eming himself
fortunate in having escaped the ordeal of a trial of strength with him,
he returned to his position before the walls of Jerusalem.

The city receiving no further succour, its fall was merely a question of
time, and resistance served merely to irritate the besiegers. The Jews
nevertheless continued to defend it with the heroic obstinacy and, at
the same time, with the frenzied discord of which they have so often
shown themselves capable. During the respite which the diversion caused
by Apries afforded them, Jeremiah had attempted to flee from Jerusalem
and seek refuge in Benjamin, to which tribe he belonged. Arrested at the
city gate on the pretext of treason, he was unmercifully beaten, thrown
into prison, and the king, who had begun to believe in him, did not
venture to deliver him. He was confined in the court of the palace,
which served as a gaol, and allowed a ration of a loaf of bread for his
daily food.1 The courtyard was a public place, to which all comers had
access who desired to speak to the prisoners, and even here the prophet
did not cease to preach and exhort the people to repentance: "He that
abideth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the
pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldaeans shall live, and
his life shall be unto him for a prey, and he shall live. Thus saith the
Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the
King of Babylon, and he shall take it."

[Illustration: 427.jpg PRISONERS UNDER TORTURE HAVING THEIR TONGUES TORN
OUT]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the original in the
British Museum.

The princes and officers of the king, however, complained to Zedekiah
of him: "Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; forasmuch as he
weakeneth the hands of the men of war, and the hands of all the people
in speaking such words." Given up to his accusers and plunged in a
muddy cistern, he escaped by the connivance of a eunuch of the royal
household, only to renew his denunciations with greater force than ever.

[Illustration: 428.jpg A KING PUTTING OUT THE EYES OF A PRISONER]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from several engravings in Botta.
The mutilated remains of several bas-reliefs have been
combined so as to form a tolerably correct scene; the
prisoners have a ring passed through their lips, and the
king holds them by a cord attached to it.

The king sent for him secretly and asked his a