After the defeat of Sennacherib, a king from distant parts endeavoured to form an alliance with Judah. The king of Babylon, Merodach-baladan (Mardo-kempad), son of Baladan (721-710), sent an embassy with letters and presents to Hezekiah, ostensibly under the pretext of congratulating him on his recovery, but doubtless in order to form an alliance with him against their common foe. Hezekiah being naturally gratified at this sign of respect from a distant land, received the Babylonian embassy with the customary honours, and showed them his treasures. This manifestation of joy and pride displeased Isaiah, who prophesied injury to Judah from the land with which it was forming a treaty. The king received the reproof of the prophet with humility. The fifteen years of Hezekiah's reign after the downfall of the Assyrian kingdom was a golden age for the inner development of the remnant of Israel. They could dwell without disturbance under their vines and fig-trees. As in the days of David and Solomon, strangers immigrated into the happy region of Judah, where they were kindly received, and where they attached themselves to the people of Israel. The poor and the sorrow-stricken, the mourner and the outcast were the objects of the king's special care. He could now put into execution his heartfelt desire 'to have the faithful of the land, the God-fearing and the true, to dwell with him in his palace.' The disciples of Isaiah, imbued as they were with their master's spirit, were the friends and advisers of Hezekiah, and were called "Hezekiah's people." The second part of Hezekiah's reign was altogether a time of happy inspiration for the poet. The fairest blossoms of psalmody flourished at this period. Besides songs of thanksgiving and holy hymns which flowed from the lips of the Levites, probably written for use in the Temple, half-secular songs were dedicated in love and praise to King Hezekiah. On the occasion of his marriage with a beautiful maiden, whose charms had touched the king's heart, one of the Korahites composed a love-song. The two kinds of poetry, the peculiar property of the Hebrew people, which the literature of no other nation has paralleled, the poetical and rhythmical expression of prophetic eloquence and the psalm, reached their culmination under Hezekiah. The Proverbs, that third branch of Hebrew poetry, were not only collected, but also amplified by the poets of Hezekiah's time.