were pages of woe in his future lot which that splendour could not counterbalance nor heal.

Thus ended, with Antigonus, the dynasty of the Asmonean race, after having continued for a period of 126 years. It had been raised by Providence in the crisis which threatened the Jewish institutions with extinction, and had been instrumental in saving the nation, and restoring it to freedom and power. It had exhibited a succession of able warriors and rulers, but for whom, in all human probability, the descendants of Judah and Benjamin had become outcasts anew from the land to which they had been restored, or had sunk into the depths of disbelief and heathenism. Matthias and his brave sons averted this danger, and their descendants faithfully guarded the freedom and faith for which the Maccabean chieftains had bled. It is worthy of remark, that the national character assumed, from this period, that stern fidelity to the sacred oracles which has distinguished the Jewish race for the last two thousand years. After the struggle under the Asmoneans against Antiochus Epiphanes, and his successors on the throne of Syria, the tendency to yield to the seductions of idolatry, which even the presence of miracle and prophecy had in earlier ages not arrested, never again was generally evinced. Even in the absence of supernatural manifestations, and in after times in the dispersion of the Jews amid all nations, retaining only the sacred oracles in their possession, they have been tenacious of their ancient faith in a degree which has commanded the wonder of every age. But the process and period of their reaching this rigid fidelity of character, this enduring type and form of their national existence, was under the dynasty of the Asmoneans, which now, at the death of Antigonus, expired. Descendants there were of the youthful bride, now wedded to the Idumean, who gained brief possession of provinces around Judea; but the Jewish sovereignty in Palestine must after this be denominated from the family of Herod.

When Antigonus surrendered Jerusalem to Sosius, that general gave the city over to the rapacity of his enraged soldiers; and such was the carnage they spread through the city, and the depredation which spared nothing they could lay hands on, that Herod entreated Sosius as an ally not to give him a desert instead of a city. He prevailed at last to stop the promiscuous massacre of the inhabitants,

only by promising a munificent donation to each Roman soldier-a promise which he failed not to fulfil. Thus the temple for the present was spared, and its interior saved from sacrilege. About a century afterwards, however, in the final siege of the city by the Romans, God's " holy and beautiful house" was given up to the devouring flames. Our engraving represents a Roman soldier in the act of firing part of the sacred edifice.

Sosius, after a time, withdrew with his troops from Jerusalem, and left to Herod the task of reconciling the people to a rule which had commenced with so much slaughter. Herod entered upon his government with the resolution of a tyrant to spare none who evinced discontent at his appointment, or whom he should suspect of disaffection. We shall see in a subsequent chapter how cruelly he kept faith with his purpose. In his struggles to gain the throne, we see the usual unsparing measures of the warrior; but in the opening scene which inaugurated his accession with blood, we shall mark the unmistakable trait of character which distinguishes the sanguinary oppressor from the mere conqueror!

EMPLOYMENT OF LEISURE HOURS BY THE YOUNG.

To those readers of this Magazine who know and feel that, to live usefully in this world, there must be earnest preparation in early life, I would address a few kindly words of counsel. The suggestions I may offer will be but simple, and to many minds may be already familiar; from such I do not fear reproof; and if others, to whom they may be new, will make trial of them, I can only trust that they may not find them profitless.

The labour of life begins earlier oftentimes than in manhood; school-days are shortened, and the hours we would like to see given to study are employed on home duties or business cares. That such pursuits are duties, is sufficient reason to urge their cheer

ful fulfilment, whatever else they may interfere with or prevent, while the careful attendance to them will ensure a peace to the heart which no gratification purchased at the cost of their neglect could procure. All honest work is appointed us by God, and so must be honourable; and by the part given us, however lowly it seems, the threefold purpose of its Ordainer may be fulfilled the advance of his glory, the good of our fellows, and the discipline of our own characters. Equally wise as merciful and condescending is the decree which permits such varied service to result so harmoniously; for as the architect and painter join with the mason and carpenter to raise the stately cathedral, so the faithful earnest workers of every calling may all contribute to the beauty and fitness of the labour-worship offered to our just and holy Master.

But the busiest among us have some leisure moments, and I want such to consider how these may be best employed and improved. A diligent and energetic discharge of the day's tasks will very well prepare the mind to enjoy, because it will need and merit recreation; and to rational beings one cannot advise as amusements any pursuit that has not intellectual interest. Reading is probably to you a source of great delight, and it is a taste you cannot too highly value or cultivate. A glorious blessing it is to have good and wise books to read; and as we bend over them, our hearts should glow thankfully to the Author of all wisdom, remembering that it is he who kindled the light of reason and truth which makes their pages so beautiful. If your time for reading be short, there is great need that it should. be spent only over books that are undeniably useful, and your choice of them should accordingly be the more careful. In making it, I would advise you, as on every occasion, to ask counsel of God. You do not scruple to ask him for daily bread, nor has he

left unsaid the promise that your minutest wants shall be cared for. Do not think the matter too trivial to lay before God? The perusal of a useful book will be to your soul's health; and can He be indifferent? Safely you may seek his direction and blessing. I do not speak this of religious works only; of course those bearing on our spiritual interests would lead us more naturally to a prayerful study; but of historical and biographical works also, the cleverest of which have unhappily too little reference to religion, but which are very needful as intellectual helps, and which the mind of the young, armed with prayer, may safely and profitably use.

While reading your chosen volume, which, under ordinary circumstances, should not be exchanged till finished, compare the facts in it with others of a like nature, mentioned elsewhere. Fix each worthy fact, principle, and sentiment in your own mind, by thinking steadily and deliberately of it; put it there in your own words. This is a surer and swifter plan than the use of a note-book, which, however, it will be well to keep, for the insertion of strange words and unrecognized allusions, as these, if diligently sought out and defined, will help you to recall your late study. The consideration of your evening reading will furnish good matter of thought for the spare moments of the next day. To have some fixed point to return to, will often save from those dreamy moods one frequently falls into, and which, though seemingly pleasant, are really pernicious and enervating. Concluding a book, do not commence another till you have reviewed it; a written abstract, from memory, of its entire teaching, and memoranda of the thoughts it has suggested, will enable you to calculate how much you have been profited. Let the plan of your composition be orderly, and its construction careful; give your judgment thoughtfully and with independence; analyze your opinions, and permit none to stand that

you cannot clearly account for, correcting them as you have need and opportunity by the opinions of wiser and older persons. Write simply and with conciseness; illustrate, when you can do so, clearly and with ease, remembering that to be graceful, metaphor must be lucid, and that it has more force when brief. In pursuing the study of any science, as geology, astronomy, &c., for instance, you would profit little by one work on the subject; of course, if earnest in the matter, you would seek and study many. But in reading histories, biographies, travels, or good fictions, it is well to read them alternately; the diversion of thought thus made will relieve and recreate the mind. But when changing your book, do not choose another without sufficient reference to the last read, to keep its information in your thoughts; let it illustrate some main feature of the closed volume. Thus, after studying a period of history, the works of its best author, the biography of its greatest hero, the account of any particular invention or discovery relating to that date, would be varied and suitable subjects. Read poetry often; but read only what is elevated in sentiment and pure in composition, and your heart and taste will be benefited. Shakspeare, Milton, Pope, Scott, Wordsworth, Rogers, and Tennyson, are authors no Englishman can fail to glory in, if conversant with their works, and it is no slight shame to any who wilfully neglect communion with souls such as theirs.

In addition to the composition I have suggested, I think you will find the transposition of verse into prose an amusing and useful exercise. It will show you how far you have apprehended your author, and by leading you to analyze his thoughts, may help you to judge and remember them aright.

If you know other languages, even slightly, try often to write in them: the translation of any simple book into French or German is not difficult to those