The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1903-12-17

The Queen OF Sheba Visits Solomon
The fame Of Solomon spread to the
ends of earth on the white wings of
his merchantmen. No need for his
commercial travellers to spin yarns
about their kingly employer. The
very purchases they made spoke loud
err than words of his imperial tastes
and ineNhaustible treasury. His car
avans aroused curiosity that would
not be silent until satisfied.
The fame of Solomon was singular
in this, that it was religious, as distin-
guished from military or commercial
/ renowu. His name was associated
chiefly with a temple which he had
built to Jehovah, and with the wor-
shin there maintained. 1t was mat
/ ter Of common report, also, that he
acknowledged his glory, and wisdom,
and power as the gift Of God. The
fame of Solomon could not be dissas
sociated from the name of the Lord.
\ thousand miles away, happy.
iewel-strewu Arabia lay, exhaling her
aromatic breath, as tradition says,
far out upon the Red Sea. Such a
country would naturally be the Mecca
of Solomon's puryeyors. SO he came
to be known in the palace as well as
on change.
The queen was no diettante. con
tent with the attentions of obseQuious
/ courtiers; no mere dummy to hang
royal robes and regalia on. She had
physical stamina. A thousand miles
of Bedouin andserpent- infested desert
/ had no terrors for her She had an
alert mind. She coveted the luxury of
an intellectual bout with the wisest
man on earth. She had program of
questions ready. There was great
/ deal in her heart about which she de
sired TO commune with this imperial
oracle.
That is superficial view. however.
which atlirms the queens motive to
/ be one of mere curiosity. No doubt
she desired to improve herself by
. travel: to see a temple, palace, city,
and court unriyaled-the wonder of
/ the world. No doubt she wanted to
( quench her thirst at an intellectual
fountain so copious and clear But
/ in the final analysis. the reason for
the action of this princess was a relig-
ious one. Hers was a pious pilgrim
age. What impelled her was the fame
of solomon, not as prince, builder, or
merchant, but that which was assOci-
ated with the name OF Jehovah. 1t
was the glory of the Lord, as mani
tested in the king of Zion, which the
/ queen of the East desired to see.
The approach of this ideal religious
/ inquirer was a strong appeal of Prov
idence to the favored monarch at a
crucial hour of his career. At the
moment when, in the employment Of
the gift, he was forgetting the Oliver,
came this reminder that he was the
almoner of the knowledge and grace
of God to a world that knew him not.
Solomon must needs recognize him
self as IA torch-bearer in the night of
moral ignorance. He must see his
great advantage, because to him had
been committed the Oracles of God.
He must haye felt himself the salt of
the earth, the city set upon the hill.
The king met the queenly inquirer
in a gracious manner. He allowed
/ her to commune with him of all that
was in her heart He answered all
her questions. With that frankness
which is always associated with NOR
al earnestness, the queen admitted
her skepticism concerning the rumors
of his wisdom and achievements
which had reached her in her far
away land; but with inimitable naiv-
etc, she affirmed that what she saw
{ exceeded nv moro that half what clio