A Book Of Dear Dead Women (1911)

Edna W. Underwood
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 A BOOK
OF

DEAR DEAD WOMEN

A BOOK OF DEAR
DEAD WOMEN

EDNA W ORTHLEY UNDERWOOD

“ D ear dead women with such fa ces " —

B rowning

BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1911
 Copyright, 1909, 1911,
By L it t l e , B row n, and C om pany.

All rights reserved

Published March, 1911

T H E U N IV E R S IT Y P R E SS, C A M B R I D G E , V . S. A .
 I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness
to The Smart Set for permission to reprint
“ The Painter of Dead Women,” which
appeared in the issue of January, 1910.
E dna W orthley U nderw ood.
 CONTENTS

P age

O n e o f N a p o l e o n ’s L o v e s . . . . 1

T h e P a i n t e r of D e a d W o m e n . . 64

T h e M ir r o r o f L a G r a n j a . . . 92

L iszt ’ s C o n c e r t o P a t h e t i q u e . . . 133

S is t e r S e r a p h i n e ............................................ 144

T he Sacred R e l ic s of S a in t E u-
t h y m i u s ............................................................... 158

T h e O p a l I s l e s .................................................. 194

T h e H ou se o f G a u z e ............................... 257

T h e K in g 28 6
 ONE OF N A P O L E O N ’S LO V E S

FROM THE DIARY OF THE COUNTESS TATJANA

TSCHASKA

“ Polonus sum,
Poloni nihil a me alienum puto.”

E s t a t e M io d u s c h w e s k i ,
neak W a r s a w o n th e V is t u l a ,
June 8, 1806.

T V T E V E R did spring come so early. In

^ April, when the country is as white as
the coverlet on my bed, fields were dotted
with black rings at the base of trees which
glistened with moisture.
Returning birds twittered under the eaves.
Rivers awoke and became merry. In the
distance rose the smoke of melting snow.
Even in the North — in White Russia — so
travelers tell, the ice broke. Now the
country is wonderful.
I have seen the foam-edged waves of the
Baltic come rolling in by the mouth of the
Niemen, just as spring rolls northward its
foam of flowers — to rescue us from the
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grasp of winter. In the same way, I wonder,

will the army of France come northward
to rescue Poland from the grasp of Russia?
That is what every one talks about. That
is what every one hopes. I hope it, too, but
somehow I do not believe it. I have no
faith in France. Y e t it would be no act of
generosity on her part. W e Poles have bled
for her on every battlefield of Europe. It
is little that in return she should give the
nation life. France may intend to do this.
It is hard to tell now. N o trustworthy news
reaches us. The Prussians suppress and
burn the mail lest we take heart and rebel.
They say, however, that the Great Napoleon
has conquered Italy and is now making
plans for the North.

June 12, 1806. The country is lovely!

The avenue of poplars that leads to the house
is enveloped in lustrous gauze. The birches
and the willows and the lindens are green
flames that shake in the light.
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In the fields I can see the white head-ker­
chiefs of women who are working, and be­
yond, the white spire of the church. Those
two white objects symbolize Poland— hard
work and hope — the effort for something
beyond and, perhaps, unattainable.
I love this country with its fine distances
and long levels where the eye is not impeded.
Y e t it has affected our natures, and not
always advantageously. It has made us
think that great things are too near and too
easy to get.
Small wonder that others have coveted
Poland! — the Swedes among their rocks,
where they have only fish to eat; the bar­
barous Russians, buried in winter and snow;
Prussia for the trade facilities of the Vistula;
and Austria because she is greedy of every­
thing.
The armies of the Continent have swept
across Poland. It is the highway that leads
to war.
Here on our estate and southward to the
[3 ]
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boundaries o f Little Poland, there is not
now such devastation and ruin. Perhaps it
is because spring is here and I do not see it.
W ith the spring there conies a sensation of
expectation. Is it merely the unrest that
beautiful things bring? I do not know. It
seems to me that it is stronger this year
than usual; that all Poland feels it; that
Poland is waiting for something. It is the
feeling I have in the Grand National Theater
in Warsaw, before the curtain goes up on a
new tragedy. Perhaps that is what Poland
is waiting for now — the curtain to go up
on a new world-tragedy, whose stage is
to be our country or Russia, and the chief
actor the French Colossus.

June SO, 1806. Spring makes m y heart

glad, and for the silliest reason. I fancy
that the dead of the Massacre o f Praga are
not so miserable and are a little happy. Is
not spring a sort of forgiveness?
In the nights o f winter, when the wind
[4 ]
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and the white snow sweep down from

th e north, I suffer torments. The wind
m im ics and multiplies their cries o f agony,
their pain. I lie awake and listen and
trem ble.
A t the time of the massacre I was a child.
W e were in Warsaw at our town house,
which is situated near the suburb o f Praga.
T h e windows were shattered by the mus­
ketry. T o save our lives we hid in the cellar
— men, women, children, servants — an en­
tire day. A t night, when we crept back to
our chambers in the upper story, every
breath of wind brought the groans o f the
dying. The air was sickening and thick
with dust and smoke and the scent of
blood. Nine thousand Poles lay dead upon
the field, slain by that Russian butcher,
Suwarow.
W hen the news reached Petersburg, the
peop le rushed into the streets and shouted:
“ I f Suwarow is with us, who can be against
u s !” Was not that blasphemy such as God
[ 6 ]
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is sure to punish! Then we named Yek-

K atarina1 “ The Fury of the N orth.”
W hat will eventually become of Poland?
W ho next will be greedy of it? I have a
presentiment — which I dare not whisper to
any one — that in years to come it will be
only a name, a great and glorious name, that
signifies, in a world whose patriotism and
fineness commercialism has dulled, the im­
possible dream of freedom.

June 30, 1806. M y honored mother came

to me this morning and broached the subject
of m y marriage. Since I had heard nothing
for several days, I hoped it had been laid
aside for the present.
“ You are past your twenty-first birthday,
an age when girls of your rank have been
married three years. Soon you will be an

1 Great Catherine. In the middle of the Eight­

eenth Century the Russians called Catherine II.
Yek-Katarina, which is equivalent in English to
Arch-Catherine.
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old maid. H ave you no interest in the

m atter?”
“ I hoped you would permit me to enjoy
myself in the country. It may be the last
summer that I shall be at hom e,” I ventured.
Here my honored mother brushed away
a tear, but soon returned valiantly to the
subject.
“ Yo u have read too much. Y ou want a
story-book life.”
“ That is not it. I do not want to marry
until — ”
“ Until w hat?”
“ It is settled.”
“ What is settled?”
“ The fate of Poland.”
“ What have you to do with th a t?”
“ Nothing; but I feel that I might do
something. There is in me the power to
do something — ”
“ And you are going to sit and waste your
youth for that? M arry, raise up sons for
Poland! T h a t’s the thing to d o ! ”
[7]
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“ I do not wish to offend you, my honored
mother, but I wish you would drop the
subject until late summer — ”
“ Look at your friends — how well they
are married! There is the Countess of
Tisenhaus, who has married a Frenchman
of birth, a peer of the realm, Count de
Choiseul-Gouffier. Anna Tyskiewicz has be­
come Countess Potocka; Princess Czarto-
ryska has married the Prince of Wirthem -
berg; Anna Lapouschkine, by her marriage
with Prince Paul Gavrilowitsch Gargarin,
is one of the beauties of the Court of Russia.
I should think you would want to play a
part in the world! Do you not owe it
to your fam ily?” exclaimed m y honored
mother in such exasperation that she was
unable to continue the discussion. This is
the way these scenes end. They grieve me
and vex her. And what good comes of them?

July 5, 1806. M y honored mother has

submitted to me a list of names which have
[ 8 ]
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received her approval and that of my

honored father and grandfather. This is
merely a conciliatory formality. They will
choose whom they please. Since I have met
none of them and know only their families,
it makes little difference. The thing nearest
m y heart is that the marriage be deferred.
Therefore I considered those at a distance
from Warsaw. I picked up the list, read it
through with a show of interest, and checked
Count Krasinski1 and Prince Adam Czar-
toryisky; the former is in Paris, and the
latter is attached to the Court of Russia.
The names pleased my honored mother.
There are none nobler in Poland. Peace is
restored — for a time.

July 10, 1806. Yesterday we attended a

reception in Warsaw given by the Countess
Stanilas Potocka for her new daughter, the

1 Krasinski— Count Sigismund, a Polish writer best

known as the author of Irydion, which, under the thin
covering of a fable, tells the tragic story of Poland.
He was a prominent figure in the Paris of that day.
[9 ]
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Countess Anna. M y honored mother was

in high spirits because of my apparent ac­
quiescence to her plans, and happily pic­
tured me settled more splendidly than is
the Countess Anna.
The Countess Anna, while not pretty, is
charming and girlish. She told us about
the country place which is being built for
her outside of Warsaw. She has named it
Natoline. The old Count Stanilas Potocki
— who is now in ill-health because of years of
exposure endured in the Ukraine — is helping
with the decorative scheme. H e is a great
connoisseur of art. They say his taste is
respected abroad. His art gallery is the
finest in Poland, except that owned by the
Czartoryisky — the Prince General — in the
“ Blue Palace.”
While he was escorting the ladies, m y
honored mother and myself among the
number, through the hall where the pictures
are hung, I made an unfortunate remark for
which my honored mother reprimanded me
[10]
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severely. W e came to a picture, purchased
recently (I cannot remember the Italian
painter’s name), which has caused comment.
I t represents a band of horsemen going at
full speed through the streets of an ancient
city. They come to a river bridged only by
one board. Across this foaming chasm
beckons an impossibly beautiful sprite, half-
hidden in whose enveloping gauzes is a
skeleton, the symbol of death. The skeleton
holds out a crown.
“ A h !” I exclaimed, “ above that fleeting
phantom, whose possession is death, should
be written Poland.”
There was a dreadful hush. Eyes looked
into eyes. Every one knows that with his
Cossack warriors of the Ukraine Count
Stanilas wanted to wrest the crown from
the Commonwealth.
It is the talk in Warsaw, too, that negotia­
tions are going forward for m y marriage
with a Czartoryisky, who likewise coveted
the crown of Poland.
[11]
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I wonder if I have an unfortunate tongue!
I must remember not to say everything I
think.
Countess Waleweska was present. She
wore a red velvet dress. She did not look
so well as usual. W e are called the two
prettiest women in Warsaw. She is tall
and blond; that is why the red did not be­
come her. I am plump and petite, with
dark eyes, dark skin, and blond hair.
Later I forgot m y chagrin. I met Pan
Kasimir Brodzinski.1 He is entertaining.
H e has written some interesting things of
late, too, about Polish literature. A t once
I asked him, “ W h y are there never any new
Polish novels ? W e stopped on our way at
a book-seller’s to get something to take
back to Mioduschweski. Is no one doing
anything?”
“ Unfortunately that is the case, Countess
Tatjana.”

1 Pan Kasimir Brodzinski, Polish critic.

[12]
SSS8SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS8SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
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“ The only Polish novel I found was
Valeria, by Baroness Kriidener.”
“ Your honored mother will object to that,
Countess Tatjana.”
“ W hy , Pan Brodzinski?”
“ It is a chronique scandaleuse of the writ­
er’s life in Venice and Copenhagen.”
“ I found the last volume of W alter Scott.
They say Her Imperial M ajesty, the E m ­
press, reads nothing else. Y ou will laugh
when I tell you that I bought two books
just for the interest they have aroused in
the Great Napoleon — Corinne and Werther
— which he has carried with him for months
at a tim e.”
Here Pan Brodzinski leaned forward and
his face became eloquent:
“ Let me tell you something: the writer
of that book, Goethe, and Napoleon, and an
Englishman whom you have not read —
Byron — rule the minds of the age. The
entire civilized world is in raptures over
them. Do you know, a friend of mine
[13]
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS8SSSS
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lately returned from Russia told me that
Russian soldiers stationed in the lonely
regions of the Caucasus are learning the
English language just to read Byron.”
Just as I was getting ready to ask Pan
Brodzinski the latest news of the Grande
Armee, our hostess summoned us to the
drawing-room to hear some recitations by
Adam Mickiewicz.1 H e is a remarkable
child — not more than seven and he declaims
like an orator. The strange part about it
is he will give only Polish pieces. Nor
indeed will he answer if you address him in
French. The Mickiewicz belong to the old
.9chlachta (nobility) of Lithuania. I have
seen their ancestral home. It is like the
palace of a king.

1 One of the greatest poets of Poland. His poems,

ballads and his sonnets — in which he pictures the
Crimea and the mountain world of Southern Russia
— have been translated into the languages of the
Continent. He is numbered among the Polish
patriots of 1830.
[ 14]
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July 11, 1806. The post horn awoke us,

blowing furiously. We jumped up and
dressed without crossing ourselves or say­
ing a “ Hail M a ry .”
In the yard was a messenger from Warsaw
to tell us that Napoleon had defeated the
English in Italy and was striding northward
like a giant in seven-league boots. I wonder
what he is like, this world-hero who is writing
his name in blood across the face of Europe.
They say that he is handsome. Heroes, of
course, are always handsome.

July 18, 1806. M y honored grandfather,

who is eighty and an adherent of our ancient
customs, came in this morning while I was
reading a French book to my sister Mischa.
He flew into a rage because I was not read­
ing Polish.
He is worth seeing. H e attracts attention
on the streets of Warsaw. H e still wears the
zupan and the kontusch, and when he goes
abroad, the burka fastened across his breast
[15]
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with silver clasps whereon are the arms of
the Tschaski.
“ You are just like the rest! ” he exclaimed,
but in so grieved a tone that my heart went
out to him. “ And I hoped better things of
you! There are no more Poles in Poland!
We are a French race now. We speak
French, read French, follow French modes
in thought and dress. W hen you enter the
home of a person of rank, it is as if you
entered a drawing-room in the Faubourg St.
Germain. There is nothing to be seen that
is characteristic of us. It is right that we
should cease to be a nation when we have
ceased to be ourselves.
“ W h y do not the Germans dress like the
Italians, or the Spaniards like the Russians?
W ould it not be just as reasonable? In the
houses of fashion we see the same gilt furni­
ture upholstered in silk, the same mirrors
in frames of decorated Saxon porcelain, a
profusion of frail ornaments made of china,
tables inlaid with marble or bordered with
116 1
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delicate plaques of Sevres, picture galleries,

tapestries, silk-hung walls — all the things
that create effeminacy and a luxurious
forgetfulness.”
I could not answer, because I know that
it is true. Y e t why should we not love
beautiful things! Is it our duty to live in
huts in the wild forests of Lithuania just
because we are Poles and belong to the
North?

July 26, 1806. Things are in a sad state.

Everywhere uncertainty, indecision. Here
no one dares do anything. Some are
under the protection of Austria; some
under the protection of Russia; others
found their hope on France, and others
vacillate in indecision. W as there ever
such a state of things! Truly Polonia con-
fusione regitur.

August 6, 1806. A t dinner last night, my

honored grandfather regaled us with stories
[17]
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of his youth. H e was in Paris at the time of

the second “ partition.”
One night at a soiree some one said:
“ How it will grieve the Poles to see their
country cut up again! W h at will they do? ”
Quickly the answer came: “ Give balls
and masquerades in Warsaw. W hen I think
of Poland, I know that they are dancing —
always dancing in W arsaw .”
I do not know why I write this, or why it
impressed me so. I f the French were the
best dancers in Europe, would they not be
proud of it too? They are jealous. Wre are
more French than they.

August 17, 1806. M y new frocks have

come from Paris. I am glad that my hon­
ored grandfather was not present when they
were unpacked. There are a number of
gauze ball dresses made with shirred over­
skirts caught up with little flowers, and
several robes rondes. They are the dernier
cri of fashion.
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August 27, 1806. I have had a splendid

day. Pan Anton M alzw eski1 called. It
has rained for a week, and we have had no
guests. I was so glad to see him I greeted
him in the Polish manner: “ Praised be
Jesus, the Christ.”
He answered quickly in that impulsive
way I like: “ In all eternity.”
TVe are of an age and great friends. He
has been everywhere and seen everything.
He has seen Prince Adam Czartoryisky in
Imperial Russia. H e told me all sorts of
things about him. He is one of the most
notable figures in the court set and the
desire of all the ladies.
In the course of the afternoon, when we
were quite alone, he confided to me his
ambition. W h at do you suppose it is? To
be a p o et! I gravely answered: “ A ll Poles
are poets.”
“ But I am going to be a great one in the

1 Polish poet who wrote Maria, An Heroic Tale

of the Ukraine.
[1 9 1
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One of N apoleon’s L oves
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English manner. As soon as the wars are

over and I have time, I am going to set to
work. I t was Lord Byron who discovered
to me m y talent. The name of the first
book is chosen: Maria, A n Heroic Tale of the
Ukraine. In it there is to be a song — partly
written down now — called The Carnival of
Venice, which is what Byron and I thought
of the Venetian nights.”
H e talked with such fury, such discon­
nected haste, that I could only gasp: “ You
have seen Lord By ron !”
“ Yes, and I gave him the subject for a
poem — Mazeppa — which will be trans­
lated for us.”

September 5, 1806. W e have just heard

that the Grande Armee has crossed the
borders of Prussia. Prussia tried to put
herself on a war footing secretly. In return,
Napoleon has seized Wesel, a fortress by
the Rhine. Is he so near, and we did not
know?
[ 20]
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September 11, 1806. The harvest is under

way. The fields are dotted with grain stacks
that are for all the world like round towers. \ /
I look at them and dream of Napoleon and
the fortress by the Rhine. Could anything
be sillier!

September SI, 1806. M y honored grand­

father had company to-day. Count Severin
Rzewuski, Count Stanilas Potocki, and the
Prince General. The Prince General is
feeble and ill, although he conceals it bravely.
H e still keeps up the elegant courtly life he
knew in his youth, although it is evident he
cannot last long. Every one says that he
will die some night at the card-table, dressed
in the stiff, formal evening dress of a century
ago, his courtiers gathered about him.
Little was talked of save the political
situation. W e are upon the eve of world­
changing events. There is evident the
ominousness that precedes the storm. The
old gentlemen talked freely. They are of
[21]
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O ne of N ap o le o n ’s L oves
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one political faith and have deeply at heart

the welfare of Poland.
It must have been a great life that was
lived in their youth. The Prince General
says that there will never be anything to
equal the old aristocracy of Poland. Their
life was the most sumptuous and luxurious
in Europe. Mischa and I listened. It was
like a romance. Count Rzewuski says that
it is our own fault that we are where we are
to-day. In the old days each was too great
to acknowledge a greater.
“ You are right,” replied Count Potocki.
“ He who will not obey his own king will be
forced to obey the king of others. ‘ After
feasting follows fasting.’ ”
Our grandparents tell only of wars and
bloodshed. In other countries, I wonder,
are there other memories?

October 6, 1806. Napoleon is in Prussia.

Terrible things are happening. W e do not
know just what, because little news reaches us.
[ 22J
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October 12, 1806. The excitement in W a r­
saw cannot be imagined. Every few hours
a messenger arrives with a blowing of trum­
pets. W h y should not we tremble when the
Czar of Imperial Russia trembles on his
throne?
Y e t Warsaw rejoices — and dances.

October 18, 1806. My engagement to

Prince Adam Czartoryisky has been an­
nounced. I had no word in the m atter; I
was not consulted.
I have received a letter from Prince Adam
and as betrothal gift a Icanak — an antique
Polish necklace of wrought silver set with
round disks of ivory upon each of which
is carved an eagle — the white eagle of
Poland. I ought to be proud and happy.
Prince Adam is Minister of Foreign A f­
fairs at the Court of Russia. M y honored
mother says that my position will be
better than that of the Countess Anna
Potocka.
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October 25, 1806. Last night there was a
celebration at the Prince General’s in the
“ Blue Palace,” in honor of m y betrothal to
his son Prince Adam . Prince Adam could
not be present. H e was represented by his
dearest friend, M . Novosiltzow, likewise at­
tache of the Russian Court.
H e brought with him a gift from His
Imperial Master, a miniature of the Empress
Elizabeth surrounded with diamonds and
strung upon blue riband. M . Novosiltzow
attached it to my shoulder in the presence
of the guests. I am now a dame de la portrait.
W e made merry in the good old Polish
way. First we danced the Polonaise, going
through nearly every room in the house and
up and down all the stairs. Then the Prince
General made a speech, as was the custom
in his youth, at the end of the Polonaise.
N ext, toasts were called for. Mine was
drunk from one of m y jeweled slippers,
which every one present declared to be
smaller and shapelier than those worn by
[24 1
 O ne of N apoleon’s L oves

the Archduchess of Austria, Marie Louise,

who has the prettiest foot in Europe. It was
splendid and solemn, but some way my
heart was not in it. M y honored mother,
however, was gay and happy enough for two.
I kept thinking — I wonder if outside through
the night he is marching toward Warsaw,
the man ivho has the face of an antique god.,

October 12, 1806. The expected has hap­

pened. There has been a terrible battle at
Jena. Prince Louis fell. A new sun has
risen over Europe. Napoleon is master of
Berlin, and Queen Louise is kneeling at the
feet of a soldier of fortune. I wonder if he
is greater than all other men, or if it is only
that he knows one game better — the game
of war. He moves armies as if they were
pawns upon a chess-board.v

November 12, 1806. Autum n is upon us.

The harvest has left the fields bare and
brown. In the poplars there is a shiver
that tells of winter. The leaves are a faded
[25]
S8S888J^88%^$8SS8e88888gSSS88e8e88S88^8
One of N ap o le o n ’s L oves
SSSSSSsSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

yellow, which is the color of the things of

yesterday. To-morrow we go to Warsaw
for the winter.

November 25, 1806. St. Catherine’s day.

This was to have been m y wedding-day.
St. Catherine is the patroness of happy mar­
riages. It is altogether impossible for Prince
Adam to leave Russia. The only hope of
Polish freedom is his friendship with the
Emperor. Now is a momentous time. He
must be at his ear to estimate his moods,
that he may whisper at the propitious
moment, memento Polonies! He writes:
“ W e Poles who have lost the right to fight
upon the field of battle, must, as a last
necessity, resort to the coward’s weapons —
cajolery and diplomacy.”

November 2 7 ,1 8 0 6 . Napoleon is in Posen!

December 18, 1806. I received a letter

from Prince Adam to-day which brings us
nearer together than any he has written
[26]
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSfiSSSSSSSSS
O ne of N apoleon’s L oves
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
before. He has taken me into his confidence.
H e has a plan for saving Poland. It is this;
to use his influence with the Emperor to
bring about a defensive union of Russia and
England, each of which alone is strong enough
to check the advance of France. Then it
will be to the advantage of each that Poland
be independent, the future’s formidable bar­
rier against continental aggression.
“ I shall make Alexander see,” he writes,
“ that the partition of Poland was foolish.”
This is the object of his life. For this he
is sacrificing his youth and his happiness at
the Court of Russia.
M y honored mother says, in case he suc­
ceeds, a king will be chosen for Poland, and
it is sure to be either Prince Adam or Prince
Poniatowski.
Nothing can make me believe that per­
sonal motives enter into his ambition.V He
is the most disinterested of men. All this
time that he has been Minister of Foreign
Affairs for Russia, he has received no salary.
[27]
383S g8® e3S3Sg3S8338S8SS33333SS388S8S383
O ne of N apoleon’s L oves
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss^sss
He refused to accept money, orders, or
insignia of rank from the nation that op­
pressed his race. H e said that he consid­
ered it his duty to free Poland, since it was
his own family, the Czartoryisky, who in
ancient days first invited the Russians into
the country.
He has no faith in Napoleon. He hates
him. It is his desire to be the instrument
of his downfall. H e writes: “ Napoleon is
the scourge of Europe. It is the duty of
nations to unite and make an end of him .”
A s for Poland, no time is to be lost, be­
cause the nature of Alexander is undergoing
a change. H e no longer has Utopian dreams
of presenting nations with their freedom.
A s far as his weak nature will permit, he is
being Russianized. N ow , when the subject
of Poland is mentioned, there must be some
other object — and that for Russia’s good.
Then he wrote of life and people in St.
Petersburg. He went to the first night of the
new opera, II Barbiere di Seviglia. It was
[28]
SSSS8S8SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
One of N apoleon’s L oves
3S38® 333® S® 3S8S33® g3SgSSSSSSSSSS88SS333

written by Signor Paisiello, a protege of the

Great Catherine.
There has been a new play brought out
by a Russian at Knipper’s Theater — Roslaw
by Kniazin. Prince Adam did not care for
it. However, as soon as it is put on sale at
Glosunow’s, he will send me a copy that I
may judge for myself.

December 21, 1806. Napoleon is in W ar­

saw! The joy of the people is beyond
description. It must have been like this
when our own king, Jan Sobieski, returned
with conquering arms. W e have greeted
him as if our freedom were assured. But
he has said nothing. He has made no
promises.
The streets are gay with colors. Side by
side are the gold eagle of France and the
white eagle of Poland. The soldiers are
banqueted everywhere. The people have
gone mad and dance and sing without
knowing why.
[ 29]
SS8SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
O ne of N apoleo n ’s L oves
SSSgSS8gSSSS33SSaSS8g8SS333® 3S3SSgSSS83

January 5, 1807. We have not given

Napoleon a chance to ask for soldiers. They
are rushing to him in such numbers it is as
if the nation threw itself at his feet and
cried: “ With the forehead! With the fore­
head!”
Prince Poniatowski has raised a legion.
Yesterday the consecration of their arms
took place in Zielony Plac. When I looked
at the youths kneeling at the altar, it seemed
to me not a Christian consecration, but a
pagan sacrifice of blood in honor of the mod­
ern Moloch — Napoleon.

January 9, 1807. My honored grand­

father has returned from inspecting the
French troops. He says that, in compari­
son with them, our old armies looked like a
merrymaking at a country fair.

January 11, 1807. I have met Napoleon!

I t was last night. I am still so excited that
I do not know how to tell about it. The
[ 301
S333S3233S3S33SSS3S8SSSSS3SSSSSSS3S3833
One of N apoleon’s L oves
sssssssssssssssssssssssssasssssssssssss
ladies of Warsaw have been vexed that he
did not arrange for a presentation. Yester­
day the invitation came. A t nine-thirty
we were assembled. W e waited a full hour,
standing in nervous expectation. A t last
the door by which we knew he would en­
ter opened, and Talleyrand appeared. It
seemed minutes before he spoke. Then he
bowed and announced — “ The E m peror!”
The word had the voice of the thunders and
filled all space. I can hear it now. “ The
Em peror!!”
H e looked like a god who in haste had
been made a man and made too small. By
some accident his eyes met mine. For an
instant it was as if we two were alone, un­
conscious of the crowd that swayed between.
As the ladies filed past and were presented,
I felt that he was waiting for me. Then a
terrible nervousness seized me, which ex­
pressed itself in a sort of exaltation, a wild
and reckless daring.
W hen m y turn came, he stepped forward
[31]
S2S33SS3S38833S8S3S338S3SSS333S323S8S3®
One of N apoleon’s L oves
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
eagerly and asked m y name. “ The Count­
ess Tatjana Tschaska.”
H e beckoned me to him. “ I am sure now
that I shall meet in Poland the only ruler
whom I fear.”
“ And whom may that be, Sire?”
“ The Queen of B eauty,’ ^/bowing gallantly.
I retorted: “ One of our Slav poets said
long ago: ‘ One need not fear a Russian Czar
so greatly as a Polish woman.’ ” Then I
courtesied and moved on.
As soon as the presentations were over,
I saw him making his way toward me. On
the instant I was the observed of all. The
crowd fell back, seeing that it was his will,
and left us alone. I was conscious of a sen­
sation then which I hope will never be
repeated in the course of m y life. It was as
if upon the instant all my ideals, all my
standards of living, had been shattered. It
was as if I had never lived before. It is in
such moods that we do things that we regret
and wonder at ever after. There was some-
[32]
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSi£SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
One of N apoleon’s L oves
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
thing within me that rushed to meet him,
that swept barriers before it. Outwardly,
however, I was calm.
W hen he came near enough to speak, he
asked jestingly: “ Are there really none but
nobles in Poland?”
In an instant I was on my mettle, defiant
and scornful. “ Sire, it is easier to be a
sovereign prince in France than a petty
noble in Poland.” Then I read such ad­
miration in his eyes I regretted the answer
and hastened to make amends by inquiring,
somewhat awkwardly: “ Are you not home­
sick for Paris, here in the N o rth ?”
“ How could I be, when in Warsaw I have
found another and a gayer Paris?” y "
“ W h y is it that it fascinates the foreigner
so ?”
“ Because here the East and the W est
meet. The streets — how interesting — a
scene from an opera; turbaned Mussulmans,
Janizaries, Hungarians, Russians in pointed
caps, Poles, Tartars — ”
[3 3 1
S8S8SSSS333S8Ss583S3S33S3SS338SS8333S33S3
O ne of N apoleon’s L oves
SSSSSS8SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS9
“ And what of the people — people such as
are here?”
“ I do not care so much for the men, but
I never saw such pretty women. In them,
too, the East and the W est meet. They
unite the intelligence, the fine presence of
the W est with the fire and the languor of
the E ast.”
I do not know what else we said. We
talked with merriment and unrestraint.
Then he bowed, spoke a few words with
some of the others, and retired. H e has
gray-blue eyes that deepen and darken when
he talks. H e is very small for a man, but
so exquisitely proportioned that he gives
the impression of stateliness and height.
His voice is beautiful. I t makes the heart
vibrate. V

January 12, 1807. T o-d ay the Emperor

sent one of his aides to inquire for my
health and to bring me a book — Comte de
Comminges. An enclosed note says that
[34]
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS8SSSSSSSSSSSSSS
O ne of N apoleon’s L oves

ssssssssssssssassssssssssssssssssssssss
this is his favorite book and that every time
he reads it he weeps. Strange man who can
see his fellows slaughtered by thousands,
and weep over the mimic passions of a
book! /

January 14, 1807. A t the Assembly last

night, I was commanded to the Emperor’s
whist table. N o sooner had I sat down
than he turned to me with the greatest un­
restraint of manner. “ W h at stakes shall
we play for, my little Countess?”
“ WThen one plays ■with the King of the
W orld, Sire, it should be for nothing less
than a kingdom.”
“ W ell, then, what shall it be? Nam e
it!”
“ The freedom of Poland, Sire.”
Y ou cannot imagine the consternation.
Every one was so frightened that I began to
be frightened, too. H e was not in the least
vexed. N o one knows better how to value
bravery.
[ 35]
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
the system inaugurated by David, and treats this edifying topic at
some length.

²And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the

priests and the Levites after their courses,
every man according to his service, both the
priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and
for peace offerings, to minister, and to give
thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp
of the Lord.
2. the courses] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1 ff.

to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates] Better,

as LXX., altering the order, to give thanks and to praise and to
minister in the gates. “To minister in the gates,” i.e. to be
doorkeepers, compare 1 Chronicles xxvi. 1.

the camp of the Lord] i.e. (in the language of Deuteronomy) “the
place which the Lord chose,” Jerusalem or, more exactly, the Temple
area. Compare 1 Chronicles ix. 18, note.

³He appointed also the king’s portion of his

substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the
morning and evening burnt offerings, and the
burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the
new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is
written in the law of the Lord. ⁴Moreover he
commanded the people that dwelt in
Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests
and the Levites, that they might give
themselves ¹ to the law of the Lord.
 ¹ Hebrew be strong in.

3. the burnt offerings] Compare viii. 12, 13.

⁵And as soon as the commandment came

abroad, the children of Israel gave in
abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil,
and honey, and of all the increase of the field;
and the tithe of all things brought they in
abundantly.
5. and honey] Honey (Hebrew dĕbhash) is not elsewhere
mentioned as subject to tithe; perhaps grape syrup (modern Arabic
dibs) is meant here, as in Genesis xliii. 11 and Ezekiel xxvii. 17
(according to some commentators). Honey (like leaven) was
forbidden for sacrificial use (Leviticus ii. 11).

⁶And the children of Israel and Judah, that

dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought
in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of
dedicated things which were consecrated unto
the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps.
6. And the children of Israel] Compare xi. 16.

the tithe of dedicated things] a strange phrase without parallel.

Read probably the dedicated things.

⁷In the third month they began to lay the

foundation of the heaps, and finished them in
the seventh month. ⁸And when Hezekiah and
the princes came and saw the heaps, they
 blessed the Lord, and his people Israel.
⁹Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests
and the Levites concerning the heaps.
7. the third month] The Feast of Harvest took place at the
beginning of this month and seven weeks later the Feast of
Ingathering followed.

¹⁰And Azariah the chief priest, of the house of

Zadok, answered him and said, Since the
people began to bring the oblations into the
house of the Lord, we have eaten and had
enough, and have left plenty: for the Lord
hath blessed his people; and that which is left
is this great store.
10. Azariah the chief priest] Not mentioned in connection with
Hezekiah’s previous arrangements.

of the house of Zadok] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1‒4. Tradition

spoke of two main families of priests, (1) the descendants of Eleazar
the third son of Aaron, whose chief representative in David’s day
was Zadok (hence they are here called “the house of Zadok”), (2) the
descendants of Ithamar the fourth son of Aaron, represented in
David’s time by Ahimelech (Saul’s victim) or by Abiathar (David’s
protégé). The Chronicler prefers to name the descendants of Ithamar
after Ahimelech (1 Chronicles xxiv. 3, where see note).

the oblations] “The Hebrew word, tĕrūmāh, denotes properly

what is ‘taken off’ from a larger mass and so separated from it for
sacred purposes.” The word is sometimes rendered heave offering,
but this is due to a mistaken impression that a rite of elevation was
involved (see the full note in Driver, Exodus, p. 263).
 hath blessed his people] Compare Malachi iii. 10.

and that which is left is this great store] The Hebrew requires
some correction. Read as the LXX., καὶ κατελίπομεν ἐπὶ τὸ πλῆθος
τοῦτο, “we leave (‘have left’) this great store and more.”

11‒13. The offerings mentioned in verses 5‒10 were placed in

charge of Conaniah, Shimei and their subordinates for storage in the
Temple treasuries.

¹¹Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare

chambers in the house of the Lord; and they
prepared them.
11. chambers] compare 1 Chronicles ix. 26, note.

¹²And they brought in the oblations and the

tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: and
over them Conaniah the Levite was ruler, and
Shimei his brother was second.
12. the dedicated things] Compare xxix. 33 (note on the
consecrated things).

¹³And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and

Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel,
and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah,
were overseers under the hand of Conaniah
and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of
Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the
house of God.
 13. the ruler of the house of God] Compare 1 Chronicles ix. 11,
note.

14‒19. Distribution of the stores referred to in verses 11‒13 was

the duty of Kore and his subordinates. The exact meaning and
sequence of these verses is hard to follow, and probably the
obscurity is due to faults in the Hebrew text. The simplest view is as
follows: verse 15 states that the distribution was to be made to
priestly and levitical persons resident in the priestly cities but (verse
16) not to those who were for the time being on duty at the Temple,
since these no doubt would receive their share at the Temple itself.
Then verses 17‒19 seem to refer to the manner of the registration of
priests and Levites respectively for the purpose of the distribution;
but it must be confessed that the precise sense and connection are
uncertain, particularly as regards verse 19.

¹⁴And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the

porter at the east gate, was over the freewill
offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of
the Lord, and the most holy things.
14. the most holy things] To this class belonged the shewbread
(Leviticus xxiv. 9), the meal offering (Leviticus ii. 2, 3, vi. 14‒18 [7‒
11, Hebrew]), the sin offering (Leviticus vi. 25‒30), and the trespass
offering (Leviticus vii. 1‒7). These could be eaten by the priests only
and in the holy place only.

¹⁵And under him were Eden, and Miniamin,

and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and
Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their
set office ¹, to give to their brethren by courses,
as well to the great as to the small:
¹ Or, trust.
 15. in the cities] The priestly cities are given 1 Chronicles vi. 54‒
60.

to the great as to the small] i.e. to old and to young alike.

¹⁶beside them that were reckoned by

genealogy of males, from three years old and
upward, even every one that entered into the
house of the Lord, as the duty of every day
required ¹, for their service in their charges
according to their courses;
¹ Or, for his daily portion.

16. beside] i.e. with the exception of.

as the duty of every day required] Or, as margin, for his daily
portion.

¹⁷and them that were reckoned by genealogy

of the priests by their fathers’ houses, and the
Levites from twenty years old and upward, in
their charges by their courses;
17. and them that] Render probably and as for the registration
of the priests it was made by their families....

¹⁸and them ¹ that were reckoned by genealogy

of all their little ones, their wives, and their
sons, and their daughters, through all the
congregation: for in their set office ² they
sanctified themselves in holiness:
 ¹ Or, even to give to them &c. ² Or, trust.

18. and them that] Render, and the registration included all
their little ones, etc. The connection of the last part of the verse is
very obscure.

their set office] Or, as margin, their trust (so also above verse
15).

they sanctified themselves in holiness] Or, they busied

themselves with the distribution of the sanctified things. No reliance
can be placed on the soundness of the text.

¹⁹also for the sons of Aaron the priests, which

were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities,
in every several city, there were men that were
expressed by name, to give portions to all the
males among the priests, and to all that were
reckoned by genealogy among the Levites.
²⁰And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah;
and he wrought that which was good and right
and faithful ¹ before the Lord his God. ²¹And in
every work that he began in the service of the
house of God, and in the law, and in the
commandments, to seek his God, he did it
with all his heart, and prospered.
¹ Hebrew faithfulness.

19. Again a most obscure verse, apparently meaning that the

priests had certain special officers, other than Kore and his
subordinates, who were charged with superintending the distribution
in the outlying districts. Text and interpretation are alike uncertain.
Kittel regards verses 17‒19 as a late addition.

the suburbs] compare 1 Chronicles v. 16 (margin “pasture

lands”), vi. 55, 57 [40, 42, Hebrew].

Chapter XXXII.
1‒8 (compare 2 Kings xviii. 13‒16).
Sennacherib’s threatened Invasion. Hezekiah’s Precautions.

The Chronicler introduces us somewhat abruptly to the Assyrian

crisis. From 2 Kings we learn that Hezekiah renounced the
suzerainty of Assyria (xviii. 7), which his father Ahaz had
acknowledged (2 Kings xvi. 7). Thereupon Sennacherib invaded
Judah, and Hezekiah was obliged to acknowledge with a heavy
payment of tribute his dependence on the Assyrian king (2 Kings
xviii. 13‒16). Sennacherib having discovered the weakness of
Judah, next demanded an unconditional surrender, intending to
transport the Jews to another country (2 Kings xviii. 31, 32). This
demand Hezekiah resisted, being strengthened thereto by Isaiah.
The Chronicler does not refer to the earlier invasion or to the tribute
—such a humiliation of the pious and devoted king being in his belief
unthinkable. That any invasion should have taken place “after these
things and this faithfulness” was sufficiently astonishing, until the
issue showed that the anxiety and distress were only for the greater
glory of Israel’s God and for the further proof of Hezekiah’s trust in
Him.

¹After these things, and this faithfulness,

Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and
entered into Judah, and encamped against the
 fenced cities, and thought to win them ¹ for
himself. ²And when Hezekiah saw that
Sennacherib was come, and that he was
purposed ² to fight against Jerusalem,
¹ Hebrew to break them up.

² Hebrew his face was to fight.

1. After these things, and this faithfulness] The phrase is a

hendiadys and stands for, “After these faithful dealings.”

Sennacherib] This king (Sanḥērib in Hebrew, Sin-aḥi-irib [-irba] in

Assyrian, the Σαναχάριβος of Herod. II. 141) reigned 705‒681 b.c. He
was the son of Sargon (Isaiah xx. 1), father of Esar-haddon (2 Kings
xix. 37; Ezra iv. 3), and grandfather of Asshur-bani-pal, the well-
known Σαρδανάπαλλος of Herod. II. 150, who is commonly identified
with Osnappar (compare Ezra iv. 10). Under this dynasty Assyria
reached the height of its power. The empire included Babylonia
(which, however, was frequently in revolt), Assyria proper, Syria as
far north as Cilicia (inclusive), and (under Esar-haddon and Asshur-
bani-pal) Egypt. After Asshur-bani-pal’s death (about 626 b.c.) the
Assyrian power was speedily destroyed. The form Sennacherib is
derived from the LXX. through the Vulgate.

to win them] Literally to make breaches in them. According to 2

Kings xviii. 13 Sennacherib took these cites; and the Assyrian
account on the “Prism Inscription” of Sennacherib which is preserved
in the British Museum states that they were forty-six in number
(compare Driver in Hogarth, Authority and Archaeology, pp. 104‒
107; or Handcock, Latest Light on Bible Lands, pp. 153 ff.).

³he took counsel with his princes and his

mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains
 which were without the city; and they helped
him.
3. to stop the waters] Compare 2 Kings xx. 20 “[Hezekiah] made
the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city,” and Isaiah
xxii. 9, 11.

At the present day there is an underground tunnel cut through the

rock leading from St Mary’s Well down to the Lower Pool of Siloam
(Bädeker, Palestine⁵, pp. 25, 83). It is rudely constructed and owing
to its windings is 586 yards long, though the distance in a straight
line is only 368 yards. As therefore the Lower Pool was probably
within the ancient walls, while St Mary’s Well was outside, this tunnel
may be Hezekiah’s conduit. If the well were stopped, the besiegers
would lose the water, which would collect in the Pool for the use of
the besieged. An inscription in ancient Hebrew characters (“The
Siloam Inscription”) discovered in situ describes briefly the digging of
the tunnel, but does not enable us to fix the date of it with certainty.
For the original text and an English translation see G. A. Smith,
Jerusalem, I. 95 f., or Driver, Notes on Hebrew Text of Samuel, viii.
ff.

⁴So there was gathered much people together,

and they stopped all the fountains, and the
brook that flowed through the midst of the
land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria
come, and find much water?
4. the brook that flowed] The Hebrew verb means “flow with
strong stream” (as a flood). We naturally look for such a brook either
east of Jerusalem in the valley of Kidron or south in the valley of the
son of Hinnom, but no perennial stream runs in either valley now.
Possibly (owing to physical changes in the configuration of the
country) the waters which fed such a brook in the Chronicler’s day
now lose themselves in the soil.
 ⁵And he took courage, and built up all the wall
that was broken down, and raised it up to the
towers ¹, and the other ² wall without, and
strengthened Millo in the city of David, and
made weapons and shields in abundance.
¹ Or, heightened the towers Or, went up upon the towers The
Vulgate has, built towers thereon.

² Or, another.

5. broken dozen] Compare xxv. 23 (note).

raised it up to the towers] Hebrew vayya‘al ‘al. Read and he

heightened the towers, i.e. omitting the second ’al as a dittography.

the other wall] In Isaiah xxii. 9‒11 the preparations to meet the
Assyrian attack are described by the prophet who speaks of a “ditch”
(Revised Version “reservoir”) made at this time between “the two
walls.” In Excavations at Jerusalem, 1894‒1897, Dr Bliss describes
a buttressed wall (pp. 96 ff.) built without lime (see his frontispiece
for an illustration of it) and enclosing the pool of Siloam on the south-
east, which, he says, “may date back as far as Hezekiah” (pp. 325
f.). Dr Bliss also, following up a clue given by earlier explorers, found
a second wall (running at an angle to the first) enclosing the pool on
the west. This second wall was probably due to Herod, but Dr Bliss
suggests that the line it follows may have been defended by a wall
as early as Hezekiah’s day (p. 326). For further discussion see G. A.
Smith, Jerusalem, I. 182, 207.

Millo] compare 1 Chronicles xi. 8, note.

weapons and shields] Properly, darts and shields. These were

meant, not for such trained soldiers as Hezekiah could collect, but
for the levy en masse with which the king proposed to man the walls.
A dart to throw and a shield to protect the thrower as he threw were
all that the citizen-soldier needed. The Hebrew word (shelaḥ) means
“dart, missile”; the more general rendering “weapons” obscures the
precise nature of Hezekiah’s preparations.

⁶And he set captains of war over the people,

and gathered them together to him in the
broad place at the gate of the city, and spake
comfortably to them, saying, ⁷Be strong and of
a good courage, be not afraid nor dismayed
for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude
that is with him: for there is a greater ¹ with us
than with him:
¹ Or, there be more.

6. in the broad place at the gate] Compare xxix. 4; Nehemiah viii.

16. There is nothing here to show which of the two broad places
mentioned in Nehemiah is meant, or whether some third place is
intended.

⁸with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the

Lord our God to help us, and to fight our
battles. And the people rested themselves
upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
8. an arm of flesh] Compare Jeremiah xvii. 5. Contrast the
frequent phrase “a mighty hand and a stretched out arm” (of
Jehovah). An “arm” is an ally or helper.

with us is the Lord] Compare xv. 2, xx. 17; Isaiah viii. 10.
 9‒19 (compare 2 Kings xviii. 17‒35).
Sennacherib’s Threatening Messages.

In this section Chronicles briefly and freely summarises 2 Kings.

⁹After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria

send his servants to Jerusalem, (now he was
before Lachish, and all his power with him,)
unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all
Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,
9. his servants] Three of these are specified in 2 Kings by their
titles, viz. the Tartan (“Commander-in-chief”), the Rabsaris (perhaps
“Chief of the Princes”), and the Rabshakeh (“Chief of the officers or
cup-bearers”).

now he was before Lachish] The capture of Lachish by

Sennacherib and its spoliation are shown on an Assyrian relief now
in the British Museum. The king himself besieged Lachish because it
was of more importance for the main object of the campaign than
Jerusalem. Sennacherib’s objective was Egypt (Herodotus II. 141),
and Lachish (Tell el-Ḥesi, Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 118) lay directly in
his path (compare Handcock, Latest Light on Bible Lands, p. 151).

¹⁰Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria,

Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide the siege ¹
in Jerusalem?
¹ Or, in the strong hold.

10. in Jerusalem] Isaiah promised deliverance in Jerusalem; e.g.

in Isaiah xxix. 8, xxx. 19.
 ¹¹Doth not Hezekiah persuade you, to give you
over to die by famine and by thirst, saying,
The Lord our God shall deliver us out of the
hand of the king of Assyria?
11. persuade] Or “entice”; compare 1 Chronicles xxi. 1
(“provoked” for the same Hebrew word).

¹²Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his

high places and his altars, and commanded
Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall
worship before one altar, and upon it shall ye
burn incense?
12. Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away] Besides this appeal
to the religious prejudices of the people, Sennacherib’s servants
employed two other arguments, according to 2 Kings—(1) the
paucity of Hezekiah’s soldiers (2 Kings xviii. 23) and (2) possible
reliance on Egyptian help (2 Kings xviii. 21, 25). These two
arguments are passed over by the Chronicler doubtless because
they seemed inconsistent both with the power and the character of a
king so God-fearing as Hezekiah.

his high places] compare 2 Kings xviii. 4. The “high places”

(bāmōth) were properly sanctuaries of Jehovah, and not necessarily
idolatrous in themselves. But since originally all, or almost all, of
these bāmōth had been sacred places of the Canaanite gods, old
idolatrous symbols (e.g. the ashērah) and old idolatrous ideas and
rites persisted in the worship there offered. When finally the Jews
restricted sacrificial worship to Jerusalem, the odium attaching to
these “high places” became greater than ever, and hostility towards
them came to be regarded as the mark of any pious monarch.
Hezekiah removed the bāmōth throughout the country.
 ¹³Know ye not what I and my fathers have
done unto all the peoples of the lands? Were
the gods of the nations of the lands any ways
able to deliver their land out of mine hand?
¹⁴Who was there among all the gods of those
nations which my fathers utterly destroyed ¹,
that could deliver his people out of mine hand,
that your God should be able to deliver you
out of mine hand? ¹⁵Now therefore let not
Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on
this manner, neither believe ye him: for no god
of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver
his people out of mine hand, and out of the
hand of my fathers: how much less shall your
God ² deliver you out of mine hand? ¹⁶And his
servants spake yet more against the Lord
God, and against his servant Hezekiah.
¹ Hebrew devoted. ² Or, gods.

13. the peoples of the lands] In 2 Kings xviii. 34 the lands are
specified and include Samaria.

¹⁷He wrote also letters ¹, to rail on the Lord,

the God of Israel, and to speak against him,
saying, As the gods of the nations of the
lands, which have not delivered their people
out of mine hand, so shall not the God of
Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
 ¹ Or, a letter.

17. to rail on] Or, to defy (the same Hebrew word as in 2 Kings
xix. 4, 16, 22, 33, and there rendered “reproach”).

¹⁸And they cried with a loud voice in the Jews’

language unto the people of Jerusalem that
were on the wall, to affright them, and to
trouble them; that they might take the city.
18. in the Jews’ language] i.e. in Hebrew. From the parallel
passage, 2 Kings xviii. 26 ff., it is evident that the language of
diplomacy at this time in Western Asia was Aramaic (“Syrian,” 2
Kings); and that, whilst understood by the Jewish leaders and
officials, it was not yet intelligible to the common people. In the
negotiations the Rabshakeh showed clearly that his object was not
to treat with Hezekiah, but to excite a revolt among the Jews against
Hezekiah and so gain possession of the city.

¹⁹And they spake of the God of Jerusalem, as

of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which
are the work of men’s hands.
19. the God of Jerusalem] For this designation compare Psalms
cxxxv. 21.

20‒23 (compare 2 Kings xix. 1‒4, 14‒19, 35‒37).

Hezekiah and Isaiah pray. The Deliverance.

This section is a very brief summary of 2 Kings xix.

²⁰And Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the

prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of
this, and cried to heaven.
 20. And Hezekiah ... and Isaiah ... prayed] According to Kings,
Hezekiah prayed, and was answered by God through the medium of
a message delivered by Isaiah the prophet (2 Kings xix. 20‒34).

heaven] Here used reverently for “God”; compare xxviii. 9; Daniel

iv. 26; Luke xv. 21.

²¹And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all

the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and
captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria.
So he returned with shame of face to his own
land. And when he was come into the house
of his god, they that came forth of his own
bowels slew him ¹ there with the sword.
¹ Hebrew caused him to fall.

21. all the mighty men] In number 185,000 according to 2 Kings

xix. 35 and Isaiah xxxvii. 36. The agency was probably the plague,
which is pictured as a destroying angel in 2 Samuel xxiv. 16.

And when he was come] The murder of Sennacherib did not

occur till some 20 years after his Judean expedition (circa 701 b.c.),
i.e. not till 681 b.c.

they that came forth] The Chronicler no doubt follows Isaiah

xxxvii. 38, “Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him”; but the
accuracy of the present text of this passage of Isaiah is doubtful, for
in the parallel passage (2 Kings xix. 37, Kethīb) the words his sons
are missing. The only notice of Sennacherib’s death known to us at
present from the inscriptions reads “Sennacherib king of Assyria was
slain by his son (singular) in a revolt.” No name is given to this son.
(Driver in Hogarth, Authority and Archaeology, p. 109.)
 ²²Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of
Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the
hand of all other, and guided them on every
side.
22. guided them on every side] Read, as the LXX., gave them
rest on every side; compare xx. 30.

²³And many brought gifts unto the Lord to

Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah
king of Judah: so that he was exalted in the
sight of all nations from thenceforth.
23. brought gifts] Compare Psalms lxviii. 29; Isaiah xviii. 7;
Haggai ii. 7, 8.

24‒33 (compare 2 Kings xx.; Isaiah xxxviii., xxxix.).

Hezekiah’s Sickness. The Ambassadors from Babylon.
Hezekiah’s Death.

²⁴In those days Hezekiah was sick even

unto death: and he prayed unto the Lord; and
he spake unto him, and gave him a sign ¹.
¹ Or, wonder.

24. Remark that this single verse epitomises 2 Kings xx. 1‒11.

In those days] The phrase is taken over from 2 Kings xx. 1, and it
cannot be determined what date is intended, though we may
conclude from 2 Kings xx. 6 that it was a time at which the Assyrian
danger was not yet past, and that it was about the fourteenth year of
Hezekiah (compare Barnes on 2 Kings xx. 1).

he spake] The Hebrew word means, in certain connections, “to

promise,” and the idea of “promise” is present here, the sense being
“God made him a promise and confirmed it by a wonder”; compare 2
Kings xx. 5, 6, 8‒11.

a sign] Rather, a wonder (margin), as in verse 31.

²⁵But Hezekiah rendered not again according

to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was
lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him,
and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
25. his heart was lifted up] Compare verse 31; 2 Kings xx. 12‒15.

wrath] Hebrew ḳeṣeph, a visitation of Divine wrath; compare xix.

2, 10, xxiv. 18, xxix. 8.

²⁶Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself

for the pride ¹ of his heart, both he and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of
the Lord came not upon them in the days of
Hezekiah.
¹ Hebrew the lifting up.

26. humbled himself] Compare 2 Kings xx. 19.

²⁷And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches

and honour: and he provided him treasuries
for silver, and for gold, and for precious
 stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for
all manner of goodly vessels;
27. riches and honour] Compare 2 Kings xx. 13 (= Isaiah xxxix.
2).

shields] Hebrew māginnōth, i.e. small round shields. Perhaps,

like Solomon’s (ix. 15, 16), they were overlaid with gold or silver.
Barnes suggested the reading migdānōth, “precious things” (as in
verse 23), instead of māginnōth. LXX. ὁπλοθήκας, i.e. “armouries”;
Peshitṭa (text being doubtful here) “shields” or “pearls” or “precious
gifts.”

²⁸storehouses also for the increase of corn

and wine and oil; and stalls for all manner of
beasts, and flocks in folds.
28. flocks in folds] The “folds” were enclosures with high stone
walls as a defence against robbers and wild beasts. The text is
probably faulty; Peshitṭa omits the clause.

²⁹Moreover he provided him cities, and

possessions of flocks and herds in
abundance: for God had given him very much
substance.
29. cities] The context suggests that these cities were meant
chiefly as places of refuge for the flocks and herds in time of war; but
again it is probable that the text is corrupt, and that this word should
be omitted.

³⁰This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper

spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought
them straight down on the west side of the city