THE NIGHT OF ISRAEL. 281

us cowardly; so Joash was afraid to meet Hazael in
battle. He took all the holy things dedicated to the
Lord by himself and’ by his fathers J ehoshaphat, Jeho-
ram, and Ahaziah ; he took all the gold that was in
the treasury of the Lord; he emptied the exchequer.
This he sent to Hazael, who took it, and desisted at that
time; but sent back his army the next year. He did
not take the trouble to go himself, and he sent a very
small army, for he despised the cowardly people of Judah.
Joash had not another bribe to offer, so up marched the
Syrians to Jerusalem. They killed the chief men, and
carried to Damascus all the spoil on which they could lay
their hands. The king of Judah was then in a dis-
eased state of body. He might not have recovered, but
he was not spared to try. Two of his own servants con-
spired against him, and put him to death. Such was
the miserable end of a king who in his infancy had been
so wonderfully preserved, and the early part of whose
reign made so fair an appearance.

George. He was a very silly king.

Grandfather. The events of his reign shew us that
as grace makes people great, so does wickedness make
them weak.

Johnnie. Is there nothing more about Elisha ?

Grandfather. Yes, I shall tell you something about
him. He was a very old man: it was now sixty years
since he was called to the office of a prophet. His race
was nearly run. A sickness had come on him, which
could only end in death. When Jehoash, king of Israel,