by which God, as he often did, made himself known. We know that in ancient times "God," in the expres sive words of St. Paul, "at sundry times and in divers manners spake to the fathers;" he sometimes spoke to them by a voice from heaven, sometimes in a dream ; and sometimes he spoke to them face to face. All this has ceased now, for God has spoken once for all by his Son from heaven. This dream was therefore the medium of a true revelation of God to Solomon in the silent watches of the night; and the result of it is transparent in the whole subsequent course and career of Solomon, The Lord said, "Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy." He recognizes God's unmerited goodness, and thanks him for the blessings he had given to his family in the past; "and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king, instead of David my father; and I am but a little child," that is, I am poor, and blind, and ignorant, and feel my great responsibility. "I know not how to go out or come in. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart tớ judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great a people ?" What a precious model and precedent is here for one going into any office of grave responsibility. Whatever be the function that God in his pro'vidence opens up for you and orders you to take pos'session of, in order to fulfil its duties you should pray not that you may have success in it as the first thing, but that you may be able by wisdom, and grace, and

understanding, adequately to meet and justly to fulfil all its obligations. Success rests with God; faithfulness to duty, zeal in the discharge of it, abides with us. "And the speech," it is said, or prayer, "pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; behold, I have done according to thy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart." What a noble gift! This is a practical and historical commentary upon one text in the Gospel of St. Matthew, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things will be added unto you;" that is, translated into plain language, seek the main thing first, and the subordinate things will come in beautiful and connected array; seek a side aim first, and you will miss it and the main end too; but seek the chief thing first, and the rest will surely follow. God does not always give riches to the strong, nor to the wise, nor to the industrious; but he gives riches far oftener to the man that in all his ways acknowledges God, and asks, first of all, of any proposition, or speculation, or enterprise, not, will this give me the greatest wealth, and furnish the largest returns; but is this, in the first place, agreeable to God's mind-will it endure the inspection of an omniscient eye ? As soon as you are satisfied of this grand point, you may fairly enquire,- Is this likely to suceeed? am I likely to be richer, and greater and better by it? It is absurd to say to a man, you must not look at secondary aims and objects; it is quite pro

per to look at these, we are made to look at them; all that we insist on is, let these be the second and subordinate, not the main and grand ends of all your actions. God gave him all the rest, though he had not asked it, because he had asked the main thing→ namely, a wise and an understanding heart.

We soon meet with an instance of the wisdom which God had given Solomon most admirably displayed. Two hostesses, or keepers of inns, as the word ought to be translated, and as it might be fairly translated in the case of Rahab, came to Solomon, and stated the facts which are recorded in this chapter. One woman, whose child died, wished to have the living child of the other woman, that she might exhibit it and shew it to the world as her son, and might have all the joy and the comfort of a mother bereaved of her own by the substitution of one, that it appeared, she could love nearly as well. The two mothers, as might have been expected, disputed; the one in whose bosom was laid. the dead child, was sure it was not her child, and was convinced that it had been substituted for her own living son, taken from her bosom by death. A controversy arose between them; they did not use the language of recrimination or of insult, or throw fierce reproaches at each other, but each asserted what one believed to be true, and what the other imposed as truth. The matter was brought before this prince who had received a wise and an understanding heart, and with an admirable appreciation of what was in the human heart he said, without asking any questions, "Bring me a sword." How startling must have been that order to his officers. "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other?" Now Solo

mon justly calculated that the true mother would instantly recoil from the perpetration of this frightful murder of her infant, and that the false mother, out of spite probably, and in order to cover her own decep tion, dishonesty, and hypocrisy, would acquiesce in the arrangement. Instantly the true mother said, "O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it." But the other said, with cool, calculating, and inhuman atrocity, "Let it be neither mine or thine, but divide it." Solomon instantly saw which bosom the tie entered that knit the babe to its mother's heart; and he said, "Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it, she is the mother thereof!" What an admirable proof of true wisdom, and in one sense an evidence that a despot, or an absolute king, provided he be a wise man, will be most likely to give the best decision. But all kings are not Solomons, and therefore the necessity of those checks, and restraints, and counterbalancing forces which are needful to sustain and maintain a just government.

"Oh ! when a mother meets on high
The child she lost in infancy,

Hath she not then for pains and fears,
The day of woe, the watchful night,
For all her sorrows, all her tears,

An over payment of delight."

A PROSPEROUS REIGN.

CHAPTER IV.

SOLOMON SELECTS HIS CABINET. THE BLESSINGS OF SOLOMON'S REIGN. NATIONAL PROSPERITY. SOLOMON'S VAST AND VARIED

ATTAINMENTS.

In the commencement of the chapter I have read there is what must seem to some a dull, dry, and uninteresting catalogue of names; but names that, never theless, have their importance as part of the constituent elements of a very important history, the sequel of which is still to be told. The record here is that after the death of David, and a time of some trouble, Solomon ascended the throne, and reigned king over all Israel, with a prosperity that seemed like the advancing sun, shining more and more unto the perfect day. And like a wise king, the moment he was installed in his throne, and took possession of his king dom, he selected different officers, who, in the language of modern times, might be called his Prime Minister, his Chancellor of the Exchequer, his head of the Commissariat, his secretary for the War Department, and his Admiral of the fleet; and all the varied officers requisite to take the superintendence and control of a large army, ships, and provisions requisite for the just and proper maintenance of both. These names are here mentioned, but all the splendour that belonged to them is merged in the greater splendour of their royal and illustrious master, their great king Solomon. Their names disappear from the memory and from the page of Scripture; and his name alone, the perfect type, notwithstanding flaws which are in every character,