as the pope Inodestly
declined the offer. 1t may interest many
of our readers to know something about
this wonderful "Solomonic" throne. The
sources Of authentic information on the
subject are rather meagre, as Hiram, its
reputed artifcer, having taken the mys-
terry of its workmanship into his grave.
But where history is silent, legend fills
the void. The description shows the
endless variations and repetitions of this
wondrous seat Of a great king, composed
Of the most gorgeous hues and colors be-
fitting the darling of Eastern romance.
1t is found in one of the late Aramaic YER
sions Of the Bible, and is Enthusiastically
byzantine in age and origin:
1t was this great King Solomon who babe
the regal throne to be wrought. He had it
covered with the fine gold Of Ophr; it was
founded upon cleaning marble, and was
OnyXstones, e1leralds, crystals, pearls and
all manner of precious stones. No king
ever possessed like work of art, and no
empire could produce throne like it. And
IN such manner was it made. 1t had six
steps, and upon each there stood twelve
IvatVa NJ
gold-a lion always against an eagle, and
an eagle always against a lion. In such
wise that the right paw of the lion lay OPP
poslte the right wing Of the eagle. and the
left wing Of the eagle to the left paw of the
lion. The entire number Of the lions was
seventy-two, and that of the eagles was
seventy-two. At the top there was round
seat for the king; and there was also other
creatures on the six steps leading upward.
On the frs. there was crouched golden
OK, and over against him another golden
lion; on the second a golden wolf,
over against that a golden lamb; on
the third golden camel against a
golden hawk; on the fourth golden eagle
against golden peacock: on the fifth a
golden cat against a golden cock: on the |
s G golden hawk against a golden dove.
On the height of the throne there was
a another golden dove which held a hawk
go!Gen cantiestick, exquisitely adorned !
with BOWS. branches, knobs. flowers. snuff.
ers, smut Dishes aud all that was requisite.
Ana OUT OF II went on one side seven arms
upon which the seven fathers of tbe world |
were represented, to-w;t: Adam. the f;rst
man, Noah, Shem. tho great. Abraham
Isaac, Jacob and job Ga the other s;Js
there went cut other seven branches rno,
which were to he seen the seven p;ons npas
Of the world. to-wit: Levi. Kehati,. An,ra,n
Moses, Aaron, Eldad and Medad. also Hnrth
the prophet. Over the candlestick was f;xei
a beautiful golden jar, filled with the cost
lest OIL from which the lamps of the candle.
sticks were replenished. Upon the cask there
was the figure Of Eli, the high priest and
On two olive branches issuing from it
were to he seen engraven HOphni and
Phineas, his two sons. Out of the two
olive branches there issued two golden
amps. upon which were depicted the two
IONS Of Aaron, Nadat and Abihu. There
we're two seats near the golden cask, one
or the high priest, the other for his locum |
eneus. Around the throne were ranged
seventy golden chairs, upon which the
evenly Sanhedrim took their seats to pro-