purported to contain the terms of the Covenant, and it is to the experience of the greatest man of that age that we must look for light on its value and meaning. Jeremiah was still a young prophet when Josiah carried his reforms through, and seems1 to have approved heartily of the movement. But the years brought disillusionment, and he found that a written document was both imperfect in itself and also was exposed to the danger of tampering by interested parties, particularly the priestly scribes.