subordinate officer, that he began to yearn after a little more authority in his own person. This is said to be the tendency with the most of men who belong to courts, or who mingle in the policy of governments. He could not but feel how pleasant it were to be himself the master of all that power and splendor which he daily saw paraded before his eyes. Not that he had any thoughts, as yet, of stretching forth his hand, and seizing the crown by violence. It always takes a great while to harden one's conscience enough directly to meditate the commission of crime, without shuddering. He did not think of usurping; at this stage, he probably had not even an expectation that the crown would ever fall to him, in any way. But still it was an agreeable amusement for his idle hours, a pleasing revery with him, to imagine such an event, and to picture it out before his fancy. How delightful it would be! So we often solace ourselves with "building castles in the air," and give secret scope to our vanity, or other passions, by allowing them to draw scenes in the future, which we nevertheless have no expectation will ever be realized. Doubtless, it seemed to Hazael perfectly safe, and perfectly innocent, to indulge these delightful day-dreams, so long as he had no thought of putting them into execution. Who could say a word. against a mere play of the fancy, that was all shut up within his own bosom, where it could harm nobody!

But howsoever it may seem at first sight, it was not innocent, in him, to harbor these thoughts even in secret,no matter how closely he shut them up in his bosom ; neither was it safe, as we shall soon see. He was unconsciously fostering a passion, that was likely to get the mastery over him, before he was aware. Can we not see, that, in any such case, by allowing oneself to think steadily on the favorite idea, by dwelling upon it in revery, and by associating it in the mind with a thousand charms that we conjure up around it, the heart becomes fixed on what appears so desirable; and when the heart has once grown, as it were, to the object, it will carry us with it, and we shall leave nothing untried to attain our wishes. It is dangerous, it is fool-hardy, for a man thus to dally with temptation in any shape. But alas! men are seldom aware of the first, secret, beginnings of enticement, where

it can be so easily resisted. They think there is no danger while the power of self-control remains, never considering that when this is gone, it is too late for them to profit by alarm; and so, in their fatal security, they drift blindfold into the full current, that sweeps all before it.

In Hazael's case, there were a thousand evil suggestions, of a most dangerous nature, ready to come up in his mind, the moment he began to give way. Indeed, the devil always has an exhaustless store of additional enticements to apply, as fast as his dupes will bear them; and he never fails to bring them forward, when he has once got the poor victims to tamper with his snares. Look at the circumstances in which Hazael stood; see how impossible it was but that they should operate on his tendencies to lead him into crime. The king was now sick, dangerously sick. How natural to think, Might he not die? Then, the throne would be vacant; and some one must succeed. Why not himself? who was one of the chief officers of the court, long accustomed to the business of the realm! Who, indeed, more likely than he to succeed?-innocently, of course, and without violence, but by a good turn of fortune, or, at most, by a little seasonable management on his part.

It requires no very extraordinary acquaintance with the workings of human nature, to foresee that, if Hazael allows himself to revolve these thoughts, though in the most concealed recesses of his bosom,-if he does not put a stop to them at once, he will as surely become a traitor and a murderer, in the end, as he has the opportunity; no matter how resolutely he determines to the contrary, at present. He does not believe it, at this stage of the process; we could not make him think it possible, as yet; he would be shocked at the thought. But, according to the common laws of human action, it cannot now be very long, before that right-hand of his will make the attempt on the crown, unless he immediately suppresses these wayward fancies. If he continues to indulge them in their play, all harmless and innocent as he thinks them, if he lets them grow upon him, he will find that they are gathering into a terrible strength. They will soon prove too strong for his better resolutions. It is not resolution that can save him, with these deeper tendencies VOL. X. 14

all the while undermining it, and bearing him away. They will drag him into crime, in spite of himself. They will drive him to murder his kind master and lawful sovereign; they will make him climb over the corpse of his king, to the throne; and when he has once reached the pinnacle of ambition, he will fill the land with violence and bloodshed, to maintain his hold.

Had any one told Hazael, at this time, that this was the nefarious career he was about to enter upon, he would have thought them mad. He knew better,—so he would have flattered himself; he knew that he was incapable of so atrocious a villany. And, indeed, he might have alleged, with justice, that he knew he had no such intentions, but the reverse. He meant to be an honorable and upright man. The worst that could be said of him, was, that he had thought, within himself, how delightful it would be, if he were only king, by some good turn of fortune, for instance, should Benhadad die in this sickness, (which, however, he hoped would not be the case,) and should it be his lot to succeed in the ordinary course of things. This was all. And he could keep these thoughts confined in the secure depths of his heart, where they could not possibly do any harm, let the event be as it might. This was but a few days before the imprisoned sentiments exploded in the horrible crime for which he was so blindly preparing. He stood on the very brink of the abyss, but knew it not, and confided in the innocency of his purposes.

Accordingly, we find that he went, with his accustomed obedience, to discharge the mission to Elisha, with which the king had entrusted him. We are told, in effect, that he "took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came, and stood before Elisha, and said, Thy son, Benhadad, king of Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? And Elisha said unto him, Go, say to Benhadad, thou mayest certainly recover, [meaning, that there was nothing in the nature of his disease to prove fatal.] Howbeit, (added he,) the Lord hath showed me that he shall surely die! And Elisha settled his countenance steadfastly on him, until Hazael was ashamed. And the man of God wept, and said, I know the evil

thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: Their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and their women and children wilt thou dash in pieces. And Hazael said, But what! is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" So indignantly did he repel the suspicion! a likely thing, indeed, that Hazael, the good Hazael, the trusted and trustworthy servant, could ever perpetrate such an atrocity!

There

But the man of God knew him better than he knew himself. The prophet saw into his heart, and observed what was working within,-as a clairvoyant, it is said, may see into the vital organs, and perceive diseases, there, which have not as yet given any trouble, but which he knows will, in a few days, break out into a crisis. lay Hazael's heart open before the prophet's eye. He saw, in it, those remoter tendencies which had not yet formed themselves into actual intentions, but which would soon assume that shape, as they were without any sufficient restraint. He saw the seeds of murder and ambition there. They had long been germinating, though Hazael had never suspected any thing of the kind. They were now almost ready to break forth into light; and still he was not aware of it, nor would he believe there was danger, when it was announced. Elisha broke off the profitless interview, by telling him plainly, "The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria ;" and Hazael went his way.

From that hour, Hazael appeared to change at once. The latent germs he had so safely and so secretly cherished in his heart, began to take a more determinate form, and to show themselves in his demeanor; just as the seeds which the husbandman sows in his fields, after lying awhile to take strong root in the earth, suddenly shoot up, and appear above-ground. A day, or a night, is enough to make a total change in the appearance of the surface; but it is only the outgrowth of what had been, for a much longer time, maturing, in the hidden recesses underneath. The seeming change in Hazael was only a breaking forth of the tendencies which had long been operating within, and which, as he did not suppress them, were, from the very first, as sure of changing him into a

murderer and usurper, as the tares that are sown, are sure to change the face of the field where they grow, but yesternight, a dull expanse of gravel, and this morning, all rank with life! There is no help for it, in either case, short of going down to the germs thernselves, and rooting them up. If we let them grow, we can no more prevent the result, in the human character, than we can in our tillage-lands.

After his interview with Elisha, Hazael returned to his master. The king asked him, "What said Elisha to thee? And Hazael answered, He told me that thou shouldst surely recover," a very treacherous answer! which he framed by taking advantage of the form of the prophet's language; the meaning of which, however, he knew perfectly well. "He told me thou shouldst surely recover!" We see that this wicked servant has now made up his mind what he will do; he is ready for the murder. "And it came to pass, on the morrow, that Hazael took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and spread it on the face of the king, so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his stead!" So, this man,-who, but a day or two before, cried out with a burst of virtuous indignation, "What! is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?"-has at length done it; and we have seen the gradual progress of those tendencies within, by which he was sure, from the very first, to do it, notwithstanding his resolves to the contrary, and notwithstanding his horror and resentment at the prophet for the suggestion.

We have sketched the history of this man's fall, because we thought it would, of itself, illustrate, more forcibly than any thing that we could say, the great law which holds in all human conduct and character. It shows that the course of our lives, and the ends to which we shall arrive, are determined by those elements in our hearts that lie down below our definite intentions; by those moral activities, out of which our intentions themselves grow. It is not so much the particular purposes which we consciously form to ourselves, nor is it so much the resolves which we make as to what we will do, or what we will not do, that prove effectual; it is the secret and often unnoted tendencies of our thoughts and affec