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 Little Solomon. 
 
 EMBELLISHED WITH NUMEROUS NEAT 
 ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 Dean & Munday, Tbreadneedle-street; and 
 A. K. Newman & Co. Leadeohall- street. 
 
THE 
 
 11 ISTO II Y 
 
 OF 
 
 LITTLE SOLOMON. 
 
 EMBELLISHED Willi NEAT ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 DEAN AND MUNDAY, TH RE ADNEEDLE- STREET , AND 
 A. K. NEWMAN & Co. LEADENH ALL- STREET. 
 
 Price Three-pence. 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 \ LITTLE SOLOMON. 
 
 Little Solomon, the hero of the 
 following history, was the son of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Serious, a happy cou- 
 ple, who possessed a small farm, 
 pleasantly situated on the banks of 
 the River Thames, near Richmond. 
 When little Solomon was a month 
 old, his parents resolved to have 
 him christened, and a day being 
 appointed for that purpose, many 
 of the neighbours were invited to 
 see the ceremony performed. In 
 the afternoon before they carried 
 
6 
 
 LITTLE 
 
 him to church, the nurse observing, 
 that he had not once laughed since 
 his birth, the company agreed was 
 a sign of great wisdom, so they de- 
 termined to call him Solomon. 
 
 However gravity may be a proof 
 of wisdom in general, in his parti- 
 cular case there cannot be a doubt 
 of it; for whenever a quarrel hap- 
 pened among his schoolfellows, it 
 was always referred to his judge- 
 
SOLOMON. 
 
 7 
 
 ment, and every one submitted 
 cheerfully to his decisions. From 
 these circumstances, he was called 
 " The Wise Little Solomon." 
 
 One day, Solomon's father was 
 brought home dead, to the great 
 grief of his widow, whose sorrow 
 was so excessive, that it threw her 
 into a high fever, which confined 
 her to her bed for three weeks, and 
 then left such a weakness behind, 
 
8 LITTLE 
 
 that, although the country air, and 
 the goodness of her constitution 
 were greatly in her favour, it was 
 nearly a twelvemonth before she 
 entirely regained her health. 
 
 The Ions: illness of Solomon's mo- 
 ther, and the villany of a man, 
 whom she had employed to look 
 after her farm, obliged her, on re- 
 covering, to sell every thing she 
 possessed, to pay her debts: which 
 when she had done, left her mistress 
 of only five pounds. With this small 
 sum she purchased a table, a few 
 chairs, some household utensils, and 
 a number of forms; to furnish a 
 small cottage, which the curate of 
 the parish let her live in, rent-free. 
 Here she set up a school, and 
 though her learning was not very 
 
SOLOMON. 
 
 9 
 
 extensive, yet her industry, and 
 diligence in teaching her scholars 
 to read, to love their parents, and 
 to behave well, procured her the 
 notice of all the farmers in the 
 neighbourhood who sent their chil- 
 dren to her; and thus she lived in 
 tolerable comfort, 
 
 Solomon never delighted in the 
 cruel practice of taking birds' nests, 
 but as far as lay in his power, per- 
 
10 LITTLE 
 
 suaded all his companions and play- 
 fellows to leave it off. As I lived 
 in the same village where his mo- 
 ther kept her school, I had a good 
 opportunity of becoming acquainted 
 with many marks of his compassion 
 and tenderness to animals. 
 
 One day, as I was walking by 
 the side of Richmond Gardens, I 
 observed him conversing with an- 
 other boy, rather taller than him- 
 self. Drawing softly behind him, I 
 discovered a poor little puppy in his 
 arms, which he was patting and 
 stroking, with every appearance of 
 satisfaction ; and found by his dis- 
 course, that he had just saved the 
 poor creature from being drowned, 
 by giving his whole stock of money 
 and playthings for it, winch only 
 
SOLOMON. 1 1 
 
 amounted to three-halfpence, a bag 
 of marbles, and a top. 
 
 This instance of his humanity 
 pleased me so much, that I gave 
 him a shilling to buy victuals for 
 his dog, and redeem his effects. I 
 told him, at the same time, that a 
 good action never passed without 
 being rewarded; and this Solomon 
 afterwards found to be true; for 
 the very same animal he had saved 
 from being drowned, was the cause 
 of his being preserved from a simi- 
 
1 2 LITTLE 
 
 lar fate. I shall give the particulars 
 in due time and place. 
 
 When Solomon was nine years 
 old, the curate, who had often vi- 
 sited his mother to give her assist- 
 ance and advice, proposed, as he 
 was such a good boy, to take him 
 to his own house, and bring him 
 up with his children ; one of whom, 
 called George, was about the same 
 age, the other, a daughter, named 
 Maria, was two years younger. To 
 this proposal his mother joyfully 
 assented, and the following Monday 
 was fixed on for Solomon to go to 
 his new habitation. 
 
 The long-expected day at length 
 irrived, and Solomon having kissed 
 lis mother, and received her bless- 
 ng, set out for the curate's house, 
 
SOLOMON. 13 
 
 which was situated near the church, 
 and almost three quarters of a mile 
 up the town. Little Pompey ran 
 before, barking and wagging his 
 tail, and seeming equally joyful as 
 his master. 
 
 He was received by the worthy 
 curate and his family, with evident 
 pleasure, particularly by Master 
 George and his sister, for the good 
 temper of Solomon had procured 
 him the esteem of every body. 
 
14 LITTLE 
 
 To show his gratitude to his pro- 
 tector. Little Solomon applied dili- 
 gently to his learning, he soon made 
 a great progress in arithmetic and 
 writing; and before he had been 
 two months at Mr. Jones's, was 
 able to construe a Latin page with 
 tolerable accuracy. 
 
 About this time it was, that hav- 
 ing climbed up a tree that grew 
 over the brook that ran through 
 the garden, to replace a young bird, 
 which had accidentally fallen out 
 of its nest, a branch gave way, and 
 he fell into the water: never having 
 learned to swim, he was on the 
 point of sinking to the bottom, 
 when Mr. Jones and his son George 
 ran up. Mr. Jones being a good 
 swimmer, directly jumped into the 
 
SOLOMON. 15 
 
 brook, and, catching him by the 
 hair, dragged him to the edge in 
 safety. 
 
 He carried him home, wrapped 
 him in warm blankets, and with the 
 aid of a cordial, he soon revived. 
 
 Mr. Jones now told him, that lie 
 was indebted for his life to the fide- 
 lity of his dog Pompey; who, it 
 seems, had followed his master into 
 the garden, and, on seeing him fall 
 
10 LITTLE 
 
 into the water, had run back to the 
 house, where he pulled the flap of 
 the Curate's coat, and then ran to 
 the door, barking and looking be- 
 hind. On his repeating the same 
 actions several times, Mr. Jones and 
 his son were induced to follow him. 
 Pompey led them to his master, 
 w T agging his tail all the way, as if 
 he was overjoyed at their compli- 
 ance. Thus was the life of our hero 
 saved, wholly from the effects of 
 his own hnmanity. 
 
 I trust that my little readers will 
 not object to my relating another 
 instance of Pompey's sagacity, to 
 which I was partly an eye-witness. 
 
 The curate's farm had been often 
 disturbed by a fox; who broke in, 
 in the night, and took away some 
 
SOLOMON. 
 
 poultry. Traps were set to catcli 
 him, but lie eluded them all, and 
 continued his depredations as usual. 
 Pompey, however, had discovered 
 the place of Reynard's retreat ; but 
 not being able to cope with him by 
 himself, for several days he buried 
 part of his allotment of meat and 
 bones; he then collected several 
 other dogs, feasted them from his 
 hoard, and conducted them to the 
 
18 LIT l LE 
 
 fox's den, who was by this means 
 soon overpowered and killed. 
 
 Let us now return to Little So- 
 lomon; who, after his narrow es- 
 cape from drowning, was sent for 
 by his mother. Solomon immedi- 
 ately went, and found her at the 
 point of death : a violent cold, that 
 she caught by walking in the rain, 
 had brought on a fever, which in- 
 creased so rapidly, that Mrs. Serious 
 was sensible she should not live 
 long. In this situation, she sent 
 for her son, and taking him by the 
 hand, while the tears streamed from 
 his eyes, spoke to him about his 
 duty to his kind protector, and to 
 all mankind: adding, 'that as he did 
 by others, just so would God bless 
 him. 
 
SOLOMON. 19 
 
 She then said, " In that trunk I 
 have placed a will, which your kind 
 friend, Mr. Jones, will see executed: 
 it makes you master of all I have 
 saved since I came to this cottage. 
 Trifling as it is, it may hereafter 
 enable you to set up in business; 
 and then by diligence raid industry, 
 you may gain affluence. Farewell, 
 my child, be virtuous and happy." 
 
 When Mrs. Serious had finished 
 
20 LITTLE 
 
 these words, she kissed her weeping 
 son, fell gently hack upon her pil- 
 low, and surrendered her soul into 
 the hands of her Creator and Judge. 
 Little Solomon wept bitterly at her 
 death, for she had been one of the 
 best and most indulgent of mothers. 
 
 By the time Solomon was twelve 
 years of age, he had completely 
 mastered the Latin language; and, 
 by his great attention to study, had 
 amazingly improved his under- 
 standing, 
 
 About this time, the worthy cu- 
 rate received a visit from some 
 company, among whom was a gen- 
 tleman of the name of Bernard: he 
 had in the early part of his life, 
 been engaged by the East India 
 Company, in some particular mat- 
 
SOLOMON. 
 
 21 
 
 ters 3 by which he had acquired a 
 large fortune. 
 
 This gentleman was so much de- 
 lighted with the behaviour of Little 
 Solomon, and with his good cha- 
 racter, that he invited him to spend 
 a few weeks at his house; the cu- 
 rate consented, and Solomon joyfully 
 accepted the invitation. 
 
 Mr. Barnard's residence was at 
 Walton-on-Thames, where he re- 
 
22 LITTLE 
 
 eeived our hero and his two friends 
 with much pleasure. Here our 
 little party spent five weeks in con- 
 tinual diversion and gaiety, when 
 Master George and Maria returned 
 home; but the good qualities of 
 Solomon so far engaged the esteem 
 of Mr. Bernard, that he wrote a 
 letter to Mr. Jones, requesting him 
 to let his pupil remain where he was 
 for some time longer. 
 
 Nothing material befel our hero 
 from this time, till he was in his 
 nineteenth year; when Mr. Bernard, 
 w T ho could never let him leave his 
 house, but had procured him every 
 assistance to complete his studies, 
 died, and left him the whole of his 
 fortune, on his attaining the age of 
 twenty- one. 
 
SOLOMON. 23 
 
 Solomon was extremely sorry for 
 his death ; which had deprived him 
 of a tender and indulgent friend, 
 for whom he felt all the love and 
 fondness of a son. 
 
 Soon afterwards, Mr. Serious, for 
 by that name Solomon is now called, 
 went to his former benefactor, Mr. 
 Jones, and presented him with a 
 five hundred pound bank-note, and 
 a living in his gift, which happened 
 
24 LITTLE SOLOMON, 
 
 to be vacant, as a small proof of 
 gratitude for the kindness he had 
 shown him in the early part of his 
 life. 
 
 Mr. Serious then invited him and 
 his family to his house, and after 
 a month having passed in the great- 
 est pleasure, he accompanied them 
 to their new rectory, which was 
 but two miles distant. 
 
 Soon after this, he married Maria, 
 and returned to his own house, 
 where they now live in the most 
 perfect happiness. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 I) BAN AND M US DA Y, PRINTERS, TH R B ADNE li I) L B -STR E BT. 
 
LITTLE SOLOMON. 
 
 Children's Books, Three-pence each. 
 No. 
 
 1 Red Riding Hood 
 
 2 Little Puzzler 
 
 3 Charles Williams 
 
 4 William Thompson 
 
 5 Nursery Rhymes 
 
 6 Harry Johnson 
 
 7 Prince Roslyn 
 
 8 Little Good Mouse 
 
 9 Peter Martin 
 
 10 William and his Dog 
 
 11 Nursery Lessons 
 
 12 Little Solomon 
 
 13 Pleasing- Tales