How did it come about? What scheme of hell led to this? What combination of men and fiends accomplished this tragedy? It was love--affection, infatuation, for that which ought not to have been loved, "King Solomon loved many strange women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh," as the margin puts it. And this leads me to say that A MAN'S FEMALE FRIENDS FRAME HIS FORTUNES. Solomon began wrong; he allowed his affection to fasten itself on a stranger--an Egyptian. It is a question worth considering, whether we preachers say enough to the people on this question of matrimony. A man's marriage is sure to tell on his history. He can never be the same again he was before. He may wed one who shall help him to be good, whose voice shall be like church bells calling him to prayer. Or he may fasten himself to one, who, like Jezebel, shall stir up her husband to deeds of shame and cruelty. Sometimes we have felt, when we have seen some marriages, that it would have been a fitting thing if a hearse had been among the carriages, for there lay DEAD HOPE on its way to a grave from which there could be no resurrection! Young man! what woman is it you like the best? Who is her god? Fashion? Pleasure? What is the name of the deity she worships? If it is anyone rather than Jehovah, beware! Before you die, she shall turn you as Solomon was turned. What is that you say? You are not such a fool! Well, that remains to be seen. Are you one of those who trust in his own heart? If so, remember what he is called. See Prov. xxviii. 26. Is not the helm of your life in her hands now? Would you love her as you do, if she had not the reins of your soul in her grasp? If Solomon had known all that was to follow when he first looked on the daughter of Pharaoh, he would have died before he would have made her his bride. Let not this sad story be in any way a prophecy of your future. There are plenty of women whom to know is to be elevated, and whom to wed would be to foretaste the companionship of heaven. Wives are often the architects and the husbands the builders. See to it, that the woman you love does not make you lay out the foundation of a jail. She may tell you it is a palace, but neither of you have yet seen the elevation. She only draws the ground-plan. There is yet another scene in this tragedy. Solomon, by his folly, lost his son's estate. God said, "I will surely rend the kingdom from thee." Rehoboam was the poorer for his father's sin. OUR CHILDREN BECOME THE HEIRS OF OUR CRIMES.