IX. "be put to death; for thus he weakeneth the hands of LETTER "the men of war that remain in the city, and the ❝hands of all the people, in speaking such words "unto them!-He seeketh not the welfare of this "people, but the hurt 05!" The sacred character of prophet, however, and the irresolute temper of Zedekiah, saved Jeremiah from that punishment which rigid policy, at such a crisis, would otherwise instantly have inflicted; as the just reward of his spiritual audacity, and seditious prognostics. He was only thrown into prison, where he acquired the virtue of silence; and was made sensible, that his heavenly mission ought not to exempt him from his duty as a subject106. But his former predictions could not fail to have their influence upon the minds of the citizens, or to break the nerve of the valour of the soldiers, as their leaders had foreseen, 588. Nabonass. æra 159. Yet Jerusalem, under all these disadvantages, suse tained a close siege of twelve months, against the great and formidable host by which it was invested, Ant. Chr. without offering to capitulate. At length it was taken by storm 07. The king made his escape at one of the gates, surrounded by his guards and chief officers, But he was overtaken by the Babylonians in the plains of Jericho, and made prisoner along with his sons and principal attendants 08. They were all carried to Ribla in Syria, where Nebuchadnezzar then resided. And that incensed monarch cruelly ordered the sons of Zedekiah, and all the captive nobles of Judah, to be slain in his presence; and after this awful spectacle, (the last he was to behold) the eyes of Zedekiah were 105. Ibid. ver. 4. 106. Jeremiah, chap. xxxviii. ver. 27. "Then came all the princes "unto Jeremiah and he told them, according to the words that the king had commanded." Id. ibid. 107. 2. Kings chap. xxv. ver. 4--7. 108. Id. ibid. put PARTI. put out, and he was bound with fetters of brass, and sent in that condition to Babylon 09. Meanwhile Jerusalem suffered all the horrors of an Asiatic city taken by storm, in ancient times, and which the conqueror was determined to brand with exemplary vengeance. The Babylonian sword, reeking with the blood of the brave, smote the unresisting from house to house, and from street to street, without regard to age, sex, condition or sanctuary11o. Fire followed with its devouring rage, and consumed every public and private building. The temple and palace were pillaged and destroyed, and the walls of the city were thrown down". Such of the inhabitants as escaped in the general massacre, were carried captive to Babylon": and Jerusalem, reduced to a heap of ruins, was left utterly desolate113. From the calamities attending the extinction of the kingdom of Judah, and the destruction of the holy city, the prophet Jeremiah was in some measure exempted. Nebuchadnezzar, sensible that much was due to the man who had foretold his success, and endeavoured to enforce obedience to his sway, gave his general particular instructions concerning the safety of his sacred person''4; ordered a reward to be given him, with the offer of an opulent station at Babylon, or, if he should not be disposed to leave his own country, he was consoled with the liberty of residing in whatever part of it he might think proper115. He chose the latter indulgence; and lived at Mizah, with Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made 109. 2 Kings, ubi sup. Jeremiah, chap. xxxix. ver. 4—7. 111. Ibid. ver. 18, 19. Jeremiah, chap. xxxix. ver. 8. 112. 2 Chron. chap. xxxvi. ver. 20, 21. 113. Id. ibid. and Lamentations, chap. i. ver. 1-4. 115. Id. chap. xl. ver. 4, 5, 6. governor IX. governor over the land of Judah. Gedaliah was the LETTER son of Ahikam, the prophet's former protector, and perhaps owed his elevation to that circumstance. But the good fortune of Jeremiah was of short continuance. Gedaliah was slain in the second or third month of his government, by Ishmael, a Jewish prince of the blood royal, and other refugees, who had returned from the neighbouring countries into Palestine; and who were envious of his greatness, or intemperately zealous of freeing their nation from the Babylonian yoke". They also slew all Gedaliah's guards and attendants, both Jewish and Babylonian 8. These barbarities completed the expulsion or removal of the whole Jewish nation. For, although Ishmael and his followers were again obliged to seek safety in exile, the Jewish chiefs, who had expelled them, were so much afraid of the resentment of the king of Babylon, for the massacre of his officers and troops, that they assembled the miserable remnant of the people; man, woman, and child, and conducted them into Egypt 9. And they carried along with Ant. Chr. them the prophet Jeremiah; although he had persisted in remonstrating against their flight, and assured them of better days, if they would remain in their own land 20. "No!" said they:-" we will go "into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war; nor hear the voice of the trumpet, nor have hunger "of bread; and there will we dwell." What fortune afterward attended Jeremiah is uncertain; But many of the fugitive Jews obtained settlements in different parts of the kingdom of Egypt'". 116 Id. ibid. 118. Ibid. ver. 3. 117. Jeremiah, chap. xli. ver. 1, 2. 119. Jeremiah, chap. xli. xlii throughout, and chap. xliii. ver. 1-7. 120. Id. ibid. 121. Jeremiah, chap. xliv. ver. 1. 587. Nabonass. æra 160. PARTI. And there they worshipped, as formerly, Astarte, Isis, or the queen of heaven, in defiance of all the exhortations of the prophet 22. In the meantime Nebuchadnezzar, whose throne was exalted above that of every other potentate, and whose pride was boundless as his ambition, seems to have aspired at divine honours; or at least to have attempted to make all the nations that owned his sway bow to a colosseal statue, which he had set up in the province of Babylon (and most probable an image of himself, under the character of the god Belus) as the object of their adoration 23. But the firmness of certain Jewish captives, belonging to his household, diverted him from this vain-glorious project, and made him sensible of his folly and impiety124. And Ezekiel, a Jewish prophet, in his dominions, awakened anew his martial ardour, and pointed his arms against the rich commercial city of Tyre125. Thus are we led, by the course of events, to resume the history of the Phoenicians. Before the Phenicians or Canaanites were pelled the more fertile part of their country by the Hebrews 126, Sidon appears to have been a great city, in possession of extensive commerce127; and about two hundred years after, we find the Sidonians so powerful, as to oppress the Hebrews in their turn But the glory and grandeur of the Sidonians was to arise from arts, not from arms. 128 We have formerly seen that the Phoenicians were very early acquainted with the art of writing, of keep 122. Jeremiah, chap. xliv. ver. 15-19. 123. Daniel, chap. iii. ver. 1-7. 124. Ibid. ver. 8-29 125. Ezek. chap. xxvi. ver. 1—14. 126. See Lett. I. cit. 127. Joshua, chap. xi. ver. 8. Bochart, in Phaleg. lib. iv. et auct. 128. Judges, chap. x. ver. 12. IX. ing accompts, and with navigation 129. These fitted LETTER them for foreign trade, and the regular conduct of commercial transactions; and the people that poured down upon the sea-coast, on the invasion of the inland country by the conquering Hebrews, under Joshua, enabled the Sidonians and Tyrians to plant colonies in various countries; as well as to build new cities, and open new ports in their own maritime territory, behind the mountains of Libanus130. Tyre, which is called the Daughter of Sidon'3', favoured with an excellent harbour, became soon more populous than the parent city. As the Sidonians excelled in the weaving of fine linen, tapestry, beautiful veils, and in the manufacture of glass, which they invented, and knew how to stain, the Tyrians, also, famous. in the labours of the loom, were distinguished by their skill in dying their rich stuffs and woollen cloths as well as their linen fabrics, all kinds of bright and deep colours, but especially purple 32. And the artists of both cities were celebrated for their ingenuity in blending metals and working them into all sorts of vessels and utensils; and in giving to gold and silver ware, and likewise to, furniture of wood and ivory, both useful and ornamental, the most elegant fashion and polish '33. In what age Tyre was founded, ancient historians are not agreed. But it must have had its beginning long before the invasion of Canaan by the Hebrews, as it was then a strong city. Yet Homer, who speaks frequently with admiration of Sidon; of the ingenuity of its artists, and the skill of its navigators'34, makes 129. Lett. I. et auct. cit. 130. Bochart. ubi sup. et in Canaan, lib. ii. 131. Isaiah, chap. xxiii. ver. 12. 132. Bochart. in Phaleg. lib. iv. et auct. cit. 133. Id. ibid. 134. Iliad, et Odyss. passim. VOL. II. no |