career of Evil-Merodach and that of his friend cut short. The former became through his profligacy and other excesses so intolerable, that (according to some authorities) his sister's husband, Neriglissar, supposed to have been the Rab-mag (chief magian) of Nebuchadnezzar's court at the time Jerusalem was taken, headed a conspiracy against him, and put him to death. Jehoiachin did not outlive his patron, and it is supposed that, as a favourite of the tyrant's, he was slain with him.

ས་

CHAPTER VI.

E have followed the Judean exiles to Babylon, and would willingly remain with them, tracing step by step the career of the great Daniel, and listening to the pleasant voice' and 'lovely songs' of the captive prophet on the

banks of the Chebar, but we may not at present do so, and must return to the wreck of Judah. What words can describe the scene of desolation! Ruins everywhere-not picturesque, venerable ruins, half hidden by moss and ivy, and from whose crevices many a sweet-scented herb and flower send forth their fragrance, and round whose broken columns the creeper fondly twines, but bare, blackened heaps, among which the mourning Hebrew remnant dare not linger, for birds and beasts of prey have already claimed the holy city as their own, and break the awful silence that reigns around with their discordant voices. And, if we turn from shattered walls, what then? Unsightly mounts, bearing on summit, side, and

go

upon him to voluntarily leave his country. The sympathies of the great Babylonian officer (himself a true patriot) were with the holy Judean; fain would he have taken him to Babylon, not as a captive, but as a guest, and have himself watched over his safety and comfort. But delicacy forbade Nebuzar-adan pressing the matter, so without further persuasion he allowed Jeremiah to act as his feelings dictated. When he knew the decision of the prophet, he said to him, 'Go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go." What a reproach were the faith, conduct, and noble sentiments of the great heathen officer to the unbelief, vindictive cruelty, obstinacy, and apostasy of the princes and priests of Judah. Nebuzar-adan was a worshipper of his country's god, Baal, yet he doubted not the justice of the God of Israel and His power over the people He called His own. It is evident also that Nebuzar-adan was not unacquainted with the true cause of Judah's fall. From the lips of the holy and noble captives in Babylon he might have learned the sad history of the Hebrews, their fatal apostasy, and their rebellion against their heavenly King. He may even have read the prophecies of 1

Jeremiah and Ezekiel, copies of which the captive princes of Judah would possess, and was noting their marvellous fulfilment. So far he grasped the truth, but no farther, and the God of Israel, the great Jehovah, was to him no more than Egypt's just and beneficent (false) god Osiris. He heard, read, saw, and believed, and with simple faith he reminded his prisoners that, not unwarned, the evil had come upon them, and that for their sins and disobedience they were punished, tacitly acknowledging that his sovereign Nebuchadnezzar was but an instrument in the hands of an angry and indignant God. But there was one among that abject crowd whom the great commander regarded with admiration, respect, and heartfelt sympathy, this was the persecuted prophet Jeremiah; and Nebuzaradan took him, and would have comforted him, and cared for him in his own luxurious home, maybe to his own everlasting peace; but not then, if ever, was his gracious offer accepted, and so he gave Jeremiah food and a present, and committed him to the care of Gedaliah, the new governor. 'Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land." The Chaldeans were now prepared to take their departure from the land they had desolated. Quickly, when the word was given, would the camp be broken up, and the captives, with many a cruel

blow and insulting jest, be led and driven to their allotted places in the great procession which took the direction eastward; and as it slowly disappeared a voice was heard in desolate, deserted Ramah, 'lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.'1 In a beautiful figure of poetry Jacob's beloved wife Rachel, whose sepulchre was not far from Jerusalem, is represented by Jeremiah as rising from her grave, and seeing none of her offspring supposes that they are utterly extirpated, and with lamentation and weeping bewails her loss. Following out the figurative allusion, the Almighty is represented as comforting the heart-broken mother, 'Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.' The bereaved Rachel was comforted. Her faith and patient expectation were rewarded, for her children returned to Zion, and the hills of Judea resounded with their songs of joy.

Whatever favours and liberty the Babylonian prisoners of war enjoyed in the land of captivity, their passage to it under the escort of brutal troopers, careless of their ease and indifferent to their suffering, would be replete with hardship.