blameless in all the commandments of the Lord. The whole legislation on mount Sinai had a reference to the future condition of Israel in Canaan, where those circumstances, under which alone the law could be fulfilled, either already existed, or were to be produced.

"First of all, it was necessary that the land of Canaan, which was still occupied by many native tribes, should be conquered. Moses, the man with whom Jehovah talked as a man talketh with a friend," was dead. But he had left his people the law, and an ardent longing for rest in the land of which he had presented so attractive a picture; and, besides all this, he had left them a valiant successor to himself, Joshua, the son of Nun, who, with Caleb, had alone been found worthy, among so many thousands, to enter into the promised land. Joshua was not a second Moses; for a prophet like hin has not since arisen in Israel, who had known God face to face. But the Lord calls him a man in whom his spirit is, and commands Moses to lay his hands upon him, and present him to the priest Eleazar, and the whole congregation, and put his glory upon him, that all the children of Israel might obey him.'t This Moses had done, and when he died the Lord confirmed the appointment, and said to Joshua, 'Be strong, and of good courage, and thou shalt divide unto this people the land which I have sworn unto their father to give them.'

"By him, accordingly, the conquest of the land of promise was accomplished. The terror of the Lord went before him; the swelling Jordan divided to let him and the people pass; Jericho and Ai fell before him, in a manner equally wonderful and terrific, and the march of the victorious army proceeded without a check to Sichem, which Jacob had given to Joseph. The craft of the Gibeonites and their neighbors saved their lives, but furnished Israel with the Nethinim, the hewers of wood and drawers of water. Thus he smote one and thirty kings, and divided the land among the tribes, estab

* Exod. xxxiii. 11,

+ Num. xxvii, 23.

Josh. ix.

lished cities of refuge, and built Timnath-Serah on the hills of Ephraim.* The tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh, received their inheritance on the eastern side of the Jordan; but, on condition that forty thousand men from among them should assist in the conquest of the country on the other side, and on their return should erect, near the Jordan, a monument of their having partaken in the war with their brethren. A short time before his death, he held a general assembly of the people, in which he made Israel renew the covenant with Jehovah. When he died, he bequeathed to fourteen judges, who ruled Israel in succession, the difficult duty of upholding what he had established. The people, not yet sufficiently confirmed in the law, since more was necessary for this purpose than the mere possession of the land, allowed themselves to be seduced into the idolatry of the Canaanites. From without, the Mesopotamians, Moabites, Canaanites of the north, Midianites, Amalekites, Amonites, and Philistines, harassed and subdued the yet unconsolidated nation. In this way nearly five hundred years elapsed, in which fourteen heroes and sages, whom we call Judges, arose, and each, in their time, employed their energies in opposing the universal corruption, or delivering the people from oppression. So much did it cost to secure the possession of the portion which Jehovah had given to his people! Samuel closes this list of heroes, a man on whom, in a peculiar manner, the spirit of the Lord rested, and who, under the influence of this spirit, established schools of the prophets, to perpetuate the knowledge of the law.

"Thus was the land acquired; but there was still wanting a civil constitution, and a vigorous executive government. Jehovah alone would be their king; but the people felt the necessity that this dignity should be embodied to them in the person of one from among themselves. Samuel disapproved this imitation of the customs of the heathens, but he was compelled to yield, and anointed first Saul, and then

*Josh. xix. 49.

Josh. xxiii. xxiv.

David, king. In the whole history of our nation, there is no character that takes a more powerful hold of human sympathies than David, from his youth and his friendship, his heroic spirit, his conquests and institutions, his weaknesses and his sufferings. Scripture calls him 'a man after God's own heart.' Under him the promise of God to Abraham was fulfilled in a large sense, and from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates, the whole country was subject to Israel. But he did still more. He became the central point to all the tribes who had hitherto lived in nominal federation and virtual independence. He united all the five millions of his subjects by a common bond, and made Jerusalem the capital. For the first time, under him, it was possible to observe the civil laws of Moses. Joshua had conquered a country for the law, but David established a state for it.

"Still one thing was wanting, the temple, in which the glory of the Lord should dwell. David had already made preparations for the building of a temple, but it was not the pleasure of Jehovah that he should erect it. It was reserved for Solomon his son, to be the third, who, after Joshua and David, should furnish the last and most important of those means which were still wanting to make the external observance of the law practicable. And how did he perform this duty! In what strains do our sacred books speak of his wisdom, of his riches and of the unparalleled splendor of his temple! Kings and queens came from afar to behold this wonder of the world.

"The reign of Solomon was the era in which all was fulfilled, which Israel could still desire; in which everything united to give external dignity to the worship of Jehovah. The country was tranquil within, and at peace with its neighbors, governed by its king with wisdom, and united by the temple, which served as a central point to the whole nation. This is the most splendid era of our history, and when an Israelite pictures to himself days of happiness and prosperity, it is under the image of the reign of Solomon.

"The Books of Kings relate, that at Solomon's entrance cn

his kingly office, after he had sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings on the hills of Gibeon, Jehovah appeared to him in a dream,* and asked him what he should give him. Solomon, in his humility, calls himself a little child, who knew not how to go out or to come in, and asks only an understanding heart, to discern good from evil. And the answer of Solomon pleased the Lord, and God said unto him, 'Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, nor riches, nor the life of thine enemies, but hast asked understanding to discern judgment, behold I have given thee a wise and understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have given thee also that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.' Accordingly we are told of his wisdom, 'that he excelled all the children of the east country and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all nations round about. And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five; and he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of insects, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all kings of the earth which had heard of his wisdom.t "The temple was a monument both of his wisdom and his wealth. Phoenicia excelled at that time all other nations of the earth in skill in the arts, and Solomon made a bargain with Hiram, king of Tyre, both for workmen and for cedar-wood from Lebanon. Solomon had seventy thousand men who carried burthens, and eighty thousand carpenters on the mountain, without reckoning the superintendants of the works. Seven years was this multitude employed upon the erection of the temple; the foundation was laid in the fourth + Kings iv. 30.

*Kings iii. 5.

year of his reign, and it was completed in the eleventh. When it was finished, he assembled the elders of Israel, and the heads of tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, unto the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. And when Solomon had offered his incomparable dedication-prayer, and blessed the people, and had sacrificed oxen and sheep, he and all Israel held a feast, a great assemblage, before the Lord for fourteen days.

"Thus was the second period of the history of our nation completed. In the first they received the law; in the second they obtained a country, a king, and a temple. Now every man in Judah and in Israel might dwell securely under his own vine and his own fig-tree, from Dan to Beersheba, and serve Jehovah. We have next to see whether they did so. But I will break off here, that I may preserve unmingled the remembrance of those glorious days."

"Blessed be the Lord," exclamed Helon, "the King of the world, who vouchsafed such a time to his people!"

"It is not to be denied," said Myron, "that it must have been a joyful time in Jerusalem, and the whole land of Judea under Solomon. And yet your nation seems to me better fitted for a wandering life through the wilderness, such as was yesterday described to us."

"Why so ?" asked Helon.

"Because you knew not how to improve your good fortune." Helon was astonished.

I pity a people, so destitute of all taste and skill in the fine arts as yours. They want to build a temple and a house of the forest of Lebanon - gold and silver they have in abundance, but they are obliged to send for artists from Tyre; they come, execute their works, and leave these behind them, without having communicated to your nation the smallest portion of their dexterity."