hearts of the people of his kingdom; and we may well presume that the
woman who afterwards proved herself so reckless and heaven-defying,
prompted to this first crime. She who was herself so ready to commit
deeds of blood would be quick to instigate others.

The whole reign of Jehoram was impious and disgraceful. He erected
altars on all the hills of Judea, to draw his people into the worship of
Baal and Ashtaroth; while he compelled the inhabitants of Jerusalem to
join in the corrupt festivals and the abominable rites of this Syrian
goddess.

Elijah, the prophet of Israel, was commissioned to reprove Jehoram, and
to denounce the impending doom of his house. He was not ordered to
present himself at the court of the King of Judah, but to write his
message. "There came a writing to Jehoram;" and probably the King of
Judah scoffed at the warning, and perhaps referred him to the unexecuted
judgments denounced upon the house of Ahab, and to the present
prosperity of the family, and the continued stability of the kingdom, as
a proof of the fanatical delusion of the pretended prophets of the Lord.
Yet the doom of the guilty Jehoram was accomplished even before the
woes denounced upon Jezebel were fulfilled. Tributary kingdoms revolted,
and in vain he sought to bring them back to obedience. The Philistines
and the Arabians made an incursion into Judah, and carried away all his
wealth, while they took his family captive; and Jehoram, smitten by a
most loathsome and painful disease, died. He was buried without the
usual honours paid to royalty. His memory and his person were alike
offensive.

Upon the accession of Ahaziah, the next king, the influence of Athaliah
is soon recognised. He was the youngest and the only son not carried