Of David enter'd, and he gave command,

In a low tone, to his followers,

And left him with his dead. The king stood still
Till the last echo died; then, throwing off
The sackcloth from his brow, and laying back
The pall from the still features of his child,
He bowed his head upon him, and broke forth
In the resistless eloquence of woe.

9.

10.

"Alas! my noble boy! that thou shouldst die!
Thou, who wert made so beautifully fair!
That death should settle in thy glorious eye,
And leave his stillness in this clustering hair!
How could he mark thee for the silent tomb!
My proud boy, Absalom!

"Cold is thy brow, my son! and I am chill,
As to my bosom I have tried to press thee!
How was I wont to feel my pulses thrill,

Like a rich harp-string, yearning to caress thee,

11.

12

13.

14.

And hear thy sweet 'my father!' from those dumb
And cold lips, Absalom!

"But death is on thee. I shall hear the gush
Of music, and the voices of the young;
And life will pass me in the mantling" blush,

And the dark tresses to the soft winds flung;
But thou no more, with thy sweet voice, shalt come
To meet me, Absalom!

"And oh! when I am stricken," and my heart,
Like a bruised reed, is waiting to be broken.
How will its love for thee, as I depart,

Yearn for thine ear to drink its last deep token!
It were so sweet, amid death's gathering gloom,
To see thee, Absalom!

"And now, farewell! "Tis hard to give thee up,
With death so like a gentle slumber on thee;-
And thy dark sin!-oh! I could drink the cup,

If from this woe its bitterness had won thee.
May God have called thee, like a wanderer, home,
My lost boy, Absalom!"

He covered up his face, and bowed himself
A moment on his child; then, giving him
A look of melting tenderness, he clasped
His hands convulsively, as if in prayer.
And, as if strength were given him of God,
He rose up calmly, and composed the pall
Firmly and decently-and left him there,
As if his rest had been a breathing sleep.

N. P. WILLIS.

PALL, the cloth thrown over a dead body 4 SACK'-CLOTH, a coarse cloth used in mournat funerals.

2 SYM'-ME-TRY, beauty of form; a due pro-5
portion of the several parts to each other.
3 DAL'-LI-ANCE, acts of fondness.

ing.

MAN'-TLING, rising; spreading as a blush spreads over the face.

6 STRICK'-EN, cast down; far gone with age.

LESSON VII.

THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.

1. THE prosperity of the Hebrews as a nation ended with the death of Solomon, the son and successor of King David. When Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, came to the throne, the ten northern tribes revolted, choosing Jeroboam as their king; and from this time Israel and Judah, with which latter

was united part of the tribe of Benjamin, were separate kingdoms. The separation thus effected is called "The Revolt of the Ten Tribes."

2. The subsequent princes of the kingdom of Israel, as the ten tribes were called, were all idolaters in the sight of the Lord, although from time to time they were warned of the consequences of their idolatry by the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, and others.

3. The history of Elijah is one of exceeding interest. Fleeing before the wicked Ahab, he was miraculously fed by ravens in his concealment; he restored to life the son of the widow who generously gave him a share of her little store; he caused the false prophets of Baal to be put to death; and when he fled from the wicked Jezebel into the wilderness, he witnessed there some wonderful manifestations of Divine power; and, finally, he was taken up alive into heaven.

4. The scene in the wilderness, when he was commanded to go forth and stand upon Mount Horeb before the Lord, is thus described in the Bible. "And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."

The poet Campbell has made the following beautiful para phrase1 of this passage:

5.

6.

ELIJAH'S INTERVIEW WITH GOD.

"On Horeb's rock the prophet stood-
The Lord before him passed;

A hurricane in angry mood

Swept by him strong and fast;
The forest fell before its force,
The rocks were shiver'd in its course-
God was not in the blast:

Announcing danger, wreck, and death,
"Twas but the whirlwind of his breath.

"It ceased. The air grew mute-a cloud
Came, muffling up the sun;

7.

8.

When, through the mountain, deep and loud
An earthquake thundered on;
The frighted eagle sprang in air,
The wolf ran howling from his lair3—
God was not in the storm:
'Twas but the rolling of his car,

The trampling of his steeds from far.

""Twas still again, and nature stood

And calmed her ruffled3 frame;
When swift from heaven a fiery flood

To earth devouring came;
Down to the depth the ocean fled;

The sickening sun looked wan1 and dead--
Yet God filled not the flame:

"Twas but the terror of his eye

That lightened through the troubled sky.

"At last a voice all still and small

Rose sweetly on the ear,

Yet rose so shrill and clear, that all
In heaven and earth might hear:
It spoke of peace, it spoke of love,
It spoke as angels speak above-
And God himself was there;
For oh! it was a Father's voice,

That bade the trembling world rejoice.

CAMPBELL.

¿ PAR'-A-PHRASE, an explanation of some 2 LAIR, the bed or couch of a wild beast. text or passage in a more clear and ample 3 RUFFLED, disturbed; agitated. manner than is expressed in the words of 4 WAN, pale; of a sickly color. the author.

LESSON VIII.

THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH.

1. THE history of Judah, after the revolt of the Ten Tribes, is but little more than the history of a single town, Jerusalem; although Bethlehem and Hebron, villages then of little importance, were included in the Judean, territory. Some of the kings of Judah, like those of Israel, fell into idolatry, for which they and their people were punished by being delivered into the hands of the surrounding nations: others restored the worship of the true God; and of them it is recorded that "God prospered their undertakings.”

2. During the reign of the wicked and idolatrous Ahaz, the

country was brought to the brink of ruin. The prophet Isaiah, who lived at that time, points out the corruptions of the land in strong terms. He calls the nation" a sinful people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers." He also says, "Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves." The misery that overspread the land is vividly depicted:1 "Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence." Once the Egyptians had plundered Jerusalem; and Ahaz paid tribute to Assyria.

3. Hezekiah was as zealous in the cause of God as his father had been indifferent; he cleansed and sanctified the Temple, and restored its services; and he refused to pay tribute to Assyria. Then Sennacherib,2 the king of Assyria, determining to be revenged upon Judah, sent a large army against Jerusalem; but we are told that "the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote, in the camp of the Assyrians, a hundred and fourscore and five thousand men."

4. Accounts of this miraculous overthrow of the Assyrian army are found in Persian and Egyptian history, as well as in the Bible. The instrument by which the Lord executed vengeance upon the Assyrians is supposed by some to have been the simoom3 of the desert; for Isaiah had prophesied of the King of Assyria, "Thus saith the Lord, behold, I will send a blast upon him." Byron's description of the overthrow of the Assyrian host is too beautiful to be omitted.

5.

6.

7.

DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB-711 B.C.

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleeper waxed' deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever were still!