REHOBOAM; OR, THE RESULT OF AN IDLE WORD.

THE time of this prince's accession to the throne was one which demanded at once great vigour, and great prudence. Since the days of the death of Saul there had existed a sort of jealousy between the tribes of Israel in general, and the tribe of Judah. It would seem that immediately on the catastrophe at Gilboa, "the men of Judah," without waiting to consult their brethren, " I came and anointed David king over the house of Judah," and that it was not until Ishbosheth was slain, and the house of Saul, which had gradually waxed weaker and weaker, had been almost annihilated, that David was acknowledged as king by the whole nation. Even then the quarrel was but imperfectly composed. David removed his court from Shechem, and the Tabernacle from Shiloh to Jerusalem. And these were slights to the ancient importance of Ephraim, the chief of the ten tribes and their political representative, which no attentions paid by the king to individual Ephraimites could satisfactorily explain or alleviate. Hence Absalom was enabled so readily to seduce a large portion of the nation from its obedience. Hence the renewed defection which occurred after Absalom's death, and which crystallised itself in a war cry not very unlike the one which we find in the text, "We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel" (2 Sam. xx. 1). But there were

other causes of discontent, unconnected with this jealousy, and not altogether unfounded. The profuse, and in his latter days selfish expenditure of Solomon, had imposed burdens upon the people generally which were scarcely compensated by the channels of commerce which he had opened, and the consequent influx of wealth into his dominions. And it is more than probable that in his hey-day of luxury and sin, and in his latter years of penitence and seclusion, he had allowed the subjects on his frontier to be harassed by the Edomite Hadad, or the Syrian Rezon. Hence, one was wanted to rule over them who would by his vigour defend his people, and by his conciliating wisdom remove their grievances, and unite their affections.

Such a man was not Rehoboam. The very commencement of his reign was indicative of its character. Solomon died in Jerusalem, and was buried in the city of David, his father; and Rehoboam, his only son, found himself, outwardly at least, his undisputed successor. He must, however, have been aware, both of the internal discontent which prevailed among the ten tribes, and that Jeroboam, who was said to have been encouraged by one of their prophets, was at no great distance off, in exile indeed, but ready at any favourable moment to put forward his pretensions. It would, therefore, have been his policy, at once to repair to Shechem, the ancient political capital, there to receive his formal inaugu

ration, and to commence his redress of grievances. Instead of doing this, it would appear from the evidence of the Septuagint, that he must have waited a whole year, thus allowing discontent to spread, and affording Jeroboam an opportunity both of returning from Egypt, and of assuming the leadership of the discontented. At length the ceremony could no longer be delayed. "Rehoboam went to Shechem, for to Shechem were all Israel come to make him king." It is possible that Jeroboam was already at their head, but from the omission, in the text of the Septuagint, of his name in the twelfth verse of 1 Kings xii. and of the whole of the second, and of part of the third verses of that chapter, it is more likely that he was, though returned, in concealment, abiding a convenient time. And this supposition is confirmed by what we read in the twentieth verse of 1 Kings xii., where, after the defection, it is said, "that when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, they sent, and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was no man that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only." Be this, however, as it may, the main facts of what transpired at Shechem are perfectly clear and certain. The people in blunt, plain-spoken language, declared their sense of oppression, and implored an alleviation of their burthens -adding, "if this will be done we will serve thee." A clear-sighted prince would have combined this

demand, even had it come upon him unexpectedly, with what he knew of the real state of affairs, and of the substantial justice of the petition, and would at once have seen the alternative, "if this be not done, at least in appearance, we will not serve thee." An equitable prince would have made the required concessions, and have commenced them from that moment. A politic prince would, at least, have conciliated them, and sent them away satisfied. Rehoboam has none of these attributes. The only wisdom or moderation which he displays is to curb the haughty answer which probably rose to his lips, and to desire the people to come again after three days. The interval is spent in consulting two very different classes of persons; first, the aged counsellers, who had stood before his father Solomon, and then the younger men who had grown up with himself, and imbibed the spirit of despotism which had pervaded the latter years of Solomon's reign. The former advise him to speak good words to the people. If he would be their servant that day, they would be his servants for ever. The advice of the younger men is more violent; and to it, without the excuse of youth1 on his side-for he

1 Abijah (in 2 Chron. xiii. 7) says that "Rehoboam was then young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand the children of Belial, who strengthened themselves against him." If this was anything more than a mere excuse, it must mean, as some have imagined, that Rehoboam had, up to the time of his accession, been confined by the jealousy of Solomon in the privacy of

was forty-one years old when he commenced his reignRehoboam unhappily inclined. The people assembled on the third day; and he answered them roughly (or heavily)" My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions," that is, with scourges armed with sharp points, and lacerating the flesh at each blow. It was enough. This idle word cost him ten-twelfths of his kingdom. The revolutionary cry of the oppressed multitude burst forth as it had done aforetime—"What portion have we in David? and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel, and now, David, see to thine own house." One ineffectual effort the king makes to recall them to their allegiance, but he displays as little judgment in this effort as in his harsh reply. Adoram (Hadoram, or Adoniram), the receiver of tribute during the reign of David and Solomon, is sent to remonstrate with them—a strangely

the harem, lest he should employ his liberty against him, as Absalom and Adonijah employed theirs against David. Supposing this to have been the case, Rehoboam would certainly have been as inexperienced as a child in knowledge of men and things. But there is no evidence that it was so, and, in fact, the mention of "young men who had grown up with him" seems to show that he had not lived in seclusion. The only argument for it is his adoption of a different policy with regard to his own sons. This may have been dictated by a feeling that his own secluded education had been conducted on a false principle.