He
said his epitaph should be, that he carried with him that which he had
eaten, which, said wise men, was a fit motto only for a pig, not a man.
At last his carelessness and violence provoked the Babylonians and Medes
to rise against him, and they besieged his city; but he took no notice,
and feasted on, putting his trust in an old prophecy, (perhaps Nahum's,)
that nothing should harm Nineveh till the river became her enemy. At
last he heard that the Tigris had overflowed, and broken down a part of
the wall; and so giving himself up, he shut himself up in his palace,
and setting fire to it, burnt himself with all his wives, slaves, and
treasures, rather than be taken by the enemy. So ended Nineveh, in the
year 612. No one ever lived there again; the river made part a swamp,
and the rest was covered with sand brought by the desert winds. It was
all ruin and desolation; but of late years many of its mighty remains
have been brought to our country, as witnesses of the dealings of God
with His people's foes.
LESSON X.
THE CAPTIVITY.
"Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the
whole earth?"--_Larn.
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