young king and hea~ the hnrrahs of the crowd, she felt that her atrocious plans had been frustrated, and m her savage humiliation rent her clothes end cried "Treason I Treason! " But her hour was over; she was too late to rally a party in f~VOUl' of her own interest, and ~y the co!11~and of the priest she was instantly re!lloved and violently destroyed. In this woman s life, as here sketched, we have hereditary depmvity out- witted wickedness, and ;"ust retrwution. ' I. HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY. We find in this woman Athaliah, the infernal ten- dencies of her father and her mother, Ahab and Jezebel. Though they had been swept as monsters from the earth, and were now lying in the grave, their hellish spirit lived and worked in this their daughter. It is, alas! often so. We have an immortality in others, as well as in ourselves. The men of long-forp:otten generations still live in the present. Even the moral pulse of Adam throbs in all. By this fact we are reminded : 1. That the 'TTIIJral qualities of parents may become physical tendencies in their children. The man who voluntarily (and all moral qualities are voluntary productions) contracts habits of falsehood, dishonesty, profanity, incontinence, drunkenness, and general intemperance, transmits these to his children as physical tendencies. 'fhis is marvel- low;, but patent to every observer of society and student of history. Who cannot refer to both men and women who have received an unappeasable craving for strong drinks by the drunken habits contracted by their pa.rents? 2. That the evil moral qualities of parents, reappearing in their children in the form of physical tendencies, is no complete jwtijicationfor the chadren's wickedness. This is clear: (1) From the fact that God has endowed all with sufficient force to control all physical tendencies, Most men have sufficient mental faculties to quench the strongest physical passion. (2) From the personal consciousness of every sinner. When the conscience is quickened, the greatest liar, debauchee, drunkard, thief, becomes filled with compunctions for the crimes com- mitted. Every sigh of remorse on account of sin is a testimony to the power of the human mind to control the passions. (3) From the Divine Word as found in the &riptures. "Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." "He that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he bath done : and there is no respect of persons." 3. That the way to raise the hu1TU1,n race is to improve their =al qualities. Indoctrinate men's souls with truth, benevolence, piety, chastity, purity, etc., and yon help on the race to its millennium. And in no other way. The gospel is the instrument for this. II. OorwrnED WICKEDNESS. No doubt this woman, who thought she had destroyed all the" seed royal," considered she had made her way to the throne clear and secure. For six long years she had no conception that one had escaped her bloody purpose. Now it was revealed to her, and her disappointment maddens her with vengeance, and excites the desperate cry, "Treason! Treason!" It is ever so. " He disappointeth the devices of the crafty." History abounds with the examples of the bafflement of wrong. The conduct of Joseph's brethren, Ahitbophel, Sanballat, Haman, and the Jewish San- hedrin in relation to Christ, are instances. Sa.tan, the arch-enemy of the universe, will exemplify this through all the crises of his accursed future. A piece of conduct, wrought by the highest human skill and earnest" industry, if not in accord with the immutable principles of right and truth, can no more succeed in its purpose than a house can stand, which is built regardless of the resist!ess ln.ws of gravitation. The architecture may look well, the materials be most precious, and the production be most castly, yet down it must come, and confound the builder. Craftiness uses lies as con- cealment and defence, but the eternal Jaw of Providence makes them snares. One lie lead£ to another, and so on, until they become so numerous that the author involves himself in contradictions, and he falls and flounders like a wild beast in a snare. IIL J ueT BETBIBUTI0N. "J ehoiada. the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them, Have her forth without the rauges: and him tbat followeth her kill with the sword. . . . And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king's house: and there was she slain. . . . And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house." Thus Ba,pe intereunt aliia meditanus mcem. Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themi,elves. Here is: 1. A terrible retribution. 2. A prompt rc.tribution. It came on her here before she pused into the other world. Retribution is going on now and OH. XI, 1-21.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 239
here. 3. A retribution administered by human hands. Truly "the triumphing of the wicked is short, antl the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, antl his bead reach unto the clouds; yet he shall perish for ever.... Yea, he ~hall be chased away as a vision of the night.n An Orient.a.I "lOet thus vividly describes the retribution that must follow wickedness-