was rescued by Jehosheba, a sister of Ahaziah, and privately brought up in an apartment of the temple. The idolatrous Athaliah reigned more than six years, to the 98th of the Revolt, 877 B. C. During this year, by the management of the high-priest Jehoiada, the young prince was publicly anointed king in the temple, under the protection of a strong escort of well-armed Levites. Athaliah at the same time suffered the punishment of death, which she had merited by her idolatry, treason, and violent usurpation. On this occasion, the covenant with Jehovah was renewed; and the people bound themselves by an oath to observe it a precaution which had been rendered very necessary by the long continuance of an idolatrous government. (2 Kings 11. 2 Chron. 22: 9—12;-23: 1-21.)

7. Joash, or Jehoash, reigned forty years, to the 137th of the Revolt, 838 B. C. During the life of Jehoiada, the idolatry introduced by Athaliah was abolished; and, about the year 120 of the Revolt, the temple was repaired. But after the death of Jehoiada, the rulers requested toleration for the worship of idols, which Joash was weak enough to grant; and when the prophet Zechariah predicted national calamities on this account, the king was so ungrateful as to suffer him to be stoned in the court of the temple, though he was the son of Jehoiada, to whom he was indebted for his life and throne. But this ingratitude and cruelty did not prevent the fulfilment of the prophecy. Hazael, king of Syria, who then possessed all Gilead, (now Belka,) came to Jerusalem with a small body of troops; put to death the rulers who had demanded the toleration of idolatry; and returned, laden with spoil, to Damascus. Joash, who had been wounded, was slain soon after by his own servants, and denied the honours of a royal burial. (2 Kings 12. 2 Chron. 24.)

8. Amaziah reigned twenty-nine years, to 164 of the Revolt, 811 B. C. Like his father, Joash, he began well, and then degenerated. He put to death those concerned in the murder of his father, but spared their families, in obedience to the law. (Deut. 24: 16. Ezek. 18: 20.) At the admonition of a prophet, he dismissed one hundred thousand men, whom he had hired from the kingdom of Israel to assist him in a war against the Edomites. He, however, gave them the one hundred talents of silver which had been stipulated for their wages; and he then gained a decisive victory over his enemies, in the Valley of Salt, as the prophet had foretold. But when he afterwards worshipped the gods which he had taken from the Edomites, the success of his arms ceased. He engaged in a war with Jehoahaz, king of Israel, on account of the mercenary Israelitish troops, who murdered three thousand Jews, and plundered in every place through which they passed. Amaziah was defeated, and taken prisoner, at the battle of Beth-shemesh. Jehoahaz replaced the captive monarch on his throne; but he plundered Jerusalem and the temple, demolished four hundred cubits of

the city wall, and took hostages with him to Samaria. Amaziah was finally assassinated by conspirators at Lachish, whither he had fled for protection. (2 Kings 14: 1-22. 2 Chron. 25.)

9. Uzziah, also called Azariah, was raised to the throne by the people, after the death of his father, Amaziah. He was then sixteen years old; and he reigned fifty-two years, to the 216th of the Revolt, 759 B. C.* * He conquered Elath, Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod: he defeated the Arabs of Gur-baal, the Mehunims, and the Ammonites, and advanced the interests of agriculture. He was for the most part obedient to the law, though he did not demolish the unlawful altars; and on one occassion he attempted to usurp the privileges of the priesthood. For this act of impiety, he was punished with leprosy; and for the rest of his life he dwelt in a separate house. Meanwhile, the affairs of government were administered by his son Jotham. (2 Kings 15:1-7. 2 Chron. 26.)

10. After the death of Uzziah, the reign of Jotham continued sixteen years, to 232 of the Revolt, 743 B. C. He was obedient to the law: he continued the improvements of the kingdom begun by his father; he built several fortresses, and made the Ammonites tributary. In the last year of his reign, the alliance between Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, king of Damascus, was formed; but the effects of it did not appear till after his death.† (2 Kings 15: 32-38.)

11. Ahaz, the son and successor of Jotham, was the most corrupt monarch that had hitherto appeared in Judah. His reign continued sixteen years, till 247 of the Revolt, 728 B. C. He respected neither Jehovah, the law, nor the prophets; and broke through all the restraints which the law imposed on the Hebrew kings. He introduced the religion of the Syrians into Jerusalem, altered the temple in many respects according to the Syrian model, and finally shut it up. His cowardice was equal to his superstition. After he had suffered a few repulses from Pekah and Rezin, his allied foes; when the Edomites had revolted from him, and the Philistines were making incursions into his country; notwithstanding a sure promise of divine deliverance, he solicited the aid of Pul, king of Assyria. But the Assyrian king afforded Ahaz no real assistance. On the contrary, the Jewish king could scarcely purchase a release from his troublesome protector by all the riches of the temple, the nobility, and the royal treasury. (2 Kings 16. 2 Chron. 28.)

12. Hezekiah succeeded, and reigned twenty-nine years, to the 276th of the Revolt, 699 B. C. He did not follow the bad example of his father. Immediately on his accession to the throne,

The famous era of the Olympiads commenced in the thirty-fifth year of Uzziah, 153 of the Revolt, 776 B. C.

In the eleventh year of Jotham, 227 of the Revolt, 748 B. C., the cityof Rome was founded, with the destinies of which the Hebrews were one day to be so intimately connected. Others place the founding of this city 750 or 752 B. C In the year fol lowing, viz the twelfth of Jotham, 225 of the Revolt, 747 B. C., commences the era of Nabonassar, in the canon of Ptolemy.

he opened the temple, restored the worship of God, abolished idolatry, destroyed the brazen serpent of Moses, which had become an object of idolatrous worship, overthrew the altars illegally erected to Jehovah, and caused the festivals to be regularly celebrated. He built new fortifications and magazines, and supplied Jerusalem more plentifully with water by a new aqueduct. He conquered the Philistines, and shook off the Assyrian yoke, to which Ahaz had submitted. But in the fourteenth year of his reign, Sennacherib came with a large army to reduce Judah to obedience, and to conquer Egypt. Hezekiah submitted, and paid the three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold, which were required [about £287,700]. But after Sennacherib had gained possession of Ashdod, the key to Egypt, he determined to complete the subjugation of Judah. He soon reduced all the cities to his power, except Libnah and Lachish, to which he laid siege, and Jerusalem, to which he gave a very haughty summons to surrender, by his general Rabshakeh. Though to human appearance all was lost, Hezekiah still relied on the promise of divine deliverance, which was soon accomplished. A report was spread abroad that Tirhakah (Tahraka), king of Cush,—(one of the greatest heroes of all antiquity, who ruled over, not only the Arabian and African, or Ethiopian Cush, but also over Egypt, and is said to have pushed his conquests as far as the Pillars of Hercules,)—was on his march through Arabia, to attack the Assyrian territories; and soon after, 185,000 men of Sennacherib's army died in one night. (See page 19.) Sennacherib now fled to Assyria, and was soon after assassinated by his own sons, in the temple of Nisroch at Nineveh. (2 Kings 18: 19. 2 Chr. 29: 32. Isa. 36: 37.) Hezekiah soon after fell sick, but received from the prophet Isaiah a divine promise of recovery, and of an addition of fifteen years to his life. In confirmation, the king requested a miracle; and, accordingly, the shadow of the style went back ten degrees on the dial. This event was the more important, as at that time there was no heir to the crown. It was recorded in the annals of the nation, and celebrated in the thanksgiving ode of Hezekiah; and, together with the miraculous deliverance from Sennacherib, not only cured the Hebrews of the idolatry introduced by Ahaz, and retained them for some time in their fidelity to Jehovah, but also excited the admiration of all the neighbouring people. Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent an embassy to Hezekiah, to congratulate him, and make inquiry respecting this miracle. (2 Chron. 32: 2433. 2 Kings 20: 1-13. Isa. 38: 1-22;-39: 1, 2.) On this occasion, Hezekiah received the melancholy prediction of the Babylonian captivity; and that, too, at a time when Babylon was an inconsiderable kingdom (262 of the Rovolt, 713 B. c.), which was soon after subjugated by Assyria (295 of the Revolt), and when the people who were completely to fulfil this prediction were almost unknown. (2 Kings 20: 14-21. Isa. 39: 38, comp. 23: 13.)

For

13. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty-five years, to 331 of the Revolt, and 644 B. C. He put an end to all good which his father, Hezekiah, had done. He upheld idolatry so strenuously, that no king of Judah had hitherto rebelled against Jehovah in so daring a manner. this, he was defeated in a battle by the general of Esar-haddon, or Sardochæus, and carried a prisoner to Babylon. Thus began the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah, (Isa. 39: 3-8,) which was afterwards accomplished by the Chaldeans. Manasseh, during his imprisonment, repented of his wickedness; and God permitted him to be restored to his throne. Undoubtedly, he remained tributary to the Assyrian monarch, and his territory was probably made to serve as a barrier between Assyria and Egypt. He now earnestly sought to repair the injuries which he had before occasioned. He abolished idolatry, he fortified the city of Zion, and endeavoured, as far as possible, to bring his weakened kingdom into a better state. (2 Kings 21: 1-18. 2 Chron. 23: 1-20.) His son Amon again introduced idolatry; when his courtiers assassinated him, in the second year of his reign, 333 of the Revolt, 642 B. C. The people put the regicides to death, and raised to the throne Josiah, the son of Amon, then eight years old. (2 Kings 21: 19-26. 2 Chron. 33: 21-25.) 14. Josiah reigned thirty-one years, to 364 of the Revolt, 611 B. C. While a minor, the affairs of government were administered by a regent; and idolatry, if not protected, was tolerated. But in his sixteenth year, he assumed the administration, and destroyed idolatry. In his eighteenth year, while repairing the temple, the manuscript of the book of the laws, given by Moses, was found; and its curses were read to the king. After this, the reformation was forwarded with still greater zeal; and it may truly be said, that Josiah endeavoured to render idolatry for ever an object of universal disgust and abhorrence. Josiah attempted to prevent Pharaoh-Necho from marching an army through his territories to attack Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, and was killed in the battle of Megiddo. (2 Kings 23: 29, 30. 2 Chron. 35: 20-27.) After the death of Josiah (611 B. C.), the kingdom of Judah hastened to ruin. The people raised to the throne Jehoahaz, the younger son of Josiah; but three months after, Necho returned to Jerusalem from the conquest of Phoenicia, and deposed him. Necho placed Eliakim, the elder son of Josiah, on the throne, to whom he gave the name of Jehoiakim. He also levied a contribution of one hundred talents of silver, and one talent of gold, and took the deposed king with him to Egypt. From the smallness of the contribution (£43,340), it may be seen how low the kingdom of Judah had sunk. (2 Kings 23: 31-35. 2 Chron. 36: 1—4.)

15. Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, was one of the worst kings that ever ruled over Judah. His reign continued eleven years, to 375 of the Revolt, 600 B. C. In the third year after the battle of Megiddo, Pharaoh-Necho undertook a second expedition

against Nabopolassar, also called Nebuchadnezzar I., who was at this time, as Berosus relates, aged and infirm. He therefore gave up a part of his army to his son, Nebuchadnezzar II., who defeated the Egyptain host at Carchemish (Circesium) on the Euphrates, and drove Necho out of Asia. The victorious prince marched directly to Jerusalem, which was then under the sovereignty of Egypt. After a short siege, Jehoiakim surrendered, and was again placed on the throne by the Babylonian prince. Nebuchadnezzar took away part of the furniture of the temple, and carried back with him to Babylon several young men, the sons of the principal Hebrew nobles, among whom were Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, to be employed in the service of his court, and at the same time to answer the purpose of hostages. With this year (606 B. C.) commences the Babylonian captivity, which, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer. 25: 1-14;-29: 10), was to endure seventy years; and thus the prediction announced to Hezekiah more than one hundred years before, by Isaiah, received a still further accomplishment. (2 Kings 24:1-7. 2 Chron. 26:5-8. Dan. 1: 3-6. Isa. 39: 3-8.)

Three years after, Jehoiakim rebelled against Babylon, probably in reliance on assistance from Egypt; but Nebuchadnezzar came up against him, and carried him in chains to Babylon.

16. Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, raised himself to the throne; but he retained it only three months. Though he surrendered to the Chaldeans who besieged Jerusalem, he was held a close prisoner; the treasury, and the golden utensils of the temple, were carried away to Babylon; and the soldiers, artificers, nobles, and men of wealth, with their wives, children, and servants, probably amounting to forty thousand souls, were led into captivity to the river Chebar (Chaboras) in Mesopotamia. Thus, only the lower class of citizens, and the country people, were left behind;—these cherished the hope of soon being able to shake off the Chaldee yoke; and the captives looked for a speedy return to their native land. Jeremiah reproved the delusions of the former, and Ezekiel those of the latter class; but their prophecies were not believed. Zedekiah, in the ninth year of his reign, renounced his allegiance to his powerful lord, and entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt, Pharaoh-hophra (Vaphres, or Apries), the eighth of the 26th Saitic dynasty; when the Chaldee army immediately laid siege to Jerusalem. The Egyptians came up to their relief; but when Nebuchadnezzar marched against them, they returned to Egypt, without hazarding a battle. The siege was then resumed, and the city taken, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the eighteenth of the Babylonian captivity, 387 of the the Revolt, 588 B. C. Zedekiah's sons were put to death in his presence, and then his own eyes were put out, and he was led in chains to Babylon. Thus was fulfilled the somewhat enigmatical prophecy of Ezekiel, that he should go