The Youth Of Solomon.

THE YOUTH OF SOLOMON .

LONDON , SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 20 , 1859 .

BY J . ELAVIUS ADAMS , M . D . THAT celebrated prayer in which our wise Grand Master is represented as addressing himself to God , on Ms accession to the throne of Israel , ¦ is not without instruction and solemn import . We give that portion of it which suggested to us ouv present article . " And Solomon said : And now 0 Lord my GodThem

, , hast made thy servant king , instead of David , my father j and I am but a little child : I know not how to go out and to come in . " Give , therefore , thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people , that I may discern between good and bad , for who is able to judge this so great a people 9

"And the speech pleased the Lord , that Solomon had asked this thing . " The form of the book in which it is related permits it only to be considered as a fact in the history of his reign , and necessarily leaves the sentiments and disposition which lead to this beautiful address to the imagination of the reader to

supply . But , in what is considered the apocryphal book of his wisdom , it is related at much greater length , and represents the feelings and character of the author with a simplicity which is singularly affecting , and with an eloquence which cannot be too much admired . It opens with a very beautiful description of the character and effects of wisdom

, and of the early admiration . which it had excited in his mind . "Now , when I considered these things , " says he , "by myself , and pondered it in mine heart , how that to be joined to wisdom is immortality , and great pleasure in her friendship and glory by communing with her , I went about seeking how I might take her unto me . Nevertheless , when I perceived

that I could not enjoy her , except God gave her me , I went unto the Lord and besought him , and with my whole heart I said , 0 God of my fathers , and Lord of mercy , who hath made all things by thy word , and ordained man through thy wisdom , that he should have dominion over the creatures which thou hast made , and govern the world according to equity , and execute judgment with an upright heart , give me that wisdom which sitteth by thy throne , and put me not out

from among thy children ; and send her out of thy holy heavens , and from the throne of thy majesty , that she may dwell with me , and that I may know what is pleasing unto thee . So shall my works be acceptable—so shall I govern thy people righteously , and be meet for my father ' s throne . " There is not , perhaps , in the history of mankind , a more

beaiitiful picture than that which is here represented ; a young man in the bloom of life—when everything was gay and alluring around him , in the moment of ascending to a throne , when pleasure and ambition were before him , and eastern servility , with its wonted adulation , told him that all things wore in his hand—betaking himself thus humblto

y 'lis God , and imploring of him that wisdom which might enable him to resist the temptations with which his situation surrounded him , and to fulfil the duties to which he was called . Had it been in the latter period of his reign , when satiated with pleasure , and disappointed in ambition—when fati gued with the cares and pageantry of a throne he looked

abroad for better comforts—had it been at such a time that Solomon had directed his soul to heaven , much of the merit ° f his piety would have been lost . It would have , then appeared only as the last refuge of a discontented mind , which interest , not disposition , had led to devotion , and which sought only for repose in piety when it had been disappointed in

everything else . But at such a season , to be guided by such sentiments , in such an hour to address himself to God , bespeaks a mind so humble and yet so pure , a disposition so ardentl y and yet so ri ghtly inclined , and a soul so well fitted for every kind of excellence , that no language of praise seems soo great for its desert ,

To the Entered Apprentice Mason this illustration offers a practical lesson of true wisdom . It reminds him of his first step into the temple of knowledge and science—how he knelt , and implored the assistance of the Supreme Being , assured that , if his faith be well founded in that Being , he may confidently pursue his course , without fear and without

peril . It is for wisdom that he also prays , and we give the appropriate invocation so familiar to Ereeniasons : " Vouchsafe thine aid , Almighty Father of the universe , to this our present convention , and grant that this candidate for Masonry may dedicate and devote his life to thy service , aud

become a true and faithful brother among us . Endue him with a competency of thy Hivine wisdom , that by the influence of tho pure jninciplos 0 f our Order he may the better be enabled to display the beauties of holiness to the honour of thy holy name . Amen . " I Thus is the Entered Apprentice Mason taught , by the

example of our great prototype , to implore his Creator ' s aid in all his laudable undertakings , and to esteem Him as the chief good . " - It is not , however , from the peculiar situation of King Solomon that tho beauty of this memorable instance arises . The charm of it chiefly consists in its suitableness to the

season of youth ; in its correspondence to the character and disposition which distinguish that important age ; and which , no length of acquaintance with the world prevents us from wishing to find in the young . In all situations , indeed , of human life , piety is the duty and the interest of mankind ; but , in vouth , it 'has something singularly graceful and

becoming , something which ever impels us to think well of the mind in which it is found , and which , better than all the other attainments of life , appears to promise honour and happiness in future days . It is suited to the opening of human life , to that interesting season when nature in all its beauty first- opens on tho viewand when the wisdom and goodness of the Almi ght

, y fall on tho heart , iinniing-ied and unimpaired . It is suited to the nature of youthful imagination , to that love of excellence and perfection which nothing mortal ever can realize , and which can find only in the truths of Masonry the objects of which it is in search . It is suited still more , perhaps , to the tenderness of young affection , to that sensibility which eveiy

instance of goodness can move , and to that warm and generous temper which meets everywhere with the objects of its gratitude and love . But , most of all , it is suited to the innocence of the youthful mind , to that sacred purity which can lift its unpolluted hands to heaven ; which guilt has not yet torn from confidence and hope in God ; and which can look beyond this transitory world . The progress of life may bring other acquisitions : it may

strengthen religion by experience , and add knowledge to faith . But the piety which springs only from the heart—the devotion which nature and not reasoning inspires—the pure homage which flows unbidden from the tongue , and which , asks no other motive for its payment than the pleasure which it bestows 3 those are the possessions of youth , and yon tit

alone . The feelings of piety , however , are not only natural and becoming in youth ; they are still more valuable , as tendin g to the formation of future character , as affording the best and noblest school in which the mind may be trained to whatever is great and good in human nature . As the " corner stono "

is the foundation and support of every new building , so does the Entered Apprentice represent the " corner stono" of that moral edifice he hopes to erect , by the practise of every moral and social virtue . As an emblem of his innocence , ho is presented , at his initiation , with a lamb skin , or white apron . It is to remind

him of that purity of life and conduct which is fitted to exalt the human mind to its greatest degree of virtuous perfection .