stroyed the people, It is enough; stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite." And David prayed, saying, "Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly but these sheep, what have they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house."

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And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, "Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite." And David did as the Lord commanded. And the king bought the threshing-floor and the oxen of Araunah, though Araunah, as a king, would have given unto the king all he needed for the sacrifice oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments, and other instruments of the oxen for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering! But David would not offer burnt offerings to the Lord of that which cost him nothing: so he bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And he "built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel." David finally bought the surrounding land, the whole hill, for six hundred shekels of gold, and it became the site of the future temple.

By this time David began to be an old man, and his fourth son, Adonijah, having won over Joab, and Abiathar, the priest, thought to take advantage of his father's age and infirmities, and to get possession of the kingdom. In order to this he made a feast, to which he invited all persons who, he thought, would favour his cause, and all the king's sons except Solomon; he was excluded, as well as Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, and others, David's mighty men. But the Lord

had prepared another to be king, and to sit upon the throne of David; even Solomon! He it was, under whose peaceable rule the kingdom was to attain greater glory than it had yet known; for, of him it had been declared," he shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon (that is, peaceable), and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will estab lish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever." Accordingly we read that Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, instructed by Nathan the prophet, stood before David, and told him of Adonijah's rebellion. While she yet spake, Nathan came in and confirmed the report. Then the king sware that Solomon should be king, and he commanded Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon : and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon !" And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, "Amen : the Lord God of my lord the king say so too. As the Lord hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David." So they went down with the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon, and anointed him. "And they blew the trum

pet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. And all the people came up after him; and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them." "And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating;" "and they were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.

And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar:" but Solomon suffered him to go to his house in peace.

When king David's end drew nigh, he called unto him Solomon his son; and charged him to carry out his purpose of building the Temple : entreating him to serve the God of his fathers with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. He made over to him the materials which he had collected for the temple; "100,000 talents of gold* and 1,000,000 talents of silver; † and of brass and iron without weight." Besides which, he gave of his own substance, over and above all that he had prepared for the holy house, 3000 talents of gold of Ophir, and 7000 talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the house. He gave, too, the pattern according to which all was to be done; and, in the solemn assembly, he charged all the princes of Israel to help Solomon, saying, Is not the Lord your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into

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* This, at £5,075 15s. 7 d. the talent, would amount to the sum of £507,578,125.

†This, at £353 11s. 10d. the talent, would amount to £353,591,666 13s. 4d.; and both sums would reach the immense amount of £861,169,791 13s. 4d.

mine hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people. Now, set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God: arise, therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord." Stirred up by David's words, and by his example, the princes and the people offered willingly of their substance to help this great work, and the people rejoiced, and they offered burnt offerings unto the Lord. And they made Solomon, the son of David, king the second time, and anointed him unto the Lord to be the chief governor, and Zadok to be priest.

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"So Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king, instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him." David lived about six months after this, when, having cautioned Solomon not to submit, as he had done, to the galling yoke of Joab; warned him of the dangerous character of Shimei; and charged him never to forget the kindness of Barzillai the Gileadite, he died in a good old age, having reigned over Israel forty years; seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

THE JEWS ACCUSED OF CAUSING THE PLAGUE IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. (Continued from page 187.)

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Ar Spires, the Jews, driven to despair, assembled in their own habitations, which they set on fire, and thus consumed themselves with their families. The few that remained were forced to submit to

baptism; whilst the dead bodies of the murdered which lay about the streets, were put into empty wine casks and rolled into the Rhine, lest they should infect the air. The mob was forbidden to enter the ruined houses of the Jews: for the Senate itself caused search to be made for their treasure, which is said to have been considerable. At Strasburg, 2000 Jews were burnt alive in their own burial-ground, where a large scaffold had been erected; a few who promised to embrace Christianity were spared, and their children taken from the pile. The Senate ordered all pledges and bonds to be returned to the debtors, and divided the money amongst the work people.

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In all the countries on the Rhine, these cruelties continued to be perpetrated during the succeeding months; and after quiet was in some degree restored, the people thought to render an acceptable service to God, by taking the bricks of the destroyed buildings, and the tombstones of the Jews, to repair Churches and to erect belfries.

"In Mayence alone, twelve thousand Jews are said to have been put to death. The Flagellants entered that place in August; the Jews on this occasion fell out with the Christians and killed several; but when they saw their inability to withstand their enemies, and that nothing could save them from destruction, they consumed themselves and their families by setting fire to their dwellings.

"At Eslingen, the whole Jewish community burned themselves in their Synagogue; and mothers were often seen throwing their children on the pile to prevent their being baptized, and then precipitating themselves into the flames. Almost all the Jews who saved their lives by