{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_7284/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_7284","id":"gutenberg_7284","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7284","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- History of Biblical events","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: History - Ancient","Category: History - Religious","Christianity","Church history"],"text":"Produced by Joshua Hutchinson and PG Distributed Proofreaders\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHOSEN PEOPLE\n\nA COMPENDIUM OF SACRED AND CHURCH HISTORY FOR SCHOOL-CHILDREN.\n\nBY THE AUTHOR OF \"THE HEIR OF REDCLYFFE.\"\n\n\n\"God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto\nthe fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by\nHis Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things.\"--_Heb_. i, l,\n\n  \"Yes; so it was ere Jesus came--\n  Alternate then His Altar flame\n  Blazed up and died away,\n  And Silence took her torn with Song,\n  And Solitude with the fair throng\n  That owned the festal day;\n  For in earth's daily circuit then\n  Only one border\n  Reflected to the Seraphs' ken,\n  Heaven's light and order.\n\n  But now to the revolving sphere\n  We point and Say, No desert here,\n  No waste so dark and lone\n  But to the hour of sacrifice\n  Comes daily in its turn, and lies\n  In light beneath the Throne.\n  Each point of time, from morn till eve.\n  From eve to morning,\n  The shrine doth from the Spouse receive\n  Praise and adorning.\"--_Lyra Innocentium_.\n\n\nFIFTH EDITION.\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\nIn drawing up this little book, at the request of several friends, the\nAuthor has been chiefly guided by experience of what children require to\nbe told, in order to come to an intelligent perception of the scope of\nthe Scripture narrative treated historically. Since a general view can\nhardly be obtained without brevity, many events have been omitted in\nthe earlier part, and those only touched upon which have a peculiar\nsignificance in tracing the gradual preparation for the work of\nRedemption; and though one great object has been the illustration of\nProphecy, the course of types has been passed over, lest the plain\nnarrative should be confused, since types are rather subjects of\ndevotional contemplation than of history, and they should be perfectly\ncomprehended as _facts_, before being treated as allegorical.\n\nThe next portion is little save an abridgement from Prideaux's\nConnexion, taken in connection with the conclusions drawn by modern\ndiscoveries, as detailed in Mr. G. Rawlinson's valuable edition of\nHerodotus. It is hoped that by thus filling up the interval between\nthe New and Old Testaments, that children may thus be fairly able to\nunderstand what they read in the Gospels of the Roman dominion, the\nrelation to Herod, the mutual hatred of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and\nthe enmity to the Samaritans.\n\nThe concluding lessons are offered with great diffidence, and with many\ndoubts whether the absence of detail may not prevent them from being\neasily remembered; but it has been felt important that the connection of\nthe actual Church with that of the Apostles and Martyrs, should be made\nevident to the general mind, and the present condition of the Church\naccounted for. The choice of subjects has been very difficult; but it\nis hoped that those selected may be those most needful to be known as\nevidence that our present Church has every claim to the promise of Him\nWho will abide with her for ever.\n\nIf older and more critical persons than those for whom the little work\nis intended should cast an eye over it, the author hopes that they will\nbear in mind how the need of being both brief and clear is apt to render\nstatements apparently bolder, and sometimes harsher, than where there is\nroom for qualification or argument; and that they will not always accuse\nthe work of unthinking boldness of assertion, where the softening is\nomitted for fear both of wearying and perplexing the young reader.\n\nThe chronology, for the sake of the convenience of teachers and\nscholars, is that of the margin of our Bibles.\n\nThe questions at the end are chiefly intended to direct the mind of\nthe learner to the point of each lesson. It will be perceived that the\nanswers must he prepared as well from the Bible as from the book; and\nin most cases the teacher will in use have to multiply, and perhaps to\nsimplify them. One of their especial objects has been to show the ever\nbrightening stream of prophecy, and afterwards, its accomplishment alike\nwith regard to heathen nations, to the history of the Jews, of the\nChurch, and, above all, to the Life of our Blessed Lord; and it is hoped\nthat those who examine into them, cannot fail to be struck with the full\nand perfect accordance of the beginning with the end; and if they learn\nno other lesson, will have it impressed on them, how \"the counsel of the\nLord endureth for ever.\"\n\nTwo tables have been added for the convenience of the scholar, one\ngiving the contemporary kings and prophets, the other the course\nof historical chapters, with, as far as possible, the prophetical,\ndidactic, or poetical books, of the same date ranged in parallel lines.\nIt is hoped that these may be found useful in arranging lessons for\nupper classes or pupil teachers.\n\n_May 20th_, 1859.\n\n\n\n\n  TABLE OF THE BOOKS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE ACCORDING TO DATE.\n\n  HISTORICAL\n  BOOKS.            PROPHETIC AND POETICAL BOOKS.\n  B.C.\n\n  4004\n  1689 Genesis\n  1529 Job\n  Psalm lxxxviii. by Heman, the Ezrahite, (See\n  1 Chron. ii. 6)\n  1491 Exodus\n  1491 Leviticus\n  1451 Numbers         Psalm xc. and (perhaps) xci\n  1450 Deuteronomy\n  1451\n  1427 Joshua\n  1312 Ruth\n  1120 Judges\n  1171\n  1056 1 Samuel    Psalms, certainly vii, xi, xvi, xvii, xxii, xxxi,\n  xxxiv, lvi, liv, lii, cix, xxxv, lvii, lviii,\n  cxliii, cxl, cxli, and many more\n  1056 1 Chronicles   Psalms, certainly ii, vi, ix, xx,\n  1023 Psalms iii, iv, lv, lxii,\n  lxx, lxxi, cxliii, cxliv, all on\n  occasion of the war with Absalom\n  1017 2 Samuel    1015 from chap. ii  xxi, xxiv, lxviii, xxxii, xxxiii,\n  xxxviii, xxxix, xl, li,\n  xxxii, ci, ciii.\n  1017 Psalms xviii, xxx, many more\n  of David\n  Psalm xxviii (other Psalms\n  of the elder Asaph) Chron.\n  xvi. 5\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHOSEN PEOPLE.\n\n\nLESSON I.\n\n\nTHE PROMISE.\n\n\"The creature was made subject unto vanity, not willingly, but by reason\nof Him who hath subjected the same in hope.\"--_Rom_. viii. 20.\n\nWhen the earth first came from the hand of God, it was \"very good,\" and\nman, the best of all the beings it contained, was subjected to a trial\nof obedience. The fallen angel gained the ear of the woman, and led her\nto disobey, and to persuade her husband to do the same; and that failure\ngave Satan power over the world, and over all Adam's children, bringing\nsin and death upon the earth, and upon all, whether man or brute, who\ndwelt therein.\n\nYet the merciful God would not give up all the creatures whom He had\nmade, to eternal destruction without a ray of hope, and even while\nsentencing them to the punishment they had drawn on themselves, He held\nout the promise that the Seed of the woman should bruise the head of the\nserpent, the Devil; and they were taught by the sight of sacrifices of\nanimals, that the death of the innocent might yet atone for the sin of\nthe guilty; though these creatures were not of worth enough really to\nbear the punishment for man.\n\nAbel's offering of the lamb proved his faith, and thus was more worthy\nthan Cain's gift of the fruits of the earth. When Cain in his envy slew\nhis brother, he and his children were cast off by God, and those of his\nyounger brother, Seth, were accepted, until they joined themselves to\nthe ungodly daughters of Cain; and such sin prevailed, that Enoch, the\nseventh from Adam, prophesied of judgment at hand, before he was taken\nup alive into Heaven. When eight hundred and nine hundred years were\nthe usual term of men's lives, and the race was in full strength and\nfreshness, there was time for mind and body to come to great force;\nand we find that the chief inventions of man belong to these sons of\nCain--the dwelling in tents, workmanship in brass and iron, and the use\nof musical instruments. On the other hand, the more holy of the line of\nSeth handed on from one to the other the history of the blessed days of\nEden, and of God's promise, and lived upon hope and faith.\n\nNoah, whose father had been alive in the latter years of Adam's life,\nwas chosen from among the descendants of Seth, to be saved out of the\ngeneral ruin of the corrupt earth, and to carry on the promise. His\nfaith was first tried by the command to build the ark, though for\none hundred and twenty years all seemed secure, without any token of\njudgment; and the disobedient refused to listen to his preaching. When\nthe time came, his own family of eight persons were alone found worthy\nto be spared from the destruction, together with all the animals with\nthem preserved in the ark, two of each kind, and a sevenfold number of\nthose milder and purer animals which part the hoof and chew the cud, and\nwere already marked out as fit for sacrifice.\n\nIt was the year 2348 B.C. that Noah spent in floating upon the waste of\nwaters while every living thing was perishing round him, and afterwards\nin seeing the floods return to their beds in oceans, lakes, and rivers,\nwhich they shall never again overpass.\n\nThe ark first came aground on the mountain of Ararat, in Armenia, a\nsacred spot to this day; and here God made His covenant with Noah,\nrenewing His first blessing to Adam, permitting the use of animal food;\npromising that the course of nature should never be disturbed again till\nthe end of all things, and making the glorious tints of the rainbow,\nwhich are produced by sunlight upon water, stand as the pledge of this\nassurance. Of man He required abstinence from eating the blood of\nanimals, and from shedding the blood of man, putting, as it were, a mark\nof sacredness upon life-blood, so as to lead the mind on to the Blood\nhereafter to be shed.\n\nSoon a choice was made among the sons of Noah. Ham mocked at his\nfather's infirmity, while his two brothers veiled it; and Noah was\ntherefore inspired to prophesy that Canaan, the son of the undutiful\nHam, should be accursed, and a servant of servants; that Shem should\nespecially belong to the Lord God, and that Japhet's posterity should be\nenlarged, and should dwell in the tents of Shem. Thus Shem was marked as\nthe chosen, yet with hope that Japhet should share in his blessings.\n\nIt seems as if Ham had brought away some of the arts and habits of the\ngiant sons of Cain, for in all worldly prosperity his sons had the\nadvantage. In 2247 B. C. the sons of men banded themselves together to\nbuild the Tower of Babel on the plain of Shinar, just below the hills of\nArmenia, where the two great rivers Euphrates and Tigris make the flats\nrich and fertile. For their presumption, God confounded their speech,\nand the nations first were divided. Ham's children got all the best\nregions; Nimrod, the child of his son Cush, kept Babel, built the first\ncity, and became the first king. Canaan's sons settled themselves in\nthat goodliest of all lands which bore his name; and Mizraim's children\nobtained the rich and beautiful valley of the Nile, called Egypt. All\nthese were keen clever people, builders of cities, cultivators of the\nland, weavers and embroiderers, earnest after comfort and riches, and\nutterly forgetting, or grievously corrupting, the worship of God. Others\nof the race seem to have wandered further south, where the heat of the\nsun blackened their skins; and their strong constitution, and dull meek\ntemperament, marked them out to all future generations as a prey to be\ntreated like animals of burden, so as to bear to the utmost the curse of\nCanaan.\n\nShem's sons, simpler than those of Ham, continued to live in tents and\nwatch their cattle, scattered about in the same plains, called from\nthe two great streams, Mesopotamia, or the land of rivers. Some\ntravelled westwards, and settling in China and India, became a rich and\nwealthy people, but constantly losing more and more the recollection of\nthe truth; and some went on in time from isle to isle to the western\nhemisphere--lands where no other foot should tread till the world should\nbe grown old.\n\nJaphet's children seemed at first the least favoured, for no place,\nsave the cold dreary north, was found for most of them. Some few, the\nchildren of Javan, found a home in the fair isles of the Mediterranean,\nbut the greater part were wild horsemen in Northern Asia and Europe.\nThis was a dark and dismal training, but it braced them so that in\nfuture generations they proved to have far more force and spirit than\nwas to be found among the dwellers in milder climates.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON II.\n\nTHE PATRIARCHS.\n\n\"The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham.\"--Acts, vii. 2.\n\nAmong the sons of Shem (called Hebrews after his descendant Heber, who\ndwelt in Mesopotamia) was Abram, the good and faithful man, whom God\nchose out to be the father of the people in whom He was going to set His\nLight. In the year 1921, He tried Abram's faith by calling on him to\nleave his home, and go into a land which he knew not, but which should\nbelong to his children after him--Abram, who had no child at all.\n\nYet he obeyed and believed, and was led into the beautiful hilly land\nthen held by the sons of Canaan, where he was a stranger, wandering with\nhis flocks and herds and servants from one green pasture to another,\nwithout a loot of land to call his own. For showing his faith by thus\ndoing as he was commanded, Abram was rewarded by the promise that in\nhis Seed should all the families of the earth be blessed; his name was\nchanged to Abraham, which means a father of a great multitude; and as a\nsign that he had entered into a covenant with God, he was commanded to\ncircumcise his children.\n\nOne son, Ishmael, had by this time been born to him of the bondmaid\nHagar; but the child of promise, Isaac, the son of his wife Sarah, was\nnot given till he was a hundred years old. Ishmael was cast out for\nmocking at his half-brother, the heir of the promises; but in answer to\nhis father's prayers, he too became the father of a great nation, namely\nthe Arabs, who still live in the desert, with their tents, their flocks,\nherds, and fine horses, much as Ishmael himself must have lived. They\nare still circumcised, and honour Abraham as their father; and with them\nare joined the Midianites and other tribes descended from Abraham's last\nwife, Keturah.\n\nIsaac alone was to inherit the promise, and it was renewed to him and\nto his father, when their faith had been proved by their submission to\nGod's command, that Isaac should be offered as a burnt-offering upon\nMount Moriah, a sign of the Great Sacrifice long afterwards, when God\ndid indeed provide Himself a Lamb.\n\nWhen Abraham bought the Cave of Machpelah for a, burial-place, it was\nin the full certainty that though he was now a stranger in the land, it\nwould be his children's home; and it was there that he and the other\npatriarchs were buried after their long and faithful pilgrimage.\n\nIsaac's wife, Rebekah, was fetched from Abraham's former home, in\nMesopotamia, that he might not be corrupted by marrying a Canaanite.\nBetween his two sons, Esau and Jacob, there was again a choice; for God\nhad prophesied that the elder should serve the younger, and Esau did not\nvalue the birthright which would have made him heir to no lands\nthat would enrich himself, and to a far-off honour that he did not\nunderstand. So despising the promises of God, he made his right over\nto his brother for a little food, when he was hungry, and though he\nrepented with tears when it was too late, he could not win back what he\nhad once thrown away.\n\nHis revengeful anger when he found how he had been supplanted, made\nJacob flee to his mother's family in Mesopotamia, and there dwell for\nmany years, ere returning to Canaan with his large household, there to\nlive in the manner that had been ordained for the first heirs of the\npromise. Esau went away to Mount Seir, to the south of the Promised\nLand, and his descendants were called the Edomites, from his name,\nmeaning the Red; and so, too, the sea which washed their shores, took\nthe name of the Sea of Edom, or the Red Sea. They were also named\nKenites from his son Kenaz. Their country, afterwards called Idumea, was\nfull of rocks and precipices, and in these the Edomites hollowed\nout caves for themselves, making them most beautiful, with pillars\nsupporting the roof within, and finely-carved entrances, cut with\nborders, flowers, and scrolls, so lasting that the cities of Bosra and\nPetra are still a wonder to travellers, though they have been empty\nand deserted for centuries past. The Edomites did not at once lose the\nknowledge of the true God; indeed, as many believe, of them was born the\nprophet Job, whom Satan was permitted to try with every trouble he could\nconjure up, so that his friends believed that such sufferings could only\nbe brought on him for some great sin; whereas he still maintained that\nthe ways of God were hidden, and gave utterance to one of the clearest\nancient prophecies of the Redeemer and the Resurrection. At length God\nanswered him from the whirlwind, and proclaimed His greatness through\nHis unsearchable works; and Job, for his patience in the time of\nadversity, was restored to far more than his former prosperity.\n\nJacob's name was changed to Israel, which meant a prince before God; and\nhis whole family were taken into the covenant, though the three elder\nsons, for their crimes, forfeited the foremost places, which passed to\nJudah and Joseph; and Levi was afterwards chosen as the tribe set apart\nfor the priesthood, the number twelve being made up by reckoning Ephraim\nand Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, as heads of tribes, like their uncles.\nLong ago, Abraham had been told that his seed should sojourn in Egypt;\nand when the envious sons of Israel sold their innocent brother Joseph,\ntheir sin was bringing about God's high purpose. Joseph was inspired\nto interpret Pharaoh's dreams, which foretold the famine; and when\nby-and-by his brothers came to buy the corn that he had laid up, he made\nhimself known, forgave them with all his heart, and sent them to fetch\nhis father to see him once more. Then the whole family of Israel,\nseventy in number, besides their wives, came and settled in the land\nof Goshen, about the year 1707, and were there known by the name of\nHebrews, after Heber, the great-grand-son of Shem. There in Goshen,\nJacob ended the days of his pilgrimage, desiring his sons to carry his\ncorpse back to the Cave of Machpelah, there to be buried, and await\ntheir return when the time of promise should come. He gave his blessing\nto all his sons, and was inspired to mark out Joseph among them as the\none whose children should have the choicest temporal inheritance; but of\nthe fourth son, he said, \"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor\na lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.\" Shiloh meant Him\nthat should be sent, and Judah was thus marked out to be the princely\ntribe, which was to have the rule until the Seed should come.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON III.\n\nEGYPT.\n\n\"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of\nEgypt.\"--_Hosea_, xi. 1.\n\nThe country where the Israelites had taken up their abode, was the\nvalley watered by the great river Nile. There is nothing but desert,\nwherever this river does not spread itself, for it never rains, and\nthere would be dreadful drought, if every year, when the snow melts upon\nthe mountains far south, where is the source of the stream, it did not\nbecome so much swelled as to spread far beyond its banks, and overflow\nall the flat space round it. Then as soon as the water subsides, the hot\nsun upon the mud that it has left brings up most beautiful grass, and\nfine crops of corn with seven or nine ears to one stalk; grand fruits of\nall kinds, melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers, flax for weaving linen, and\neverything that a people can desire. Indeed, the water of the river is\nso delicious, that it is said that those who have once tasted it are\nalways longing to drink it again.\n\nThe sons of Mizraim, son of Ham, who first found out this fertile\ncountry, were a very clever race, and made the most of the riches of the\nplace. They made dykes and ditches to guide the floodings into their\nfields and meadows; they cultivated the soil till it was one beautiful\ngarden; they wove their flax into fine linen; and they made bricks of\ntheir soft clay, and hewed stone from the hills higher up the river, so\nthat their buildings have been the wonder of all ages since. They had\nkings to rule them, and priests to guide their worship; but these\npriests had very wrong and corrupt notions themselves, and let the poor\nignorant people believe even greater folly than they did themselves.\n\nThey thought that the great God lived among them in the shape of a bull\nwith one spot on his back like an eagle, and one on his tongue like a\nbeetle; and this creature they called Apis, and tended with the utmost\ncare. When he died they all went into mourning, and lamented till a calf\nlike him was found, and was brought home with the greatest honour; and\nfor his sake all cattle were sacred, and no one allowed to kill them.\nBesides the good Power, they thought there was an evil one as strong as\nthe good, and they worshipped him likewise, to beg him to do them no\nharm; so the dangerous crocodiles of the Nile were sacred, and it was\nforbidden to put them to death. They had a dog-god and a cat-goddess,\nand they honoured the beetle because they saw it rolling a ball of earth\nin which to lay its eggs, and fancied it an emblem of eternity; and thus\nall these creatures were consecrated, and when they died were rolled up\nin fine linen and spices, just as the Egyptians embalmed their own dead.\n\nMummies, as we call these embalmed Egyptian corpses, are often found\nnow, laid up in beautiful tombs, cut out in the rock, and painted in\ncolours still fresh with picture writing, called hieroglyphics, telling\nin tokens all the history of the person whose body they contained. The\nkings built tombs for themselves, like mountains, square at the bottom,\nbut each course of stones built within the last till they taper to a\npoint at the top. These are called pyramids, and have within them very\nsmall narrow passages, leading to a small chamber, just large enough to\nhold a king's coffin.\n\nThey had enormous idols hewn out of stone. The head of one, which you\nmay see in the British Museum, is far taller than the tallest man, and\nyet the face is really handsome, and there are multitudes more, both of\nthem and of their temples, still remaining on the banks of the Nile.\nThe children of Israel, being chiefly shepherds, kept apart from the\nEgyptians at first; but as time went on they learnt some of their\nhabits, and many of them had begun to worship their idols and forget the\ntruth, when their time of affliction came. The King of Egypt, becoming\nafraid of having so numerous and rich a people settled in his dominions,\ntried to keep them down by hard bondage and heavy labour. He made them\ntoil at his great buildings, and oppressed them in every possible\nmanner; and when he found that they still throve and increased, he made\nthe cruel decree, that every son who was born to them should be cast\ninto the river.\n\nBut man can do nothing against the will of God, and this murderous\nordinance proved the very means of causing one of these persecuted\nHebrew infants to be brought up in the palace of Pharaoh, and instructed\nin all the wisdom of the Egyptians, the only people who at that time had\nany human learning. Even in his early life, Moses seems to have been\naware that he was to be sent to put an end to the bondage of his people,\nfor, choosing rather to suffer with them than to live in prosperity\nwith their oppressors, he went out among them and tried to defend them,\nand to set them at peace with one another; but the time was not yet\ncome, and they thrust him from them, so that he was forced to fly for\nshelter to the desert, among the Midianite descendants of Abraham. After\nhe had spent forty years there as a shepherd, God appeared to him, and\nthen first revealed Himself as JEHOVAH, the Name proclaiming His eternal\nself-existence, I AM THAT I AM, a Name so holy, that the translators of\nour Bible have abstained from repeating it where it occurs, but have put\nthe Name, the LORD, in capital letters in its stead. Moses was then sent\nto Egypt to lead out the Israelites on their way back to the land so\nlong promised to their fore-fathers; and when Pharaoh obstinately\nrefused to let them go, the dreadful plagues and wonders that were sent\non the country were such as to show that their gods were no gods; since\ntheir river, the glory of their land, became a loathsome stream of\nblood, creeping things came and went at the bidding of the Lord, and\ntheir adored cattle perished before their eyes. At last, on the night of\nthe Passover, in each of the houses unmarked by the blood of the Lamb,\nthere was a great cry over the death of the first-born son; and where\nthe sign of faith was seen, there was a mysterious obedient festival\nheld by families prepared for a strange new journey. Then the hard heart\nyielded to terror, and Israel went oat of Egypt as a nation. They had\ncome in in 1707 as seventy men, they went out in 1491 as six hundred\nthousand, and their enemies, following after them, sank like lead in the\nmighty waters of that arm of the Red Sea, which had divided to let the\nchosen pass through.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON IV.\n\nTHE WILDERNESS.\n\n\"Where Is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of\nHis flock? Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within him?\"--_Isaiah_,\nlxiii. 11.\n\nWhen Moses had led the 600,000 men, with their wives, children, and\ncattle, beyond the reach of the Egyptians, they were in a small\npeninsula, between the arms of the Red Sea, with the wild desolate peaks\nof Mount Horeb towering in the midst, and all around grim stony crags,\nwith hardly a spring of water; and though there were here and there\nslopes of grass, and bushes of hoary-leaved camel-thorn, and long-spined\nshittim or acacia, nothing bearing fruit for human beings. There were\nstrange howlings and crackings in the mountains, the sun glared back\nfrom the arid stones and rocks, and the change seemed frightful after\nthe green meadows and broad river of Egypt.\n\nFrightened and faithless, the Israelites cried out reproachfully to\nMoses to ask how they should live in this desert place, forgetting that\nthe Pillar of cloud and fire proved that they were under the care of Him\nwho had brought them safely out of the hands of their enemies. In His\nmercy God bore with their murmurs, fed them with manna from Heaven, and\nwater out of the flinty rock; and gave them the victory over the Edomite\ntribe of robber Amalekites at Rephidim, where Joshua fought, and Moses,\nupheld by Aaron and Hur, stretched forth his hands the whole day. Then,\nfifty days after their coming out of Egypt, He called them round the\npeak of Sinai to hear His own Voice proclaim the terms of the new\nCovenant.\n\nThe Covenant with Abraham had circumcision for the token, faith as the\ncondition, and the blessing to all nations as the promise. This Covenant\nremained in full force, but in the course of the last four hundred\nyears, sin had grown so much that the old standard, handed down from the\npatriarchs, had been forgotten, and men would not have known what was\nright, nor how far they fell from it, without a written Law. This Law,\nin ten rules, all meeting together in teaching Love to God and man,\ncommanded in fact perfection, without which no man could be fit to stand\nin the sight of God. He spoke it with His own Mouth, from amid cloud,\nflame, thunder, and sounding trumpets, on Mount Sinai, while the\nIsraelites watched around in awe and terror, unable to endure the dread\nof that Presence. The promise of this Covenant was, that if they would\nkeep the Law, they should dwell prosperously in the Promised Land, and\nbe a royal priesthood and peculiar treasure unto God, They answered with\none voice, \"All the words the Lord hath said will we do;\" and Moses made\na sacrifice, and sprinkled them with the blood, to consecrate them and\nconfirm their oath. It was the blood of the Old Testament. Then he went\nup into the darkness of the cloud on the mountain top, there fasting,\nto talk with God, and to receive the two Tables of Stone written by\nthe Finger of God. This was, as some believe, the first writing in the\nletters of the alphabet ever known in the world, and the Books of\nMoses were the earliest ever composed, and set down with the pen upon\nparchment.\n\nThose Laws were too strict for man in his fallen state. Keep them he\ncould not; breaking them, he became too much polluted to be fit for\nmercy. Even while living in sight of the cloud on the Mountain, where\nMoses was known to be talking with God, the Israelites lost faith, and\nset up a golden calf in memory of the Egyptian symbol of divinity,\nmaking it their leader instead of Moses. Such a transgression of their\nnewly-made promise so utterly forfeited their whole right to the\ncovenant, that Moses destroyed the precious tables, the token of the\nmutual engagement, and God threatened to sweep them off in a moment and\nto fulfil His oaths to their forefather in the children of Moses alone.\nThen Moses, having purified the camp by slaying the worst offenders,\nstood between the rest and the wrath of God, mediating for them until he\nobtained mercy for them, and a renewal of the Covenant. Twice he spent\nforty days in that awful Presence, where glorious visions were revealed\nto him; the Courts of Heaven itself, to be copied by him, by Divine\nguidance, in the Ark and Tabernacle, where his brother Aaron, and his\nseed after him, were to minister as Priests, setting forth to the eye\nhow there was a Holy Place, whence men were separated by sin, and how it\ncould only be entered by a High Priest, after a sacrifice of atonement.\nEvery ordinance of this service was a shadow of good things to come, and\nwas therefore strictly enjoined on Israel, as part of the conditions of\nthe Covenant, guiding their faith onwards by this acted prophecy; and\ntherewith God, as King of His people, put forth other commands, some\nrelating to their daily habits, others to their government as a nation,\nall tending to keep them separate from other nations. For transgressions\nof such laws as these, or for infirmities of human nature, regarded as\nstains, cleansing sacrifices were permitted. For offences against\nthe Ten Commandments, there was no means of purchasing remission; no\nanimal's, nay, no man's life could equal such a cost; there was nothing\nfor it but to try to dwell on the hope, held out to Adam and Abraham,\nand betokened by the sacrifices and the priesthood, of some fuller\nexpiation yet to come; some means of not only obtaining pardon, but of\nbeing worthy of mercy.\n\nThe Israelites could not even be roused to look for the present temporal\npromise, and hankered after the fine soil and rich fruits of Egypt,\nrather than the beautiful land of hill and valley that lay before them;\nand when their spies reported it to be full of hill forts, held by\nCanaanites of giant stature, a cowardly cry of despair broke out, that\nthey would return to Egypt. Only two of the whole host, besides Moses,\nwere ready to trust to Him who had delivered them from Pharaoh, and had\nled them through the sea. Therefore those two alone of the grown-up men\nwere allowed to set foot in the Promised Land. Till all the rest should\nhave fallen in the wilderness, and a better race have been trained up,\nGod would not help them to take possession. In their wilfulness they\ntried to advance, and were defeated, and thus were obliged to endure\ntheir forty years' desert wandering.\n\nEven Moses had his patience worn out by their fretful faithlessness,\nand committed an act of disobedience, for which he was sentenced not to\nenter the land, but to die on the borders after one sight of the promise\nof his fathers. Under him, however, began the work of conquest; the rich\npasture lands of Gilead and Basan were subdued, and the tribes of Reuben\nand Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, were permitted to take these as\ntheir inheritance, though beyond the proper boundary, the Jordan. The\nMoabites took alarm, though these, as descended from Abraham's nephew\nLot, were to be left unharmed; and their king, Balak, sent, as it\nappears, even to Mesopotamia for Balaam, a true prophet, though a guilty\nman, in hopes that he would bring down the curse of God on them. Balaam,\ngreedy of reward, forced, as it were, consent from God to go to Balak,\nthough warned that his words would not be in his own power. As he stood\non the hill top with Balak, vainly endeavouring to curse, a glorious\nstream of blessing flowed from his lips, revealing, not only the fate of\nall the tribes around, even for a thousand years, but proclaiming the\nSceptre and Star that should rise out of Jacob to execute vengeance on\nhis foes. But finding himself unable to curse Israel, the miserable\nprophet devised a surer means of harming them: he sent tempters among\nthem to cause them to corrupt themselves, and so effectual was this\ninvention, that the greater part of the tribe of Simeon were ensnared,\nand a great plague was sent in chastisement. It was checked by the zeal\nof the young priest, Phineas, under whose avenging hand so many of the\nguilty tribe fell, that their numbers never recovered the blow. Then\nafter a prayer of atonement, a great battle was fought, and the wretched\nBalaam was among the slain.\n\nThe forty years were over, Moses's time was come, and he gave his last\nsumming up of the Covenant, and sung his prophetic song. His authority\nwas to pass to his servant, the faithful spy, bearing the prophetic name\nof Joshua; and he was led by God to the top of Mount Nebo, whence he\nmight see in its length and breadth, the pleasant land, the free hills,\nthe green valleys watered by streams, the wooded banks of Jordan, the\npale blue expanse of the Mediterranean joining with the sky to the west;\nand to the north, the snowy hills of Hermon, which sent their rain and\ndew on all the goodly mountain land. It had been the hope of that old\nman's hundred and twenty years, and he looked forth on it with his eye\nnot dim, nor his natural force abated; but God had better things for him\nin Heaven, and there upon the mountain top he died alone, and God buried\nhim in the sepulchre whereof no man knoweth. None was like to him in the\nOld Covenant, who stood between God and the Israelites, but he left a\npromise that a Prophet should be raised up like unto himself.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON V.\n\nISRAEL IN CANAAN.\n\n\"But He was so merciful, that He forgave their misdeeds and destroyed\nthem not.\"--_Psalm_ Lxxviii. 38.\n\nIn the year 1431, Joshua led the tribes through the divided waters of\nthe Jordan, and received strength and skill to scatter the heathen\nbefore them, conquer the cities, and settle them in their inheritance.\n\nThe Land of Canaan was very unlike Egypt, with its flat soil, dry\nclimate, and single river. It was a narrow strip, inclosed between the\nMediterranean Sea and the river Jordan, which runs due south down a\nsteep wooded cleft into the Dead Sea, the lowest water in the world, in\na sort of pit of its own, with barren desolation all round it, so as to\nkeep in memory the ruin of the cities of the plain. In the north, rise\nthe high mountains of Libanus, a spur from which goes the whole length\nof the land, and forms two slopes, whence the rivers flow, either\nwestward into the Great Sea, or eastward into the Jordan, Many of these\nhills are too dry and stony to be cultivated; but the slopes of some\nhave fine grassy pastures, and the soil of the valleys is exceedingly\nrich, bearing figs, vines, olive trees, and corn in plenty, wherever it\nis properly tilled. With such hills, rivers, valleys, and pastures, it\nwas truly a goodly land, and when God's blessing was on it, it was the\nfairest spot where man could live. When the Israelites entered it,\nevery hill was crowned by a strongly-walled and fortified town, the\nabode of some little king of one of the seven Canaanite nations who\nwere given into their hands to be utterly destroyed. Though they were\ncommanded to make a complete end of all the people in each place they\ntook, they were forbidden to seize more than they could till, lest the\nempty ruins should serve as a harbour for wild beasts; but they had\ntheir several lots marked out where they might spread when their numbers\nshould need room. As Jacob had promised to Joseph, Ephraim and half\nManaseh had the richest portion, nearly in the middle, and Shiloh, where\nthe Tabernacle was set up, was in their territory; Judah and Benjamin\nwere in a very wild rocky part to the southwards, between the two seas,\nwith only Simeon beyond them; then came, north of Manasseh, the fine\npasture lands of Issachar and Zebulon, and a small border for Asher\nbetween Libanus and the sea; while Reuben, Gad, and the rest of\nManasseh, were to the east of the Jordan, where they had begged to\nsettle themselves in the meadows of Bashan, and the balmy thickets of\nGilead.\n\nMany a fortified town was still held by the Canaanites, in especial\nJebus, on Mount Moriah, between Judah and Benjamin; and close to Asher,\nthe two great merchant cities of the Zidonians upon the sea-shore.\nThese were called Tyre and Zidon, and their inhabitants were named\nPhoenicians, and were the chief sailors and traders of the Old World.\nFrom seeing a dog's mouth stained purple after eating a certain\nshell-fish on their coast, they had learnt how to dye woollen garments\nof a fine purple or scarlet, which was thought the only colour fit for\nkings, and these were sent out to all the countries round, in exchange\nfor balm and spices from Gilead; corn and linen from Egypt; ivory,\npearls, and rubies from India; gold from the beds of rivers in Chittim\nor Asia Minor; and silver from Spain, then called Tarshish. Thus they\ngrew very rich and powerful, and were skilful in all they undertook. The\nart of writing, which they seem to have caught from the Hebrews, went\nfrom them to the Greeks, sons of Japhet, who lived more to the north, in\nwhat were called the Isles of the Gentiles.\n\nThe Canaanites had a still fouler worship than the other sons of Ham in\nEgypt. They had many gods, whom they called altogether Baalim, or lords;\nand goddesses, whom they called Ashtoreth; and they thought that each\nhad some one city or people to defend; and that the Lord Jehovah of the\nIsraelites was such another as these, instead of being the only God\nof Heaven and earth. Among these there was one great Baal to whom the\nPhoenicians were devoted, and an especial Ashtoreth, the moon, or Queen\nof Heaven, who was thought to have a lover named Tammuz, who died with\nthe flowers in the autumn and revived in the spring, and the women\ntook delight in wailing and bemoaning his death, and then dancing and\noffering cakes in honour of his revival. Besides these, there was the\nplanet Saturn, or as they called him, Moloch or Remphan, of whom they\nhad a huge brazen statue with the hands held a little apart, set up over\na furnace; they put poor little children between these brazen hands, and\nleft them to drop into the flames below as an offering to this dreadful\ngod.\n\nWell might such worship be called abomination, and the Israelites be\nforbidden to hold any dealings with those who followed it. As long\nas the generation lived who had been bred up in the wilderness, they\nobeyed, and felt themselves under the rule of God their King, Who made\nHis Will known at Shiloh by the signs on the breastplate of the High\nPriest, while judges and elders governed in the cities. But afterwards\nthey began to be tempted to make friends with their heathen neighbours,\nand thus learnt to believe in their false deities, and to hanker after\nthe service of some god who made no such strict laws of goodness as\nthose by which they were bound. As certainly as they fell away, so\nsurely the punishment came, and God stirred up some of these dangerous\nfriends to attack them. Sometimes it was a Canaanite tribe with iron\nchariots who mightily oppressed them; sometimes the robber shepherds,\nthe Midianites, would burst in and carry off their cattle and their\ncrops, until distress brought the Israelites back to a better mind, and\nthey cried out to the Lord. Then He would raise up a mighty warrior, and\ngive him the victory, so that he became ruler and judge over Israel; but\nno sooner was he dead, than they would fall back again into idolatry,\nand receive another chastisement, repent, and be again delivered. This\nwent on for about 400 years, the Israelites growing constantly worse. In\nthe latter part of this time, their chief enemies were the Philistines,\nin the borders of Simeon and Judah, near the sea. These were not\nCanaanites, but had once dwelt in Egypt, and then, after living for a\ntime in Cyprus, had come and settled in Gaza and Ashkelon, and three\nother very strong cities on the coast, where they worshipped a fish-god,\ncalled Dagon. They had no king, but were ruled by lords of their five\ncities, and made terrible inroads upon all the country round; until at\nlast the Israelites, in their self-will, fancied they could turn them to\nflight by causing the Ark to be carried out to battle by the two corrupt\nyoung priests, sons of Eli, whose doom had already been pronounced--that\nthey should both die in one day. They were slain, when the Ark was taken\nby the enemies, and their aged father fell back and broke his neck in\nthe shock of the tidings. The glory had departed; and though God proved\nHis might by shattering Dagon's image before the Ark, and plaguing the\nPhilistines wherever they carried it, till they were forced to send\nit home in a manner which again showed the Divine Hand, yet it never\nreturned to Shiloh; God deserted the place where His Name had not been\nkept holy; the token of the Covenant seemed to be lost; the Philistines\nruled over the broken and miserable Israelites, and there was only one\npromise to comfort them--that the Lord would raise up unto Himself\na faithful Priest. Already there was growing up at Shiloh the young\nLevite, Samuel, dedicated by his mother, and bred up by Eli. He is\ncounted as first of the prophets, that long stream of inspired men,\nwho constantly preached righteousness, and to whom occasionally future\nevents were made known. He was also last of the Judges, or heaven-sent\ndeliverers. As soon as he grew up, he rallied the Israelites, restored\nthe true worship, as far as could be with the Ark in concealment, and\nsent them out to battle. They defeated the Philistines, and under\nSamuel, again became a free nation.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON VI.\n\nTHE KINGDOM OF ALL ISRAEL.\n\n\"As is the fat taken away from the peace-offering, so was David chosen\nout of the children of Israel ... In all his works he praised the Holy\nOne Most High with words of glory .... The Lord took away his sins and\nexalted his horn for ever, He gave him a covenant of kings, and a throne\nof glory in Israel.\"--_Ecclus._ xlvii. II.\n\nWhen Samuel grew old, the Israelites would not trust to God to choose a\nfresh guardian for them, but cried out for a king to keep them together\nand lead them to war like other nations. Their entreaty was granted, and\nin 1094 B. C. Saul the son of Kish, of the small but fierce tribe of\nBenjamin, was appointed by God, and anointed like a priest by Samuel,\non the understanding that he was not to rule by his own will, like the\nprinces around, but as God's chief officer, to enforce His laws and\ncarry out His bidding.\n\nThis Saul would not do. When, instead of lurking in caves, with no\nweapons save their tools for husbandry, the Israelites, under his\nleading, gradually became free and warlike; and his son Jonathan and\nuncle Abner were able generals, he fancied he could go his own way, he\ntook on him to offer sacrifice, as the heathen kings did; and when sent\nforth to destroy all belonging to the Amalekites, he spared the king\nand the choicest of the spoil. For this he was sentenced not to be the\nfounder of a line of kings, and the doom filled him with wrath against\nthe priesthood, while an evil spirit was permittted to trouble his soul,\nSamuel's last great act was to anoint the youngest son of Jesse the\nBethlehemite, the great grandchild of the loving Moabitess, Ruth, the\nsame whom God had marked beside his sheepfolds as the man after His own\nHeart, the future father of the sceptred line of Judah, and of the\n\"Root and Offspring of David, the bright and morning Star.\"\n\nFair and young, full of inspired song, and of gallant courage, the youth\nDavid was favoured as the minstrel able to drive the evil spirit from\nSaul, the champion who had slain the giant of Gath. He was the king's\nson-in-law, the prince's bosom friend; but, as the hopes of Israel\nbecame set on him, Saul began to hate him as if he were a supplanter,\nthough Jonathan submitted to the Will that deprived himself of a throne,\nand loved his friend as faithfully as ever. At last, by Jonathan's\ncounsel, David fled from court, and Saul in his rage at thinking him\naided by the priests, slew all who fell into his hands, thus cutting off\nhis own last link with Heaven. A trusty band of brave men gathered round\nDavid, but he remained a loyal outlaw, and always abstained from any\nact against his sovereign, even though Saul twice lay at his mercy.\nPatiently he tarried the Lord's leisure, and the time came at last. The\nPhilistines overran the country, and chased Saul even to the mountain\nfastnesses of Gilboa, where the miserable man, deserted by God, tried to\nlearn his fate through evil spirits, and only met the certainty of his\ndoom. In the next day's battle his true-hearted son met a soldier's\ndeath; but Saul, when wounded by the archers, tried in vain to put an\nend to his own life, and was, after a reign of forty years, at last\nslain by an Amalekite, who brought his crown to David, and was executed\nby him for having profanely slain the Lord's anointed.\n\nFor seven years David reigned only in his own tribe of Judah, while the\nbrave Abner kept the rest of the kingdom for Saul's son, Ishbosheth,\nuntil, taking offence because Ishbosheth refused to give him one of\nSaul's widows to wife, he offered to come to terms with David, but in\nleaving the place of meeting, he was treacherously killed by David's\noverbearing nephew, Joab, in revenge for the death of a brother whom he\nhad slain in single combat. Ishbosheth was soon after murdered by two of\nhis own servants, and David becoming sole king, ruled prudently with all\nhis power, and with anxious heed to the will of his true King. He was a\ngreat conqueror, and was the first to win for Israel her great city\non Mount Moriah. It had once been called Salem, or peace, when the\nmysterious priest-king, Melchizedek, reigned there in Abraham's\ntime, but since it had been held by the Jebusites, and called Jebus.\nWhen David took it, he named it Jerusalem, or the vision of peace,\nfortified it, built a palace there, and fetched thither with songs and\nsolemn dances, the long-hidden Ark, so that it might be the place where\nGod's Name was set, the centre of worship; and well was the spot fitted\nfor the purpose. It was a hill girdled round by other hills, and so\nstrong by nature, that when built round with towers and walls, an enemy\ncould hardly have taken it. David longed to raise a solid home for the\nArk, but this was not a work permitted to a man of war and bloodshed,\nand he could only collect materials, and restore the priests to their\noffices, giving them his own glorious Book of Psalms, full of praise,\nprayer, and entreaty, to be sung for ever before the Lord, by courses of\nLevites relieving one another, that so the voice of praise might never\ndie out.\n\nDavid likewise made the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites\npay him tribute, and became the most powerful king in the East,\nreceiving the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham; but even he was\nfar from guiltless. He was a man of strong passions, though of a tender\nheart, and erred greatly, both from hastiness and weakness, but never\nwithout repentance, and his Psalms of contrition have ever since been\nthe treasure of the penitent. Chastisement visited his sins, and\nwas meekly borne, but bereavement and rebellion, care, sorrow, and\ndisappointment, severely tried the Sweet Psalmist of Israel, shepherd,\nprophet, soldier, and king, ere in 1016, in his seventieth year, he went\nto his rest, after having been king for forty years, he was assured that\nhis seed should endure for ever.\n\nAll promises of temporal splendour were accomplished in his peaceful\nson, Solomon, who asked to be the wisest, and therefore was likewise\nmade the richest, most prosperous, and most peaceful of kings. No enemy\nrose against him, but all the nations sought his friendship; and Zidon\nfor once had her merchandise hallowed by its being offered to build and\nadorn the Temple, Solomon's great work. The spot chosen for it was that\nof Isaac's sacrifice, where was the threshing-floor bought by David from\nAraunah, but to give farther room, he levelled the head of the mountain,\nthrowing it into the valley; and thus forming an even space where,\nsilently built of huge stone, quarried at a distance, arose the courts,\nfor strangers, women, men, and priests, surrounded by cloisters,\nsupporting galleries of rooms for the lodging of the priests and\nLevites, many hundreds in number. The main building was of white marble,\nand the Holy of Holies was overlaid even to the roof outside with plates\nof gold, flashing back the sunshine. Even this was but a poor token of\nthe Shechinah, that glorious light which descended at Solomon's prayer\nof consecration, and filled the Sanctuary with the visible token of\nGod's Presence on the Mercy Beat, to be seen by the High Priest once a\nyear.\n\nThat consecration was the happiest moment of the history of Israel,\nWhat followed was mournful. Even David had been like the kings of other\neastern nations in the multitude of his wives, and Solomon went far\nbeyond him, bringing in heathen women, who won him into paying homage\nto their idols, and outraging God by building temples to Moloch and\nAshtoreth; though as a prophet he had been inspired to speak in his\nProverbs of Christ in His Church as the Holy Wisdom of God. A warning\nwas sent that the power which had corrupted him should not continue in\nhis family, and that the kingdom should be divided, but he only grew\nmore tyrannical, and when the Ephraimite warrior, Jeroboam, was marked\nby the prophet Ahijah as the destined chief of the new kingdom, Solomon\npersecuted him, and drove him to take refuge with the great Shishak,\nKing of Egypt, where he seems to have learnt the idolatries from which\nIsrael had been so slowly weaned. Sick at heart, Solomon in his old age,\nwrote the saddest book in the Bible; and though his first writing, the\nCanticles, had been a joyful prophetic song of the love between the Lord\nand His Church, his last was a mournful lamentation over the vanity and\nemptiness of the world, and full of scorn of all that earth can give.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON VII.\n\nTHE KINGDOM OP JUDAH.\n\n\"But if his children forsake My Law, and walk not in My judgments: if\nthey break My statutes, and keep not My Commandments, I will visit their\noffences with the rod, and their sin with scourges.\"--_Ps._ lxxxix. 31,\n32.\n\nRehoboam, the son of Solomon, brought about, by his own harshness and\nfolly, the punishment that God had decreed. By the advice of his hasty\nyoung counsellors, he made so violent a reply to the petition brought to\nhim by his subjects, that they took offence, and the ten northern tribes\nbroke away from him, setting up as their king, Jeroboam, who had been\nalready marked out by the prophet.\n\nThe lesson of meekness seems to have been the one chiefly appointed for\nRehoboam, for when he assembled the fighting men of Judah and Benjamin\nto subdue the revolt, Shemaiah the prophet was sent to forbid him, and\nhe submitted at once; and when again Jeroboam's friend Shishak invaded\nhis kingdom, Shemaiah told him it was as a punishment sent him by God,\nagainst which he must not struggle; so he gathered all the riches left\nhim by his father, paid the tribute that the Egyptians required; and\nfor being thus patient and submissive, he was again blessed by God, and\nJudah prospered. No doubt Rehoboam's obedience saved him from sharing\nthe fate of the other kings whom Shishak conquered and dragged back to\nEgypt, where he yoked them to his chariot, four abreast, and made them\ndraw him about. Shishak was a great conqueror, and in nine years overran\nall Asia, as far as the river Ganges. All his victories were recorded\nin hieroglyphics, and the learned have made out the picture of a people\nwith the features of Jews, bringing their gifts to his feet, no doubt\nthe messengers of Rehoboam. He lost his sight in his old age, and is\nsaid to have killed himself.\n\nIn 955 Abijah came to the throne instead of Rehoboam, and was permitted\nto gain a great victory over Jeroboam, but he died at the end of three\nyears, and was succeeded by his son Asa. The great temptation of the men\nof Judah seems to have been at this time the resorting to hill tops and\ngroves of trees as places of worship, instead of going steadily to the\nTemple at Jerusalem; and the kings, though obedient in other respects,\ndid not dare to put down this forbidden custom. Asa's mother, Maachah, a\ndaughter of Absalom, even had an idol in a grove; but after the king\nhad been strengthened to gain a great victory over the Ethiopians, he\ndestroyed the idol, and put her down from being queen. His end was less\ngood than his beginning; he made a league with the Syrians instead of\ntrusting to God; and threw the prophet Hanani into prison for having\nrebuked him; and in his latter years he was cruel and oppressive. He\ndied in 891.\n\nHis son Jehoshaphat was a very good and gentle prince, but his very\ngentleness seemed to have led him into error, for he became too friendly\nwith the idolatrous House of Ahab in Samaria, and allowed his son\nJehoram to take to wife the child of Ahab and Jezebel, Athaliah, who\nproved even more wicked than her mother. Jehoshaphat was in alliance\nwith Ahab, and went out with him to his last battle at Ramoth-Gilead,\nwhere Ahab tried to put his friend into danger instead of himself by\nmaking him appear as the only king present, but entirely failed to\ndeceive the hand appointed to bring death. Afterwards, when the\nEdomites, Ammonites, and Moabites came up against Judah, Jehoshaphat was\ncommanded to have no fears, but to go out to meet them, with the Levites\nsinging before him, \"Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth for ever!\"\nSo the battle should be his without fighting; for the three banded\nnations fought among themselves, and made such a slaughter of one\nanother, that the Jews had nothing to do but to gather the spoil, which\nwas in such heaps, that they spent three days in collecting it. And\nagain, when Jehoshaphat went out with Jehoram, King of Israel, against\nthe Moabites, with Jehoshaphat's tributary, the King of Edom, another\nmiraculous deliverance was granted by the hand of Elisha, and the water\nwhich was sent to relieve the thirsty hosts of Israel and Judah, seemed\nto the Moabites as blood; so that, thinking the three armies had\nquarrelled and slain each other, they made an unguarded attack, and\nsuffered a total rout.\n\nJehoshaphat was succeeded in 891 by his son Jehoram, who, though he had\nseen such signal proofs of God's power, chose rather to follow the\nwill of his wicked wife Athaliah, than to obey the commands of God. To\nstrengthen his dominion, he followed the example of the worst heathen\ntyrants, and killed his seven brethren; and he permitted and encouraged\nidolatry in the most open manner. He was first punished by the loss of\nthe Edomites, who rose against him, and set up a free kingdom according\nto the prophecy of Isaac; next by an in-road of the Arabians and\nPhilistines, who ravaged his very house, and killed all his children\nexcept the youngest, Ahaziah; and lastly, by a loathsome and deadly\ndisease, which ended his life in the fortieth year of his age.\n\nAhaziah was only twenty-two, and was ruled by his mother Athaliah for\nthe one year before, going to visit his uncle Jehoram, of Israel, he\nwas slain with him in Jehu's massacre of the House of Ahab. Athaliah\nherself fulfilled the rest of the decree which she did not acknowledge.\nShe was bent on reigning, and savagely murdered all her grandsons who\nfell into her hands; but as the House of David was never to fail, one\ntender branch, the infant Joash, was hidden from her fury by his aunt,\nthe wife of the High Priest Jehoiada; and when the fitting time was\ncome, the Levites were armed, and the people were shown their little\nking. They acknowledged him with shouts of joy, and Athaliah coming to\nsee the cause of the outcry, was dragged out of the Temple and put\nto death. Jerusalem was cleansed from the worship of Baal, and all\nprospered as long as the good Jehoiada lived. After his death, however,\nJoash fell away grievously, and promoted idol worship; nay, he even slew\nthe son of his preserver, Jehoiada, for bringing him a Divine rebuke,\nand for this iniquity his troops suffered a great defeat from the\nSyrians, and his servants slew him as he lay sick on his bed in 838. His\nson Amaziah began well, obeying the Lord by dismissing the Ephraimites\nwhom he had hired to aid him against the Edomites, and he was therefore\nrewarded with a great victory; but so strangely blind was he, that he\nbrought home the vain gods of Edom and worshipped them. He too was slain\nby rebels in the flower of his age, leaving his son Uzziah, also called\nAzariah, to succeed him at sixteen years old. Uzziah met with such\nsuccess at first, that his heart was lifted up, and in his pride he\nendeavoured to intrude into the priest's office, and burn incense on the\nAltar; but even while striving with the High Priest, the leprosy broke\nout white on his brow, setting him apart, to live as an outcast from\nreligious services for ever. His son Jotham became the governor of the\nkingdom during his lifetime, and afterwards reigned alone till the year\n759, when he was succeeded by his son Ahaz, one of the worst and most\nidolatrous of the Kings of Judah. The Syrians made alliance with Israel,\nand terribly ravaged Judea, till Jerusalem stood alone in the midst\nof desolation; and Ahaz, instead of turning to the Lord, tried to\nstrengthen himself by fresh heathen alliances, though the prophet Isaiah\nbrought him certain messages that his foes should be destroyed, and\npromised him, for a sign, that great blessing of the House of David,\nthat the Virgin's Son should be born, and should be God present with us.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON VIII.\n\nTHE KINGDOM OF SAMARIA.\n\n\"As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the\nwater.\"--_Hosea_, x. 7.\n\n\nMany promises had marked out Ephraim for greatness, and at first the\nnew kingdom seemed quite to overshadow the little rocky Judah. But the\nfounder of the dominion of the ten tribes sowed the seeds of decay,\nbecause, like Saul, he would not trust to the God who had given him his\ncrown. He was afraid his subjects would return to the kings of the House\nof David, if he let them go to worship at Jerusalem, and therefore\nrevived the old symbol of a calf, which he must have seen in Egypt in\nhis exile, setting up two shrines at Bethel and at Dan, the two ends of\nhis kingdom, bidding his people go thither to offer sacrifice. Thus he\nmade Israel to sin; and while hoping to strengthen his power, was the\ncause of its ruin. Prophets warned him in vain, that his line should\nnot remain on the throne; and in the reign of his son Nadab, the rebel\nBaasha arose and slew the whole family of this first king of the\nidolatrous realm, in the year 952. Baasha was not warned by the fate of\nNadab, but followed the same courses; and his son Elah and all his house\nwere destroyed in 928, when after the slaughter of two short-lived\nusurpers, the captain of the army, Omri, became king. Omri belonged\nto the city of Jezreel, in the inheritance of Issachar; but he built\nSamaria in the midst of Ephraim, between the two hills of blessing and\nof cursing, and this town becoming the capital, gave its name to the\nwhole kingdom. In 918, Omri left his crown to his son Ahab, who allied\nhimself with the rich Phoenicians, and took the Zidonian princess\nJezebel for his wife; the most unfortunate marriage in the whole\nIsraelitish history. Sinful as had been the calf-worship, it was still\nmeant for adoration of the true God; but Jezebel brought her foul\nPhoenician faith with her, and tried to force on the Israelites the\nworship of Baal as a separate god, in the stead of the Lord Jehovah.\n\nAhab was weak, and yielded; and the greater number of the nation were so\nmuch corrupted by the breach of the Second Commandment, that they were\nnot slow to break the First, although God had sent the most glorious of\nall His prophets to prove to them that \"the Lord, He is the God.\" Three\nyears of drought showed who commands the clouds, and then came Elijah's\nchallenge to the four hundred prophets of Baal, to prove who was the God\nwho could send fire from Heaven! All day did the four hundred cry wildly\non their idol, while Elijah mocked them; at evening his offering was\nmade, and drenched with water to increase the wonder of the miracle. He\nprayed, the fire fell at once from Heaven, and the people shouted \"The\nLord He is the God!\" and gave their deceivers up to punishment; and when\nthis partial purification was made, he prayed upon Mount Carmel, and the\nlittle cloud arose and grew into a mighty storm, bringing abundance of\nrain on the thirsty land.\n\nWho could withstand such wonders? Yet they only hardened Jezebel into\ngreater cruelty, and Elijah was forced to flee into the utmost desert,\nwhere he communed with God on Mount Sinai, even like Moses. Only once\nmore did he appear again to Ahab, and that was to rebuke him for having\npermitted the murder of a poor subject whose property he had coveted,\nand to foretell the horrors in which his line should end.\n\nAhab was not wholly hardened, and often had gleams of good which brought\nfavour upon him. A new enemy had risen up since the Canaanites had been\ndestroyed, and the Philistines repressed, by David; namely, the Syrians,\na powerful nation, whose capital was at Damascus, a city which is said\nto be a perfect paradise, so delicious is the climate, and so lovely\nthe two rivers, one making the circuit of the walls, the other flowing\nthrough the middle of the town. These Syrians were appointed to bring\npunishment upon Samaria; but at first, two great victories were\nvouchsafed to Ahab, because Benhadad, King of Syria, fancied that\nthe Israelites only won because their gods were gods of the hills.\nAfterwards, when Ahab went out to recover Ramoth Gilead, wilfully\ntrusting to lying prophets, and silencing the true one, not all his\ndisguise could avail to protect him; he was slain in the battle; and\nwhen his chariot was washed, the dogs licked his blood, as they had\nlicked that of his victim Naboth.\n\nAhaziah, his son, soon died of a fall from the top of his palace, and\nthe next brother Jehoram reigned, trying to make an agreement between\nthe worship of God and of Baal. It was now that Elijah was taken away\ninto Heaven by a whirlwind, leaving behind him Elisha to carry on his\nmission of prophecy and to execute the will of the Lord. It was Elisha\nwho sent a messenger to anoint Jehu, the warrior who performed the\nvengeance of the Lord upon the House of Ahab. In the year 884 Jehoram\nwas slain in his chariot; Jezebel, thrown out of window by her own\nslaves, perished miserably among the ravenous flocks of street dogs; and\nall the princes of the line were slaughtered by the rulers of Samaria;\nthe worshippers of Baal were massacred, and the land purified from this\nidolatry. Still Jehu would not part with the calves of Dan and Bethel;\nand he was therefore warned that his family should likewise pass away\nafter the fourth generation.\n\nElisha had already wept at the fore-knowledge of the miseries which\nHazael of Syria should bring upon Israel; and Hazael, murdering his\nmaster Benhadad by stifling him with a wet cloth as he lay sick on his\nbed, became a dreadful enemy to Samaria. So much broken was the force of\nJehoahaz, Jehu's son, that at one time he had only one thousand foot,\nfifty horse, and ten chariots; but after this, prosperity began to\nreturn to the Israelites. Joash, his son, was a mighty king, and would\nhave been still greater, if he would have believed that obeying the\nsimple words of the prophet Elisha on his death-bed would bring him\nvictory. Yet so much greater was his force than that of Judah, that when\nAmaziah sent him a challenge, he replied by the insulting parable of the\nthistle and the cedar. Jeroboam II., his son, was likewise prosperous;\nbut neither blessings nor warnings would induce these kings to forsake\ntheir golden calves. Amos, the herdsman-prophet of Tekoa, was warned\nto say nothing against the king's chapel at Bethel; and Hosea in vain\ndeclared that Ephraim was feeding on wind, and following after the\neast-wind, namely, putting his trust in mere empty air. So in the time\nof Zechariah, son to Jeroboam, came the doom of the House of Jehu, and\nin 773 the king was murdered by Shallum, who only reigned a month, being\nkilled by his general, Menahem. Again, Menahem's son, Pekahiah, was\nkilled by his captain Pekah, a great warrior, who made an attack upon\nAhaz of Judah, and slew one hundred and twenty thousand Jews in one day.\nMany more with all their spoil were brought captives to Samaria; but\nthere was some good yet left in Israel, and at the rebuke of the prophet\nOded, the Ephraimites remembered that they were brethren, gave back to\nthe prisoners all their spoil, fed them, clothed them, and mounted them\non asses to carry them safely back to their own land. But Pekah, and his\nally, Rezin of Damascus, were sore foes to Ahaz, and cruelly ravaged his\ndomains; and though God encouraged him, by the words of Isaiah, to trust\nin Him alone, and see their destruction, Ahaz obstinately resolved to\nturn to a new power for protection.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON IX.\n\nNINEVEH.\n\n\"Where is the dwelling-place of the lions, and the feeding-place of the\nyoung lions?\"--_Nahum_, ii. 11.\n\n\nWhen the confusion of tongues took place at Babel, and men were\ndispersed, the sons of Ham's grandson, Cush, remained in Mesopotamia,\nwhich took the name of Assyria, from Assur, the officer of Nimrod, the\nfirst king. This Assur began building, on the banks of the Tigris, the\ngreat city of Nineveh, one of the mightiest in all the world, and the\nfirst to be ruined. It was enclosed by a huge wall, so wide that three\nchariots could drive side by side on the top, and built of bricks made\nof the clay of the country, dried in the sun and cemented with bitumen,\nguarded at the base by a plinth fifty feet in height, and with immense\nditches round it, about sixty miles in circumference. Within were huge\npalaces, built of the same bricks, faced with alabaster, and the rooms\ndecked with cedar, gilding, and ivory, and raised upon terraces whence\nbroad flights of steps led down to courts guarded by giant stone figures\nof bulls and lions, with eagles' wings and human faces, as if some\nnotion of the mysterious Cherubim around the Throne in Heaven had\nfloated to these Assyrians. The slabs against the walls were carved with\nrepresentations of battles, hunts, sacrifices, triumphs, and all the\nscenes in the kings' histories, nay, in the building of the city; and\nthere were explanations in the wedge-shaped letters of the old Assyrian\nalphabet. The Ninevites had numerous idols, but their honour for the\nLord had not quite faded away; and about the year 830, about the time of\nAmaziah in Judah, and Jeroboam II. in Israel, the prophet Jonah was\nsent to rebuke them for their many iniquities. In trying to avoid the\ncommand, by sailing to Tarshish in a Phoenician ship, he underwent that\nstrange punishment which was a prophetic sign of our Lord's Burial and\nResurrection; and thus warned, he went to Nineveh and startled the\npeople by the cry, \"Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed!\" At\nthat cry, the whole place repented as one man; and from the king to the\nbeggar all fasted and wept, till God had mercy on their repentance and\nready faith, and turned away His wrath, in pity to the 120,000 innocent\nchildren who knew not yet to do good or evil.\n\nThe prophet Nahum afterwards prophesied against the bloody city, and\nforetold that her men should become like women, and that in the midst of\nher feasting and drunkenness an overflowing flood should make an end of\nher. But first God had a work for the Ninevites to do, namely, to punish\nHis own chosen, who would not have Him for their God. Therefore, He\nstrengthened the great King Tiglath Pileser, who already held in\nsubjection the other great Assyrian city of Babylon, and the brave\nMedian mountaineers, to come out against the Syrians and Israelites.\nAhaz, King of Judah, hoping to be delivered from his distresses, sent\nmessengers to Tiglath Pileser, to say, \"I am thy servant and thy son,\"\nand to beg him to protect him from his two enemies, promising to pay him\ntribute. Tiglath Pileser did indeed take Damascus, and put the king to\ndeath, destroying the old Syrian kingdom for ever, and he carried away\nthe calf of Dan, and severely chastised Samaria, where Pekah was shortly\nafter murdered by his servant Hoshea; so that Isaiah's prophecy of the\nruin of \"these two tails of smoking firebrands,\" Pekah and Rezin, was\nfulfilled; but as Ahaz had tried to bring it about in his own way, he\ngained nothing. Though he went to pay his service to the conqueror at\nDamascus, Tiglath Pileser did not help him, but only distressed him;\nand instead of learning Who was his true Guardian, Ahaz only came\nhome delighted with the Syrian temples, and profanely altered the\narrangements in the Temple, which Moses and Solomon had ordained by\nGod's command, as patterns of the greater and more perfect Tabernacle\nrevealed to Moses in Heaven. He soon died, in the year 725, when only\nthirty-six years old, leaving his crown to Hezekiah, then only sixteen,\nthe king whose heart was more whole with God than had been that of any\nking since his father David, and whose first thought was to purify the\nTemple, and to destroy all corrupt worship, breaking down idols, and\ndestroying the high places and groves, which had stood ever since\nSolomon's time.\n\nHoshea, too, was the best King of Samaria that had yet reigned, for he\nencouraged his subjects to go to worship at Jerusalem, whither Hezekiah\ninvited them to keep the Passover, and that feast had not been held so\nfully since Solomon's time. They came back full of zeal, and destroyed\nmany of the idols; but the reformation came too late; the measure of\nIsrael's sin was full. Hoshea offended Shalmaneser, who had succeeded\nTiglath Pileser, by making friends with So, King of Egypt, and the\nAssyrian army came down upon Israel in the year 722, and killing Hoshea,\ncarried off all the people as captives, settling them in the cities of\nthe Medes, never more to dwell in their own land. Sargon seems to\nhave dethroned Shalmaneser about this time, and to have completed the\nconquest of Israel, of which he boasted on the tablets of a great palace\nnear Nineveh, which has been lately brought to light.\n\nThe remnant that was left, the small realm of Judah, took warning, and\nturned to God with all their heart, and therefore were protected; but\nthey had much to suffer. Sargon's son, Sennacherib, was a proud and\nambitious monarch, who used his Israelite captives in building up the\nwalls of Nineveh, and making the most magnificent of all the palaces\nthere, eight acres in size, and covered with inscriptions. He invaded\nJudea, took forty-six cities, and besieged Jerusalem, raising a mound\nto overtop the walls; but on receiving large gifts from Hezekiah, he\nreturned to his own land. At Babylon a prince named Merodach Baladan\nhad set himself up against Sennacherib, and sought the friendship of\nHezekiah. When the good King of Judah recovered from his illness by a\nmiracle, the sign of which was, that the sun seemed to retreat in his\ncourse, it probably won the attention of the Chaldeans, who were great\nstar-gazers; and Merodach Baladan sent messengers to compliment the\nking, whose favour with Heaven had thus been shown to all the earth.\nFor once Hezekiah erred, and was so much uplifted, as to display his\ntreasure and his new-born son in ostentation. Isaiah rebuked him,\ntelling him that his children should be slaves in the hands of the very\nnation who had heard his boast. He meekly submitted, thankful that there\nshould be peace and truth in his days. Soon after, Babylon was reduced\nby Sennacherib, and Merodach Baladan driven into exile. In the latter\nyears of his reign, Sennacherib undertook an expedition into Egypt, and\non his way sent a blasphemous message by his servant, Rabshakeh, to\nsummon Hezekiah to submit, and warning him and his people, that their\nGod could no more protect them than the gods of the conquered nations\nhad saved their worshippers. In answer to the prayer of Hezekiah, came,\nby the mouth of Isaiah, an assurance that the boaster who insulted the\nliving God, was only an instrument in His Hands, unable to go one step\nagainst His will. Not one arrow should he shoot against the holy city,\nbut he should hear a rumour, a blast should be sent on him, and he\nshould fall by the sword in his own land.\n\nAccordingly, on the report that Tirhakah, the great King of Ethiopia,\nwas coming to the aid of the Egyptians, he hurried on to reinforce the\narmy he had sent against him, intending to take Jerusalem on his way\nback. But on the night when the two armies were in sight of each other,\nere the battle, the blast of death passed over the Assyrians; and in\nearly morning the host lay dead, not by the sword, but by the breath of\nthe Lord, and Sennacherib was left to return without the men in whom he\nhad trusted! Even heathens recorded this deliverance, but they strangely\naltered the story. They said that it was the prayer of the Egyptian king\nthat prevailed on his gods to send a multitude of mice into the enemy's\ncamp, to gnaw all the bow-strings, so that they could not fight; and\nthey showed a statue of the king with a mouse in his hand, which was,\nthey said, a memorial of the wonder.\n\nSennacherib, in rage and fury, cruelly persecuted the Israelites at\nNineveh for their connection with the Jews; and then it was that the\npious Tobit buried the corpses that were cast in the street until he\nlost his sight, afterwards so wonderfully restored. Sennacherib was\nmurdered in the year 720 by two of his sons, while worshipping his god\nNisroch; and another son, Esarhaddon, became king.\n\nEsarhaddon, who is known by many different names, soon after came out\nand marauded all over the adjacent country; and it is believed that\nit was about this time that Bethulia was so bravely defended, and the\nNinevite general slain by the craft and courage of Judith. Esarhaddon\ntook away all the remaining Israelites from their country, and filled\nit up with Phoenicians and Medes from cities which had been conquered.\nThese, bringing their idols into the land of the Lord, were chastised\nwith lions; and, begging to be taught to worship the God of the land,\nhad priests sent them, who taught them some of the truth, though very\nimperfectly; and these new inhabitants were called Samaritans.\n\nIn the time of Hezekiah, many more of the Psalms than had been before\ncollected, were written down and applied to the Temple Service. The\nlatter part of the Proverbs of Solomon were first copied out, and the\ninspired words of the prophets began to be added to the Scriptures.\nJoel's date is unfixed, but Hosea, Amos, and Jonah, had recently been\nprophesying, and the glorious evangelical predictions of Isaiah and\nMicah were poured out throughout this reign, those of Isaiah ranging\nfrom the humiliation and Passion of the Redeemer, to the ingathering of\nthe nations to His Kingdom, and Micah marking out the little Bethlehem\nas the birth-place of \"Him whose goings are from everlasting.\"\n\nManasseh, the son of the good Hezekiah, began to reign in 699. He was\nin his first years savagely wicked, and very idolatrous. It is believed\nthat he caused the great evangelical prophet, Isaiah, to be put to death\nby being sawn asunder, and he set an image in the Temple itself. He\nsoon brought down his punishment on his head, for the Assyrian captains\ninvaded Judea, and took him captive, dragging him in chains to Babylon.\nThere he repented, and humbled himself with so contrite a heart, that\nGod had mercy on him, and caused his enemies to restore him to his\nthrone; but the free days of Judah were over, and they were thenceforth\nsubjects, paying tribute to the King of Assyria, and Manasseh was only a\ntributary for the many remaining years of his reign, while he strove in\nvain to undo the evil he had done by bringing in idolatry.\n\nMeantime the greatness of Nineveh came to an end. The Babylonians\nand Medes revolted against it, and it was ruined in the year 612.\nSardanapalus succeeded his father at Nineveh, but was weak and\nluxurious. His brother, Saracus, was so like him, that what seems really\nto have been the end of Saracus, is generally told of Sardanapalus. He\nwas so weary of all amusement and delight, that, by way of change, he\nwould dress like his wives, and spin and embroider with them, and he\neven offered huge rewards to anyone who would invent a new pleasure. He\nsaid his epitaph should be, that he carried with him that which he had\neaten, which, said wise men, was a fit motto only for a pig, not a man.\nAt last his carelessness and violence provoked the Babylonians and Medes\nto rise against him, and they besieged his city; but he took no notice,\nand feasted on, putting his trust in an old prophecy, (perhaps Nahum's,)\nthat nothing should harm Nineveh till the river became her enemy. At\nlast he heard that the Tigris had overflowed, and broken down a part of\nthe wall; and so giving himself up, he shut himself up in his palace,\nand setting fire to it, burnt himself with all his wives, slaves, and\ntreasures, rather than be taken by the enemy. So ended Nineveh, in the\nyear 612. No one ever lived there again; the river made part a swamp,\nand the rest was covered with sand brought by the desert winds. It was\nall ruin and desolation; but of late years many of its mighty remains\nhave been brought to our country, as witnesses of the dealings of God\nwith His people's foes.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON X.\n\nTHE CAPTIVITY.\n\n\"Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the\nwhole earth?\"--_Larn._ ii. 15.\n\n\nManasseh's son, Amon, undid all the reformation of his latter years, and\nbrought back idolatry; and indeed, the whole Jewish people had become so\ncorrupt, that even when Amon was murdered in 642, after only reigning\ntwo years, and better days came back with the good Josiah, it was with\nalmost all of them only a change of the outside, and not of the heart.\nJosiah was but eight years old when he came to the throne, and at\nsixteen he began to rule, seeking the Lord earnestly with his whole\nheart, as David and Hezekiah alone had done before him. One of his first\nacts was to purify the Temple, and in so doing, the book of the Law\nof Moses was found, cast aside, and forgotten by all. Josiah bade\nthe scribes read it aloud, and then for the first time he heard what\nblessings Judah had forfeited, what curses she had deserved, and how\nblack was her disobedience in the sight of God. Well might he rend his\nclothes, weep aloud, and send to the prophetess Huldah, to ask whether\nthe anger of the Lord could yet be turned aside. She made answer by\nthe word of the God of Justice, that the doom must come on the guilty\nnation, but that in His mercy, He would spare Josiah the sight of the\nruin, and that he should be gathered into his grave in peace; and at the\nsame time Zephaniah likewise spoke of judgment, and Jeremiah, the priest\nof Anathoth, was foretelling that treacherous Judah should soon suffer\nlike backsliding Israel. Yet even this hopeless future did not daunt\nJosiah's loving heart from doing his best. He collected his people, and\nrenewed the Covenant, he rooted out every trace of idolatry, even more\nthoroughly than Hezekiah had done, overthrowing even Solomon's idol\ntemples; and he went to Bethel, which he seems to have held under the\nKing of Assyria, and defiled the old altar there by burning bones on it,\nas the disobedient prophet had foretold of him by name, when that altar\nwas first set up. He likewise caused copies of the Law to be made, so\nthat it might never be lost again; and the Jews have a story, that\nknowing the Temple was to be destroyed, he saved the Ark of the\nCovenant, Aaron's rod, and the pot of manna, from sacrilege, by hiding\nthem away in the hollow of Mount Nebo, where they have never since been\nfound; but this is quite uncertain.\n\nJosiah lived between two mighty powers; the King of Babylon, who had\nnewly taken Nineveh, and Pharaoh Necho, King of Egypt, a very bold and\nable man, who hired Phoenician ships to sail round Africa, and then did\nnot believe the crews when they came back, because they said they had\nseen the sun to the north at noon, and wool growing on trees. He tried\nto cut a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea; and wishing to check the\npower of Babylon, he brought an army by sea to make war upon Assyria,\nlanding at Acre under Mount Carmel, and intending to march through\nGilead. Josiah, being a tributary of Babylon, thought it his duty to\nendeavour to stop him, and going out to battle with him at Megiddo, was\nthere mortally wounded, and died on his way home, in the year 611. The\nmourning of the Jews over their good king was so bitter, that it was a\nproverb long after; and they had indeed reason to lament, for he was the\nlast who stood between them and their sin and their punishment.\n\nJehoahaz, or Shallum, his third son, a wicked young man, only reigned\nwhile Necho was fighting a battle with the Babylonians on the Euphrates,\nand then was carried off in chains to Egypt, while Necho set up Eliakim,\nor Jehoiakim, another brother, in his stead. Jehoiakim was idolatrous,\ncruel, and violent; he persecuted the prophets, and did everything\nto draw on himself the punishment of Heaven. Necho, making another\ninvasion, was defeated by the great Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and\nhunted back by him into Egypt. On his way Nebuchadnezzar seized\nJerusalem, in the year 606, and carried off some of the treasures of the\nTemple, and many of the royal family, to Babylon, among them the four\nholy children, but he let Jehoiakim continue to reign as his vassal.\nJeremiah prophesied that the time of captivity and desolation should\nlast seventy years from this time, but the worst was not yet come.\nJehoiakim was bent on trusting for help to the Egyptians, who had made\nhim king, and treated Jeremiah as a traitor for counselling him to be\nloyal to the Assyrians; he threw Jeremiah into prison, and when Baruch\nread the roll of his prophecies in the Temple, he caused it to be cut to\npieces and destroyed. At last he rebelled, relying on help from\nEgypt, but it did not come, for Necho was dying; and in the year 598,\nNebuchadnezzar himself came up against Jerusalem, and besieged it.\nJehoiakim died in the midst of the war, and his equally wicked son,\nJehoiachin, Coniah, or Jeconiah, was soon forced to come out, and\nsurrender to Nebuchadnezzar, who dishonoured his father's corpse, and\ncarried him away to Babylon, with the chief treasures of the Temple, and\na great multitude of warriors and mechanics. Among them was the prophet\nEzekiel, who, on the banks of the Chebar, saw mighty visions of the\nchariot of God borne up by the Cherubim; and while he rebuked the\npresent Jews for their crimes, promised restoration, and beheld the new\nand more perfect Building of God measured out by the angel. A marble\ncylinder with most of this prophecy engraven on it in Assyrian\ncharacters, has lately been found in the ruins near the Tigris.\n\nThe last son of Josiah, Mattanias, or Zedekiah, was set up as king, and\nreigned for eleven years; like his brothers, wavering and sinning, and\ntrusting to false prophets, instead of Jeremiah, who gave him hopes of\nrest, if he would only bear his present fallen state meekly, and not\ntrust to Egypt. The counsellors who loved Egypt, however, persuaded him\nto rebel, as Pharaoh Hophra was actually coming out to his assistance;\nand he put Jeremiah into prison for prophesying that he would bring\nruin on himself, Nebuchadnezzar soon marched upon him, and besieged\nJerusalem; and his friend, Pharaoh Hophra, left him to his fate, showing\nhimself the broken reed that Jeremiah had said he would prove. The siege\nof Jerusalem lasted a year, and no one suffered more than the prophet,\nwho was thrown into a noisome prison, and afterwards lowered into a pit,\nwhere he nearly died; but not for all this did he cease to denounce the\njudgments of God on the rebellious city. Horrible famine prevailed, and\nthe streets were full of dead; but Jeremiah told the king, that if he\nwould go out and make terms with Nebuchadnezzar all might yet be saved.\nBut Zedekiah would not listen, and at last broke out with his men of war\nto cut his way through the enemy. His self-will met its deserts; he was\ntaken by Nebuzaradan, the captain who had been left to carry on the\nsiege, and brought a prisoner to Babylon, after his sons had been slain\nin his very sight, and his eyes then put out, according to a prophecy of\nEzekiel, which he is said to have thought impossible; namely, that he\nshould die at Babylon, and yet never see it.\n\nThe Temple was stripped of the last remains of its glory, and utterly\noverthrown, the walls were broken down, and the place left desolate; the\nEdomites who were in the conqueror's army savagely exulting in the fall\nof their kindred nation; but both Psalm cxxxvii. and the Prophet Obadiah\nspoke of vengeance in store for them likewise. All the Jews of high rank\nwere carried away, and none left but the poorer sort, who were to till\nthe ground under a ruler named Gedaliah. Jeremiah, who was offered his\nchoice of going to Babylon or remaining in Judea, preferred to continue\nnear the once glorious city, whose solitude and ruin he bewailed in the\nmournful Book of Lamentations; and he did his utmost to persuade the\nremaining Jews to rest quietly under the dominion of Assyria. Had they\ndone so, there would yet have been peace; but Ishmael, a prince of the\nseed royal, who had fled to the Ammonites during the invasion, came\nback, and in the hope of making himself king murdered Gedaliah at a\nharvest feast, with many Jews and Chaldeans, and was on his way to his\nfriend, the King of Ammon, when Johanan, a friend of Gedaliah, came upon\nhim and slew many of his party, so that he escaped with only eight men\nto the Ammonites. So shocked were the Jews at this murder of Gedaliah,\nthat they ever after kept a fast on the anniversary. Johanan now\nasked counsel from Jeremiah, who still enjoined him to submit to the\nAssyrians, but assured him that if he went to Egypt it would only be to\nshare the ruin of that country; but Johanan and his friends would not\nlisten, and carried all the remnant of Judah, and Jeremiah himself, off\nby force into Egypt. All this happened in the miserable year 588, and\nJerusalem remained utterly waste, the land enjoying a long sabbath of\ndesolation, What became of Jeremiah afterwards is not known; he is said\nto have been stoned in Egypt, but this is not at all certain. He left\nbehind him the promise that a Deliverer should come--the Lord our\nRighteousness--and that the former redemption out of bondage in Egypt\nshould be as nothing in comparison with the ingathering of the New\nCovenant from the north country and from all countries; also that the\nNew Covenant should be within, written upon the hearts and minds of the\nfaithful.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XI.\n\nBABYLON.\n\n\"By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee,\nO Sion.\"--_Psalm_ cxxxvii, 1.\n\n\nBabylon, the city which was to be the place of captivity of the Jews,\nwas the home of the Chaldeans, who are believed not to have been the\nsons of Gush, like the Assyrians whom they had conquered at Nineveh,\nbut to have been at first a wandering tribe of the north, and to have\ndescended from Japhet. They had nearly the same gods as the Ninevites,\nbut thought the special protector of their city was Bel-Merodach, the\nname by which they called the planet Jupiter. They were such great\nobservers of the courses of the stars, that astronomy is said to have\nbegun with them; but this was chiefly because they fancied that the\nheavenly bodies would help them to foretel coming events, for they put\ngreat faith in soothsayers. They settled upon the bank of the Euphrates,\nnear the ruins of the Tower of Babel, round which a city arose,\nsometimes free, sometimes under the power of the King of Nineveh.\n\nIn the time of the weak and luxurious Saracus, Nabopolassar was\ngovernor of Babylon. He joined himself to the Medea, giving his son,\nNebuchadnezzar, in marriage to the Median Princess Amytis; and as has\nalready been said, the two nations together destroyed Nineveh,\nafter which, Babylon became the head of the Assyrian Empire, and\nNebuchadnezzar was the king.\n\nHe made the city exceedingly grand and beautiful. It was fifty five\nmiles in circuit, square, surrounded by a wall eighty-seven feet thick,\nand three hundred and fifty high, with houses and a street on the top,\nand an enormous ditch filled with water all round, another lesser wall\nsome way within. There were one hundred brazen gates in the wall,\nbesides two larger gateways upon the Euphrates, which ran through the\nmiddle, dividing the city into two parts. It was full of streets and\nhouses, with such fields and vineyards, that it was like a whole country\nwalled in; and the soil was exceedingly rich, being all brought down\nfrom the Armenian hills by the Euphrates. As this river rose in the\nmountains of Armenia, it used to overflow in the spring, when the snows\nmelted and swelled the stream; but to prevent mischief, the country was\ncovered with a network of canals, to draw off the water in safety. The\npride of the city was the Temple of Bel, which is thought to have been\nbuilt on a fragment of the Tower of Babel. It was a pile of enormous\nheight, with seven stages in honour of the seven planets then known, and\nwith a winding ascent leading from one to the other. On the top was the\nshrine, where stood Bel's golden image, twelve cubits high, and before\nit a golden table where meats and wine were served up to him. On either\nside of the river were two palaces, joined together by a bridge, and the\nnearer one, four miles round, with wonderful grounds, containing what\nwere called the hanging gardens, namely, a hill which Nebuchadnezzar\nhad caused to be raised by heaping up earth, and planted with trees, to\nplease his Median queen, whose eye pined for her native mountains in the\nflats of Babylon.\n\nThere must have been other eyes at Babylon wearying for their own free\nheights, for there the captives of Judah bore the punishment of their\nfathers' sins and their own, and repented so completely, that they never\nreturned to their idolatry. When in 606, Nebuchadnezzar carried to\nBabylon Jehoiachin and the nobles of Judah, he commanded that some\nof the royal children should be brought up as slaves to serve in his\npalace, and gave them new names after his gods. Daniel, Ananias, Azarias,\nand Misael, gave their first proof of their obedience to the Law of\ntheir God in their exile and slavery, by denying themselves the choice\nmeats set before them, lest they should eat of some forbidden thing, and\nliving only on dry beans and water. So blessed was their abstinence,\nthat they excelled all the other youths both in beauty and in wisdom,\nand were soon promoted above them. Soon after, Daniel was shown to be\na prophet, for God inspired him, not merely with the meaning of\nNebuchadnezzar's perplexing dream, but revealed to him the dream itself,\nwhich the king had forgotten. That dream was the emblematic history of\nthe world. It was an image with a head of gold, shoulders of silver,\nthighs of brass, legs of iron, feet partly of iron, partly of clay, all\noverthrown together by a stone cut out without hands from a mountain.\nGreat Babylon was the head, soon to give way to the less splendid\nPersian power, then again to the Greek dominion, and lastly to the iron\nrule of Rome, which would grow weak and mixed with miry clay, till at\nlast all would be overthrown and subdued by the Stone which the builders\nrejected.\n\nAfter this wonderful interpretation, Daniel became a chief ruler under\nNebuchadnezzar, and even in his youth, his name was a very proverb for\nwisdom and holiness. He judged among the Jews, and confuted the two\nwicked elders who sought to bring about the death of Susanna; and he\nprobably stood too high to be accused, when, soon after the taking of\nZedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar threw the three other princes into the fiery\nfurnace, for refusing to bow down to the golden image on the plains of\nDura. Then the fiery blast was to them as a moist whistling wind, and\neven the tyrant beheld the Form like the Son of God, walking with them\nin the midst of the flame, while they sung that hymn which calls every\ncreated thing to praise the Lord. The miracle seems not to have been\nwitnessed by a heart hardened against belief Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed\nthe glory of the God who could work such miracles, and whose instrument\nof vengeance he himself was. Edom was soon after conquered by\nNebuchadnezzar, thus fulfilling many prophecies.\n\nAnother great work which was set for him to do, was to give the first\ngreat overthrow to the Phoenicians, and fulfil the prophecies of Isaiah\nand Ezekiel, by destroying Tyre. The siege lasted thirteen years, and\nthe besiegers suffered as much as the besieged, till, as Ezekiel had\nforetold, every head was bald, every shoulder peeled with the burdens\nthat were carried; but at last it was taken in the year 573, and so\nutterly destroyed, that not a trace was left of it. It had been said\nby Isaiah, that after seventy years Tyre should take her harp and sing\nagain, and return for a time to her former splendour and corruption;\nand thus it happened, for a new Tyre arose upon a little island at some\nlittle distance from the shore.\n\nEzekiel had promised the Chaldeans that the toils of Tyre should be\nrepaid by the spoil of Egypt, the land that was henceforth to be a slave\nfor ever; and in 574, Nebuchadnezzar marched thither, and conquered\nit with the utmost ease, there being at that time a quarrel among the\nEgyptians, which weakened their hands; Hophra, the last of the Pharaohs,\nwas slain by a rebel, and Egypt has never more been free, or\nunder native rulers. The Ammonites too, were put down for ever by\nNebuchadnezzar, and he came home puffed up with the pride of conquest.\nThen came another warning dream, of a tree, great and spreading, the\nrest and stay of bird and beast, till a watcher and a holy one came down\nand bade that it should be cut down, and only a stump to be left, to be\nwet with the dew of Heaven until it should recover. It was no wonder\nthat Daniel was astonished for one hour ere he explained the vision, which\nbore that the great conqueror should lose his reason, be chased from\nthe haunts of men, and live like the beasts, with hair like eagle's\nfeathers, and nails like eagle's claws. Nebuchadnezzar does not seem to\nhave punished him for thus revealing the will of God; and time went on,\nwhile the city grew more magnificent under the builder's hand, till at\nlast, in the pride of his heart, the king made his boast, \"Is not this\ngreat Babylon that I have builded, for the house of the kingdom, and for\nthe honour of my majesty?\"\n\nThat moment, the watcher cried from Heaven, and sense and strength fled\nfrom the mighty Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men, and lived seven\nyears among the beasts of the field, till for one year, reason was\nmercifully restored to him, and he made the best use of it in publishing\nto all the world the story of his pride and of his fall, and with all\nhis heart honouring the King of Heaven, whose works are truth, and His\nways are judgment.\n\nThis humbled conqueror died in 563, and was succeeded by his son,\nEvil-Merodach, who released the captive Jehoiachin, and made him eat at\nhis own table until his death. Two more kings succeeded, each reigning\nbut a few years, and then came Belshazzar, in the first year of whose\nreign Daniel had a vision, where the like events as were shown by the\ndream of Nebuchadnezzar, were foreshadowed under the form of animals,\ntypifying the several empires. Four beasts came from the sea: the\nlion with eagle's wings was his own Assyria, but was set aside by the\ndevouring bear of Persia; then followed the flying four-headed leopard\nof Greece; and lastly, the dreadful and terrible destroying creature,\nmeaning Rome, which ground with iron teeth, and brake all in pieces. It\nhad ten horns, which are believed to mean the kingdoms into which Rome\nwas divided in later times, and one which destroyed some of the others,\nand became blasphemous, till all was lost in an awful manifestation of\nthe Ancient of Days coming to judgment. This little horn is thought to\nmean the spirit of Antichrist, and the great falling away which is to\nprevail in the latter days, but the end is not yet.\n\nA second vision was sent two years after, likewise of emblematic beasts,\nand was likewise explained by an angel. A ram, pushing west, north, and\nsouthwards, was Persia, whose victory was already nigh, even at the\ndoor; but in his full power came from the west the Grecian he-goat, who\noverthrew the ram, and stamped on him, and waxed great; but then his\none great horn was broken, and four others rose up, four lesser kings\ninstead of one great conqueror; and one of these produced a lesser horn,\nwhich wrought woe and ruin to the pleasant land. This horn was not\nmeant, like the first, to typify the sinful one of the latter Christian\ndays, but a terrible foe, who was to try the faith of the Jews; and all\nthese visions seem to have been intended to show, that though prophecy,\nand God's visible dealings with His people, were so nearly over, yet all\nkingdoms and empires are His, and are founded, flourish, and decay at\nHis will.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XII.\n\nCYRUS.\n\n\"When the Lord turned again the captivity of Sion, then were we like\nunto them that dream.\"--_Psalm_ cxxvi. 1.\n\nThe Persian power, prefigured by the silver shoulders, the bear and the\nram, was indeed nigh. The ram had two horns, because two nations were\njoined together, the Medes, who had revolted from Nineveh, and the\nPersians. The Medes lived in the slopes towards the Tigris, and had\nlearnt to be luxurious and indolent from their Assyrian neighbours; but\nthe Persians, who lived in the mountains to the eastward, were much more\nspirited and simpler, and purer in life. They are thought to be sons of\nJaphet, and their religion had not lost all remains of truth, for they\nbelieved in but one God, and had no idols, except that they adored\nthe sun as the emblem of divine power, and kept horses in his honour,\nbecause they thought he drove his car of light round the sky. They\nworshipped fire likewise as the sign of the light-giving and consuming\nGodhead; and this notion is not entirely gone yet, so that there are\nmany Parsees, or fireworshippers, still in the East. Their priests were\ncalled Magi, and their faith was therefore termed Magian. Though it went\nastray in adoring these created things, yet it did not teach wickedness,\nas did the religions of the sons of Ham; and the Persians were a brave,\nupright race, who loved hardy, simple ways, and said the chief things\ntheir sons ought to learn were, to ride, to draw the bow, and speak the\ntruth.\n\nCyrus was the son of a Persian king and Median princess, and had been\nso well brought up at home, that when as a little boy he visited his\ngrandfather at Echatana, in Media, he was very much shocked to see the\ncourt drinking to intoxication, and said wine must be poison, since it\nmade people lose their senses; and he was much puzzled by the hosts of\nslaves who would not let people do anything for themselves. He thought\nonly those who were old and helpless could like being waited on, and he\nkept these hardy, simple ways, even after he was a great king over both\nnations.\n\nWhen he was about forty years old one of the kings in Asia Minor made\nwar on him, and he not only overthrew this monarch, but won that whole\ncountry, which was kept by the Persians for many years. Afterwards, in\nthe year 540, he marched against Assyria, which had insulted him in the\ntime of Evil-Merodach. He beat Belshazzar in battle, and then besieged\nhim in his city; but the Babylonians had no fears; they trusted to their\nwalls and brazen gates, and knew that he could not starve them out,\nas they had so much corn growing within the walls. For two years they\nremained in security, and laughed at the Persian army outside; but at\nlast Cyrus devised a new plan, and set his men to dig trenches to draw\noff the water of the Euphrates, and leave the bed of the river dry.\nStill there were the great gates upon the river, which he expected\nto have to break down; but on the very day his trenches were ready,\nBelshazzar was giving a great feast in his palace, and drinking wine out\nof the golden vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had brought from the Temple.\n\nFull in the midst of his revelry appeared a strange sight. Near the\nseven-branched Candlestick that once had burnt in the Holy Place, came\nforth a bodiless hand, and the fingers wrote upon the wall in characters\nsuch as no man knew. The hearts of the revellers failed them for fear,\nand the king's knees smote together! Then Nitocris, his mother, a brave\nand wise woman, bethought her of all that Daniel had done in the days of\nNebuchadnezzar, and at her advice he was called for. He knew the words;\nthey were in the Hebrew tongue, the language of his own Scriptures, the\nsame in which the Finger of God revealed the Commandments. He read them,\nand they signified, \"God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.\nThou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting. Thy kingdom is\ndivided, and given to the Medes and Persians!\"\n\nAt that moment Cyrus and his Persians were entering by the river gates,\nwhich had been left open in that time of careless festivity. One end of\nthe city knew not that the other was taken; and ere the night was past\nBelshazzar lay dead in his palace, and the Assyrian empire was over for\never.\n\nIt was 170 years since, by the mouth of Isaiah, God had called Cyrus\nby name, had said He would give the nations as dust to his sword, and\nstubble to his bow; had said of him that he was His anointed and His\nshepherd, and that he would build up the Holy City and Temple, and let\nthe captives go free without money or price. Moreover, it was seventy\nyears since Daniel himself had been carried away from the pleasant land,\nand well had he counted the weary days prophesied of by Jeremiah; till\nnow he hoped the time was come, and most earnestly did he pray, looking\ntowards Jerusalem, as Solomon had entreated, when his people should\nturn to God in the land of their captivity, pleading God's goodness and\nmercy, though owning that Judah had done wickedly. Even while he was yet\nspeaking came the answer by the mouth of the Angel Gabriel; and not only\nwas it the present deliverance that it announced, but that from the\nbuilding of the street and wall in troublous times, seventy weeks of\nyears were appointed to bring the Anointed, so long promised, the real\nDeliverer.\n\nDaniel's prayers had won, and in the first year of Cyrus, 536, forth\nwent the joyful decree that Judah should return, build up the city and\nTemple, and receive back their sacred vessels and treasure from the\nking, to aid them in their work. Daniel being nearly ninety years old,\ndid not go with them, but remained to protect them at the court of\nBabylon. Cyrus set up his uncle, who is commonly called Darius, to be\nking in Babylon, while he returned to Persia; and Daniel, though so old\na man, was made one of the chief rulers under him, one of the three\npresidents over the hundred and twenty satraps or princes over the\nprovinces of the great Persian empire. The envy of the Medes caused\nthem to persuade Darius by foolish flattery to say that whoever for a\nmonth should make request of god or man, save of the king, should be\ncast into a den of lions, and Daniel, who was not likely in his old\nage to cease from prayer to his God for any terror of man, endured the\npenalty, much against the king's will; but only that again God's power\nmight be known among the heathen, and His glory proclaimed by the\nshutting the mouths of the hungry lions. About the same time he seems to\nhave shown Darius, who, though not an idolater himself, was puzzled\nby seeing that the victuals daily spread on Bel's golden table always\ndisappeared, that after all, the idol was not the consumer. He spread\nashes on the floor at night, and in the morning showed the king the\ntell-tale footmarks of men, women, and children, the priests and their\nfamilies, the true devourers of the feast. No wonder that after this,\nthe Persians ruined the Temple of Bel, while decay began in Babylon,\nand the river never being turned back into its proper bed, spread into\nunwholesome marshes. Daniel, when at Susa, a Median city on the river\nUlai, beheld his last vision, when the Angel Gabriel prophesied to him\nin detail all the wars of the Persians, and afterwards of the Greek\nkings of Egypt and Syria, who should make Judea their battlefield, and\nthe afflictions of the Jews under the great Syrian persecutor. He ended\nwith a sure promise to Daniel himself, that he should \"stand in his lot\"\nwhen the end of all things should come; and some time after this blessed\nassurance, died this \"man greatly beloved,\" a prince, a slave, an exile,\nand a statesman, perhaps the most wonderful of all the sons of David,\nexcept the great Anointed One of whom he spoke. His tomb is still deeply\nreverenced, and no one is allowed to fish near the part of the river\nwhere he is said to have seen his vision.\n\nCyrus died about seven years after Daniel, much loved by his people,\nwho, for many years, would not believe him dead, but trusted he would\nyet return to rule over them.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XIII.\n\nTHE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE.\n\n\"The Lord doth build up Jerusalem, and gather together the outcasts of\nIsrael.\"--_Psalm_ clxxvii. 2.\n\n\n42,360 was the number of Jews who returned to their own land by the\npermission of Cyrus. They were under the keeping of Joshua the High\nPriest, and of Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel, who was either by birth,\nson of King Jehoiachin, or else had been adopted by him from the line of\nNathan, son of David. In either way, he was head of the house of David,\nand would have been king, had not the crown been taken away because of\nthe sin of his fathers. He had, it is said, won favour at the court of\nDarius the Mede by his cleverness in a contention of wits, where each\nman was asked what was the strongest thing in existence. One said it was\nwine, because it made men lose their senses; another said it was the\nking, because of his great power; but Zerubbabel said it was woman, and\nso ingeniously proved how women could sway the minds of men, that the\nking was delighted, and promised to give him whatever he would ask. What\nZerubbabel requested was, that the decree of Cyrus might at once be put\nin force, so that his people might go home to their own country. Darius\nconsented, and put into his hands orders that the vessels of the Temple,\nand all the other sacred things, together with a large sum of money,\nshould be given to him; and thus he went forth, praising and blessing\nGod. Some of the dispersed of Israel joined the returning Jews, and were\nthenceforth counted among them; but so many of Judah itself had become\nsettled in the place of their exile, that they never returned, though\nthey sent gifts to assist in rebuilding Jerusalem. It used to be said\nthat only the bran, or coarse sort of people, returned, the fine flour\nremained; but it must have in truth been in general the lovers of ease\nwho stayed, the faithful who loved poverty in the Promised Land better\nthan wealth at Babylon.\n\nZerubbabel was called Tirshatha, or governor. His kingdom was gone, but\nhis right remained to the fields of Boaz and Jesse at Bethlehem; and\nthence should \"He come forth Whose goings are from everlasting.\" The\ntrue birthright was not lost by this son of Solomon, whom God blessed by\nthe lips of Zechariah for having laid the foundation of His Temple,\nand not having despised the day of small things. The blessings to the\nPriest, Joshua, were foreshadowings of Him Whose Name he bore, and Whose\noffice he represented.\n\nAll was ruin and desolation; heaps of stones lay where beauteous\nbuildings had been, and the fields and vineyards lay waste; but glad\npromises came by the mouth of Zechariah, that these empty streets should\nyet be filled with merry children at play, and with aged men leaning on\ntheir staves, at peace and at ease.\n\nThe first thing done by these faithful men, was to set up an Altar among\nthe ruins, where they might offer the daily sacrifice once more. Then\nthey began the Temple, in the second year after their return; the\ntrumpeters blew with silver trumpets, the Levites sang, and the people\nshouted; but what was joy to the young, whose hope was fulfilled, was\ngrief to the old, who had seen Solomon's Temple in its glory. Where was\nthe Ark? where the manna? where the Urim and Thummim? where the Light\nupon the Mercy-seat? Gone for ever, and heaps of ruins around! The old\nmen wept as the youths cried out for joy, and the shout of rejoicing\ncould barely be heard for the sound of wailing. But Haggai was sent to\nconsole them with the promise, that though this House was as nothing\nin their eyes, its glory should exceed that of the former one, for the\nDesire of all nations should come and fill this House with glory. Haggai\nhad likewise to rebuke the people for their slackness in the work, and\nfor building their own houses instead of the Temple, and soon they fell\ninto trouble. The men of Samaria, children of those whom Esarhaddon had\nplanted there, came, saying that they worshipped the God of the Jews,\nand wished to be one with them; but these half idolaters would soon have\ncorrupted the Jews, so Zerubbabel and Joshua refused their offers.\nThis made them bitter foes to the Jewish nation, and they wrote to the\nPersian court, saying that these newly returned exiles were no better\nthan a set of rebels, who would destroy the king's power, if they were\nallowed to rebuild their city. Cyrus was dead, and his son, Cambyses,\n(called also Ahasuerus) who was a cruel selfish tyrant, at once forbade\nthe work to go on, so that it was at a standstill for many years.\n\nThe wealth and luxury of Babylon were fast spoiling the Persians, who\nwere losing their hardy ways, and with them their honour, mercy, and\ntruth; and Cambyses was a very savage wretch, almost mad. He made war on\nEgypt, where he gained a battle by putting a number of cows, dogs, and\ncats, in front of his army, and as the Egyptians thought these creatures\nsacred, they dared not throw their darts at them, and so fled away. He\nwon the whole country; and he afterwards marched into Ethiopia, where he\nnearly lost his whole army by thirst in a desert. The Egyptians hated\nhim because he struck his sword into their sacred bull Apis, in his\nanger at their feasting in honour of this creature, when he himself had\njust met with such misfortunes. He had but one brother, named Smerdis,\nwhom he caused to be secretly put to death; and when his sister wept for\nhim, he kicked her so that she died. No one grieved when he was killed\nby a chance wound from his own sword, in the year 522; but a young\nMagian priest, pretending to be Smerdis, whose death was not generally\nknown, became king. However, some of the nobles suspected the deceit;\nand one of them, whose daughter was among the many wives of the king,\nsent word to her to find out whether the king were the real Smerdis. She\ncould not tell, having never seen the Prince Smerdis; but her father,\nwho knew that the young Magian had had his ears cut off for some\noffence, told her to examine. She Answered that the king was earless;\nand the fraud being thus detected, seven of the great lords combined and\nslew him. One daughter of Cyrus still remained and the seven agreed that\none of them should marry her and reign. The rest should have the right\nof visiting him whenever they pleased, and wearing the same sort of\ntiara, or high cap, with the point upright, instead of having it turned\nback like the rest of the Persians. The choice was to be settled by\nHeaven, as they thought; namely, by seeing whose horse would first neigh\nat the rise of their god, the sun. Darius Hystaspes, who thus became\nking in 521, was a good and upright man, in whose reign the Jews\nventured to go on with the Temple. When the Samaritans came and stopped\nthem, they wrote to beg that search might be made among the records\nof the kingdom for Cyrus's decree in their favour, which no one could\nchange, because the laws of the Medes and Persians could not be altered.\nThe decree was found, and Darius gave the Jews farther help, and forbade\nanyone to molest them; but they were very poor, and the restoration went\non but feebly.\n\nIn Darius's reign Babylon revolted, and he laid siege to it. So\ndetermined were the inhabitants to hold out, that they killed their\nwives and children in order that the provisions might last longer, and\nthus they fulfilled what Isaiah had foretold--that in one day the loss\nof children and widowhood would come on them. The place was at last\nbetrayed by a friend of Darius, who cut off his own nose and ears, and\nshowed himself bleeding, at the gates, pretending the king had done him\nthis cruel injury. The Babylonians received and trusted him, and he\nsoon opened the gates to his master, who terribly punished the rebels,\ndestroyed as much as he could of the Temple of Bel, and left the city to\ngo to decay, so that she never again was the Lady of Kingdoms. Darius\nwas a great King, and records of his history are still to be read, cut\nout in the face of the rocks; but he tried two conquests that were far\nbeyond his strength. He led an army into the bare and dreary country of\nthe Scythians, the wild sons of Japhet, near the mouth of the Danube,\nand there would have been almost starved to death, but that a faithful\ncamel loaded with provisions kept close to him. He also sent a large\nfleet and army to subdue the brave and wise Greeks, who lived in the\nisles and peninsulas opposite to Asia Minor, thinking he should easily\nbring them under his dominion, but they met his troops at Marathon, and\ngained a great victory, driving the Persians home with great loss.\n\nDarius died in 485, and his son, Xerxes, who Daniel had said should stir\nup all the east against Grecia, led a huge army to conquer that brave\nlittle country. All the nations of the east were there, and Xerxes made\na bridge of boats chained together over the Hellespont, for them to\ncross over. So proud and hasty was he, that when a storm destroyed his\nworks, he caused the waves to be scourged, and fetters to be thrown into\nthe sea, to punish it for having dared to resist him. He sat on\nhis throne to see the army pass over the bridge, and as he saw the\nmultitudes, he wept to think how soon they must all be dead, but he did\nnot cease from sending them to their death. Though they were so many,\nthe Greeks were much braver, and though they overran all the north part\nof the country, after they had killed the few brave defenders of the\nlittle pass of Thermopylae, they could not keep what they had taken;\nthey were beaten both by land and sea, and a very small remnant came\nhome to Persia in a wretched state. Xerxes was a weak vain boaster, and\nwas very angry; he wanted to make another attempt, but never did so; he\nstayed at home feasting with his wives and living in luxury, till he was\nmurdered, in the year 464.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XIV.\n\nTHE WALL REBUILT.\n\n\"They that be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shall raise\nup the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called the\nrepairer of the breach.\"--_Isaiah_, lviii. 12.\n\n\nThere is great difficulty as to what the Persian kings were called;\ntheir real names were very hard to pronounce, and they are commonly\nknown by words that mean a king, instead of by their real names. This\nmakes people uncertain whether the king who is called Ahasuerus in the\nBook of Esther be the same with him whom the Greeks call Xerxes, or with\nArtaxerxes the Long-armed, his son. It was one or other of these kings\nwho made a great banquet at his palace at Shuahan or Susa, where the\nremains of the pillars that supported the many-coloured hangings of his\npalace are still to be seen. After seven days' feasting, he sent in his\npride for Vashti, his queen, to show her beauty to his companions. It\nwas, as it is still in Persia and most eastern countries, a shame and\ndisgrace for a woman's face to be seen by any man save her husband; and\nVashti refused this insulting command of the king. He was persuaded by\nthe satraps that her example would teach all other ladies to think for\nthemselves, which did not suit these selfish men, who did not care to\nhave a wife for a help-meet, but only for a slave and toy; so that poor\nVashti was set aside and degraded for being a modest woman; and the\ntyrant sent and swept away every beautiful girl from her home, to be\nbrought to his palace on trial, and if she did not become queen, to be\na slave for ever. Thus the young Benjamite orphan, Esther, whom her\nkinsman, Mordecai, had tenderly trained in the right way, was taken\naway, never to see his face again, but to live in the multitude of\nslavish heathen women, who were taught no kind of employment, and\nthought even spinning and embroidery unworthy of a queen. But even the\nking's passion was made to serve God's ends. It was for no vain purpose\nthat the noble beauty of the family of Saul had come down to Esther, and\nthough she alone demanded no ornaments to set her off to advantage, she\nwas the only maiden who took the king's fancy. Mordecai, her cousin,\nsoon after found out a plot against the king's life, and sending her\nwarning, she told the king, and he was thus saved. Mordecai daily sat at\nthe palace gate to hear of his beloved cousin, and there daily saw the\nking's new counsellor pass by--Haman, an Agagite, descended from that\nhateful Amalekite nation, whom Saul ought to have totally destroyed.\nMordecai would not bow before the man whom his law had taught him to\nloathe; and Haman, taking offence, and remembering the old enmity\nbetween the two nations, that had begun at the battle of Rephidim,\npromised the king 10,000 talents of silver for permission to let their\nenemies loose upon the Jews in their still unwalled city, and destroy\nthem everywhere by a general slaughter. The king actually granted this\nhorrible request, though without taking the bribe; and Haman, setting\nthe royal seal to his decree, made it one of the unalterable Persian\nlaws. The day was fixed for the massacre, and Haman prepared an enormous\ngallows on which to hang Mordecai, or as is supposed, to nail him up\nalive. But Mordecai contrived to warn Esther, and order her to persuade\nthe king to save their lives. She was in a great strait, for it was\ndeath to enter the king's presence unbidden, unless he were in the\nmood to show mercy, and should hold out his golden sceptre; but in her\nextremity she took courage, arrayed herself royally, and came before\nhim, fainting with fear. The Power above stirred his heart, and he held\nout the sceptre; but she dared not accuse his favourite, and only\nasked him and Haman together to a banquet in her apartments. Twice she\nreceived them before she took courage to speak; but at last she told the\nking that she and her people were sold to utter destruction. He demanded\nin anger who had dared to do this. \"The adversary and enemy is this\nwicked Haman,\" she said: and when the king found how horrible a decree\nhad been surprised from him, and that the gallows had been made ready\nfor the queen's cousin, the man who had saved his life, he flew into\nsuch a rage, that he caused Haman to be hung on his own gallows at once,\nand all his sons to be slain with him. Still the order to destroy the\nJews had gone forth, and could not be repealed, but Mordecai obtained\nthat the Jews should be allowed to arm themselves; and having due\nnotice, they defended themselves so well that they killed 800 of their\nenemies at Susa, and 75,000 of the spiteful Samaritans and other foes\nwho had come upon them at Jerusalem.\n\nEsther's power with the king seems to have done more for the Jews, and\na new gift was sent from the treasury to Jerusalem, under the care of\nEzra, a man of the seed of Aaron, and very learned in the Law. He gave\nhimself up to the work, which had sadly languished since Zerubbabel's\ntime; and he began in the right way, for ere entering the Glorious Land,\nhe halted all the companions of his pilgrimage, and fasted three days,\nentreating the Lord for forgiveness, and protection from their enemies.\nIt is from this time, about 458, that the seventy weeks of years,\nmentioned by Daniel, began to be counted, perhaps because till this time\nthe work hardly proceeded in earnest. Another great helper soon followed\nEzra, namely Nehemiah, one of the palace slaves, who, hearing of the\nmiserable state of Jerusalem, prayed with all his heart, weeping so\nbitterly that when he went to wait upon the king and Queen Esther at\ntheir meal, they remarked his trouble; and on their asking the cause, he\ntold them, with secret prayers, how his heart was grieved that his city\nand his fathers' sepulchres lay waste, and begged for permission to go\nwith authority to Jerusalem, to assist in the rebuilding. His request\nwas granted, authority was given to him, and he set off with a train of\nservants and guards, for he was a very rich man; but when he came near,\nhe left them all, and rode on by night to examine the state of the city.\nMost sad was the sight; the gates broken and burnt, and the walls lying\nin ruins, the streets blocked up so that no one could pass! Nehemiah at\nonce encouraged the Jews to set to work, and build up the breaches; and\nthey heartily began, while he kept open house at his own expense for all\nhis poor brethren. Down upon them came the Samaritans again, scoffing at\nthose \"feeble Jews,\" saying that a fox could break down their wall,\nand then attacking them; so that Nehemiah was forced to set a constant\nwatch, and the workmen built with their swords ever ready for use. When\nthe walls once more girded around the city built upon the hill, the\ninhabitants were no longer easily molested by their foes; and a great\nassembly was held, when Ezra read and explained the Law, for seven days,\nat the feast of the Tabernacles, after which there was a great fast and\nconfession of sin, and the Covenant was solemnly renewed. Still a great\npurification was needed; the Sabbath had become ill observed, many of\nthe people, even priests and Levites, had married heathen wives, and one\nof the sons of the High Priest was son-in-law to Sanballat, the worst\nenemy of the Jews. Ezra and Nehemiah brought many to a sense of their\nsin: no burdens were allowed to be touched on the Sabbath, and the\nheathen wives were put away; but this priest refusing to part with\nhis wife, was thrust out from the priesthood, and was received by the\nSamaritans, who afterwards built a schismatical temple upon Gerizim, the\nMount of Blessing.\n\nAt this time lived Malachi, the last of the prophets, who left the\npromise of the coming of the Prophet Elijah, as the forerunner of the\nMessiah, and of the rising of the Sun of Righteousness. Ezra is believed\nto have composed the Books of Kings from older writings, under the\nguidance of inspiration, to have collected the latter part of the book\nof Psalms, and to have been taught to discern which histories, and which\nbooks of the Prophets to keep, and which to cast aside. The Scriptures\nwere all put under the keeping of scribes, who wrote the copies out with\nthe utmost care, and were held guilty if the smallest point or mark\nfailed; and a roll was placed under the care of the priests, besides\nmany others which were dispersed through the country, that they might\nnever be forgotten again. Ezra likewise arranged, that in places too far\nfrom Jerusalem for people to come weekly to worship at the Temple, there\nshould be synagogues, or places of meeting for prayer, though of course\nnot for sacrifice. There, every Sabbath day, eighteen prayers were\nappointed to be said, and lessons from the Scripture were read aloud and\nexplained. In their exile, the Jews had forgotten their Hebrew tongue,\nand learnt to speak Chaldean, so that after the Law was read in their\nown language, a scribe stood up to translate and explain it, and thus\nthey were saved from forgetting the Scripture, as they had done in\nthe time of Josiah, and from resorting to groves and high places for\nworship. Idolatry was so thoroughly purged out of them, that they never\nreturned to it; and their hope of the Messiah was kept alive, though\nthey had no new prophets.\n\nThey enjoyed quiet and peace for many years; and most of the Jews who\nwere settled in other countries--in Persia, Babylon, and Egypt--came\nfrom time to time to keep the feasts, and make offerings; while those\nsettled near enough kept the three yearly pilgrimages to Jerusalem,\nsinging, as it is believed, the beautiful psalms called in the Bible\nthe Songs of Degrees, as the parties from towns and villages went up\ntogether in procession towards the Hill of Sion.\n\nIn the meantime, their masters, the Persian kings, grew worse and worse;\nbrother killed brother, son rose against father, and the women even\ncommitted horrible crimes. They invented tortures too horrid to mention,\nand lived between savage cruelty and vain luxury, till there was no\nstrength nor courage in them, and in less than 200 years from the time\nthat Cyrus had conquered Babylon, their realm was rotten, and their time\nof ruin was come. All through this time, the Jews were chiefly ruled\nby the high priests, though paying tribute to the Persian king, and\nsometimes visited by the Satrap of the Province of Syria, to which\nPalestine belonged.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XV.\n\nALEXANDER.\n\n\"Ships shall come from Chittim, and shall afflict Eber, and shall\nafflict Assur.\"--_Num_. xxiv. 24.\n\n\nMountain lands, small islets, and peninsulas broken into by deep bays\nand gulfs, rise to the northward of the east end of the Mediterranean,\nand were known to the Jews as the Isles of the Gentiles. The people who\ndwelt in them have been named Greeks; they were sons of Japhet, and were\nthe race whom God endowed, above all others, with gifts of the body and\nmind, though without bestowing on them the light of His truth. They had\nmany idols, of whom Zeus, the Thunderer, was the chief; but they did not\nworship them with cruel rites like the Phoenicians, and some of their\nbeautiful stories about them were full of traces of better things. Their\nbest and wisest men were always straining their minds to feel after more\nsatisfying knowledge of Him, Who, they felt sure, must rule and govern\nall things; and sometimes these philosophers, as they were called, came\nvery near the truth. Every work of the Greeks was well done, whether\npoems, history, speeches, buildings, statues, or painting; and the\nremains have served for patterns ever since. At first there were many\nseparate little states, but all held together as one nation, and used\nto meet for great feasts, especially for games. There were the Olympian\ngames, by which they reckoned the years, and the Isthmean, which were\nheld at the Isthmus of Corinth. Everyone came to see the wrestling,\nboxing, racing, and throwing heavy weights, and to hear the poems sung\nor recited; and the men who excelled all the rest were carried high in\nair with shouts of joy, and crowned with wreaths of laurel, bay, oak, or\nparsley, one of the greatest honours a Greek could obtain. Of all the\ncities, Athens had the ablest men, and Sparta the most hardy; and these\ntwo had been the foremost in beating and turning back the great Persian\narmies of Darius and Xerxes; but since that time there had been quarrels\nbetween these two powers, and they grew weak, so that Philip, King of\nMacedon, who had a kingdom to the north of them, and was but half a real\nGreek, contrived to conquer them all, and make them his subjects.\n\nThe ensign of Macedon was a he-goat, the rough goat that Daniel had seen\nin his vision; and the time was come for the fall of the Ram of Persia.\nPhilip's son, Alexander, set his heart on conquering the old enemy of\nGreece; and as soon as he came to the crown, in the year 333, though he\nwas but twenty years of age, he led his army across the Hellespont into\nAsia Minor. His army was very brave, and excellently trained by his\nfather, and he himself was one of the most highly-gifted men who ever\nlived, brave and prudent, seldom cruel, and trying to do good to all\nwho fell under his power. The poor weak luxurious Persian King, Darius,\ncould do little against such a man, and indeed did not come out to\nbattle in the way to conquer; for he carried with him all the luxuries\nof his palace, his mother, and all his wives and slaves. Before his\narmy marched a number of men carrying silver altars, on which burnt the\nsacred fire; then came three hundred and sixty-five youths in scarlet\ndresses, to represent the days of the year; then the Magi, and the\ngilded chariot and white horses of the Sun; and next, the king's\nfavourite soldiers, called the Immortal Band, whose robes were white,\ntheir breastplates set with jewels, and the handles of their spears\ngolden. They had small chance with the bold active Greeks; and at the\nBattle of the Issus they were routed, and Darius fled away, leaving all\nhis women to the mercy of the conqueror. The poor old Persian Queen, his\nmother, had never met with such gentle respect and courtesy as Alexander\nshowed to her old age; he always called her mother, never sat down\nbefore her but at her request, and never grieved her but once, and that\nwas by showing her a robe that his mother and sisters had spun, woven,\nand embroidered for him, and offering to have her grandchildren taught\nthe like works. She fancied this meant that he was treating them like\nslaves, and he could hardly make her understand that the Greeks deemed\nsuch works an honour to the highest ladies, and indeed thought their\ngoddess of wisdom presided over them.\n\nWhile Darius fled away, Alexander came south to Palestine, and laid\nsiege to Tyre upon the little isle, to which he began to build a\ncauseway across the water. The Tyrians had an image of the Greek god\nApollo, which they had stolen from a temple in Greece, and they chained\nthis up to the statue of Moloch, their own god, to hinder Apollo from\ngoing over to help the Greeks; but neither this precaution nor their\nbravery could prevent them from being overcome, as the prophet Zechariah\nhad foretold, \"The Lord will cast her out, and will smite her power in\nthe sea, and she shall be devoured with fire.\"\n\n\"Gaza also shall see it, and shall be very sorrowful.\" Alexander took\nthis brave Philistine city after a siege of two months, and behaved more\ncruelly there than was his wont. It was the turn of Jerusalem next; but\nthe Lord had promised to \"encamp about His House, because of him that\npasseth by;\" and in answer to the prayers and sacrifices offered up by\nthe Jews, God appeared to the High Priest, Jaddua, in a dream, and bade\nhim adorn the city, and go out to meet the conqueror in his beautiful\ngarments, with all his priests in their ephods. They obeyed, and as\nAlexander came up the hill Sapha, in front of the city, be beheld the\nlong ranks of priests and Levites in their white array, headed by the\nHigh Priest with his robes bordered with bells and pomegranates, and\nthe fair mitre on his head, inscribed with the words \"Holiness unto the\nLord.\" One moment, and Alexander was down from his horse, adoring upon\nhis knees. His friends were amazed, but he told them he adored not the\nman, but Him who had given him the priesthood, and that just before he\nhad left home, the same figure had stood by his bed, and told him that\nhe should cross the sea, and win all the chief lands of Asia. He then\ntook Jaddua by the hand, and was led by him into the Temple, where he\nattended a sacrifice, and was shown Daniel's prophecies of him as the\nbrazen thighs, the he-goat and the leopard; he was much pleased, and\npromised all Jaddua asked, that the Jews might follow their own laws,\nand pay no tribute on the Sabbath years, when the land lay fallow.\n\nAlexander next passed on to Egypt, where he built, at the mouth of the\nNile, the famous city that still is called by his name, Alexandria;\nindeed he founded cities everywhere, and made more lasting changes than\never did conqueror in the short space of twelve years. He then hunted\nDarius into the mountain parts of the north of Persia, and after two\nmore victories, the Greeks found the poor Persian king dying on the\nground, from wounds given by his own subjects. So the soft silver of\nPersia yielded to the brazen might of Greece. After this, Alexander\ncalled himself King of Persia, and wore the tiara like an eastern king.\nHe took his men on to the borders of India, but they thought they were\ngetting beyond the end of the world, and grew so frightened that he had\nto turn back. All that the Medes and Persians had possessed now belonged\nto him, and he wanted to make Babylon his capital; he made his court\nthere, and received messengers who paid him honour from all quarters;\nbut he was hurt by so much success; he grew proud and passionate; he\nfeasted and drank too much, and did violent and hasty things, but worst\nof all, he fancied himself a god, and insisted that at home, in Greece,\nsacrifices should be offered to him. He tried to restore Babylon to what\nit had been, and set multitudes to work to clear away the rubbish, and\nbuild up the Temple of Bel; but when he ordered the Jews to share in the\nwork, they answered that it was contrary to their Law to labour at an\nidol temple, and he listened to them, releasing them from the command.\nHe wished to turn the waters of the Euphrates back into their stream,\nand drain the swamps into which they had spread; but Babylon was under\nthe curse of God, and was never to recover. Alexander caught a fever\nwhile going about surveying the unwholesome swamps, and after trying to\nhold out against it for nine days, his strength gave way. He said there\nwould be a mighty strife at his funeral, perhaps recollecting how the\nprophecy had said that his kingdom should not continue; and instead of\ntrying to choose an heir, he put his ring on the finger of his friend,\nand very soon died. He was but thirty-two, and had not reigned quite\ntwelve years; but perhaps no one ever did greater things in so short a\ntime. He died in the year 323; and so the great horn of the goat was\nbroken when it was at the strongest. No one hated him; for though\nsometimes violent, he had generally been kind; he was frank, open,\nand free-handed, warm-hearted to his friends, and seldom harsh to his\nenemies, and he had done his best to educate and improve all the people\nwhom he conquered. It was owing to him that Greek manners and habits\nprevailed, and the Greek tongue was spoken everywhere around the eastern\nend of the Mediterranean, though Persia itself soon fell back into the\nold eastern ways. Babylon became almost deserted after his death; the\nswamps grew worse, till no one could live there, and at last, the only\nuse of the great walls was to serve as an enclosure for a hunting\nground, where the wild beasts had their home, and kept court for ever.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XVI.\n\nTHE GREEK KINGS OF EGYPT.\n\n\"Why hast Thou then broken down her hedge, that all they that go by\npluck off her grapes?\"--_Ps_. lxxx. 12.\n\n\nThe leopard of Daniel's vision had four heads--the great horn of the\nrough goat gave place to four horns; so when Alexander was taken away so\nsuddenly from the midst of his conquests, leaving no one in his room,\nhis great officers divided them between themselves; and after much\nviolence and bloodshed, four Greek kingdoms were formed out of the\nfragments of his conquests, Thrace, Macedon, Egypt, and Syria. It is\nonly the two last of which we have to speak. The angel who spake to\nDaniel called their princes the Kings of the North and South. The north,\nor second kingdom of Syria, was very large, and went from Asia Minor to\nthe borders of India, and it had two great capital cities, Antioch in\nSyria, and Seleucia upon the Tigris, where the Babylonians went to live\nwhen their city became deserted and uninhabitable. Both these places\nwere named after the Greek Kings of Syria, who were by turns called\nSeleucus and Antiochus.\n\nIt would have seemed natural for Palestine to have belonged to Syria,\nbut the Greek King of Egypt, whose name was Ptolemy Lagos, contrived\nto secure it. He entered Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day, when the Jews\nthought it wrong to fight, and so he gained the city without a blow;\nbut this was no great misfortune to them, for the first Ptolemies were\nmilder masters than the Seleucid\u00e6, and did not oppress their subjects.\nPtolemy, however, brought a colony of Jews and Samaritans to live in\nLybia and Cyrene, parts of Egypt, and so fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy,\nthat five cities in Egypt should speak the language of Canaan. They were\ntreated with much favour, for he saw that they were the most trustworthy\nof all his people. Indeed, the Greeks respected them much; and one of\nPtolemy's soldiers tells this story: he says that while travelling in a\nlarge company by the Red Sea, he fell in with a very brave strong Jew,\ncalled Masollam. Presently the whole company came to a halt. Masollam\nasked why; and a soothsayer, pointing to a bird, told him that if the\nbird stopped, it would be lucky for them to stop; if it flew on, they\nmight go on; if it went back, so must they. All the answer Masollam\nmade, was to fit an arrow to his bow-string, and shoot the bird dead;\nand when the Greeks cried out at him, he rebuked them for thinking the\npoor bird could know their future, when he could not even save himself\nfrom the arrow.\n\nAt this time the High Priest was Simon the Just, son of Onias, the\nsame who is so highly praised in the fiftieth chapter of the Book of\nEcclesiasticus, and compared to the morning star, and to a young cedar\nof Libanus, when he stood before the Altar in his beautiful robes, and\nturned round and blessed the people. He was the last of the hundred\nand twenty great prophets, or wise men, whom the Jews called the great\nSynagogue; and it was he who sealed up the Old Testament, adding to the\nformer collection the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi; and it is\nthought, compiling the books of Chronicles from older writings, for the\ngenealogy of the house of David there given, comes down to about the\nyear 300, when he was alive, since he died in 292. The Jews thought\nnothing went so well with them after his time, and were alarmed when\nthe scape-goat, with the band of scarlet wool on his brow, instead of\nrushing down a precipice, as usual, and being killed at once, ran off\ninto the desert, and was eaten by the Arabs. They enjoyed tolerable\npeace for the whole of the time they were under the Greeks of Egypt.\nPtolemy Lagos wanted to make his new city of Alexandria as much famed\nfor learning as Athens; and for this purpose he founded a great\nlibrary there, collecting, from every quarter, books written either on\nparchment, or on the paper rush of Egypt. When he died, in the year 284,\nhis son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, or lover of his brethren, went on still\nmore eagerly seeking for curious writings; and among those for which he\nwished were the Holy Scriptures. As they were in Hebrew, he caused them\nto be translated into Greek; and the Jews believe that this was done by\nseventy-two elders, who were shut up all day, two and two, in thirty-six\nlittle cells in a palace on a little island in the Nile, each pair\ntaking one book of the Bible, and going back every evening to sup with\nthe king. This history does not seem likely to be true, but it is quite\ncertain that a version of the Old Testament from the Hebrew into Greek\nwas made about this time, and is called the Septuagint, from this\ntradition about the seventy. It came more and more into use, as Greek\nwas considered the language of all learned men in the east. Most of the\nquotations in the New Testament are taken from it, and it is of great\nvalue in helping to show the exact meaning of the old Hebrew.\n\nBut if Ptolemy did desire to have the Scriptures in his own tongue,\nit was only for curiosity, not for edification, for he was a great\nidolater; and when his wife died he tried to build a temple to her at\nAlexandria, which was to have a loadstone arch, with a steel statue of\nher in the middle, where he hoped the equal attraction would keep it as\nif flying in the air; but of course the fancy could not be carried out.\nHe had a quarrel with Antiochus Theos, King of Syria, but it was made up\nby his giving his daughter Berenice in marriage to the Syrian, as\nDaniel had foretold: \"The king's daughter of the South, came to make an\nagreement with the King of the North.\" But Antiochus had another wife\nbefore, whom he loved better; so when, in 246, Ptolemy Philadelphus\ndied, he put Berenice away, and took her back. She requited him by\npoisoning him for fear her favour should not last, and her son,\nSeleucus, became king, and taking Berenice prisoner, put her to death.\n\n\"But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate,\nwhich shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the\nKing of the North.\" This was the brother of Berenice, Ptolemy Euergetes,\nor the Benefactor, who came out of Egypt, overran Syria, and killed the\nmurderess, carrying home much spoil and many of the Egyptian gods, which\nhad been taken from the temples there in the time of Cambyses. Ptolemy\nEuergetes himself came to Jerusalem, and attended a sacrifice in the\nTemple; but Greek learning was doing the Jews no good, and some began\nto reason like the heathen philosophers. A man named Joseph taught that\npeople ought to be holy for the love of goodness, and not for the sake\nof a reward after death; and his follower, Zadok, or Sadoc, went still\nfarther, saying that there was no promise of any reward. His disciples,\nwho were called Sadducees, declared that the soul was not separate from\nthe body, but died with it; that there were no angels, nor spirits,\nand that only the five books of Moses were the real Word of God, thus\ncasting aside all the prophecies. Such Jews as abhorred this falling\naway, kept themselves apart, and were called Pharisees, from a word\nmeaning separate; and these grew the more strict in the observance of\nall that had come down to them from their fathers, adding to it much\nthat had gradually been put into the explanations and interpretations of\nthe Law which were read on the Sabbath in the Synagogue.\n\nPtolemy the Benefactor was the last brave man of his family; his son,\nPtolemy Philopator, or lover of his father, was weak and violent, and\nhad a disastrous war with Antiochus the Great of Syria. In the course of\nthe conflict he came to Jerusalem, and tried to force his way into the\nHoly of Holies, though the High Priest and all the priests and Levites\nwithstood him, and prayed aloud that the profanation might be hindered.\nWhen he came to the court of the priests, such a strange horror and\nterror fell on him, that he reeled and fell, and was carried out half\ndead; but he was only hardened by this great wonder, and on his return\nrevenged himself by collecting the Jews at Alexandria, and insisting\nthat they should be marked with the ivy leaf, the sign of the Greek god\nof wine, or else be made slaves, or put to death. Out of many thousands,\nonly three hundred submitted to this disgraceful badge; so in his rage,\nhe collected all the others in the theatre, and caused elephants to be\nmade drunken with wine and frankincense, so that when driven in on them,\nthey might trample them to death. But for two days following the king\nwas too drunk himself to be present at the horrible spectacle, and the\nJews had all that time for prayer; and when, on the third day, the\nexecution was to take place, the beasts ran upon the spectators instead\nof upon the martyrs, so that though numbers of Greeks were killed,\nnot one Jew was hurt, and Ptolemy gave up his attempt; though he did\nafterwards commit one savage massacre on his Jewish subjects. He died\nwhen only thirty-seven years of age, worn out by drunkenness; and the\nJews, who had learnt to hate the Egyptian dominion, gladly received the\nsoldiers of his enemy, Antiochus the Great, into Jerusalem, deserting\nhis young son, who was only five years old; and thus, in the year 197,\nJerusalem came to belong to the Seleucid\u00e6 of Syria, instead of to the\nPtolemies of Egypt. The history of Ptolemy Philopator in predicted from\nthe 10th to the 13th verse of the 11th chapter of Daniel's prophecy. The\nJews suffered terribly all through these wars, which were usually fought\nout on their soil. Each sovereign robbed them in turn, while they were\ntoo few to guard themselves, and could do no otherwise than fall to the\nstrongest.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XVII.\n\nTHE SYRIAN PERSECUTION.\n\n\"The dead bodies of Thy servants have they given to be meat unto the\nfowls of the air, and the flesh of Thy saints unto the beasts of the\nland.\"--_Ps_. lxxix. 2.\n\n\nThe history of Antiochus the Great is foretold in the 11th chapter of\nthe prophet Daniel, from the 14th to the 19th verse. On the death of\nPtolemy Philopator, this king entered Palestine with a great army, and\neasily obtained from the time-serving Jews the surrender of Jerusalem.\nSome of them who had forsaken their Law to gain the favour of Ptolemy,\nwere punished by Antiochus, because he knew that no trust could be\nplaced in men who cared for their own profit more than for their God. He\nthen laid siege to Gaza and to Sidon, and won great victories, ravaging\nand consuming the adjoining lands with his armies; and afterwards made\npeace with young Ptolemy Epiphanes, giving him his daughter in marriage,\nhoping that she would betray her husband to him. She, however, entirely\nforsook him, and made common cause with her husband. \"After this,\" the\nprophecy declared that he would \"turn his face to the isles and take\nmany.\" This meant that he should make an expedition to Greece, where he\ngained a good deal of land; but here he came in contact with the iron\npower, shadowed out by the great and terrible beast of Daniel's second\nvision.\n\nSome four hundred years before this time, the city of Rome had begun to\ngrow up on some of the seven hills on the banks of the Tiber in Italy.\nThe inhabitants were a stern, earnest, brave, honest set of men; not\ngreat thinkers like the Greeks, but great doers, and caring for nothing\nso much as for their city and her honour. They thought their own lives\nand happiness as nothing in comparison with Rome; and all the free\ncitizens had a share in the government, so that their city's concerns\nwere their own. Their religion seems in early times to have been more\nsolemn and grave than that of the Greeks. Jupiter was their chief god,\nthe King of gods and men, who held thunderbolts in his hand, and they\nhad eleven other principal gods; but by the time they had learnt to\nwrite books, they had begun to think these were the same gods as the\nGreeks worshipped under other names; they said Jupiter was the same as\nZeus, and told of him all the foolish stories which the worse sort of\nGreeks had invented of Zeus, and as their religion grew worse, they\nbecame more selfish, proud, and cruel. At first, their neighbours in\nItaly were always fighting with them, and their wars were for life or\ndeath; but after nearly three hundred years of hard struggling, without\none year's peace, the Romans had conquered them all, and had safety at\nhome. But they had grown too fond of war to rest quietly, so they built\nships and attacked countries farther off, beginning with the great\nPhoenician city of Carthage in Africa, which it is said was settled by\nCanaanites who fled away from Joshua, and whose first queen was Dido,\nJezebel's niece. A great Carthaginian general, named Hannibal, who had\nbeen banished from home, came to Antiochus, and offered to help him in\nhis war upon Greece. This Hannibal did chiefly out of hatred to the\nRomans, who were pretending to assist the Greeks, only that they might\nbecome their masters. If Antiochus had taken the advice of Hannibal, he\nmight have succeeded better, but he was self-willed; the Romans gave him\na terrible defeat, and he was obliged to promise to pay a great sum of\nmoney, and a heavy tribute afterwards; to keep no elephants to be used\nin war, and to give up his younger son, Antiochus, as security for his\nperformance of the conditions. The tribute he had to pay to Rome quite\nruined him; and while he was trying to rob an idol temple at Elymais,\nthe people rose on him and slew him, in the year 187.\n\nHis son, Seleucus, called by. Daniel \"a raiser of taxes,\" was very poor\nin consequence of the tribute, and therefore greedy. He tried to raise\nmoney by sending his servant, Heliodorus, to rob the temple at Jerusalem\nOnias, the High Priest, and all the people, were in great distress,\nand made most earnest entreaties to God to deliver them from such\nprofanation. Heliodorus came, however, to the temple, and was pressing\non to the treasury, when suddenly a horse, with a terrible rider,\nappeared in armour like gold, and cast the spoiler to the ground, while\ntwo young men, of marvellous beauty, scourged him on either side, so\nthat when the heavenly champions had vanished, he lay as one dead. Onias\nprayed for him, and he was restored; the same beings who had struck\nhim down coming to reveal to him that his life was granted at the\nintercession of the High Priest. When he returned to his master, and\nwas consulted as to who might be a fit man to send to Jerusalem, he\nanswered, \"If thou hast any enemy or traitor, send him thither, and\nthou shalt receive him well scourged.\" So little impression did such a\nrevelation of glory make on that hard selfish heart! The man who had\nbeen smitten by a visible angel could jest about it, and soon went on to\ngreater crime. He poisoned his master in the hope of becoming king, as\nSeleucus's son was a hostage at Rome, that is, he had been given as\na pledge that the tribute should be paid; but Seleucus's brother,\nAntiochus, who was on his way home from captivity at Rome, flattered the\nadjoining kings into helping him, drove Heliodorus away, and became king\nin 178. He was the little horn of the Grecian goat, \"the vile person to\nwhom they should not give the honour of the kingdom,\" so much was it\nfallen since the time of his father, Antiochus the Great. Vile indeed he\nwas, nearly mad with violence and excess, going drunk about the streets\nof Antioch crowned with roses, and pelting with stones those who\nfollowed him, so that the Greeks laughed at him for calling himself\nAntiochus Epiphanes, or the Illustrious, and said he was really\nAntiochus the madman. He cared little for the old Greek gods; but the\nRoman Jupiter, \"a god whom his fathers knew not,\" was his chief object\nof devotion, and in his honour, he instituted games like those of\nGreece. Some of the Jews had begun to weary of their perfect Law, and\nfancy it narrow and vulgar, and the brothers of the good Onias were\namong the worst; Joshua, the next in age, changed his glorious prophetic\nname to the Greek Jason, and going to Antioch, offered a great sum of\nmoney to be made High Priest, and for leave to set up at Jerusalem a\nplace for the practice of the heathenish games of strength, where men\nfought naked. Antiochus was but too glad of the offer; so the good High\nPriest was carried off to die a prisoner at Antioch, and the apostate\nwas set up in his room in order to pervert the Jewish youth to idolatry.\nHowever, he was soon overthrown by his apostate brother, Menelaus, whom\nhe had sent to pay the tribute at Antioch, and who, when there, promised\nthe king a larger revenue, and to bring all the Jews to embrace the\nheathen worship. Jason fled to the Ammonites, and Menelaus and his\nbrother sold the gold vessels of the Temple to the Phoenicians. The\nJews sent complaints to the king at Tyre, but instead of attending, he\nmurdered the messengers, so much to the horror of the Tyrians, that they\ngave them honourable burial.\n\nAntiochus now began a war with Egypt, (Dan. xi. 25,) and while he was\nthere, Jason came back from the Ammonites and regained Jerusalem; but\nthe news brought the king back in the utmost rage, Jason fled to Greece,\nand Antiochus, coming to Jerusalem, cruelly treated the people, robbed\nthe treasury, himself went into the holy place, led by that horrible\ntraitor, Menelaus; and uttering blasphemy, he sacrificed a hog upon\nthe altar, and boiling the flesh, sprinkled the Temple with the broth,\ncarried off the candlestick and all the rest of the gold, and when\nhe went away to continue his wars, he left a captain and garrison to\noppress the Jews, and an old man to teach them the worship of Jupiter. A\nlittle altar for sacrifice to Jupiter was raised on the true altar, the\nTemple was dedicated to Jupiter, as was also that of the Samaritans on\nMount Gerizim, the Sabbath was abolished, so was circumcision, and on\nthe day of the king's birth, in each month, the Jews were forced to eat\nswine's flesh, and partake of idol sacrifices, and, at the feast of the\ngod of wine, to carry ivy in the mad drunken processions in his honour.\n\nIt was the most utter misery that had yet befallen the Jews. Temple,\nPriesthood, all gone! \"We see not our tokens; there is not one prophet\nmore;\" and yet that was the great time of glorious Jewish martyrdoms.\nNumbers of the faithful were burnt to death together in a cave, where\nthey had met to keep the Sabbath day; two women who had circumcised\ntheir babes, had them hung round their necks, and were then pitched from\nthe highest part of the wall of Jerusalem; and the aged scribe, Eleazar,\nwho was ninety years old, when swine's flesh was forced into his mouth,\nspat it out again, and was scourged to death, saying with his last\nbreath that he bore all this suffering because he feared the Lord. A\nmother and her seven sons were taken, and as each refused to share in\nthe idol rite and break the Law, they were put to death, one by one,\nwith horrible tortures, each before the eyes of his remaining brethren;\nbut the parting words of all were full of high hope and constancy. \"The\nLord looketh on us, and hath comfort in us,\" said one. \"The King of the\nworld shall raise us up who have died for His laws unto everlasting\nlife,\" was spoken by another. \"Think not our nation is forsaken of God,\nbut abide awhile and behold His great power, how He will torment thee\nand thy seed,\" said another, (for they were as yet only faithful Jews,\nhope and forgiveness for their persecutors was for the Christian.) The\nmother stood firmly by while each son's limbs were cut off, and he was\nroasted to death over a fire; and all her words were to exhort them to\nbe stedfast, and to assure them their Creator could raise them if they\ndied for Him. When the turn of the last son came, the persecutors,\npitying his youth, entreated him to change his resolution, promising him\nriches and prosperity if he would adore the idol, and even calling his\nmother to plead with him. Then the noble woman laughed the tyrant to\nscorn. \"Have pity on me, my son,\" she began; but it was not by saving\nhis life, but by losing it, that she bade him show pity on her, so that\nshe might receive him again with his brethren. He made a still fuller\nconfession than the rest--he was slain by a still more savage torture;\nand then his mother, blessing God, died gloriously like her sons. Others\nfled, and lived in the mountains, lurking in caves, and feeding on wild\nroots and herbs. Of such St. Paul says, \"They were tempted, were slain\nwith the sword; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being\ndestitute, afflicted, tormented: of whom the world was not worthy.\"\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XVIII.\n\nTHE MACCABEES.\n\n\"In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all\npeople; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in\npieces.\"--_Zechariah_, xii. 3.\n\n\nNever was there a time when God left Himself without a witness; and in\nthese darkest times of the Jewish history, He raised up a defender of\nHis Name. There was a small town, named Modin, near the sea shore,\nwhither a Greek officer called Apelles was sent to force the people into\nidolatry. He set up an altar to one of his gods, and having ordered all\nthe inhabitants to assemble, insisted on their doing sacrifice. Among\nthem came a family of priests, who, from their ancestor, Hasmon, were\nknown as the Asmoneans. The father, Mattathias, declared with a loud\nvoice that he would permit no such dishonour to his God, and the first\nJew who approached to offer incense, was by him struck down and slain.\nThen with his five brave sons, and others emboldened by his example, he\nfell upon Apelles, drove him away, and pulled down the idolatrous altar.\nHe then fled away to the hills, where so many people joined him, that he\nhad a force sufficient to defend themselves from their enemies; and he\nwent round Judea, circumcising the children, and rescuing the copies of\nthe Law which the Greeks had seized from the synagogues. Some of these\nholy books, which had been defiled by paintings of the heathen idols,\nwere destroyed, by order of Mattathias, after the writing had been\ncarefully copied. It was at this time that the Jews began to read\nLessons from the Prophets in the synagogue, because Antiochus had only\nforbidden reading the Law, without specifying the prophetic books.\nMattathias, who was already an old man, soon fell sick; and gathering\nhis sons about him, reminded them of the deeds that God had wrought by\nthe holy men of old, and exhorting them to do boldly in defence of His\nCovenant. He appointed as their leader his third son, Judas, who for his\nwarlike might was called Maccab\u00e6us, or the Hammerer; and the second,\nSimon, surnamed Thassi, (one who increases,) was to be his chief\nadviser.\n\nIn the year 166, Judas Maccab\u00e6us set up his standard, with the motto,\n\"Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods?\" the first letters of\nwhich words in Hebrew made his surname, Maccabee. He went through the\nland, enforcing the Law, and putting the cities in a state of defence.\nAntiochus, meantime, was holding a mad and hateful festival at Daphne;\nbut on hearing of the revolt of the Jews, he went into a great rage, and\nsent a huge army to punish them. Maccab\u00e6us defeated this force, drove\nit back to Antioch, and then marched to Jerusalem, and forced the Greek\ngarrison to take refuge in a fortress called Akra, on Mount Zion. The\ncourts of the Temple were overgrown with shrubs which stood like a\nforest, the priests' chambers had been pulled down, and the Sanctuary\nlay desolate. These brave men rent their clothes and wept at the sight;\nand then set at once to repair the holy place, their priest-leader\nchoosing out the most spotless among them for the work. They pulled down\nthe Altar that had been defiled, and setting aside its stones, built\na new one, and out of the spoil that was in their hands, renewed the\nCandlestick, the shewbread table, and the Altar of incense; and then\nthey newly dedicated the Temple, after three years of desolation. The\nanniversary was ever after kept with gladness, and was called the winter\nfeast of dedication. Still Judas was not strong enough to take the\ncastle on Mount Zion; but he built strong walls round the Temple, so\nthat it too became a fortress, and he then went to Bethshan to defend\nthe south border of Judea against the Edomites.\n\nThese tidings terribly enraged Antiochus, who was gone on an expedition\nto Persia, and he designed to form a league with his neighbours for the\nutter destruction of the Jews; but \"he came to his end, and none could\nhelp him,\" for an overturn of his chariot so much increased an inward\ndisease that had already begun, that he fell into most horrible\ntortures, and was in such a state of decay that scarcely anyone could\nbear to come near him. Horrible fears tormented him, and in his remorse\nhe repented of all the evil he had done to the Jews, and sent them a\nletter assuring them of his favour; but it was now too late, and he died\nin great misery in 164. His son, Antiochus Eupator, was only nine years\nold, and his affairs were managed by a governor named Lysias, who\ncontinued the persecution, and led an army to the relief of the garrison\nin Mount Zion. Judas marched out to meet him, but was repulsed with the\nloss of six hundred men, and of his younger brother, Eleazar, who seeing\nan elephant of huge size, with a tower of unusual height on its back,\nthought the king himself must be there, and running beneath it, stabbed\nit so as to be crushed himself in its fall. Lysias then advanced upon\nJerusalem, and laid close siege to it, placing the Jews in extreme\nperil. Just then another regent rose up against Lysias, and he made a\nhasty peace with Maccab\u00e6us, and was admitted into the city; but when he\nsaw its strength, he broke his promises, and overthrew the wall. On his\nreturn to Antioch, he punished the apostate high-priest, Menelaus, as\nthe author of all these misfortunes, by smothering him in a tower filled\nwith ashes. \"Woe to the idol shepherd who had left his flock!\" Another\nhalf heathen, named Alcimus, was appointed in his place, and when the\nJews would not receive him, brought down their enemies upon them again.\nJudas gained a victory, and wrote to entreat the alliance and protection\nof the Romans; but ere the answer to his letter arrived, he had, with\nonly 800 men, fallen on a whole army of the Syrians, and was killed in\nthe battle, B.C. 161. His brothers, Jonathan and Simon, took up his\nbody, and buried it at Modin, in the tomb of their fathers; and they\ncontinued to lead the faithful Jews, while Alcimus held Jerusalem, and\nthere began to alter the Temple, taking down the wall of separation\nbetween the courts of the Jews and that of the Gentiles; but in the\nmidst of the work he was smitten with palsy, and died.\n\nIt was the plan of the Romans to take the part of a weak nation against\na strong one, because it afforded them an excuse for conquering the\nmightier of the two, so they gave notice that the quarrels of the Jews\nwere their own; and after much fighting, Jonathan obtained two years of\npeace, and became high-priest. Onias, the son of the good Onias, whom\nJason had set aside, went to Egypt, and ministered in a temple built by\nthe Jews, who had settled there.\n\nEver since the Syrian kings had begun to misuse the Jews, they had grown\nweak and miserable. Antiochus Eupator was dethroned and murdered by his\ncousin Demetrius; but shortly after, a man named Balas came forward,\ncalling himself the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and begging Jonathan to\ntake his part, sending him a golden crown and purple robe, and naming\nhim commander of the Jewish force. In a battle in the year 153,\nDemetrius was slain; and Balas became king. Both Balas and his son\nAntiochus treated Jonathan with great favour, and he fortified\nJerusalem, got possession of many other towns, and considerably\nstrengthened the rightful cause: but a wicked rebel named Trypho, who\ndesigned the murder of his young master, Antiochus, began his conspiracy\nby treacherously assassinating Jonathan in the land of Gilead, B.C. 143,\nand soon after succeeded in killing the young king.\n\nSimon Thassi was the only survivor of the brave Maccabaean brothers, but\nhe finished their work, and obtained from Rome, Egypt, and Syria, an\nacknowledgment that the Jews were a free people, and that he was their\nprince and priest. He took the castle on Mount Zion from the Syrians,\nand so fortified the Temple, that it became like another citadel, and he\nwas honoured by all his neighbours. He built a noble tomb for all his\nfamily at Modin, consisting of seven pyramids, in honour of his father\nand mother, and their five sons; all covered in by a portico, supported\non seven pillars, the whole of white marble, and the pediment so high\nthat it served for a mark for sailors at sea. He died, like his brave\nbrethren, by a bloody death, being murdered at Jericho, B.C. 135, by his\nown son-in-law, who hoped to usurp the government; but his eldest son,\nJohn Hyrcanus, was able to punish the murderer, and to obtain the full\nauthority, by giving large presents both to the Romans and Syrians. It\nis said that he found, laid up in the sepulchre of David, 3000 talents\nof silver, which he used for this purpose. Hyrcanus was a very powerful\nand mighty prince, and not only reigned over all Judea, but conquered\nEdom, with all the curious dwellings in the rocky caves of Petra; he\nbrought the country under subjection, circumcised the inhabitants, and\nbrought them under the Mosaic Law. From that time Idumea decayed, and\nnow has become an utter wilderness, the carved faces of the rocks still\nwitnessing to the truth of prophecy, as they stand forth, lonely and\ndeserted in their grandeur, though glowing freshly with the rosy\nmarblings of the rocks of Seir.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XIX.\n\nTHE ROMAN POWER.\n\nAnd He shall put a yoke of iron on thy neck until He have destroyed\nthee.--_Deut. xxviii._48.\n\n\nAristobulus, the son of Hyrcanus, was called King, as well as High\nPriest of the Jews; but the mixture of worldly policy with the sacred\noffice did not suit well, and the Asmonean Kings were not like their\nfathers, the Maccabees. Still their courage and steadiness made the Jews\nmuch respected; and the Greeks and Romans around them began to read\ntheir books, and there were some few who perceived that the religion,\nthere taught, was purer than idolatry, and wiser than the beat\nphilosophy. The kings were assisted in government by what was called the\nSanhedrim, a council of a hundred and twenty of the Scribes and of the\nchief priests, namely, the heads of the courses of priests. This council\nmet daily in a hall near the great gate of the Temple, and heard cases\nbrought before them for judgment, after the example of the seventy\nelders appointed by Moses. Alexander Janneus, the son of Aristobulus,\nreigned from B.C. 104 to B.C. 77, and left his kingdom to his wife,\nAlexandra, who trusted much to the Pharisees, and raised them to great\npower. Her eldest son, Hyrcanus, was High Priest, and she left the\nkingdom to him at her death, B.C. 69; but his brother, Aristobulus,\nrebelling, with the help of the Sadducees, defeated him, and drove him\nfrom his throne.\n\nHyrcanua was indolent, and was rather glad to be relieved from the\ntrouble of reigning; but his friend, Antipas, an Edomite by birth, and\nof the Jewish religion, persuaded him that his life would not be safe in\nJudea, and stirred him up to ask help, first from the Arabs, and when\nthey were beaten, from the Romans, to whom however, Aristobulus had\nalready sent a present of a golden vine, in hopes of winning their\nsupport.\n\nThe great awfulness of the Roman power was in the sureness of its\nconquests. It did not fly onward without touching the earth, like the\ngreat eastern conquerors; but let it set one claw on a nation, and the\ndoom of that nation was fixed. First the help of the Romans was asked\nand readily given; then in return a tribute was demanded and paid; then\nthe Romans would meddle with the government, till their interference\nbecame intolerable, and there was a rising against it, which they called\nrebellion; then they sent an army, and ruined the nation for ever. The\nking, queen, generals, and all the riches, were carried to Rome, where\nthe conqueror came in to enjoy what was called a triumph. He was seated\nin a chariot drawn by white horses, a laurel wreath round his head, and\nall his captives and spoils displayed behind him; the senate or council\ncoming out to meet him, and the people shouting for joy as they led him\nto the Temple of Jupiter to give thanks. The captives were afterwards\nslain; and, as a farther festival, the people were entertained with\nshows of gladiators, namely, slaves trained to fight, even to death,\nwith each other or with wild beasts. Then the conquered land became a\nRoman province. After the magistrates had served a year at Rome, they\nwere allowed to choose which province they would govern; and there they\ndid as they pleased, and laid heavy burthens on the poor inhabitants,\nfor all men, not of Roman birth, they called barbarian, and used like\nslaves; nor was there any hope of breaking this heavy bondage, for each\ncity was a station of Roman soldiers, who were the bravest and best\ndisciplined in the world. The army was divided into legions, each about\n6,000 men strong, with a silver eagle for the standard; these were again\nsubdivided into cohorts, and again into hundreds, each commanded by a\ncenturion, whose helmet had some mark by which his men might know him.\nNo soldier could miss his place, either in battle, on a march, or in the\nperfect square camps which they set up wherever they halted; they obeyed\nthe least word, and feared nothing; and nothing could hold out against\ntheir steady skill, perseverance, and progress. Wherever they went they\nbuilt fortresses, and made wonderful straight solid roads, some of which\nremain to this day; and their ships and messengers going for ever from\none province to another, made their empire all like one country; where\nthe stern Roman was the lord, and the native was crushed down under his\nfeet,\n\nThey had just at this time put down the kingdom of Syria, and conquered\nnearly all Asia Minor. Their great general, Pompey, was holding a court\nat Damascus, whither, among ten other suppliant princes, Hyrcanus and\nAristobulus came to lay their cause before him, thus asking a heathen\nwho should be the Priest of the Most High. Pompey took the part of the\nelder, as the rightful heir, and led an army against Jerusalem. The\nsiege lasted three months, and so strong was the place, that it would\nhave held out much longer, but that the Jews would not defend themselves\non the Sabbath, at least no more than enough to protect their own lives.\nThey would not disturb any of the operations of the siege, nor keep the\nengines from the walls on that day; and thus, B.C. 63, the Gentiles\nagain entered Jerusalem on the very day observed as a fast in memory of\nNebuchadnezzar's conquest.\n\nPompey spared the city from plunder, and touched none of the treasure\nin the Temple; but he would not be withheld from going into every part,\neven into the Holy of Holies; and though no immediate judgment followed,\nit was remarked that from that time his prosperity left him. He set up\nHyrcanus as High Priest, but not as King--made him pay a tribute, put\nhim under the control of Antipas, and forbade him to extend his domains.\nAristobulus and his sons were carried off to appear in Pompey's triumph,\nbut their lives were spared. Thus Judea, by her own fault, fell under\nthe dominion of the fourth power with the teeth of iron.\n\nRome had hitherto been ruled by two consuls, who were chosen every\nyear, and after their rule at home was over, went to make war in the\nprovinces; but of late this plan had been wearing our, and the great\ngeneral, Julius Caesar, who had conquered France, then called Gaul, and\nhad visited Britain, was making himself over-powerful. Pompey stood up\nfor the old laws, but Caesar was too strong for him, and at last hunted\nhim to Egypt, where he was murdered by the last of the Ptolemies. Julius\nCaesar, who was one of the greatest warriors and most able men who ever\nlived, managed Rome as he chose, and coming to Syria, confirmed Hyrcanus\nin his rank, and finding him careless and indolent, made Antipas\nprocurator, or governor for the Romans; and thus Antipas and his son,\nHerod, held all the real power in their hands, though still under the\nRomans. Going back to Rome, Julius Caesar became so powerful, that it\nwas thought he would make himself king, and after four years, some of\nthe friends of the old laws killed him with their daggers in the Senate\nHouse, B. C. 44. After this, there was great confusion; and while\nAugustus C\u00e6sar, the nephew of Julius, gained power in the west, Mark\nAntony, another Roman general, came to Egypt to attend to the affairs of\nthe East. He was a selfish licentious man, who cared more for Cleopatra,\nthe beautiful sister of the last Ptolemy, and Queen of Egypt, than for\nRome or for his duty; and he took bribes from Herod to support his power\nover the old prince, Hyrcanus, to whose daughter, Mariamne, Herod was\nbetrothed.\n\nThe son of the deposed Aristobulus, Antigonus by name, made friends with\nthe Parthians, the descendants of the old Persians, and bursting into\nJud\u00e6a when the nation was unprepared, carried off poor old Hyrcanus as\na prisoner, and cut off his ears that such a blemish might prevent him\nfrom ministering again as High Priest. Herod escaping, went to Rome,\nwhere he represented his case so ably, that Augustus and Antony gave him\nmen and money that he might drive out Antigonus, and promised that he\nshould himself be king under them. The Roman army helped him to win back\nthe country; and as the caves in the hills were full of robbers, he\nlet down soldiers in boxes over the face of the precipices, and thus\ncontrived to destroy them all. After a siege of six months he took\nJerusalem, and Antigonus surrendered to the Romans, who kept him\nprisoner for some time, and then, at Herod's entreaty, put him to death.\n\nHerod thus became King of the Jews, B.C. 37. He married Mariamne, who\nwas very beautiful and amiable, and thus he hoped to please the Jews who\nwere attached to the old line; but as he was an Idumean, and therefore\ncould not be High Priest, he gave the holy office to her brother, until\nbecoming fearful of the young prince's just rights to the crown, he\ncaused his attendants to drown him while bathing, and afterwards\nappointed High Priests, as he chose, from the chief priests of the\nSanhedrim. Indeed Herod lived in constant fear and hatred of every\nAsmonean, and at last even turned against his own wife, Mariamne. He\ncaused her to be put to death, and then nearly broke his heart with\ngrief for her; and afterwards the same dread of the old royal stock led\nhim to kill the two sons she had left to him.\n\nThe seventy weeks of Daniel were drawing to a close, and everyone\nexpected that the long-promised Deliverer and King would appear. Some\nflatterers said it was Herod himself, the blood-stained Edomite, and he\ndid all in his power to maintain the notion, by repairing the Temple\nwith great care and cost, making restorations there that were forty-six\nyears in progress, and spreading a golden vine over the front of the\nSanctuary.\n\nThere were others who said the one great King, whom even the heathen\nexpected, was coming to Rome. Augustus C\u00e6sar had gained all the power;\nhe had beaten Antony and Cleopatra in a sea-fight, and following them\nto Egypt, found that they had both killed themselves, Antony with his\nsword, Cleopatra by the bite of an asp, in order to save themselves\nfrom being made prisoners. Augustus was welcomed at Rome with a great\ntriumph, and was called Emperor, the name always given to a victorious\ngeneral; the Romans gave him all their offices of state, and he ruled\nover all their great dominions without anyone to dispute his power, any\nenemy to conquer at home or abroad. There was a great lull and hush all\nover the world, for the time was come at last. But the King was neither\nHerod in Judea, nor Augustus at Rome! Nay Herod, as a son of Edom, was\nbut proving that the Sceptre had departed from Judah; and the reign of\nAugustus was a time when darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness\nthe people, for the Greeks and Romans had lost all the good that\nhad been left in them, and were given up to wicked cruelty and foul\nself-indulgence; when one of their own heathen oracles was caused to\nannounce to Augustus that the greatest foe of the Roman power should be\na child born among the Hebrews.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XX.\n\nTHE GOSPEL.\n\n\"It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.\"--_Gen_. iii.\n15.\n\n\nIt was in the 4004th year of the world, the 30th of the empire of Caesar\nAugustus, the 37th of the reign of Herod the Edomite, that Augustus,\nwishing to know the number of his subjects, so as to regulate the taxes\npaid by the conquered countries, to provide corn for the poorer Roman\ncitizens, sent out an edict that each person should enroll his name at\nhis native place, and there pay a piece of money. Thus the Divine Power\nbrought it to pass, that the Blessed Virgin, who was about to bring\nforth a son, should travel with her betrothed husband to the home of\ntheir fathers, Rachel's burial place, Bethlehem, the little city, whence\nDavid had once been called away from the sheepfolds.\n\nThere the stable of the ox and ass received, the Master of Heaven and\nearth, when His people considered Him not, and shut their doors when,\n\"Unto us a Child was born, unto us a Son was given.\" There, the\nshepherds on the hills heard the angels sing their song of peace on\nearth, good will to men; there, on the eighth day of His Life on earth,\nthat Child was circumcised, and received the Greek form of the Divine\nname, Jehovah the Saviour, the same which had been borne before by the\nCaptain and by the Priest, who had led His people to their inheritance.\nThence the Desire of all nations was carried to His presentation in the\nTemple. He was truly the first-born of all creation, but He was only\nknown to the aged Simeon and devout Anna, as the messenger of the\ncovenant, the Lord for whom they had waited. To Bethlehem came the\nmysterious wise men from the east. They had been led by the star to\nJerusalem, and were there directed on by the scribes, learned in the\nprophecies; but their inquiries had alarmed Herod's jealousy, and he\nsent forth the savage order, that the babes of Bethlehem should all be\nmurdered, in hopes of cutting off the new-born King of the Jews; but\nwhile the mothers wept for the children who should come again to them in\na better inheritance, the Holy One was safe in Egypt, whither Joseph had\ncarried Him, by the warning of God.\n\nThis massacre was well nigh the last of Herod's cruelties. He was\nalready in failing health, and after having killed his innocent sons\nbecause of their Asmonean blood, he was obliged to put to death the son\nof another of his wives for rebelling against him. A terrible disease\ncame on, and fearing that the Jews would rejoice at his death, he\ndeclared they should have something to mourn for; and sending for all\nthe chief men to Jericho, where he lay sick, he shut them all up in the\ncircus, or place for Roman games, and made his sister promise that the\nmoment he expired, soldiers should be sent in to kill them all. In this\ndevil-like frame, Herod died, in the seventieth year of his age, and the\nthirty-fourth of his reign, the first year of our Lord;[A] and his\nsister at once released the captives. He had had nine wives, and many\nchildren, of whom he had himself put three to death. Archelaus and Herod\nAntipas were the sons of one mother, Herod Philip of another, and the\nmurdered son of Mariamne had left two children, named Herod Agrippa and\nHerodias. Archelaus took the kingdom, but had not power to control\neither the people or the army. Three thousand Jews were massacred by the\nsoldiers in the Temple, and Archelaus went to Rome to beg to be\nconfirmed on his throne, and assisted in keeping his people in order;\nbut his brother, Herod Antipas, was there already, begging for a share\nin the kingdom, and the Jews sent after Archelaus, saying, \"We will not\nhave this man to reign over us!\" Augustus thereupon refused to give to\neither the title of King, but split Palestine into four divisions called\ntetrarchies, from _tetra_, the Greek word for four, giving to Archelaus\nJudea, Samaria, and Idumea; to Antipas, Galilee; to Philip, Iturea, the\npart beyond the Jordan; and to a Greek named Lysanias, Abilene, in the\nnorth, near Mount Hermon. After this, Joseph returned from Egypt, but\navoided the dominions of the cruel Archelaus, by going to his former\nabode in Galilee.\n\n[Footnote A: From the Birth of our Lord, time is counted onwards, and\nthe years marked as A.D., Anno Domini, Year of the Lord.]\n\nArchelaus grew so wicked, that in the year 12 A.D. an accusation against\nhim was sent to Rome by the Jews and Samaritans; and Augustus deposed\nhim, sending him into banishment to Vienne, in Gaul. His brothers did\nnot obtain his domain, but it was joined to the province of Syria, and\nput under the charge of a Roman procurator or governor, who kept down\ndisturbances by the strong hand; but this made the Pharisees very\ndiscontented, as they fancied it was against the Divine Law to pay\ntribute to strangers. Augustus had been all his life busy in setting his\nempire in order, and making laws for it. It stretched from the Atlantic\nOcean nearly to the river Euphrates, and bordered the Mediterranean Sea\non both sides, the Alps shutting it in to the north, and the deserts of\nAfrica to the south. The Roman citizens considered themselves the lords\nof all this space; and though at first only the true-born Romans were\ncitizens, Augustus gave the honour to many persons of the subject\nnations. It freed them from being taxed, gave them a right to vote\nfor magistrates, and saved them from being under the authority of the\ngovernors of the provinces. Every educated person spoke Latin and\nGreek, but the latter tongue was most used in the east, as the Romans\nthemselves learnt it as an accomplishment. Augustus died, A.D. 17,\nleaving his power to his step-son, Tiberius, whom he had adopted as his\nown son, and thus given him the name of Caesar. Tiberius had not\nbeen kindly treated in his youth, and he was gloomy and harsh, and\nexceedingly disliked by the Romans. Under him, Pontius Pilate was made\nProcurator of Judea, and took up his abode in Caesarea, a city built by\nHerod and him son Philip, on the coast, and named after the emperors.\nPilate set up shields with idolatrous inscriptions in Jerusalem; but the\nJews petitioned Tiberius, who ordered them to be removed, and there was\nmuch hatred between the Procurator and the Jews. The thirty years of\nsilent bearing of the common lot of man were now nearly over; and six\nmonths ere the Messiah began to make Himself known, His messenger, John,\nthe Desert Priest, began to prepare His way by preaching repentance in\nthe spirit and power of the great Elijah, and then baptizing in the\nJordan unto repentance. Such washing was the manner in which the Jews\naccepted their proselytes, as they called the strangers who embraced the\nLaw. The great purpose of the Old Covenant was accomplished when John,\nhaving made his followers feel all the weight of their sins against the\nCommandments, pointed out Him whom he had already baptized, and said,\n\"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!\" A few\nfaithful Galileans followed and believed, and miracles began to testify\nthat here was indeed the Christ, the Prophet like to Moses, giving bread\nto the hungry, eyes to the blind, feet to the lame. Decreasing as He\nincreased, John offended Herod Antipas by \"boldly rebuking vice.\" This\nAntipas had forsaken his own wife, the daughter of an Arabian king, and\nhad taken in her stead, his niece Herodias, the wife of his brother\nPhilip; and for bearing witness against this crime, John was thrown into\nprison, and afterwards beheaded, to gratify the wicked woman and her\ndaughter, Salome. The Arab King avenged his daughter's wrongs by a war,\nin which Antipas met with a great defeat.\n\nMeanwhile, the Pharisees and Sadducees, their heads full of the\nprophecies of greatness and deliverance, to which their minds gave a\ntemporal, not a spiritual meaning, grew more and more enraged at every\ntoken that the lowly Nazarene was indeed the Saviour, the Hope of the\nwhole world. Each token of perfection, each saying too pure for them,\neach undoubted miracle, only made them more furious, and for once they\nmade common cause together. The Passover came. Herod Antipas came to\nJerusalem to observe the feast, Pilate to keep the peace among the Jews;\nand Jerusalem saw her King coming, meek, and riding on an ass, and amid\nthe Hosannas of the children, weeping at the vengeance that He foresaw\nfor the favoured city where He had been despised and rejected, and where\nHe was Himself about to become the true Passover, which should purchase\neverlasting Redemption.\n\nThe traitor sold Him to the Sanhedrim, or council, in which the last\nwords of the prophecy through the Priesthood had declared that one man\nmust die for the people; and a band of Roman soldiers was obtained from\nPilate. Meanwhile, our blessed Lord instituted the new Passover, the\nCommunion by which all the faithful should be enabled to partake of the\ngreat Sacrifice; then He went out to the garden, among the grey olives\nwhich still stand beside the brook Kedron, and there, after His night of\nAgony, He was betrayed by a kiss, and dragged before the High Priest,\nunder an accusation of blasphemy; but as the Sanhedrim had not power of\nlife and death, and such a charge would have mattered little to a Roman,\na political offence was invented to bring before Pilate. The procurator\nperceived the innocence of the Holy One, but feared to befriend Him\nbecause of the raging multitude; and after vainly trying to shift the\nresponsibility on Herod Antipas, he washed his hands, to show that it\nwas no affair of his own, and gave the Victim up to the murderers. They\nchose the most shameful death of Roman slaves, that they might show\ntheir hatred and contempt, unwitting that each act and each word had\nbeen foretold and foreshown in their own Law and Prophets. For six hours\nHe hung on His Cross, while the sun was dark, and awe crept on the most\nignorant hearts. Then came the cry, \"It is finished;\" and the work was\ndone; the sinless Sacrifice had died; the price of Adam's sin was paid;\nthe veil of the Temple was rent in twain, to show that the way to the\ntrue Mercy-Seat was opened. The rich man buried Him--the women watched;\nand when the Sabbath was over, the Tomb was broken through, and the\nFirst-fruits of them that slept arose, wondrously visited His followers\nfor forty days, gave them His last charges, and then ascended into\nHeaven, carrying manhood to the bosom of the Father. Satan was for ever\nconquered.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXI.\n\nTHE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH.\n\n\"Ten men shall take hold, out of all language of all nations, even shall\ntake hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with\nyou, for we have heard that God is with you.\"--_Zech._ viii. 23.\n\n\nBy the coming of Him who had been so long promised, in His human Body,\nand the completion of His sacrifice, all the objects of the old\nceremonial Law were fulfilled; the shadows passed away and substance\ntook their place, so that the comers thereunto might be made perfect.\nInstead of being admitted to the covenant by circumcision, which was\nonly a type of putting away the uncleanness of the flesh, the believers\nwere washed from sin in the now fully revealed Name of the Holy Trinity,\nin the Fountain of Christ's Blood, open for all sin and uncleanness, and\nthe penitent had a right to be constantly purified in the living\ncleansing streams of grace and pardon. The one great Passover had been\noffered, to redeem the chosen from the slavery of Satan, and the highway\nwas opened for the ransomed to pass over with songs of joy, keeping the\nResurrection Day instead of the Sabbath. Means had been given of their\nconstantly partaking of that Passover, the Lamb slain from the\nfoundation of the world; and thus tasting of the Eternal Sacrifice, in\nright of which they prayed to the Father, to whom they were united as\nmembers of His Son. The one great Day of Atonement was over, and the\ntrue High Priest had entered for ever into the Holy Place, opening a way\nwhere all might follow to the Mercy Seat, there offering His own\nSacrifice, and presenting their prayers. And even in Heaven, He still\nwas the Shepherd of the little flock, to whom it was His good pleasure\nto give the Kingdom; feeding them, appointing under shepherds, and\nguarding them gently from His Throne above. The sealed Book of type and\nprophecy was open and clear at His touch; and the Old Testament found\nfull explanation and fulfilment in the New; and now it, remained to make\nknown the good tidings, and gather in all nations, Jew and Gentile\nalike, to the Lord's Flock, the Church or House of the Lord, as it was\ncalled.\n\nOne hundred and twenty believers in their risen Lord awaited together\nthe coming of the promised Comforter, who should abide with them for\never, to guide them into all truth, and to enable them to proclaim the\naccomplishment of all the promises. The eleven Apostles, who, as their\nname[1] implied, had been sent forth by their Lord, added to their\nnumber Matthias, in the place of the traitor Judas, laying hands on him\nin order to carry on the Gift that the Saviour had breathed upon them.\nBesides these, there were the seventy whom our Lord had sent out in\npairs, and whose order was afterwards called the elders, presbyters, or\npriests.\n\nThey were all gathered in the upper room to keep the Feast of Weeks, in\nmemory of the giving the Law, when He came upon them Who could enable\nthat Law to be kept, bringing the Divine Presence, which is the\npervading Life of the whole Body. His coming was marked by such open\nsigns, as to draw the attention of all the pilgrim Jews, who had come\nfrom their distant homes to keep the feast. St. Peter expounded to them\nthat the time of fulfilment was come, and that Jesus, crucified and\nrisen, was their Salvation. 3,000 at once accepted the New Covenant, and\nwere baptized; and thus, on the day of Pentecost, A.D. 33, the Church of\nChrist sprang into full life. Many of the converts sold their goods, and\nbrought the price to the Apostles, all living on one common stock, and\ngiving bounteous alms; but the new converts of Greek education, found\ntheir poor less well provided than the native Jews, and to supply them,\nseven deacons, or ministers, were set apart as the serving order of the\nministry. Foremost of these was Stephen, who, about two years after the\nAscension, bore the first witness through death to the doctrine which he\ntaught,\n\n[Footnote 1: Apostle--one sent] being stoned by the people in a sudden\nfit of fury, at his showing how the whole course of their history was\nbut a preparation for Him whom they had crucified.\n\nIn the year 37, Pilate was recalled to Rome to answer the many charges\nagainst him. He was sentenced to banishment in Gaul, and there suffered\nso much from remorse, that he killed himself. At the time of his\ndeposition, the C\u00e6sar, Tiberius, was dying, hated by all, and leaving\nhis empire to his nephew, Caligula, who had been a youth of great\npromise; but he lost his senses in a fever, and did all sorts of strange\nwild things--made his horse a consul, tried to make him eat gilded oats,\nand once, at a wild beast show, turned the lions in on the spectators.\nShortly before his illness, Herod Agrippa, the son of Herod the Great's\nmurdered son, Aristobulus, while driving in a chariot with him, had said\nhow glad everyone would be to see him reigning. The charioteer reported\nthe speech, and Tiberius punished it by keeping Herod in prison, chained\nto a soldier; but to make up for his sufferings, Caligula no sooner\nbecame emperor than he set him free, gave him a crown, made him King of\nTrachonitis and Abilene, and presented him with a gold chain of the same\nweight as the fetters which he had worn in prison. This chain Herod hung\nup in the Temple, for he was a zealous Jew, although such a friend\nof heathen princes, and he seems to have been greatly puffed up with\nadmiration of his own good management. His sister Herodias, envious\nof his crown, persuaded her husband, Herod Antipas, to go and sue for\nanother at Rome; but all he gained by his journey was an inquiry into\nhis conduct, which ended in his being exiled to Gaul, and his domain\nbeing given to Herod Agrippa. In A.D. 41, the miserable madman Caligula,\nwas killed, but Herod Agrippa continued in high favour with the next\nemperor, the moody Claudius, and under him the Jews had again the power\nof giving sentence of death. They used it to persecute the disciples;\nand this led to many leaving Jerusalem, and carrying the knowledge of\nthe faith to more distant parts. Saul, or Paul, a Benjamite, born at\nTarsus, in Asia Minor, a place where the inhabitants were reckoned\nas Roman citizens, was learned in Greek philosophy, and deeply versed\nin the Jewish doctrines: he was a zealous Pharisee, and a vehement\npersecutor, till he was called by the Lord Himself from Heaven, and told\nthat his special mission should be to the Gentiles; and about the same\ntime, it was revealed to St. Peter in a vision, that the hedge of the\nceremonial Law was taken down, and no distinction should henceforth be\nmade between the nations, who had been all alike cleansed by the Blood\nof Redemption. The Roman soldier, Cornelius, was the first-fruits of\na mighty harvest; and the Greeks and Romans in general, gave far more\nready audience to the Apostles, than did the Jews.\n\nThe hatred of the Jews moved Herod Agrippa to put to death James the son\nof Zebedee, the first Apostle to drink of his Master's Cup; and he would\nlikewise have slain Peter, had not the Angel delivered that Saint out of\nprison, in answer to the prayers of the Church. The pride of Herod\nhad come to a height. He celebrated games at C\u00e6sarea in honour of the\nemperor, and in the midst came forth in a robe of cloth of silver, to\ngive audience to an embassy from Tyre and Zidon. At his speech, the\npeople shouted, \"It is the voice of a god, not the voice of a man!\" But\nwhile Herod listened and took the glory to himself, he felt a deadly\nstroke, which made him cry, \"Your god is dying!\" and in five days he\nwas dead. His son, Agrippa, was too young to take the government, and a\nRoman procurator was appointed.\n\nAbout this time the Apostles departed on their several missions. It is\nsaid that ere doing so, they agreed on the Creed or watchword of the\nChurch; but it was not written down till more than three hundred years\nlater, lest the heathen should learn it and blaspheme it. Wherever they\nwent they ordained elders and deacons, and in most cities they left one\nto whom they had conveyed their own apostolic powers. These were not\ncalled Apostles, as that name was kept for those sent by our Lord in\nperson, but sometimes angels or messengers, and usually bishops, or\noverlookers of the shepherds. St. James, the cousin of our Lord,\nremained as Apostle of Jerusalem, while his brothers, Sts. Simon and\nJude, went into Mesopotamia, St. Andrew to Arabia, his brother, St.\nPeter, to the dispersed Jews; St. John and St. Philip to Asia Minor,\nSts. Thomas and Bartholomew to India, Sts. Matthew and Matthias to\nEthiopia, but not till the former had written his Gospel, which\nseveral of the Apostles carried with them, and which has been found in\npossession of the most ancient Churches by them converted.\n\nLittle is known of their labours, as from this time the Acts of the\nApostles chiefly dwell on the history of St. Paul; but it seems certain\nthat everywhere they began by preaching to the dispersed Jews; and when\nthese rejected the offer of Salvation, they turned to the heathen, by\nwhom in general it was far more readily received. The Romans, heeding\nthis world's greatness more than any spiritual matter, were not inclined\nto interfere with any one's religion, and only fancied the Church a sect\nof the Jews. They usually gave the Apostles their protection if the Jews\nraged against them; and their ships, their roads, and the universality\nof their dominion, made the spread of the Gospel much more easy, so that\nthey were made to prepare the way of the Lord, even while seeking only\ntheir own grandeur. It was about this time that the Emperor Claudius\ncame to Britain, and his generals won all the southern part of the\nisland, rooting out the cruel worship of the Druids in their groves\nof oak, and circles of huge stones. He died in the year 55, and was\nsucceeded by his step-son, Nero, a half-mad tyrant, who used to show\noff like a gladiator; racing in a chariot before all the Romans at the\ngames, collecting them all to listen to his verses, and putting those to\ndeath who showed their weariness. He was so jealous and afraid of plots\non his life, that he killed almost all his relations, even his mother,\nfor fear they should conspire against him; and all the richer and nobler\nRomans lived in terror under him, though the common people liked him\nfor being open-handed, and amusing them with the cruel gladiator shows.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXII.\n\nTHE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES.\n\n\"Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by\nhim, and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell\nbetween His shoulders.\"--_Deut._ xxxiii. 12.\n\nAfter Saul's marvellous call from Heaven, he spent three years in\nsolitude in Arabia, ere entering on his work. Then returning to\nDamascus, he began to set forth the Gospel. The Jews were so angry at\nhis change, that they stirred up the soldiers of the Arabian king,\nAretas, and he only escaped them by being let down over the wall in a\nbasket. Coming to Jerusalem, the gentle Levite, Barnabas, was the first\nto welcome him, and present him to the company of the Apostles; but he\nspent some years in retirement at his home at Tarsus, before Barnabas\nsummoned him to come and aid in his preaching at Antioch. There the Word\nwas heartily received, and the precious title of Christians was first\nbestowed upon the disciples; there, too, on the occasion of a famine in\nJudea, the first collection of alms for brethren at a distance was made.\n\nAt Antioch, a heavenly revelation signified that Paul and Barnabas were\nto be set apart for a special mission; and after prayer and consecration\nthey set out on their mission, accompanied by the nephew of Barnabas,\nJohn, surnamed Mark. Barnabas had once had great possessions in the isle\nof Cyprus, and thither they first repaired, preaching in all the chief\nplaces; and then going into Asia Minor, where they showed such power\nfrom on high, that the rude people of Lycaonia fancied them gods in\nthe likeness of men, and had well-nigh done sacrifice to them, though\nafterwards the spiteful Jews led the same men to draw Paul out of the\ncity, stone him, and leave him for dead. In such perils, Mark's heart\nfailed him, and he departed from them.\n\nReturning to Antioch, they found the Church in doubt whether the\nChristians of Greek birth were bound to obey the rites of the Jewish\nLaw. To decide this, Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem, after fourteen\nyears' absence, taking with them a Greek, named Titus; and here was held\nthe First General Council of the Church, a meeting of her Apostles and\nelders, in the full certainty that the Divine grace would inspire a\nright judgment, according to the promise that Christ would be with those\nwho should meet in His Name. St. James presided, and St. Peter spoke;\nand it was decided that the whole object of these rites had been\nfulfilled, therefore that they were among the old things that had passed\naway; and that no such rule need be imposed on the Gentiles, save that\ngiven to Noah ere the parting of the nations. It was agreed that St.\nPaul should go especially to the Gentiles, and St. Peter and St. John to\nthe scattered Jews, while St. James remained at Jerusalem. Two Jewish\nChristians, Silas and Barsabas, went back with the two Apostles, to\nnotify the resolution to the Church at Antioch, and St. Peter shortly\nfollowed them; but there continued to be a great tendency among the\nChristians of Jewish blood to avoid their Gentile brethren, and St.\nPeter was drawn in to do the same, so that St. Paul, always more\nstedfast, was forced to rebuke him. Paul and Barnabas intended to set\nout on a second journey, and Barnabas wished again to take his now\nrepentant nephew, but Paul would not trust him a second time; and after\na dispute on the subject, Barnabas left him, and took Mark to Cyprus,\nwhere it is believed that the \"Son of Consolation\" was at length\nmartyred.\n\nPaul, taking Silas as his companion, went over the former ground in Asia\nMinor, and at Iconium ordained a disciple, named Timothy, whose father\nwas a Greek, but whose Jewish mother and grandmother had faithfully bred\nhim up in the knowledge of the Scriptures. A Greek physician, named\nLuke, likewise at this time joined him; and with these faithful\ncompanions, he obeyed a call sent him in a dream, and crossed over into\nMacedon, where he gained many souls at Philippi and Thessalonica, but\nthe Jews stirred up such persecution, that he was forced to go southward\ninto Greece. Athens was no longer a powerful city, but it served as a\nsort of college for all the youths of the Roman Empire who wished to be\nhighly educated; and it was full of philosophers, who spent their time\nin the porticos and groves, arguing on questions of their own--such as\nwhether, this life being all of which they were sure, it was best to\nlive well or to live in pleasure. The Stoics were the philosophers who\nupheld the love of virtue and honour; the Epicureans said that it was of\nno use to vex themselves in this life, but that they might as well enjoy\nthemselves while they had time. St. Paul was well learned in all these\nquestions, and set forth to the Athenian students, in glorious words,\nthat the truth was come for which they had so long yearned, and declared\nto them the Unknown God Whom they already worshipped in ignorance.\nSome few believed, but the others were too fond of their own empty\nreasonings, and Athens long continued the stronghold of heathenism. He\nhad better success at Corinth, where he spent eighteen months, working\nat his trade as a tent-maker, and whence he wrote his two Epistles to\nhis Thessalonian converts, about the time that St. Luke was writing his\nGospel, it is thought by direct revelation, since neither he nor St.\nPaul had been with our Lord. The Jews hunted them away at last; after a\nshort stay at Jerusalem, they went back to Asia Minor, and passed three\nyears at Ephesus, whence were written the Epistle to the Galatians,\nagainst the Jewish practices, and the First to the Corinthians, on some\ndisorders in their Church. Ephesus was the chief city in Asia Minor, and\ncontained an image of the Greek goddess of the moon, Diana, placed in a\ntemple so beautiful, that it was esteemed one of the seven wonders of\nthe world, and thither came a great concourse of worshippers. There was\na silversmith who made great gain by selling small models of her temple;\nand he, growing, afraid that his trade would be ruined if idols were\ndeserted, stirred up the mechanics to such a frenzy of rage, that for\ntwo hours they shouted, \"Great is Diana of the Ephesians!\" and they\nwould have torn Paul to pieces, had they not been with much difficulty\nappeased. He was obliged to leave the city, and go to Macedonia, whence\nhe again wrote to the Corinthians, to console them in their repentance,\nand he also wrote to the Church at Rome, which he had never yet seen.\nAfter visiting the Greek Churches, a Divine summons called him back to\nkeep the feast of Pentecost at Jerusalem, though well knowing that\nbonds and imprisonment awaited him there; and on his way he had a most\ntouching meeting at Miletus, with the elders of Ephesus, who sorrowed\ngrievously that they should see his face no more. His beloved Timothy\nwas left with them as their bishop.\n\nAt Jerusalem, a terrible tumult arose against him for having, as the\nJews fancied, brought Greeks into the Temple, and he was only rescued\nby the Roman garrison, who treated him well on finding that he was a\ncitizen. Then the Jews laid a plot to murder him, and to prevent this\nhe was sent to the seat of government at C\u00e6sarea, where he was brought\nbefore the procurator, Felix, and his wife, Drusilla, a daughter of\nHerod Agrippa. His words made Felix tremble, but the time-server put\nthem aside, and neither released him nor sent him to Rome for judgment,\nbut on going out of office left him in prison. Festus, the new\nprocurator, could not understand his case, and asked the young Agrippa\nand his sister Bernice, to help him to find out under what accusation to\nsend him to Rome. Again St. Paul's speech struck his hearers with awe,\nand Agrippa declared himself almost persuaded to be a Christian, but\nhe loved too well the favour of the Jews and Romans, and his petty\ntetrarchy of Trachonitis, to become one of the despised sect. The noble\ncaptive would have been set free, but that he had sent his appeal to\nRome, and therefore could only be tried there.\n\nOn his way, coasting along as sailors did before the compass was known,\ncame his shipwreck at Malta, when the life of his shipmates was granted\nto him. The Emperor Nero was so much more disposed to amusement than\nbusiness, that St. Paul's cause was not heard, but he lived in his own\nhired house, under charge of a soldier seeing the Christians freely, and\nwriting three beautiful epistles, full of hope and encouragement, to his\nchildren at Ephesus, Colosse, and Philippi, also a friendly intercession\nfor a runaway slave to Philemon, and letters of pastoral counsel to\nTimothy at Ephesus, and to Titus, who was Bishop of Crete. It is thought\nthat the Epistle to the Hebrews, which shows how the Old Covenant points\nthroughout to the New, must be also of this date; but we have no longer\nthe inspired pen of St. Luke to tell of St. Paul's history, and it is\nnot certain whether he were ever at liberty again, though some think\nthat he was free for a short time, and went to Spain, Gaul, and even to\nBritain. St. Peter had likewise come to Rome. He had met with St. Mark,\nand taken him as his companion, and, as it is believed, assisted in\ncomposing his Gospel. St. Peter likewise wrote two epistles to the Jews\ndispersed abroad. But dark times were coming on the Church. St. James,\nwho left an epistle, was, in his old age, slain by the Jews, who cast\nhim from the top of the Temple, and then beat out his brains. The\nEmperor Nero had also broken out in sudden rage. In a fit of folly, he\nset Rome on fire to see how the flames would look, and then persuaded\nthe citizens that it was done by the Christians. St. Peter, who is\nconsidered as the first Bishop of Rome, and St. Paul, were thrown into a\ndungeon; and about that time Paul wrote his last letter, to call to\nhis side Timothy, and also the once weak Mark, now profitable to the\nministry, even as the ever faithful Luke. The fight was over, the crown\nwas ready, and on the same day, the two Apostles went to receive it; the\nRoman citizen by the sword, the Jewish fisherman by the cross, esteemed\ndishonour by the Romans, but over-much glory by the saint, who begged to\nsuffer with his head downwards, so as not to presume on the very same\ndeath as that of his Master. Many Christians likewise perished; thrown\nto wild beasts, or smeared with grease, and then slowly burnt, to light\nthe Romans at their horrible sports; but to them death was gain, and\nthe Church was only strengthened. St. Timothy went back to his post at\nEphesus, and St. Mark founded a Church at Alexandria, where, many years\nlater, he was martyred by being dragged to death through the streets.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXIII.\n\nTHE FALL OF JERUSALEM.\n\n\"The Lord hath accomplished His fury; He hath poured out His fierce\nanger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the\nfoundations thereof\"--_Lam._ iv. 11.\n\nIn His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, oar Lord had wept for the woes\nof the city which would not own Him, and had foretold that the present\ngeneration should not pass away until His mournful words had been\nfulfilled. One alone of His Apostles was left to tarry until this coming\nfor vengeance; the rest had all gone through the pains of martyrdom to\ntheir thrones in Heaven. St. Andrew died in Greece, bound on a cross\nshaped like the letter X, and preaching to the last. His friend, St.\nPhilip, had likewise received the glory of the Cross in Asia; and the\nlast of the Bethsaida band, St. Bartholomew, was tied to a tree and\nflayed alive, in Armenia. St. Matthew and St. Matthias died in Ethiopia\nor Abyssinia, leaving a Church which is still in existence; and St.\nThomas was slain by the Brahmins in India, where the Christians of St.\nThomas ever after kept up their faith among the heathen around. St. Jude\ndied in Mesopotamia, after writing an epistle to his flock; and his\nbrother, St. Simon Zelotes, also went by the same path to his rest; but\ntheir deaths only strengthened the Church, and their successors carried\nout the same work.\n\nThe judgments of God were darkening around Jerusalem. A procurator named\nFlorus was more cruel and insulting than usual, and a tumult broke out\nagainst him. Agrippa tried to appease it, but the Jews pelted him with\nstones, and drove him out of Jerusalem; they afterwards burnt down\nhis palace, and rose in rebellion all over Judea, imagining that the\nprophesied time of deliverance was come, and that the warlike Messiah of\ntheir imagination was at hand. Nero was much enraged at the tidings, and\nsent an army, under a plain blunt general, named Vespasian, to punish\nthe revolt. This army subdued Galilee and Samaria, and was already\nsurrounding Jerusalem, when Vespasian heard that there had been a great\nrebellion at home, and that Nero had been killed. He therefore turned\nback from the siege, to wait and see what would happen, having thus\ngiven the token promised by our Lord, of the time when the desolation\nof Jerusalem should be at hand, when the faithful were to flee.\nAccordingly, in this pause, all the Christians, marking well the signs\nof coming wrath, took refuge in the hills while the way was still open.\nArmies were seen fighting in the clouds; a voice was heard in the Holy\nof Holies saying, \"Let us depart hence!\" the heavily-barred gate of the\nTemple flew open of its own accord; and a man wandered up and down the\nstreets day and night, crying, \"Woe to Jerusalem! Woe! woe!\" The Jews\nwere hardened against all warning; they had no lawful head, but there\nwere three parties under different chiefs, who equally hated the Romans\nand one another. They fought in the streets, so that the city was full\nof blood; and fires consumed a great quantity of the food laid up\nagainst the siege; yet still the blind Jews came pressing into it in\nmultitudes, to keep the now unmeaning Feast of the Passover, even at the\ntime when Vespasian's son, Titus, was leading his forces to the siege.\n\nIt was the year 70, thirty-seven years since that true Passover, when\nthe Jews had slain the true Lamb, and had cried, \"His Blood be on us\nand our children!\" What a Passover was that, when one raging multitude\npursued another into the Temple, and stained the courts with the blood\nof numbers! Meanwhile, Titus came up to the valleys around the crowned\nhill, and shut the city in on every side, digging a trench, and guarding\nit closely, that no food might be carried in, and hunger might waste\naway the strength of those within. Then began the utmost fulfilment of\nthe curses laid up in the Law for the miserable race. The chiefs and\ntheir parties tore each other to pieces whenever they were not fighting\nwith the enemy; blood flowed everywhere, and robbers rushed through the\nstreets, snatching away every fragment of food from the weak. The famine\nwas so deadly, that the miserable creatures preyed on the carcases of\nthe dead; nay, \"the tender and delicate woman\" was found who, in the\nstraits of hunger, killed her own babe, roasted, and fed upon him. So\nmany corpses were thrown over the walls, that the narrow valleys were\nchoked, and Titus, in horror, cried out that the Jews, not himself, must\nbe accountable for this destruction.\n\nFor the sake of the Christian fugitives in the mountains, these dreadful\ndays were shortened, and were not in the winter; and in August Titus's\nsoldiers were enabled to make an entrance into the Temple. For the sake\nof its glorious beauty, he bade that the building should be spared; but\nit was under the sentence of our Lord, and his command was in vain. A\nsoldier threw a torch through a golden window, and the flames spread\nfast while the fight raged; the space round the Altar was heaped with\ncorpses, and streams of blood flowed like rivers. Ere the flames reached\nthe Sanctuary, Titus went into it, and was so much struck with its\nbeauty, that he did his utmost to save it, but all in vain; and the\nwhole was burnt, with 6,000 poor creatures, whom a false prophet had led\nto the Temple, promising that a wonder should there be worked for their\ndeliverance. The city still held out for twenty more days of untold\nmisery; but at last the Romans broke in amid flames quenched in blood,\nand slaughter raged everywhere. Yet it was a still sadder sight to find\nthe upper rooms of the houses filled with corpses of women and children,\ndead of hunger; and indeed, no less than a million of persons had\nperished in the siege, while there were 97,000 miserable captives,\n12,000 of whom died at once from hunger. As Titus looked at the walls\nand towers, he cried out that God Himself must have been against\nthe Jews, since he himself could never have driven them from such\nfortresses. He commanded the whole, especially the Temple, to be leveled\nwith the ground, no two stones left standing, and the foundation to be\nsown with salt; and he carried off the Candlestick, Shewbread Table, and\nother sacred ornaments, to be displayed in his triumph. An arch was\nset up at Rome in honour of his victory, with the likeness of these\ntreasures sculptured on it. It is still standing, and the figures there\ncarved are the chief means we have of knowing what these holy ornaments\nwere really like. He gave the Jews, some to work in the Egyptian mines,\nsome to fight with wild beasts to amuse the Romans, and many more to be\nsold as slaves. Other people thus dispersed had become fused into other\nnations; but it was not so with the Jews. \"Slay them not, lest my people\nforget it, but scatter them abroad among the heathen,\" had been the\nprophecy of the Psalmist; and thus it has remained even to the present\nday. The piteous words of Moses have been literally fulfilled, and among\nthe nations they have found no ease, neither has the sole of their foot\nfound any rest; but the trembling heart, and failing eye, and sorrowful\nmind, have always been theirs. They have ever been loathed and\npersecuted by the nations where their lot has been cast, ever craving\nfor their lost home, ever hoping for the Messiah of their own fancy.\nStill they keep their Sabbath on the seventh day; still they follow the\nrules of clean and unclean; and on each Friday, such as still live at\nJerusalem sit with their faces to the wall, and lift up their voice in\nmournful wailing for their desolation. Their goodly land lies waste, the\nsky above like brass, the earth beneath like iron; her fruitfulness\nis over, and from end to end she is a country of ruins, a sign to all\nnations! Some there are who read in the prophecies hopes for the Jews,\nthat they may yet return and learn Who is the Saviour. Others doubt\nwhether this means that they will ever be restored as a nation; and\nstill the Jews stand as a witness that God keeps His word in wrath as\nwell as in mercy--a warning that the children of the free New Covenant\nmust fear while they are thankful.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXIV.\n\nTHE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.\n\n    \"I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will\n    set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender\n    one, and will plant it on a high mountain and eminent.\"--_Ezekiel_,\n    xvii. 22.\n\nIn the year 70, the same in which Jerusalem was destroyed, happened the\nfirst great eruption of the volcano, Mount Vesuvius, in which was killed\nDrusilla, the wife of Felix. Her brother, Agrippa, ruled by favour of\nthe Romans for many years in the little domain of Chalcis. Titus was\nemperor after his father. He was a very kind-hearted man, and used to\nsay he had lost a day whenever he had spent one without doing a good\naction; but he was soon poisoned by his wicked brother, Domitian, who\nsucceeded to his throne in 81. Domitian was a savage tyrant, cruel to\nall, because he was afraid of all. He hated the Jews; and hearing that\nsome persons of royal blood still existed among them, he caused search\nto be made for them, and two sons of St. Jude were brought before him.\nThey owned that they came of the line of David; but they told him they\nwere poor simple men, and showed him their hands hardened with toil; and\nhe thought they could do him so little harm, that he let them go. He\nalso laid hands on the aged St. John, and caused him to be put into a\ncaldron of boiling oil; but the martyr in will, though not in deed, felt\nno hurt, and was thereupon banished to the little Greek Isle of Patmos.\nHere was vouchsafed to him a wonderful vision, answering to those of\nDaniel, his likeness among the prophets. He saw the true heavenly\ncourts, such as Moses had shadowed in the Tabernacle, and which Ezekiel\nhad described so minutely; he saw the same fourfold Cherubim, and\nlistened to the same threefold chant of praise, as Isaiah had heard; he\nsaw the seven lamps of fire, and the rainbow of mercy round about the\nThrone; and in the midst, in the eternal glory of His priestly robes, he\nbeheld Him on Whose bosom be had lain, and Who had called him beloved.\nFrom His lips he wrote messages of counsel and warning to the angels, or\nBishops, of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor; and then came a succession\nof wonderful visions, each opening with the Church in Heaven and in\nearth constantly glorifying Him that sitteth on the Throne, and the\nLamb, for ever and ever; but going on to show the crimes in the world\nbeneath, and the judgments one after another poured out by the Angels;\nthe true remnant of the Church persecuted; and the world partly curbed\nby, partly corrupting, the visible Church; then the destruction of the\nwicked world, under the type of Babylon; the last judgment; the eternal\npunishment of the sinful; the final union of Christ and His Church; and\nthe eternal blessedness of the faithful in the heavenly Jerusalem, with\nthe Tree of Life restored.\n\nWhen Domitian was killed, in 86, St. John went back to Ephesus, and\nthere wrote his Gospel, to fill up what had been left out by the other\nthree Evangelists, and especially dwelling on the discourses of the Lord\nof Life and Love. That same sweet sound of love rings through his three\nEpistles; and yet that heart-whole love of his Master made him severe,\nfor he started away from a house he had entered, and would not go near\nit while it contained a former believer who had blasphemed Christ. A\nyoung man whom he had once converted fell into evil courses in his\nabsence, and even became a tobber. St. John, like the Good Shepherd,\nhimself went out into the wilderness to find him, and was taken by\nthe thieves When his convert saw him, he would have fled in shame and\nterror; but St. John held out his arms, called him back, and rested\nnot till he had won him to repentance. So gentle was he to all living\nthings, that he was seen nursing a partridge in his hands, and when he\nbecame too old to preach to the people, he used to hold out his hands in\nblessing, and say, \"Little children, love one another.\" He died in the\nyear 100, just before the first great storm which was to try the Church.\n\nThe Emperor Trajan had found out that the iron of the Roman temper had\nbecome mixed with miry clay, and that the men of his time were very\ndifferent from their fathers, and much less brave and public spirited.\nHe fancied this was the fault of new ways, and that Christianity was\none of these. There were Christians everywhere, in every town of every\nprovince, nobles, soldiers, women, slaves, rich and poor; all feeling\nthemselves members of one body, all with the same faith, the same\nprayers and Sacraments. All day they did their daily tasks, only\nrefusing to show any honour to idols, such as pouring out wine to the\ngods before partaking of food, or paying adoration to the figures of the\nC\u00e6sars, which were carried with the eagle standards of the army; and so\nclose was the brotherhood between them, that the heathen used to say,\n\"See how these Christians love one another!\" At night they endeavoured\nto meet in some secret chamber, or underground cave. At Rome, the\nusual place was the Catacombs, great vaults, whence the soft stone for\nbuilding the city had been dug out, and where the quarry-men alone knew\nthe way through the long winding passages. Here, in the very early\nmorning of Lord's Day, the Christians made every effort to assemble,\nfor they were sure of meeting their Bishop, and of receiving the Holy\nCommunion to strengthen them for the trials of the week. The Christian\nmen and women stood on opposite sides; a little further off were the\nlearners, as yet unbaptized, who might only hear the prayers and\ninstructions; and beyond them was any person who had been forbidden to\nreceive the Holy Eucharist on account of some sin, and who was waiting\nto be taken back again. The heathen knew nothing of what happened in\nthese meetings, and fancied that a great deal that was shocking was done\nthere; and Trajan ordered that Christians should be put to the torture,\nif they would not confess what were their ceremonies. Very few would\nbetray anything, and what they said, the heathen could not understand;\nbut the emperor imagining that these rites would destroy the old Roman\nspirit, forbade them, and persecuted the Christians, because they\nobeyed God rather than man. The Bishop of Antioch was an old man named\nIgnatius, who is believed to have been the little child whom our blessed\nLord had set in the midst of His disciples as an example of lowliness.\nHe had been St. John's pupil, and always walked in his steps, and he is\nthe first Father of the Church, that is, the first of the great wise men\nin those early days, whose writings have come down to us. As Trajan was\ngoing through Antioch, he saw this holy man, and sentenced him to be\ncarried to Rome, there to be thrown to the lions for the amusement\nof the bloody-minded Romans. As has been said, from early days the\nfavourite sport of this nation had been to sit round on galleries,\nbuilt up within a round building called an amphitheatre, to watch the\ngladiators fight with each other, or with savage beasts. Many of these\nbuildings are still to be found ruined in different parts of the empire,\nand one in especial at Rome, named the Coliseum, where it is most likely\nthat the death of St. Ignatius took place, when, as he said, he was the\nwheat of Christ, ground by the teeth of the lions. He is reckoned as one\nof the Fathers of the Church. His great friend was Polycarp, Bishop\nor Angel of Smyrna, the same, as it is believed, to whom St. John had\nwritten in the Revelation, \"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give\nthee a crown of life.\"\n\nThe Emperor Antoninus began a persecution, which was carried on by his\nsuccessor, Marcus Aurelius; and in 167, St. Polycarp, who was a very\naged man, and had ruled the Church of Smyrna towards seventy years, was\nled before the tribunal. The governor had pity on his grey hairs, and\nentreated him to save his life by swearing by the fortunes of Caesar,\nand denying Christ. \"Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has\nnever done me a wrong; how could I then blaspheme my King, who hath\nsaved me?\" said Polycarp; and all the threats of the governor did but\nmake him glad to be so near glorifying God by his death. He was taken\nout to be burnt alive, and as he stood bound to the stake, he cried\naloud, \"Lord God Almighty, Father of the blessed and well-beloved Son,\nJesus Christ, by Whom we have received the grace to know Thee; God of\nangels and of powers, God of all creatures, and of the just who live in\nThy Presence, I thank Thee that Thou hast brought me to this day and\nhour, when I may take part in the number of the martyrs in the Cup\nof Thy Christ, to rise to the eternal life of soul and body in the\nincorruption of the Holy Spirit. May I be received into Thy Presence\nwith them as an acceptable offering, as Thou hast prepared and foretold,\nThou the true God Who canst not lie. Therefore I praise Thee, I bless\nThee, I glorify Thee by the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus\nChrist, Thy beloved Son, to Whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be glory\nnow and for ever and ever. Amen.\" The fire was kindled, and to the\nwonder of the beholders, it rose into a bright vault of flame, like a\nglory around the martyr, without touching him; whereupon the governor\nbecame impatient, and caused him to be slain with the sword. He was the\nlast of the companions of the Apostles; but there was no lessening\nof the grace bestowed on the Church. Even when Aurelius's army was\nsuffering from a terrible drought in an expedition to Germany, a\nlegion who were nearly all Christians, prayed aloud for rain, a shower\ndescended in floods of refreshment. The emperor said that his god\nJupiter sent it, and caused his triumphal arch to be carved with figures\nof soldiers, some praying, others catching rain in their helmets and\nshields; but the band was ever afterwards called the Thundering Legion.\nThis unbelieving emperor persecuted frightfully, and great numbers\nsuffered at Vienne in Gaul, many dying of the damp of their prison, and\nmany more tortured to death. Of these was the Bishop Pothinus of Lyons,\nninety years old, who died of the torments; and those who lived through\nthem were thrown to wild beasts, till the animals were so glutted as to\nturn from the prey; but no pain was so great as not to be counted joy\nby the Christians; and the more they were slain, the more persons were\nconvinced that the hope must be precious for which they endured so much;\nand the more the Word of God prevailed. Aurelius Caesar died in 180, and\nthe Church was left at rest for a little while,\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXV.\n\nTHE PERSECUTIONS.\n\n  \"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for\n  theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.\"--_Matt_ v. 10\n\nIt had been revealed to St. John that the Church should have tribulation\nfor ten days; and accordingly, in her first three hundred years, ten\nemperors tried to put out her light. Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Antoninus,\nand Aurelius, have been mentioned; and the next persecutor was Severus,\nan emperor who went to Britain, firmly established the Roman power over\nEngland, and built the great wall to keep the Scots from injuring the\nnorthern settlers.\n\nIn his time died the glorious band of martyrs of Carthage--five young\nconverts, two men, named Satur and Saturninus, a noble young married\nlady, called Perpetua, who had a young infant, and two slaves, Revocatus\nand Felicitas, the last of whom gave birth to a daughter in the prison.\nBut not even love to their babes could lead these faithful women to\ndissemble their belief; Perpetua left her child with her family;\nFelicitas gave hers to a Christian woman to bring up; and the lady and\nthe slave went out singing, hand in hand, to the amphitheatre, where\nthey were to be torn by beasts. A wild cow was let loose on them, and\nthrew down the two women; but Perpetua at once sat up again, covered\nherself with her garments, and helped up Felicitas, but as if in a\ndream, for she did not remember that the cow had been loosed on her.\nSatur had an especial horror of a bear, which was intended to be the\nmeans of his death, and a good soldier named Pudens put meat in front of\nthe den, that the beast might not come out. A leopard then flew at him,\nand tore him; Satur asked the soldier for his ring, dipped it in his own\nblood, and gave it back as a memorial, just before he died under the\nteeth and claws of the animal. The others were all killed by soldiers in\nthe middle of the amphitheatre, Perpetua guiding the sword to her own\nthroat.\n\nThe persecution of the Emperor Decius was one of the worst of all,\nfor the heathen grew more ingenious by practice in inventing horrible\ndeaths.\n\nUnder the Emperor Valerian died St. Lawrence, a young deacon at Rome,\nwhom the judge commanded to produce the treasures of the Church.\nHe called together all the aged widows and poor cripples who were\nmaintained by the alms of the faithful, \"These,\" he said, \"are the\ntreasures of the Church.\" In the rage of the persecutors, he was roasted\nto death on bars of iron over a fire. St. Cyprian, the great Bishop of\nCarthage, was beheaded; and one hundred and fifty martyrs at Utica\nwere thrown alive into a pit of quick-lime. At Antioch one man failed;\nSapricius, a priest, was being led out to die, when a Christian named\nNicephorus, with whom he had a quarrel, came to beg his forgiveness ere\nhis death. Sapricius would not pardon, and Nicephorus went on humbly\nentreating, amid the mockery of the guards, until the spot of execution\nwas reached, and the prisoner was bidden to kneel down to have his bead\ncut off. Then it appeared that he who had not the heart to forgive, had\nnot the heart to die; Sapricius's courage failed him, and he promised to\nsacrifice to the idols; and Nicephorus was put to death, receiving the\ncrown of martyrdom in his stead. The persecuting Valerian himself came\nto a miserable end, for he was made prisoner in a battle, in 258, with\nthe Persians, and their king for many years forced the unhappy captive\nto bow down on his hands and knees so as to be a step by which to climb\non his elephant, and when he died, his skin was taken off, dyed red, and\nhung up in a temple. After his captivity, the Church enjoyed greater\ntranquillity; many more persons ventured to avow themselves Christians,\nand their worship was carried on without so much concealment as\nformerly.\n\nBut the troublous times were not yet over, and the rage of the prince of\nthis world moved the Romans to make a yet more violent effort than any\nbefore to put down the kingdom of the Prince of Peace. Two emperors\nbegan to reign together, named Diocletian and Maximian, dividing the\nwhole empire between them into two parts, the East and the West. After a\nfew years' rule, they both of them fell savagely upon the Christians.\nIn Switzerland, a whole division of the army, called the Theban Legion,\n6,000 in number, with the leader, St. Maurice, all were cut to pieces\ntogether rather than deny their faith. In Egypt the Christians were\nmangled with potsherds, and every torture was invented that could shake\ntheir constancy. Each tribunal was provided with a little altar to some\nidol, and if the Christians would but scatter a few grains of incense\nupon it, they were free; but this was a denying of their Lord, and the\nfew who yielded in the fear of them who could kill the body, grieved all\ntheir lives afterwards for the act, and were not restored to their place\nin the Church until after long years of penance, or until they had\natoned for their fall by witnessing a good confession. Sometimes they\nwere not allowed to receive the Holy Communion again till they were\non their dying beds. But these were the exceptions; in general, God's\nstrength was made perfect in weakness, and not only grown men, but\ntimid women, tender maidens, and little children, would bear the utmost\ntorture with glad faith, and trust that it was working for them an\nexceeding 'weight of glory. St. Margaret of Antioch was but fifteen\nyears old, St. Agnes of Rome only twelve, and at Merida, in Spain,\nEulalia, at the same age, went out in search of martyrdom, insulting\nthe idols, until she was seized and put to death full of joy; but in\ngeneral, the Christians were advised not needlessly to run into the way\nof danger.\n\nThis was the first persecution that reached to Britain, There a\nkind-hearted Roman soldier, named Alban, received into his house a\npriest who was fleeing from his persecutors, and while he was there,\nlearnt from him the true faith. When search was made for his guest,\nAlban threw on the dress of the priest, and was taken in his stead; he\nwas carried to the tribunal, and there declaring himself a Christian,\nwas sentenced to be beheaded. The city where he suffered is called after\nhim St. Alban's, and a beautiful church was afterwards built in memory\nof him. These cruelties did not long continue in Britain, for the\ngovernor, Constantius, had married a Christian British lady, named\nHelena; and as soon as he ventured to interfere, he stopped the\npersecution.\n\nDiocletian became tired of reigning, and persuaded his comrade,\nMaximian, to resign their thrones to Constantius and to another prince\nnamed Galerius. Constantius forbade all persecution in the West, but\nGalerius and his son-in-law, Maximin, were very violent in the East; and\nMaximin is counted as the last of the ten persecuting emperors. Under\nhim a great many Christians were blinded, scarred with hot iron, or had\ntheir fingers and ears cut off. Some were sent to the deserts to keep\nthe emperor's cattle; some were driven in chains to work in the mines.\nThese, who suffered bravely everything except death, were called\nconfessors instead of martyrs. Galerius died in great misery in 311,\nof the same horrible disease as the persecutor of the Jews, Antiochus\nEpiphanes; and like him, he at last owned too late the God whom he had\nrejected, and sent entreaties that prayers might be offered up for him.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXVI.\n\nTHE CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE.\n\n    \"The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and\n    of his Christ.\"--_Rev_. xi, 15.\n\n\nThe son of Constantius, Constantine, became emperor in 307. He was in\ndoubt between the two religions; he saw that Christianity made people\ngood, and yet he could not quite leave off believing in the heathen\ngods, and was afraid of neglecting them. As he was passing the Alps to\nput down a very powerful and cruel tyrant, who had made himself master\nof Italy, he and all his army suddenly beheld in the sky, at mid-day, a\nbright light shaped like a cross, and in glorious letters round it, the\nLatin words meaning, \"In this sign thou shalt conquer.\" This wonderful\nsight made Constantine believe that the cross was truly the sign of\nsalvation, and that He who could show such marvels in heaven, must be\nthe true God. He set the cross on his standards instead of the Roman\nEagle; and such great victories were vouchsafed to him, that by-and-by\nhe became the only emperor, and put down all his enemies.\n\nHe was not as yet baptized, but he was a hearty believer, and he tried\nin everything to make the Church prosperous, and to govern by Christian\nrules. From that time all the chief powers of this world have professed\nto be Christian, and the Church has been owned as the great means\nappointed by God of leading His people to Himself. Constantine's mother,\nHelena, though in her eightieth year, set off to the ruins of Jerusalem\nto try to trace out the places hallowed by our Saviour's suffering. All\nwas waste and desolate, and no one lived there save a few very poor Jews\nand Christians in wretched huts. The latter had never lost the memory of\nthe places where the holy events of the Passion had taken place; and the\nempress set men to dig among the ruins on Mount Calvary, till she found\nthe Holy Sepulchre, and not far from it, three crosses, and the nails\nbelonging to them. She built a most beautiful church, so large as to\ncover the whole of Golgotha. The sepulchre itself formed a round vault\nwithin, crusted over with marble, and lighted with silver lamps. The\ntrue Cross was kept in the church, but the nails she brought home as the\nmost precious gift she could carry to her son. She also beautified and\nmade into a church the cave of the Nativity at Bethlehem, and she built\nanother church on Mount Carmel in memory of Elijah. From her time it\nbecame a habit with devout persons to go on pilgrimage, to worship at\nthe holy tomb and in the Cave of Bethlehem; and a new city of Jerusalem\nrose upon the ruins of the old one, though, of course, without a Temple.\nRome was so fall of the tokens of heathenism, that Constantine feared\nthat his court would never be heartily Christian till he took it to a\nfresh place; so he resolved to build a new capital city for his empire.\nThis was the city called after him, Constantinople, the city of\nConstantine, on the banks of the Bosphorus, just where Europe and Asia\nnearly meet. The chief building there was a most beautiful church,\ndedicated to the holy Wisdom of God, and named in Greek St. Sophia. The\nBishop there was termed the Patriarch of Constantinople. There were\nalready five patriarchs, or great Father Bishops, to rule over divisions\nof the Church at Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome. The Patriarch\nof Rome was called the Pope. All was peace and prosperity, and the\nChristians were so much at their ease, that some finding that they\nmissed the life of hardness, which they used to think a great blessing,\nwent apart from men, and lived in caves, quite alone, working hard for\nvery scanty food, and praying constantly. These were called hermits. But\nthere soon were troubles enough rising up within the Church herself, for\na man named Arius, a priest at Alexandria, began wickedly to teach that\nour blessed Lord was not from all eternity, nor equal with God the\nFather. So many persons were led away by this blasphemous heresy, (which\nmeans a denial of the faith,) that it was resolved to call together\nas many Bishops as possible from the entire Church, to hold a General\nCouncil, and declare the truth.\n\nThe emperor came to Nicea, in Asia Minor, in the year 325, and there\nmet three hundred and eighteen bishops from every quarter, many of them\nstill scarred by the injuries they had received in the persecutions,\nand many learned priests and deacons, among whom the most noted\nwas Athanasius of Alexandria. Together, they drew up the two first\nparagraphs of the confession of faith called the Nicene Creed, and three\nhundred of the bishops set their sign and seal to it, declaring it was\nthe truth, as they had been charged to hold and teach it fast, the\nCatholic or universal faith. Arius was put out of the Communion of the\nChurch, and all his followers with him. But they were many and\npowerful; and in after times, Constantine became confused by their\nrepresentations. He ought to have seen that he who was not even baptized\nought not to interfere in Church matters; but instead of this, he wrote\nto Athanasius, who had just been made Patriarch of Alexandria, telling\nhim to preserve peace by receiving Arius back to Communion. Athanasius\nrefused to do what would have tainted the whole Church, so Constantine\nbanished him, and allowed Arius to come to Constantinople. There the\nheretic deceived him so completely, that he desired that he should be\nreceived back on the next Sunday. While the faithful clergy wept and\nprayed that the Church might be kept clear from the man who denied\nhonour to the Lord who bought him, Arius went through the streets in\ntriumph; but in the midst he was smitten by a sudden disease, and died\nin a few moments. This judgment convinced Constantine, and he held\nto the Catholic faith for the rest of his life. He was baptized, and\nreceived his first Communion on his death-bed, when sixty-four years\nold, and is remembered as the first believing monarch.\n\nAfter him came worse times, for his son, Constantius, was an Arian, and\npersecuted the Catholics, though not to the death. St. Athanasius was\ndriven to hide among the hermits in Egypt, and a great part of the\nEastern Church fell into the heresy. Then, in 361, reigned his cousin,\nJulian the Apostate, who, from being a Christian, had turned back to be\na heathen, and wanted to have the old gods worshipped. In hopes to show\nthat the prophecies were untrue, he tried to build up the Temple at\nJerusalem, and the foundations were being dug out, when balls of fire\ncame bursting out of the ground; and thus God's will and power were made\nknown, so that the workmen were forced to leave off. Julian was very\nsevere towards the Catholics, and it seemed as though the old times of\npersecution were coming back; but after three years he was killed in\nbattle, and the next emperor brought back better days. St. Athanasius\nfinished this life in peace, and left behind him writings, whence was\ntaken the glorious Creed that bears his name.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXVI.\n\nTHEODOSIUS.\n\n\"The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee;\nand all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles\nof thy feet; and they shall call thee the City of the Lord, the Zion of\nthe Holy One of Israel\"--_Isa_. lx. 14.\n\n\nThe empire was again divided into two parts, which were held by two\nbrothers. Valentinian, who had the eastern half, was an Arian; and\nValens, who ruled at Rome, was a Catholic. Though all the empire was\nChristian, still there were sad disputes; for many had fallen away into\nthe heresy, and there was so great a love of arguing in a light careless\nmanner in market-places, baths, feasts, and places of common resort,\nthat it was a great distress to the truly devout to hear the most sacred\nmysteries discoursed of so freely.\n\nThe great and learned Saint Jerome hid himself away from this strife of\ntongues, to pray and study in a hermitage at Bethlehem. By the desire of\nthe Pope, he did the same work for the New Testament as Simon the Great\nhad done for the Old Testament: he examined into the history of all the\nwritings that professed to have come down from the Apostles' time, and\nproved clearly which had been really written under the inspiration of\nGod, and had been always held as Holy Scriptures by the Church. Then\nhe translated the whole Bible into Latin, and wrote an account of each\nbook, setting apart those old writings of the Jews that are called\nthe Apocrypha, and are read as wise instruction, though they be not\ncertainly known to be the Word of God, in the same manner as the Holy\nScriptures themselves. St. Jerome is counted as one of the chief Fathers\nor doctors of the Church.\n\nAnother great Father of the Church who lived at the same time, was\nAmbrose. He was the Governor of the Italian city of Milan; and though a\ndevout believer, was still unbaptized, when the clergy and the people,\nas was then the custom, met to choose their Bishop. A little child in\nthe crowd cried out, \"Ambrose Bishop!\" and everyone took up the cry with\none voice, and thought that the choice was inspired by the Holy Spirit.\nAmbrose was very unwilling to accept the office, but at last he\nsubmitted; he was baptized, and a week after was first confirmed, and\nthen ordained priest, and consecrated Bishop. He was one of the most\nkind and gentle of men, but he had a hard struggle to fight for the\ntruth. The Emperor, Valens, died, and his widow, Justina, who ruled for\nher little son, was an Arian. She wanted a church for her friends, but\nAmbrose would allow none to be profaned by a service where the blessed\nSaviour would be robbed of His honour. He knew his duty as a subject too\nwell to lift a hand against the empress, but he filled up the Church\nwith his faithful flock, and there they prayed, and sang psalms and\nhymns without ceasing; and when Justina sent soldiers to turn them out,\nthey were so firm, that only one woman ran away. Instead of offering\nviolence, the soldiers joined and prayed with them, and thus Justina was\nobliged to give up her attempt in despair.\n\nA very good emperor named Theodosius had begun to reign in the east,\nand assisted Justina's young son to govern the west. He was a thorough\nCatholic, and loved the Church with all his heart. Some fresh heretics\nhad risen up, who taught falsehoods respecting the Third Person of the\nmost Holy Trinity; and to put them down, Theodosius called another\nGeneral Council to meet at Constantinople, and there the following\naddition was made to the Nicene Creed: \"I believe in the Holy Ghost, the\nLord and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the\nFather and the Son together is worshipped and glorified--\" and so on to\nthe end. Thus each heresy was made the occasion of giving the faithful a\nbeautiful watchword.\n\nThough good and religious, Theodosius was hasty and violent by nature,\nand could be very severe. He had laid a tax on the people of Antioch,\nwhich made them so angry that they rose up in a rage, knocked down the\nstatues of the emperor and his wife which adorned their public places,\nand dragged them about the streets; but as soon as they came to their\nsenses, they were dreadfully alarmed, knowing that this was an act\nof high treason. They, therefore, sent off messengers to entreat the\nemperor's pardon; and in the meantime they met constantly in the\nchurches, fasting and praying that his wrath might be turned away. John,\ncalled Chrysostom, or Golden Mouth, from his beautiful language, was a\nDeacon of Antioch, and he preached to the people every day during this\ntime of suspense, telling them of the sins that had moved God to give\nthem up to their foolish passion, so as to put them in fear, and lead\nthem to repentance. One of these sins was vanity, and love of finery and\npleasure; and another was their irreverent behaviour at church. They did\nrepent heartily; and before the emperor's men had time to do more than\nbegin to try some of the ringleaders, there came other messengers at\nfull speed, bringing his promise of pardon.\n\nLove of the sight of chariot races was a great snare to the Greeks.\nAt Thessalonica, one of the favourite drivers behaved ill, and was\nimprisoned by the governor, upon which the people flew out in a fury,\nand actually stoned the magistrate to death. In his passion at their\ncrime, Theodosius sent off soldiers with orders to put them all to\ndeath; and when he grew cool, and despatched orders to stop the\nexecution of his terrible command, they came too late--the city was in\nflames, and the unhappy people, innocent and guilty alike, all lay slain\nin the streets. Theodosius was at Milan; and St. Ambrose thought it\nright to shut him out from the congregation while he was so deeply\nstained with blood. The emperor came to the church door and begged to\nbe admitted; but the Bishop met him sternly, and turned him back.\nTheodosius pleaded that David had sinned, and had been forgiven. \"If you\nhave been like him in sin, be like him in repentance!\" said the Bishop;\nand this great prince turned humbly away, and went weeping home. Easter\nwas the regular time for reconciling penitents; and at Christmas the\nemperor stayed praying and weeping in his palace till a courtier advised\nhim to try whether the Bishop would relent. He came to the church, but\nAmbrose told him that he could not transgress the laws in his behalf.\nAt last, however, when he saw the emperor so truly contrite and\nbroken-hearted, he gave him leave to come in again; and there the first\nthing Theodosius did was to fall down on his face, weeping bitterly,\nand crying out in David's words, \"My soul cleaveth to the dust, quicken\nThou me according to Thy word!\" He lay thus humbly through all the\nservice; nor did he once wear his crown and purple robes till after\nseveral months of patient penitence he was admitted to the blessed Feast\nof Pardon. He made a decree that no sentence of death should be executed\ntill thirty days after it was spoken, so that no more deeds of hasty\npassion might be done.\n\nOne great happiness of St. Ambrose's life was the conversion of\nAugustine. This youth was the son of a good and holy mother, St. Monica;\nbut he had not been baptized, and he grew up wise in his own conceit,\nand loving idle follies and vicious pleasures. For many years he was\nled astray by heretical and heathenish fancies; but his faithful mother\nprayed for him all the time, and at last had the joy of seeing him\nrepent with all his heart. He was baptized at Milan; and it is said that\nthe glorious hymn _Te Deum_ was written by St. Ambrose, and first\nsung at his baptism. The hymn, \"_Veni Creator_,\" which is sung in the\nOrdination Service, is also said to be by St. Ambrose. Monica and her\nson spent a short and peaceful space together; and then she died in\ngreat thankfulness that he had been given to her prayers. He spent many\nyears as Bishop of Hippo, in Africa, and wrote numerous books, which\nhave come down to our day. One is called the City of God, so as exactly\nto fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah, that the Church should so be called by\nthe descendants of those who had afflicted her. St. Martin, a soldier,\nwho once gave half his cloak to a beggar, and afterwards became a\nBishop, completed the conversion of Gaul at this time, and was buried\nat Tours. St. Chrysostom likewise left many sermons and comments on the\nHoly Scripture. He was made Patriarch of Constantinople, but he suffered\nmany things there, for the wife of the Emperor Arcadius, son of the good\nTheodosius, hated him for rebuking her love of finery, and her passion\nfor racing shows, and persuaded her husband to send him into exile in\nhis old age, to a climate so cold, that he died in consequence. The\nbeautiful collect called by his name comes from the Liturgy which was\nused in his time in his Church at Constantinople; but it is not certain\nwhether he actually was the author thereof.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXVIII.\n\nTHE TEUTON NATIONS.\n\n\"The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a leaven, which a woman took and hid\nin three measures of meal till the whole was leavened.\"--_Matt_. xiii.\n33.\n\nThe miry clay which Nebuchadnezzar saw mixed with the iron of Rome, had\nby the end of the fourth century nearly overcome the strong metal, and\nthe time had come when the great horn of the devouring beast was to be\nbroken off, and give place to ten others. The Romans for the last two\nhundred years had been growing more and more selfish and easy in their\nhabits; and instead of fighting their own battles, had called in\nstrangers to fight for them, till these strangers became too strong\nfor them. The nations to whom these hired soldiers belonged, were the\nforefathers of most of the present people of Europe. They were called\nTeutons altogether, and lived in the northern parts of Europe. They were\ntall, fair, large people, very brave and spirited, with much honour and\ntruth, though apt to be savage and violent; and they showed more respect\nto their women than any of the heathens did. They had many gods, of whom\nOdin, who left his name to the fourth day of the week, was the chief and\nfather. Freya, the Earth, was his wife, and Thor was Thunder. There was\na story of Baldur, a good and perfect one, who died by the craft of\nLok the Destroyer, and yet still lived. This seemed like a copy of the\ntruth; and so did the story of Lok himself, the power of evil, with a\nserpent on his brow, who lay chained, and yet could walk forth over the\nearth, and whose pale daughter, Hela, was the gaoler of the unworthy\ndead. They thought the brave who died in battle had the happiest lot\ntheir rude fancies could devise; they lived in the Hall of Odin, hunting\nall day, feasting all night, and drinking mead from the skulls of their\nconquered enemies.\n\nThe tribe called Goths, who lived near the Romans, and who took their\npay and entered their armies, learnt the Christian faith readily; but\nunfortunately, it was through Arians that they received it, and those\nfarther off continued to worship Odin. The great Theodosius left his\nempire parted between his two sons, Arcadius in the east, Honorius in\nthe west. Both were young, weak, and foolish. They quarrelled with the\ngreat Gothic chief, Alaric, who began to overrun their dominions, and at\nlast threatened Rome so much, that Honorius was forced to call home all\nhis soldiers to protect himself.\n\nThe first province thus left bare of troops, was Britain, which remained\na prey to the savage Scots, and then was conquered by the Saxons and\nAngles, two of the heathen tribes of Teutons, who seemed for a time\nquite to have put out the light of Christianity in their part of the\nisland. The Britons in the Welsh hills, however, still continued a free\nand Christian people; and Patrick, a noble young Roman, who had once\nbeen made captive by the wild Irish, and set to feed their sheep, no\nsooner grew up than he went back to preach the Gospel to them, and\ndeliver them from a worse bondage than they had made him suffer. So many\ndid he convert, and such zealous Christians were they, that Ireland used\nto be called the Isle of Saints; and it has never forgotten the trefoil,\nor shamrock leaf, by which St. Patrick taught his converts to enter into\nthe great mystery, how Three could yet be One.\n\nIn the meantime Alaric marched against Rome. Once he was beaten back,\nand Honorius celebrated the victory by the last Roman triumph ever held,\nand after it, by the last of the shows of righting slaves. A monk sprung\ninto the amphitheatre while it was going on, and, in the name of Christ,\nforbade the death of a gladiator who had been wounded, and was to have\nbeen killed. The people, in a rage, stoned the good man; but they were\nso much ashamed, that these shocking entertainments were given up for\never. Rome never won another victory. Alaric came on again; and though\nhe honoured the noble city so much, that he could not bear to let loose\nhis wild troops on it, the false dealing of Honorius at last made him so\nangry, that he led his Goths into the city; but he was very merciful,\nhe ordered that no one should be killed, and no church injured nor\nplundered; and he led his army out again at the end of six days.\nHonorius had fled to Ravenna, and though a few more weak and foolish men\ncalled themselves Emperors of the West, the very title soon passed away,\nand the chief part of Italy was held by the Goths and other Teuton\ntribes; but they seldom came to Rome, where the chief power gradually\nfell into the hands of the Pope.\n\nGaul was conquered by another Teuton race called Franks, who were very\nfierce heathen at first, but were afterwards converted. Their great\nleader, Clovis, married a Teuton lady named Clotilda, a Catholic\nChristian. She was very anxious to lead him to the truth; and at last,\nin a great battle, he called out in prayer to Clotilda's God; and when\nthe victory was given to him, he took it as a sign from Heaven, and on\ncoming home was baptized, and built the Church of Notre Dame at Paris,\nwhich is said to be just as long as the distance to which King Clovis\ncould pitch an axe.\n\nSpain was conquered by a set of Arian Goths; but a Frank princess, great\ngrandchild to Clotilda, brought her husband, the young prince, to a\nbetter way of thinking; and though they were persecuted, even to the\ndeath, their influence told upon the rest of the family; and the younger\nbrother, who came to the throne afterwards, brought all Spain to be\nCatholic.\n\nIt was something like this with England, where Bertha, another Frank\nprincess, worked upon her husband, Ethelbert, King of Kent, to listen to\nAugustin, whom Pope Gregory the Great had sent to preach the Word to the\nSaxons, recollecting how he had once been struck by the angel faces of\nthe little Angle children, whom he had found waiting to be sold for\nslaves in the marketplace. From Kent, the sound of the Gospel spread out\nthroughout England; and before one hundred years had passed, all the\nSaxons and Angles were hearty Christians, and sent out the missionary,\nSt. Boniface, who first converted the Teutons in Germany. So, though\nit would have seemed that the great rush of heathen savages must have\nstifled the Christian faith, it came working up through them, till at\nlast it moulded their whole state and guided their laws; but this was\nlong in coming to pass, and for many centuries they were very savage and\nfierce.\n\nSt. Gregory the Great was one of the very best of the Popes, very\nself-denying, and earnestly pious, and doing his utmost to train the\nRomans in self-discipline, and to soften the Teutons. He put together\na book of seven services, to be used by devout people in the course of\neach day; and he arranged the chants which are still called by his name,\nthough both they and the services are much older. A little before his\ntime, St. Benedict had made rules for the persons who wished to serve\nGod, and to live apart from the world. They lived in buildings named\nmonasteries, or convents; the men, who were called monks, under the\nrule of an abbot, the women, nuns, under an abbess. They took a vow of\npoverty, chastity, and obedience; lived and worked as hard as possible,\nand spent much time in prayer and doing good, teaching the young, giving\nmedicine to the sick, and feeding the poor. They would fix their home in\na waste land, and bring it into good order, and they went out preaching\nand convening the heathen near. Everyone honoured them; and in the worst\ntimes, they were left unhurt; their lands were not robbed, and in those\nsavage days, little that was gentle or good would have been safe but for\nthe honour paid to the Church.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXIX.\n\nMAHOMET.\n\n\"God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.\"--2\n_Thess_. ii. 11.\n\nThe Eastern Empire was not broken up like the Western. The emperors\nreigned at Constantinople in great state and splendour, in palaces lined\nwith porphyry and hung with purple, and filled with gold and silver. The\nGreeks of the east had faults the very contrary to those of the Teutons\nof the west. Instead of being ignorant, rude, and savage, they were\nlearned, courtly, and keen-witted; but their sharpness was a snare to\nthem, for what they were afraid to do by force, they did by fraud, and\ntheir word was not to be trusted. In matters of faith too, they were too\nfond of talking philosophy, and explaining away the hidden mysteries of\nGod; so there sprang up sad heresies among them, chiefly respecting the\ntwo Natures of our blessed Lord; and though there were councils of the\nChurch held, and the truth was plainly set forth, yet great numbers were\nled away from Catholic truth.\n\nLong ago, the Lord of the Church had warned the Churches of Asia by His\nlast Apostle, that if they should fall from their first faith, He would\nremove their candlestick--that is, take away the light of His Gospel.\nThe first warning they had was, when the Persians broke out in great\nforce, came to the Holy Land, robbed the churches at Jerusalem, and\ncarried away the true Cross, which had been put in a gold case, and\nburied under ground in hopes of preserving it. They afterwards went\non to the very banks of the Bosphorus, and seemed likely to take\nConstantinople itself; but the emperor, Heraclius, who had hitherto been\nvery dull and sleepy, suddenly woke up to a sense of the danger, and\nproved himself an able warrior, hunting the Persians back into their own\ncountry, and rescuing the Cross, which he carried up the hill of Calvary\nagain upon his own shoulders.\n\nBut a worse foe was growing up among the wild sons of Ishmael in Arabia.\nNobody can tell what kind of religion these wandering tribes had in\nthe old times, except that they honoured their father, Abraham, still\ncircumcised their sons, and believed in one God, though they paid some\nsort of worship to a black stone, which was kept at Mecca. Some bad\nlearnt a little Christianity, some had picked up some notions from the\nJews; but they cared for hardly anything, except their camels, horses,\nand tents, and had small thought beyond this life. Among these men there\narose, about the year 600, a person named Mahomet. He had at first been\nservant to a rich widow, whom he afterwards married. Either he fancied,\nor persuaded others that he believed, that the angel Gabriel spoke to\nhim in a trance, and told him that he was chosen as a great prophet, to\nannounce the will of God, and restore the faith to what it had been in\nAbraham's days. He caused all that he pretended to have been told by the\nangel, to be set down in writings, which were called the Koran, meaning\nthe Book, the first sentence of which was, \"There is no God but one God,\nand Mahomet is His prophet.\" Mahomet blasphemously pretended to be as\nmuch greater a prophet than our Lord, as our Lord was than Moses. He\nordered prayers and fastings and washings at set times, forbade the\nleast drop of wine to be touched, and commanded that not only no image\nshould be adored, but that no likeness of any created thing should\nexist, promising that all who strictly obeyed all these rules, should be\nled safely over a bridge, consisting of a single hair, and enter into a\ndelicious garden, full of fruits, flowers, and fountains, there to be\nwaited on by beautiful women. He gave men leave to have four wives, and\ndid nothing to teach them real love, purity, or devotion; and thus his\nreligion suited the bad side of their nature, and he persuaded great\nnumbers to join him. Indeed no unbeliever is so hard to convert as a\nMahometan.\n\nSome of the Arabs being offended at the new teaching, wanted to put\nhim to death; and he fled from his home at Mecca. On his way he was so\nclosely pursued as to be forced to hide in a cave. His enemies were just\ngoing to search the cave, when they saw a spider's web over the mouth,\nand fancied this was a sign that no one could have lately entered it,\nso they passed by and left him safely concealed. In his anger at this\npersecution, be declared that the duty of a true Mahometan was to spread\nhis religion with the sword; and calling his friends round him, they\nfought so bravely that he won back Mecca, and conquered the whole of\nArabia. They did not persecute Christians, but they kept them down and\ndespised them; and any Mahometan who changed his religion, was always\nput to death. Mahomet called himself Khalif, and ruled for ten years\nat Mecca, where he died and was buried. Mahometans go on pilgrimage to\nMecca, and always turn their faces thither when they pray at sunrise\nor sunset, throwing water over themselves, or sand if they cannot get\nwater.\n\nThe Khalifs who came after Mahomet, went on conquering. The chief tribe\nof the Arabs was called Saracens; and this was the name given to the\nwhole race whom God had sent to punish the Christian world. The Holy\nCity itself, and all the sacred spots, were permitted to fall into their\nhands; and though they did not profane the churches, the Khalif Omar\nbuilt a great mosque, or Mahometan place of worship, where the Temple\nhad once been, so as quite to overshadow the Church of the Holy\nSepulchre.\n\nThey conquered Persia, and spread their religion through that country,\nputting down the fire worshippers; they seized almost all Asia Minor,\nwhere the heretical Christians too easily became Mahometans, and they\nobtained possession of Egypt, and the great library at Alexandria, where\nthey burnt all the collection of books, because they said, \"If they\ntaught the same as the Koran, they were useless, if otherwise, they were\nmischievous.\" Then from Egypt they spread all along the north coast of\nAfrica, where the Roman dominion had once been, and were only grieved\nthat the waves of the Atlantic Ocean kept them from going further to the\nwest.\n\nIn Spain the Gothic king, Rodrigo, mortally offended one of his nobles,\nwho, in revenge, called in the Saracens to punish him; and the whole\nkingdom fell a prey to these Mahometan conquerors, except one little\nmountainous strip in the north, where the brave Christians drew\ntogether, and fought gallantly for their Church and their freedom\nthrough many centuries. It almost seemed as if these terrible Saracens,\nwho bore everything down before them, were intended to conquer all\nEurope, and crush down the Church there as they had done in the east;\nbut God was with His people, and He raised up a great warrior among the\nChristian Franks. Charles Martel, or Charles of the Hammer, so called,\nbecause he always went into battle with a heavy iron hammer, led the\nFranks against the Saracens, when they came up into the South of France;\nand in the year 732 gave them at Tours the first real defeat they had\nyet met with. It turned them back completely, and they never came north\nof the Pyrenees again; but all over the west of Asia and north of\nAfrica, the first places where Christianity had spread, the heavy dark\ncloud of Mahometanism settled down, and has never been removed.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXX.\n\nTHE FIRST SCHISM.\n\n\"While men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.\"\n--_St. Matt._ xiii. 25\n\nIs the West there was no heresy as there was in the East. The simple\nTeutons believed what they were taught, and grew softened by little and\nlittle, as their clergy gained more influence over them. The clergy were\nusually bred up in the convents, and there read the good old books which\nhad come down from learned times, St. Jerome's Latin Bible, and the\nwritings of the holy Fathers of the Church, from St. Clement, the friend\nof St. Paul, down to St. Gregory the Great. Each monastery had a few\nof such books, as well as of the Liturgy, or Communion Service, and\nBreviary, or Daily Service; and they were worth much more than their\nweight in gold. The monks used to copy them out, and adorn the borders\nand first letters of the chapters with beautiful colours and gilding;\nbut such writing took a long time, and when it was done, few but the\nclergy could read. Except the clergy, only such persons as were partly\nRoman by birth had any notion of Latin, or cared to read at all; and so\nchanged were things now that the new race were the conquerors, that to\nbe a Roman was thought quite contemptible, and in France there was a\nless heavy punishment for killing a Roman than for killing a Frank. The\nfierce Teuton nobles thought nothing but war worth their attention, and\nyet they were very devout, and would weep bitterly over their sins. They\ngave richly to churches, founded convents, and paid great honour to\nclergymen, and to everything belonging to religion.\n\nSometimes this honour began to run into idolatry. They treated relics,\nthat is, remains, or things that had belonged to holy persons, as having\nsome sacredness of their own, and fancied that they would save him who\ncarried them from harm. And when they glorified God for His saints in\nHeaven, and thought of the Communion of saints, they began to entreat\ntheir prayers, and the more ignorant would even pray to the saints\nthemselves, as if they could by their own power grant the things that\nwere asked. The blessed Virgin was more sought in this manner than any\nother saint. The pictures and images of saints, and the crucifix\nor figure of our blessed Lord on His Cross, which stood in all the\nchurches, often had lights burning before them, and people kneeling\nround in prayer, till there was danger that, in their ignorance,\nthey might be bowing down to the likeness, and breaking the Second\nCommandment.\n\nOne of the Greek emperors named Leo, was much displeased at this\npractice, and tried to put a stop to it. There was a great uproar at\nConstantinople, and many profane things were done and said, which\nshocked the western branch of the Church. At last the Greeks made a rule\nthat there might be pictures of sacred subjects in their churches, but\nno images, and to this they have kept ever since. The Latins would not\nagree to this, and kept both images and pictures; and thus began a\nfeeling of distrust between the two branches.\n\nThe great Frank king, Charles le Magne, grandson of Charles Martel, was\na very religious man, and did a great deal to convert the heathens in\nGermany, and spread the power of the Church. He saved Rome from some\ndangerous enemies, and made the Pope a sort of prince over the city; and\nthe Pope, in return, crowned him Emperor of Rome, though without any\nright to give away that title. He died in 814, and after his time all\nthe Christian west suffered horribly from the Teuton heathens, who lived\nin Norway and Denmark, and who used to come down in their ships and ruin\nand ravage all the countries round, especially England and France. They\nloved nothing so well as burning a convent; and such a number of learned\nmonks and their books perished under their hands, that the world was\ngrowing more ignorant than ever, when our good King Alfred rose up in\n880, taught himself first, and then his people; and though he died\nearly, left such good seed behind him, that at last his Saxons converted\ntheir enemies themselves, and Norway and Denmark became Christian too,\nthrough kings who had learnt the faith in England. But all the errors\ngrew the faster from the ignorance of the people; and at Rome, where\nthere was plenty of learning, the power the Pope enjoyed had done little\ngood, for it made ambitious men covet the appointment, and they ruled\ntheir branch of the Church so as to ensure their own gain, more than for\nthe sake of what was right. The Patriarchs of Constantinople greatly\ndisapproved of this, and made the most of all the differences of opinion\nand practice. When the Council of Constantinople had added to the Nicene\nCreed the sentence which asserts the Godhead of the Third Holy Person of\nthe Ever Blessed Trinity, the third clause had been \"Who proceedeth from\nthe Father.\" Of late the Western Church had added the words \"and the\nSon.\" Now though the Greeks believed with all their hearts that the\nblessed Spirit doth come forth from the Father and the Son, yet they\nsaid that the Latins ought not to put words into the Creed that no\nCouncil had yet authorized; and thus a great dispute arose. Besides, the\nPopes had begun to think themselves universal Bishops, heads over all\nother Patriarchs; and to this the Patriarch of Constantinople would not\nsubmit, and rightly said that from the old times all Patriarchs had been\nequal, and had no right to take authority over one another. At last\nmatters ran so high, that the Pope sent three legates or messengers, who\nlaid on the altar of St. Sophia an act breaking the communion between\nthe two Churches, and then shook off the dust from their feet. This was\nin the year 1056, a very sad one, for here was the first great rent in\nthe Church, the first breach, and one that has never been repaired, for\nthe Greeks will not, to this day, hold communion with anyone belonging\nto the Western Church, nor will the Roman Church with them; and after\nthe first happy thousand years when the Church was one outwardly as well\nas inwardly, thus began the time when her unity has become a matter of\nfaith, and not of sight. But it is our duty to believe that all good\nChristians are joined together, because they are joined to our blessed\nLord, as the boughs of a tree belong to one another by their union with\nthe root, though they may grow apart on different branches.\n\nThere were many other differences. The Greeks and Latins reckoned the\ntime of keeping Easter in different ways, and had not the same way of\nshaving the heads of their clergy. Besides, the Greeks thought that when\nSt. Paul said an elder might be the husband of one wife, he meant that a\nparish priest _must_ be married; so if a clergyman's wife died, they put\nhim into a convent, and took away his parish. The Roman Catholics said,\non the contrary, that the clergy were better unmarried; and by-and-by\nthey forbade even those who were not monks to have wives; and in process\nof time a far more serious evil gradually arose in the Western Church.\nThe clergy said that there was no need for the people to partake of the\nCup at the Holy Eucharist, so they were cut off from that privilege,\nthough our Lord had said, \"Drink ye ALL.\" The clergy said it was all the\nsame whether the people drank of it or not, since Flesh and Blood were\none; but this was thinking for themselves, and over explaining, and so\nby-and-by they lost the real spiritual devout way in which they ought to\nhave reverently spoken of that great and holy mystery, and thought of it\nin a manner that answered better to their mere human understanding.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXXI.\n\nTHE MIDDLE AGES.\n\n   \"Surely the isles shall wait for Me.\"--_Isaiah_, ix. 9.\n\nIt is not easy to make out exactly the ten kingdoms to which the Roman\ndominion was said in Daniel to give place, because sometimes one\nflourished, sometimes another; sometimes one was swallowed up, sometimes\na fresh one sprang forth; but there can be no doubt that the ten horns\nmean the powers of Europe, which have always been somewhere about that\nnumber ever since the conquest by the Teuton nations.\n\nBy the time the first thousand years had past, the \"little leaven\" had\nthoroughly \"leavened the whole lump;\" and the ways of thinking, the\nhabits, laws, and fashions, of the western people, were all moulded by\nChristian notions. The notions were not always really Christian, nor did\nthe people always act up to them; but they meant so to do; and though\nthere was some error, yet there was also the sincere saving Truth, which\nmade those who followed it holy, and led them to salvation. Perhaps the\ngreatest mistake was the craving to see, instead of only to believe;\nand this led to peoples' putting their trust in many things besides\nthe Merits of our blessed Lord--in relics, in images of saints, in\nthe intercessions of the blessed Virgin, and above all, in the Pope's\npromises.\n\nThe Popes were Patriarchs of Rome, and had thus some right over the\nChurches founded from thence. They used to send the Primate, or chief\nArchbishop, of each country, a pall or scarf, woven of the wool of lambs\nwhich they had blessed on St. Agnes's Day. Many questions were sent to\nthem to be decided. At first the right way of choosing a bishop was,\nthat the clergy and people of the place should elect him, and the king\ngive his consent; but when the Pope's power increased, ambitious men\nused to bribe the people to elect them; and affairs grew so bad, that\nat last the Emperor Otho, of Germany, came to Rome, put down the wicked\nPopes, and took the choice quite into his own hands. This was wrong the\nother way; and after two or three reigns, the great Pope, Gregory VII.,\nafter a fierce struggle with the emperor, Henry IV., set matters in\norder again, and obtained that, as the Roman people were not to be\ntrusted with the choice, it should be put into the hands of the clergy\nof the parish churches at Rome, who were called Cardinals, and have ever\nsince had the election of the Pope in their hands. They wear purple\nand crimson robes and hats, in memory of the old Roman purple of the\nemperors.\n\nIt had been thought by almost the whole of the Western Church, ever\nsince they had lost their communion with the eastern branch, which might\nhave kept them right, that the Pope stood visibly in our Lord's place as\nHead of the Church, and that he was infallible, namely, so inspired by\nthe Holy Spirit, that he could no more fall into error than a General\nCouncil could. So he stood at the head of all the Archbishops and\nBishops, Abbots and clergy, of the west; and whenever a difficulty\narose, it was sent to him to be settled. He ruled likewise over the\nconsciences of all men and women. If they sinned, the being cut off from\nthe Church, excommunicated, as it was called, was the most terrible\npunishment that could befall them; and if a king or country were very\nwicked indeed, the Pope could lay them under an interdict, namely,\ndeprive them of every office of religion, shut up the church doors, and\nforbid all service.\n\nSometimes these threats were of great benefit. It was good for the kings\nto be forced to think of what was right, to be stopped from making cruel\nwars, from misusing their people, or living in sinful pleasure; but the\nPopes did not always use their power rightly; they would become angry,\nand excommunicate people for opposing them, and not for doing what was\nwrong, and they did not bethink them of our Lord's saying, that His\nKingdom is not of this world. Still the Church was working great good.\nHoly people were bred up, some in convents, some in the world: St.\nMargaret, Queen of Scotland, who taught her people to say grace at their\nmeals; St. Richard, the good humble Bishop of Chichester; and that\nglorious French monk, St. Bernard, whose holy life and beautiful\npreaching made him everywhere honoured.\n\nGreat alms were given to the poor, and almost all our most beautiful\nchurches and cathedrals were built by devout kings, nobles, or bishops,\nwho gave their wealth for God's glory. These were built so as to be\nalmost as symbolical as the Temple had been. They were usually in the\nshape of a cross, in honour of the token of our Salvation; the body was\ncalled the nave, or ship, because of the Ark of Christ's Church; the\ndoors stood for repentance, as the entrance; the Font, just within,\nshowed that none could enter save by the Laver of Regeneration; the\nholiest part was to the east, as looking for the Sun of Righteousness.\nThis portion is called the chancel, and belongs to the clergy, as the\nSanctuary did to the priests of old; but the people are not as of\nold cut off, but draw near in faith, to taste of the great Sacrifice\ncommemorated upon the Altar. The eagle desk for the Holy Scripture,\nshows forth one Gospel emblem; the Litany desk is for times of\nrepentance, when the Priest may mourn between porch and altar. The dead\nrested within and around, in the shadow of their church, and constant\nservices were celebrated, that so the gates might ever be open.\n\nEven warriors sought to have their alms blessed by the Church; they\nbound themselves not to fight on holy-days, such as Fridays and Sundays;\nand before they could be made knights, they were obliged to vow before\nGod that they would always help the weak, never fight in a bad cause,\nand always speak the truth. So that all would have been like perfect\nfulfilment of Isaiah's promises of the glory of the Church, save that\nman will still follow the devices of his own heart; and there were\nshrines and altars where undue honour was paid to the Saints, and too\nmany superstitious observances were carried on before their images.\nPrayers and alms were offered for departed souls, in the notion that\nthey were gone to Purgatory, a place where it was said their sins would\nbe purged away by suffering before the Day of Judgment, and whence their\nfriends might, as they imagined, assist them by their offerings.\n\nPeople used to go on pilgrimage, and especially such as had fallen into\nany great sin, would go through everything to pray at the Holy Sepulchre\nfor forgiveness. The Saracens, who had not been unkind to the pilgrims,\nwere subdued by a much fiercer set of Mahometans, the Turcomans, who\ndid everything to profane the holy places, and robbed and misused the\nChristians who came to worship there. The news of this profanation\nstirred up all Europe to deliver the Sanctuary from the unbeliever.\nMonks went about preaching the holy war, and multitudes took the cross,\nthat is, fastened on their shoulder one cut out in cloth, and vowed to\nwin back Jerusalem. The Pope took upon himself to say that whoever was\nkilled in such a cause, would have all his sins forgiven, and be in no\ndanger of purgatory; and this be called an indulgence. These wars were\ncalled Crusades. In the first, in 1098, Jerusalem was conquered, and a\nvery good and pious man, named Godfrey, set up to be king, though he\nwould not be crowned, saying he would never wear a crown of gold where\nhis Master had worn a crown of thorns. But as the Greek Christians who\nalready lived there, would not own the Pope, but held to their own\nPatriarch, a Latin Patriarch was thrust in and was in subjection to the\nPope; and thus the unhappy schism grew wider. After Godfrey's death, the\nChristians in Palestine did not behave well, nor show themselves worthy\nto have the keeping of Jerusalem; and though St. Bernard preached a\nsecond Crusade, and the Emperor of Germany and King of France came to\nhelp them, their affairs only grew worse and worse.\n\nIn 1186, after they had possessed the Holy City only eighty-eight years,\nthey were deprived of it; it was taken again by the Saracens, and they\nretained only a few towns on the coast. All devout people mourned that\nthe unbeliever should again be defiling the sanctuary; but the Pope had\na great quarrel with the Emperor of Germany, and told the poor credulous\npeople that fighting his battles was as good as a Crusade; and they\nbegan to forsake the Holy Land, and leave it to its fate. Our own\nRichard the Lion Heart did his best, and so did the excellent French\nking, St. Louis, who died in Africa on his way to the Crusade, but all\nin vain; and finally the Christians were driven out of Acre, their last\ntown, and Palestine became Mahometan again with only a few oppressed\nChristians here and there. Then came a much more rude, dull, and violent\nrace of Mahometans, the Turks, who burst out of the East, conquered the\nSaracens, gained all Asia Minor, and at last, in the year 1453, they\ntook the city of Constantinople, killed the last emperor, Constantine,\nin the assault, and won all the country we now call Turkey, where they\nsadly oppressed the Greeks, though they could not make them turn from\ntheir true Catholic faith. It was then that the light of truth faded\nentirely away from Ephesus and the Churches of Asia; a blight fell\nwherever the Turks went, and cities, once prosperous, were deserted and\nruined. Tyre was one of these; and she has now become a mere rock, where\nfishermen spread their nets to dry upon the sea-shore, as Ezekiel had\nforetold. However, it was only forty years afterwards, that the last\nremains of the Mahometan conquerors were chased out of Spain, so that it\nbecame again an entirely Christian country.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXXII.\n\nTHE REFORMATION.\n\n\"The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field.\"--_Matt_.\nxiii. 44.\n\nWhen the Services of the Church were first drawn up, almost everyone in\nthe East spoke Greek, and most people in the West understood Latin;\nand when the Teutons learnt Christianity, they also, with it, learnt\na little Latin. Thus the Prayers and the Scriptures remained in that\ntongue, but the people themselves spoke each their own language. German,\nEnglish, French, Spanish, and Italian are mixtures in different degrees\nof Latin and Teuton, and only learned persons who understood the old\nlanguage, could follow the Prayers, or read the Bible. So the people\nmissed more and more of the real truth and meaning of sacred things;\nand some of the clergy who had grown corrupt, took advantage of their\nignorance and deceived them. Whereas the Pope had once declared that\nthose who went on a Crusade were sure of dying in a state of salvation,\nhe now declared, that to give alms for building the great Church of St.\nPeter at Rome, would answer the same purpose; and indulgences, namely,\npromises of so many years less of purgatory, used to be absolutely sold;\nand it was very difficult to set these errors right, for anyone who was\nthought to speak against the doctrine of the Church, was liable to be\npunished by being burnt to death. This was quite contrary to the ways of\nthe early Church, which, however bad a heretic might have been, never\nattempted to harm his person, but only separated him from her Communion.\n\nAs the Holy Spirit within the Church is ever cleansing and sanctifying\nit, witnesses against these errors began to be raised up. The way to\nprint books, instead of writing them out, had been discovered in the\nfifteenth century; and as this art made them much more cheap and common,\nmany more people began to read and to think. In the year 1517, a German\nmonk, named Martin Luther, began to declare how far the selling of\nindulgences was from the doctrine of the Apostles; and he spoke such\nplain truth, that he convinced a great number of Germans, and there was\na great longing for the cleansing of the Church, especially after Luther\nhad translated the Bible into his own tongue, and everyone could see how\nunlike the teaching there was to what had been so long believed.\n\nIn England, King Henry VIII. separated from the Roman Church because the\nPope would not please him by breaking a marriage, which certainly never\nought to have been sanctioned; but which having been permitted by the\nPope, and having continued twenty years, it was very wrong to dissolve.\nHe called himself Head of the Church in England; and though he believed\nall the later errors, he allowed the Lessons to be read from a new\nEnglish translation of the Bible. He pretended to reform the convents,\nsome of which were in a very bad state, and had forgotten their rules;\nbut instead of setting them to rights, he seized their wealth, and\nturned all the monks and nuns adrift.\n\nThe new notions were favoured by his break with the Pope. The whole\nWestern Church was in a ferment; the reformers were constantly writing\nand preaching against the many errors of the Roman Church, and were\nrejoicing over the real treasure of true faith they had found hidden\nwithin her. Many other sincere and good men were shocked at such\ndisobedience to what they had once respected; and unhappily, almost all\nthe Italian clergy and cardinals were so food of the riches and power in\nwhich they were maintained by misleading the people, that they dreaded\nnothing so much as having them set right.\n\nThe Emperor, Charles V., strove hard to bring about a General Council of\nthe Church, as the only hope of making matters right, but he was much\nhindered by his wars with the King of France, and by the double dealing\nof the Pope; and in the meantime Luther and his friends drew up a\nprotest against the false doctrines of Rome, and were, for that reason,\ncalled Protestants. In Switzerland and France, another reformer, named\nJohn Calvin, was preaching against the doctrine of the Pope; and though\nhe neglected what the Church of old pure times had decided, and thus\nthrew away much that was good, as well as much that was untrue, great\nnumbers followed him; but unfortunately, none of the higher clergy on\nthe Continent would listen to these views, and there seemed no choice\nbut to accept falsehood, or to break into a schism. After many trials,\nCharles V. got together some Italian, Spanish, and German clergy at\nTrent, in the Tyrol, and called them a council; but this was far from\nbeing a true General Council, as there was nobody from the Eastern\nChurch, nor from many branches of the Western. The Protestants knew they\nshould not be fairly treated, and that if these Italians should decide\nthat they were heretics, they might very probably be burnt; so, instead\nof coming to it, they acted as the early Christians never did, they took\nup arms and fought, and this attempt at a council broke up in confusion.\n\nThings were happier in England. After the death of Henry VIII.,\nArchbishop Cranmer, and the other guardians of his little son, Edward\nVI., set to work to clear away the corruptions from the Church in\nEngland, so as to make it as like as they could to what it had been in\nthe Apostles' time. The Bible had been translated, and they put the\nwhole Prayer-Book into English, leaving out all that savoured of\nidolatry, all the notions about purgatory, and everything of error, and\nkeeping the real old precious services of the early Church, restoring to\nthe people the blessed privilege of the Cup, while the Bishops, Priests,\nand Deacons, went on in an uninterrupted line, as from the beginning. On\nEdward's early death, his sister, Queen Mary, who was married to Philip\nII., the son of the Emperor, thought all these changes very wicked, and\nendeavoured to put them down. Four Bishops, Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley,\nand Hooper, were burnt for their share in them, with many other persons,\nand England was again reconciled to Rome; but Mary only reigned five\nyears, and her sister Elizabeth was a sound Churchwoman, and held fast\nby the Catholic English Church in her reformed state.\n\nPhilip II., the son of Charles V., managed to accomplish another sitting\nof the Council of Trent, and the Church of Rome considers it a true\ncouncil, though there were only two hundred and fifty-five Bishops, and\nthey condemned the Protestants without hearing their defence. It did\nsome good to the Romish Church by putting down the sale of indulgences,\nand some bad practices of the clergy; but it bound her to all the errors\nrenounced by the Reformers, and put her into a state of schism from the\nCatholic Church.\n\nThe Lutheran Protestants in Germany, and the Calvinists in France,\nHolland, and Scotland, as they could have no bishops, made up their\nminds that none were needed, though this was quite contrary to\nScripture, and to the ways of the Apostles. There was a sad time of\nwarfare through all the centre of Europe; and the Spaniards and French\nhorribly persecuted the Protestants and Calvinists, thinking in their\nblindness that they were thus doing God service; but Queen Elizabeth\nstood up as the firm friend of all the distressed Reformers; and at last\nmatters settled down again, though not till all Christianity had been\ngrievously shattered and rent, and there was no more outward unity.\n\nThere were four branches of the Church Catholic keeping their Bishops,\nthe Greek, the Roman, the English, the Swedish; but none of these were\nin outward communion the one with the other, though still owning one\nLord, one Faith, one Baptism, and waging the same fight with the Devil\nand his works. The Roman Church was spread over all Italy, Spain,\nFrance, and great part of Germany, and tried to force down all\ndifferences of opinion by cruel and bloody means, caring more for unity\nthan for truth, and boasting of being the only Catholic Church, instead\nof only one branch of it. The Lutheran doctrine was taught in Norway,\nDenmark, and many parts of Germany, and the Calvinist teaching gained a\ngreat hold in Holland, Scotland, and on such French as were not Roman\nCatholic. The Greek Church meanwhile stood fast through much tribulation\nin the Turkish dominions, and had gradually won the whole great Russian\nEmpire, where, as the people ceased to be barbarous, they became most\ndevout members of the ancient unchanging Greek Catholic Church.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXXIII.\n\nCOLONIZATION.\n\n\"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains\nof thy habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy\nstakes.\"--_Isaiah_, liv. 2.\n\n\nJust as the Reformation was beginning, fresh lands were being found\nbeyond the Atlantic Ocean, where the knowledge of the Gospel might\nreach. Christopher Columbus, a gallant Genoese mariner, and deeply\nreligious man, was full of the notion that by sailing westwards he might\ncome round to India, and thence make a way for winning back the Holy\nLand. After much weary waiting, and many entreaties, he obtained three\nlittle ships from Queen Isabel of Spain; and with them, in the year\n1492, came to the islands which he named the West Indies, lovely places,\nfull of gentle natives with skins of a dark ruddy colour, wearing, for\ntheir misfortune, golden ornaments. To get gold was the great longing of\nthe Spaniards, and they did not care what cruelties they used so that\nthey could obtain it. The Pope, finding in the prophecies that the isles\nof the sea should belong to the Church, considered that this gave him a\nright to give them away to whomsoever he pleased; so he made a grant of\nall to the west to the Spaniards, all to the east to the Portuguese.\nThereupon great numbers of the Spaniards went over to America; they\nconquered the two great empires of Mexico and Peru, and settled in the\nWest-Indian Islands, robbing the poor natives of their gold and silver,\nmaking slaves of them, and hunting them with blood-hounds when they\ntried to run away. Many good priests who went out as missionaries did\nall they could to hinder these horrors, but in vain; and when at last\nthe poor delicate Indians began to dwindle away and die off, the plan\nwas resorted to of bringing negroes from Africa to work in their stead.\nThough it was a good man who thought of it, in the hope of saving the\nIndians and making the negroes Christians, it came to most horrible\ncruelty, and was a disgrace to Christian Europe.\n\nHowever, these faithful priests worked hard in teaching and converting\nthe Indians all over South America. One brotherhood, called the Jesuits,\nhad great establishments, where they trained up large villages of\nIndiana in Christian habits, and taught them to be very faithful and\nindustrious. But at home, in Europe, these Jesuits did harm by stepping\nout of their work as ministers, interfering with governments more than\nwas right, and trying to keep up the authority of the Pope more than\nreal Catholic truth. They taught so many false stories as articles of\nfaith, that at last clever people, wise in their own conceit, began to\nbelieve nothing, and became like the fool who said in his heart, \"There\nis no God.\" So there came to be a bad feeling against all the clergy,\nand the Jesuits, who had made themselves very meddling and troublesome,\nwere put down at the entreaty of several kings. When they were taken\naway from their converts in South America, it turned out that the poor\nIndians had not steadfastness enough to take care of themselves; so all\ntheir well-ordered establishments were broken up, and the people ran\nwild again. All the Spanish settlers, of whom there were many, still\nheld fast to their Church, and all the coast of the Continent of South\nAmerica is Roman Catholic.\n\nThe English and Dutch had not been slow to find their way to the West,\nbut they went to the colder North instead of to the South, and sought\ngood land more than gold. Some of the English had, during Queen Mary's\nreign, made friends with some of the Dutch and German Calvinists, who\nfancied that whatever Roman Catholics had done must be wrong, instead\nof only a part, and who cared nothing for the ways of the Apostolic\nPrimitive Church. So when the true Catholic faith was upheld by Queen\nElizabeth; by James I., who caused our translation of the Bible to be\nmade by forty-eight learned Hebrew and Greek scholars; and by Charles\nI., who gave Bishops and a Prayer-Book to Scotland, there were many\npersons who grew impatient and angry that more changes were not made.\nThese broke away from the Church, calling themselves Puritans and\nIndependants, and living in a state of schism. Some, too, thought the\nking had too much power; and in Charles's time a great many went away\nand settled in North America, that they might have freedom, and worship\nin their own way. Those who stayed at home went on to that rebellion\nagainst Church and King, which ended in the Scottish Calvinists\nbetraying King Charles, and the English Independants putting him\nto death for upholding the Bishops, after Archbishop Laud had been\nbeheaded. For nearly eleven years the Bishops were put down, the clergy\npersecuted, and the use of the Prayer-Book forbidden in England, while\nall sorts of sects rose up and explained the Bible as they pleased.\nWhen, at length, Charles II. came back, and the Church was\nre-established in England, many more went to the colonies; and though\nthere was a Church settlement in Virginia, the great mass of the North\nAmerican colonists were Calvinists or Presbyterians, as they are called,\nbecause presbyters are their highest order of their ministry, though\nthey cannot be really commissioned priests, never having been ordained\nby Bishops come down from the Apostles.\n\nThe English began to spread fast on every side, as their nation grew\nstronger and more numerous. They conquered several of the West-Indian\nIsles, and the Church was there established; but, to their disgrace,\nthey carried on the slave-trade, to supply the settlers with workmen. In\nthe East-Indies, too, they began to acquire large tracts by conquest and\nby treaty, and a few churches were built there; but they had not tried\nto convert the great number of heathens who became subject to them,\nfearing that, should they take offence, they would shake off their\ndominion. Such clergy as did go out were ordained in England. There was\nas yet no Bishop to overlook the colonial Churches, so that they could\nnot take deep root.\n\nStill the English Church was living as a witness of the truth at home,\nwith many a great and holy man within her, such as Bishop Taylor, whose\nbeautiful writings are loved by all; Bishop Ken, whose loyalty to Church\nand King witnessed a good confession, and whose hymns are like part of\nthe Prayer-Book; Bishop Wilson, whose devotions for home and at the Holy\nEucharist are our great guide, with more good and humble men and women\nthan the world will ever know of; and this, under God's mercy, saved the\nnation from falling into the unbelieving state of France, where people\nthought it fine to laugh at all religion. There, in the end of the\neighteenth century, a terrible outbreak took place against all\nauthority, human or Divine; the King and Queen perished by the hands of\ntheir subjects; quantities of blood was shed, and for a time it seemed\nas if the country was given up to demons; the faithful clergy fled or\nremained hidden; and though at last people began to return to their\nsenses, the shock to loyalty and religion has never been entirely\nrecovered in that country.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON XXXIV.\n\nTHE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL.\n\nThe fearful effects of infidelity in France roused good men everywhere;\nand the Church began to show that power of reviving and purifying\nherself, which proves that the Lord abideth with her for ever.\n\nSome time before things had come to this pass, an English clergyman,\nnamed John Wesley, had been striving to awaken people to a more\nreligious life; but he did not sufficiently heed the authority of the\nChurch; and his followers, after his death, quite separated themselves\nfrom her, and became absolute schismatics, with meeting-houses and\nministers of their own, calling themselves Methodists. Still his fervour\nand earnestness stirred up many within the Church; and from that time\nthere was much more desire to fulfil the mission of Christians by\nbringing others to the knowledge of the truth. Sunday-schools began\nto be set up to assist the catechizing in Church enjoined in the\nPrayer-Book, and often instead of it; and there was a growing eagerness\nto convert the heathen abroad. The great possessions and wide trade of\nEngland seemed to mark her as especially intended for this work. Some\npersons went about it by giving their money to any Missionary Society\nthat made fair promises, without heeding whether it were schismatic or\nnot; others had more patience, and trusted their alms to the Society for\nthe Propagation of the Gospel, which was managed by the English Bishops.\n\nThe American colonies had, by this time, grown impatient of the English\nGovernment, and had shaken it off, calling themselves the United States.\nThe Church people among them obtained some Bishops from the Scottish\nbranch of the Church, which the Calvinists had never been able to put\ndown; and every one of the many United States has now a Bishop of its\nown.\n\nCalcutta was the first English colony to receive a Bishop, in the year\n1814. The second Bishop was Reginald Heber, whose beautiful hymns seem\nthe birthright of our Church, like those of Bishop Ken, one hundred\nand fifty years before. Still very little was done with the natives of\nIndia; they were attached to their foul old religion, and Government\nforbade any open measures against it, though here and there was a\nconversion; and there have at length come to be three Bishops' Sees, and\nin the south of the peninsula, in the See of Madras, there are a hopeful\nnumber of Christians. The work would everywhere proceed better if there\nwere no schism, so that all Christians could work together. Ceylon also\nhas a Bishop, and many are there gathered in. On the borders of China\nlikewise there is an English Bishopric; and within that empire the\nFrench Roman Catholics have been working steadily for many years to win\na few of those obstinate heathen to the faith, but with little success,\nand often receiving the crown of martyrdom.\n\nThe French are very ardent missionaries, bearing joyously all kinds of\nprivations, and forming their stations wherever they see any hope of\ngaining converts. The Sisters of Charity--good women under a vow to\nspend their lives in nursing and teaching--do much to show what the real\nfruit of Christianity is; and they are to be found wherever there is\ntrouble or distress. There is a great college at Rome, called the\n_Propaganda_, where every language under the sun is taught, in order to\nfit persons for missionary work,\n\nOur own St. Augustine's College at Canterbury is intended to prepare\nyoung men to become English missionaries; and north, south, east, and\nwest, are the good tidings spreading, now that the days are come of\nwhich Daniel said: \"Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be\nincreased.\"\n\nThe English West Indies were first forbidden to import slaves; next, all\nthe slaves were set free; and there are now four Bishoprics for their\nblack and white population. All negroes seized in the ships of other\nnations, on their way to be made slaves, are brought back to Sierra\nLeone, on the coast of Africa, there set free, and taught to be\nChristians under a Bishop of our Church; and the Christian blacks are\nbeginning to carry the message of salvation into the other parts of\nAfrica, where the climate is so hurtful to Englishmen, that only the\nnegro race could there do the work.\n\nSouth Africa has three Bishops to rule their English settlers, win the\nDutch farmers to the Church, and convert the Hottentots and Zulus. And\nfrom them a Missionary Bishop has been sent out to the heathen tribes in\nthe interior of the continent.\n\nNorth America contains nine great Bishops' Sees, and the huge Island of\nAustralia six. New Zealand, scarcely discovered till within the last\nfifty years, has three Bishops of her own, ruling over a population of\nEnglish, and of Christian natives, men whose fathers were cannibals, but\nwho are now hearty Christians; and it is the centre whence a Mission\nBishop is seeking to gain to the Church the inhabitants of the beautiful\nislands that thickly dot the Pacific Ocean. Many of these islanders have\nbecome Christian, under the teaching of missionaries from the other\nSocieties; and though great numbers still remain savage heathens, yet\nthe light of the Gospel is in the course of shining upon all the\nislands far away. Everywhere the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten\nCommandments, in the vulgar tongue, are being taught, and each convert\nis gathered in by baptism and fed by the Holy Eucharist, as when the\napostles first went forth; and no one can mark the great spread of the\nChurch within the last fifty years, without feeling that the blessing\nof God is with her. The Greek Church has done less; but though still\nenslaved in Turkey, in Greece she is free, and the yoke of the Mahometan\nis there shaken off, after her long patience and constancy.\n\nThere are dark spots in all this brightness, for Rome still teaches the\nsame errors mixed up with the truth, and the spirit of unbelief is to be\nfound far and wide, questioning and explaining away all the mysteries it\ncannot understand.\n\nWe know that it must be so, for it was to fight with sin that Christ\ncame into the world, and left His Church there; and St. Paul prophesied\nthat evil men and seducers should wax worse and worse, deceiving and\nbeing deceived. Daniel too, foresaw that the little horn should spring\nup, and do very wickedly; and all the tenor of prophecy in the Epistles\ndeclares that times of trouble and temptation must try the Church.\n\nIt seems that there has been, even from the Apostles' times, an evil\nspirit opposing himself to our Lord, and therefore called by St. John\nthe Anti-Christ. His manifestations have broken out in many ways--in\nArianism, in Mahometanism, perhaps in the great errors of Rome, and more\nlately, in Infidelity, and in Mormonism; and it would seem that there is\nto be some much more dreadful development of \"that wicked one\" exalting\nhimself against Christ, and severely trying the elect. But we have a\ncertain promise, that come what may, Christ will never forsake His\nchosen flock; and those who try to hold fast the faith once delivered\nto the Saints, and to keep the law of love, clinging to their own true\nbranch of the Church, may be sure that He Who has redeemed them, will\nguard them from all evil, and that they will share in His glory when He\nshall come with all His holy angels to put all enemies under His feet.\nThen He shall sit on His great white Throne, and gather His elect from\nthe four winds to dwell in the eternal Jerusalem, which needs neither\nsun nor moon, for the Lamb is the light thereof.\n\n\n\n\nQUESTIONS.\n\nLESSON I.\n\n1. In what state was the Earth when first created?\n\n2. To what trial was man subjected?\n\n3. What punishment did the Fall bring on man?\n\n4. How alone could his guilt be atoned for? A. By his punishment being\nborne by one who was innocent.\n\n5. What was the first promise that there should be such an\natonement?--_Gen._ iii. 15.\n\n6. What were the sacrifices to foreshow?\n\n7. Why was Abel's offering the more acceptable?\n\n8. From which son of Adam was the Seed of the woman to spring?\n\n9. How did Seth's children fall away?\n\n10. What was Enoch's prophecy?--_Jude_, 14, 15.\n\n11. Who was chosen to be saved out of the descendants of Seth?\n\n12. How was the world punished?\n\n13. In what year was the Flood?\n\n14. Where did the ark first rest?\n\n15. What were the terms of the covenant with Noah?\n\n16. Which of Noah's sons was chosen?\n\n17. What was the prophecy of Noah?--_Gen_. ix. 25, 26, 27.\n\n18. What lands were peopled by Ham's children?\n\n19. What became of Shem's children?\n\n20. What became of Japhet's children?\n\n\nLESSON II.\n\n1. Whom did God separate among the sons of Shem?\n\n2. What were the terms of the covenant with Abraham? A. Abraham\nbelieved, and God promised that his descendants should have the land of\nCanaan, and in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed.\n\n3. What was the token of the covenant with Abraham?\n\n4. Which son of Abraham inherited the promise?\n\n5. Who were the sons of Ishmael?\n\n6. What measure was taken to keep Isaac from becoming mixed with\nidolators?\n\n7. Which of Isaac's sons was chosen?\n\n8. Why was Esau rejected?\n\n9. What was the promise to Esau?--_Gen_. xxvii. 39, 40.\n\n10. By what names were the descendants of Esau called?\n\n11. Where did the Edomites live?\n\n12. What sea was named from them?\n\n13. What were the habits of the Edomites?\n\n14. Who is thought to have been the great prophet of Idumea?\n\n15. What was the prophecy of Job?--_Job_, xix. 25, 26, 27.\n\n16. How was Jacob's name changed?\n\n17. Who were to be in the covenant after him?\n\n18. What prophecy was there of the Israelites going into Egypt?--_Gen_.\nxv. 13.\n\n19. Which son of Jacob was to be father of the promised Seed?\n\n20. What was Jacob's prophecy of the Redeemer?--_Gen_. xlix. 10.\n\n\nLESSON III.\n\n1. Who were the Egyptians?\n\n2. What kind of place was Egypt?\n\n3. What remains have we of the ancient Egyptians?\n\n4. What were the idols of Egypt?\n\n5. How long were the Israelites in Egypt?\n\n6. How were they treated in Egypt? 7. What prophetic Psalm is said to\nhave been composed in Egypt?--_P_s. I. xxxviii.\n\n8. Who was appointed to lead them out?\n\n9. How was Moses prepared for the work?\n\n10. How did God reveal Himself to Moses?\n\n11. What wonders were wrought on the Egyptians?\n\n12. What token of faith was required of the Israelites at their\ndeparture?\n\n13. What feast was appointed in remembrance of the deliverance from\nEgypt?\n\n\nLESSON IV.\n\n1. How many Israelites did Moses lead into the wilderness?\n\n2. How were they supported there?\n\n3. What was the difference between the covenant with Abraham, and the\ncovenant on Mount Sinai?\n\n4. How did the Israelites forfeit the covenant?\n\n5. How was God entreated to grant it to them again?\n\n6. What signs of the covenant did they carry with them?\n\n7. How was Moses instructed in their observances?\n\n8. What was the Tabernacle to figure?\n\n9. What did all the ceremonies shadow out?\n\n10. Why were the Israelites to be kept separate from other nations?\n\n11. How were they trained in the wilderness?\n\n12. How long did they wander there?\n\n13. Why did not Moses enter the land of Canaan?\n\n14. What were the two great prophecies of the Redeemer which were given\nin the wilderness?--_Num_. xxiv. 17. _Deut_. xviii. 15.\n\n15. What books were written by Moses?\n\n16. What Psalm was written by Moses?--_P_s. xc.\n\n\nLESSON V.\n\n1. In what year did the Israelites enter Canaan?\n\n2. What kind of country was Canaan?\n\n3. Where was the first seat of the Tabernacle in Canaan?\n\n4. How was the inheritance of the tribes arranged?\n\n5. Why did not the Israelites occupy the whole of their territory\nat once?\n\n6. Who were the Phoenicians?\n\n7. What were the chief cities of the Phoenicians?\n\n8. Who were the chief gods of the Canaanites?\n\n9. How were the Israelites governed?\n\n10. What was the consequence of their falling from the true worship?\n\n11. Who were their chief enemies?\n\n12. In what book in the Bible is this history related?\n\n13. For how long a period did the rule of the Judges last?\n\n14. What crime brought on them the loss of the Ark?\n\n15. How was the Ark sent back?\n\n16. What was the prophecy of the Redeemer during this period?\n--1 _Sam_. ii. 35.\n\n17. Who was the first of the Prophets and last of the Judges?\n\n\nLESSON VI.\n\n1. When did the Israelite kingdom begin?\n\n2. Who was the first king of Israel?\n\n3. On what conditions was Saul to reign?\n\n4. What was Saul's great error?\n\n5. Who was chosen in Saul's stead?\n\n6. Of what tribe was David?\n\n7. What was David's great excellence?\n\n8. What were David's exploits?\n\n9. How was David prepared for the throne?\n\n10. What terrible massacre did Saul commit in his hatred of David?\n\n11. What prophecy was thus fulfilled?--1 _Sam_. ii. 32, 33.\n\n12. What was the beginning of David's kingdom?\n\n13. What was the end of Saul?\n\n14. Who reigned over the rest of Israel?\n\n15. What became of Ishbosheth?\n\n16. What were David's conquests?\n\n17. What is the meaning of the name Jerusalem?\n\n18. How did David regulate the service before the Ark?\n\n19. Which are David's chief prophecies of our Lord?--_P_s. ii.--xvi.\n\n20. Which Psalm marks David as our Lord's forefather?--lxxxix.\n\n21. Why was not David permitted to build the Temple?\n\n22. How long did David reign?\n\n23. What was the site of the Temple?\n\n24. How was the Divine Presence marked there?\n\n25. For what was Solomon's reign remarkable?\n\n26. How did Solomon fall away?\n\n27. What was to be his punishment?\n\n28. What are the prophecies of Solomon? _A. Prov_. viii. and ix.--where\nour Lord is spoken of as the Divine Wisdom.--_P_s. xlv. The Song of\nSolomon on the mystical union of Christ and His Church.--_Eccles_. iv.\n\n\nLESSON VII.\n\n1. How did Rehoboam bring about the accomplishment of the sentence on\nSolomon?\n\n2. What tribes were left to him?\n\n3. How was he prevented from making war on Jeroboam?\n\n4. Who was the Egyptian king who invaded Judea?\n\n5. Who succeeded Rehoboam?\n\n6. Who succeeded Abijah?\n\n7. What was Jehoshaphat's great error?\n\n8. Into what danger did Ahab send him?\n\n9. What great deliverances were vouchsafed to Jehoshaphat?\n\n10. How did Jehoram act on coming to the throne?\n\n11. How was he punished?\n\n12. What became of Ahaziah?\n\n13. Who was Athaliah?\n\n14. Why could she not entirely destroy the seed royal?\n\n[Footnote 1: These references are to the Prayer-Book version.] 15. What\nprophecy was fulfilled by these massacres?--_2 Sam_. xii. 10.\n\n16. How was Joash preserved?\n\n17. How was he restored to the throne?\n\n18. How did Joash reign?\n\n19. What was the sin of Amaziah?\n\n20. What was the sin of Uzziah?\n\n21. How was the sin of Uzziah punished?\n\n22. Who reigned in Uzziah's stead?\n\n23. Who began to prophesy in Uzziah's time? A. Isaiah.\n\n24. What was the character of Ahaz?\n\n25. How was the sin of Ahaz punished?\n\n26. What were Isaiah's chief prophecies of our Lord? A. _Isaiah_, vii.\n14.--ix. 6.--xi.--xii.--xxxii.--xxxv.--xl.--xlii.--l. 5, 6.--li. 13,\n14, 15.--liii.--lxiii.\n\nLESSON VIII.\n\n1. Where had the greatness of Joseph's children been foretold?\n\nA. _Gen_. xlix. 25, 26. _Deut_. xxxiii. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.\n\n2. How did Jeroboam forfeit these blessings?\n\n3. What warnings did he receive?\n\n4. Who overthrew the house of Jeroboam?\n\n5. What kings reigned next?\n\n6. What city did Omri make his capital?\n\n7. How had the site of Samaria been made remarkable?--_Deut_, xxvii.\n\n8. What was the difference between the sin of Jeroboam and the sin of\nAhab?\n\n9. How was Ahab influenced?\n\n10. What prophet warned him?\n\n11. What proofs were given that the Lord is the only God?\n\n12. Who were the chief enemies of Israel?\n\n13. What was the fate of Ahab?\n\n14. Who became prophet after Elijah? 15. Who executed judgment on the\nhouse of Ahab?\n\n16. How long was the house of Jehu to continue?\n\n17. How did Joash disobey Elisha?--_2 Kings_, xiii. 19.\n\n18. What prophets succeeded Elisha?--A. Hosea and Amos.\n\n19. What was Hosea's prophecy of Redemption?--_Hosea_, xiii. 14.\n\n20. What was Amos' prophecy of Redemption?--_Amos_, ix. 11-15.\n\n21. What was the end of the house of Jeroboam?\n\n22. Who were the two allies against Judah?\n\n23. What generous action was done by the Ephraimites?\n\n\nLESSON IX.\n\n1. Who founded the Assyrian Empire?\n\n2. What is the description of Nineveh?\n\n3. What prophet was sent to warn the Ninevites?\n\n4. How did the Ninevites receive the message?\n\n5. What prophetic book besides Jonah is concerned with Nineveh?\n\n6. Which King of Nineveh was contemporary with Ahaz?\n\n7. Why did Ahaz seek the alliance of Tiglath Pileser?\n\n8. What victories did the Ninevites gain?\n\n9. What was the effect upon Judah?\n\n10. What profanation did Ahaz commit in the Temple?\n\n11. Who was the successor of Ahaz?\n\n12. Who was the last King of Samaria?\n\n13. What partial reformation took place in Israel?\n\n14. What was the punishment of the Israelites?\n\n15. Where were the Israelites placed?\n\n16. What was the next conquest attempted by the Assyrians?\n\n17. How was the danger turned away?\n\n18. What apocryphal book mentions the history of an Israelite captive?\n\n19. What great mercy was vouchsafed to Hezekiah?\n\n20. How did he show that he was uplifted?\n\n21. What was the rebuke for his display? 22. Who was the King of Nineveh\nafter Sennacherib? A. Esarhaddon, also called Sardocheus, and Asnapper.\n\n23. What apocryphal history is supposed to have taken place at this\ntime?\n\n24. How did Esarhaddon fill the empty land of Samaria?\n\n25. What request was made by these heathen colonists?\n\n26. Of what race were they the parents?\n\n27. What additions were made to the Holy Scriptures in Hezekiah's time?\n\n28. What is Micah's chief prophecy?--_Micah_, v. 2, 3, 4.\n\n29. Who reigned after Hezekiah?\n\n30. How were the crimes of Manasseh punished?\n\n31. What was the end of Nineveh?\n\n32. What is the present state of Nineveh?\n\n\nLESSON X.\n\n1. What was the character of Amon?\n\n2. What reformation did Josiah make?\n\n3. What discovery was made in cleansing the Temple?\n\n4. Why was the Law of Moses so awful to Josiah?\n\n5. What answer did Huldah make to Josiah's inquiries?\n\n6. What was the great merit of Josiah?\n\n7. What prophecy did Josiah exactly fulfil?--1 _Kings_, xiii. 2. 31, 32,\n\n8. Who were the prophets of Josiah's time? A. Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and a\nlittle later, Habbakuk.\n\n9. What was Josiah's situation with regard to his neighbours?\n\n10. Why was he forced to go out to battle?\n\n11. How does Jeremiah speak of Josiah's death?---_Jer_. xxii. 10.\n\n12. How had Isaiah foretold it?--_Isaiah_, lvii. 1.\n\n13. What two names had the successor of Josiah?\n\n14. What fate did Jeremiah foretell for him?--_Jer_. xxii. 11, 12.\n\n15. Whither was Jehoahaz carried captive?\n\n16. Who was set up instead of Jehoahaz?\n\n17. What did Jeremiah predict concerning Jehoiakim? _Jer_. xxii. 18, 19.\n\n18. By whose favour had Jehoiakim been set up?\n\n19. Who was Jehoiakim's enemy?\n\n20. What injury did Nebuchadnezzar inflict in 606?\n\n21. What prophet was then carried captive?\n_A_. Daniel.\n\n22. What was the promise of Jeremiah?--_Jer_. xxv. 12.\n\n23. Why was Jeremiah persecuted?\n\n24. What was the great wilfulness of these kings?\n\n25. What was the end of Jehoiakim?\n\n26. By what names was his son called?\n\n27. What does Jeremiah say of Jehoiachin?--_Jer_. xxii 24 to 30.\n\n28. Was he really childless?\n_A_. Either he was childless, and Salathiel was his adopted son of\nanother branch of David's family, or else it meant that his son should\nnot reign.\n\n29. What became of Jehoiachin?\n\n30. What prophet was carried off in this captivity?\n\n31. Who was the last King of Judah?\n\n32. What message did Ezekiel send Zedekiah?--_Ez_. xxii. 25, 26, 27.\n\n33. What was Ezekiel's lamentation for the sons of Josiah?\n--_Ez_. xix. I-9.\n\n34. What were Ezekiel's chief prophecies of the Redeemer?\n--_Ez_. xxxiv. 23, 24.--xxxvii. 24, 25, 26.\n\n35. What was Zedekiah's duty?\n\n36. How did he show his want of faith?\n\n37. What was the consequence?\n\n38. What was the prophecy of Ezekiel that Zedekiah thought\nimpossible?--_Ez_. xii. 13.\n\n39. What were the sufferings of Jeremiah in the siege of Jerusalem?\n\n40. What prophecies of Moses had their first fulfilment in this\nsiege?--_Deut_. xxviii. 52, 53.\n\n41. Who boasted over Jerusalem?\n\n42. What was the desolation of Jerusalem?\n\n43. Which book in the Holy Scripture mourns over it? A. The book of\nLamentations of Jeremiah.\n\n44. What became of Jeremiah?\n\n45. How did the remnant act who were left in Judea?\n\n46. Who was the prophet who spoke against Edom? A. Obadiah.\n\n47. What was the great prophecy of Jeremiah?--_Jer_. xxiii. 5, 6.\n\n48. What was the year of the taking of Jerusalem?\n\n\nLESSON XI.\n\n1. Who were the Chaldeans?\n\n2. What does Isaiah say of the origin of the Chaldeans?--_Is_. xxiii.\n13.\n\n3. Who was their chief god, and how was he worshipped?\n\n4. Describe Babylon.\n\n5. What were the prophecies of the state of the Jews in\ncaptivity?--_Lev_. xxvi. 33, 34.--38, 39.--_Jer_. v. 19.\n\n6. What change for the better passed over the Jews?\n\n7. Who were the royal children brought up as slaves?\n\n8. How had their slavery been foretold?--_Is_. xxxix. 7.\n\n9. What instance of self-denying faith was given by them?\n\n10. How was Daniel's inspiration first made known?\n\n11. What was the first dream of Nebuchadnezzar?\n\n12. What was the interpretation?\n\n13. What judgment is recorded of Daniel in the Apocrypha?\n\n14. What proof did the other princes give of their faith?\n\n15. What is the hymn of praise said to have been sung by them in the\nfurnace?\n\n16. What was the effect on Nebuchadnezzar?\n\n17. Where had Edom's fell been foretold? A. _Numb_. xxiv. 18-21,\n22.--_Jer_. xlix. 7-22.--_Obadiah_.\n\n18. What other conquest did Nebuchadnezzar effect? 19. Where had the\nfall of Tyre been predicted? A. _Is_. xxiii.--_Ez_. xxvi. xxvii. xxviii.\n\n20. How soon was a new Tyre built?\n\n21. What was to be the recompence for the toils of the siege of Tyre?\n\n22. Where is the ruin of Egypt foretold? _A. Is_. xix. 1 to 20.--_Jer_.\nxliii. 8 to 13.--xlvi.--_Ez_. xxx. xxxi. xxxii.\n\n23. What was the end of the Pharaohs?\n\n24. What was Nebuchadnezzar's second dream?\n\n25. What was the meaning and the fulfilment?\n\n26. What acknowledgment did Nebuchadnezzar make?\n\n27. In what year did he die?\n\n28. Who was his successor?\n\n29. What was the first vision of Daniel?\n\n30. What was the interpretation?\n\n31. What was the second vision of Daniel?\n\n32. What was the meaning?\n\n33. How were the visions explained to Daniel?\n\n\nLESSON XII.\n\n1. What was the power which was to overcome the Assyrian?\n\n2. How had the Persian power been figured in the visions?--_Dan_. ii.\n32.--vii. 5.--viii. 3, 4.\n\n3. What was the meaning of the two horns of the Ram?\n\n4. What was the difference between the Medes and Persians?\n\n5. What was the religion of the Persians?\n\n6. What was the character of Cyrus?\n\n7. Who was the reigning King of Babylon?\n\n8. What was the trust of the Babylonians?\n\n9. But what had been foretold concerning Cyrus?--_Is_. xlv. I, 2, 3.\n\n10. How did Cyrus attempt to gain an entrance?\n\n11. How were the Babylonians prevented from being on the watch?\n\n12. What awful warning interrupted Belshazzar's feast?\n\n13. Who interrupted the writing?\n\n14. How had Jeremiah foretold the taking of Babylon by the Medes?\n--_Jer_. l. 35 to li.\n\n15. How long was the captivity to last?--_Jer_. xxv. 11.--xxix. 10.\n\n16. What had been the promise of Moses?--_Lev_. xxvi. 44.\n\n17. What had been the prayer of Solomon?--1 _Kings_, viii. 46 to 50.\n\n18. What had Isaiah said of Cyrus?--_Is_. xliv. 28.--xlv. 13.\n\n19. Who made intercession for the fulfilment of these prophecies?\n\n20. How was Daniel's prayer answered?\n\n21. What great promise was made to Daniel?--_Dan_. ix. 24 to 27.\n\n22. In what year was the decree for the restoration of Jerusalem given?\n\n23. Who governed Babylon?\n\n24. What was the proof of Daniel's faith?\n\n25. What story is told of his destroying the worship of Bel?\n\n26. How had Isaiah foretold this overthrow?--_Is_. xlvi. 1,2.\n\n27. What was revealed to Daniel in his last vision?\n\n28. What was Daniel called?  _A_. The man greatly beloved.\n\n\nLESSON XIII.\n\n1. How many Jews returned from the captivity?\n\n2. Who were the leaders of the return?\n\n3. Who was Zerubbabel?\n\n4. Why is it supposed that his father was only the adopted son of\nJehoiachin? _A_. Both because Jeremiah sentenced Coniah to be childless,\nand in Luke iii. Zerubbabel's descent is derived from David, through\nNathan.\n\n5. What story is told of Zerubbabel's gaining favour with Darius?\n\n6. What title did Zerubbabel bear?\n\n7. What was the only inheritance left for him?\n\n8. What was the blessing of God to Zerubbabel for his faith?--_Hag_. ii.\n21 to 23.--_Zech_. iv, 6 to 10.\n\n9. What were the prophetic blessings to Joshua the priest?--_Zech_. vi.\n11-15.--_Hag_. ii. 4, 5.\n\n10. Of what typical vision was Joshua the subject?--_Zech_. iii.\n\n11. What are Zechariah's other remarkable prophecies of\nRedemption?--_Zech_. ix. 9 to 12.--xi. 12, 13.--xii. 8-10.--xiii. 1, 6,\n\n12. What was the condition of Jerusalem?\n\n13. What was the promise of restoration?--_Zech_. viii. 3, 4, 5.\n\n14. What was the first measure of Zerubbabel and Joshua?\n\n15. Where had directions been given for the new Temple?\n\nA. In the latter chapters of Ezekiel, but these were a further prophecy\nof the New Tabernacle in Heaven.\n\n16. How soon was the Temple begun?\n\n17. What were the feelings of the people?\n\n18. What promise did Haggai give?--_Hag_. ii. 6, 7-9.\n\n19. What rebuke did Haggai give the Jews?\n\n20. What interference befell the Jews?\n\n21. Why was all intercourse with the Samaritans forbidden?\n\n22. How did the Samaritans revenge themselves?\n\n23. What was the state of the Persian court?\n\n24. What was the end of Cambyses?\n\n25. What was the story of the impostor, Smerdis?\n\n26. Who became King of Persia?\n\n27. What history did Darius's governors send to him?--_Ezra_, v. 7, &c.\n\n28. How were they answered?--See _Ezra_, vi.\n\n29. What revolt took place in the time of Darius?\n\n30. What prophecies were here fulfilled?--_Ps_. cxxxvii. 8, 9. _Is_.\nxlvii. 7, 8, 9.\n\n31. What were Darius's two vain expeditions?\n\n32. What was the great expedition of Xerxes?\n\n33. How had it been predicted?--_Dan_. xi. 2.\n\n\nLESSON XIV.\n\n1. Who is Ahasuerus supposed to have been?\n\n2. What was his great act of tyranny?\n\n3. By what means did he try to repair the loss of Vashti?\n\n4. Of what race was Esther?\n\n5. Why would not Mordecai bow down to Haman?\n\n6. What benefit did Mordecai do the king?\n\n7. How did Haman seek revenge for Mordecai's scorn?\n\n8. How did Esther conduct her intercession?\n\n9. What great deliverance was given to the Jews?\n\n10. What fresh aid was given to the building at Jerusalem?\n\n11. What was the date of Ezra's arrival?\n\n12. What is counted from this date?\n\n13. Who was the other assistant who arrived?\n\n14. How had Nehemiah obtained leave to come and assist?\n\n15. In what state did he find the city?\n\n16. What prophecies were' there of her desolation?--_Ps_. lxxx. _Is_.\nxxxii. 13, 14.\n\n17. What was Nehemiah's great work?\n\n18. How were the Jews obliged to build?\n\n19. How had this been foretold?--_Dan_. ix. 25.\n\n20. What blessing had been laid up for Nehemiah?--_Is_. lviii. 12, 13.\n\n21. What reformations did Ezra and Nehemiah bring about?\n\n22. What became of the schismatical priest?\n\n23. Where was the Samaritan temple?\n\n24. Who was the last of the prophets?\n\n25. What were his great predictions?--_Mal_. iii. I, 2, 3.\n\n--iv. 2, 5, 6.\n\n26. What books are thought to have been compiled by Ezra?\n\n27. What Psalms were collected by Ezra?--From cvii. to the end.\n\n28. What prophetic verse is ascribed to the time of Ezra?--cxviii. 22.\n\n29. What were the songs of degrees?--_Ps_. cxx. to cxxxiv. 30. Who had\nthe keeping of the Scriptures?\n\n31. In what tongue were the early Scriptures?\n\n32. What tongue was commonly spoken after the captivity?\n\n33. What was therefore done when the Law was read?\n\n34. What arrangement did Ezra make for public worship?\n\n35. What was the synagogue service?\n\n36. How were the Jews dispersed?\n\n37. In what state was the Persian Empire?\n\n\nLESSON XV.\n\n1. Who were the Greeks?\n\n2. Who was the chief Greek god?\n\n3. What were the Greek philosophers trying to find out?--See _Acts_,\nxvii. 27, 28.\n\n4. What were the Greek games?--See I _Cor_. ix. 24, &c.\n\n5. Which were the two chief Greek cities?\n\n6. What was the most learned of all cities?\n\n7. Who subdued all the rest of Greece?\n\n8. What was the name of the great King of Macedon?\n\n9. How was Macedon figured in Daniel's visions?--_Dan_. vii. 6.--viii.\n5, 6, 7.\n\n10. What yet older prophecy was there of the Greek invasion?--_Num_.\nxxiv. 24.\n\n11. What was Chittim?\n_A_. The east end of the Mediterranean.\n\n12. In what year did Alexander enter Asia?\n\n13. How was the swiftness of his conquests shown?\n\n14. How did Darius go out to battle with him?\n\n15. What cities did Alexander take in Palestine?\n\n16. What was Zechariah's prophecy about Tyre?--_Zech_. ix. 2, 3, 4.\n\n17. What was his prophecy about the Philistine cities?--_Zech_. ix. 5,\n\n18. What about Jerusalem?--_Zech_. ix. 8.\n\n19. How was Alexander received at Jerusalem?\n\n20. What did he declare that he had seen?\n\n21. What city did Alexander build in Egypt?\n\n22. What became of Darius? 23. How far did Alexander spread his\nconquests?\n\n24. What city did he wish to make his capital?\n\n25. How did the Jews at Babylon show their constancy?\n\n26. What befell Alexander at Babylon?\n\n27. How had this been foreshown?--_Dan_, viii. 8.--xi. 3,4.\n\n28. What was the year of Alexander's death?\n\n29. What difference did his conquest make to the East?\n\n30. What language was much learnt from his time?\n\n31. What became of Babylon after his death?\n\n32. How had the ruinous waste of Babylon been fore- told?--_Isaiah_,\nxiii. 19 to 22.--_Jer_. li. 43.\n\n\nLESSON XVI.\n\n\n1. How was the division of Alexander's empire foreshown?--_Dan_. vii.\n6.--viii. 8.\n\n2. What were the four horns?\n\n3. What was the Greek power in Nebuchadnezzar's dream?\n\n4. Which of the Greek princes came in contact with Palestine?\n\n5. What did the Angel call them in Dan. xi.?\n\n6. What was the name of all the Greek kings of Egypt?\n\n7. What were the names of the Greek kings of Syria?\n\n8. To which of them did the Jews belong at first?\n\n9. What colony did Ptolemy Lagus bring into Egypt?\n\n10. What prophecy was thus fulfilled?--_Isaiah_, xix. 18.\n\n11. How were the Jews treated?\n\n12. Who was the high priest?\n\n13. How is he spoken of in Ecclesiasticus?--_Ecclus_. I.\n\n14. What was Simon's work with regard to the Holy Scripture?\n\n15. What translation was made in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus?\n\n16. What is the Greek translation called?\n\n17. By how many persons was it made?\n\n18. What marriage took place between the royal families of Egypt and\nSyria?\n\n19. How had it been foretold?--_Dan_. xi. 6.\n\n20. What revenge was taken for the murder of Berenice?\n\n21. How was the expedition of Euergetes foretold?--_Dan_. xi. 7, 8.\n\n22. How were the Jews becoming corrupted?\n\n23. What had been the doctrine of Joseph?\n\n24. What did Sadoc declare after him?\n\n25. What were the disciples of Sadoc called?\n\n26. What were the doctrines of the Sadducees?\n\n27. What were those called who held aloof from them?\n\n28. What kind of kings followed Ptolemy Euergetes?\n\n29. What attempt was made by Ptolemy Philopator?\n\n30. How was it frustrated?\n\n31. What was the prophecy of Philopator's invasion?--_Dan_. xi. 10.\n\n32. What cruelty was attempted by him on his return to Egypt?\n\n33. How were the Jews saved?\n\n34. To whom did Judea give itself up?\n\n35. How was the treason of the Jews predicted?--_Dan_, xi. 14.\n\n36. In what year did the Jews pass from the Egyptian to the Syrian power?\n\n\nLESSON XVII.\n\n1. How was Antiochus's punishment of the traitors foretold?--_Dan_. xi. 14.\n\n2. What were the conquests predicted in the 15th verse?\n\n3. How did he treat Judea?--verse 16th.\n\n4. What alliance did he make?\n\n5. What was the prophecy of this marriage?--verse 17th.\n\n6. What expedition was predicted in the 18th verse?\n\n7. What checked him in this expedition?\n\n8. What became of Antiochus the Great?\n\n9. How was this predicted?--verse 19.\n\n10. Who were the Romans?\n\n11. What were they in Nebuchadnezzar's dream?--_Dan_. ii. 33.\n\n12. What were they in Daniel's vision?--_Dan_, vii. 7.\n\n13. Why were they like iron?\n\n14. To what were they most devoted?\n\n15. What great Phoenician city had they conquered?\n\n16. What yoke did the Romans impose on Syria?\n\n17. What was the name of the successor of Antiochus?\n\n18. How does Daniel describe him?--Dan. xi. 20.\n\n19. What sacrilegious attempt was made in the time of Seleueus?\n\n20. How was it punished?\n\n21. What was the end of Seleueus?\n\n22. Who succeeded him, and by what means?\n\n23. How was the success of Antiochus Epiphanes foretold?--Dan. si. 21.\n\n24. What was he in Daniel's vision?--Dan. viii. 9.\n\n25. What was his character?\n\n26. How was his preference of Roman to Greek gods foretold?--Dan. xi.\n\n27. What terrible apostasy took place among the Jews?\n\n28. How had Zechariah predicted the fall of the Priests? Zech. xi. 16.\n\n29. What war was predicted in Daniel xi.?\n\n30. What wickedness was being perpetrated at Jerusalem?\n\n31. How had this sacrilege been foretold?--verses 30, 31.--viii. 11, 12.\n\n32. How had the martyrdoms been foretold?--viii. 10.\n\n33. What Psalms are applicable to this persecution?--\nlxxiv.--lxxix.--lxxx.\n\n34. What were the most remarkable martyrdoms?\n\n35. In what apocryphal book are they recorded?\n\n36. What was the remarkable difference between these and Christian\nmartyrs?\n\n\nLESSON XVIII.\n\n1. What deliverers were raised up for the Jews?\n\n2. Why was the family of Mattathias called Asmonean?\n\n3. How was Mattathias first roused to resistance?\n\n4. What purification did Mattathias make?\n\n5. What were the predictions of him and his sons?--Dan. xi. 32, 33.\n\n6. Who succeeded Mattathias?\n\n7. How arose the name of Maccabees?\n\n8. What was the great work of Judaa Maccab\u00e6us?\n\n9. What was the end of Antiochus Epiphanes?\n\n10. How had it been predicted?--Dan. xi. 44, 45.\n\n11. What was the death of Eleazar?\n\n12. How was the varying success of the Maccabees foretold?--Dan. xi.\n\n13. What was the death of the apostate Menelam?\n\n14. How had Zechariah spoken of him?--Zech, xi. 17.\n\n15. How had Zechariah foretold these wars?--Zech, ix. 13.\n\n16. Who succeeded Maccabaeus?\n\n17. With whom did Jonathan make a treaty?\n\n18. What success did Jonathan gain?\n\n19. What became of Jonathan?\n\n20. Who succeeded him?\n\n21. What work did Simon complete?\n\n22. What was the end of Simon?\n\n23. Who was the successor of Simon?\n\n24. What conquest was made by John Hyrcanus?\n\n25. What prophecies were fulfilled by the fall of Edom?--Ps. cxxxvii.\n7.--Is. xxxiv. 6, to the end.--Joel, iii. 19.\n\n26. What is the present state of Idumea?\n\n\nLESSON XIX.\n\n1. Who was the first Asmonean King?\n\n2. What prophecy thus had a fulfilment? A. Zech. vi. 13; but this was\nonly really accomplished in our Lord.\n\n3. Who reigned after Aristobulus?\n\n4. Who after Alexander Janneus?\n\n5. What dispute broke out between the sons of Alexandra?\n\n6. Who fostered the ill-will between the brothers?\n\n7. To whose decision was the dispute referred?\n\n8. What was it that made the Roman power so terrible?\n\n9. How did the Romans extend their dominion?\n\n10. What were the Roman triumphs?\n\n11. How was the Roman army composed?\n\n12. What was the Roman standard?\n\n13. How did the Romans rule their conquered provinces?\n\n14. Who alone could obtain law and justice?\n\n15. Who had long ago described the Romans exactly?\n--_Deut_, xxviii. 48, 49, 50, 51.\n\n16. What Roman general first invaded Palestine?\n\n17. By what means did Pompey take Jerusalem?\n\n18. What presumptuous act did Pompey commit?\n\n19. What was the punishment of Pompey's sacrilege?\n\n20. What became of Aristobulus?\n\n21. How did Pompey arrange the affairs of the Jews?\n\n22. What troubles did Pompey meet with at home?\n\n23. Who gained the chief power at Rome?\n\n24. What country had Julius Caesar invaded?\n\n25. What arrangements did Caesar make in Palestine?\n\n26. Who was Herod?\n\n27. What became of Julius Caesar?\n\n28. Who divided his power on his death?\n\n29. How did Herod gain favour from Antony?\n\n30. Who put an end to the reign of Hyrcanus?\n\n31. What exploits were done by Herod?\n\n32. How did Herod make himself King?\n\n33. Who was Herod's wife?\n\n34. Who was High Priest?\n\n35. What crimes did Herod's jealousy of the royal line lead him\n    to commit?\n\n36. How were the High Priests appointed after the murder of Aristobulus?\n\n37. How did Herod try to make up for his crimes?\n\n38. Who had become Emperor of Rome?\n\n39. What was the state of all the world?\n\n40. What general expectation prevailed?\n\n41. What had Augustus been told at a heathen temple?\n\n42. What prophecy was fulfilled by Judea having an Edomite king?\n   --_Gen_. xlix. 10.\n\n43. How long was it since the walls of Jerusalem had been built?\n\n\nLESSON XX.\n\n1. In what year of the world did Augustus number his people?\n\n2. What was the object of Augustus?\n\n3. What was the real cause of this taxation?\n\n4. What prophecies had foretold that the Messiah should be born of a\nwoman?--Gen. in. 15.--Is. vii. 14.--Jer. xxxi. 22.--Micah, v. 3.\n\n5. How was Bethlehem fixed for His birth-place?--Micah, v. 2.\n\n6. How was His birth foretold?--Is. ix. 6.\n\n7. What allusion was there to His being received into a stable and\nrejected by His townsmen?--Is. i. 3.\n\n8. What were the rejoicings?\n\n9. By what rite was He made obedient to the Law?\n\n10. By whom had His Name been previously borne?\n\n11. Who had prophesied of that Name?--Jer. xxiii. 6.\n\n12. How was His presentation in the Temple foretold?--Hag. ii. 7 and 9.\n\n13. How was Simeon's greeting of Him foretold?--Is. xxv. 9.\n\n14. How had He been marked out to the eastern nations as a Star?--Numb.\nxxiv. 17.\n\n15. What predictions were there of the coming and the gifts of the\neastern sages?--Ps. lxxii. 10-15.--Cant. iii. 6.--Is. lx. 3.\n\n16. How had the massacre of the holy Innocents been predicted?--Jer.\nxxxi. 15, 16, 17.\n\n17. How had the flight and return from Egypt been foreshown?--Hos. xi.\n1.\n\n18. What was Herod's last crime?\n\n19. What children did he leave?\n\n20. Who first succeeded him?\n\n21. Why was Archelaus deposed?\n\n22. How was Palestine divided?\n\n23. Who governed Judea?\n\n24. What regulations for the Roman empire were made by Augustus?\n\n25. What languages were everywhere spoken? 26. Who succeeded Augustus,\nand in what year?\n\n27. What were the predictions of our Lord's childhood?--_Is_. vii.\n15.--liii. 2.\n\n28. How had David declared the wisdom He showed in the Temple?--_Ps_.\ncxix. 99, 100.\n\n29. Mention the prophecies of His forerunner?--_Is_. xl. 3.--_Mal_. iv.\n5, 6.\n\n30. How had baptism with water been already employed?\n\n31. How did our Lord sanctify baptism?\n\n32. What had been the object of the Law which St. John brought to a\npoint?\n\n33. How did He show how the sins of which His disciples were sensible\nmight be removed?\n\n34. Who were the first disciples?\n\n35. Whom did they acknowledge in our Lord?--_Deut_. xviii. 15.\n\n36. How had the miracles been promised as marks of the Messiah?--_Is_.\nxxxii. 3, 4.--xxxv. 5, 6.\n\n37. How had His gentleness been foretold?--_Is_. xi. 1 2, 3, 4.--xlii.\nI, 2, 3.--lxi. I, 2, 3.\n\n38. How had the cleansing of the Temple been foretold?--_Ps_. lxix.\n9.--_Mal_. iii. 1, 2, 3.\n\n39. What was the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist?\n\n40. What was it that prevented the Jews from recognizing the Messiah?\n\n41. How had their rejection of Him been foretold?--_Ps_. lxix, 7,\n8.--_Is_. liii. I, 2.\n\n42. How had the triumphal entry into Jerusalem been predicted?--_Ps_.\nviii. 2.--cxviii. 26.--_Jer_. xvii 25.--_Zech_. ix. 9.\n\n43. How had the plots of the Pharisees been foretold?--_Ps_. x. 10,\n11.--xxxv.--vii.--lvi. 5, 6.\n\n44. Mention the prophecies of the treachery of Judas.--_Ps_. xli.\n9.--lv. 12, 13, 14, 15.\n\n45. How had the price been already made known, and likewise what became\nof it?--_Zech_. xi. 12, 13.\n\n46. What was to be the end of the traitor?--_Ps_. cix. 7, 8, 9.\n\n47. What blessed mystery was instituted on the night before the Passion?\n48. How had the joining of different authorities been foreshown?--Ps.\nii. 2.\n\n49. How the testimony against Him?--Ps. xxxv. 11.\n\n50. How the judgment?--Is. liii. 8.\n\n51. How His silence before Pilate?--Is. liii. 7.\n\n52. How the insults of the soldiery?--Is. 1. 6.\n\n53. How the scourging?---Ps. cxxix, 3.--Is. liii. 5.\n\n54. How the disfigurement?--Is. lii. 14.\n\n55. What was the accusation on which the Jews condemned Him?\n\n56. What that on which Pilate condemned Him?\n\n57. Why was crucifixion the manner of His death?\n\n58. How had it been predicted?--Ps. xxii. 17.--Is. xxv. 11.--Zech. xii.\n10.--xiii. 6.\n\n59. How had the desertion of the disciples been foretold?--Ps.\nlxxxviii. IS.--Zech. xiii. 7.\n\n60. How the derision of the Jews?--Ps. xxii. 7, 8.\n\n61. How the parting of the garments?--Ps. xxii. 18.\n\n62. How the sponge of vinegar?--Ps. lxix. 22.\n\n63. What had been the prediction of-the sense of desertion by God?--Ps.\nxxii. 1.\n\n64. What of the dying among the wicked and the burial?--Ps. lxxxviii.\n3, 4.--Is. liii. 9.\n\n65. What of the Resurrection?--Ps. xvi. 11.--Is. xxv. 8.\n\n66. What of the effect on us?--Is. xxvi. 19.--Hos. xiii, 14.\n\n67. What of the Ascension?--Ps. lxviii. 18.\n\n\nLESSON XXI.\n\n1. What was fulfilled by the one great Sacrifice?\n\n2. What were the ceremonies of the Law?--Heb. x. 1.\n\n3. What was the difference between circumcision and baptism?\n\n4. How had baptism been enjoined?--Mark,xvi. 16.\n\n5. Where had its regenerating power been declared?--John, iii. 5.\n\n6. How had the promise of being cleansed by His blood been held out\nin the Old Testament?--Ps. li. 2.--Is. i. 18.--lii. 15.--Joel, iii.\n21.--Zech. xiii. 1. 7. How were the faithful invited to constant\npartaking of pardoning grace?--Ps. xxxvi. 8, 9.--Is. xii. 3.--xliv.\n22.--lv. 1.--Ezek. xlvii. 9.--John, iv. 14.--vii. 37.--See Rev. xxii.\n17.\n\n8. How had the Passover come to the true fulfilment?--1 Cor. v. 7.\n\n9. How had the deliverance of the redeemed been foretold?--Is. xxxv. 8,\n9,10.\n\n10. Which day of the week was to be kept in remembrance of their rescue?\n\n11. How was the great Sacrifice to be partaken of?\n\n12. How had it been instituted?--Luke, xxii. 19, 20.\n\n13. Where had it been predicted?--Prov. ix. I, 2, 5.--Zech. ix. 17.\n\n14. How was the bringing near in prayer made known? Is. lxv. 24.--Mai.\nI. 11.--Matt. vi. 9.--xxi. 22.--Mark, xi. 24.--John, xvi. 23, 24, 26,\n27.\n\n15. How had the day of Atonement come to fulfilment?--Heb. ix.\n24.--Rev. v. 8.\n\n16. How was our Lord revealed as a Shepherd?--Gen. xlix. 24.--Ps.\nxxiii.--Is. xl. 11.--Jer. xxxi. 10.--Ez. xxxlv. 23.--xxxvii. 24.--Zech.\nxiii. 7.--xi. 7.--Matt, xviii. 12, &c.--John, x. I, &c.\n\n17. How is the Old Testament shown to be only explained in our\nLord?--Is. xxix. 11, 12.--Rev. v. 1-5.\n\n18. What were the believers in the new Covenant to be called?\n\n19. What is the meaning of Church?\n\n20. How many believers met at first?\n\n21. Whom did they choose into the place of Judas?\n\n22. How was he consecrated?\n\n23. What gift was thus bestowed on him?--John, xx. 21, 22, 23.\n\n24. What was the meaning of the name Apostles?\n\n25. What was the second order of the ministry?\n\n26. What festival was taking place?\n\n27. What did the Feast of Weeks commemorate?\n\n28. How was the great work completed?\n\n29. What is the inward work of the Holy Spirit? 30. With what outward\nsigns was His coming manifested?\n\n31. What was the promise of His coming?--_Joel_, ii. 28, 29,---_John_,\nxvi. 7.\n\n32. What were the first-fruits of His coming?\n\n33. What was the occasion of the appointment of the deacons?\n\n34. Who was the first martyr?\n\n35. What was the end of Pilate?\n\n36. Who succeeded Tiberius?\n\n37. What was the history of Herod Agrippa?\n\n38. Who was the great Pharisee convert?\n\n39. How was it made known that the Gospel might be preached to the\nGentiles?\n\n40. What had been the promise to Abraham's faith?\n\n41. How had it been foretold that the Gentiles should come in?--_Ps_.\nii. 8.--xix. 4.--xviii. 43, 44.--xxii.--lxviii. 11.--lxxii. 17.--xlix.\n6.--_Is_. lii. 7-10-15.--liv. 1._lvi. 6, 7.--lix. 19.--_Matt_. xxiv.\n14.--_Luke_, i. 79.--_John_, x. 16.\n\n42. Who was the first Gentile convert?\n\n43. Which Apostle was first martyred, and by whom?\n\n44. What was the end of Herod Agrippa?\n\n45. What were the different missions of the Apostles?\n\n46. What is the tradition about the Creed?\n\n47. What are the texts thought to be allusions to the Creed?--_Luke_,i.\n4.--1 _Tim_. vi. 20.--2 _Tim_. i. 13.\n\n48. Why was not the Creed commonly rehearsed?\n\n49. Which was the first of the Gospels?\n\n50. What was the difference between the treatment which the Apostles\nreceived from the Jews and Romans?\n\n51. To whom did they always go first?\n\n52. What advantages did they derive from the Roman power?\n\n53 What was going on in Britain?\n\n54. Who was Roman Emperor?\n\n55. How had the persecutions been predicted?--_Matt_. xxiv. 9.\n\n\nLESSON XXII.\n\n1. How had St. Paul first been converted?\n\n2. How did he spend his time after his conversion?\n\n3. How bad education fitted him to be an apostle to the Gentiles?\n\n4. How was he introduced to the apostles?\n\n5. What was his first mission?\n\n6. What name was first given at Antioch?\n\n7. How were SS. Paul and Barnabas first set apart?\n\n8. What was their first journey?\n\n9. Who was their companion?\n\n10. What was the occasion of the first Council of the Church?\n\n11. Why must the decisions of a truly general council be right?--Matt,\nxviii. 20.\n\n12. What was the decision of the first Council? Antioch?\n\n13. What question arose between SS. Paul and Peter at\n\n14. How did St. Paul differ with St. Barnabas?\n\n15. What was the further history of St. Barnabas?\n\n16. Who were the companions of St. Paul's second journey?\n\n17. How far did his second journey extend?\n\n18. What argument did he hold at Athens?\n\n19. Who were the Athenian philosophers?\n\n20. What were written at Corinth?\n\n21. Which Gospel is said to have been here written?\n\n22. When did St. Paul's third journey begin?\n\n23. What was his first station?\n\n24. What was the cause of the tumult at Ephesus?\n\n25. Which Epistles were written in his third journey?\n\n26. How far did his third journey extend?\n\n27. What caused his return to Jerusalem?\n\n28. What were his troubles at Jerusalem?\n\n29. How was he rescued from violence both of Jews and Romans?\n\n30. Before what tribunals was he brought? 31. Why could he not be set at\nliberty?\n\n32. What were the events of his voyage to Rome?\n\n33. How did he live at Rome?\n\n34. What are the Epistles of his captivity?\n\n35. To what bishops did he write instructions?\n\n36. What apostle ruled the Church at Rome?\n\n37. What are the writings of St. Peter?\n\n38. Which Gospel was superintended by St. Peter?\n\n39. What became of St. James the Less?\n\n40. Which was the first persecution?\n\n41. Which is St. Paul's last Epistle?\n\n42. How did St. Paul and St. Peter die?\n\n43. How had the manner of St. Peter's death been foretold?--John, xxi.\n18, 19.\n\n44. What Church was founded by St. Mark?\n\n45. What was the death of St. Mark?\n\n\nLESSON XXIII.\n\n1. How had the apostles been martyred?\n\n2. What Church was left in Ethiopia?\n\n3. What Church was left by St. Thomas?\n\n4. Which apostles left writings?\n\n5. Who alone survived to hear of the destruction of Jerusalem?\n\n6. How had this been foretold?--John, xxi. 22.\n\n7. How did the Jews bring punishment on themselves?\n\n8. How did they misread the prophecies?\n\n9. How had our Lord predicted their self-deception?--Matt. xxiv. 5-11.\n\n10. What Roman was sent against them P\n\n11. How was he called off?\n\n12. What warning was thus given?--Luke, xxi. 20, 21.\n\n13. How did the Christians profit by the warning?\n\n14. How were our Lord's predictions of fearful sights and signs from\nHeaven fulfilled?\n\n15. Why was the city more than usually filled?\n\n16. Who was the Roman general?\n\n17. In what year did Titus besiege Jerusalem? 18. How had the Jews\ncalled down vengeance on themselves?\n\n19. How had our Lord mourned for them?--Luke, xiii. 34.--xix, 41.\n\n20. How had St. Paul mourned for them?--Rom. ix. 2,3.\n\n21. How had the manner of the siege been predicted?--Deut. xxviii. 52.\n\n22. How had the dreadful famine been foretold?--Luke, xix. 43.\n\n23. What was the state of the city?--Deut. xxviii. 53-56.--Lam. ii. 20,\n21.\n\n24. How was the entrance effected into the Temple?\n\n25. What had been the intention of Titus with regard to the Temple?\n\n26. Why could not the Temple be saved?\n\n27. What condition was the city found to be in?\n\n28. What prophecy was fulfilled?--Matt. xxiv. 2.\n\n29. What became of the treasures of the Temple?\n\n30. What became of the Jews?\n\n31. How had their dispersion been predicted?--Deut. xxviii. 64-68.--Ps.\nlix. 11.\n\n32. How have they lived ever since?\n\n33. What warning does St. Paul give the Gentiles?--Rom. xi. 18.\n\n34. Why were the Jews so utterly rejected?\n\n35. Who were accepted in their stead?\n\n36. How had the acceptance of the sons of Japhet been foretold?--Gen.\nix. 27.\n\n\nLESSON XXIV.\n\n1. What were the events of Domitian's persecution?\n\n2. How was St. John a martyr in will?\n\n3. What was revealed to St. John in a vision?\n\n4. Where was the latter part of St. John's life spent?\n\n5. What were the instances of St. John's love?\n\n6. What are the writings of St. John?\n\n7. In what year did he die?\n\n8. What were the habits of the early Christians?\n\n9. How did they meet for worship? 10. What was their practice on the\nLord's Day?\n\n11. How did they arrange themselves at their assemblies?\n\n12. How did the heathen try to find out what they did?\n\n13. Why did Trajan dislike them so much?\n\n14. What had befallen the old Roman temper?--_Dan_. ii. 41.\n\n15. Who was the great martyr of Trajan's persecution?\n\n16. What is told us of St. Ignatius as a child?\n\n17. What is a Father of the Church?\n\n18. How was St. Ignatius put to death?\n\n19. What did he say of himself?\n\n20. Who was St. John's other pupil?\n\n21. What had been said to St. Polycarp in the Revelation?--Rev. ii. 10.\n\n22. In what persecution did St. Polycarp suffer?\n\n23. What did he say of himself at the tribunal?\n\n24. What was his last thanksgiving?\n\n25. What was the manner of his death?\n\n26. What was the story of the Thundering Legion?\n\n\nLESSON XXV.\n\n1. How had our Lord forewarned His followers of their\nsufferings?--_Matt_. x. 16, 17.--_John_, xvi. 2.\n\n2. How had they been told to meet their afflictions?--_Matt_. v. 12.--1\n_Peter_, iii. 14.\n\n3. What had He said of confessing or denying Him?--_Matt_. x. 32, 33.\n\n4. What had been promised through St. John to such as overcame?--_Rev_.\nii. 17.--iii. 5 and 21.\n\n5. How had the lot of the martyrs been shown to St. John?--_Rev_. vii.\n14-17.\n\n6. How many periods of persecution had been predicted?--_Rev_. ii. 10.\n\n7. Name the ten chief persecutors.\n\n8. How is Severus memorable in Britain?\n\n9. Who were the martyrs of Carthage?\n\n10. Who were the chief martyrs of the persecution of Valerian?\n\n11. What were St. Lawrence's treasures? 12. Why did Sapricius fail?\n\n13. What became of Valerian?\n\n14. Whose was the fiercest persecution?\n\n15. How did the Theban legion witness their confession?\n\n16. In what manner were Christians brought to trial?\n\n17. Mention some of the martyrs of the Diocletian persecution.\n\n18. Who was the British martyr?\n\n19. Who shielded the Britons?\n\n20. How was the Empire divided?\n\n21. What was the difference between a martyr and a confessor?\n\n22. What was the remarkable end of Galerius?\n\n\nLESSON XXVI.\n\n1. Who was the first believing monarch?\n\n2. How was Constantine converted?\n\n3. Tell me a few of the promises that Gentile sovereigns should obey the\nChurch?--_Ps_. lxxii. 11.--_Is_. xlix. 23.--lx. 4.--lxvi. 12.--_Rev_.\nxi. 15.\n\n4. What was the date of Constantine's conversion?\n\n5. What was Helena's expedition to Jerusalem?\n\n6. How did she do honour to the holy places?\n\n7. What did Jerusalem thenceforth become?\n\n8. What prophecy thus had a partial and material fulfilment?--_Is_ lx.\n10.--lxvi. 20.\n\n9. How did Constantine change the capital of his empire?\n\n10. To whom was his chief church dedicated?\n\n11. Who were the patriarchs of the Church?\n\n12. What name was given to the patriarch of Rome?\n\n13. What were those called who retired from the world?\n\n14. What is a heresy?\n\n15. How had our Lord foretold that heresies would arise?--_Matt_. xviii.\n7.\n\n16. What warnings had He given against them?--_Matt_. vii. 15.\n\n17. What warning had the apostles given?--_Acts_, xx. 29, 30.--1 _Tim_.\niv. 1.--_Titus_, iii. 10.--2 _Peter_, ii. 1, 2. 18. What had St. John\ngiven as the test of the truth?--1 _John_, iv. 15.\n\n19. What was the heresy of Arius?\n\n20. What council was held against it?\n\n21. Who was the great champion of the truth?\n\n22. What creed was drawn up at Nicea?\n\n23. How many bishops signed the Nicene Creed?\n\n24. How was Arius punished?\n\n25. Into what error did Constantine fall?\n\n26. How was the Church spared from communion with Arius?\n\n27. In obedience to what commands were obstinate sinners cut off from\nthe Church?--_Matt_. xviii. 17. 1 _Cor_. v. 4, 5.--_Titus_, iii. 10, 11.\n\n28. When was Constantine baptized?\n\n29. How was the Church tried under Constantius?\n\n30. How was it tried under Julian?\n\n31. What profane attempt did Julian make?\n\n32. How was it frustrated?\n\n33. What is the meaning of Catholic?\n\n34. What great confession of Catholic truth was drawn up at this time?\n\n\nLESSON XXVII.\n\n1. Who were the two brothers who reigned together?\n\n2. What evil habit prevailed in their days?\n\n3. What was the great work of St. Jerome?\n\n4. Into what tongue did he translate the Bible?\n\n5. What was the bishopric of St. Ambrose?\n\n6. How was he chosen?\n\n7. How did St. Ambrose resist the Empress Justina?\n\n8. Why did he hold out against her?\n\n9. Who was the Catholic Emperor?\n\n10. What fresh heresy had arisen?\n\n11. What fresh confession of faith was made at the Council of\nConstantinople?\n\n12. What was the sedition of Antioch?\n\n13. Who preached repentance at Antioch?\n\n14. How were the men of Antioch relieved? 15. What offence was given at\nThessalonica?\n\n16. How did Theodosius punish the murder?\n\n17. How was he brought to a sense of his cruelty?\n\n18. How did he humiliate himself?\n\n19. What prophecy was literally accomplished in his reign?--Is. lx. 14.\n\n20. How soon did St. Ambrose reconcile Theodosius to the Church?\n\n21. What Father of the Church was converted at this time?\n\n22. What writings did St. Augustine leave?\n\n23. What hymns are ascribed to St. Ambrose?\n\n24. Who finished the conversion of the Gauls?\n\n25. How was St. Chrysostom promoted?\n\n26. How was he persecuted?\n\n27. What prayer is known by his name?\n\n\nLESSON XXVIII.\n\n1. How had the Roman power decayed?\n\n2. Of what were the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's statue made?\n\n3. What nations had attacked the Romans?\n\n4. What was the faith of the Teutons?\n\n5. Under what form did they first learn Christianity?\n\n6. Who ruled the Roman empire?\n\n7. What portion first was lost to Rome?\n\n8. Who conquered Britain?\n\n9. How was Ireland converted?\n\n10. What prophecies were there that these distant places should be won\nto the faith?--Is. xlix. 1.--lxvi. 19.\n\n11. What great act of self-sacrifice marked the last Triumph?\n\n12. Who conquered Rome?\n\n13. How did Alaric treat Rome?\n\n14. Who was the first Christian King of France?\n\n15. How was Spain brought to the Catholic faith?\n\n16. What led to the conversion of the English?\n\n17. Who was the first missionary to the Saxons?\n\n18. Who sent St. Augustin? 19. Who was the first Christian Saxon King?\n\n20. What devotions were arranged by St. Gregory?\n\n21. What did he do for Church music?\n\n22. What was the work of St. Benedict?\n\n23. What were the habits of the monks and nuns?\n\n\nLESSON XXIX.\n\n1. What evils prevailed in the East?\n\n2. What heresies were there taught?\n\n3. What threat had been made in the Revelation?--_Rev_. ii. 5.\n\n4. What alarm befell the East?\n\n5. How was the true Cross recovered?\n\n6. What false religion sprang up?\n\n7. Who was Mahomet?\n\n8. What was his false prophecy called?\n\n9. What were the requirements and promises of the Koran?\n\n10. In what year was the flight of Mahomet?\n\n11. How did he spread his religion?\n\n12. Where did he die?\n\n13. How do the Mahometans honour Mecca?\n\n14. What was the chief Arabian tribe called?\n\n15. How did they treat Jerusalem?\n\n16. What did they build there?\n\n17. What did they do with the library at Alexandria?\n\n18. How far did they extend their conquests?\n\n19. Where were they brought to a stop?\n\n20. Who turned them back?\n\n21. Are there any sayings in the New Testament that can be applied to\nsuch a falling away as the Mahometan heresy?--2 _Tim_. iii. 13.--_Rev_.\nix. 2 to 11. (supposed.)\n\n\nLESSON XXX.\n\n1. What was the danger of the Western Church?\n\n2. Why were the people so ignorant?\n\n3. What respect did they pay to religion?\n\n4. What errors began to prevail?\n\n5. What Greek emperor tried to prevent image worship?\n\n6. What different decisions were arrived at in the east and west?\n\n7. Who was the great western emperor?\n\n8. What power did Charles le Magne give the Pope?\n\n9. What miseries came upon the west?\n\n10. Who was the great and good English King?\n\n11. How were the Northmen converted?\n\n12. What harm did Charles le Magne's grant do at Rome?\n\n13. What difference of opinion was there between east and west?\n\n14. Why did the Greeks object to the new words in the Creed of\nConstantinople?\n\n15. What claim had the Popes set up?\n\n16. Who resisted their claim?\n\n17. How was the rent made between the Greek and Latin Churches?\n\n18. In what year did the schism begin?\n\n19. How is the Church still one inwardly?\n\n20. What rule did the Roman Church make about the clergy?\n\n21. What error did she make in the celebration of the Holy Communion?\n\n\nLESSON XXXI.\n\n1. How many horns had sprung up in Daniel's vision of the Roman power?\n\n2. What do these horns signify?\n\n3. How had our Lord shown how Christianity should work through the\nnations?--_Matt._ xiii. 33.\n\n4. But how had Solomon shown that too few would really honour the\nLord?--_Eccles._ iv, 15, 16.\n\n5. In what were the people too prone to trust?\n\n6. Why was it wrong to trust in the intercessions of the Blessed\nVirgin?--1 _Tim._ ii. 5.\n\n7. Who had the chief power in the Western Churches? 8. What was the old\nway of choosing a bishop?\n\n9. How did the Romans prove that they could not be trusted with the\nchoice?\n\n10. Who took the choice of the Pope for a time?\n\n11. Who took the choice of the Pope from the German Emperor?\n\n12. How has the Pope been ever since elected?\n\n13. In what manner did the western Church regard the Pope?\n\n14. What rule did the Pope bear?\n\n15. How did he punish disobedience?\n\n16. How was the power of the Popes misused?\n\n17. What saints lived about that time?\n\n18. What good works were done?\n\n19. What were built at this time?\n\n20. Why are churches turned to the east?\n\n21. Why does the font stand near the entrance?\n\n22. Why are the people allowed to come into the chancel, not kept out\nlike the Israelites?\n\n23. What prophecy is fulfilled by constant services?--_Ps_. lxxii.\n15.--_Is_. lx. 11.\n\n24. What is partly fulfilled by the peace impressed around the Church,\neven upon fierce warriors?--_Is_. xi. 6-9.\n\n25. What vows were knights made to take?\n\n26. What wars were preached in the Middle Ages?\n\n27. What reward did the Pope hold out?\n\n28. What was meant by purgatory?\n\n29. What was meant by an indulgence?\n\n30. What success did the crusaders meet with?\n\n31. How long was Jerusalem in the hands of the Christians?\n\n32. How was the schism increased between the Greek and Roman Churches?\n\n33. Who were the chief crusaders?\n\n34. Why could not the Holy Land be kept?\n\n35. What race of Mahometans came from the east?\n\n36. What country did the Turks conquer?\n\n37. What prophecy was fulfilled at Tyre?--_Ezek_. xxvi. 14.\n\n38. What country was won back by the Christiana?\n\n\nLESSON XXXII.\n\n1. How had the Services of the Church come to be in an unknown tongue?\n\n2. What deceit was practised upon the people?\n\n3. How were those who found fault punished?\n\n4. How was it that there was less ignorance than formerly?\n\n5. Who began to preach against indulgences?\n\n6. What translation did Luther make?\n\n7. How did England separate from the Pope?\n\n8. What became of the English monasteries?\n\n9. Why did the Italian clergy hinder inquiry?\n\n10. What were Luther's party called, and why?\n\n11. Who was the Swiss reformer?\n\n12. Who tried to obtain a General Council?\n\n13. Where was the meeting held?\n\n14. Why was it not a true Council?\n\n15. How was the English Church purified?\n\n16. In what reign was the Prayer Book translated?\n\n17. After what pattern were the Services moulded?\n\n18. What danger did the English Church undergo?\n\n19. Who were the martyrs of the English Reformation?\n\n20. How did it again become prosperous?\n\n21. How did the Council of Trent end?\n\n22. What decision did the foreign Reformers come to as to their Bishops?\n\n23. How did the Roman Catholics treat them?\n\n24. What Churches have Bishops?\n\n25. How are such Churches still one?\n\n26. What countries are Roman Catholic?\n\n27. Which are Lutheran?\n\n28. Which are Calvinist?\n\n29. Which are Greek Catholic?\n\n\nLESSON XXXIII.\n\n1. Who discovered America?\n\n2. Who were the first inhabitants of America?\n\n3. Why did the Pope think he had a right over them? 4. To whom did he\ngive them?\n\n5. How did the Spaniards use the Indians?\n\n6. Who tried to prevent their cruelty?\n\n7. What people were brought to the West Indies to work for the\ncolonists?\n\n8. What prophecy was thus fulfilled?--_Gen_. ix. 27.\n\n9. What work did the Jesuits do in South America?\n\n10. What harm did the Jesuits do at home?\n\n11. What bad spirit rose up in Europe?\n\n12. What prophecies were there that the Church should stretch out\nfar?--_Isaiah_, liv. 2, 3.\n\n13. Which part of America was settled by the Spaniards?\n\n14. Which by the English and Dutch?\n\n15. Who caused our present translation of the Bible to be made?\n\n16. What did Charles I. try to do for Scotland?\n\n17. How was he treated in England?\n\n18. How was the Church persecuted?\n\n19. How did St. Paul speak of such times?--2 _Tim_. iv. 3\n\n20. How long did these evil times last?\n\n21. How was the Church in England restored?\n\n22. Why are Calvinists called Presbyterians?\n\n23. What evils were prevailing in the colonies?\n\n24. How were they neglected?\n\n25. What was the great sin of France?\n\n26. What was the consequence of French unbelief?\n\n\nLESSON XXXIV.\n\n1. What schism arose in England?\n\n2. How has St. Paul warned us against separations?--_Romans_, xvi. 17.\n\n3. Why is it dangerous to follow any unordained minister?--_St. John_,\nx. I.\n\n4. How has our Lord taught us to cling to His Church?--_St. John_, xv. 4.\n\n5. How can we be sure that ours is a true branch of the Church?--\nA. Because our Bishops come straight from the Apostles, and our\nfaith and our Sacraments are the same as theirs, and agree with Holy\nScripture.","title":"The Chosen People: A Compendium of Sacred and Church History for School-Children","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":64401}