Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-06-23

And whatsoever mine eyes desired l
kept not from them. / withheld not my
heart from any joy, for my heart re-
joiced in all my labor and th$s was
the portion of all my labor" Thus,
my friends, as the harvests began to
grow in the fields and the fruits began
to ripen in the orchards and the gold
and silver and the ivory and the pre-
cious stones and the silks were brought
from foreign lands into the Hebrew
capital on account of the wisdom Of
the king can we not feel that all our
temporal prosperity is directly due to
the great Prince Of Peace, whom we
call our Saviour, Jesus Christi
Why do we have our national
Thanksgiving day, when we come to-
gether as a nation to praise him, un-
less we feel that Gods wisdom grows
for us the wheat and the corn and
gives us the oranges and the apples
and the lemons? Why do we repeat
the Lords prayer and say, "Give us
this day our daily bread" unless we
feel that as carpenters and mechanics
and musicians and cooks and clerks
and schooteachers and merchants, he
will give to us an opportunity to earn
our food? Can sparrow fly across
the heavens but he guides itf Can
d flower grow in the garden but the
chemistry of his divine laboratories
colors it? Can the sheep be Dlanketed
with heavy wool unless he cares for
them? Can the fish live In the acquari-
ums Of the deep unless he watches
over them when they are young? All,
my friends, the wisdom of King Solo
mon did not develop the temporal pros
perity of the Hebrew nation nearly as
much as Gods wisdom provides for the
temporal wants Of his children. He
feeds the birds of the air and clothes
the lily Of the field. He feeds and
clothes us. Oh, the infinite wisdom Of
the Prince of Peace as a divine COM
missary.
A Just King.
But King Solomon not only stands
as the divine type of great and pow
erful king, friend to the great and the
powerful Of his realm, but he is also
the symbol of a just king looking after
the rights Of the helpless and the weak.
Solomon was not only willing to take
by the hand the great King Hiram Of
Tyre and call him brother, but he was
also willing to put his arm about the
helpless, the friendless and the weak
and say: Il am thy friend. l am thy
protector" And no man, no woman,
could be so poor and helpless but they
could always come to him and find
true justice.
You cannot understand what Solo,
monte justice means unless you In I'M
aginatlon go and see one of the orien-
tai rulers holding court in the far east
Now, the eastern court was not like
the western courts. The kings did not
appoint certain judges to dispense JUS
tice, but on certain days they them
selves went into large open audience
place as the great mOsuis of Delhi
used to do. Perhaps l can best de-
scribe for you this audience place Of
King Solomon by describing for you
the judgment hall Of Akbar the Great
as l saw it. This audience place, liter
ally speaking, is no hall at all. The
blue dome of heaven is its ceiling. The
pillared columns Of marble, which find
their anchorage in the most exquisite
Of mosaic floors, merely lift themselves
up for adOrnment and not to support
any roof. This reception hall was once
one mass Of jewels and precious stones.
These precious stones were not tossed
together In heaps as an italian hod car
rier tumbles bricks into pile. They
were arranged In most exquisite de-
signs with reference to size and color.
There in jewels the artist pictured the
plumage of the birds strutting about
in the gardens and the colors Of the
flowers lifting up their red lips to be
kissed by the setting sun and of the
rainbows playing among the fountains.
There in this wonderland was the pea
cock throne upon which Akbar the
Great sat, which throne alone was sup
posed to be worth $15,000000. 1t was
in such an open hall Of justice that
King Solomon used to sit, and any one
who wished could come direct to the
king and get justice.
Let us for Il little while enter the Je-
rusalem court today. The great He
brew king has been hearing applicant
after applicant He begins to look
weary with his work No sooner is his
last case finished than he turns sharply
and says, "WhO is next" With that
two women come forward. They are
both immoral or bad women, yet each |
laid claim to little boy as her own.
What did King Solomon do? Did he
say. ut makes no difference how this |
judgment goes; they are only social |
outcasts anyway Oh, no, that was
not Solomon's way. He said to him
SELF 81 must help the true mother.
must give her back her baby. So l
must be sure and make right deci- |
sion. I can only do this by a subter-
fuge."
The True Mother.
Then he turns in an Indifferent way |
and says to the eXecutioner: Don't let |
us be bothered any more about this |
matter. Let Us compromise the case. |
Cut the baby in two and give each |
claimant a half" The true mother at |
once falls on her knees and begins to |
beg for the life Of her child. "Oh, my |
king, my king, my good king" she |
said. "Save the life of my baby. Let |
this woman have the child if necessary,
but save my baby alive" The other
woman uttered not one word Of pro
test. She merely turned and said: "All
right. Let the king kill the child, that |
It be neither thine or mine" No sooner
did she say this than at once in that
open court Solomon, with flashing eyes,
said: "Give the baby to the weeping |
woman. She is the true mother" Was
Judgment ever better rendered? Could |