seek to atone', in humility and solitude', for the sins of his political life''—an example'.. of the CATASTROPHE'.. of wicked', and the VANITY'.. of false', greatness'. Great'.. he unquestionably was great in the resources of a misguided spirit'great in the conception and execution of evil'-great in mischief', like the pestilence'-great in desolation', like the whirlwind'.

SECTION IX.

Bunker-Hill Monument.-WEBSTER.

Extract from a Speech delivered at the laying of the corner-stone.

WE know', indeed', that the record of illustrious actions', is most safely deposited in the universal remembrance of mankind'. We know', that', if we could cause this structure to ascend', not only till it reached the skies', but till it pierced them', its broad surfaces could still contain but a part of that which', in an age of knowledge', has already been spread over the earth', and which history charges itself with making known to all future times'. We know that no inscription', on entablatures less broad than the earth itself', can carry information of the events we commemorate where it has not already gone', and that no structure which shall not outlive the duration of letters and of knowledge among men', can prolong the memorial. But our object is', by this edifice', to show our deep sense of the value and importance of the achievements of our ancestors'; and', by presenting this work of gratitude to the eye', to keep alive similar sentiments', and to foster a constant regard for the principles of the Revolution'. Human beings are composed', not of reason only', but of imagination', also', and sentiment'; and that is neither wasted nor misapplied which is appropriated to the purpose of giving right direction to sentiments, and of opening proper springs of feeling in the heart'. Let it not be supposed', that our object is to perpetuate national hostility', or even to cherish a mere military spirit'. It is higher', purer', nobler'. We consecrate our work to the spirit of national INDEPENDENCE'; and we wish that the light of peace may rest upon it forever'. We rear a memorial of our conviction of that unmeasured benefit which has been conferred on our land', and of the happy influences which have

"At-tshëve'ments—not, -munts.

been produced', by the same events', on the general interests of mankind'. We come', as Americans', to mark a spot which must forever be dear to us and to our posterity'. We wish that whosoever', in all coming time', shall turn his eye hither', may behold that the place is not undistinguished where the first great battle of the Revolution was fought'. We wish that this structure may proclaim the magnitude and importance of that event', to every class and every age'. We wish that infancy may learn the purpose of its erection from maternal lips'; and that wearied and withered age may behold it and be solaced by the recollections which it suggests'. We wish that labour may look up here and be proud in the midst of its toil'. We wish that', in those days of disaster which', as they come on all nations', may be expected to come on us also', desponding patriotism" may turn its eyes hitherward', and be assured that the foundations of our national power still stand strong'. We wish', that this column', rising towards heaven among the pointed spires of so many temples dedicated to God', may contribute also to produce', in all minds', a pious feeling of dependance and gratitude'. We wish', finally', that the last object on the sight of him who leaves his native shore', and the first to gladden his heart who revisits it', may be something which shall remind him of the liberty and the glory of his country'. Let it rise', till it meets the sun in his coming': let the earliest light of the morning gild it', and parting day linger and play on its summit'.

SECTION X.

Hezekiah, King of Judah.-GLeig.

SAMARIA fell, and Israel ceased to be an independent state in the year 719, B. C. In the mean while, Ahaz, the impious king of Judah, had been succeeded by his son Hezekiah, a prince in every respect worthy to sit upon the throne of David. He no sooner grasped the reins of government, than he applied himself sedulously to the task of reforming the many abuses which the wickedness of his predecessors had introduced. Ahaz's idolatrous altar he withdrew from the temple, and restored the original, that of Solomon, to its place; and after cleansing the building itself from the pollutions which had been.

Stråk'tshare. Pa'trẻ-at-izm.

introduced into it, he threw open its gates for publick worship. He then summoned the priests and Levites together, ordered them to sanctify themselves according to the directions given in the law, and appointed them to offer proper sacrifices in atonement for the sins both of king and people. Not satisfied with this, after a consultation with the leading men in the nation, he determined to renew the solemn festivals which had, unhappily, fallen into disuse; and the feast of the passover was, in consequence, kept with a splendour unknown since the days of Solomon. Finally, he caused every graven image, or other symbol of idolatry, throughout his dominions, to be destroyed, involving in the common ruin, Moses' brazen serpent, which the people had latterly been induced to worship; and putting the priests in fresh courses, he restored to them and to the Levites the tithes and first fruits, which his less worthy predecessors had appropriated. In a word, Hezekiah exhibited, in all his conduct, an extraordinary zeal for the true religion; and he was rewarded by numerous and striking interpositions of divine power in his favour.

While the Assyrians were employed in the subjugation of Samaria, Hezekiah carried his arms, with signal success, against the hereditary enemies of Judea, the Philistines. From these he not only recovered all the conquests which they had made during the late war with Pekah and Rezin, but pursuing his conquests farther, dispossessed them of almost all their own territories, except Gaza and Gath. Imboldened by so much good fortune, and confident in the assistance of Jehovah, he next refused to continue the tribute to the crown of Assyria, which his father had undertaken to pay; and he was saved from, at least, the immediate consequence of his courage, by the necessity under which Shalmaneser lay of reducing certain provinces of Syria and Phoenicia, which had revolted from him. Nor was the Assyrian monarch ever in a condition to accomplish his threat of hurling Hezekiah from the throne, inasmuch as he died while carrying on the siege of Tyre, without having brought that project to a successful termination.

About this time, Hezekiah was affected with a severe distemper; and the prophet Isaiah came to him with a command from God "to set his house in order, because he would surely die." This was a mortifying announcement to an upright prince, who, entertaining no correct notions of a futured state of happiness, centred all his hopes and wishes in earthly prosSák'krẻ 'fl-zêz. Egz-hib'it-êd. Eks-tror'dě-nár-ẻ. Få'tshåre not, fù'tshår.

perity; and he accordingly prayed with fervour and bitter entreaty, that Jehovah would not carry the sentence of death into immediate execution. God was pleased to listen to the cry of his faithful vicegerent, and again sent to him the prophet Isaiah, who dressed the ulcer with which he was afflicted with a plaster of figs, and restored him to health; having previously caused the shadow to go back upon the sundial ten full degrees, in testimony that his simple remedy would prove effectual.

The pious king was scarcely recovered from his distemper, when Sennacherib, who had succeeded his father, Shalmaneser, on the throne of Assyria, advanced with a prodigious army against him. Incapable of meeting in the field a force so overwhelming, Hezekiah contented himself with throwing garrisons into his fortified towns, putting Jerusalem in a state of defence, and providing it with an ample supply of military stores, at the same time that he despatched ambassadors to solicit the alliance of So, king of Egypt, between whom and the Assyrian monarch numerous grounds of hostility existed. The latter arrangement, however, was highly disapproved by the prophet, both as it implied a want of confidence in the protection of Jehovah, and as a measure fraught with no good consequences: and of the truth of the latter declaration, no great time elapsed ere Hezekiah received the most convincing testimony. The king of Egypt made no movement whatever to support him; and Hezekiah, finding that his towns were, one after another, falling, was compelled to implore the clemency of Sennacherib, and to promise a strict submission to such terms as he should condescend to impose. But the demands of Sennacherib were at once exceedingly grievous, and made with no honest intent. He caused Hezekiah to pay a subsidy of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold; to raise which, the good king was compelled, not only to exhaust his treasury, but to strip, from the very doors of the temple, the gold with which they were adorned; and then, after a short truce, which he himself spent in conducting an expedition into Ethiopia, he renewed his hostiled intentions towards Judea. For the second time Sennacherib invested Lachish, a town of some importance in South Judah, and sent thence three of his principal officers to demand the surrender of Jerusalem itself.

b

It is not to be wondered at, if Hezekiah felt both alarmed and distressed when the insolent and blasphemous messages of which they were bearers, were delivered to him by the Assyrian generals. Hoping, however, that even now God would

•Mỏỏv'ment. Wêr-not, wåre. Egz-hàwst'. Hostil

not desert him, he carried Sennacherib's letter into the temple, and spreading it before the altar, besought Jehovah to vindicate his own honour, by humbling the pride of him who thus dared to insult him. Hezekiah was not deceived in his expectations. The prophet Isaiah came to him with a declaration that Sen. nacherib should not be permitted, under any circumstances, to accomplish his threats; and the promise was strictly fulfilled on two separate occasions. In the first instance, Sennacherib, while employed in the siege of Libnah, was alarmed by a rumour that his own dominions had been invaded by a band of Cuthite Arabians, to oppose whose progress he found it necessary to march back with all haste; and though he overthrew them in a great battle, his second attempt upon Jerusalem proved equally abortive, and more disastrous in its issue. He arrived, indeed, in the vicinity of the city, took up his position with great parade, and once more defied, by his heralds, "the living God;" but that very night the blast of the Simoom* came upon his camp, and upwards of eighty thousand of his bravest soldiers perished. Sennacherib himself did not long survive this defeat. He fled in dismay to Nineveh, where he was soon afterward murdered in the temple of the god Nisroch, by two of his sons, who made their escape into Armenia, and left the succession open to Esar-haddon, their younger brother.

Destruction of Sennacherib's Army.—BYRON.

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 sleepers'.. waxed deadly and chill',
And their hearts but once heaved', and forever grew still'.

Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote, in the cap of the Assyr ians, a hundred and four score and five thousand and when they arose early in Me morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.-Isaian.