A Tale of The Babylonian Captivity. BY JULIAN ST. CLARE. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, CHARING CROSS PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMited, INTRODUCTION. IN presenting to the public this slight sketch of a historical account of the times in which many great names of old-world fame flourished-contemporaries of the prophets-the author is only too conscious of its many defects. Some there may be who will condemn any attempt to make use of sacred history as the foundation for a work of this description. To such the author would simply suggest that every period of the world's history is interesting from a purely worldly point of view. And as the revered men whose names are found in the sacred word, lived and moved among men as men—engaged in the same pursuits, afflicted with the same cares, subject to the same laws, and indeed-to borrow the words of a great authority— were men of like passions with ourselves, it cannot fail to be instructive to link them with the common every-day history of their times, especially as SO great a portion of their life was occupied with the ordinary transactions and duties which made up the history of the era in which they flourished. But before proceeding any farther, the author would warn the critical reader-if any such should |