pareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.' And the Lord hearkened to the prayer of Hezekiah, and healed the people." He accepted their sincere intention to honor him in the service, and overlooked the irregularity which arose not from indifference or carelessness, but from necessity.

If "the sacrifice of a broken heart" was accepted under a religion encompassed with forms, even though there were some deviations from the established ritual in the outward act; how much more will it be accepted now, under a system which makes far less account of the place or the mode, than of the spirit in which men worship? We have a High-priest who can "be touched with the feeling of our infirmities," and will not break "the bruised reed." Had Hezekiah thought the form of worship every thing, he would not have suffered these persons to partake of the passover; had he thought it nothing, he would not have prayed for their pardon. With that happy moderation which ever attends true zeal, he combined earnest regard for the glory of God with compassion for the weaknesses of men. Some might censure him as lax and yielding; but if he was lax, it was in little things, that he might be rigid in greater; and if yielding, it was in comparative trifles, in order to gain what is beyond all price.

How dignified was the conduct of Hezekiah on this occasion! Before princes and people he was not ashamed to stand up and offer supplications to Jehovah in behalf of the returning wanderer. How would others be encouraged to lead the erring back to his service by this example of their king! Rulers of a Christian nation never appear in an attitude more becoming their high station and more respected by the world, than when they invite the people to join them in a thank-offering to God for his mercies, or in deprecating his judgments and acknowledging his righteous government. This is real dignity. The good alone are great."

By its original appointment the passover continued seven days; but only the first and last were properly considered festival days, in which no employment, further than was necessary to prepare food, was permitted. On this occasion, however, the whole seven days seem to have been devoted to sacred purposes. The Levites, encouraged by the kind words of Hezekiah, "taught the good knowledge of the Lord" to the people by reading and explaining the law; and from day to day the courts of the temple resounded with songs of praise and confession to the Lord God of their fathers. Peaceofferings were also presented in abundance. At the stated time of the passover, the barley was usually ripe, and after a sheaf of it had been offered at the temple on the second day of the feast, many

were accustomed to return to gather in their grain. At the time of the passover kept by Hezekiah, the wheat was probably ripe; yet such was the zeal and gladness of the people, that none of them seem to have thought of going home to harvest it. Even when the seven days were ended, they were not willing to return to their secular business. Many of them were ignorant, and needed to be taught; many were weak, and needed to be confirmed in the purpose to abandon idolatry; but on the distant hills and along the secluded valleys there would be few to instruct them or to encourage them by their sympathy. So with one consent they determined to continue together seven days longer. The king and princes contributed freely for the additional sacrifices upon which the people feasted, and the period was spent in the same concord and joy. Jerusalem had not presented such a scene of solemnity and sacred mirth since the days of Solomon; and sadness filled the heart of many an inhabitant of the holy city, as company after company took their departure with the music of cymbals and the voice of praise.

The paschal lamb was a type of Christ, whom the apostle terms our passover sacrificed for us." Through his blood we are saved from the wrath of God against sin, as the Israelites, by sprinkling the blood of the paschal lamb on their door-posts, were saved from the judgments inflicted on the Egyptians.

By

In him the Christian finds peace, gladness, and salvation. On his flesh he feeds by faith, and is nourished in the divine life. Like Hezekiah, too, he is not satisfied to sit down alone at the feast. conversation with one, by correspondence with another, he invites them to participate in his own blessedness. The latter mode of address he often finds the most efficient, and it is sometimes the only one he can employ with propriety. In some cases he can thus express himself more freely and fully than conversation will permit; nor is there room for the devices so often employed to efface impressions made by reproof from the lips. A note silently placed in the hand of a friend, or sent to him at a distance, will often be received with gratitude not only for the admonition or advice itself, but for the delicate manner in which it is given. Persons of limited talents and education, who would shrink from writing an essay or a sermon, may win souls to Christ by letters, plain indeed in language, but powerful from the warm impulses of a pious heart.

CHAPTER IV.

HEZEKIAH SUPPRESSES IDOLATRY.

MEN at first worshipped in groves and elevated places. Thus Noah built an altar on Ararat, where the ark rested; and Abraham, on entering the promised land, built an altar on a mountain between Bethel and Ai. He planted a grove also in Beer-sheba, and called on the name of the Lord. Groves, hills, and mountains, especially in warm climates, seem well adapted for worship, as they are cool, retired, and favorable to devotional feeling; but as idolatry with its abominations prevailed among the heathen, it became needful to prohibit the Israelites from offering sacrifices anywhere but on the altar at the tabernacle or temple. Such, however, was the attachment of the nation to the forbidden worship, that even pious kings did not venture to abolish the high places. a distance from Jerusalem disliked to be confined to the worship at the temple; and if they were prevented from having places for offerings to the Lord in their own neighborhoods, they would be tempted to resort to the altars of the heathen who still dwelt in the land. The united reigns of the four kings who preceded Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, included a period of 137 years. The history com

The people at