Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-06-21
Ca(nase

BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaae, D. D.

Los Angeles, Cal, June lin the
dramatic story OF the queen of Sheba's
experience in the court of the wise
king the preacher finds a lesson of high
spiritual encouragement. The text Is
II. Chronicles tx. G, THE onc-llalf of the
greatness of thy wisdom was not told
me-"
1t IS amazing to find how mucl, the
incidents and the thrilling scenes OF the
Bible are reproduced under other
names in the literary masterpieces Of
the present day. Like the huge trees
Of the Mariposa grove, which anchored
their roots IN tho soil centuries ago
md havo lately had tucked upon their
harjt Tho names Of Grant" Lee"
w shlngton.' dewey" or "Roose-
volt" these old Bible scenes have been
rcchristened with modern names. But
they still remain tho same old scenes as
! the Marlposa trees remain the same old
trees, no matter what slgnboards have
been nailed upon their sides. Further
more, mnny of our greatest writers at
| tribute the strength of their books to the
fact that they have gone 10 the sacred
writer's 10 lind their Inspirations. Most
| Of my grent chars tiers and scenes have
been drawn from Biblical lore" lately
wrote an English novelist. Some PEG.
pie may not recognize their antiquity
because they nrc not Bible students.
But these supposed creations OF my
hrnt,, lival fhnitCo pHG ttnnn thousands
| of years ago, although | have dressed
them up in modern clothes and given
them Anglo-SaXon Names" These are
not the Identical words Of the noted
English writer. ] cannot remember his
exact expression, but they convey his
confession Just the same.
Now we can find the scene Of King
Solomon as II young prince. choosing
wisdom, reproduced in many different
literary masterpieces. Alphonse La
MARITIME. the great French poet, who
died in 1869, gave a beautiful descrip-
ton of it in his story OF King Nimrod.
This king had three sons. lie offered
to them three vases, the m Of gold,
the second of amber, tie third of clay.
kIlt SOltl Represented 'llil'll'' tIt tlA
Ter glory or fame he third repre-
scented "wisdow from cod" Choose"
cried King Nimrol. Choose And
when the youngest son those the vase
of clay King Nimrod said: Thou hast
chosen well. Thou hast chosen best of
all. for the man who chooscs wisdom
shall wave the scopter rs well as mount
the throne of fame
Wisdom Instead of Gold.
We find the wonderful Bible char
acter of young solomon being repro
duced in Shakespeare's "Merchant of
Venice" When the Young Hebrew
prince stands before God and says,
Give me now wisdom and knowledge
that l may go out and come in before
this people, for who can Judge this
people that Is 50 greatW we seem to
see Portia standing with her three
caskets, the n of gold, the other of
silver and the third of lead. Then we
see the avaricious man reaching for the
casket of gold. Then we see the
selfish man reaching for the casket
of silver. But lastly we see the true
lover lifting IN the casket of lead,
And when BaSsanlo chose the leaden
casket he won all that his heart could
wish, for he won fame and honor he
sides wisdom and love. Thus, rs
Shakespeare and Iamartine have their
heroes lift the vase of clay or the
casket Of lead, they say: We'll done
We'll done, thou Sagacious man. Al
success shall be thine We seem tC
hear God speak TO the young Prince
Solomon these words when he chooses
wisdom instead Of gold, wisdom and
knowledge is granted unto thee, and
will give thee riches and wealth and
honor such as nOnc of the kings have
had that have been before thee, nci
Their shall there he any after thc<
have the like" Thus the fame and
riches OF Solomon not only spread
through his w country, but also tc
the farthest parts of h sea.
The scene changes. We are today
Is great excitement everywhere. Thu
royal courtiers are riding every width
or. The kings guards are marching &c
the city's gates. The whole capital Is
in gala day attire. what Is the mat
ter you ask. why" says a courier
hating his chariot. do you not know
that the beautiful queen of Shcba from
the great nation of the south is coming
to visit our king? She has heard Sc
much Of the fame of Solomon's wealth
and wisdom thai she has come to teS1
them with her WI eyes and ears. Here
she comes with her cOurticrs now
Make way there. Stand back. There
Is the king alighting to meet her, Are
they not n glorious pair of rulersT'
Was not this the welcome that wa!
given to the queen of Shcba when sh'
came to prove Solomon with hare
questions?
You know the rest Of the story. Aftel
the queen Of Sheba had seen all ant
heard all and communed with Solomon
all that was in her heart, she turned Il
him and said, at was a true repor
which I heard in mine own land O
thine acts and of thy wisdom" Yes
me reports Of Solomon's wisdom wer'
great, but they We're not exaggerated
Indeed, they were understatcd. Fo
after the queen of Sheba had gone ol
enumerating what she had heard, sh'
cries out in the words OF my text, "Th'
one.half Of the greatness Of thy wis
dom was not told me-" Now as TIN
wisdom OF King solomon has Away