by which it may be attained, his ideal of a golden future is brought within reach of all mankind.

VI. NAHUM (710).

The orations of the prophet Nahum present, in one particular at least, a striking contrast to most of the other prophetic utterances. These generally describe the trials and the desolation about to fall upon the Holy Land, and they convey remonstrances mingled with solemn advice, or threats of punishment and disgrace. Not so the writings of Nahum. Called forth during one of those rare periods when brighter prospects seemed to dawn upon the fortunes of the Hebrews, they announce the doom of a powerful foe and the deliverance of Israel; indeed they almost bear the character of songs of praise and thanksgiving.

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Of Nahum's life we know nothing except the fact that he was an Elkoshite,' that is, a native of the town of Elkosh, the situation of which is doubtful; he is never mentioned in the historical Books; and he is associated only with one great event, on which he commented with equal grace and power. Personally, therefore, he cannot awaken the deep interest inspired by those whose labours lay in the sphere of public life. Nor can he, as far as we can judge, be called an instructor of the people, in the same sense as Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Micah; he did not attempt to guide the state, to cheer the failing courage of his countrymen, or to reprove the dangerous pertinacity and blindness of their leaders; and although he dwelt upon an event of the utmost political importance for his own people, he was more directly concerned with the errors and the fate of a foreign empire.

A few years only had elapsed since Micah had lamented and rebuked the sins of the Hebrews; but these few years

formed no unimportant portion of king Hezekiah's long and eventful reign; for the lowering clouds that had menaced the horizon had burst and caused a terrible storm. The people of Judah had witnessed a catastrophe which, though long predicted and apparently inevitable, had been wilfully ignored. They had seen with dismay the invasion and conquest of the sister kingdom of Ephraim by the Assyrian monarch Shalmaneser. But they were soon to have themselves a direct cause of alarm; for in the fifteenth year of Hezekiah's rule, Sennacherib, the successor of the conqueror, whose glory he emulated, made an unopposed entry into the territory of Judah. The strong and fenced cities surrendered to his invincible forces; and fear and terror preceded him to the very gates of the capital. But when the danger assumed so threatening a form, when rescue seemed impossible, and the most fearful misfortune was imminent, the miraculous destruction of Sennacherib's army, filling all minds at once with amazement and exultation, created an instantaneous revulsion of feeling. The vague anticipations of a sanguinary and hopeless war, of ruin and captivity, suddenly gave way to the certainty of deliverance from an insatiable and apparently all-powerful enemy.

It was the happy task of the prophet Nahum to expatiate on this great theme, to portray in his own glowing colours the gratitude and the joy which must have filled the heart of every inhabitant of Judah, and to point out the Divine retribution which had crushed the daring Assyrians; for the Medes also, undaunted and aspiring, revolted against their rule, and declared their independence under their just and wise king Dejoces.

These striking events were highly suggestive to the poet, the patriot, and the prophet. In the rescue of his people Nahum saw a guarantee of their peace and power; while the misfortunes of the invaders appeared to him the

beginning of a chastisement which would fill the world with awe and consternation.

The Book commences with a grand hymn of thanksgiving, admirably interpreting the feelings which must have thrilled through every breast: A zealous God and an avenger is the Lord, an avenger is the Lord and full of wrath, an avenger is the Lord to His adversaries, and He keeps His anger against His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and never acquits the wicked; the Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are dust of His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and parches up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languishes. The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is lifted up at His presence, yea, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before His indignation, and who can abide the fierceness of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are hurled down by Him. The Lord is good, a refuge in the day of trouble, and He loves those that trust in Him. But with a rushing flood He brings destruction to their abode, and darkness pursues His enemies. What do you (Assyrians) meditate against the Lord? He brings ruin; the affliction shall not rise up a second time. For entwined like thorns, and as if drunk by their drink, they are consumed fully as dry stubbles. There came out of thee (Nineveh) one that imagined evil against the Lord, a wicked counsellor. Thus say the Lord, Though they be in full numbers, and also many, yet thus they shall be cut down, and it is done with them; and though I afflicted thee (Judah), I will afflict thee no more. For now I will break his yoke from thee, and will tear thy bonds asunder; but concerning thee (the Assyrian), the Lord has commanded, that no more of thy name be sown; out of the house of thy

god I will cut off the graven and the molten images; I will make thy grave, for thou art despised. Behold upon the mountains the feet of the messenger who brings good tidings, who declares peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows, for the wicked shall no more pass through thee-he is utterly cut off.'

These last words introduce the main subject of the Book-the destruction of Nineveh, which the prophet predicts as the inevitable sequel of Sennacherib's fatal expedition against the chosen people. He feels that God's wrath was not exhausted in the terrible defeat caused by no human hands, aided by no human skill. His indignation rises; his words become. more pointed and more ominous; and he thus describes the fall and plunder of Nineveh: 'The destroyer marches on against thee (Nineveh); keep the fortress, watch the way, gird thy loins, strengthen thy power mightily. He recounts his heroes; they stumble in their walk; they hasten to the wall; but the defence is prepared. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. And it is decreed—she (Assyria) shall be led into captivity, and she shall be taken away, and her servants shall mourn like the voice of doves, beating their breasts. Yet Nineveh was (full of men) like a pond full of water from the time of her existence; but they flee: "Stand, stand!" Yet no one turns back. Take the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: there is no end of the treasures, abundance of all precious vessels. She is empty, and void, and waste, and her heart melts, and her knees totter, and pain is in her whole loins, and the faces of all lose their brightness. Where is (now) the lair of the lions, and the pasture of the young lions, whither the lion, the lioness, and the lion's whelp went, while no one threatened them? The lion made prey for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his dens with

...

prey, and his caves with booty. Behold, I come against thee, says the Lord of hosts, and I will consume thy chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions, and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard! .. The noise of the whip, and the noise of rattling wheels and prancing horses and bounding chariots! Horsemen approaching, and the flame of the sword and the lightning of the spear, and a multitude of slain, and a pile of carcasses! And there is no end of corpses; they stumble upon their corpses. And whoever sees thee shall flee from thee, and say, "Nineveh is laid waste, who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?",

Nineveh's fall was indeed a mournful catastrophe ; yet it was fully deserved by the crimes and the corruption which had preceded it. The impious invasion of the sacred soil by the Assyrians was one of the many proofs of their presumption and covetousness, and of their cruelty to less powerful nations. "Woe to the bloody city!' exclaimed the prophet; it is all full of lies and robbery; it desists not from plunder.' The proud city of Thebes had already experienced the fate which Nahum anticipated for Nineveh. The waves that formed a rampart around her could not protect her; the help of Egypt was futile and unavailing; for in spite of many alliances

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she was carried away, she went into captivity, her young children were dashed in pieces at the corners of the streets, and they cast lots for her honoured men, and all her chiefs were bound in chains.' Such was to be the destiny of Nineveh. Thou also,' the prophet declared, ❝ shalt be inebriated, and shalt hide thyself; thou also shalt seek refuge before the enemy. . . . Draw for thyself water for the siege, fortify thy stronghold; step upon the clay, and tread the mortar, repair the brick-kiln. There