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When, through the mountain, deep and loud
An earthquake thundered on;
The frighted eagle sprang in air,
The wolf ran howling from his lair —
God was not in the storm:

'Twas but the rolling of his car,

The trampling of his steeds from far.

"Twas still again, and nature stood

And calmed her ruffled3 frame;
When swift from heaven a fiery flood
To earth devouring came;
Down to the depth the ocean fled;

The sickening sun looked wan1 and dead-
Yet God filled not the flame:
"Twas but the terror of his eye

That lightened through the troubled sky.

"At last a voice all still and small

Rose sweetly on the ear,

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

That bade the trembling world rejoice.

CAMPBELL.

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

LESSON VIII.

THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH.

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

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

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

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

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

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DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB-711 B.C.

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

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And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide,

But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride,
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray on the rock-beating surf.

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And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail ;7
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.

1 DE-PICT'-ED, described; represented in
words.

BYRON.

casionally in Arabia and Syria, and the neighboring countries.

2 SEN-NACH'-E-RIB (sen-nak'-e-rib). Also 4 Co-HORT, a band or body of warriors. pronounced Sen-na-ke'-rib.

5 SHEEN, brightness; splendor.

3 SI-MOOM', a hot, dry wind, that blows oc-6 WAXED, became.

7 MAIL, armor; coat of steel net-work.

LESSON IX.

ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH.

1. PASSING Over a period of nearly seven hundred years from the time of the Prophet Isaiah, the inspired writer who most clearly foretells the advent1 of Christ, we come down to that remarkable period in Roman history when Augustus Cæsar ruled over all the then civilized world, and the heathen temple of Janus, always open in time of war, was closed for the third time since the foundation of Rome. It was at this auspicious period that Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, was born at Bethlehem in Judæa, then a Roman province; and thus, literally, was his advent the herald3 of "peace on earth, and good-will toward men."

2. The wonderful event of the nativity was not proclaimed to the nations like the coming of a temporal prince, but was first announced to a company of shepherds in Judæa as they watched their flocks by night. The manner of the announcement is thus related in the second chapter of Luke:

3. "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of

the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.

4. "And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddlingclothes,5 lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men."

5. The beautiful hymn beginning,

"While shepherds watched their flocks by night,"

is descriptive of the same event; but as it is doubtless already familiar to our readers, we introduce one not so generally known, but scarcely less beautiful.

THE NATIVITY.

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"Judæa's plains in silence sleep

Beneath the cloudless midnight sky,
And o'er their flocks the shepherds keep
Kind watch, to David's city nigh:
That royal city!-nobler Guest

Is she a while to entertain
Than proudest monarch, whose behest
It is o'er earthly realms to reign.
By Him salvation is to mortals given,

On earth is shed the peerless' noon of heaven.

"For see! along the deep blue arch

A glory breaks; and now a throng

From where the sparkling planets march
Comes trooping down with shout and song;
And o'er those pastures, bathed in light,
The sacred legions stay their wing,
While on the wakeful ear of night

Steals the rich hymn that seraphs sing.

And sweetly thus the mellow accents ran,

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'Glory to God, Good-will and Peace to Man!'' ΤΑΡΡΑΝ.

1 AD'-VENT, a coming; the coming of the 5 SWAD'-DLING-CLOTHES, bands wrapped Savior.

2 AU-SPI"-CIOUS, favorable; fortunate. 3 HER'-ALD, proclaimer; announcer.

4 NA-TIV'-I-TY, birth.

around an infant.

6 BE-HEST', authorized right; command.

7 PEER-LESS, unequaled.

8 TROOP'-ING, moving in a crowd.

LESSON X.

THE MIRACLES OF THE SAVIOR.

1. Or the many miracles wrought by the Savior during his ministry, as he "went about doing good," there are some that especially call forth our feelings of sympathy for the af flicted, while they at the same time direct our thoughts to Christ as the Great Physician, who was sent for the healing of the nations. Some of the finest poems in our language are descriptive of these miracles; and nowhere can be found better reading-lessons for the young than are presented in extracts from them.

2. Of the Cleansing of the Leper, we find, in the Apostle Mark,* the following brief account:

"And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed."

3. From Willis's poem, "The Leper," we extract the following:

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I. THE LEPER.

It was noon;

And Helon knelt beside a stagnant pool
In the lone wilderness, and bathed his brow,
Hot with the burning leprosy, and touched
The loathsome water to his fevered lips,
Praying that he might be so bless'd-to die!
Footsteps approached, and with no strength to flee,
He drew the covering closer on his lip,
Crying, "Unclean! unclean!" and in the folds
Of the coarse sackcloth shrouding up his face,
He fell upon the earth till they should pass.

Nearer the stranger came, and bending o'er
The leper's prostrate form, pronounced his name—
"Helon'!" The voice was like the master-tone

* Mark, i., 40-42; also Matt., viii., 2–4; and Luke, v., 12-16.

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