SOLITAIRESOLOMON. 



313 



pieces he wrote the preludes (/oas). He is princi- 

 pally known at present as a historical writer. Hav- 

 ing been appointed historiographer of the Indies, he 

 drew up a work entitled Historia de la Conquista 

 de Mejico, which passed through many editions, 

 and of which an English translation was published 

 in 1"24 (folio). He took orders in the church in 

 the latter part of his life, and died at an advanced 

 age, in 1686. An edition of the History of the 

 Conquest of Mexico, in the original Spanish, was 

 printed in London in 1809 (3 vols. 8vo.) 



SOLITAIRE (French, solitary) is used also as a 

 substantive. One of the meanings is a diamond set 

 alone, without other stones round it. 



SOLMIZATION. See Solfaing. 



SOLMS; a German family of counts and princes, 

 in Wetteravia, sprung from the stock of Conrad the 

 Salian. Since 1432, it has consisted of two lines, 

 Solms-Braunfels and Solms-Lich, the latter of 

 which is divided into the branch of Lien and Ho- 

 hensolms and that of Laubach. The line of Braun- 

 fels received the dignity of prince of the empire in 

 1742, and the branch of Lich and Hohensolms in 

 1792. In 1806, the possessions of the family were 

 mediatised, and are now subject to Hesse-Darmstadt 

 and Prussia. 



SOLO is a piece of music, or a passage, in which 

 a single voice or instrument performs quite alone 

 (i. e. without accompaniment), or is distinguished 

 above the other voices. Thus there are violin so- 

 los, solos for the pianoforte, &c., pieces for the 

 violin or the piano only ; but a solo for the violin 

 also signifies a passage in which the violin part is 

 the principal. A solo, also, in a piece of music for 

 several instruments or voices, denotes a passage 

 which is to be executed by one of the instruments 

 separately. And tutti signifies that all the voices 

 or instruments are to commence again after the 

 solo has been played. Soli, in the plural, denotes 

 that two or more voices or instruments are to exe- 

 cute a passage in the same manner, distinctly from 

 che other instruments or voices. (See Obligate.} 

 Peculiar freedom, ease, distinctness, and power of 

 execution, is required to perform the solo with cor- 

 rectness, taste and feeling. 



SOL OMON ; son of David by Bathsheba, through 

 whose influence he inherited the Jewish throne, in 

 preference to his elder brothers. During a long 

 and peaceful reign, from B. C. 1015 to 975, he en- 

 joyed the fruits of his father's labours. A youth 

 surrounded with royal splendours inspired him with 

 a sense of dignity, and he carried with him to the 

 throne, which he ascended, while young, with the 

 cruelty of an Eastern monarch, the wisdom which 

 he had derived from the lessons of his father and 

 his father's counsellors. To confirm his power, he 

 caused his brother Adonijah, and some discontented 

 nobles, to be put to death, and formed alliances 

 with foreign rulers. His remarkable judicial deci- 

 sions, and his completion of the political institu- 

 tions of David, showed a superiority of genius, 

 which gained him the respect of the people. By 

 the building of the temple, which, in magnitude, 

 splendour and beauty, exceeded any former work of 

 architecture, he gave to the Hebrew worship a 

 magnificence which bound the people more closely 

 to their national rites. The wealth of Solomon, 

 accumulated by a prudent use of the treasures in- 

 herited from his father by successful commerce, 

 through which he first made the Hebrews acquainted 

 with navigation ; by a careful administration of the 

 royal revenues, which he caused to be collected by 



twelve governors} and by an increase of taxes, 

 enabled him to meet the expense of erecting the 

 temple, building palaces, cities and fortifications, and 

 of supporting the extravagance of a luxurious court. 

 But while, on the one hand, the prosperity of the 

 people was promoted, and the arts and civilizat : on 

 were improved, on the other, an example of perni- 

 cious luxury, and of a gradual relaxation of the 

 severity of the Mosaic religion, was exhibited. 

 Admiration of Solomon's wisdom and regal magni- 

 ficence, which brought crowds of foreigners to his 

 capital, and, among the rest, a queen of Sheba, 

 easily drowned the few voices of discontent. His 

 justice gained him the respect of his subjects ; and 

 an army stood at his command, consisting of 12,000 

 horsemen, armed in the Egyptian manner, and 1400 

 war-chariots, to overawe the Gentile tribes, which 

 had been subjugated by David to the Jewish yoke, 

 and were now forced to labour in the service ot 

 Solomon. Fortune long seemed to favour this 

 great king; and Israel, in the fulness of its pros- 

 perity, scarcely perceived that he was continually 

 becoming more despotic. Contrary to the laws ot 

 Moses, Solomon admitted foreign women into his 

 numerous harem of 700 wives and 300 concubines ; 

 and, from love to these women, he was weak enough, 

 in his old age, to permit them the free practice 

 of their idolatrous worship, and even to take part 

 in it himself. Still his adversaries, who, towards 

 the close of his life, aimed at his throne, could ef- 

 fect nothing; but, after his death, the discontent 

 of the people broke out into open rebellidh, and his 

 feeble son, Rehoboam, could not prevent the divi- 

 sion of the kingdom. (See Hebrews.) The forty 

 years' reign of Solomon, the last years of which 

 were less glorious than the first, is still, however, 

 celebrated among the Jews for its splendour and its 

 happy tranquillity, as one of the brightest periods 

 of their history. Throughout the East it is con- 

 sidered as a golden age. In fact, Solomon belonged 

 more to the East, in general, than to his own na- 

 tion. His mode of thinking was freer than be 

 seemed a Hebrew. The writings contained under 

 his name in the Bible, though they may have been 

 collected and arranged at a later period, are sub- 

 stantially the work of Solomon. They breathe a 

 philosophical spirit, elevated above the prejudices 

 of his nation. His Proverbs are rich in ingenious 

 and sagacious observations. His Ecclesiastes, or 

 Preacher, savours of the philosophy which men of 

 the world, sated with a long course of pleasure, 

 form from the results of their own experience. It 

 teaches that nothing is permanent, and therefore 

 we should hasten to enjoy present good, and that 

 God is the source of all wisdom. (For the Canti- 

 cles, see Solomon's Song.) The book entitled the 

 Wisdom of Solomon, though received into the 

 canon by the Roman Catholic church, is rejected, 

 as apocryphal, by Protestants. Solomon's wisdom 

 and happiness have become proverbial; and the 

 fables of the rabbins, and the heroic and erotic 

 poems of the Persians and Arabians speak of him, 

 as the romantic traditions of the Normans and Bri- 

 tons do of king Arthur, as a fabulous monarch, 

 whose natural science (mentioned even in the Bi- 

 ble), whose wise sayings and dark riddles, whose 

 power and magnificence, are attributed to magic. 

 According to these fictions, Solomon's ring was the 

 talisman of his wisdom and power, and, like the 

 temple of Solomon, in the mysteries of the free- 

 masons and rosicrucians, has a deep, symbolical 

 meaning'. 



