e it prayerfully, and let God bring it to perfection.

MANASSEH

BY REV. J. G. GREENHOUGH, M.A.

"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
fifty and five years in Jerusalem."--2 CHRON. xxxiii. l.

Fifty and five years--he wore the crown a longer time than any other of
the house of David. Of all the kings that reigned in Jerusalem, this
man's reign filled the largest space; yet he is the one king of Judah
about whom we are told least. In the modern city of Venice there is a
hall which is adorned with the portraits of all the doges or kings who
ruled that city in the days of its splendour--all except one--one who
made himself infamous by evil deeds. Where his portrait ought to be,
there is a black blank space which says nothing, yet speaks volumes;
which says to every visitor, Do not think of him, let him be forgotten.
In some such way Manasseh is disposed of by the sacred writers. They
hurry over the fifty-five years; they crowd them into half a chapter,
as if they were ashamed to dwell upon them, as if they wanted the
memory of them and of the man to be forgotten. And that was the
feeling of all the Jews. Century after century, and even to the
present time, Jews have held the man's name in abhorrence. Do not
speak of him, they say. He was the curse of our nation. He denied our
faith. He slew our prophets. He brought Jerusalem to ruin.

Yet, strange to say, the man so hated and cursed was once a nation's
hope and joy. When his father, Hezekiah, lay sick unto death, his
greatest grief and the profoundest sorrow of his people was caused by
the thought that he was dying childless. They prayed for his recovery
mainly on that ground. He recovered, and married, and a child was
born, and the glad father called him Manasseh, which means, God hath
made me forget--forget my sickness and my sorrow; and all over the land
the ringing of bells was heard and shouts of rejoicing, and the prophet
Isaiah sang of the child's birth in those triumphant words which we
have often heard since in another connection, "_Unto us a son is born,
unto us a child is given_"; and they thought that all would go well now
that there was an heir to the throne, and they prayed that he might be
sturdy and strong, and get over all the ailments of childhood. They
hoped more from the child than they did from God. Their prayers were
granted. God gave them their desire, and the result was such as to
mak