CHAP. III.

PRECIOUS METALS.

circumstance of the trade ceasing with the reignof him who began it, and that long before hisdeath, we shall perhaps conclude that it was notfound beneficial, or in so small a degree as notto induce the continuance of it. It was neverresumed, though one attempt at it was plannedabout a hundred years later, in the reign ofJehoshaphat 1 , who built the ships for it at thesame port of Ezion-geber; though, from causeswhich do not appear, the voyages were neverundertaken, but the ships that had been builtwere broken up.

This extended discussion on the stores ofmetallic wealth in Judea can scarcely appearimproper, though it has perhaps exceeded thelimits which the importance of the Hebrew na-tion might entitle it to receive. It was, how-ever, desirable to remove any doubts on thegeneral credibility of the most ancient of records;a nd it seemed to form a point from whence theProbability of the veracity of the profane au-thors upon the subject of ancient accumula-tions of gold and silver might be advantageously

surveyed.

If we look at the state of society during thecenturies which passed between the reignSolomon in Jerusalem and that of Darius^ystaspes in Babylon, we shall find that the

1 2 Chronicles, cap. xx. v. 36 and 37-