and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, to keep my statutes and my judgments. Howbeit, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hands he shall have one tribe, that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem; and I will make him prince, all the days of his life. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hands and will give it to thee, even the ten tribes; and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth. And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee. And I will afflict the seed of David, but not forever." This act of Ahijah soon became known to the king; and Jeroboam's life being no longer safe in his own country, he fled to the court of Egypt, and there remained until after Solomon's death.

In 975 A. C., and in the fifty-ninth year of his age, Solomon, after a reign of forty years, slept with his fathers, and was peacefully buried in the city of David. Happy for him that his death occurred before the gathering and threatening storm, that now menaced his dominions on every side, burst forth upon his beloved country! A united and devoted people had welcomed him to his throne, and his long reign had been one of almost unalloyed prosperity. His wisdom was proverbial; but his love of pomp and display, his voluptuous habits, and, above all, his sinful departure from the true God, brought misery upon his hitherto happy people, covered his own naine with reproaches, and left, probably, few to mourn his death. Still, however, in estimating his life and character, charity requires that we remember his virtues as

well as his vices-his wisdom, his generosity, and his early zeal for the worship of God, as well as his devotion to the world, and his shameful idolatry.

THE TOMB OF THE KINGS-DAVID'S SEPULCHRE
(From Lyman Abbott's Commentary.)

CHAPTER THE FIFTH.

KINGS OF ISRAEL.

SECTION I.

JEROBOAM:-Erects Altars at Bethel and at Dan for the Worship of a Golden Calf-Officiates himself as High-priest-NADAB-BAASHAFollows the Wicked Counsels of Jeroboam-ELAH-OMRI-Building of Samaria-AHAB-Marries Jezebel-Elijah the Prophet-The Wickedness of Ahab and Jezebel-The Drought-Retirement of Elijah-Challenge to the Prophets of Baal-Israel invaded by Benhadad-The Field of Naboth -Death of Ahab.

WITH the death of Solomon, the glory of the kingdom of Israel departed. That great prince, in order to support the vast expenses of his luxurious government, had been compelled, during the latter part of his reign, to impose upon his subjects a weight of taxation which nothing but his own personal authority could have induced them to bear. When Rehoboam, his son and successor, therefore, repaired, on his father's death, to Shechem, to receive the homage of all Israel, and their confirmation of his right to the crown, the princes of ten of the tribes, with Jeroboam-who had now returned from Egypt-at their head, waited upon the king, and firmly required, as the condition of their submission to his government, a reduction of their taxes. "Thy father," said they, "made our yoke grievous; now, therefore, make thou the service of thy father and the yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee."

REHOBOAM was, at this time, in the forty-first year of

his age; and his own knowledge and observation should, therefore, have led him to perceive that the request of Jeroboam and his associates was both reasonable and just, and should be at once complied with. God had, however, determined to punish the house of David for the sin of Solomon, by separating the ten tribes from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, and bestowing the government of them upon another; and he, therefore, permitted Rehoboam, in this emergency, to hearken to the advice of evil counsellors. Rehoboam seemed, at first, inclined to listen to the request of his subjects; and he, accordingly, directed them to appear before him again at the expiration of three days, informing them that he would then reply to their petition.

In the mean time, the king called together a council of the experienced statesmen, who had long been associated with his father in the government; and no sooner had the complaint of the people been communicated to them, than they advised Rehoboam to treat the request kindly, "and speak good words unto them." The younger counsellors of the king, who had grown up with him, advised him, on the contrary, to reduce the disaffected to submission by threats of increased severity; and, therefore, at the expiration of the three days, Rehoboam answered the people, through their representatives, "My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." The rebellion was entirely successful; the ten tribes, with the tribe of Ephraim at their head, immediately proclaimed Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, king; and thus, in 975 A. C., founded the kingdom of Israel, in opposition to the kingdom of Judah.

JEROBOAM was no sooner crowned king of Israel, than he selected the ancient city of Shechem, in the tribe of

Ephraim, to which he himself belonged, as the seat of his government: he had also a summer residence at Tirzah, in Manasseh. But, though thus released from its dependance upon Judah, yet the new kingdom was still under undiminished allegiance to the Almighty, and was equally bound with Judah by all the obligations of the ancient covenants. In both kingdoms we are, therefore, still to observe the continued operation of the theocratical system for the preservation of the knowledge of the true God upon the earth. Both were prospered or humbled, in proportion as their conduct advanced or retarded that great object; and as we henceforth follow their separate career, we shall have frequent occasion to observe how distinctly the scrutinizing eye of Omniscience recognizes all their doings.

JEROBOAM, whatever may have been his original intentions, prepared, soon after his elevation to the throne, to separate his kingdom entirely from the kingdom of Judah; and, as the unity of the national worship, and the custom of repairing three times a year to Jerusalem, greatly impeded his plan, he impiously resolved to establish idolatrous sanctuaries in his own kingdom. With this view, he selected Bethel, in the south part of his dominions, and Dan, in the north; and at each of these places he erected an altar, and placed upon it, after the manner of the Egyptians, a golden calf, as a symbol under which he designed that his subjects should worship the Almighty. After thus preparing his altars, Jeroboam ordered the tribes in their respective vicinity to repair to each, and, addressing himself to the people in the form of an apology for what he had done, said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."

The selection of Bethel and Dan as the seats of idola