d in the war (1870-71) with Prussia.
Considering the prosperity of the kingdom of Judah under Hezekiah, it is
a difficult thing to be explained that the king could raise but three
hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold, although David had
contributed out of his private fortune, for the future erection of the
Temple, three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of
silver, besides the one million talents of silver and one hundred
thousand talents of gold which he collected as sovereign. It would seem
probable that an error has crept into the estimates of the wealth of the
kingdom under Solomon and under the subsequent kings; either that of
Solomon is exaggerated, or that of Hezekiah is underrated.

Notwithstanding his former defeat and losses, Hezekiah again revolted,
and again was Judah invaded by a still greater Assyrian force. The king
of Judah in this emergency showed extraordinary energy, stopped the
supply of water outside his capital, strengthened his defences, gathered
together his fighting men, and encouraged them with the assurance that
help would come from the Lord, in whom they trusted, and whom
Sennacherib boastfully defied. For the ringing words of Isaiah roused
and animated the hearts of both king and people to a noble courage,
announcing the aid of Jehovah and the overthrow of the heathen invader.
As we have seen, the men of Judah showed their faith in the divine help
by preparing to help themselves. But from an unexpected quarter the
assistance came, as Isaiah had predicted. A pestilence destroyed in a
single night one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrian
warriors,--the most signal overthrow of the enemies of Israel since
Pharaoh and his host were swallowed up by the waters of the Red Sea, and
also the most signal deliverance which Jerusalem ever had. The calamity
created such a fearful demoralization among the invaders that the
over-confident Assyrian monarch retired to his capital with utter loss
of prestige, and soon after was assassinated by his own sons. No
Assyrian king after this invaded Judah, and Nineveh itself in a few
years was conquered by Babylon.

The fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians was delayed one
hundred years. But such were the moral and social evils of the times
succeeding the Ninevite invasion that Isaiah saw that retribution would
come sooner or later, unless the nation repented and a radical reform
should take place. He saw the people