towards God, had never, till Hilkiah publicly read them from the copy discovered in the temple, been aware of the fearful threatenings of the law against idolatry; and hence his horror as the idea rose into his mind that from such judgments there was but slender chance of the polluted nation escaping. Again, Josiah might be more than commonly affected by the declarations of this particular copy, in consequence of receiving some convincing proofs of its authenticity. Hitherto he had studied in volumes of whose correctness in every particular there was some cause to doubt; and we need not remind the reader, that the very suspicion of a work being spurious takes away prodigiously from the influence which it would otherwise exert over men's minds. Be this, however, as it may, Josiah's agitation was not different from that which any pious Christian would experience were he accidentally to become possessed of the original of any of the gospels or epistles of which he had frequently perused the copies.

It may, perhaps, be objected to the portion of history now under review, that it describes a state of society to which human experience presents no parallel. Here was a people miraculously presented with a religion from God, and assured, on the one hand, that so long as they adhered to that religion their affairs would be prosperous; on the other, that calamity and misfortune would attend the abandonment of it: how can the fact of their repeated apostacy be accounted for on any principles of reason or common sense? We reply, that no difficulty on record is susceptible of a more easy or satisfactory solution, as the following statement will show :

Let it be borne in mind that the law of Moses rested none of its claims to obedience on the sanction of rewards and punishments in a future state. The amount of its promises was, that health, length of days, wealth, and general prosperity would be the portion of such as strictly observed it; while poverty, disease, war, and a violent end were to be the fate of those who set its enactments at defiance. As long as the theocracy continued in full operation, these results were seen constantly to follow, and men probably abstained from inquiring very eagerly into doctrines of which the necessity was not felt. But the change in the external form of government from the judicial and patri

archal to the monarchical gradually weakened, though it never totally destroyed, the theocratic administration. It had this effect, however, that it placed the Israelites, apparently at least, on a footing of more perfect equality than formerly with the heathen nations round them; and taught them by degrees to look more to the arm of flesh than to the power of the invisible Creator for protection.

When such an effect was once produced, as during the latter reigns seems decidedly to have been the case, the proneness both of the people and their sovereigns to fall into idolatry may readily be explained. They saw other states, of whose heathenism they were aware, great and flourishing; they themselves continued to fill but a very secondary rank among the nations; and they began, by degrees, to doubt whether the gods of Assyria, or even of Egypt, were not more powerful than Jehovah. This it was which so frequently induced them to abjure the worship of the true God; and though they invariably suffered for their crimes, their sufferings were not sufficient to cure them of the propensity. Besides, the law of Moses was loaded with rites and ceremonies exceedingly useful, but toilsome and fatiguing to be attended to: the very indisposition to continue them was not without its weight in producing a tendency to apostacy. In a word, the condition of society was such, that the promise of temporal rewards and the threat of temporal punishments were no longer adequate to sway men's minds; and there cannot be a question that this, like other changes in the circumstances of the chosen people, was brought about by God for the wisest and best of purposes. That ample advantage was taken of it, if we may venture so to express ourselves, every reader of the Old Testament must perceive who turns to the writings of the prophets whom God from time to time raised up. He will discover these numerous allusions to that better revelation which it was reserved for the Messiah to bestow; while the future history of the Jews demonstrates that such were by no means lost even upon that stiff-necked and perverse people.

CHAPTER VI.

Retrospect of Profane History-Succession of Kings of Judah-Jerusalem reduced-Is pardoned-Revolts, and is destroyed-Objections stated and answered.

A. M. 4803.-B. c. 608.

THAT the principal thread of Sacred History might not be broken, we have passed over unnoticed several occurrences both in Assyria and Egypt of which, however, as they bear strongly upon the fate of the Jewish people, it will be proper in this place to give some account.

It has been stated that at the commencement of the reign of Esar-haddon, King of Assyria, the Babylonians and Medes revolted; and that the former, after a war of nineand-twenty years' duration, were again reduced to subjection. The case was widely different with respect to the Medes, who gallantly maintained their independence, not only during the government of Esar-haddon, but throughout that of his successor, Ninus III. Dejoces, or Artæus, the founder of Ecbatana, was their leader at the beginning of the contest; and he transmitted the crown, with great glory, to his son Phraortes, who, in the year B. C. 663, exactly four years after the accession of Ninus to the Assyrian throne, assumed the reins of government. Between these two princes the war seems to have been carried on with no great vigour; but Ninus, dying in 658, was succeeded by Nebuchodonosor, who made extensive preparations to recover the territories which his grandfather had lost.

Nebuchodonosor had filled the throne about twelve years when he issued orders that all the provinces which cwned allegiance to the Assyrian crown should contribute each its contingent for the purpose of aiding him in a great expedi tion against Media. Among others, the Jews, Syrians, and Phoenicians were called upon to enlist under his standard; but these, either through the intrigues of the Egyptian court, or from some other motive, paid no attention to the

summons.

Notwithstanding this diminution to his expected force, Nebuchodonosor took the field; and defeating his rival in a bloody battle, pursued him to Ecbatana, which he closely invested. The city held out for some time, but at last yielded in the year 641; after which the victorious monarch turned his attention to the chastisement of those states which had deserted him in time of need. He accordingly despatched Holofernes, one of his principal officers, with a numerous army, who laid waste a large portion of Cilicia and Syria as well as part of Arabia and Armenia; and who, making himself master of Tyre and Sidon, and the whole of the seacoast as far as Azotus and Askelon, advanced next against the land of Judea.

The first place before which he sat down was Bethulia, a small but strongly fortified city, which covered the approaches to the capital through the hill country. This he invested with an army of 170,000 men; and taking possession of the watercourses and fountains near, reduced both the town and its inhabitants to great straits. In this emergency, Judith, a patriotic and high-minded woman, determined to risk her life and honour in defence of her country. With the sanction of the proper authorities she passed out into the enemy's camp, attended by a single maid; caused herself to be introduced to Holofernes, whom she speedily captivated with her beauty and agreeable address; and having prevailed upon him to issue instructions to the guards on no occasion to impede her progress backwards and forwards, she finally pretended to accede to his desire of placing her in his harem. But Judith's designs were of a very different nature from those attributed to her by the Assyrian general. On that very night, while Holofernes lay asleep in his tent, overcome with wine and revelling, she slew him with his own sword; and escaping back to Bethulia, laid the head of their great enemy at the feet of the rulers of the place. In those days the death of a leader, more especially under circumstances so remarkable, appears invariably to have infused dismay into an army; and the effect on the present occasion was not different from the ordinary routine of events. The Assyrians, discovering on the following morn ing that Holofernes was murdered, broke up their camp in great confusion, and retreated from before Bethulia, griev VOL. II.-I

ously harassed by parties of irregular militia which hung upon their rear.

The above circumstance occurred in the year B. C. 640; and in 636, Nebuchodonosor died. He was succeeded by Sarac or Sardanapalus II., an indolent and effeminate prince, who devoted his whole time to the enjoyment of feasts and revelry, to the utter neglect of business, both public and private. At this time the empire was again in a state of confusion; for the Babylonians and Medes, encouraged by the defeat of Holofernes, hastened to renew hostilities; and the latter were already in possession of Ecbatana, which they had recovered from Nebuchodonosor. Against enemies so warlike and so powerful Sardanapalus could make no effectual head. After obtaining several successes over them, he permitted himself to be surprised while indulging in his favourite occupation of feasting; and his army being cut to pieces, he was driven within the walls of Nineveh, which now became exposed to the horrors of a siege. It was taken and utterly despoiled in the year B. C. 606, Sardanapalus himself perishing in the flames of his palace, to which he set fire.

Such was the fate of the great Assyrian capital, after it had existed from the days of Nimrod through nineteen centuries, while the empire itself became divided into portions; Nabopolassar reigning independently at Babylon, as Cyaxares I., King of Media, did at Ecbatana. Between these two sovereigns a strict affinity subsisted; Nebuchadnezzar, the son of the former, being married to a daughter of the latter and during some time these empires were at peace; but between Babylon and Egypt there was war, and for a while the Babylonians suffered severely in the struggle.

That we may connect these events with the annals of Judea, it will be necessary to say a few words touching the condition of Egypt.

In the outline which we gave of the history of that nation, we brought down the succession to So, or Sebecon,*

*It is of this Sebecon that Herodotus tells the story, that having offended the military orders, they refused to serve under him against the Assyrians; but that Vulcan gained for him a great victory by causing a quantity of field-mice to eat the strings of the Assyrian bows the night previous to a battle.