attempting to injure them, he prepared abundance of food for them, and did not send them back to their master till they had eaten and drank, and were thoroughly refreshed. Thus did the servant of God treat those who had sought his life to take it away. Though he lived so long before, he acted quite in the spirit of the Gospel, which commands us, “ When thine enemy hungers, feed him; when he thirsts, give him drink.” May the grace of God enable us to imitate his heavenly conduct !

E. I suppose, mamma, when the king of Syria heard of all this, he did not wish to fight against Israel any more?

M. We should have thought so, Edward ; but this was not the case. About a year after his troops had surrounded Dothan, we read that he gathered together all his host, and went up and besieged Samaria: that is, he placed his armies round the city on every side, so that no one could come out or go in to Samaria. The consequences of this were very sad to Israel ; for as no supplies of food could be brought into the city from the country, a grievous famine was soon felt within its walls; grievous and distressing beyond any thing we could imagine, as you will understand when I tell you that there were two mothers found in the city, who suffered so dreadfully from hunger, as to agree together to eat their own children! Yes, my love, it is too shocking to think of, but yet it is true.

One little child was divided between them, and eaten, and the other would have been so also, had not its mother hidden it! I would hardly, my child, have told you a tale which must fill your mind with so much horror, were it not right to point out to you

himself before God, and confessing that he and his people were justly punished for their iniquities, he threw all the blame upon Elisha, and declared that that very day he would take away his life.

When this threat was uttered, Elisha was sitting in his house, and many of the chief people of the city around him. But he knew all that had passed; and when he heard the king's messenger coming to take away his life, he desired that the door might be shut against him, knowing well that it was not the will of God that he should die then.

E. Was the king disappointed, when he found that his messenger had not been able to kill the prophet?

M. No; he had scarcely given orders for his death, before he was sorry for what he had done, remembering perhaps how often Elisha had saved his life, and he had followed the steps of his messenger to stop his hand.

But though he had repented of this crime, he was by no means yet in a proper state of mind, but angry and impatient under the evils which he and his people were suffering: knowing that they were from the hand of the Lord, yet not humbling himself before him, and entreating his mercy. “Behold, said the king, this evil is from the Lord : why should I wait for the Lord any longer ?" As much as to say, All these evils are brought upon us by the Lord ; why should we expect any mercy or help from him ? he could have prevented all this if he had chosen, yet see into what misery we are fallen : why then should we look to him any longer? Such was the unhappy spirit of the king of Israel. Thus did he add to his own afflictions, which were already too heavy for him to bear.

How different would have been his feelings, had he been a sincere servant of God! What peace might

he then have found in the midst of trouble! "Thou wilt keep him, O Lord, in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee."

E. Yes, mamma; and if the king had been sorry for his past sins, would he not have been much happier then?

M. Certainly he would, my child; for then he would have humbled himself before the Lord, and entreated his pardon. He would have thrown himself upon the mercy of God, owning that he did not deserve his help, but entreating him to have pity upon him. We should have heard nothing then of the murmurs which now broke out from his rebellious lips. But poor miserable man! he was quite without God, and did not at all know how to bear the dreadful calamities which had fallen upon him.

E. Did Elisha pity him at all, mamma?

M. Yes, my love, he felt sorry for the unhappy king, and was glad to be able to comfort him: he rejoiced that God had permitted him to be the bearer of good tidings to him.

E. What good news had he to tell him now, mamma?

M. You know it was from famine that the inhabitants of Samaria were suffering such dreadful things: and Elisha told them that their miseries would now soon be over; for that at that very time the next day, fine flour and barley should be selling in great abundance, and at a moderate price, in the gate of Samaria. These were joyful words, indeed, for the perishing people! but scarcely had the prophet spoken them,

when a lord in Israel, on whose arm the king was leaning, was wicked enough to mock at them, saying, “ Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?” by which he meant, that the thing was utterly impossible. But he was punished for his hardness of heart and want of faith : for the prophet told him, that as he did not choose to believe the word of the Lord, he should see the plenty which he had foretold, with his eyes, but should not eat thereof.

E. Mamma, I wish very much to know how the poor people were to be fed. I know that God was quite able to help them; but I want to hear how he did it.

M. In an extraordinary manner, my child. As the Syrians lay in their tents all round the city of Samaria, he caused them to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host : and they said one to another, “Lo! the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us; wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.” So easy is it for the Almighty to bring about his own will! Now I will tell you how the Israelites found out what had happened in the camp of their enemies. Wretched as were all the people of Israel while Samaria was surrounded by her enemies, there were four men among them more unhappy than all the rest. These were some poor lepers, who were not allowed to dwell within the gates of the city on account of the dreadful disease with which they were