trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end" (Jeremiah iv. 23-27).

More than once the Holy Spirit has recalled this national mourning to express deep and general affliction. The prophet Zechariah in particular has made use of it to depict the mourning of the Jews, when, acknowledging their crime in crucifying the Saviour, as is predicted, they should repent and turn to the Lord.

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great

mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon" (Zech. xii. 10, 11).

Such was the mourning in which Daniel joined when he was but eleven years old. The Jews were weeping for one of the best of kings, but he was mourning also for one of the best of relatives, his support and his example. He doubtless knew the calamities which were foretold to come upon Jerusalem, on account of the wickedness of Manasseh and the people. The Lord had said, "Behold I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle" (1 Kings xxi. 12).

As soon as Josiah had breathed his last sigh, the nation hastened to name as his successor his second son Jehoahaz, doubtless because the elder son had already fallen into the hands of the king of Egypt.

The young prince reigned only three months; but this short period was sufficient to give him time to show a wicked example, and to make him taste all the miseries of greatness. Pha

raoh-Necho having allured him under some pretext into the city of Riblah, and there seized his person, caused the gates of Jerusalem to be opened, and sent the young prince to end his days in captivity; whilst he placed upon the throne Josiah's elder son, Eliakim, whose name, as a sign of vassalage, he changed to Jehoiakim.

The reign of this prince neither began nor ended better than that of his brother. He was twenty five years old, a wicked man, the enemy of the good, and a persecutor of the prophets. One day when seated in his winter palace, he was so angry with Jeremiah, that he had the impiety to cut into pieces with his knife, and throw into the fire, the book of prophecies which this man of God had given to Baruch. Terrible judgments were denounced on him in consequence; he was not only to have the king of Egypt for an enemy, but also the king of Babylon. The prophet foretold to him that he would end his days miserably, and that he would be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem (Jer.

xxxvi. 9-22; Jer. xxii. 18, 19; 2 Kings xxiv;

2 Chron. xxxvi).

Such was the end of Jehoiakim. Now let us go on to Nebuchadnezzar.

The most brilliant of the ancient kingdoms of the earth had been that of the Assyrians, the capital of which, Nineveh the great, was situated on the left or eastern bank of the Tigris. This empire rivalled Egypt in antiquity, learning, arts, and wealth; and very often surpassed it in power, grandeur, and warlike prowess. Nineveh was a magnificent city Diodorus Siculus, who lived in the time of Julius Cæsar, and travelled much, wrote a universal history, part of which is still in existence. He tells us that Nineveh was 480 stadia, or 60 miles, or, according to some computations, 74 miles* in circumference, and that its walls were everywhere 100 feet in height, without reckoning 1500 towers, each 200 feet in height.

Mr Layard, the celebrated traveller, has explored the ruins of Nineveh, and thus writes *Layard's Nineveh, vol. ii. p. 243.

respecting them: "If we take the four great mounds of Nimroud, Kouyunjik, Khorsabad, and Karamles, as the corners of a square, it will be found that its four sides correspond pretty accurately with the 480 stadia, or 60 miles of Diodorus Siculus, which make the three days' journey of the prophet Jonah (Jonah iii. 3). Within this space there are many large mounds, including the principal ruins in Assyria, such as Karakush, etc., etc.; and the face of the country is strewed with the remains of pottery, bricks, and other fragments. From the northern extremity of Kouyunjik to Nimroud, is about eighteen miles; the distance from Nimroud to Karamles, about twelve; the opposite sides of the square, the These measurements correspond accurately with the elongated quadrangle of Diodorus. Twenty miles is the day's journey of the east, and we have consequently the three days' journey of Jonah for the circumference of the city. The agreement of these measurements is remarkable."

same.

These dimensions, exceeding those of any * Layard's Nineveh, vol. ii. p. 247.