with their kindred and their slaves, had the privilege of remaining together. They were free, and their rights and customs were respected. The families transplanted from Jerusalem--such as the princes of the royal house (the sons of David), the descendants of Joab or the family of Pahath-Moab, the family of Parosh and others, formed each a special league, and were allowed to govern themselves after the manner of their family traditions. Even the slaves of the Temple (the Nethinim) and the slaves of the state, who had followed their masters into exile, lived grouped together according to their own pleasure. Most probably the exiles received land and dwelling-places in return for those which they had forfeited in their own country. The land divided amongst them was cultivated by themselves or by their servants. They not only possessed slaves, but also horses, mules, camels, and asses. As long as they paid the tax on their lands and, perhaps, also a poll-tax, and obeyed the laws of the king, they were permitted to enjoy their independence. They probably clung to each other and their common national memories the more closely, as, like most exiles, they fondly cherished the hope that their return to their own country would surely be brought about by some unforeseen event. One other circumstance greatly helped them. In the Chaldæan kingdom the Aramaic language predominated, and as it was cognate with Hebrew, the exiles learnt it easily, and soon made themselves understood by the inhabitants. Even in those days the Judæans possessed peculiar facility for acquiring foreign languages. The position of the Judæans in Babylonia after the death of Nebuchadnezzar (561) was still more favourable. Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, Evil-Merodach (Illorodamos) was utterly unlike his father. He was not courageous, nor did he love warfare, and he paid little attention to the business of the state. Judæan youths, from the royal house of David, were to be found at his court as eunuchs. How often have these guardians of the harem, these servants of their master's whims, become in turn masters of their master. The king Evil-Merodach appears to have been under the influence of a Judæan favourite, who induced him to release the captive king Jehoiachin, who had been imprisoned for thirty-seven years. The Babylonian monarch clothed him in royal garments, invited him to the royal table, and supplied his wants most generously. When Evil-Merodach held his court with unusual pomp, and assembled all the great men of the kingdom about him, he raised a throne for Jehoiachin higher than the thrones of the other conquered kings. He wished all the world to know that the former king of Judæa was his particular favourite.