Esther. An interesting history of a young Jewess, who became the successful advocate of her injured countrymen at the court of the Persian king. Esther is dated B. C. 510.

Job. The History of a pious and patient Arabian.

Psalms. Hebrew poems of David and other devout men.

Proverbs. Wise maxims of Solomon.

Ecclesiastes. Moral and religious instructions, and reflections of king Solomon.

Song of Solomon. A poetical composition dif ficult to explain.

Isaiah. The prophecy of an inspired man who lived during the reigns of four kings of Judah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. This prophecy relates to the punishments and misfortunes which awaited the people of Judah on account of their disobedience, and also describes the glory of Christ's kingdom when he should appear at a time, then future. The book of Isaiah is dated from B. C. 760 to 698.

Jeremiah. The prophecy of Jeremiah lasted from B. C. 629 to 588. He foretold the calamities of his countrymen, instructed them how to conduct themselves towards their conquerors, and also foretold events that happened to other nations.

Lamentations. A melancholy poem of Jeremiah upon the captivity of his countrymen.

Ezekiel. The prophecy of Ezekiel relates not only to his countrymen the Jews, to their misfor

tunes and their restoration to their native land, but to punishments from God which overtook Assyria, Egypt, and Tyre. Ezekiel is in some passages very obscure. This prophecy was uttered in Chaldea, as Babylon is sometimes called, and is dated from B. C. 594 to 574.

Daniel. Daniel was a Jewish captive educated at Babylon. The book of Daniel relates the prophet's courage and fortitude, and his attachment to the religion of the true God. This prophecy foretold the coming of Christ and the destruction of several kingdoms which would successively arise in the world. The last date of this book is B. C. 534.

Hosea. This prophecy is dated B. C. 750; it relates to the sins and punishments of Judah and Israel.

Joel. Is dated B. C. 800. It is an exhortation to repentance as well as a warning against punishments.

Amos, is dated B. C. 787, and like Joel the prophet reproves his countrymen for their sins.

Obadiah. The vision of Obadiah foretells the punishment of the Edomites, enemies to their neighbours of Judea. The date is B. C. 585.

Jonah. This prophecy was the warning of a Hebrew to Nineveh, a city of Asia, to forsake her sins in order to avoid the divine vengeance: it' bears date B. C. 862.

Micah. This prophet was contemporary with Isaiah, he declares the displeasure of God against the children of Israel, and is supposed to describe the kingdom of Christ. Micah is dated B. C. 750.

Nahum. A prophecy against Nineveh, dated B. C. 713.

Habakkuk. This prophet expresses God's displeasure against the wicked, and his own confidence in the unfailing goodness of his Maker. The prophecy is dated B. C. 626.

Zephaniah is an obscure prophecy denouncing God's anger against divers nations for their sins, dated B. C. 630.

Haggai and Zechariah, dated B. C. 520, these prophecies are obscure, though Zechariah is supposed to intimate the coming of Christ.

Malachi, the last of the prophets, reproves his countrymen for their corrupt worship of God, and promises them a prophet who shall turn their hearts. This prophet is supposed to be John the Baptist, who began to preach, and to prepare the minds of people for the preaching of Christ, a short time before our Saviour commenced his ministry, about four hundred years after Malachi.

LESSON VI.

Jewish History.

The Bible is a book of history, of morals, and of religion. It is properly divided into the law, the Prophets, the Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse. The history, in the Old Testament is that of the Hebrews, with some brief notices of the small nations which surrounded the country of Judea; some mention is also made in

the Old Testament of Egypt, of Syria, and of Assyria. Assyria is mentioned under different names Chaldea, Babylon, Media, and Persia.

2. The most accurate researches into geography do not enable us to distinguish these territories by different and precise boundaries. The country which lay north of the Persian gulf, along the Euphrates and Tigris, was that where the great cities of Babylon and Nineveh stood, whither the Jews were carried captives, and whence only about fifty thousand of them ever returned.

3. Syria is not more exactly known-it lay to the north east of Palestine-Damascus was one of its cities; its gods were among the favourite idols of the Hebrews when they became idolaters, and frequent wars were carried on between them and the Syrians; however a more peaceable intercourse, at times subsisted among them, for in the second book of Kings it is related that Naaman, a Syrian, went confidently into Samaria to be healed by the Israelitish prophet Elisha.

4. The history of the Jews does not appear plain to most readers, but it may be readily comprehended by means of a clear notion of the country they inhabited, and by some points of time fixed in the memory.

5. The Jews derive their beginning from Abraham who was appointed by God to be the father of their nation, B. C. 1921. The descendants of Abraham were not increased to sufficient numbers to form an independent state till B. C. 1451four hundred and seventy years after the appointment of Abraham. You may easily learn their history during this time, it is briefly this.

6. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac of

Jacob, Jacob of twelve sons who were the heads of the families of the Hebrew nation, or of the twelve tribes of Israel. The descendants of these twelve sons of Jacob lived in Egypt two hundred and fifteen years; they then left that country under the conduct of Moses, wandered about in the Arabian wilderness forty years, and conquered Canaan under Joshua B. C. 1451.

7. The Hebrews were commanded by God utterly to destroy seven nations who inhabited Canaan, and to take possession of the country, which was then to be divided into twelve parts, and allotted to the different families. Ten parts among the descendants of ten of Jacob's sons and the other two parts were to be given to half tribes, one bearing the name of Ephraim, the other of Manasseh, the sons of Joseph.

8. A map of Canaan represents the country laid out in the twelve parts, bearing the names of the tribes which occupied them. Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon: Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Ashur, Benjamin, and the half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. The tribe of Levi had its portion among all the others.

9. The lands were divided among these tribes according to the number of families in each: and these families were divided into tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands, each having leaders called princes of the tribes. The Levites or priests were distributed through the different tribes as teachers of religion, and the leaders of the tribes were magistrates who enforced the laws.

10. Moses had died before the Israelites entered the land, which is called the Promised land, because God promised Abraham that his descen