his mercy for acceptance, and in his power for protection. Go on in this manner, and thine enemies will fall before thee, thy trials will prove thy gain, and thy very sorrows will enrich thy soul.

It is painful to have to observe, in conclusion, that Jehoshaphat yielded at length to the evil of which he had nearly fallen the victim in times past, namely, intimacy with the wicked. He joined himself to Ahaziah, king of Israel, "who did very wickedly," and he entered into partnership with him in trade for the gold of Ophir. A prophet was commissioned to shew him the Lord's dis

pleasure. "Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go Tarshish."

It is a wise remark of Bishop Hall, "I may have a bad acquaintance, but I will never have a wicked companion." Reader, evil companions will work in thee an insensible falling away to ill. Take care then that thou join not with the ungodly and with them that love not the Lord.-Pity, pray for, and mourn over the wicked, but choose them not for thy companions or intimates.

K

Thou canst not indeed be entirely without intercourse with the wicked; but guard against being tempted to enter needlessly into their society. If thou really lovest the Lord, thou wilt find no pleasure in the company of the wicked. If thou art a sincere Christian, it will give thee great pain to hear thy Maker's name blasphemed, and the best things laughed at or neglected. If thou canst do the wicked good, if thou canst be the means of leading them into the right course, this may be a reason for being found in their society. For such purposes Christ himself did eat and drink with publicans and sinners. But closely question thy motives; and beware lest thy soul suffer loss.-Reflect, that it is thy duty to honour God, and to uphold his religion in the world, to let thy light so shine before men that they, seeing thy good works, may be led to glorify him. Cultivate not then the society of the wicked. Maintain a conduct void of offence both towards God and man. Love not the world Prize the next life. Live for eternity. Walk in the fear of God, and thou wilt not need the society of the wicked to cheer thee. Forsake the foolish

and live. Thou mayest then expect that the Lord will bless thee, and give thee to know, by happy experience, the comforts of his religion here, and the glory of it hereafter.

MANASSE H.

THE history of Manasseh, which is recorded in the twenty-first chapter of the second book of Kings, and in the thirty-third chapter of the second book of Chronicles, is comprised in few verses, nevertheless it is full of valuable instruction.

Manasseh was, we learn, only twelve years of age when he succeeded his father Hezekiah on the throne of Judah. Trained up by so wise and religious a parent, under the eye of holy prophets and priests, under the shadow of the temple of God, it might have been expected that he would have been an imitator of his father's goodness, a pattern and a blessing to his country. But alas! we read of him, that "he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen." In contempt of Hezekiah's

memory, he rebuilt the high places which had been piously destroyed, "reared up altars for Baal, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them." And moreover, in order, as it were, to insult more directly the God of heaven, he built altars to his idols not only in Jerusalem, where the Lord had recorded his name, but even in the courts of the temple itself. Nor was this wicked conduct of short continuance; for we read that he made" his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Himmon;" that is, he offered them as sacrifices to Moloch, either by the horrible rites of burning to death, or of passing through fire, by which they would necessarily endure much torture. Further, he " used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards:" that is, with those who pretend to hold communication with invisible agents. These sinful impostors were his oracles; and to such a length did he proceed, that he committed himself, and seduced his people to do, 66 more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel." Nor was this all; he shed "innocent blood very much, till he had filled t An idol worshipped by the Heathen nations.