474 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



a Jewcfs. " And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame 

 " of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, fhe came 

 " to prove him with hard queflions*." Our Saviour, more- 

 over, fpeaks of her with praife, pointing her out as an ex- 

 ample to the Jews f . And, in her thankfgiving before So- 

 lomon, fire alludes to God's bkjfmg on the/Wof Ifrael for ever:}:, 

 which is by no means the language of a Pagan, but of a. 

 perfon fkilled in the ancient hiflory of the Jews. 



She likewife appears to have been a perfon of learning, 

 and that fort of learning which was then almoft peculiar to 

 Paleftine, not to Ethiopia. For we fee that one of the rea- 

 fons of her coming, was to examine whether Solomon was 

 really the learned man he was faid to be. She came to try 

 him in allegories, or parables, in which Nathan had in- 

 ftructed Solomon. 



The learning of the Eaft, and of the neighbouring kings 

 that correfponded with each other, efpecially in Paleftine 

 and Syria, confifted chiefly in thefe: " And Joafh king of 

 " Ifrael fent to Amaziah king of Judah, faying, The thiftle 

 " that was in Lebanon fent to the Cedar that was in Leba- 

 " non, faying, Give thy daughter to my fon to wife : and 

 " there palled by a wild beaft that was in Lebanon, and 

 " trode down the thiftle." — " Thou fayeft, Lo, thou haft 



" fmitten 



* I Kings, chap. x. ver i. and 2 Chron. chap. ix. ver. I. 

 f Matt. chap. xh. ver. 43. and Luke, chap xi. ver. 31. 

 % 1 Kings, chap. x. ver. 9. and 2 Chron. chap. ix. ver 8. 



