It must have been upon the exhaustion of the national treasury by SOLOMON, that he obtained from Hiram loans of money,--to be paid, not in kind, but in _cities_;--and this borrowing by the magnificent monarch must have continued for a score of years. The Tyrian King, however, refused to receive the proffered cities or lands, as being unworthy of the donor or the receiver, and he thereupon affixed upon the gift a name, which is now as unpleasant to a Briton's ear, as it must have been to the King of Israel. The Tyrian monarch, to prove that he was not personally offended (and perhaps to shew his superior wealth), sent to Solomon a present of gold, in value over 600,000_l._ at that period. [992 B. C.] "And it came to pass at the end of _twenty years_, when SOLOMON had built the two houses,--the house of the LORD, and the king's house (now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar-trees and fir-trees, and _with gold according to all his desire_), that then King SOLOMON gave Hiram _twenty cities_ in the land of Galilee. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not. [Hebrew, 'were not right in his eyes,'] and he [Hiram] said, 'What cities are these which thou hast given me, my _Brother_?' And he called them the _Land of Cabul_ [_i. e._ displeasing] unto this day. And Hiram sent to the king six-score talents of gold." [1 Kings ix. 10--14.] From the expression "my _brother_," it would seem (as we before hinted) that Solomon married the _sister_, and not the _daughter_ of Hiram, although it may be regarded as an expression of royalty. It scarcely admits of a question which of the two monarchs exerted their royalty in the greatest splendour,--whether it regards wealth or the arts and sciences. Jewish historians have elevated Solomon, truly at the _expense_ of Hiram,--for it is expressly stated in the Bible, that for "_twenty years_" Hiram supplied Solomon not only with material and artists for building his Temple and Palaces, but with money,--"with _gold_ according to _all_ his desire,"--and added to this, (which will be shewn in the next pages,) Hiram supplied a _navy_ for his "brother," for the voyages to Ophir and Tarshish. It should also be remarked that the liberality of Hiram's character, and his toleration in matters of Religion, are without their parallels in Ancient History. This was known to DAVID and SOLOMON, for no other monarch but that of Tyrus is applied to for building and decorating The Temple.