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.