Well indeed was it for King Hezekiah that he did not foresee, though he may have feared (see previous homily), the character and the course of his son and successor. Had he done so, not all his riches and honour, not all his treasuries and storehouses, not all his flocks and herds, not all his watercourses and other works, would have removed sorrow from his heart. There has never, in any land, been a greater change, a sadder reaction, than that experienced by Judah when the godly Hezekiah was succeeded by the apostate Manasseh. It is true, indeed -

I. THAT PITY AS WELL AS BLAME MAY BE EXTENDED TO THE YOUNG KING. He was but twelve when he ascended the throne of Judah. He was far too young to encounter the peculiar temptations of sovereignty; and there was much excuse for him if, at that tender age, he allowed his own youthful inclinations to be overborne by the counsels of those so much older and so much more experienced than himself. In view of his circumstances, we may commiserate as much as we condemn him. No one need wish to occupy a higher position than his years, his experience, his training, have fitted him to fill. Its honours and its emoluments, however great they may he, are of no account at all in view of the immense disadvantage at which such a one is placed, and of the temptations to which he is exposed. Let youth wait its time; let it not seize the opportunity before the hour is ripe; let it understand that the position of subjection, of apprenticeship, of culture (special or general), is a far happier and far wiser one for the present, and that it is the one hope of a really prosperous and honourable career.

II. THAT MORAL EVIL MAY BE HIT VERY HARD, AND YET NOT BE SLAIN. Nothing will account for the speedy apostasy of Judah but the supposition that there was a vigorous idolatrous party at court, or that beneath the outward conformity of the previous reign there was a secret and yet strong inclination toward the practices of the time of Ahaz, Hezekiah did well to put down the altars and the "high places" with the unsparing energy he showed. But it was proved once more that it is one thing to remove the temptation and another thing to change the character. No reformer must be satisfied until he has reason to be convinced that sin is rooted out of the heart as well as taken out of the hand, that righteousness is loved within as well as manifested without.

III. THAT SIN LEADS RAPIDLY DOWN FROM BAD TO WORSE. It is painful, indeed, to think of the lad carefully cultured in Hebrew ways of piety and morality going down into such sad depths of sin and shame as are indicated in the text (vers. 3, 4, 5, 7). Not all at once, but by somewhat rapid stages, he went on and down from the piety and purity of his boyhood to the "depths of Satan," as they may be called. That is too often the lamentable course of sin. It takes but a few years for the soul that was taught to hate iniquity and to shrink from its touch to become familiar with its phases and to become an adept in its practices. The "monster of the hideous mien," when we have become

"... familiar with its face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace." Shun the first step that leads down the evil slope.

IV. THAT SIN BECLOUDS THE INTELLECT WHILE IT DEGRADES THE SOUL. Manasseh "used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit," etc. (ver. 6). When men leave the rational service of the one Lord of all, and betake themselves either to superstition or to unbelief, they are very apt to yield themselves up to the greatest follies; to accept theories and to practise arts which a very moderate share of intelligence condemns as childish and vain. Only in the way of Divine truth shall we tread the path of human wisdom; once out of that track we lose our way, and wander in labyrinths of folly and of error. With Jesus Christ for our Teacher, we shall shun those byways of folly which would dishonour and degrade us.

V. THAT ONE SINFUL SOUL MAY WORE A WORLD OF HARM. "So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen," etc. (ver. 9). Perhaps those who first used their influence to withdraw him from the service of Jehovah shrank from some of the "developments" of their own work; but when we send a human spirit on a downward course, we little know whither that course will lead, or in what it will end. There are scarcely any limits to the evils which one bad life may work or start. Heavy indeed is the responsibility, great is the guilt, of those who lead the young astray, and send them along a path where they not only err and fail themselves, but scatter broadcast the seeds of sin and sorrow. - C.

There are two great mistakes prevalent amongst men, one is an over-estimation of the secular, the other a depreciation of the spiritual. Man is one, and all his duties and interests are concurrent and harmonious; the end of Christianity is to make men happy body and soul, here and hereafter.

I. THE ELEVATION OF THE SECULAR AND THE DEGRADATION OF THE SPIRITUAL. Here is a man at the height of secular elevation. He is raised to a throne, called to sway his sceptre over a people the most enlightened, and in a country the most fertile and lovely on the face of the earth. In the person of this Manasseh, you have secular greatness in its highest altitude and most attractive position. But in connection with this you have spiritual degradation. Penetrate the gaudy trappings of royalty, look within, and what see you? A low, wretched, infamous spirit, a spirit debased almost to the lowest point in morals.

1. Look at him socially. How acted he as a son? His father, Hezekiah, was a man of undoubted piety — a monarch of distinguished worth. His sire was scarcely cold in his grave, before the son commenced undoing in the kingdom all that his pious father had for years endeavoured to accomplish. "He built up again the high place which Hezekiah his father had destroyed," etc. How did he act as a parent? Was he anxious for the virtue and happiness of his children? No, "he caused his children to pass through the fire of the son of Hinnom."

2. Look at him religiously — dupe of the most stupid imposture. "He observed times and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards."

3. Look at him politically ruining his country, provoking the indignation of heaven." So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel." This elevation of the secular, and the degradation of the spiritual, so manifest in the life of this monarch, and so manifest, alas, in all times and lands, is not destitute of many grave and startling suggestions. First: It shows the moral disorganisation of the human world. This state of things can never be, according to the original plan of the creation. A terrible convulsion has happened to the human world; a convulsion that has thrown every part in disorder. "All the foundations of the earth are out of course." The social world is in a moral chaos. The Bible traces the cause, and propounds the remedy of this terrible disorganisation. Secondly: It shows the perverting capability of the soul. The greater the amount of worldly good a man possesses, the stronger is the appeal of the Creator for his gratitude and devotion. Moreover, the larger the amount of worldly wealth and power, the greater the facilities as well as the obligations to a life of spiritual intelligence, holiness, and piety. The perverting capability of the soul within us, may well fill us with amazement and alarm. Thirdly: It shows the high probability of a judgment. Under the government of a righteous monarch, will vice always have its banquets, its purple, and its crown? Will the great Lord allow His stewards to misappropriate His substance, and never call them to account?

II. THE DEGRADATION OF THE SECULAR, AND THE ELEVATION OF THE SPIRITUAL. The judgment of God, which must ever follow sin, at length overtook the wicked monarch. The Assyrian army, under the direction of Esarhaddon, invaded the country, and carried all before it. The miserable monarch quits his palace and his throne, flies in terror of his life, and conceals himself in a thorn brake. Here he is discovered. He is bound in chains, transported to Babylon, and there cast into prison. Here is secular degradation. First: That man's circumstances are no necessary hindrances to conversion. If the question were asked, What circumstances are the most inimical to the cultivation of piety? I should unhesitatingly answer — Adversity. I am well aware indeed that adversity, as in the case before us, often succeeds in inducing religious thoughtfulness and penitence when prosperity has failed. But, notwithstanding this, I cannot regard adversity itself as the most suited to the cultivation of the religious character. Sufferings are inimical to that grateful feeling and spiritual effort which religious culture requires. It is when the system bounds with health, when Providence smiles on the path, that men are in the best position to discipline themselves into a godly life. But here we find a man in the most unfavourable circumstances — away from religions institutions, and friends, and books, an ironbound exile in a pagan land — beginning to think of his ways, and directing his feet into the paths of holiness. Such a case as this meets all the excuses which men offer for their want of religion. It is often said, "Were we in such and such circumstances, we would be religious." The rich man says, "Were I in humble life, more free from the anxieties, cares, responsibilities, and associations of my position, I would live a godly life; whilst the poor, on the other hand, says, with far more reason, "Were my spirit not pressed down by the crushing forces of poverty; had I sufficient of worldly goods to remove me from all necessary anxiety, I would give my mind to religion, and serve my God." The man in the midst of excitement and bustle of commercial life, says, "Were I in a more retired situation, in some moral region away from the eternal din of business — away in quiet fields, and under clear skies, amidst the music of birds and brooks, I would serve my Maker." The fact, after all, is that circumstances are no necessary hindrances or helps to a religious life. Secondly: That heaven's mercy is greater than man's iniquities.

III. THE CONCURRENT ELEVATION BOTH OF THE SPIRITUAL AND THE SECULAR. The Almighty hears his prayer. He is emancipated from his bondage, brought back to his own country, and restored to the throne of Israel. There he is now with a true heart, in a noble position — a real great man occupying a great office. This is a rare scene; and yet the only scene in accordance with the real constitution of things and the will of God. It seems to me that if man had remained in innocence, his outward position would always have been the product and type of his inner soul. Manasseh's restoration to the throne, and the work of reformation to which he sets himself, suggests two subjects for thought. First: The tendency of godliness to promote man's secular elevation. The monarch comes back in spirit to God, and God brings him back to his throne. As the material condition of men depends upon their moral, improve the latter, and you improve the former. As the world gets spiritually holier, it will get secularly happier. Secondly: The tendency of penitence to make restitution. Concerning Manasseh it is thus written: "Now, after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish-gate," etc. Here is restitution, and an earnest endeavour to undo the mischief which he had wrought. Thus Zaceheus acted, and thus all true penitents have ever acted and will ever act. True penitence has a restitutionary instinct. But how little, alas! of the mischief done can be undone!

(Homilist.)