Chapter II: Part 2

What a fine example of faithful preaching, and of an honest hearer! This illustration of true penitence, which is given in the picture at the beginning of this history of the kings, suggests a good story of modern date. Jacob, an intelligent negro, was bribed and intoxicated to make him commit murder. He was convicted of the crime, and sent to the State prison for life. He could not read, but a bible was in his cell, and he learned so rapidly that soon he could pick out the words and get the meaning. He would run his finger over each letter of the fifty-first Psalm, especially the fourteenth verse, until he enamelled it with his touch. The bible is still kept by an excellent man, as a relic of prison-life. For Jacob was pardoned, went to the lovely town of C-, N.Y., and became an eminent Christian. His monument is one of the highest in the cemetery.

The Scriptures describe David as "a man after God's own heart." By this we are not to understand that David always acted rightly, or that God approved of all he did. Its meaning is, that, in his public capacity, as king of Israel, he acted in accordance with the true theory of the theocratical government; was always alive to his dependence on the Supreme King; took his own true place in the system, and aspired to no other; and conducted all his undertakings with reference to the Supreme Will. He constantly calls himself "the servant (or vassal) of Jehovah," and that, and no other, was the true place for the human king of Israel to fill. In thus limiting the description of David as "a man after God's own heart," it is not necessary for us to vindicate all his acts, or to uphold him as an immaculate character. But the same ardent temperament which sometimes betrayed his judgment in his public acts, led him into great errors and crimes. It also made him the first to discover his lapse, and the last to forgive himself.

Domestic afflictions humbled David, and persecution by enemies embittered his life. The kingly crown had its thorns. An only child died in infancy. Afterwards, his handsome and popular son, Absalom, was ambitious to get the throne of his father, and became the leader of a great revolt, in whose conflicts he was slain.

Solomon, another son, was the heir chosen by the Lord, to the crown of David. And when the monarch of Israel drew near the close of his stormy, yet splendid reign, he called the intellectual, comely, and dutiful boy to his bedside, to give him his last words of counsel and blessing.

This scene is depicted in the colored engraving. Among the paternal exhortations to the young prince was the following impressive address: "And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy fathers, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever."

Solomon, the second king of Israel, desired and sought, before riches and honors, wisdom from God, to govern well the people, and it was freely given.

Under his father's sceptre, Palestine was great in martial achievements, national wealth, and the fine arts; for the king was a poet and a musician. Solomon was a man of peace, and during his reign the kingdom reached its highest glory in oriental splendor and luxury. The temple he built was a monument of munificence, skill, and royal zeal for God's honor.

What a wonderful display of wisdom was that decision in the case of the two women, one of whom, in her sleep, lying upon her babe, had smothered it, and claimed the living child of the other, who lodged with her. He knew when he sent for the executioner, and told him to cut in two parts the live babe, giving to each a half, that the mother would be seen in the effect of the command to slay. And so it was. The faithless woman said let it be so; the loving, yearning mother exclaimed no, rather let the other have the child. Solomon wisely decided the matter, directing the attendants to give the unconscious object of controversy to her to whom it belonged.

But this rich and popular monarch was led into sin by his unbounded prosperity, and indulging in forbidden pleasures. Afterwards he bitterly mourned over his folly and shameful weakness, in departing from the living God. This varied and, much of it, wasted life, led the king, in his sober years of declining age, to write the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, so full of the profoundest knowledge of mankind and wisest counsel. It is said that the Scotch are preeminently discerning and intelligent, because they are so familiar with the Scriptures, especially the proverbs of Solomon.

There were no more such monarchs in Israel, after David and Solomon, and the kingdom became divided and weakened, until the Jews were conquered and enslaved by their enemies. The expensive magnificence and luxury of Solomon's reign, and his departures from God into idolatrous worship, awakened the divine indignation.

A prophet was commissioned to tell the wise, yet foolish monarch that the kingdom should be rent in twain, and the grandeur of his empire depart before the revolt of the ten tribes from Judah, which had absorbed the small tribe of Benjamin. Solomon was about sixty years old when he died. He had ruled forty years, and was buried nine hundred and seventy-five years before the advent of Christ. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was made king over Judah, and Jereboam, an Ephraimite, became sovereign of the ten tribes, who were called Israel.

How interesting and instructive the history of the Hebrews, at this period!

They got tired of the sovereignty of God, visible only in written rules of conduct, family government, and the prophet-judges, and desired to imitate their pagan neighbors in the pomp and power of royalty. Under their second monarch they quarrelled among themselves, engaged in civil strife, and became divided, rival kingdoms. During the five hundred years which followed, the successive kings of the two realms had, the most of them, brief sovereignty. Some of them were excellent kings, but the greater part were wicked and oppressive.

Pre-eminent in crime was Ahab, whose wife, Jezebel, was a fit companion.

Their names live in the world's history with a bad preeminence, like those of Herod, Nero, and similar rulers of ancient and modern times.

The corpse of a ruler, or of the humblest subject, was ordinarily wound in grave-clothes, and laid in a sepulchre. This, in the early ages, was a room hewn out of a rock, a cave, or a grave which had no mound, nor any other mark, excepting monumental stones, with no inscriptions.

The Arabian patriarch, Job, talked of kings and counsellors, who built for themselves "desolate places," which probably has reference to sepulchral monuments, cut out of the rock.

The expression "a sepulchre on high," is an allusion to the custom anciently of placing the dead in tombs made in cliffs, sometimes hundreds of feet in height--a lofty, inaccessible resting-place for the body of a distinguished person.

Some nations of the heathen world have always burned their dead. In Japan, recently, an American traveller witnessed this singular disposal of the lifeless remains. A priest was placed in a sitting posture in his coffin, and a fire built behind it, consuming to ashes the body. These relics were carefully gathered up, and put in a safe and sacred place for all coming time.

It is a remarkable thing that the Bible does not record any solemn parade or imposing ceremonies over the burial of the Hebrew kings.

Of David it is written, he "slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David." The same simple and impressive mention is made of Solomon's death. Monarchs were only men--sinners to be saved by grace, if rescued at all from the power and ruin of sin. It is hoped and believed by Christian people that Solomon, in his declining years, reviewed prayerfully and penitently his career, and found peace with a pardoning God.

The sepulchre of royalty in Jerusalem, is well worthy of a visit by travellers in the Holy Land. Some of the stone coffins lean against the solid walls, others lie in massive richness of sculpture on the floor.

The Jews called their burial places the house of the living, because of the expected resurrection--a beautiful sentiment, which rebukes the dismal thoughts and mourning of many Christian persons over the newly made graves of their departed friends.

The beautiful tomb in the "valley of Jehosaphat," is one of comparatively modern construction, but it shows the admiration felt by the Hebrews for Absalom, with all his waywardness.

THE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND.

PATRIARCHS, KINGS AND KINGDOMS.

PALESTINE UNDER PAGAN KINGS.

The picture which introduces these pages was drawn from a scene under the sceptre of the first monarch mentioned in the Bible.

A comparatively unimportant prince, the "King of Sodom," whose small and wicked realm Jehovah destroyed by fire and brimstone, is mentioned.

But the empire of the Pharaohs of Egypt, was large, rich, and magnificent. And it is a singular thing, that of this nation, and all others of antiquity, excepting what the Scriptures contain, the early history is little known. A great German historian, Dr. Von Rotteck, truly writes: "The principal trait that distinguishes the first period of the ancient world is its obscurity."

The general belief is, that the founders of Egypt went from Ethiopia, and the Ethiopians from East India or South Arabia.

"Where did the Indiamen have their origin?" you may ask; but no man can certainly answer. That all races sprang from Adam we have no doubt, but the lines of descent and emigration the wisest student of the past cannot follow.

The living oracles, in brief statements, give us nearly all the reliable accounts we have of the early history of the "Land of the Nile," as Egypt was called. In them we learn that while the "chosen people of God," the only nation whose annals of growth in the number of its population and its civilization, has been handed down to us, was no more than a tribe of wandering shepherds under Abraham, Egypt was the home of art, and a garden of agricultural products.

And yet the very nomades, who roamed over the uncultivated plains, like the Aborigines of this new world, have preserved the best records of the early condition of that ancient and wonderful empire, whose origin is lost in the distance and darkness of Pagan antiquities.

It seems, from the tenth chapter of Genesis, that Egypt was settled by the descendants of Noah, through Ham, his second son.

The next reference made to this remarkable country is in the twelfth chapter, where we are told of Abraham's visit there. Again, in the twenty-first chapter, is recorded the marriage of Ishmael to an Egyptian woman. In chapter twenty-ninth is related the story of Joseph's captivity and career in the capital of the Pagan monarchy. He was the twelfth son of Jacob, and one of Rachel's two boys--lovely in his youthful character, and the idol of his father. During a period of repose in sleep he had a singular dream. The first was, that while the brothers were all in the harvest-field at work his sheaf suddenly rose upright, and the sheaves of the eleven brethren stood up and bowed to his own. The intimation that he was to rule over them made them angry, and they hated him.

Soon after Joseph's sleep he was disturbed by another dream. The sun, moon, and eleven stars, rendered homage to him. The interpretation of this was the same as that of the other, with the addition of his father and mother, who also bowed before him.

It may seem strange that Joseph should relate any thing so complimentary to himself. But he evidently did it in no boasting mood. He simply narrated the extraordinary dreams, without the least idea of what was before him.

But God saw what he did hot know, that their jealousy and enmity would be overruled for the temporal salvation of the family and nation.

The venerable, thoughtful father, silently pondered over the singular experience of Joseph.

The elder sons were shepherds, and fed their flocks in Shechem. How beautiful the ingenious, dutiful character of Joseph now appears! His father called him to go and find his brethren, to see how they were getting along. "Here am I," was his response. That is to say: "Although my brethren hate me, I am ready to serve you, and do any thing for them." He went to Shechem, but they had left; and the boy wandered about in the field looking for them. A citizen happened to see him, and was evidently interested in the beautiful stranger, bewildered and alone, and asked what he wanted. Joseph told him the truth of the case, when the man said that his brothers had taken their flocks to Dotham, a few miles distant.

He started for that place, and while a "great way off," they saw and knew him. The conspiracy was instantly formed to dispose of the "dreamer."

The first proposition was to kill him, but Reuben would not agree to the cruel suggestion. His plan was to cast the lad into a deep pit, till he could manage to get him back to his father. This less bloody way of disposing of Joseph was accepted, and when he came near they took off the "coat of many colors" the doting father had given him, and putting him in a pit without water which happened to be at hand, dipping it in blood to make his father think a beast killed him, they took it home. Scarcely was the interesting boy weeping in his prison before a caravan of Ishmaelites, and then of Midianites, came in sight.

A new idea now flashed upon their minds. They could avoid the unpleasant consciousness of probable murder, and make something out of his sale as a slave to the wandering traders. A bargain was soon made, and young Joseph, casting backward a farewell look of sad reproach, was carried away, and sold by the Midianites to the Ishmaelites, of whom Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard, bought him for a servant. God blessed the youth, and he was soon made overseer of the officer's household. But Potiphar's wife was a vile woman, and because Joseph was nobly true to God and virtue, made a false report of him, and had him put in prison.

Egypt's monarch had wonderful dreams about a famine his astrologers could not explain; and a released prisoner, who had forgotten Joseph's kindness in explaining a dream of deliverance, advised the king to send for the Hebrew. The young man was taken to the palace, and gave a true interpretation of the dreams. Pharaoh was delighted; and from his dungeon Joseph went to the secret place of authority second to the king. Pharaoh said: "Only in the throne will I be greater than thou." He then put a ring on his finger, a gold chain on his neck, and arrayed him in fine apparel. The beautiful illustration sets this sudden and splendid promotion before us--the honor God put upon his youthful servant.

Soon the predicted famine came, for which the gifted and prudent Joseph had made complete provision by storing up the abundant harvests. Among the sufferers from failing crops and pasturage, was the large family of Jacob--his sons and their households.

In their extremity they turned to Egypt. Joseph's influence was such that the patriarch's delegation found favor with the king. The prime-minister of Egypt knew his brethren, but they had forgotten him. So he managed to find out all about his father's house, and made his brothers bring dear Benjamin, when he wept aloud, and made himself known to them all. Pharaoh sent for the whole race, and soon the Hebrew caravan reached the fruitful land of Goshen, which was exactly suited to the life of shepherds. Here the strangers grew in numbers and wealth, until Joseph died, and the friendly monarch also. His successor cared neither for Joseph nor his countrymen. He was a tyrant, and enslaved the dwellers in Goshen. Centuries of captivity wore away, and God determined to deliver his people, and send them back again to Palestine.

The scene displayed in this picture you will recognize at a glance. Moses, the Hebrew babe, afloat on the Nile, in a small boat made of bulrushes by his mother, because Pharaoh was slaying the children of her nation, to get rid of them.

Neither the haughty and cruel monarch, nor the mother, nor the little voyager, thought of Moses as the future deliverer of his countrymen from bondage--the great leader and lawgiver of Israel.

We have already had glimpses of the Hebrews in the wilderness, their progress and rulers in Palestine, after the moving multitude reached the "promised land."

The ages of changing sovereigns, and fortunes of crimes and discipline brought them at last to another mournful captivity.

About six hundred years before Christ, while that wicked Manassah was king in Palestine, the monarch of Assyria--a grand and powerful empire--invaded it, and took Jerusalem. Manassah was carried in chains to Babylon, the splendid Assyrian capital. His son, Amon, became the sovereign under the Assyrian conqueror, but was soon assassinated, and Josiah took the throne.

During his reign, the King of Egypt marched into Palestine and conquered it, killing Josiah, the king.

A few years later, Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian monarch, besieged and took Jerusalem, the "City of David."

The massive walls of the cities of old was their chief protection. Those of Babylon, according to the old Roman historians, were marvelously great. Think of them rising three hundred and fifty feet, eighty-seven feet in thickness, and extending sixty miles around the city! One writer says, that two four-horse chariots could pass each other on the top. They were built of brick, cemented together with bitumen.

They had twenty gates made of solid brass, and were surmounted with two hundred and fifty towers.

The city had six hundred and seventy-six squares, each over two miles in circumference. The river Euphrates flowed through the entire extent, from north to south.

The hanging gardens, suspended from the walls, were gorgeous, and the public buildings rich and elegant.

Such was the home of the Hebrew exiles for seventy years or more.

Quintus Curtius, a Roman, has described the entrance of the great and victorious Alexander into Babylon, at a later period, who soon after died there of dissipation, while yet a young man. The pleasant sketch gives a vivid impression of the glory and pomp of this ancient capital of Babylon:

"A great part of the inhabitants of Babylon stood on the walls, eager to catch a sight of their new monarch; many went forth to meet him. Among these Bagophanes, keeper of the citadel and of the royal treasure, strewed the entire way before the king with flowers and crowns; silver altars were also placed on both sides of the road, which were loaded not merely with frankincense, but all kinds of odoriferous herbs. He brought with him for Alexander gifts of various kinds, flocks of sheep and horses; lions, also, and panthers were carried before him in their dens. The magi came next, singing in their usual manner their ancient hymns. After them came the Chaldeans with their musical instruments, who are not only the prophets of the Babylonians, but their artists. The first are wont to sing the praises of the kings; the Chaldeans teach the motion of the stars, and the changes of the seasons. Then followed, last of all, the Babylonian knights, whose equipments, as well as that of their horses, showed the passion of the people for luxury. The king, Alexander, attended by armed men, having ordered the crowd of the townspeople to proceed in the rear of his infantry, entered the city in a chariot and repaired to the palace. The next day he carefully surveyed the household treasures of Darius, and all his money. For the rest, the beauty of the city and its age turned the eyes not only of the king, but of everyone in itself, and that with good reason."

The kings and conquerors of old had no canals for boats, no railways, and not many good roads. Consequently, their invasions and various public enterprises were carried forward in a slow and toilsome manner. Heavy wagons and chariots, the latter sometimes armed with scythes or long blades for battle, were the best vehicles in use.

There were no monitors, nor fire-arms. Large swords, daggers, slings, the catapulta and battering-ram, were the principal weapons.

The last named instrument was a massive machine with a movable beam, crowned with a very hard end, often shaped like a ram's head, which could be thrown against a wall with tremendous force, beating it down.

The catapulta, which was placed upon city walls, was a great cross-bow for hurling arrows upon an enemy. In it was combined the bow and arrow, and the sling. The mammoth arrow was put in the groove, the twisted ropes were connected with levers, and the powerful recoil would send the strong and sharp arrow a great distance.

Some of the machines were large enough to discharge beams loaded with iron; and one kind, called the balista, would send great stones, crushing through the houses on which they fell.

Among the spoil, taken by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, were the costly vessels of the temple; and he graced his train with members of the royal family and the principal nobles.

He placed Zedekiah on the throne of his Hebrew province, who soon after rebelled against him.

In consequence of this revolt, the Babylonian king invaded Judea with a great army, and, after taking most of the principal towns, sat down before Jerusalem. Early in the next year the Egyptians marched an army to the relief of their ally, but being intimidated by the alacrity with which the Babylonians raised the siege and advanced to give them battle, they returned home without risking an engagement. The return of the Chaldeans to the siege, destroyed all the hopes which the approach of the Egyptian succors had excited. The siege was now prosecuted with redoubled vigor; and at length Jerusalem was taken by storm at midnight, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and in the eighteenth month from the commencement of the siege. Dreadful was the carnage. The people, young and old, were slaughtered wherever they appeared; and even the temple was no refuge for them; the sacred courts streamed with blood. Zedekiah himself, with his family and some friends, contrived to escape from the city; but he was overtaken and captured in the plains of Jericho. He was sent in chains to Nebuchadnezzar, who had left the conclusion of the war to his generals, and was then at Riblah in Syria. After sternly reproving him for his ungrateful conduct, the conqueror ordered all the sons of Zedekiah to be slain before his eyes, and then his own eyes to be put out, thus making the slaughter of his children the last sight on which his tortured memory could dwell. He was afterward sent in fetters of brass to Babylon, where he remained until his death.

Nebuchadnezzar evidently felt that his purposes had not been fully executed by the army, or else he was urged by the Edomites and others to exceed his first intentions. He therefore sent Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, with a sufficient force to complete the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem. He burned the city and the temple to the ground; he collected and sent to Babylon all the gold and silver which former spoilers had left; and he transported all the people who had been left behind in Jehoiachin's captivity, save only the poor of the land, who were left to be vine-dressers and husbandmen. Four years after, Nebuzaradan again entered Judea, and gleaned a few more of the miserable inhabitants, whom he sent off to Babylon.

Thus was the land left desolate; and thus ended the kingdom of Judah and the reign of David's house, after it had endured four hundred and four years under twenty kings. It is remarkable that the King of Babylon made no attempt to colonize the country he had depopulated, as was done by the Assyrians in Israel; and thus, in the providence of God, the land was left vacant, to be re-occupied by the Jews after seventy years of captivity and punishment.

The grand and melancholy march into captivity is seen in the illustration of the artist.

What a vast and sad procession! The conquerors ride proudly on the high ground with the captive host in full view. The tower of Babel and the walls of their magnificent city are visible in the distance.

The exiles found in Babylon many of their countrymen, who had been carried there in previous conquests, and were useful, respectable citizens. Among these, there was a young man of splendid abilities and noble heart, named Daniel.

He was one of the youthful sons of high family, who were carried away as hostages for the fidelity of King Jehoiachin. He and some others were put under the chief eunuch, to be properly trained in the language and learning of the Chaldeans, to fit them for employments at the court. This training lasted three years, when they were examined in the presence of the king; and Daniel and three of his friends were found to have made far greater progress than any of those who had been educated with them. They were therefore enrolled among the magians or learned men.

A few years after, Nebuchadnezzar was greatly troubled with a dream, which made a profound impression upon his mind; but the particulars of which quite passed from his memory when he awoke. Great importance was attached to dreams in those days, and men skilled in the sciences were supposed to be able to discover their meaning. Therefore, the king sent for his court magians, and required them not only to interpret the dream, but to discover the dream itself, which he had forgotten. This they declared to be impossible; on which the exasperated tyrant ordered all the magians to be massacred. Daniel and his friends, although not present, were included in such a sentence. On learning this, he begged a respite for the whole body, undertaking to find, through his God, the solution of the difficulty. The respite was granted; and at the earnest prayer of Daniel, God made the secret known to him. A colossal image which the king saw, with a head of gold, arms and breast of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and toes partly iron and partly clay, was struck down by a stone, which itself grew and filled the whole earth. This, in the interpretation of Daniel, figured forth "the things to come;" describing by characteristic symbols the succession of empires to the end of time; and it is wonderful to observe how precisely the greater part of what was then future has since been accomplished. The king was not only satisfied but astonished; he was almost ready to pay divine honors to Daniel; and raised him at once to the eminent station of Archimagus, or chief of the magians, and governor of the metropolitan province of Babylon. His three friends, also, were at his request, promoted to places of trust and honor.

Not long after, Nebuchadnezzar set up a colossal image in the plains of Dura, and commanded that, when music sounded, everyone should worship it, on pain of death. He soon learned that this command was utterly neglected by Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and his rage grew so high, at the example of disobedience given by persons in their high station that he ordered them to be at once cast into "the burning furnace." The heat of the furnace was so great as to destroy the men who cast them in; but they themselves remained unhurt, and not even a hair of their heads was singed. They came forth when the king called them; and he was so much astonished and convinced by this prodigy, that he publicly acknowledged the greatness of the God whom they served.

There appear to have been good and generous qualities in the character of Nebuchadnezzar; but the pride with which he contemplated the grandeur of his empire, and the magnificence of his undertakings, was most inordinate, and he required to be taught that "the Most High ruleth over all the kingdoms of the earth, and giveth them to whomsoever he will." He was warned of this in a dream, which was interpreted to him by Daniel; but, neglecting the warning, "his heart was changed from man's, and a beast's heart was given to him." He was afflicted with a madness which made him think himself a beast, and, acting as such, he remained constantly abroad in the fields, living upon wild herbs. In this debased and forlorn condition the mighty conqueror remained seven years, when he was restored to his reason and his throne, and one of his first acts was to issue a proclamation, humbly acknowledging the signs and wonders which the Most High God had wrought toward him, and declaring his conviction, that "those who walk in pride he is able to abase." He died soon after.

The next illustration is drawn from the interpretation of the dream in the royal palace. Conscious of Jehovah's favor and guidance, how courageously and grandly he stands before the monarch, and declares the whole counsel of God!

He thus became a prophet of the Most High, whose wonderful career afterwards, we shall again follow, when we come to the narratives of the seers.

The spirit alienation from God, and of depraved desires, which ruled the ancient pagan realms is set before us under various titles. Among them is that of the dragon, in the engraving; which the "king of kings" shall yet bind forever and imprison.

The fate of the proud kingdoms which ruled Palestine, teaches the world how little importance God attaches to human glory in his punishment of the wicked.

Egypt has scarcely more than its location and name left. Its pyramids, one of which it is estimated employed three hundred thousand men twenty years in building, stand in the desert places, solitary and pillaged sepulchres.

The temple of Karnak, on the east bank of the Nile, whose massive stone roof was supported by one hundred and thirty-four majestic columns, forty-three feet high, and ranged in sixteen rows; the whole structure twelve hundred feet in length, and covered with figures of gods and heroes; is one of the grandest works of time.

Should you visit the gorges of the Theban Mountains, your feet would stumble over the bones of departed generations. Princes, priests, and warriors, after reposing thousands of years in their deep seclusion, are dragged forth by poor peasants, and scattered around the doors of those cavern-like excavations in the everlasting hills.

Lighting a torch or candle, you may wander along the rock-walled galleries several hundred feet into the heart of the summits, on each side of which are the apartments of death.

Inscriptions, three thousand years old, can be distinctly traced.

How little thought the Hebrews, while toiling under the shadow of palaces, or flying at night from the mighty realm of Egypt, of what we find to-day along the banks of the Nile!

The doom of Babylon, with that of the great invaders and conquerors of Palestine, is equally wonderful and instructive.

Probably no nation of antiquity was more distinguished for luxury and corrupt pleasures than this unrivalled city.

Its last king, Nabonnidus, reigned about one hundred years before Christ appeared; and in less than that time afterward, the city walls enclosed a hunting ground or park for the recreation of Persian monarchs. We cannot well imagine a more complete destruction than has overtaken the once rich and gay metropolis. The ruins are a number of mounds, formed of crumbled buildings, and strewn all over with pieces of brick, bitumen, and potter's vessels.

The Assyrian kings of western Asia, also invaded the Holy Land. They ruled a vast and powerful realm, whose principal city was Nineveh, to which Jonah was sent with a message from God.

Sennacherib, the monarch who reigned seven hundred years before Christ, marched his armies against the cities of Judah and took them. Not satisfied with the terms of surrender he threatened further invasion.

At this crisis, in answer to prayer, Jehovah sent his angel to destroy the troops; and in one night the unseen messenger of destruction slew one hundred and eighty-five thousand men.

Of this miraculous defeat a gifted but irreligious and unhappy poet has sung:

And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide,
But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beaten surf.

And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, and the banners alone,
And the lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentiles, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow at the glance of the Lord.

Now the greater part of the country which once formed Assyria, is under the sway of the Turks.

Mosul, a missionary station of the American Board of Foreign Missions, is believed to mark the site of ancient Nineveh.

The original inhabitants of Assyria, in modern history, are the Kurds; a barbarous and warlike race. Some of these live in villages, and others roam over the country. They are said to resemble, in personal appearance, the Highlanders of Scotland.

But the most remarkable fact in regard to the population, is the ancient church of the Nestorians, among the mountains. This Christian people have for ages maintained their independence, defying the storms of revolution that have swept over all the country around their mountain home.

Dr. Grant, a missionary, thinks they are descendants of the "lost tribes of Israel." We recollect to have seen in the hands of the venerable missionary, Rev. Dr. Perkins, a copy of the Scriptures preserved for many hundred years by them: sometimes hidden away, to prevent its destruction by its enemies.

Not long ago, one of the Nestorian bishops, Mar Yohanah, visited this country, and attracted much attention. A Jew-like, noble man personally, and a devout Christian.

But if you look on the map of Asia, you will see that Mosul and the Nestorian country is in Persia, and may wonder what it has to do with Assyria. In the conquests which weakened and divided the Assyrian empire, new kingdoms were formed; and while none can now accurately trace the boundaries of that great monarchy, we have the later outline of Persia. More will be said of this remarkable kingdom when we come to the story of Mordecai and Esther.

The thrones of these ancient monarchies were, at first, no more than an ornamented arm-chair, higher than ordinary seats, with a footstool for the royal feet. Then it was made in more massive form and richly carved, with steps ascending to it.

Some of the thrones were of ivory, adorned with gold; and it is recorded, that Archelaus addressed the multitude from a throne of solid gold--a magnificent fortune in itself. Thus gradually the throne became the highest symbol of power, and is often applied to Jehovah's sovereignty. He is represented as sitting upon a throne of light, and around him continually, attending angels, veiling their faces with their wings, and waiting to hear and obey his mandates; crying with their voices of celestial music, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is, and is to come!" A "crystal sea" is before this "White Throne" of a pure and just authority, and on it worships a resplendent host. Every sound and sight of glory and honor, that language can express, or the finest imagination picture, is ascribed to that eternal royalty.

Next to the throne, the crown became a sign of authority, although it was applied, at first, to other ornaments for the head, properly called coronets, garlands, tiaras, bands, mitres, etc.

The idea of a kingly crown was suggested by the diadem, which was a fillet--a mere band like that used to bind the long hair worn by the people--but richer and of a different color. It was natural and easy, with the increase of power and wealth, to make the crown a more costly and showy symbol of kingly sway.

David wore a crown of gold set with jewels, he took from the king of the Ammonites.

The more modern crowns of Asia, where all the kings reigned, of whom we have read in these pages, are of different shapes, and some of them very rich and expensive, ornamented with precious stones and plumes of the rarest kind.

Crowns are also often mentioned in the Bible as an emblem of power; and the Christian conqueror of his sins and the world, it is written, shall have "a crown of life."

The sceptre was the third token of sovereignty. The word originally signified a staff of wood of the length of a man's height. Later, it was smaller in form, and often plated with gold, and enriched with various decorations. Inclining, or holding out the sceptre was a mark of royal favor; and kissing it by another, a sign of submission.

Jehovah's rule is mentioned frequently in the inspired record, under this figure. "His sceptre is a right sceptre," in one of the declarations, which even the wicked and most wretched on account of transgression, dare not deny.

Under its wide dominion are Heaven, Earth, and Hell, not only, but a universe whose boundaries neither man nor angel can ever reach.

"He is God over all, and blessed forever!"

How amazing the truth of such a king and kingdom! Under the unsleeping eye of the Sovereign, the planet wheels on its axis with startling velocity, and the insect creeps on the grain of sand. A Russian poet beautifully sung:

Oh, thou Eternal One! whose presence bright,
All space doth occupy, all motion guide!
Unchanged through time's all devastating flight,
Thou only God, there is no God beside!

Being above all beings! mighty one,
Whom none can comprehend, and none explore!
Who filled existence with thyself alone;
Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er!
Being, whom we call God, and know no more!

Thou art! directing, guiding all. Thou art!
Direct my understanding then to thee;
Control my spirit, guide my wandering heart,
Though but an atom 'mid immensity.
Still I am something fashioned by thy hand!
I hold a middle rank 'twixt heaven and earth,
On the last verge of mortal being stand,
Close to the realms where angels have their birth,
Just on the boundaries of the spirit land.

Oh, thoughts ineffable! Oh, visions blest!
Though worthless our conceptions all of thee;
Yet shall thy shadowed image fill our breasts,
And waft its homage to thy Deity.
God! thus alone my lowly thoughts can soar;
Thus seek thy presence--Being wise and good!
'Midst thy best works admire, obey, adore!
And when the tongue is eloquent no more,
The soul shall speak in tears of gratitude.

THE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND

PATRIARCHS, KINGS, AND KINGDOMS.

HEBREW CAPTIVES; OR, MORDECAI AND ESTHER.

The next pictured scene is in the Court of Persia. It will not be forgotten that Daniel was a captive in Babylon under the last kings, and probably died there after the city was taken by Cyrus. Of this great man's history as a captive we shall learn more when we go with the prophets of God in their peculiar mission.

Nabonadrius, the son of Darius, usurped the throne after his father's death; and after reigning several years, Cyrus, a nephew of Darius, a Persian general who was occupied in foreign wars, turned his attention to the reigning monarch.

He marched against the gorgeous metropolis, and besieged it for two years in vain. He at last thought of a stratagem which displayed his genius and boldness of action. He determined to turn the channel of the Euphrates, which went through the whole length of the city, from the walls where it entered, and get into the capital through the dry channel, under the massive pile which no battering rams could crumble. He succeeded in making a new bed for the stream, and his troops went into Babylon over a path washed for ages by the waters of the Euphrates.

Media, a word some suppose to be derived from Madai, the son of Japheth, was the name of a region adjacent to ancient Assyria, inhabited by warlike hordes for centuries. The little that is said of these people in the Bible, is in connection with the Persians. Both seemed to have become one nation; first the Medes gaining the ascendancy, and then the Persians. But the darkness which rests upon the origin of the Asiatic lands bewilders the most careful historian.

The conspicuous appearance of the Medes and Persians begins with Cyrus the Great, the conqueror of Babylon, a remarkable monarch in power, glory, and character.

The picture of the magi who journeyed from the east to find the infant Messiah, presents a peculiar view of the Persians and Arabians. Among these gentile nations were men of great attainments in whatever of philosophy and astrology there was in the world. The Ethiopian race is represented, and it may have been that dark faces were over the wonderful child. Color was evidently then no honor or disgrace; the man was the object of regard or scorn. More will be said of these wonderful travellers in the more appropriate place in the annals of Palestine. Cyrus the first, and noble Persian monarch, was kindly disposed toward the captive Jews, and Daniel had great influence over him. In the very year of his conquest he issued a decree, in which, after acknowledging the supremacy of the Lord, and that to him he owed all kingdoms, he gave full permission to the Jews in any part of his dominions, to return to their own land and to rebuild the city and temple of Jerusalem. No sooner were the favorable dispositions of the king thus made known, than the members of the latter captivity--those of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi--repaired in large numbers to Babylon from their different places of residence; some to make preparations for their journey; and others, who had no intention to return themselves, to assist those who had. Most of the existing race had been born in Babylonia, and in the course of years families had established themselves in the country, and formed connections, and gathered around them comforts which were not easily abandoned. Only a minority availed themselves of the decree in their favor; the most of the people choosing to remain in the land of their exile; and it has always been the opinion of the Jews that the more illustrious portion of their nation remained in Babylonia.

The first return caravan was organized and directed by Zerubbabel, the grandson of king Jehoiachim, and by Jeshua, a grandson of the last high-priest Jozadak. The number of persons who joined them was about fifty thousand, including above seven thousand male and female servants. Before they departed, Cyrus restored to them the more valuable of the sacred utensils, which had been removed by Nebuchadnezzar, and preserved by his successors, and which were now to be again employed in the service of the sanctuary. Zerubbabel was also entrusted with large contributions toward the expense of rebuilding the temple, from the Jews who chose to remain behind. The beasts of burden in this caravan exceeded eight thousand. In the book of Ezra, the names of the families which returned to this first colony, and in those which followed, are carefully given.

The incidents of the journey are not related. On reaching Palestine the caravan repaired at once to Jerusalem, which they found utterly ruined and desolate. Before they separated to seek habitations for themselves, they raised a large sum by voluntary contributions toward the rebuilding of the temple. Then they employed themselves in securing dwellings and necessaries for their families; and at the ensuing Feast of Tabernacles again repaired to Jerusalem, where sacrifices were offered on an altar erected upon the ruins of the temple. After this the people applied themselves zealously to the necessary preparation for the restoration of that edifice. In a year from the departure from Babylon, the preparations were sufficiently advanced to allow the work to be commenced; and, accordingly, the foundations of the second temple were then laid with great rejoicings and songs of thanksgiving. While the work proceeded, the Samaritans manifested a desire to assist in the work, and to claim a community of worship in the new temple. This was declined by the Jews on the ground that the decree of the Persian king extended only to the race of Israel.

Being thus frustrated in their design, the Samaritans employed every means they could devise to thwart the undertaking. Their origin appears to have given them considerable influence at the Persian court; and although they could not act openly against the plain decree of Cyrus, an unscrupulous use of their money and influence among the officers of the government enabled them to raise such obstructions, that the people were much discouraged, and the work proceeded but languidly, and at length was suspended altogether. From this lethargy they were roused by the exhortations and reproaches of the prophet Haggai; and the building was resumed with fresh zeal.

The new temple was dedicated with great solemnity and joy. The Jews were allowed the free exercise of their religion and laws, and the government was directed by a governor of their own nation, or by the high-priest, when there was no other governor. There was, in fact, a distinct commonwealth, with its own peculiar institutions; and, although responsible to the Persian king, and to his deputy the governor-general of Syria, it was more secure under the protection of the monarch than it would have been in complete independence. The dreadful lesson taught by the desolation of the land, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the people, had effectually cured the Jews of that tendency to idolatry which had been their ruin. But, as time went on, the distortion of character which had been restrained in one direction broke forth in another; and although they no longer went formally astray from a religion which did not suit their depravity, they, by many vain and mischievous fancies, fabricated a religion suited to their dispositions out of the ritual to which they adhered.

Early in the reign of Artaxerxes, son of the mighty Xerxes, the Hebrews went to work on the beloved city with a regular plan of its rebuilding, including an encircling wall.

This king had learned by reading and traditions, the veneration which his most distinguished predecessors had shown for the God of Israel; and about seven years after he ascended the throne, he commissioned Ezra, the priest and scribe, to take charge of the religious service at Jerusalem. And he was, in reality, the governor or viceroy under the monarch.

Those of the Hebrews who desired to do so, were invited to return with him, and others who remained, were to pay contributions for the use of the temple.

To this fund the king himself and his council contributed large sums of money; and the ministers of the royal realms west of the Euphrates, were enjoined to furnish Ezra with silver, wheat, wine, oil, and salt, that the sacrifices and offerings of the temple should be constantly kept up; all of which is said to have been done in order to avert from the king and his sons, the wrath of the God of the Hebrews, who was held in much honor at the Persian court.

An exemption from all taxes was also promised to persons engaged in the service of the temple; but this boon did not induce any of the Levitical tribe to join the caravan which assembled on the banks of the river Ahava, in Babylonia: and it was with some difficulty that Ezra at last induced some of the priestly families to go with him. The whole caravan was composed of one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four adult males--making, with wives and children, about six thousand persons. As a party thus composed had little military strength, and as the journey across the desert was then, as it always has been, dangerous from the Arab tribes by which it is infested, they felt considerable anxiety on this account. But Ezra, from having said much to the king of the power of God to protect and deliver those that trusted in him, felt disinclined to apply for a guard of soldiers; and thought it better that the party should, in a solemn act of fasting and prayer, cast themselves upon the care of their God. Their confidence was rewarded by the perfect safety with which their journey was accomplished. In four months they arrived at Jerusalem.

While Ezra, with his sealed commission from Artaxerxes, was urging on the noble work at Jerusalem, an unexpected danger to his people in Babylon and its provinces arose--a sudden and fearful crisis in destiny.

Among the captives there was Esther, a Hebrew maiden. The Persian king, to commemorate his victorious and prosperous reign, extending from Judea to Ethiopia, and embracing a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, made a magnificent feast, which continued six months. This was to display his power and wealth, before the nobility of his realm, and representatives from the conquered provinces of his spreading empire. At the expiration of this brilliant entertainment, he gave the common people, without distinction, a feast of seven days in the court of his palace. The rich canopy and gorgeous curtains, with their fastenings--the tall columns, the golden couches, and tesselated floors--are described as "white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings, and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and black, and white marble."

Of this grandeur, in the ashes strewn by wasting ages, are imposing remains. Modern travellers pause before "the vast, solitary, mutilated columns of the magnificent colonnades," where youth and beauty graced the harems of Persian monarchs.

Upon this occasion, the queen had a private pavilion for her female guests. But during the successive days of dissipation, the mirth waxed loud in the apartments of the king. The flashing goblet circulated freely, and his brain became wild with "wine and wassail." As the crowning display of his glory, Vashti, in her jeweled robes and diadem, must grace the banquet. The command was issued, and the messenger sent. This mandate, requiring what at any time was contrary to custom, the appearance of a woman, unveiled, in an assemblage of men, now when revelry and riot betrayed the royal intoxication, overwhelmed the queen with surprise. A thousand wondering and beaming eyes were upon her during the brief pause before answering the summons. Her proud refusal to appear, roused the fury of Ahashuerus, already mad with excitement. It would not answer to pass by the indignity, for a hundred and twenty-seven provinces were represented at his court, and the news of his sullied honor would reach every dwelling in his realm, and curl the lip of the serf with scorn. The nobles fanned the flame of his indignation. Unless a withering rebuke were administered, their authority as husbands would be gone, and the caprice of woman make every family a scene of daily revolution.

Vashti was divorced--and to provide for the emergency, his courtiers suggested that he should collect in his harem all the beautiful virgins of the land, and choose him a wife. Among these was Hadassah, the adopted daughter of Mordecai. He urged her to enter her name among the rivals for kingly favor. It was not ambition merely that moved Mordecai. He had been meditating upon the unfolding providence of God toward his scattered nation, and felt that there was deeper meaning in passing events than the pleasures and anger of his sovereign. Arrayed richly as circumstances would permit, the beautiful Jewess, concealing her lineage, joined the youthful procession that entered the audience chamber of Ahashuerus, where he sat in state, to look along the rank of female beauty, floating like a vision before him.

The character of Esther is here exhibited at the outset; for when she went into the presence of the king, for his inspection, instead of asking for gifts as allowed by him, and as the others did, she took only what the chamberlain gave her. Of exquisite form and faultless features, her rare beauty at once captivated the king, and he made her his wife.