to Jerusalem he went to it and offered sacrifices on it. He even took away the

altar of the

Lord from its
Lord from its place in the

court, to make room for the idol's altar.

After this Ahaz sinned more and more. He destroyed the lavers which Solomon had made to hold water in the court of the temple; he took down the great sea of brass from the backs of twelve oxen on which it rested, and set it on the pavement of the court. He also carried out from the temple the sacred vessels of gold and silver, and cut them in pieces. In every corner of Jerusalem he set up his idols. And because of all this there was great sorrow in the land; and glad indeed were the people when Ahaz died and his son Hezekiah was made king.

A PSALM OF LIFE.

Tell me not in mournful numbers,
"Life is but an empty dream!"
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the

grave.

-Longfellow.

242

DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIANS.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

-Longfellow.

to open

Hezekiah did what was right and pleasing to the Lord. His first good act, as soon as he was made king, was the doors of the temple which his father Ahaz had shut up, and call the priests and Levites, who had been sent away from the temple, to come and cleanse it and put it in order, that God might be worshipped there again. "For," said he, " our fathers have done wrong; they have shut up the doors of the temple, and have put out the lamps; they have not burned incense or

offered

burnt offerings. The Lord has been angry with us, and sent us trouble and shame, as you have seen; our men have been killed by our enemies, and our sons and daughters have been led away captive on account of these things. And now let us make a promise and a covenant with the Lord to obey Him, so that He may not be angry with us. Therefore, ye priests and Levites, be diligent and made haste to cleanse and open the house of the Lord; for you are the ones whom He has chosen to

go into His house and attend to His worship."

Then the priests, when they heard what the king said, went into the inner part of. the temple. They began their work on the first day of the month, and on the sixteenth day they came to the king, saying, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord,

and the altar and the table on which is set the shewbread. The vessels of gold and silver that Ahaz took away we have put together, and all things are ready now for the worship of the Lord."

Then King Hezekiah rose early in the morning and called the rulers of the city. Together they went up to the temple, and took with them seven bullocks and seven rams, seven lambs and seven goats. These Hezekiah commanded the priests to offer upon the altar as a sacrifice for all the people's sins. Then Hezekiah bade the priests and the Levites in the temple to play upon instruments and sing praises to the Lord. The offering began to burn on the altar; the songs of praise began with music from the cymbals, the harps, and the trumpets, which which the priests and Levites