His tender heart must have become still sadder in his old age, as he had not succeeded in "bringing forth the precious from the vile." The few Judæans who were around him in Egypt remained firm in their folly and hardness of heart. But Jeremiah had not toiled in vain. The seed which he had sown grew up plentifully on another ground, where it was carefully tended by his fellow-prophets. His office, not only to destroy, but to rebuild and plant anew, was carried on in another place. His disciple Baruch, son of Neriah, appears to have left the exiles in Egypt for those in Babylon, after the death of the prophet of Anathoth. CHAPTER XVIII. THE BABYLONIAN EXILE. Nebuchadnezzar's treatment of the Exiles--The Exiles obtain grants of land--Evil-Merodach favours Jehoiachin--Number of the Judæan Exiles--Ezekiel's captivity in the first period of the Exile--Moral change of the People--Baruch collects Jeremiah's Prophecies and compiles the Histories--The Mourners of Zion--Proselytes--The Pious and the Worldly--The Poetry of the Time--Psalms and Book of Job--Nabonad's Persecutions--The Martyrs and the Prophets of the Exile--The Babylonian Isaiah--Cyrus captures Babylon--The Return under Zerubbabel. 572-537 B. C. E. Was it chance, or was it a special design, that the Judæans, who were banished to Babylonia, were humanely and kindly treated by the conqueror Nebuchadnezzar? Is there, in fact, in the history of nations, and in the chain of events, such a thing as chance? Can we affirm positively that the condition and state of mankind would have been quite unlike what they now are, if this or that circumstance had accidentally not occurred? Can we believe that, whilst firm and unalterable laws govern all things in the kingdom of nature, the history of nations should be the result of mere caprice? Nebuchadnezzar's clemency to the people of Judah was of great importance in the historical development of that nation. The preservation of the exiles, reduced by much misery to a mere handful, was mainly due to this kindness. Nebuchadnezzar was not like those ruthless conquerors of earlier and later days, who took pleasure in wanton destruction. The desire to build up and to create was as dear to his heart as conquest. He wished to make the newly established Chaldæan kingdom great, populous and rich. His capital, Babylon, was to surpass the now ruined Nineveh. He built a wall round his city, which was nine miles in circumference, and he added a new town to the old one, on the eastern side of the river Euphrates. The conquered people, taken forcibly from their own homes, were transplanted into this new city, whilst domiciles were given to many Judæan captives in the capital itself, those in particular being favoured who had freely accepted Nebuchadnezzar's rule. In fact, so generous was his treatment that entire families and communities from the cities of Judæa and Benjamin,