Apparently the collective conscience is a plant of very slow growth; and hitherto no society has been worthy to endure honourably or even to perish nobly. In Christendom itself the ideals of common action are still avowedly meaner than those of individual conduct. International and collective morality is still in its infancy, and as a matter of habit and system modern states are often wantonly cruel and unjust towards obscure individuals and helpless minorities. Yet surely it shall not always be so; the daily prayer of countless millions for the coming of the Kingdom of God cannot remain unanswered. FOOTNOTES: [185] Doubts however have been raised as to whether any of the sections about Babylon are by Isaiah himself. [186] Doubts have been expressed as to the genuineness of the Damascus prophecy. [187] The Isaianic authorship of this prophecy (Isa. xxiii.) is rejected by very many critics. [188] Amos iii. 2. [189] So Giesebrecht, Orelli, etc. [190] Psammetichus had recently taken Ashdod, after a continuous siege of twenty-nine years. [191] The plural may refer to dependent chiefs or may be used for the sake of symmetry. [192] Lit. "the coasts" (_i.e._ islands and coastland) where the Phœnicians had planted their colonies. [193] See on xlix. 28-32. [194] xxv. 9. [195] xxvii. 8. [196] Sheshach (Sheshakh) for Babel also occurs in li. 41. This explanatory note is omitted by LXX. [197] As to Damascus cf. note on p. 213. [198] This line is somewhat paraphrased. Lit. "I will shatter you, and ye shall fall like an ornamental vessel" (KELI HEMDA). [199] Tacitus, _History_, v. 5. CHAPTER XVII _EGYPT_ xliii. 8-13, xliv. 30, xlvi. "I will visit Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him."--JER. xlvi. 25. The kings of Egypt with whom Jeremiah was contemporary--Psammetichus II., Pharaoh Necho, and Pharaoh Hophra--belonged to the twenty-sixth dynasty. When growing distress at home compelled Assyria to loose her hold on her distant dependencies, Egypt still retained something of her former vigorous elasticity. In the rebound from subjection under the heavy hand of Sennacherib, she resumed her ancient forms of life and government. She regained her unity and independence, and posed afresh as an equal rival with Chaldea for the supremacy of Western Asia. At home there was a renascence of art and literature, and, as of old, the wealth and devotion of powerful monarchs restored the ancient temples and erected new shrines of their own.