governing. Only the gracious answer came,
that, because all this was in the heart of the young king, because he
had made the worthy fulfilment of his mission the grand aim of his life,
wisdom and knowledge were granted to him. And because he had desired
these rather than long life, or riches, or honour, or the lives of his
enemies, there should also be given to him riches, and wealth, and
honour, such as no king had ever enjoyed before him or should ever know
after him. And if he served God faithfully, as his father David had
done, length of days, also, should be added unto him.

The young king awoke, "and, behold it was a dream." But it was not one
of those fanciful dreams, that come and go, and mean nothing. It was a
dream from God, a great reality, as he was soon to prove.

From that time Solomon became noted for his wisdom and knowledge. On
the most difficult points he was able to give a just judgment, that
astonished all who heard it. "And the people feared him; for they saw
that the wisdom of God was in him."

His wisdom excelled that of all the wise men of the east, and the
understanding of even the wise men of Egypt sank into the shade when
compared with his.

He gave his people three thousand proverbs. He wrote a thousand and five
songs; one of them which is called the "Song of Songs," or the "Song of
Solomon," and which has a place in the Bible, having a depth of
beautiful meaning, which only the very wise can understand. He knew all
about the trees, from the kingly cedar that reared its proud head on the
famous heights of Lebanon, to the humble hyssop that sprang out of the
wall. He could tell the nature of each, describe its flowers and its
fruit, and point out of what it was symbolic. The beasts of the earth,
the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, and even the creeping
things were all to him as an open book. He could tell for what each was
created, and what lesson each was intended to convey. He could answer
the most difficult questions that any one could put to him; and his fame
rapidly spread through all the countries of the then known world.

He became so rich, too, that silver and gold were as common as the
stones that he saw lying in the streets, as he rode through Jerusalem in
his open chariot, clothed in white, threads of glittering gold mixed
with his jet black hair.

He erected the glorious temple, which for grandeur and magnificence
stood unrivalled; and time would fail to tell of the