praise of the Lord." In the course of time, that event occurred with which we are all familiarly acquainted-the separation of the Jewish state, after the death of Solomon, into two kingdoms: the ten revolted tribes retaining the name of Israel; and the two that remained, adhering to the designation of the superior tribe, being denominated the kingdom of Judah. Samaria was the metropolis of one settlement, Jerusalem of the other; and the rival states continued to grow in disaffection towards each other, religious as well as political. The sacred history gives us a regular account of the successive kings of each, elucidating their characters, and their influence upon their subjects; thus exhibiting a vivid portrait of the workings of the human heart in the vast arena of society at large, and pointing out, most strenuously and impressively, the effect of the example set by men of exalted rank and station.

Manasseh was the fifteenth, in succession, of the kings of Judah. He came to the throne upon the death of his father Hezekiah. And, as the text informs us, he was only twelve years of age at this important crisis of his history. Then ensues the catalogue of his various abominations,

which I will endeavour to recount and explain to you in order, as they stand in this sacred record of the aberrations of a youthful king.

First, "He built again the high places." God Almighty had commanded that his people should

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utterly destroy the high places," and resort to his tabernacle alone, for offering their sacrifices. But why was the divine command so urgent against even the hallowed use of those elevated portions of the earth, which his own hand had created, as well as the plains and the valleys? The temple of Jerusalem was itself situated on a mount; and Christ ascended the lofty eminences of the desert, when he retired from the haunts of men, to hold converse with his heavenly Father. There is a native sanctity-a serene grandeur-inherent in the stately swell of mountainous ridges, stretching upward to the starry sphere, seeming to carry both soul and body nearer to the throne of the Eternal, and infusing into the mind all its best and most exalted tendencies. Why then such indignation expressed by the Omnipotent against the employment of these majestic solitudes to his own honour?

Remember, brethren, the Jews were chosen

out of the surrounding nations of idolaters, to be God's peculiar people. And these heathens had, from the earliest times, been accustomed to consider the high places places as the chosen residence of their deities. He, therefore, who knew the evil tendencies of his creature man far better than man himself could comprehend them, wisely and graciously determined, that he should be withdrawn from the very vestiges of idolatrous rites, and the temptations ensuing from frequent visits to the places where they were performed. Assuredly, then, it was an act of most rebellious audacity in Manasseh, to restore the high places, against which the Almighty had so strongly denounced his wrath and displeasure.

Secondly. We are informed that "he reared up altars for Baalim." This word is the plural form of Baal-which was the idol deity of the Phoenicians -and it signifies lord or master. The Babylonians worshipped the same false god under the appellation of Bel. And the term was perpetuated among the great men of Carthage, which was a colony of the Phoenicians, in the termination of their names--such as Hannibal, Asdrubal, Adherbal--agreeably to the custom of adding to the

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designation of illustrious men the title of their god. Thus was a heathen idol put in competition with the Lord of heaven and earth. And the king of a chosen race not only built the high places; but, that there might be no ambiguity respecting his idolatrous intention, he advanced a second step in the march of iniquity-constructing altars in honour of the most notorious of the heathen gods.

Thirdly, "He worshipped the host of heaven, and built altars for them in the two courts of the house of the Lord."

There is a semblance of divinity in the visible splendour of the sun, moon, and stars, which is apt to make a deep impression on every mind. The Creator of these stupendous bodies foresaw the influence which would thus be exercised on the heart of fallen man; and he, therefore, strongly cautioned his people against yielding to this delusion. "Take ye good heed unto yourselves, lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them." This uncompromising edict was also set at nought by

Manasseh. For he not only adored these material objects, but profaned the very temple of the Lord by erecting therein altars for all the host of heaven," thus fearlessly and unblushingly avowing his total alienation from the God of the universe who had seated him on the throne of his fathers.

Fourthly. His next recorded crime is "causing his children to pass through the fire, in the valley of the son of Hinnom." This valley was

situated at the foot of Mount Sion. The Ammonites had an idol to which they gave the name of Moloch, intended to represent the sun; and they dedicated their children to this fabulous deity, by passing them over, or before, a fire kindled for the purpose of exhibiting a sensible emblem, in a concentrated state, of his peculiar properties of light and heat. The Jews, in their intercourse with these Canaanites, had become infected with their idolatrous practices, and it was one of the standing precepts of Jehovah, that they should not "cause their children to pass through the fire." Whether, in the performance of this horrid ceremony, the children were actually burnt to death, is very question