The people itself could not, however, be so much influenced by the moral depravity of the nobles as to allow it to obtain full sway. Morality, justice and pure worship of God still had followers, who protested more and more strongly against the vices practised by the great, and who, though in humble positions, knew how to obtain a hearing. Although almost a century had passed since the prophet Elijah, with flowing hair, declaimed against the sins of Ahab and Jezebel, the prophetic societies which he had founded still existed, and acted according to his spirit and with his energy. The young, who are generally readier to receive ideal impressions, felt a disgust at the increasing moral ruin which came on them, and assembled round the prophetic disciples in Bethel, Gilgal and Jericho. The generation which Elisha had reared and taught adopted the external symbols of prophecy, pursuing the same abstentious mode of life, and wearing long-flowing hair; but they did not stop at such outward signs, but raised their voices against the religious errors, against luxury and immorality. Sons became the moral judges of their fathers. Youths gave up drinking wine, whilst the men revelled in the drinking places. The youthful troop of prophets took the place of the warning voice of conscience. In the presence of king and nobles, they preached in the public assemblies against the worship of Baal, against immorality and the heartlessness of the great. Did their numbers shield them from persecution, or were there amongst the ranks of the prophets sons of the great, against whom it was impossible to proceed with severity? Or was King Jeroboam more patient than the accursed Jezebel, who had slaughtered the prophets' disciples by hundreds? Or did he disregard and ignore their words? In any case, it is noteworthy that the zealous youths remained unharmed. The revellers merely compelled them to drink wine and forbade them to preach; they derided the moral reformers who exposed their wrongdoings, but they did not persecute them.