The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1906-10-26

her ambassadors. Accompanying thes
ambassadors she sent 800 youths dress
ell as maidens and 500 maidens dress
ed as youths. Then she sent a chalic
and a diamond intricately pierced
Then. writes Dr. KittO. the letter wa
supposed 10 read thus: "As n tru
prophet thou wilt bee able 10 separate
the maidens from the boys. perforat
the diamond and ill the goblet witt
water that hath not dropped from thl
clouds nor gushed forth from the eartl
beneath" Legend tells us further tha
King Solomon told the ambassadors IN,
contents Of the letter before IL wa.
opened. Then he solved the three rid
dies In the following way: First b,
placed a basin Of water before eacl
youth and maiden. and by the way
they washed he was able 10 distinguish
the boys from the girls Second, hC
threaded the lntricately pierced dia
mond by compelling a small worm "a
crawl through the crystal labyriAth
while there was tied 10 the body Of the
worm a small silken thread. Thirdly
he filled the golden goblet with water
which had not fallen from the heavens
above or gushed up from the waters
beneath by driving a colt around and
around and around until his lathered
iIanks were covered with foam and
filled the goblet 10 the brim. These ex.
amples Of the wisdom Of Solomon may
be only fables; but whether they are
fables or not, one fact we do know.
and that is that the wisdom Of King
Solomon stands as a type OF the an
knowing wisdom, the wisdom Of an
omnlscient all seeing God
Is il not a blessed satisfaction 10 you
that God knows everything2 The world
for years may have been misjudging
and condemning us, not because IL IS
an unjust world at heart, but simply
because its knowledge Is so meager.
How differently the world would treat
a Washington or a Lincoln IL they
could only come back 10 EARTH How
differently we would treat our own
dear ones if we only knew the true
conditions Of their lives. l think the
saddest remark I ever heard Of any
one making was by a dear member Of
my church. She was lying IN bed about
10 die of a cancer. one day she looked
up and said: 81 wonder If God will ever
forgive me for being irritable and fault
finding TO my children2 l sometimes
think l was not TO blame for being
cross. I sometimes think that this cam
Ger has been working upon me and un-
dermining my system for years and
years, aud l did not know it, and my
irritability was due TO my sickness and
not because my nature was naturally
cross" All, yes, the world may not
know the causes Of our actions, but
God knows. Is Il not a blessed thought
10 you that God knows your every
thought and your every deed and does
not mislnterpret your actions, as the
world so often does7 lie knows ALL
Yes, all.
King Solomon, in the next place, was
not a man Of blood. He was not the
central figure Of sanglnary battle
fields. His chief musical instinct was
not the bugle 10 sound forth the clarion
call to arms. lie was the prince OF
peace. He was the creator and the de-
veloper Of a nations Industries during
an era when the sword was turned into
a plowshare and the spear into a prun-
ing hook. He was not like a Napoleon
or a Frederick the Great OF a Caesar
or an Alexander or a Cyrus or an Ar
taxerxes, whose greatest claim 20 fame
was dependent upon the rapldlty with
which they could unsheath their
swords and the unerring power with
which they could strike and destroy a
trembling foe. But King Solomon's
greatest claim TO fame rests upon the
fact that he was a builder and not a
destroyer, a creator and not con-
lueror.
Like Moses bringing forth water
from uoreb, King Solomon lifted his
magic wand and struck the hard bowl
lcrs Of national finance, and at once
here gushed forth rivers Of molten
gold. Work, work, work. there seemed
10 be plenty Of work In his kingdom
There was work for everybody and
high wages and prosperity for all. As
we wander today over the hllls,des we
Ind them covered with orchards. The
rees are bending so low under the
weight Of the fruit that the branches
nave to be propped up. When we go
lown into the valleys we find them
covered with the golden headed har-
rests. When we 90 down TO tho sea-
shore we hear the "No, HEAVIER Of the
iailors whose ships have come from
rarshsh. The busy marts are crowd
d with merchantmen. The Fat. well
ed cattle are upon a thousand hills. .
The long caravans. heavy laden with
,old and silver and ivory and precious
.plces and silks and rare treasures OF
m sorts, are crossing the deserts from
he east and the south. All, yes, never
vas there such an era OF prosperity as
hat OF the SOlomonic reign. Read the
ninth chapter of Kings and second /
.hapter Of Eccleslastes n you would T.
,now what was the extent Of thatpr0 /
,erity. $50 ! was great" That al /
udes not only 10 his own Individual F.
.reatness. but also 10 the greatness Of /
.is people. "And increased more than /.
m that we're before me IN Jerusalem. F.
Also my wisdom remained with me. |
And whatsoever mine eyes desired ] /
.ept not from them. 7 withheld not my .
.eart from any Joy, FOR my heart re |
diced IN all my labor, and this was .
le portion Of all my labor" Thus, .
ny friends, as the harvests began 10 F.
row 10 the fields and the fruits began |
D ripen In the orchards and the gold /
nd silver and the ivory and the pre- /
ious stones and the silks were brought 4
rom foreign lands into the Hebrew F.
.f4.f 80. ,o.1r..s - fIa rrrfeTnnr 81 /