ed prince, and his son Elah was slain by
Zimri, captain of his guard, who now reigned over Israel, after
exterminating the whole family of Elah, but was in his turn assassinated
after a reign of seven years, B.C. 929. Omri, the captain of the guard,
was now raised by the voice of the people to the throne; but he had a
rival in Tibni, whom he succeeded in conquering. Omri reigned twelve
years, and bought the hill of Samaria, on which he built the capital of
his kingdom. But he exceeded all his predecessors in iniquity, and was
succeeded by his son Ahab, who reigned twenty-two years. He was the most
infamous of all the kings of Israel, both for cruelty and idolatry, and
his queen, Jezebel, was also unique in crime--the Messalina and Fredigonde
of her age. It was through her influence that the worship of Baal became
the established religion, thus showing that the general influence of woman
on man is evil whenever she is not Christian. And this is perhaps the
reason that the ancients represented women as worse than men.

(M147) It was during the reign of this wicked king that God raised up the
greatest of the ancient prophets--Elijah, and sent him to Ahab with the
stern intelligence that there should be no rain until the prophet himself
should invoke it. After three years of grievous famine, during which he
sought to destroy the man who prophesied so much evil, but who was
miraculously fed in his flight by the ravens, Ahab allowed Elijah to do
his will.

(M148) Thereupon he caused the king to assemble together the whole people
of Israel, through their representatives, upon Mount Carmel, together with
the four hundred and fifty priests of Baal, and the four hundred false
prophets of the grove, whom Jezebel supported. He then invoked the people,
who, it seems, vacillated in their opinions in respect to Jehovah and
Baal, to choose finally, of these two deities, the God whom they _would_
worship. Having discomfited the priests of Baal in the trial of
sacrifices, and mocked them with the fiercest irony, thereby showing to
the people how they had been imposed upon, Elijah incited them to the
slaughter of these false prophets and foreign priests, and then set up an
altar to the true God. But all the people had not fallen into idolatry;
there still had remained seven thousand who had not bowed unto Baal.

(M149) Rain descended almost immediately, and Ahab departed, and told
Jezebel what had transpired. Hereupon, she was transporte