The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-08-06

course LIZ. laluldBe cOTTeCLS SOHe OF the
false notions about religion and repre-
sents it as being joy inspiring instead Of
dolorous; text III Chronicles tx, 8, "Of
spices great abundance; neither was
there any such spice as the queen of
Sheba gave King Solomon"
What is that building out yonder gilt
tering in the sun? Have you not heard?
1t is the house of the forest of Lebanon.
King Solomon has Just taken to it his
bride, the princess OF Egypt. You see
the pillars OF the portico and a great tow
er, adorned with 1000 shields Of gold
hung on the outside Of the tower-5O Of
the shields Of gold manufactured at Sol
onions order, 500 were captured by Da-
vid, his father, in battle. See how they
blaze in the MONDAY sum-!
Solomon goes up the ivory stairs Of his
throne between II lions in statuary and
sits down on the back of the golden bull,
the head of the huge beast turned to-
ward the people. The family and the at
tendants of the king are so many that
the caterers of the palace have to pro-
vide every day 100 sheep and Ii oxen,
besides the birds and the v~enison. I hear
the stamping and paving of 1000 fine
horses in the royal stables. There were
important officials who had charge Of the
WOTh u SuIleEluB Tue SlTdW anu Tie DdE-
ley for these horses. King Solomon was
an early riser, tradition says, and used to
take a ride out at daybreak, and when.
in his white apparel, behind the swiftest
horses of all the realm and followed by
mounted archers in purple, as the caval-
cade dashed through the streets Of Jeru-
salem / suppose it was something worth
getting up at 5 o'clock in the morning to
look at.
Solomon was not like some of the kings
of the present day-crowned imbecility.
All the splendors of his palace and retinue
were eclipsed by his intellectual power.
Why, he seemed to know everything. He
was the first great naturalist the world
ever saw. Peacocks from India strutted
the basaltic walk, and apes chartered in
the trees, and deer stalked the parks, and
there were aquariums with foreign fish
and aviaries with foreign birds, and ira
dition says these birds were so well tam
ed that Solomon might walk clear across
the city under the shadow Of their wings
as they lowered and fitted about him.
More han this. He had a great repu-
tation for the ~conundrums and riddles
that he made and guessed. He and King
Hiram, his %neighbor, used to sit by the
hour and ask riddles, each one paying in
none il he could not answer or guess
the riddle. The Solomonic navy visited
all the world, and the sailors, OF course,
talked about the wealth of their king and
about the riddles and enigmas that he
made and solved, and the news spread
unit Queen Balkis, away off south, heard
Of it and sent messengers with a few
riddles that she would like to lave Solo
mon solve and q few puzzles that she
would like to have him find out. She
- r. CT
mon Il diamond with a hole so small that
n needle could not penetrate it, asking
him To thread that diamond, and Solo
mon took n worm and put it at the OPEN
ing in the diamond, and the worm crawl
ed through. leaving the thread in the dia-
mond. The queen also sent n goblet to
Solomon, asking him to fill it with water
that did not pour from the sky and that
did not rush out from the earth, and i'm
mediately Solomon put a slave on the
back OF a swift horse and galloped him
around and around the park until the
horse was nigh exhausted, and from the
perspiration of the horse the goblet was
filled. She also sent to King Solomon
500 boys in girls dress and 500 girls in
boys dress, wondering if he would be
acute enough to find out the deception.
Immediately Solomon, when he saw them
"oSA &c AoNCs, AAGN " Liz way
they applied the water that it was all a
cheat.
Seeing For Oneself.
Queen Balkis was so pleased with the
acuteness Of Solomon that she said, "IIl
just go and see him for myself" Yon-
der il comes-the cavalcade-horSes and
~dromedaries, chariots and characters,
~jingling harness and gathering hoofs and
blazing shields and flying ensigns and
clapping cymbals. The place is saturated
with the perfume. She brings cinnamon
and saffron and calamus and franklin
.cense and all manner of sweet spices. AS
the retinue sweeps through the gate the
armed guard inhales the aroma. Haiti
cry the characters as the wheels grind
the gravel in front of the pillared portico
Of the king. Queen Balkis alights in an
atmosphere bewitched with perfume. As
the dromedaries are driven up TO the
kings s%torehouses, and the bundles of
camphor are unloaded, and the sacks of
cinnamon and the boxes OF spices are
opened, the purveyors of the palace dis
cover what my text announces, "Of
spices, great abundance: neither was
there any such spice as the queen of
Sheba gave to King Solomon"
Well, my friends. you know that all
t~heologians agree in making Solomon e
type of Christ and in making the queen
of Sheba a type of every truth seeker,
and i will take the responsibility Of say
ing that all the spikenard and cassia and
frankincense which the queen Of Sheba
brought to kim Solomon are nightly
suggestive Of the sweet spices Of our holy
religion. Christianity is not a collection OF
sharp technicalities and angular facts and
chronological tables and dry statistics,
Our religion is compared to frankincense
and to cassia, hut never to nightshade
1t is a bundle or ayrrh. 1t is a dash OF
holy light. 1t is q sparkle Of cool foun-
tains. 1t is an opening Of opaline gates.
1t is a collection Of spices. Would God
that we were as wise in taking spices to
our Divine King as Queen Balkis was
wise in taking the spices to the earthly
Solomon.
The fact is that the duties and cares OF
this life, coming to us from time to time.