Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-03-18

r,b.s and assumes the monarchy privilege
Thus began the tragedy Of Solonons wan
derinsx As beggar. unknown and uncared
for. he Travelled frur, land to land
Spurred by the populace, thrust from bis
pa,are gate, despised and rejected, Solomon
turned in DESPAIR from Jerusalem; and one
evening as its towers were bathed In the
moonlight he began his wanderinss anew.
Toward the royal city Of Animon be betook
himself, and soon arrived At the palace, at
whose gate he knocked as humhly as the
lowest slave in the realm
Take pify on me- said be, in tones OF
entreaty, as the gate was opened i am
starving and foot sore from travel l am
willing to do any service for a little shelter"
Il do need help the royal cook exclaimed
Enter, and thou cans, abide with US
1t WAS Solomon's duty TO carry wood, to
draw water. and perform other mental service,
but the cook quickly noticed that the man
was superior to such work, and the cook made
him his assistant.
The dishes that Solomon prepared pleased
the king and he was appointed chief steward
How the household rejo.oed at his advance
mentl but none with greater pride than
Mama, the lovely daughter of the king,
fair and stately maiden, whose heart had
Gated her affection. he sang to her thrilling
songs of love. He compared her beauty to
Jerusalem and babe her turn away her eyes
les. they might undo him in their splendor.
He prayed for the shadows to flee and the
day to dawn-the shadows of servitude and
the dav of restoration to his throne. Then,
Is his tones Of sadness made her countenance
troubled, he changed his mood and ex-
claimed:
Set me = seal upon thine heart,
As a seal upon thine arm,
For love is Is strong Is death
The secret Of their love could not long re-
main concealed. Despite Mama entreaties,
Solomon was condemned to death, and it
was only her mothers tears that influenced
the king TO sentence him instead TO life long
exile in the desert
In the solitude of the wilderness, Solomon's
heart was chasteued at last, his proud, boast
full spirit purified. God seemed nearer 10 him
in his Loneliness than when he reveled in
Jerusalem. Was il his pure love for Mama
which had worked the change, or his long
continued wanderings and sutferingsi He
felt different man. Hope sprang anew in
bis heart, not Of power or earthly a.,grandize-
ment, but a hope of higher things which are
deathless like the wisdom. love- right
eousness
II thank thee. my Greater" he cried, as he
oowed in prayer Thou hast taught me the
lesson Thou art the Kin; Of kings alone
Blessed he thy holy name.
Full OF wondrous peace, although his raj
ment was tattered, he left the desert and
entered a city by the sea. y li-aernan ap-
preached aud offered a fish for sale He
purchased it with his last coin, AID, opening
it, found therein his holy signet ring, which
Ashmodai had cast into the sea.
But little remains to be tod How Solo
mon regained his regal spleudor, how he
married the faithful Naama, how he con-
fronted Ashnodai, the usurpcr, and made
him vanish at the sight of the ring; how he
assembled the Sanhedrim and tod them all
his trials and triumphs-is it not all written
between the lines in the ialmudi But while
the people soon forgot the romance and the
tragedy and the story of the kings return
became only nine days wonder, Solomon
himself never lost the Impressions hose
years OF wandering. A certain fear never
left his mind, and in the night time, so the
Song of Songs relates his couch was guarded
by sixty armed men. -Abram S. lsaacs in
Harper's Bazaar,