Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-16

IT
turies of burial. But there are the brick
books, moved to land then undiscovered,
stored in London, put together, and little By
little, read into English. These books tell
US about Nineyeh.
Nineveh was city of great kings. The
list of its sovereign5 is list of cOnGuerOrS.
There was Tglath-Pileser l who extended
his power from the Mediterranean Sea to
the Persian Gulf, a builder, civilizer, q
ion-hunter, the lord of eighty kings. There
was Assur-nazi-pal, devastation, destroyerJ
who dyed the mountains of Kurdestan with
blood; fayed kings alive; others he walled
up in living graves, others he impaled on
stakes; boys and girls he burned in the fire;
hands and feet, ears, noses, and heads he
cut off beyond enumeration, and was proud
withal Of these royal exploits.
RECEIVED TRIBUTES IRON JEHU.
There was Shalmaneser II, who defeated
great confederation headed by the King Of
Damascus and including Ahale, King Of
Judah, and received tributes from Jehu,
King of Israel. Jehu's servants, bearing
their Hebrew taxes, still staid before the
King on the black obelisk in the British
Museum. There was Tiglath-Pileser II,
whom Ahaz, King of Judah, bribed to at
Ldck 1STd0l, anu VINO carried away UOSJ OA
the Northern Kingdom into captivity. And
Sargon, who completed that bad business.
There was Sennacherib, "the hammer" to
whom Hezekiah, King of judah, paid trib-
ute, who carried away 200, 900 of the inhabit-
ants of the Southern Kingdom into exile,
and narrowly missed depopulating the
whole land utterly. And Esanhaddon who
carried off a King to Babylon And
Assur-beni-pal, the King of Nahum's day.
These were the rulers of this great city.
Great, indeed! Twelve hundred towers
guarded its walls, three chariots could drive
abreast along the top. At the gates and by
the palace entrances men set those huge
winged bulls with human faces, symbols OF
strength, alertness. and which even now, in
the midst of great Lonoon, fill the beholder
with amazement.
THE PEOPLE WE'RE LIKE RULERS.
The character of the rulers represents the
character of the people. They were cruel,
relentless, ferocious human animals. The
"bloody city" Nahum calls it. And the
man with the shovel tells US that they cared
little for even the externals of religion. At.
Babylon the great buildings were temples.
At Nineveh they were palaces.
Against this great city, the impersonation
of irreligious worldliness, at the climax Of
Its power, Nahum raised his voice. Away
in conquered and dismantIed Judah, least
among the tributaries of the great King
this obscure poet writes this poem. That is
what it is; it is q poem, q sermon In poetry,
O dirge over wicked city. 1t is not likely
that anybody in Nineveh ever heard of it.
But the people of Judah heard it, and ID
brought some comfort to their sore hearts.
Nahum knows that Nineveh cannot abide
forever. That evil city, that cruel power,
must have an end. How does he know
4ba40 PaoauSa he knoUa God All is de-
feat and desolation about him, all the hu-
man strength is on the side of Nineveh, yet
God is over all; God reigns, and He is on
the side of the right.
THE PROPHECY OF DESTRUCTION.
That Is what he begins with; God Is
against the evil and for the right, therefore
Nineveh shall be destroyed. Whatl The
vast, stupendous, splendid city, this me-
tropolis of the nations, this center of all
might, majesty and dominion-destroyed?
Yes, destroyed He pictures it all out. It
is like canvas of Verestchagin. Outside
are the hosts of the besiegiHg enemy, with
painted shields and purple robes, with
scythed chariots and forests of glittering
spears. Within is confusion and fear The
streets are full of fleeing men, hurrying
into hiding for their lives
Standl Standi The people cry to the
soldiers who should defend them, but there
is none to listen. The men in armor are
thinking only of escape. The palace is
broken open, the Queen is captured. The
city is given over to plumber. ''Rob ye
silverl Rob We gold!' cry the thieves in the
streets. Every face is white with fear.
And still the chariots and horses come. The
poet looks ahead into the future and the sky
is red with flames, and the water of the
river of
NINEvEH IS RED WITH BLOOD.
Destroyed, destroyed and no deliverance
though her walls be stout as mountains and
high as heaven, yet shall they be laid low
that the victorious enemy may march over.
Nineveh shall be destroyed, and all the ma
tions shall clap their hands in gratitude and
gladness.
And all that happened. All that came
fearfully and tragically true. Up from the
of the Southern Kingdom, breaking their
chains of bondage. The Ninevites kept
hundred days of fasting and lamentation
and prayer to the forgotten gods, but the
gods paid no heed. The Tgris rose and
swept away a great space Of the wall
Through this breach came in the besiegers.
The King burned himself alive in his mag
nifcent palace. The city was robbed Of its
vast riches. Down fell its walls and stately
buildings 1t was at an end. The grass
grew over the ruins. Nature covered the
dead city with winding sheet of green and
brown. The verv name of it vanished for
centuries out of the memory of man. 1t
forgot God, and was forgotten.
GEORGE HODGES.