The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1096. HENRY THE EIGHTHAND KING SOLOMON

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 90, Issue 167, 20 July 1946, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1096. HENRY THE EIGHTHAND KING SOLOMON

W/HO was King Solomon and what was he ! History lias dealt hardly with Solomon, as it has with Henry the Eighth of England. Each gained a reputation for the outstanding skill with which he managed his domestic relations. Matrimonially, Henry was small potatoes alongside Solomon in the matter of domestic management. Henry employed a more direct technique than Solomon. The surprising thing is that Solomon was so successful. Henry was in the lower of the matrimonial erieket grades, having lost his wicket after having knocked up eight runs. Solomon was in the international grade and, like Bradman, carried his score beyond the thousand in his season. Solomon scored both before and behind the wicket, for lie arranged to have a splendid retinue of ladies that were not legally his wives.

The reign of Henry the Eighth was remarkable for the amount of nationalistic legislation that was enacted. Henry was a popular boy in his own day. A good sportsman, had he lived in the Edwardian era he would never have missed the Derby, the Oaks and the Doncaster events. He would have regularly filled a ringside seat at the National Sporting Club and would have been frequently photographed puffing cigars with Lord Lonsdale. Henry, however, wanted to be an orthodox Christian, and his efforts^in that, direction gained for him from the Pope, the title of Defender of the Faith. He found that the growing nation under his rule was getting into long pants, and it didn’t see why it should support a lot of foreigners who were hiving-in on the good livings in England. A lot of other good Catholics held the same views and they were quite willing to push out the foreigner and secure the booty for themselves.

It is improbable that Henry studied the life history of his great forerunner, Solomon. Bobbie Burns had not yet written ‘‘Green Grow the Rushes Oh!” and so it is possible that Henry didn’t know that “the wisest man that ever lived, he dearly loved the lassies, Oh!” That lack of information on this point didn’t break Henry’s own style. Had he been better informed, however, he might have polished up his technique. Admittedly there is a medical interpretation of his conduct which has some relationship to-the results flowing from the discovery of America by Columbus, and what the sailors brought back to Europe. Solomon was no piker. Eight wives to him would have been a starvation diet. Solomon was as ruthless as was Henry. Solomon was early in the field with the Fascist technique of liquidating oppositions. The fact that when he arrived on the throne he eschewed warfare and went into business has cloaked the fact that he was as thoroughgoing as Mussolini in the matter of removing undesirable persons. In his favour it must be said that he had no option; he could not alter the rules so he had to play the game as he found it.

Solomon’s father, David, was not what Chesterton would call a “strict and sainted bloke,” but he managed to straighten matters out by the time Solomon put in an appearance, and consequently the bar sinister was avoided. Solomon, consequently, had a legal claim to succeed his father on the throne. The difficulty lay in the ambitions of his elder brothers. Absalom, the third son, was a man about town with a penchant for politics—another Oswald Mosley. Absalom lost his life through letting his hair loose during a revolt, but he had previously managed to dispose of Amnon, the eldest son. Chileab, the second son, disappeared from the scene and probably lived to a ripe old age solving crossword puzzles or their equivalent. Another son, Adonijah, would have done fairly well in the diplomatic service, for he early realised the value of a good dinner as a vote-catcher. He did not appreciate the cutting power of a non-invitation and that, more or less, was the cause of his downfall. Leaving out Nathan the Prophet, who was a sort of Lord Northcliff. and the warrior Benaiah, who may be paralleled by Herman Goering to-day, he consolidated the opposition to his candidature. The Solomon Party then worked a fast one. They persuaded David, who was by this time in his dotage, Hint he had sworn an oath to make Solomon his successor. The trick worked. The press, the army and the church combined and proclaimed Solomon, and the populace, believing itself to have been, consulted, rejoiced. Why they did so is by no means clear. Then followed a series of murders just to clear the deck. A chief instrument in all this business was Bethsheba, Solomon’s mother, David’s mistress wife and widow, and as a result Solomon never forgot, the power of the woman’s vote in what was the equivalent of an election. There are quite a number of Solomons in politics to-day, in this respect al any rate. Solomon's greatest achievement was in the world of commerce. He believed in foreign trade; he was never an isolationist. He would assuredly have approver! of the Anglo-American loan. He did not believe in expropriations nor in disinheritance. Like Bishop Holland, he knew the power of persuasion, particularly when it came, to the building of temples. Solomon has received quite a lot of personal advertisement over building his temple at Jerusalem. His wisdom lay in playing up that edifice, thereby distracting attention from his own palace, which was three times as large and took thirteen years to build. The Temple took onlyhalf that time. Solomon’s reputation is therefore the result of a right, emphasis, which is a matter of artistic skill. He had it. Having made money, Solomon found it easy to be fitted out with a reputation for wisdom. His skill as a psychologist or, as common men would say, as a good picker may rest on historic foundations, but he was fortunate enough to have had Odes, Psalms and Proverbs attributed to him, many of which were certainly not his. He made no contribution to this study of his character save to provide the subject, and what greater fame can mortal man acquire than to be the inspirer of a Saturday morning editorial? Today Solomon has filled the lircaeli. Therefore lei us hail Solomon, in all his glory—drop a tear for Henry, who always did have n bad press.