You remember that King Solomon spent 20 years erecting a costly and magnificent pile of buildings—one of which was his renounced Temple. This took 6 years to build, yet it was quite small—only 40 yards. long in all: but it was a gem of architecture, perfect in all its parts. It was not outstandingly conspicuous among the buildings around it: but neither is God outstandingly conspicuous in the world around us. As was customary in those days, in front of the Temple stood two isolated pillars—emblems of deity. The description of these pillars'is rather obscure, as the text is clearly corrupt, but, including the base, each pillar was 35 cubits high (a cubit was 18 inches). These pillars were made of brass, with a smooth surface, except for the top 9 or 10 cubits: this {op part was richly carved—with net-work, to symbolize unity, and with pomegranates, the usual emblem of blent; "the chapiters,' (or capitals), that were upon the top of the pillars, were of lily-work." Lilies represented, from their whiteness, peace anc purity: both—you cannot have one without the other, in family or in national life.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.