at that time subject to the Assyrians. He opposed idolatry, and promoted the worship of the true God; an example for Christians to follow. They are not, indeed, like Josiah, invested with power to cast down the idols of the heathen, but they have the means of sending the gospel to the benighted among the human race, which is able so to enlighten them, that they will be induced of their own accord to cast their idols "to the moles and to the bats." Among the labours of Josiah was the restoration of the temple, which had been neglected and profaned. During the progress of these repairs, Hilkiah, who had succeeded Joachim the high priest, discovered the book of the law, which it has been supposed by some was the original writing deposited in the ark by Moses. So much had the word of God been disregarded, and so scarce were the copies of it, that neither the king nor his subjects were conversant with its precious contents. The writing was presented to Josiah, and read before him, and by it he found how far they had departed from God, and to what an extent of wrath they were exposed. This discovery deeply affected the good monarch, and he sent to inquire of the Lord whether the judgments might be averted. The Divine oracle, by Huldah the prophetess, declared that they could not be recalled; but Josiah received a promise that before the day of retribution arrived he should be removed from the earth. Feeling the importance of the word of God, Josiah was anxious that his subjects should be acquainted with it. He summoned the elders of the nation, the ministers of the church and state, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem at large, to the temple, and there read aloud the denunciations which had deeply affected him. At the same time, he bound himself by covenant to serve the Lord, and required his people to enter into the same engagement. The people responded to his demand, and Josiah, desirous that their vows should be ratified in the most solemn manner, determined upon the celebration of the passover, which had been long neglected. It was observed with the minutest circumstances of the appointment, and with costly sacrifices, such as had not been offered since the days of the prophet Samuel. This conduct of Josiah affords a lesson for Christians. If the word of God has been found precious to them, how earnestly should they strive to place it in the hands of those who are ignorant of it. This is one of the first duties, and as such it was felt by the poet who penned these lines :— JEREMIAH MOURNING THE DEATH OF JOSIAH. Shall we, whose souls are lighted With wisdom from on high, The lamp of life deny? Salvation! O salvation! The joyful sound proclaim, Till each remotest nation Has learned Messiah's name. HEBER. The death of Josiah took place under lamentable circumstances. In the thirty-first year of his reign, the king of Egypt was passing through his dominions to attack the Assyrians, and Josiah went out to withstand him, and he received a wound, of which he died as he was conveyed from the battle-field at Megiddo, to Jerusalem. He was greatly deplored by all his subjects, and especially by Jeremiah. This is the point in the history of Josiah which the artist has attempted to delineate. Jeremiah, habited in the costume of a santon, or dervise, the nearest approach which can now be made to a conjectural representation of one of the old prophets, stands on a mound at the mouth of a sepulchre,* with the mourners of Jerusalem. The mourning women are shown in the foreground, and, as their office, as represented in Scripture history,† invests them with a peculiar and touching interest, great care has been taken to procure a correct representation of them. The authority for them is chiefly based on a beautiful Egyptian tablet, formerly in the Athanasi collection, but now in the British Museum. This relic of antiquity was discovered by Rosellini at Milan, and he conceived it to be a representation of a Jewish funeral ceremony. The circumstances which led him to this conclusion are, that the features and costumes are at variance with the conventional Egyptian standards, while it is free from all mythological allusions to the state of the departed, and from hieroglyphical inscriptions, which abound on Egyptian sculptures and paintings. The attitude of sorrow represented in the tablet has been carefully preserved in the composition of the design, and the accessories, figures, *For a description, of "The sepulchres of the kings" of Judah, the reader is referred to "Eastern Arts and Antiquities," published by the Religious Tract Society. See Jer. ix. 17, 18; xvi. 6, 7; xlviii. 36. Ezek. xxiv. 16-18. at that time subject to the Assyrians. He opposed idolatry, and promoted the worship of the true God; an example for Christians to follow. They are not, indeed, like Josiah, invested with power to cast down the idols of the heathen, but they have the means of sending the gospel to the benighted among the human race, which is able so to enlighten them, that they will be induced of their own accord to cast their idols "to the moles and to the bats." Among the labours of Josiah was the restoration of the temple, which had been neglected and profaned. During the progress of these repairs, Hilkiah, who had succeeded Joachim the high priest, discovered the book of the law, which it has been supposed by some was the original writing deposited in the ark by Moses. So much had the word of God been disregarded, and so scarce were the copies of it, that neither the king nor his subjects were conversant with its precious contents. The writing was presented to Josiah, and read before him, and by it he found how far they had departed from God, and to what an extent of wrath they were exposed. This discovery deeply affected the good monarch, and he sent to inquire of the Lord whether the judgments might be averted. The Divine oracle, by Huldah the prophetess, declared that they could not be recalled; but Josiah received a promise that before the day of retribution arrived he should be removed from the earth. Feeling the importance of the word of God, Josiah was anxious that his subjects should be acquainted with it. He summoned the elders of the nation, the ministers of the church and state, and tl: inhabitants of Jerusalem at large, to the temple, and there read aloud the denunciations which had deeply affected him. At the same time, he bound himself by covenant to serve the Lord, and required his people to enter into the same engagement. The people responded to his demand, and Josiah, desirous that their rows should be ratified in the most solemn manner, determin upon the celebration of the passover, which had been long lected. It was observed with the minutest circumstances o appointment, and with costly sacrifices, such as had no offered since the days of the prophet Samuel. This conduct of Josiah affords a lesson for Christians word of God has been found precious to them, how earnes they strive to place it in the hands This is one of the first who penned these line JEREMIAH CROING THE DEATH OF JOSIAH. Shail we, whose souls are lighted With wisóm faz en high, The joyful sound proclaim. Has learned Messiah's me The death of Josiah took place un This is the point in the hist The circumsURES TEM features and caSMUSE tian standaris. the state which abou tude of we serwed and landscape, have been designed from Egyptian paintings of the period, and modern sketches of the country. The cause which Jeremiah had for mourning the loss of Josiah was two-fold. He saw that the people would be left as sheep having no shepherd, and that the long-predicted vengeance of the Almighty would soon overwhelm his beloved country. At this time, indeed, The wheels of an incensed avenging God COWPER. By prophetic foresight he discerned the mountain of Zion desolated, and the foxes walking upon it, and the joy of his heart and the hearts of the elders ceased, and their dance was turned into mourning, while their hearts became faint, and their eyes dim with weeping. For Josiah, personally, Scripture leads us to think that Jeremiah had no cause to mourn. We may conclude that it was in mercy to himself, and in judgment to the people, that he was thus removed. He was taken away from the evil to come, and, judging from the anguish Josiah felt on discovering the perilous situation of Jerusalem, death was more welcome to him than witnessing the consummation of her doom. Sudden death, moreover, is not always a judgment or an awful event. To those who serve God in deed and in truth, it is sudden glory. It is a glorious translation from a world where sorrow abounds, to a world where sorrow never enters, where God wipes away all tears from the eyes of his saints. We may mourn their loss, and shed the bitter tear, as they are lowered into the cold grave, as Jeremiah and the elders mourned the loss of Josiah, but they have joined the ceaseless praises of the heavenly hosts. Reader! let us so live by faith in Christ, that, whether death comes upon us after a lingering sickness, or in the bloom of health, we may have a good hope of joining in this song of triumph-" Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Rev. i. 5, 6. |