American Inventions and InventorsMowry, William A. (William Augustus)
History
American Inventions and Inventors
Mowry, William A. (William Augustus)
Inventions
On one occasion King Solomon said: "Of making many books there is no
end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh." The second part
of this sentence is certainly very true, but that is not saying
anything against study, for anything that is worth doing is a cause
of weariness. When we get weary the best thing is to get thoroughly
rested, and after that to work until we become weary again. It does not
injure a strong, well person to get healthily tired; on the contrary,
the weariness which comes from normal exercise of the hands or the
brain is better than inactive ease.
[Illustration: ANCIENT IMPLEMENTS OF WRITING.]
What did Solomon mean when he made this sage remark, "Of making many
books there is no end"? Under what circumstances was the remark made?
We may not be able to answer the last question literally, but we may be
permitted to imagine the circumstances. Let us suppose that the Queen
of Sheba had made her famous visit to Jerusalem. She had heard in her
own country of the acts and the wisdom of Solomon, and had come to the
kingdom of Israel to see, with her own eyes, if these reports were
true. She heard his wisdom from his own lips, for he "told her all her
questions."
Then the Queen of Sheba had said to Solomon: "It was a true report
which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:
howbeit, I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had
seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was
not told me; for thou exceedest the fame that I heard. Happy are thy
men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before
thee, and hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted
in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God."
The Queen had gone home, and early one morning Solomon had risen from
his couch and gone up to the flat roof of his house on Mount Zion just
as the sun was rising. There in his meditations he thought to himself
that the Queen of Sheba had paid him great honor and that he ought in
courtesy to send her a suitable present. What should it be? He was
impressed with the idea that he would send her a copy of the sacred
books then in the keeping of the high priest. What present could be
more appropriate, more honorable to him, more welcome to her, or more
acceptable to Jehovah, the God of his people Israel?
If he sent her a copy of these books it surely ought to be a perfect
copy. Books were not printed in those days; they were written with
the pen, or rather with the stylus. Solomon called a servant and said
to him, "Send for the chief of the scribes. Bring him here." He came,
and the king directed him to select only those scribes that could do
perfect work, and to set them at the task of making the finest possible
copy of the books of Moses and the other sacred books.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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