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 690 JOSIAII JOST canonical book called after him. Formerly this book was usually regarded as a produc- tion of Joshua ; but at present the common opinion among theologians of all schools is that it received its name from its subject, not from its author. While some critics be- lieve it to have been written soon after the death of Joshua, others refer its origin to the time of David, or even of the Babylonian exile. Among the best commentaries on the book are those by Maurer (1835), Keil (1847; new ed., 1863), Knobel (1861), and Crosby (New York, 1874). There is a Samaritan book of Joshua (published in Arabic and Latin by Juynboll, Leyden, 1848), which is a chron- icle of events from the death of Moses to the time of Alexander Severus. JOSIAII, king of Judah, son of King Amon, succeeded to the throne about 640 B. 0., at the age of eight, and died about 609. Unlike Ms immediate predecessors, he did right in the sight of the Lord, and undertook to free the land from idolatry, though the groves and altars consecrated to idol worship were favor- ed by men of rank and influence in the king- dom. Having accomplished this purpose in the 18th year of his reign, he proceeded to re- pair and adorn the neglected temple of the Lord. In the sanctuary there was found a volume containing the books of Moses, which seems to have been regarded as the original copy of the Mosaic law. Soon after this he ordered the celebration of the passover with a care and magnificence unexampled from the time of the judges. Being tributary to the Babylonian empire, he resisted the passage through his territories of the Egyptian king Necho, on an expedition against the Chal- deans, and fell in the battle of Megiddo fought between the Hebrew and Egyptian forces. JOSIKA, Hiklos, baron, a Hungarian novel- ist, born in Torda, Transylvania, Sept. 28, 1796, died in Dresden, Feb. 27, 1865. He studied law, and early. entered the Austrian army, which he left in 1818 with the rank of captain of cavalry. After the reunion of Transylvania with Hungary in the spring of 1848, he became a member of the upper house of the Hungarian diet, was a decided supporter of Kossuth, and on the resignation of the Bat- thyanyi ministry was appointed member of the committee of defence. He followed the revolutionary government to Debreczin, and after its overthrow effected Ms escape to Brus- sels, where he resided till 1864, when lie re- moved to Dresden. Condemned to death in his absence, he was hanged in effigy in Pesth in 1851. His works include Abafl (1836) ; Az utolso Bathori ("The Last of the Bathoris") ; A Csehek MagyarorszAgban (" The Bohemians in Hungary ") ; Zrinyi a kiiltd (" Zrinyi the Poet"); Jbiika Istvdn ("Stephen Josika"); Eszter (" Esther " ) ; and Mdsodil RdUczi Fe- rencz (" Francis Rak6czy II.," 1861). All these, with others of his works, have been translated into German, partly by Klien, partly by the author's second wife Julia Podmaniczky, whom he married in 1847. JOSQDIN DES PRES, or Depres (JoDocus PHA- TENSIS), a French composer, born in Hainaut, Belgium, about 1450, died at Conde, France, Aug. 27, 1531. Though known to musicians as Josquin, this was only his Christian name, it being the contraction of the Flemish Josse- kin, or little Joseph. lie was rightly styled the father of modern harmony, and was es- teemed in his own day as the greatest com- poser of his time. Preceding as he did by nearly a century Palestrina, Cipriano, and Or- lando di Lasso, he nevertheless anticipated most of their methods and forms of composi- tion. So great was his knowledge of counter- point and fertility of invention, that every subtlety of the art seemed known to him. His first master was Jean Ockeghem, one of the chaplains of Charles VII., with whom he studied at Paris for several years. He then went to Italy, and entered the pontifical choir of Sixtus IV. at Rome. Here he studied with diligence and gave the first proofs of his great genius as a composer. Returning to France, he was made the chief singer in the chapel of Louis XII., a position corresponding to that of chapelmaster subsequently created. He added to his duties as musician those of an ecclesiastic. The king had promised Josquin a benefice, but it was long before the promise was redeemed, the composer being constantly put off with the words Laissez moi faire. At last Josquin composed a mass on the notes La sol fa re mi (Laissez faire moi). This not being effectual as a reminder, he composed music to a part of the 119th psalm (Memor esto verbi tui servo tuo), " Remember thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope." This also failing to produce the desired effect, Josquin composed a motet on the words, " I have no inheritance in the land of the living." Upon this the benefice was granted, and the composer expressed his gratitude in a setting of the psalm, " O Lord, thou hast dealt graciously with thy servant." These composi- tions were all of great merit. The works of Josquin were numerous, consisting of masses, motets, and other compositions of a religious character. Many of them are preserved among the manuscripts of the British museum. JOST, Isaak llarkiis. a German author, born in Bernburg, Feb. 22, 1793, died in Frankfort, Nov. 25, 1860. He studied at Gottingen and Berlin, was appointed teacher in the latter city in 1816, and in 1835 principal teacher of the Jewish Realschule in Frankfort, which post he held till his death. Of his numerous his- torical and other works, the best known are : Oeschichte der Israeliten (9 vols., Berlin, 1820- -'29) ; Allgemeine Geschichte des judischen Volkes (2 vols., 1832) ; Neuere Geschichte der Israeliten (3 vols., 1846-'7), containing the history of the Jews since 1815 ; and Geschichte des Judenthums (3 vols., Leipsic, 1857-'9). He translated the Mishnah into German (6