he spoke to her kindly, and ordered his reapers to drop some of the barley in her way, so as to afford her relief in the most delicate manner.

9. Not long after this the virtuous Ruth became the wife of the wealthy Boaz; and from this union sprang Obed, the father of Jesse, who was the father of David, the royal progenitor of the Messiah. The story of Ruth conveys one of the most beautiful pictures ever drawn of fidelity and affection, while its allusions to the customs of the people of Israel present a lively view of pastoral and rural life as exhibited at that early period of history.

LESSON VI.

THE REIGN OF DAVID.

1. THE reign of David, like that of Saul, was filled with wars carried on against the surrounding heathen nations. In one of his wars David gained possession of Jebus, or Jerusalem, the strong-hold of the Jebusites; and so pleased was he with the strength and beauty of the place, that he made it the capital of his kingdom.

2. The latter part of the reign of David was clouded by domestic calamities. The child of his wife Bathsheba died; Amnon, the eldest of the royal princes, was slain by his brother Absalom; and the ambitious Absalom himself plotted against his father, and soon became the head of a formidable conspiracy. The surpassing beauty of Absalom seemed to win the hearts of the people; and it is said of him that "in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty; from the sole of his foot even unto the crown of his head there was no blemish in him."

3. No sooner was the standard of revolt raised by his misguided and unnatural son, than King David, with a few faithful followers, was compelled to flee from Jerusalem. He "went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot; and all the people that were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went."

4. Notwithstanding the prospects of success which at first encouraged Absalom, a numerous army soon assembled around King David, and the contest was to be decided by a battle. The field of struggle was the wood of Ephraim, in the great plain of Jordan. The fond father gave the strongest injunctions to his soldiers to spare his beloved son; but as Absalom fled from the field, his long and beautiful hair became entangled in an oak, and in this condition Joab, the king's captain, slew him.

5. When word was brought to David at Jerusalem that Absalom was slain, the aged king lamented the loss of his disobedient child with the most passionate sorrow; and we are told that "he went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept and as he went, thus he said: 'O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom! my son, my son.'” The scene in which David is supposed to have taken his last look of his erring but loved son, lying cold in death, and the lamentation which he there uttered, have been thus described:

6.

7.

8.

DAVID'S LAMENT FOR ABSALOM.

The pall' was settled. He who slept beneath
Was straighten'd for the grave; and, as the folds
Sunk to the still proportions, they betray'd
The matchless symmetry2 of Absalom.
His hair was yet unshorn, and silken curls
Were floating round the tassels as they sway'd
To the admitted air, as glossy now

As when, in hours of gentle dalliance, 3 bathing
The snowy fingers of Judæa's daughters.
His helm was at his feet; his banner, soil'd
With trailing through Jerusalem, was laid,
Reversed, beside him; and the jewel'd hilt,
Whose diamonds lit the passage of his blade,
Rested, like mockery, on his cover'd brow.
The soldiers of the king trod to and fro,
Clad in the garb of battle; and their chief,
The mighty Joab, stood beside the bier,
And gazed upon the dark pall steadfastly,
As if he fear'd the slumberer might stir.
A slow step startled him. He grasp'd his blade
As if a trumpet rang; but the bent form

Of David enter'd, and he gave command,

In a low tone, to his followers,

And left him with his dead. The king stood still
Till the last echo died; then, throwing off
The sackcloth from his brow, and laying back
The pall from the still features of his child,
He bowed his head upon him, and broke forth
In the resistless eloquence of woe.

9.

10.

"Alas! my noble boy! that thou shouldst die!
Thou, who wert made so beautifully fair!
That death should settle in thy glorious eye,
And leave his stillness in this clustering hair!
How could he mark thee for the silent tomb!
My proud boy, Absalom!

"Cold is thy brow, my son! and I am chill,
As to my bosom I have tried to press thee!
How was I wont to feel my pulses thrill,

Like a rich harp-string, yearning to caress thee,

11.

12.

13.

14.

And hear thy sweet 'my father!' from those dumb
And cold lips, Absalom!

"But death is on thee. I shall hear the gush
Of music, and the voices of the young;
And life will pass me in the mantling blush,

And the dark tresses to the soft winds flung;
But thou no more, with thy sweet voice, shalt come
To meet me, Absalom!

"And oh! when I am stricken, and my heart,
Like a bruised. reed, is waiting to be broken,
How will its love for thee, as I depart,

Yearn for thine ear to drink its last deep token!
It were so sweet, amid death's gathering gloom,
To see thee, Absalom!

"And now, farewell! "Tis hard to give thee up,
With death so like a gentle slumber on thee;--
And thy dark sin!-oh! I could drink the cup,
If from this woe its bitterness had won thee.
May God have called thee, like a wanderer, home,
My lost boy, Absalom!"

He covered up his face, and bowed himself
A moment on his child; then, giving him
A look of melting tenderness, he clasped
His hands convulsively, as if in prayer.
And, as if strength were given him of God,
He rose up calmly, and composed the pall
Firmly and decently-and left him there,
As if his rest had been a breathing sleep.

N. P. WILLIS.

1 PALL, the cloth thrown over a dead body 4 SACK'-CLOTH, a coarse cloth used in mournat funerals.

ing.

2 SYM'-ME-TRY, beauty of form; a due pro- 5 MAN'-TLING, rising; spreading as a blush portion of the several parts to each other. spreads over the face. 3 DAL'-LI-ANCE, acts of fondness.

6 STRICK'-EN, cast down; far gone with age.

LESSON VII.

THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.

1. THE prosperity of the Hebrews as a nation ended with the death of Solomon, the son and successor of King David. When Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, came to the throne, the ten northern tribes revolted, choosing Jeroboam as their king; and from this time Israel and Judah, with which latter

was united part of the tribe of Benjamin, were separate kingdoms. The separation thus effected is called "The Revolt of the Ten Tribes."

2. The subsequent princes of the kingdom of Israel, as the ten tribes were called, were all idolaters in the sight of the Lord, although from time to time they were warned of the consequences of their idolatry by the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, and others.

3. The history of Elijah is one of exceeding interest. Fleeing before the wicked Ahab, he was miraculously fed by ravens in his concealment; he restored to life the son of the widow who generously gave him a share of her little store; he caused the false prophets of Baal to be put to death; and when he fled from the wicked Jezebel into the wilderness, he witnessed there some wonderful manifestations of Divine power; and, finally, he was taken up alive into heaven.

4. The scene in the wilderness, when he was commanded to go forth and stand upon Mount Horeb before the Lord, is thus described in the Bible. "And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."

The poet Campbell has made the following beautiful paraphrase1 of this passage:

5.

6.

ELIJAH'S INTERVIEW WITH GOD.

"On Horeb's rock the prophet stood-
The Lord before him passed;

A hurricane in angry mood

Swept by him strong and fast;
The forest fell before its force,
The rocks were shiver'd in its course-
God was not in the blast:

Announcing danger, wreck, and death,
'Twas but the whirlwind of his breath.

"It ceased. The air grew mute-a cloud
Came, muffling up the sun;