sion
the ark of Jehovah, the sacred chest which had been carried in the
desert, was brought up to Jerusalem. It was accompanied by a chorus of
singers and a band of instrumental players, "with harps and lyres and
cymbals." In the worship of the temple at Jerusalem music from this
time on had an important place. And all up and down the land here and
there, one could hear in humble homes the tinkle of harp strings; and
boys and girls who liked music could learn to play.

If not in David's time, then very soon after, the first Hebrew history
books were written. These contained stories which had been handed down
from generation to generation; stories about the beginnings of things;
stories about Abraham and Moses and other early heroes.

There were, of course, only a few copies of written rolls of stories,
as compared with the millions of volumes which are constantly being
turned out to-day by our great printing presses. But these few were
much read, and those who read committed many of the stories to memory
so that they could repeat them again and again in their home circles.
In this way life grew more rich in pleasure and interest for many a
Hebrew youth and maiden.

DAVID'S SUCCESSOR, SOLOMON

After David's death his son Solomon was made King. He also encouraged
commerce, both by land and by sea. His ships sailed down the Red Sea
to India, and back, and over the Mediterranean Sea to Spain. They
brought back, according to the author of First Kings, "gold and
silver, ivory, and apes and peacocks."

=Solomon's folly.=--Alas for the happiness of the people, Solomon was
a different kind of a man from his father. Like so many other sons of
good kings he was spoiled by too much luxury and too little
discipline. He had the reputation of being very wise, but in reality
he was very foolish. His chief ambition was to have splendid palaces,
and to make a great display of riches, like the kings of Egypt and
Babylonia.

In order to build these fine buildings and have great numbers of
servants it was necessary to extort the money from his people by heavy
taxes. They were also compelled to labor without pay in his quarries
and elsewhere. So with all the increased wealth in the land and with
all the seeming progress in civilization, the common people were
really wretched--almost worse off than in the old days of disunion and
confusion and fear.

=The disruption of the kingdom.=--As a result of this cruelty and
oppression, the