ORIENTAL WISDOM. 197 



But whatever his intellectual attainments may have 

 been, he did not possess that kind of wisdom which 

 alone is worthy of a king. He did not attempt to 

 make his monarchy enduring, his people prosperous 

 and content. He was a true oriental Sultan, sleek 

 and sensual, luxurious and magnificent, short-sighted 

 and unscrupulous, cutting down the tree to eat the 

 fruit. The capital of a despot is always favoured, and 

 with the citizens of Jerusalem, he was popular enough. 

 They were, in a measure, his guests and companions, 

 the inmates of his house. They saw their city en- 

 circled with enormous walls, and paved with slabs of 

 black and shining stone. Their eyes were dazzled, and 

 their vanity delighted with the splendid buildings 

 which he raised ; the ivory palace, the cedar palace, 

 and the temple. The pilgrims who thronged to the 

 sanctuary from all quarters of the land, and the travel- 

 lers who came for the purposes of trade brought wealth 

 into the city. Foreign commerce was a court monopoly ; 

 but the city was a part of the court. Outside the city 

 walls, however, or at least beyond the circle of the 

 city lands, it was a very different affair. The rural 

 districts were severely taxed ; especially those at a dis- 

 tance from the capital. The tribes of Israel, which, 

 but a few years before, had been on terms of complete 

 equality among themselves, were now trampled under 

 foot by this upstart of the House of Judah. The 

 tribe of Ephraim which had so long enjoyed supremacy, 

 became restless beneath the yoke. While Solomon yet 

 reigned, the standard of revolt was raised ; as soon as 

 he died, this empire of a day dissolved. Damascus 

 became again an independent state. The Arabs cut 

 the road to the Bed Sea. The King of Egypt, who 

 had probably been Solomon's liege lord, despatched an 



