Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1855-10-14
Jonah and Niineveh.

" oy Assgra suddenly one Of the choir was detaeh,
e 70 denounee destruction upoa the very capital
''e Assyrian Empire so ~ s-s vc
j. "Arisel Go to Nineveh. that great eity. sau
: cry against ii, for their wickedus Is come NJ b,
< fore met .....- ...-...- ,.-l,.
T. Sach> was the unexpected suiaa,ons that sound
ca ia the ear OF the Obscure prophet of Zsbu,cu
|, rom Jehovah. Twelve or thirteen centuries ba.
that Spend metropolis adorned the banks Of swft
rushing Iisris. Conquest after conquest had fill
! ell her With tae opulence of pIundered Asia. Pal
ace after palace. temple after temple, paradise af
ter paradise, had been by successive monarehs in
eiaded within her vast embrace, until now she law q
microcosm Of glory and grandeur sixty miles in
elreuit- Yet an unknown seer, fa province short
" to be trOdden down, must bid her wither IN a
night like gourd, Central depot of The traffic Of
the world, where m xed the men and manners and
m'rehapdise of Tyre, Egypt. India, with those Of
barbarian tribes Of remOlest northern hame-at
the voice OF single waywoFn foreigner, she must
become bankrupt and the loud thunder Of COM
meree be hushed in her streets. Her stately tenn,
pies must come down. Her kingly palaces descend
Her gorgeous rites her tFiumphal professions. her
colossal cherubim, her WOrld-renownel scuptured
halls, her astonishing gardens and grazing grounds
and fields with their myriads, halt rustic, half
uiiau-must alike be overwhelmed by sumo wide.
rushing destruction; and he Jonah--the Hebrew
peasant, mast proclaim it in the center of her SIX
! hundred thousand souls ...--
1t was too much for his faith. To denource the
overthrow Of lis nation by Assyria, was hard
enough, though that had in it some elements of ap
parent reason Assyria was pushing soaq uests in
that direction. Israel had forfeited Diyise pro-
lection. To foretell her DOOM it was only neees-
sary tuly to believe the curses of her own prophet
| ic law. ...- r.--.- $50.
But tOfturn the tables upon Nineyuh-- that was
quite another thirgi and the refugee prophet was
soon found voyaging to Spain on the deck Of
stout Phenician merchantmen. 80 Cd.
As the quays and immense magazines of ancient
JoPpR receded frUus his view, feeling Of oomfoFt
took posses ion OF bis soul. lie had fairly escaped
that disagFeeable responsibility. He vent below,
and was soon buried in a profound siumber. He
remained unconscious of the rising Storm He
heard not the deafeniug thunder, nor saw the black
bIllows leapng to devour, like herds of monstrous
wild beasts with fiery eyes and gIistening teeth
lie saw not the mariners strainng at the oar, call
ing on their gods, or, with cstly wares lacing the
seething deep -.-as.. ,..-
Suddenly rough hand is laid upon him, and
voice cries in his ears: "What meanest thou, on
sleeper, arise, call upon thy GOd if so be that God
will think upon US that we perish not r
lie rises, he stasgers upon the deck, and there be
dnds the men already casting lots to discover who
among them has brought this distress. Sailors |
ancieuty, then, were superstitious as now They
believed somebody bad brought i'll luck to their |
voyage. Nay, they added to the superstition Of
the sailr that Of the oriental and the poytheiss
Somebody on board had probably cornmit;ed some
crime against some Of the gods, and the of-nded
deity had sent this storm in consequence upon them
And sure enough, the lot fell upon Jonah
"Tell u7," hey cry, gazing upon his paid face,
far Dhoss cause this evil is upon usr'-f tbey
thought perhaps be might be a murderer )--"rhat
is thine occupation and whence eomest thougp
81 am Hebrew" was the reply, and l serve
Jehovah, the God Of bpaven, which hath made the
sea and the dry land' And with this sublime
declaration Of his faith n the midst Of the roaring
tempest, he cOnfesses also his eight from duty
/, "Why hast thou done this !" they cry reproach
fully 'and what shall we Go unto thee, tia: the sea
may be calm unto gs ?"
Take me up" cries the prophet, "and east me
into the sea; shall the sea be calm uut0 you; for
know that for my sake this great tempest is up
on you" -.-..
Mos thorn NOT n finr aOfr - = Al.
prospect Of death2 Was not life gloomy burden
to the sadsouled seer? Did be not look lovingly
down upon the sepulchral waters and think that
there he should escape the grinding Of the upper
and neither milestone Of liie's evils
But there was something in his sublime doctrine
OF the creation, thing in his honest fraukness
something in his sornbre despair and self abandon
ment, something in the Ioftiness of is gloomy spir
it, that interested those hardy mariners "Ths is
no common person." they sad This is NAN;
we'll save him If we can
Long, long they toiled at the oar. ami hard they
battled with wind and wave oath TO give up bat
in vain. Every instant the tempest grew more fu-
rious, and it became evident that soon all must per-
ish, or one for all. So crying aloud. awe beseech
thee, Jehovah, we beseech thee, let MS not per-
ish for h mans life ard lay not upon rs innocent
blood, for thcu Lord hast done as It pleased
thee, they cast the prophet hcadlorg into The
deep. Scarce had be touched the water, howev-
er when to their horror, an enormous pair Of Jaws
were disclosing to receive him, ard the waters
were dashed into spray by the rnSb II gigantic
monster Of the deep. The prophet was gone the
monster Disappeared, the storm had ceased, and |
the ship lay motionless on the CLASSY ocean
The Scriptures do not inform US what kind cf
marine monster II was which seized the prophet
bat simply that it was 4 monster which the Lord
had prepared, i. c; providentiaily conducted TO
that spot. 1t may have been shark, as they have
been found with body Of nan entire within their
nav. 1t may have been such monster os PEny
mentions the skeleton Of which by curious coin
oidence, was preserved at Joppa. These enormous
bones, he says, we're forty feet in length, and tie
bs more in heighth than those Of the Intian Ele.
plant. They were brought from Joppa to Rome
by the Edile NJ Scaunus, and exhibited there as
a great curiosity#
Il is matter OF little consequence What sort OF
creature was employed 50 long as it is perfectly