diff options
Diffstat (limited to '44550-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 44550-0.txt | 9430 |
1 files changed, 9430 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/44550-0.txt b/44550-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d75726 --- /dev/null +++ b/44550-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9430 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hammer. A Story of the Maccabean Times +by Alfred John Church and Richmond Seeley + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Hammer. A Story of the Maccabean Times + +Author: Alfred John Church and Richmond Seeley + +Release Date: December 31, 2013 [Ebook #44550] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF‐8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAMMER. A STORY OF THE MACCABEAN TIMES*** + + + + + + _THE HAMMER_ + + + + + + [Illustration: _The Cave among the Mountains._] + + + + + + THE HAMMER + + _A STORY OF THE MACCABEAN TIMES_ + + + BY + ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A. + _Lately Professor of Latin in University College, London_ + AND + RICHMOND SEELEY + + + +_With Illustrations by __JOHN JELLICOE_ + + +LONDON +SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED +ESSEX STREET, STRAND +1890 + + + + + + PREFACE + + +It is not so very long since the Apocrypha was found in almost every copy +of the English Bible, but in the present day it is seldom printed with it, +and very seldom indeed read. One or two of the writings included under +this name are trivial and even absurd; but, on the whole, the Apocryphal +books deserve far more attention than they receive. Among the foremost, in +point of interest and value, must be placed the First Book of Maccabees. +Written within fifty years of the events which it records, at a time, it +must be remembered, that was singularly barren of historical literature, +it is a careful, sober, and consistent narrative. It is our principal, not +unfrequently our sole, authority for the incidents of a very important +period, a period that was in the highest degree critical in the history of +the Jewish nation and of the world which that nation has so largely +influenced. It is commonly said that the great visitation of the Captivity +finally destroyed in the Hebrew mind the tendency to idolatry. But the +denunciations of Ezekiel prove to us that the exiles carried into the land +of their captivity the evil which they had cherished in the land of their +birth, and it is no less certain that they brought it back with them on +their return. It grew to its height in the early part of the Second +Century B.C., along with the increasing influence of Greek civilization in +Western Asia. The feeble Jewish Commonwealth was more and more dominated +by the powerful kingdoms which had been established on the ruins of the +empire of Alexander, and the national religion was attacked by an enemy at +least as dangerous as the Phœnician Baal-worship had been in earlier days, +an enemy which may be briefly described by the word Hellenism. The story +of how Judas and his brothers led the movement which rescued the Jewish +faith from this peril is the story which we have endeavoured to tell in +this volume. Our plan has been to follow strictly the lines of the First +Book of Maccabees, going to the Second, a far less trustworthy document, +only for some picturesque incidents. The subsidiary characters are +fictitious, but the narrative is, we believe, apart from casual errors, +historically correct. + +We have to acknowledge special obligations to Captain Conder’s “Judas +Maccabæus,” a volume of the series entitled “The New Plutarch.” We also +owe much to Canon Rawlinson’s notes in the “Speaker’s Commentary on the +Bible,” to Canon Westcott’s articles in the “Dictionary of the Bible,” and +to Dean Stanley’s “Lectures on the Jewish Church.” + +If any reader should be curious as to the literary partnership announced +on the title-page—a partnership that has grown, so to speak, out of +another of many years’ standing, shared by the writers as author and +publisher—he may be informed that the plan of the story and a detailed +outline of it have been contributed by Richmond Seeley, and the story +itself written for the most part by Alfred Church. + +LONDON, +_Sept. 3, 1889._ + + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + I. A NEW ORDER OF THINGS 1 + II. ANTIOCHUS 19 + III. MENELAÜS 37 + IV. AT ANTIOCH 49 + V. THE WRATH TO COME 68 + VI. THE EVIL DAYS 79 + VII. THE DARKNESS THICKENS 90 + VIII. SHALLUM THE WINE-SELLER 101 + IX. THE PERSECUTION 113 + X. IN THE MOUNTAINS 124 + XI. NEWS BAD AND GOOD 135 + XII. THE PATRIOT ARMY 148 + XIII. GUERILLA WARFARE IN THE MOUNTAINS 159 + XIV. THE BURIAL OF MATTATHIAS 171 + XV. THE SWORD OF APOLLONIUS 184 + XVI. NEWS FROM THE BATTLE-FIELD 193 + XVII. THE BATTLE OF EMMAUS 208 + XVIII. THE BATTLE OF BETH-ZUR 225 + XIX. IN JERUSALEM 235 + XX. THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 242 + XXI. THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 254 + XXII. WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS 263 + XXIII. MORE VICTORIES 274 + XXIV. THE SABBATICAL YEAR 284 + XXV. REVERSES 294 + XXVI. LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS 304 + XXVII. A PEACEFUL INTERVAL 314 +XXVIII. HOPES AND FEARS 323 + XXIX. CIVIL WAR 331 + XXX. NICANOR 339 + XXXI. THE FALLING AWAY 352 + XXXII. THE LAST BATTLE 362 +XXXIII. THE HOPE OF ISRAEL 368 + + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +THE CAVE AMONG THE MOUNTAINS _Frontispiece_ +ANTIOCHUS IN THE TAVERN 32 +THE PERSECUTION 118 +THE LAST CHARGE OF MATTATHIAS 168 +THE SWORD OF APOLLONIUS 192 +FAREWELL TO THE MOUNTAINS 232 +THE DEATH OF ELEAZAR 302 +THE BOY KING 314 + + + + + + + THE HAMMER + + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + A NEW ORDER OF THINGS. + + +The time is the evening of a day in the early autumn of the year 174 B.C. +There has been a great festival in Jerusalem. But it has been curiously +unlike any festival that one would have expected to be held in that famous +city. The people have not been crowding in from the country, and +journeying from their far-off places of sojourn among the heathen, to keep +one of the great feasts of the Law. Nothing could be further from the +thoughts of the crowd that is streaming out of this new building which +stands close under the walls of the Temple. What would they who built the +Temple some two and a half centuries before have thought of this strange +intruder on the sacred precincts? It is not difficult to imagine, for the +new erection is nothing more or less than a Circus, built and furnished in +the latest Greek fashion, and the spectacle which the crowd has been +enjoying, or pretending to enjoy—for it is strange to all, and distasteful +to some—is an imitation of the Olympian games. Things then, we see, have +been curiously changed. Even the city has almost lost its identity. It is +no longer the capital of the Jewish nation, but the chief town of an +insignificant province in the Greek kingdom of Syria, one of the fragments +into which the great dominion of Alexander had split some hundred and +fifty years before. We shall understand something more about this +marvellous change if we listen to a conversation that is going on in one +of the houses that adjoin the Temple. + +“Well, Cleon, you will allow that our little show to-day has been fairly +successful. We are but novices, you know; barbarians, I am afraid you will +call us. But we hope to improve. You Greeks are wonderful teachers. You +can give in a very short time a quite marvellous appearance of refinement +to the merest savages. And we are not that; you would not call us savages, +my dear friend.” + +“Savages! The gods forbid that such insolent folly should ever come from +my tongue! You have a most elegant taste in art, my dear Jason. Our own +Callias—he is our first _connoisseur_ at Athens; you must have heard me +mention him—would not disdain to have some of the little things which you +have about you here in his own apartment.” + +And, as he spoke, Cleon looked round the room, which, indeed, was very +handsomely furnished in the latest Greek taste. The walls were covered +with tapestry, showing on a purple ground a design, worked in silver and +gold, which represented the triumphant return of the Wine-god from his +Eastern campaigns. At one end of the room stood a sumptuously-carved +bookcase, filled with volumes adorned by the most skilful binders of +Alexandria. The bookcase was flanked on either side by a pedestal statue, +one displaying the head of Hermes, the other the head of Athené. On a +sideboard were ranged twelve silver goblets, on which had been worked in +high relief the labours of Hercules. But probably the most precious object +in the room—at least in its master’s estimation—was a replica, about half +the size of life, of the statue that we know as the “Dying Gladiator.” It +was the work of a sculptor of Pergamum, a special favourite of the +art-loving dynasty of the Attali. It had been purchased for the enormous +sum of half a talent of gold;(1) and Jason had thought himself especially +fortunate in being allowed to secure it on any terms. The Pergamene artist +was bound, in consideration of the handsome payment which he received from +his royal patron, not to execute commissions for strangers, and it was +only as a special favour, and not till a heavy bribe had been paid to some +influential personage in the court, that the rule had been relaxed in +favour of Jason. + +And who, it may be asked, was Jason? + +Jason was the Jewish high priest, the successor of Aaron, of Eleazar, of +Jehoiada, of Hilkiah, and as unlike these worthies of the past in +appearance, in speech, in ways of thinking, as it is possible to conceive. +His costume, in the first place, was that of a Greek exquisite. He wore a +purple tunic, showing at the neck a crimson under-shirt, and gathered up +at the waist with a belt of the finest leather, clasped with a design in +silver, which showed a dog laying hold of a fawn. His knees were bare, but +the shins were covered with silk leggings of the same colour as the tunic, +against which the gold fastenings of the sandals showed in gay relief. His +hair was elaborately curled, and almost dripping with the richest of +Syrian perfumes. The forefinger of the left hand showed the head of Zeus +finely carved on an amethyst, that of the right was circled by a sapphire +ring with the likeness of Apollo. + +His speech was Greek. Hebrew of course he knew, both in its classical and +its conversational forms; but he was as careful to conceal his knowledge +as an old-fashioned Roman of his time would have been careful to hide the +fact, if he had happened to know any language besides his own. His very +name, it will have been observed, had been changed to suit the new fashion +which he was endeavouring to set to his countrymen. Really it was +Joshua—no dishonourable appellation, one would think, seeing that it had +been borne by the conqueror of Canaan, and by the most distinguished of +the later high priests. But it did not please him, and he had changed it +to Jason. + +As for his ways of thinking, these will become evident enough if we listen +to a little more of his conversation. + +“And you think, Cleon,” he went on—Cleon was a Greek adventurer who gave +himself out as an Athenian, but who was shrewdly suspected of coming from +one of the smaller islands of the Ægean—“you think that our games went +pretty well?” + +“Admirably, my dear Jason,” answered the Greek, who really had thought +them a deplorable failure, but who valued too much his free quarters in +the high priest’s sumptuous palace to give a candid expression of his +opinion. + +“You see we had great difficulties to contend with. You can hardly +imagine, for instance, how hard I found it to persuade our young men to +run and wrestle naked. They quoted some ridiculous nonsense from the Law, +as if we could be bound nowadays by some obsolete old rules that no +sensible person would think for a moment of observing.(2) You saw, I dare +say, to-day that I was obliged to allow some of them to wear a loin-cloth. +They positively refused to come into the arena without it. Well, we shall +educate them in time. They _must_ learn to admire the beauty of the human +form, unspoilt by any of the trappings with which, for convenience sake, +we are accustomed to conceal it. I don’t despair of our having a school of +art here some day—not rivals, my dear Lysias, of your glorious Phidias and +Praxiteles, but imitators, humble imitators, whom yet you won’t disdain to +acknowledge.” + +“But, my dear sir, you forget the Commandment, ‘Thou shalt not make to +thyself any graven image.’” + +The speaker was a young man who had hitherto taken no part in the +conversation. He also had a Hebrew name and a Greek. His father, a rich +priest who claimed descent from no less a person than the prophet Ezekiel, +had called him Micah; but he had followed the fashion, and dubbed himself +Menander. Still, Greek ways and habits did not sit over-easily upon him. +Fashion has often a singular power over the young; but it could not quite +drive out the obstinate patriotism of the Jew. He could still sometimes be +scandalized at the thorough-going Hellenism of the high priest; and he was +so scandalized now. The Commandment was one of the things which he had +learnt at his mother’s knee, and which he had solemnly repeated when, at +the age of twelve, he had been regularly admitted to the privileges of a +“son of the Law.” + +“My dear Menander,” broke in the high priest, “what can you be thinking +about? I had hoped better things of you. You do discourage me most +terribly. ‘No graven image or likeness of anything that is in heaven or +earth!’ Was there ever anything so hopelessly tasteless? Why, this is the +one thing that has checked all growth of art among us? And without art +where is the beauty of life? Now tell me, Menander, did you ever see +anything so hideous as the Temple? There is a certain splendour about +it—or was, till I had to strip off most of the gold for purposes of +state—but of beauty or taste not a scrap. You, Cleon, have never seen the +inside of it. Well, you have lost nothing. It would simply shock you after +your lovely Parthenon. Bells and pomegranates—things that any moulder +could make—and sham columns, and everything as bad as it can be. And then +the dresses! You should see—though I should really be ashamed if you did +see it—the absurd costume that some of them would make me wear as high +priest. Anything more cumbrous and clumsy could not be. A man can hardly +move in it; and as for showing any of the proportions of the figure—and I +take it that dress is meant to reveal while it seems to hide them—one +might as well be wrapped up in swaddling clothes.” + +“Did you ever wear it?” asked Cleon. + +“Once, and once only,” answered Jason. “That was on the day when I was +admitted to the office. You see it had to be done. Some of my enemies—and +I am afraid that I have enemies after all that I have done for this +ungrateful people—might have said that things were not regular without it, +and when one has paid twenty talents of gold for the office, it would be +rank folly to risk it for a trifle. But I have never worn it since, and +never mean to again. I did design something much lighter and neater, +worthy the Greek fashion, but with just a tinge—it would be well to have a +tinge—of our own in it; but it did not please the elders when I showed it +to them, a bigoted set of fools!” + +“But your worship is very fine, I am told,” said the Greek. + +“Very tasteless, very tasteless,” answered the high-priest, “the singing +and music as rude as possible. I tried to improve them when I first came +into office. When I was at Antioch I saw some very pretty performances in +the groves of Daphne, and I wanted to remodel our ceremonies on something +of the same lines. Of course I could not transplant them just as they +were: you will guess that there were one or two things that would hardly +do here. I am not strait-laced, as you know, but there are limits. +However, it all came to nothing. Our people are so clumsy and obstinate. +So the only thing will be to let these antiquated ceremonies die out by +degrees.” + +Micah broke in at this point. Disposed as he was to follow Jason’s lead, +this was going too far. “Surely, my dear sir, if you take away from us all +that is distinctive, where will be our reason for existence? After all is +said, we are not Greeks and never can be Greeks; and if we cease to be +Jews, what are we?” + +“_Jews!_ my dear fellow,” cried the high-priest, “why do you use the +odious word? We are not Jews, we are Antiochenes. Do you know that I paid +five talents to the treasurer of Antiochus for license to use the name? +For Heaven’s sake, let us have our money’s worth. By the way,” he went on, +turning to Cleon, “when does your Olympian festival next take place?” + +“In two years’ time,” said the Greek. + +“I propose to send an embassy with a handsome present for your great +temple. I should like to establish friendly relations with your people at +the head-quarters of your race. Do you think it is possible that our +Menon—you saw him in the stadium just now—might be allowed to run? It +would take all that your athletes know to beat him.” + +“Quite impossible. He could hardly make out a Greek pedigree, I suppose?” + +“No; he could not do that. But would not money smooth the way?” + +“It could not be. Money will do most things with us, as it will elsewhere, +but not that. A man must show a pure Greek descent.” + +“But the embassy can go?” + +“Certainly,” replied the Greek, with a smile; “we are ready to take gifts +from any one. But—excuse my obtruding the suggestion—is it quite wise to +run counter to your people’s prejudices in this way? Couldn’t they get up +an agitation against you?” + +“My dear Cleon, I feel quite easy on that score. I made the highest bid +for the place, and it is mine, just as much as this ring is mine.” + +“But might not some one outbid you? I have heard of such things being +done.” + +“Outbid me? Hardly. I have squeezed the uttermost farthing out of the +people to pay the purchase-money and the tribute, and I defy my rivals, +with all the best will in the world, to beat me. Why, my fellows, the +tax-gatherers, are the most ingenious rascals in the world for putting on +the screw. I make them bid against each other when I put the taxes up to +auction, and they really go to figures that I should not have thought +possible. And then, after all, they manage somehow or other to get a +handsome margin of profit for themselves. I know the scoundrels always +seem to have a great deal more money than I have.” + +Menander, somewhat revolted at his friend’s levity, rose to take leave. +“Stop a moment,” said Jason, “I have a little commission for you, which +will give you a pleasant outing and a score or two of shekels to put in +your pocket.” + +“Well, the shekels will be welcome. Those are very charming fellows, those +Greek friends of yours,” he went on, addressing Cleon, “but they have the +most confounded luck with the dice that I ever knew. But what is it, sir, +that you want me to do?” + +“I want to do a civil thing to our friends at Tyre. You know that we do a +very brisk trade with them, and a little bit of politeness is never thrown +away. Well, next month they have the great games of Hercules, and I want +you to take a present to the Governor, and, as you will be there, just a +trifle—a silver tripod, or something of the kind—for Hercules himself. The +Tyrian people would take it amiss, I fancy, if you went quite +empty-handed.” + +Micah—for at the moment he felt much more like a Micah than a +Menander—flushed all over. “I take a present to the idol at Tyre! You must +be joking; but, with all respect, sir, it is a joke which I do not +appreciate.” + +“Come, my dear Menander,” said the high priest, with a laugh, “why all +this fuss? You must excuse me for saying so, but you are really a little +stupid this morning. What nonsense to talk about idols! The Greek heroes +are really the same as our own. Hercules is nothing more or less than +Samson under another name. You will find in every country the legend of +some strong man who goes about killing wild beasts and slaying his +enemies, and doing all kinds of wonders; and it does not become an +enlightened man like yourself to fancy that our hero is anything better +than another nation’s hero. However, think the matter over. If you don’t +choose to go there are plenty who will, and Tyre, I am told, is still +worth seeing, though, of course, it is nothing like what it was.” + +At this moment a servant burst somewhat unceremoniously into the room. + +“How now, fellow?” cried the high priest, “Where are your manners? Don’t +you know that I have company and am not to be interrupted?” + +“Pardon, my lord,” said the man, in a breathless, agitated voice, “but the +matter is urgent. Your nephew Asaph is dying, and has sent begging you to +come to him.” + +“Asaph dying!” cried the high priest, turning pale. “How is that?” + +Asaph had been one of the performers in the exhibition of the day. A light +weight, but an exceedingly active and skilful wrestler, he had entered the +lists with a competitor much stronger and heavier than himself. The +struggle between the two athletes had been protracted and fierce and had +ended in a draw. There had been two bouts, but in neither had this or that +antagonist been able to claim a decided success. In each, both wrestlers +had fallen, Asaph being uppermost in the first, but underneath in the +second. On rising from the ground he had complained of severe internal +pains; but these had seemed to pass away, and he had been conveyed in a +litter to his mother’s house. After a brief interval the pains had +returned with increased severity; vomiting of blood had followed, and the +physician had declared that the resources of his art were useless. The +poor lad—he was but a few months over twenty—sent, in his agony, for his +uncle the high priest. It was a forlorn hope—for how could such a man give +comfort?—but it was the only one that occurred to him. + +No one was more conscious of the incongruity of the task thus imposed upon +him, the task of administering consolation and comfort to the dying, than +Jason himself. His first impulse was to refuse to go. But to do so would +not only cause a scandal, but would also be the beginning of a family +feud. And Jason, though selfish and hardened by base ambitions, was not +wholly without a heart. He had some affection for his sister, a widow of +large means, whose purse was always open to him when he wanted help, and +Asaph—or Asius, as he preferred to call him—was his favourite nephew, +possibly his successor in his office. He felt that he must go, but it was +with a miserable sinking of heart that he felt it. + +“Lead on,” he said to the slave, “I will follow. You, my friends, must +excuse me.” + +The worldly priest might well have dreaded to enter the house of woe to +which he had been called. + +The unhappy mother met him at the door. “Oh, Joshua!” she cried, the +foolish affectation of the Greek name being forgotten in the hour of +trouble. “Can you help us? My dear Asaph is dying, and he is terribly +distressed about his sins. You are high-priest. Have you not some power to +do him good?” + +“Take me to him,” said Jason, “I will do all that I can for him.” + +The unhappy lad was lying on a couch, the deathly pallor of his face +showing with a terrible contrast against the rich purple of the coverlet. +His eyes were wide open, and there was a terror-stricken look in them that +was inexpressibly painful to witness. As soon as he saw his uncle, he +burst forth in tones of agonized entreaty. “I have sinned; I have sinned; +I have followed in the ways of the heathen, and, see, my God hath called +me into judgment. Help me! help me! Save me from the fire of Gehenna!” + +The high priest strove to say something; but his faltering lips seemed to +refuse to do their office. + +“Speak! speak!” cried the young man. “It was you who told me to go into +the arena. You said there was no harm in it; you encouraged me, and now +you desert me. O help me!” and his voice, which had been raised to a loud, +angry cry, sank again to low tones of entreaty. “You are high priest; you +surely can do something with the Lord. Pray for me to Him. Quick! quick! +the evil ones are clutching at me!” and, as he spoke, he turned his eyes +with a fearful glance as if he saw some terrible presence which was +invisible to the rest. + +His uncle, more unhappy than he had ever been before in his life, stood in +dumb despair. It seemed impossible to mock this wretched creature with +words in which he did not himself believe. And, indeed, the words +themselves seemed to have fled altogether from his memory. At last, with a +tremendous effort, he summoned up some of the words, once familiar to his +lips, but which had not issued from them for years. It was what we know as +the fifty-first Psalm in our psalter that he began—“_Have mercy upon me, O +God, after Thy great goodness, according to the multitude of Thy mercies +do away mine offences._” He began with a faltering and uncertain voice, +which gathered strength as he went on. The dying man listened with an +eagerly-strained attention, and the words seemed to have some soothing +effect upon him. When the speaker came to the words, “Cast me not away +from Thy presence,” he clasped his hands together. At the very moment of +the act a strong convulsion shook his frame: a stream of blood gushed from +his mouth; in another moment Asaph was dead. + +His unhappy mother had been carried fainting to her apartments, where her +maids were endeavouring to restore her to consciousness. The high priest +was almost glad that she was in such a state that there could be no +question of attempting to administer to her any consolation. No one, +indeed, could have felt less like a comforter than he did at that moment. +As he walked slowly back to his palace he felt less satisfied with the +Greek fashions, for which he had sacrificed the faith of his fathers, than +he had done for many years. + +The news that he found awaiting him at home changed the current of his +thoughts. A letter, carried, in Eastern fashion, by a succession of +runners, had arrived from Joppa. It was as follows:— + + + “_Josedech, Chief of the Council of Joppa, to Joshua, Governor of + Jerusalem._ + + “Know that a swift pinnace has arrived, bringing news that the fleet + of Antiochus the King is on its way hither. It will arrive, unless it + be hindered by weather or any other unforeseen cause, on the second + day. Let us know so soon as shall be possible how the heathen should + be received, whether we shall admit him into the city, and to whom we + shall assign the task of entertaining him. Farewell.” + + +Jason’s face flushed as he read this curt and not very courteous epistle. +“Governor of Jerusalem, indeed!” he muttered to himself. “So the old bigot +won’t acknowledge me to be high priest. I shall have to give him a lesson, +and teach him who he is and who I am. ‘How the heathen is to be received.’ +What is the fool thinking of? As if he could be shut out of the city if he +chooses to come in! Well, I see plainly enough that there will be mischief +here, if I don’t take care. It won’t be enough to write. I must send some +of my own people to receive the king.” + +He pressed a hand-bell that stood on the table. “Send the letter-carrier +here,” he said to the servant who answered the summons. In a few minutes +the man appeared. + +“When can you start back with my answer?” asked the high priest. + +“This instant, my lord, if it should so please you.” + +“And the other posts are ready?” + +“Each at his place, my lord.” + +“And when will the letter be delivered in Joppa?” + +“Let me think,” said the messenger. “The distance should be about two +hundred and eighty furlongs, and the way descends. ’Tis now scarcely the +first hour of the night. I should say that the letter should be there an +hour before midnight.” + +Jason at once sat down and wrote his answer:— + + + “_Jason, the High Priest, to Josedech, Chief of the Council of Joppa, + greeting._ + + “I charge you that you do all honour to the most mighty and glorious + lord Antiochus. Let him have of the best, both in lodging and + entertainment, that your city affords. I doubt not your zeal and + goodwill, but that you may not fail for want of knowledge, I will send + certain of my own people, who will welcome the most august King in + such manner as shall be worthy both of his majesty and of our dignity. + Farewell.” + + +The messenger, who had been standing by while this letter was being +written, received the document with a salute, and placed it in his girdle. +A few minutes afterwards he was on his way. + +“And now for the deputation to meet his Highness,” said Jason to himself. +“I cannot expect them to get off quite so quickly as this good fellow. But +they must not start later than noon to-morrow. And now, whom am I to send? +Cleon, of course, and Menander——” + +He stopped short and reflected. “It’s really very hard to find a +respectable person who is quite free from bigotry—if, indeed, it is +bigotry.” For some minutes he seemed lost in thought. “Send the secretary +to me,” he said, when the servant came. This official soon made his +appearance, and we will leave him and his master to settle the details of +the deputation. + + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + ANTIOCHUS. + + +The greater part of the population of Joppa, which, like most seaside +towns, was somewhat cosmopolitan in its habits and ways of thinking, had +hurried down to the shore to watch the arrival of the great Syrian King. +And, indeed, his fleet was a sight worth seeing. Thirty ships, all of them +with three banks of oars, were formed in a semicircle, the arc of which +was parallel with the line of the shore. They were war-vessels, the finest +and swiftest that the Syrian fleet possessed, manned with picked crews, +and now gay with all the sumptuous adornments that befitted a peaceful +errand. The day was perfectly windless, and the sea as calm as a lake. +This circumstance made it possible for the squadron to preserve the order +of its advance with an exactitude which would not have been possible had +it been moving under sail. On the prow of each vessel stood a +flute-player, and the rowers dipped their oars in time to his music. Each +player had his eyes fixed on a conductor who was posted on the royal +vessel, a five-banked ship, which occupied a position slightly in advance +of the semicircle. Time was thus kept throughout the squadron—a result, +however, not obtained, as may easily be imagined, without a vast amount of +practice. The sight of the thousands of oars, as they were dipped and +lifted again in rhythmical regularity, with the sunshine flashing upon +them, was beautiful in the extreme. As for the ship that carried King +Antiochus, it was a gorgeous spectacle. The ropes were of gaily-coloured +silk; the hull was brilliant with gold. The figure-head was the head and +bust of a sea-nymph, exquisitely wrought in silver. The poop was covered +with a crimson awning. + +As the squadron approached the harbour, a convenience which the Joppa of +to-day no longer possesses, the royal ship fell back, allowing the leading +vessels on either side of the semicircle to precede it to the pier. From +these a company of troops, splendidly arrayed in gilded armour, +disembarked, and formed two lines, between which the King was to walk. + +The Syrian King was a young man of about two-and-twenty years, tall, and +well made, and not without a certain dignity of presence. His face, too, +at first sight would have been pronounced handsome. It was of the true +Greek type: the forehead and nose forming an almost uninterrupted straight +line. This line, however, receded too much, giving something of an +expression of weakness. But for this the features of the young Syrian king +might have been described as bearing a singular resemblance to those of +the great Alexander. Youthful as he was, his complexion, naturally of a +beautiful delicacy, was already flushed with excess. But the most sinister +characteristic of his face was to be found in the restless look of his +prominent eyes. The descendants of the brilliant soldier, the ablest and +most upright of the generals of Alexander, who had founded the Syrian +kingdom, had sadly degenerated under the corrupting influences of power. +The hideous example of lust and cruelty had been set and improved upon by +generation after generation, till the fatal taint of madness, always the +avenger of such wickedness, had been developed in the race.(3) + +The Council of Joppa had sent a deputation of their body, headed by their +president, Josedech, to receive the visitor with such respect as might +lawfully be shown to a heathen. Greeting and compliments could be +exchanged without any loss of ceremonial purity. Nor would there be any +harm in presenting a gift. To sit down to meat with an unbeliever, was, of +course, out of the question; but this difficulty had been overcome by the +complaisance of a wealthy Greek merchant, who, for sufficient reasons of +his own, had offered to entertain the visitor. + +The councillors saluted the King, not with the extravagant form of “Live +for ever!” but with the more moderate form of “Peace be with you.” +Antiochus answered with a careless greeting. At the same time he turned to +one of his courtiers, and said in a whisper which was heard, as it was +meant to be heard, by others besides the persons addressed, “Look! what a +set of he-goats. And faugh! how they smell!” The young King, who was +exceedingly vain of his good looks, had the fancy of making himself up as +the beardless Apollo, and, of course, the court followed the fashion that +he set. The insulting words did not fail to reach the ears of the elders, +but they affected not to have heard them. The president then proceeded to +deliver his address of welcome. It was sufficiently civil, but, as may be +supposed, not enthusiastic. The speaker hoped that friendly relations +might continue to exist between the Jewish people and the kingdom of +Syria. He was glad to receive on Jewish soil a powerful monarch who, he +trusted, would be favourably impressed with what he should see and hear. +If his subjects had any grievances they would find prompt redress; the +King would doubtless do the same for Jewish merchants who considered +themselves aggrieved. + +To this address, which, after the manner of such documents, was somewhat +verbose and lengthy, Antiochus listened with ill-concealed impatience; +perhaps it would be more correct to say, with impatience that was not +concealed at all. He fidgeted about; he interjected disparaging remarks +that must have been distinctly heard a long way off. He even corrected the +speaker when he made a slip in Greek idiom. Still the elders preserved an +imperturbable calm, though a keen observer might have seen the flush +rising upon their faces. + +The address of welcome ended, it only remained to offer the customary +present. An attendant stepped forward carrying a robe of honour, a piece +of native manufacture, which, without being particularly splendid, was +sufficiently handsome and valuable to be adequate to the occasion. But it +did not please the young King, who, indeed, was scarcely in the humour to +be pleased with anything. One of his followers received it from the hands +of the attendant, and Antiochus, according to the usual etiquette, should +have touched it, saying at the same time a few words of politeness. What +he did was to take it from the hands of the courtier who had received it, +shake it out, and hold it from him at arm’s length, eyeing it, at the same +time, with an expression of undisguised contempt. Even this was not all. +Turning his back upon the elders he dropped the robe on the head of one of +his attendants, and, by a sudden movement, twisted it round his neck, +bursting out at the same time into a loud horse-laugh. The laugh was, of +course, dutifully echoed by his courtiers; but to the Joppa crowd it +seemed no laughing matter. An angry murmur ran through it. The front ranks +made a menacing movement forwards, while stones began to fly from behind. +On the other hand, the soldiers of the King’s body-guard drew their +swords, and began to form up behind him. They were not properly prepared, +however, for a conflict; for, as they had come only on a service of +ceremony, they had nothing with them but their swords and light ornamental +breastplates. + +Everything wore a most threatening look, when there occurred an +interruption that was probably welcome to every one, except, it may be, +the hotheaded and reckless young sovereign himself. The deputation from +Jerusalem had arrived. The high priest, anticipating, as we have seen, +some trouble, had despatched them at the very earliest opportunity, and +had urged them to make the best of their way to their destination. At the +same time, that their presence might have something more than moral +weight, he had sent a squadron of cavalry. The deputation, with their +escort following close behind, now made their way through the crowd. + +The high priest was represented by his kinsman Phinehas—who had found a +substitute for his unfashionable name in Phineus—by Menander, who has been +already mentioned, and by two Greeks, of whom our acquaintance Cleon was +one. Josedech and his companions willingly left the management of affairs +in the hands of the new arrivals, and retired from the scene. Leaping from +his horse, Phinehas, or Phineus, prostrated himself in Eastern fashion at +the feet of Antiochus, and his companions followed his example, while the +escort of cavalry saluted. “Rise,” said Antiochus, whose good humour began +to return when he found himself treated with what he conceived to be +proper respect. He even condescended to reach out his royal hand, and +assist the envoy to recover his feet. Phineus proceeded to deliver an +address of welcome which was certainly not wanting in florid compliment. +It might even have been called profane, for Antiochus was described not +only as magnificent, illustrious, victorious (to mention a few only of the +speaker’s exuberant supply of epithets), but even as divine. The speech +ended, an attendant presented a richly-chased casket of gold, filled with +coins, fresh from the Syrian mint, and bearing the features and +superscription of Antiochus himself. The King received it with something +like _empressement_, and after speaking a few words of thanks, passed it +to his treasurer. At the same time he took a bag of silver from one of his +attendants, and condescended to scatter some of the pieces among the crowd +that lined the quays, with his royal hands. As may be supposed, a vigorous +scramble ensued, and not a few of the spectators were tumbled over the +edge into the shallow water below. Others jumped in of their own accord +after some of the pieces which had fallen short. A general burst of +laughter was the result, and the situation lost the gravity which had been +so alarming a few minutes before. + +The King now recognized an old acquaintance in Cleon. Antiochus, handed +over in his childhood as a hostage by his father, had spent his boyhood +and youth in Rome. The somewhat austere manners of that city had not +pleased him, and he was glad to find in the young Greek an acquaintance +more congenial than the young Marcelli, sons of the priest of that name, +under whose charge he had been put. Cleon had come to Rome to seek his +fortune, and had found employment in assisting the comic poet Cæcilius in +making his translations from the Greek. Poets, however, were not so well +paid as to be able to spare much for their assistants, and Cleon had been +very glad to act as the young prince’s teacher, a post which his guardian +the priest had found it very difficult to fill. Tutor and pupil had been +on the most friendly terms. The elder man was indulgent, exacted no more +than the youth was willing to learn, and, possibly thinking that all the +necessary austerity was supplied by the Roman guardian, winked at various +indulgences which would not have approved themselves to his employer. +Antiochus retained a grateful recollection of the complaisant youth who +had made things so agreeable for him in the days of his captivity. + +“Hail, Cleon, most delightful of teachers, behold the most thankful of +pupils!” + +And he embraced the Greek, kissing him on both cheeks. + +“So you, too,” he went on, “have escaped from that dismal prison-house +across the sea! Was there ever a place, think you, more unfit for a +gentleman to live in? And how have you fared since I saw you? I hope that +Fortune has had something pleasant in store for you.” + +“She could have done nothing better, Sire, than to thus give me the +pleasure of seeing you.” + +“Oh, what a compliment! I see that your tongue has not lost its dexterous +twist. But I suppose I must attend to this stupid business here. Why can’t +they let one come quietly, and see what people really are. I dare say +there are some good fellows here as elsewhere; but all these ceremonies +and speech-making and fine clothes tire me to death. Well, we shall find a +chance of having some talk together before long. Anyhow, you will come and +see me at Antioch. I will make you court-poet, or general-in-chief, or +high priest of Aphrodite! I know that you can do anything that you choose +to turn your hand to.” + +While this conversation was going on the Greek merchant who had +volunteered to entertain the royal visitor was waiting to be introduced. +This ceremony performed by Phineus, he proceeded to give his invitation. + +“Will your Highness be pleased to accept such humble hospitality as I can +offer? My house and all that is within it are at your service.” + +“Pleased! of course I shall be pleased,” returned the King, in boisterous +good humour. “I know what your ‘humble hospitality’ means. It is you +merchants that can afford to do things handsomely. You make the money, and +we can only spend it. What with armies and fleets and legions of servants, +who eat us up like so many locusts, we never have a drachma that we can +call our own. As for me, I am easily satisfied. Give me a mullet, a piece +of roast kid, a flask of good wine, and a pretty girl to hand the cup, and +I want no more. Lead on.” + +The procession moved on to the merchant’s house. This reached, the King, +who declared that he wanted his midday sleep, was at once shown to his +apartments. + +It was some six hours later when the banquet, for which the host had made +magnificent preparations, was ready. The company was assembled, and was +fairly numerous, though it did not contain the true _élite_ of Joppa +society. With one or two not very respectable exceptions, the +representatives of the high-class Jewish families were absent. But there +were plenty of strangers in the town, and the room was sufficiently full. +The trading community was present in force: Greeks, Syrians, Egyptians, +Carthaginians, and even a Greek-speaking Gaul from Marseilles, were +present. Rome was represented by two Roman knights, who were doing a +profitable business in money-lending, and who had the name of pretty +nearly every noble in Syria on their books. + +But the guest of the evening was absent. The company waited with the +patience with which royal personages are waited for on such occasions. At +last, when an hour had gone beyond the time fixed for the entertainment, +the host ventured to send up to the King’s apartment, with a humble +reminder that the banquet was ready. But the apartment was empty! + +“What can have become of him?” was the thought in every one’s mind, not +unaccompanied by a certain anxiety in the older courtiers, who had +observed with dismay the reckless proceedings of their master. + +At last a thought struck Cleon. He took the chief of the King’s attendants +aside and communicated to him his suspicions. “I saw something of his +Highness’s ways at Rome,” he said, “and I can guess what has happened. He +always had a fancy for disguises, for dressing himself up as a sailor or +an artizan, and going to some very curious places in the city. Often and +often have I been with him—to keep him out of mischief, you know—and, by +the gods! it was well I did. I remember his being very nearly stabbed one +night in a low wine-shop in the Suburra.(4) And now I remember that this +morning his Highness said something about wanting to see what the people +really were, without all this ceremony. Let us question the porter whether +he has seen any one go out.” + +The porter was questioned accordingly. At first he could give no +information. At last he remembered observing two young men in sailor’s +dress passing the gate about three hours before. He had taken no heed of +them. Sailors had been coming and going all day, with various articles +which they were bringing up from the ship, and he had supposed that these +were two of the number. Here the man’s wife struck in with the information +that she had noticed the two sailors, thinking that there was something +odd about their appearance; their clothes were very shabby, but they had a +superior air. Neither the man nor his wife knew anything more; but they +thought that the two had turned in the direction of the harbour after +leaving the house. + +Under these circumstances search seemed hopeless, and might, indeed, do +more harm than good. Perhaps the safest plan would be to let the young man +find his way back for himself. After some discussion, however, it was +resolved that Cleon, after first changing the dress which he had donned +for the banquet for something less conspicuous, should look in at some of +the wine-shops near the harbour, which were suggested as likely places for +the search by the character of the King’s disguise. + +Cleon was successful beyond his expectation. His attention was attracted +by the sound of boisterous laughter proceeding from a tavern whose windows +fronted the place where the King had landed. The place was crowded to +overflowing, and even the pavement before the house was thronged with +idlers, who were content to hear what they could of the fun inside without +having any score to pay. With no little difficulty Cleon edged his way +into the principal room. It was a strange scene that met his eye. The room +was crowded with Phœnician and Greek sailors, with here and there the +swarthy face of a Moor among them. The guests sat on benches, closely +packed together, and every one had a huge earthenware cup in his hand and +a pitcher of wine at his feet. At the further end of the room was a small +platform reserved for the performers who were accustomed to entertain the +audience. A couple of dancing-girls had just exhibited a dance of the +boisterous kind which was specially favoured by the seafaring spectators; +and now his Syrian Majesty was doing his best to entertain the company +with the burlesque of a Roman electioneering oration. He spoke in Greek, +or, rather, the mixture of tongues, the _Lingua Franca_ of the time, which +did duty for Greek in the seaport towns of the Eastern Mediterranean; and +he used with considerable effect the broad Roman accent. His speech, could +it be reproduced, would be dull or even unintelligible to us, but his +audience found it highly entertaining. The Greeks, always quick-witted, +caught the points with admirable readiness, and the others laughed, if not +for any other reason, at least for sympathy. The most completely +successful part was where the orator, who affected to be a candidate for +the consulship, propounded a grand scheme, according to which the citizens +of Rome were to live in idleness, supported by the contributions of the +whole world. When the attention of the audience began to flag, the young +Prince, with an audacious presence of mind that would have become a +veteran performer, suddenly changed the entertainment. Sticking a tall cap +on his head, he proceeded to give a ludicrous imitation of the solemn +dance of the priests of Mars. Cleon had seen the original performance in +Rome, and he could not but confess that the slow, awkward movement, and +droning chant which the performer adapted to a popular song of a somewhat +equivocal kind, was a very clever piece of work. + + [Illustration: _Antiochus in the Tavern._] + +A few minutes afterwards Antiochus retired, breathless with his exertions, +and Cleon made his way after him. + +“So you are here,” burst out the King. “Good, was it not?” + +“Excellent, my lord,” returned Cleon; “but you must excuse me if I ask you +to come back. The banquet is ready, and the company are waiting for you.” + +“Confound the company; there is much better company here. I will stop +where I am.” + +Cleon remonstrated and argued; at first, it seemed, with no effect. +Finally, however, by a judicious mixture of flattery and promises, and +specially, by enlarging on the opportunity that there would be of +electrifying the _élite_ of Joppa by a display of eloquence, he induced +the King to come away. Antiochus was eaten up with a vanity that was +almost insane, and he was as proud of his capacity for serious oratory as +he was of his talents as a buffoon. + +Unfortunately the eloquence was never displayed. The King had drunk +largely of the heady wine which was a favourite with the nautical +customers of the tavern, and he applied himself with equal diligence to +the more refined vintages which he found on the table of Stratocles, his +entertainer. The company drank his health in bumpers; and, not to be +outdone, a huge capacity for drink being, as he thought, one of his most +honourable distinctions, he pledged them in return by draining a cup of a +royal size. This was a final effort. He spoke a few hesitating sentences, +frequently interrupted by hiccoughs, staggered, and but for the prompt +attention of his attendants, who had indeed observed his condition, would +have fallen to the ground. Nothing remained but to carry him out of the +banqueting hall. + +It was late in the afternoon of the following day before he was +sufficiently recovered from the effects of his debauch to start for +Jerusalem. A halt for the night was made about halfway, and late in the +afternoon of the next day the cavalcade approached Jerusalem. Jason came +out to meet his guest. He had done his utmost to bring a reputable company +with him, but his efforts had not been very successful. The respectable +part of the population of the city was conspicuously absent, a mixed +multitude of strangers and half-breeds, brutal in manners and squalid in +appearance, represented the Jewish nation. Fortunately it was dark, and +the torchlight procession with which the King was escorted into the city +did something to conceal by its picturesque effects the general meanness +of the affair. Antiochus, however, did not fail to notice the character of +the gathering, and indeed rallied his host on his ragged and disreputable +followers. But his good humour did not seem to be disturbed. He admired +the decorations of the palace, was loud in praise of Jason’s taste in art, +and indeed admired one statuette so much that his host felt compelled to +offer it for his acceptance, much against his will, for it was supposed to +be an original by Scopas, and to be worth at least five talents. The next +day came a visit to the Temple. The King shrugged his shoulders at what he +was pleased to consider the tastelessness of its architecture, suggested +to his host that he had better pull the whole place down and build it +again in a better style, and offered him the services of his own architect +and a painter who, he said, had a quite unequalled skill for such subjects +as a dance of satyrs and nymphs, and would cover the walls of the new +building with some really elegant designs. But if the architecture of the +Temple did not please him, he expressed a genuine admiration for some of +its contents. There was a greedy light in his eye as he looked at the rich +furniture and gorgeous vessels—and this, though Jason, having certain +views of his own, had the prudence not to show him the chamber which +contained the most massive treasures of the place. But whatever Antiochus +may have thought, he said nothing but what was civil and pleasant. It may +be supposed, however, that a few days of such a guest would be enough, and +it was with unmixed delight that at the end of a week Jason saw him depart +for Phenicé. + + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + MENELAUS. + + +Two years have passed, and the fate which Jason had declared to be beyond +all limits of probability or possibility has actually overtaken him. One +of his agents, named Oniah, who has assumed the name of Menelaüs, for the +rage for Greek fashions still continues unabated, has outbidden him, and +now reigns in his stead, occupying the palace on Mount Sion which he had +been at such pains to adorn. + +If we look into his library we shall see not only the books and +statuettes—the silver tankards are gone, melted down into money that was +wanted for some sudden exigency—but our old acquaintance, Cleon. The +supple Greek was not one of those who take their friends for better, for +worse. Jason was wandering about among the hills of Ammon with scarcely a +garment to his back or a shekel that he could call his own, and what use +could he find for the company of an accomplished gentleman, who had as +keen an eye as any one for a fine bit of sculpture or painting, and could +not be rivalled, out of the profession, in his taste for wine? The +accomplished gentleman knew where he was appreciated, where he was of use, +and, naturally, where he was well off. Accordingly he had found means, as +such people always do find means, of ingratiating himself with the new +occupant of the palace, and was installed as his consulting connoisseur +and chief adviser in matters of taste. + +“A poor creature, certainly,” he had replied to some depreciatory +criticism which Menelaüs had passed on his predecessor, “but it must be +allowed that he had a taste in art.” + +“Or was sensible enough to be guided by those who had,” said Menelaüs. + +Cleon acknowledged the compliment with a bow, and went on, “I never found +him make any difficulty about the price. And, of course, if a man goes to +work in that spirit, and has good advice, too, he is bound to make a fine +collection.” + +Menelaüs received the observation with a grimace, and a significant shrug +of the shoulders. “‘No difficulty about the price,’ you say. Of course +not. Why should he? When a man doesn’t pay, he is apt to be easy about the +amount. Do you know that the bills for half the things that you see in +this room have been sent in to me? Sometimes he had to pay the money down. +The ‘Gladiator’ there, from Pergamum could not have been got without ready +cash; but wherever he could, he went on credit, and now the dealers are +down upon me.” + +And he held up a sheaf of bills. + +“Here,” he went on, “is a pretty account from Theodotus of Alexandria, the +bookseller, you know: + +“‘_A Manuscript of Anacreon_ (said to be 10 minæ. +autograph) +_The Milesian Tales_ 5 „ +_Drinking Songs from Cratinus_ 2 „’ + +And so it goes on, with a quantity of books which I am sure the old +impostor never read. Two talents and twelve minæ it comes to altogether. +Then here is ‘A Group of the Graces, 1 talent;’ ‘Silenus, 20 minæ;’ ‘Satyr +and Nymphs, half a talent.’ ‘Set of Flagons, worked with the Labours of +Hercules, 2 talents.’ These the villain melted down before he went. Fancy +the rascality of that! Why, the silver by weight could not have been worth +a fourth part of what it cost with the workmanship.” + +“Well,” said Cleon, “the fellows can wait. They can afford it; I know +enough about these things to be sure that they get a very handsome profit. +I used to travel, you know, for Cleisthenes of Syracuse, and so got to +know something about the secrets of the trade. No, you need not be afraid +of making them wait.” + +“Well, they have waited three years already,” returned Menelaüs; “and very +likely will have to be out of their money for as many more. But here is a +gentleman who won’t wait. Here is Sostratus” (Sostratus, it should be +mentioned, was Governor of the Castle, which was garrisoned by Syrian +troops, and so the representative of King Antiochus)—“here is Sostratus +asking for the half-year’s tribute, and giving me a pretty strong hint +that, if I don’t send it, he shall come and take it for himself. And where +is the money to come from?” + +“Well,” said Cleon, with a little laugh, “I suppose there is one way to +get milk, and that is to go to the cow, or the goat, or the sheep. You +see, we have a certain choice between big and little. And so, if you want +money, you must go to the people, I suppose.” + +“The people! they are squeezed absolutely dry, at least one would think +so. I could tell you stories about the squeezing that would make you split +your sides with laughing. There was old Levi, a Bethlehem farmer; they +boiled him, or half-boiled him, because he would not pay his taxes—said +that he couldn’t, the old villain! They put him in a caldron, you see, and +kept heating it up, because he would not tell where he had hidden his +money.” + +“Well, did they get it out of him?” + +“No, the obstinate old dog, he would not say a word; but before he was +quite finished his wife brought the coins from her head-dress and bought +him off. They say that he was the queerest figure when he came out of the +water, with the skin hanging about him in folds. Well, at all events, it +was a good washing for him. He had never been so clean in his life +before.” + +“And did he recover?” asked Menander. + +“Upon my word, I can’t remember. But I do know that we got the money.”(5) + +“Well, I remember what your predecessor used to say. It was in this very +room about two years ago that I asked him whether he felt quite safe. ‘Oh, +yes!’ he answered, ‘I have got the last farthing that is to be got, and +there is an end of it!’” + +“Well,” replied the high priest, “there are other ways of getting money +besides taxes. I will allow that Jason worked the taxes as well as a man +could. No one can eat or drink, lie down or get up, walk or ride, travel +or stay at home, be born or marry, or be buried, without having to pay for +it. No! I do not see room for another, and I am sure that it is not for +want of looking. But, as I said, there are other ways. Now—can you keep a +secret?” + +“A secret! I should say so—not the grave itself better!” + +“Hush! my friend, good words! good words!” cried the high priest, who +felt, or affected to feel, the common Greek superstition against words +that seemed to carry an evil omen with them. “Well, if you can, come +here.” + +So saying, Menelaüs took his friend into an adjoining room, and opening a +cupboard, secured, as the Greek observed, by an iron door and by a lock of +elaborate construction, showed him a number of massive gold vases. + +“And where do these come from?” asked Cleon, almost dazzled by the +splendid array. + +“Where should they come from, but from the Temple? Some of these have got +a history of their own. You see that two-handled cup? King Artaxerxes gave +it to Nehemiah: solid gold. And you see those splendid sapphires in the +handles? The very biggest stones of the sort I have ever seen, and worth +three talents each. Then there is that salver, Alexander of Macedon gave +it to the Temple; and that casket there was a present from the first +Ptolemy.” + +“But, my dear sir,” said the Greek, astonished at the audacity of the +whole affair, “is not this going a little too far? Suppose the people were +to find it out? Would there not be a rather formidable uproar?” + +“Well, of course; we cannot get anything without risk. But I have taken +precautions. First, I have put a facsimile of every one of these in the +Temple; gilded lead, which does perfectly well for all practical +purposes.” + +“But the weight! Surely any one can tell the difference by the weight.” + +“Of course, my dear Cleon, I know that lead is little more than half as +heavy as gold. But there are ways of making it up. You can put a great +deal more metal in, without its being observed, and almost make up the +difference. And, you see, the things are never allowed to be handled; can +only be looked at. I have given very strict orders about that, you may be +sure. Of course the treasurer is in the secret; but as he must sink or +swim with me, he may be trusted. Besides, I am not going to run the risk +of keeping them here. I can trust you, my good Cleon, as I can my own +brother—in fact, when I come to think of it, a good deal more—yet I am not +sure that I should have told you so much, but that the best of these are +going to be packed off to-night. The fact is, they are sold already.” + +The Greek could only shrug his shoulders and say nothing. As my readers +will have perceived, he was not a man of high principles—in fact, to put +the matter plainly, he was an unscrupulous adventurer. But the reckless +villainy of Menelaüs fairly disgusted him. His taste, quite apart from any +question of principle or honesty, revolted at the notion that a man, +placed as was the high priest of the Jewish people, should deal with these +historic treasures as a vulgar burglar might deal with them. This was a +refinement of feeling into which the vulgar cupidity of Menelaüs did not +enter. He went on: + +“How wild that scoundrel Jason would be, if he knew of this, to think that +he had lost such an opportunity, had these treasures in his hand, so to +speak, and leave them to his worst enemy!” + +“Have you heard anything lately about him?” asked the Greek, not unwilling +to change the subject. + +“Oh, yes,” replied Menelaüs, “he is wandering about somewhere in the +country of the Ammonites, and at his wits’ end, I am told, how to live.” + +“Poor fellow!” said Cleon, _sotto voce_, “he was always very kind to me, +and I can’t help being sorry for him.” He then went on aloud, “He will +find it a great change from his way of living here.” + +“Yes, yes!” said Menelaüs; “but still, some of his old ways and habits +will come in usefully. He was always great about training, you remember. +Every one should be ready to fight a boxing-match or run a race. Cold, +hunger, fatigue; these, he used to say, are the things to bring out a +man’s muscles. And now he has got them in perfection. He might really +carry off some prize, only, unluckily, he is getting a little too old for +that sort of thing. And then, you recollect, how he would go on about the +beauty of the human form. Clothes, especially the gorgeous clothes of our +people, obscured so tastelessly its magnificent proportions. Well, he has +not much to complain of, I imagine, on that score. By the last account +that I had of him he had as little in the way of clothing as a man could +well have. Anyhow, he may console himself with thinking that _his_ +magnificent proportions are not obscured. Well, I don’t pity him. A man +who has managed to get into a good place and then cannot stick to it is +nothing better than a fool, and richly deserves everything that he may +get.” + +At this point in the conversation a servant announced the arrival of a +message from Sostratus, Governor of the Castle. + +“All the gods and goddesses confound the man!” cried the high priest, in a +rage. He was fond of garnishing his conversation with a little Greek +profanity. “Another dunning message, I suppose. Well, he must wait. No man +can get any water by squeezing out of a dry sponge; and that is about what +I am!” + +The communication from Sostratus proved, however, to be on quite another +subject, though it was, if possible, even more unwelcome. It ran thus:— + + + “_Sostratus, Vicegerent of the Divine King, Antiochus, to Menelaüs, + the High Priest, greeting._ + + “Know that I have this day received the summons of the Divine King, + Antiochus, to attend him at his court at Antioch, within the space of + thirty days, there to inform his Highness more fully of affairs + concerning his province of Judæa. Know also that your presence is + required at the same place and time, whereof the writing herewith + enclosed, being sealed with the King’s seal, will be proof sufficient. + Farewell.” + + +Menelaüs’s face visibly lengthened as he read this epistle. “By the dog!” +(this was a Socratic oath which he sometimes affected, as giving to his +conversation a certain philosophic tinge)—“By the dog! this is worse than +being dunned! I like not a journey to Antioch. A very pretty place, but +expensive, dreadfully expensive, especially when one has the honour of +being entertained by the King.” + +Cleon felt a certain pleasure in the high priest’s discomfiture. The new +patron was more overbearing, less considerate, and generally more +difficult to get on with than the old. Jason, coxcomb as he was, had +always been kind, and Cleon felt as kindly for him as it was in his nature +to feel for any one. And then the exquisite propriety with which this +disturbing news followed the man’s taunts and boasts was irresistible. + +“It is hard,” he said, as if to himself, “when a man has got into a good +place——” + +Menelaüs darted an angry look at his friend, but the Greek’s face, which +he knew how to keep under admirable control, expressed nothing but +respectful sympathy. There was an unpleasant suggestion of mockery in what +he had heard; but the Greek was a useful person; he had been trusted, too, +and knew things which it would not do to have published. Altogether, the +high priest concluded, it would not do to quarrel with him—anyhow, for the +present; some day, perhaps, he might be got rid of. + +“I suppose, sir, you cannot make an excuse—important affairs of State, the +King’s service to be attended to, or something of that kind?” + +Cleon made the suggestion, knowing perfectly well that it was quite out of +the question. But he enjoyed the novel position of tormenting his patron, +and was taking it out, so to speak, for not a few rudenesses and slights. + +“Excuse!” cried Menelaüs. “It would be as much as my head is worth to do +anything of the kind. No! I must go. But this is not a journey which one +cares to take empty-handed. Let me see what I can take—two or three of the +most portable cups, as much coin as I can scrape together, and the +jewels—jewels are always useful: it is so easy to hide them. Well, I shall +leave you in charge; unless, indeed, you are very much set on going +yourself.” + +Cleon was not at all set upon going; on the contrary, nothing short of the +strongest inducements would have persuaded him to the journey. Going to +Antioch was like putting one’s head into the lion’s mouth. There was no +particular reason, indeed, why _his_ head should be bitten off; but lions +are capricious, and sometimes use their teeth for the mere fun of the +thing. + +“I am much obliged for the chance,” he said, “but my health has been +suffering lately, and I do not feel quite equal to the journey.” + +“Well, then,” replied Menelaüs, “stop here, and keep things as straight as +you can. And if you can sell some of these pretty things for ready money, +do so—the usual commission for yourself, of course. But it must all be +kept quiet.” + +The next day the high priest and the Governor, neither of them in very +good spirits, were on their way to Antioch. + + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + AT ANTIOCH. + + +Antioch more than deserved the praise of “a very pretty place,” which +Menelaüs had bestowed upon it. In fact, it was one of the finest cities of +the world. The old town which the first Antiochus(6) had found had been +improved away by him and his successors. All that could be done by a +despotic power that made very short work with the wishes and even the +rights of private owners of property, and by a lavish expenditure of +money, had been done by five generations of rulers, and the result was +magnificent. Broad streets ran from side to side; and those who grumbled +that the narrow alleys of the old town gave at least a shelter from the +sun were consoled by the rows of planes and limes, planted alternately, +which shaded both sides of each thoroughfare. Rows of houses, which looked +more like palaces than private dwellings, occupied the best quarter of the +city, and even the poorest regions had nothing of the squalor of poverty. +Even the filth so common in the East was conspicuously absent from +Antioch, for every gutter ran with an unceasing stream of water, drawn +from a higher point of the Orontes and carrying into that river at a lower +point all the defilement of the streets. Temples, in which a whole +pantheon of gods was worshipped, were to be seen on every hand. The pure +and harmonious outlines of Greek architecture could be seen side by side +with the _bizarre_ conceptions of Oriental art. If the kings and their +Greek subjects worshipped Zeus and Apollo, and, above all, Aphrodité, who +had here her famous grove of Daphne, so the Syrian population were +faithful to Baal and Ashtaroth. A magnificent amphitheatre, capable of +holding at least thirty thousand spectators, rose, a striking mass of +white marble, on the north side of the city; a colonnade ran round the +four sides of the market-place, gorgeous with the lavish colours of the +East, for here the art of Greece had been superseded for once by the more +ornate native taste. But the river, rushing down between its noble +embankments of stone, was the chief ornament of the place. The Orontes had +not gathered round it the splendid associations that clustered about the +Tiber, but its broad, clear stream was in everything else more than a +match for its Italian rival. + +Menelaüs and his companion, who, it may be guessed, had reasons of his own +for regarding with anxiety the summons that brought him to the capital, +were not a little relieved to find that the King had been called away by +urgent affairs. + +Tarsus, one of the most important cities in his dominions, had rebelled. +Its antiquity, its wealth, and its fame as a seat of culture, a character +in which it claimed to be a rival of Athens itself, had combined to give +the Tarsians a high opinion of themselves. Successive rulers, beginning +with the Assyrian kings, its first founders, had allowed the city a +certain independence; and its pride was grievously wounded when the young +King, with the reckless levity that distinguished him, handed it over as a +private possession to his mistress. The citizens pitched the lady’s +collectors into the Cydnus, shut their gates, and defied their sovereign; +Mallos, another Cilician city which had suffered the same indignity, +following their example. The King had marched to reduce the rebels—a task, +it was probable, of no little difficulty—leaving a certain Andronicus to +act as his deputy, and specially to dispose of the charge on which +Menelaüs and Sostratus had been summoned. + +This charge was one of a very formidable kind. Menelaüs’s dealings with +the treasures of the Temple had not been so secret as he had hoped. Such +things cannot be done without a certain number of confederates, and such +confederates are very apt to give a finishing touch to their villainy by +betraying their chief. In this instance one of the journeymen employed had +considered himself insufficiently paid, rightly thinking, perhaps, that if +sacrilege can be recompensed at all, it ought to be recompensed +handsomely. Personally he was too insignificant to venture an attack on so +great a potentate as the high priest, but he knew whither to carry his +information. He told what he knew to a priest, who, besides being a devout +Jew, was a member of the family to which the high priesthood properly +belonged. The priest, after satisfying himself that the story was true, at +once set about bringing the offender to justice. + +His course was plain. Menelaüs, we have seen, had supplanted Jason, and +Jason had himself purchased the dignity. But Oniah, the rightful high +priest, who had been displaced by Jason, was still alive. Antiochus, +naturally fearing his influence with his countrymen, had kept him at his +capital, treating him, strange to say, with remarkable consideration. But +Oniah was one of those men who extort veneration even from the most +reckless of profligates. His venerable figure, his face beaming with +benevolence, his blameless life, and the charities which he dispensed up +to and even beyond the limit of his means, had won for him the regard of +all Antioch. Even the heathen would stop him in the streets and beg his +blessing. Oniah was a power in Antioch for which even the reckless young +profligate on the throne had an unfeigned respect. + +It may, then, be easily imagined that no little sensation was produced +when this venerable personage appeared before Antiochus, and, in the +presence of the Court, accused Menelaüs, whom he had steadfastly refused +to acknowledge as high priest, of having embezzled much of the treasure of +the Temple at Jerusalem. That Oniah, whose veracity and good faith were +beyond all question, should make such a charge was _primâ facie_ evidence +of its truth. As he was known to have many friends in Jerusalem, it was +more than probable that evidence would be forthcoming. The King did not +hesitate a moment in acting upon this probability. Of course, he did not +look at the matter in at all the same light as that in which it was +regarded by the devout Oniah. To the dispossessed high priest the robbery +of the sacred vessels was a monstrous sacrilege, an offence of the deepest +dye, not only against his country but against his God. Antiochus felt that +it was he who had been wronged. The treasures of the Jerusalem Temple were +_his_ treasures. He might be content to leave them, at all events for the +present, where they were; but they must be ready to his hand whenever the +occasion should arise, and any one who presumed to appropriate them was a +traitor and a villain. Hence the urgent summons to Menelaüs and to +Sostratus, who, as Governor, could hardly fail, thought Antiochus, to have +been cognizant of the whole proceeding. + +Almost immediately after the despatch of the summons came the trouble with +Tarsus. The King started to chastise in person his rebellious subjects, +and left, as we have said, Andronicus in general charge of affairs, and +with a special commission to hear the accusation which Oniah was bringing +against Menelaüs. The choice was an unlucky one. Antiochus was sincerely +anxious that justice should be done in the matter; but to get justice done +in any particular case when it is not the rule of the administration is +exceedingly difficult. Andronicus, to put the facts quite simply, was an +unprincipled villain, ready to sell his decisions, when he could do so +with impunity, to the highest bidder. He was an old acquaintance and +confederate of Sostratus, and Menelaüs, who had established friendly +relations with the Governor during their journey from Jerusalem to +Antioch, soon received a hint as to how he should proceed. The hearing of +the case had been appointed for the sixth day after his arrival. Before +that date one of the sacred vessels which he had taken the precaution of +bringing with him, had been exchanged for five hundred gold pieces, and +the gold pieces had found their way into the pocket of Andronicus. + +On the day appointed Oniah, supported by the principal Jewish inhabitants +of Antioch and by not a few of the most respectable Greeks, appeared to +substantiate his charges against the usurper Menelaüs. The evidence +appeared to be overwhelming. The artizan who had been employed to +fabricate the worthless imitations of the precious vessels told the whole +story of the fraud with a fulness of detail which seemed to bear all the +stamp of truth. Another witness related how he had carried one of the +original articles to a goldsmith at Sidon, and actually produced a rough +memorandum of its weight, which had been made upon the spot, to be +afterwards embodied in the formal receipt. + +The line of defence adopted was bold, not to say impudent. The whole +affair, according to Menelaüs, was a conspiracy on the part of the +irreconcilable Jews to overthrow a loyal subject of the King. The +witnesses, he declared, had been suborned, the documents had been forged. +He then went on to bring a counter-charge against his accuser. And here he +found a certain advantage in the transparent honesty of Oniah. + +“Do you acknowledge,” he asked the ex-high priest, “the validity of the +appointments which our most noble lord Antiochus has made to the office of +high priest?” + +Oniah frankly confessed that he did not. + +“Do you consider yourself to be still, according to the Law, in rightful +possession of that office?” + +“I do.” + +“And bound to assert that right?” + +“By lawful means.” + +“And you hold all means to be lawful that are enjoined in the Law of +Moses?” + +“I do.” + +“And among such means you would count the banishment from the precincts of +the Holy City of all such as do not worship the Lord God of Israel?” + +Oniah felt that he was becoming entangled in this artful web of questions, +and made an effort to break loose. “I appeal,” he cried, “most excellent +Andronicus, to all who, in this city of Antioch, for these four years past +have known my manner of life. You see sundry of them, nor of my own nation +only, in the court this day. Ask them whether I have not lived in all +peace and quietness, not seeking to disturb, either by word or deed, the +dominions of my lord the King.” + +Menelaüs, of course, had not come unprovided with witnesses. The old man +had, to tell the truth, used language of an imprudent kind. He was a +patriot and a believer. As such, he had his beliefs and his hopes, and it +was part of his character to express such beliefs and hopes quite openly. +He had talked of a day when the Holy Land should be no more the prey of +the alien and the heathen, when a king of the House of David should rule +in Mount Sion, when the Temple should regain all the sacredness and all +the glory which had ever belonged to it. Such language, construed +strictly, was not consistent with a thorough loyalty to the Syrian +monarch. But no one who knew Oniah, a man of peace who had the good sense +to recognize what was and what was not possible, could suppose that any +scheme of revolt against existing authorities had ever entered into his +mind. In fact he had not said a word that had not been said before by one +or more of the prophets. Still, words which breathed a spirit of +independence, when reported by witnesses, and acknowledged by Oniah—who +was, indeed, too honest to deny them—gave Andronicus the occasion for +which he had been looking. He gave his decision in the following terms:— + +“The charge against Menelaüs is postponed for further hearing. Meanwhile +the documents produced and the witnesses will remain in the custody of the +Court. As for Oniah, he must be reserved for the judgment of the King in +person. I should myself have been disposed to release him; but in the +absence of my lord, considering that the peace of the realm is so +essentially concerned, I do not venture so far.” + +He was proceeding to give orders for the removal of Oniah, when an ominous +murmur from the audience, with which the court was crowded, made him +pause. Prisoners who saw the inside of an Antioch dungeon were sometimes +not heard of again. The air had a certain power of developing very rapid +diseases, so rapid that the sufferers were not only dead but buried before +any tidings of the sickness reached their friends. Antioch was not +disposed to see the man who was probably the most widely respected of all +its inhabitants, exposed to such a risk. Andronicus, who could not even +trust the soldiers to act against so venerable a person, drew back. He was +willing, he said, to accept sureties in a sufficient amount for the due +appearance of the accused. The sureties were forthcoming in a moment, in +sums so great and so absolutely secure that Andronicus had no pretext for +refusing them. He proceeded to adjourn the Court for fourteen days. + +During the interval he took the opportunity of making a change in the +garrison of the capital. Troops recruited from some of the regions +bordering on Judæa, and accordingly among the bitterest enemies of its +people, replaced some Greek mercenaries. The strangers knew nothing about +Oniah, except that he was a Jew, and, being a Jew, of course hateful. They +could be relied upon to obey orders, and those who knew Andronicus were +sure what orders he would issue. + +Oniah’s friends urged him to fly. He was too old and feeble, he replied; +it would be better for him to die at his post. Then they implored him to +take sanctuary. + +“What!” he cried, “take sanctuary in a heathen temple! There is none other +in the place. I would sooner die a thousand times.” + +It was not in a temple, they explained, that he was to find shelter. It +was in the Gardens of Daphne that they wished him to take refuge. And they +proceeded to unfold an elaborate argument, the gist of which was that the +Gardens were a civil, and not a religious, sanctuary; that there would be +no occasion for him to enter the consecrated enclosure; he would be simply +availing himself of a custom which forbad the entrance of the Minister of +Justice into a place devoted to the amusement of the people. It is +probable that they strained their argument beyond the limits of the truth. +It was with great difficulty that Oniah could be made to yield. When he +did so at last, on the urgent representations of his friends that the +hopes of a free Israel were largely dependent on the preservation of his +life, he could not help foreboding that the concession would not profit +either himself or them. + +The world scarcely contained a more beautiful place—beautiful both by +grace of nature and diligence of art—than the Gardens of Daphne; and +certainly none that seemed more unlikely to shelter a devout Jew. Its +avenues of cypress and laurels, its delicious depths of shade, its +thousand streams, clear as crystal and untouched by the drought of the +longest, most fiery summer, were but a part of its charms. Of some, +perhaps the chief of its attractions, it is best not to speak; but there +were others, less unseemly indeed, but such as must have been absolutely +scandalous to such a man as Oniah. The curious thronged to see the +gigantic statue of Apollo, a match both in size and costliness of material +to that of Zeus in the plain of Olympia. (It was sixty feet in height, and +wrought of gold and ivory.) To complete the resemblance to the famous +meeting-place of the Greek race, there was a running ground and rings for +wrestling and boxing. Finally, Daphne claimed to rival another great +centre of Greek life in its special characteristic. It was stoutly +maintained that the Apollo who haunted the laurel-groves of Daphne was as +true a prophet as he who spoke through the lips of Pythia at Delphi. +Crowds of men and women, eager to learn the secrets of the future, came to +the groves of Antioch. The method by which they saw into the secrets of +fate seemed singularly simple. The questioner dipped a laurel leaf into +the stream that flowed by the shrine, and lo! the surface appeared written +over with the intimations of fate. Simple it was, but the priests had +spent a world of pains in acquiring the art of invisible writing, and they +did their best to learn something about the history and prospects of the +applicants. + +Such was Daphne, and no one could be more astonished than were its +inhabitants and visitors at the strange figure whom they saw before them; +strange to the place, indeed, rather than to them, for Oniah, as has been +said, was one of the best-known personages in Antioch. The rumour of his +coming had gone before him, and a crowd, half curious, half respectful, +had gathered to meet him. In not a few, indeed, curiosity and respect were +mingled with something of fear. The presence of this austere piety in this +haunt of vicious pleasure, was thought to augur ill for its prosperity. +Some of the priests were heard to murmur that one who was the avowed enemy +of the gods ought not to be admitted. But they did not venture to deny to +any one who sought them the privileges of sanctuary, while their fears +were not of a kind which they could make their followers understand. They +had, therefore, to acquiesce, and hope that the unwelcome visitor would +bring with him no ill-luck. + +A little building, as remote as possible from the central temple, had been +secured for the residence of Oniah. On reaching the gardens he had to make +his way to it through two dense lines of eager spectators. The temple, the +shrine of the oracle, the pavilions devoted to pleasure, were for the +nonce deserted. The drunkards left their wine-cup, and, stranger still, +the dice-players their gaming-tables, to gaze upon the holy man. As he +walked up the narrow avenue that had been left for his passage, some of +the women whose venal beauty was one of the attractions of the place, +threw themselves at his feet. Unhappy creatures, they had been brought up +from childhood to this life of degradation, which indeed had a certain +hideous sanction of religious association about it; but they had not +altogether lost the womanly veneration for goodness, and, like the +Magdalen of a later time, seemed to forget themselves in its presence. The +old man, unconscious of their character, or perhaps, with the Divine Guest +of the Pharisee of Capernaum, ignoring it, stretched out his hands with +the gesture of blessing, and, though it was technically a pollution to +touch a heathen, he even laid them on some children who were almost thrust +into his arms. There was hardly a heart that was not touched with this +kindness, and when the priest, as he entered his new abode, turned and +bade the multitude farewell, he was answered with shouts of enthusiasm. + +Menelaüs and his accomplices were dismayed at the escape of the victim. A +witness who knew so much, and whose word was so implicitly believed, must +be silenced at any cost. To take him by force from the sanctuary was +impossible. Any attempt of the kind would certainly end in disaster. But +it might be possible to draw him forth by fraud. Menelaüs knew enough of +the old man’s character to be sure that he had gone reluctantly, and would +gladly seize the opportunity of quitting a scene in which he must have +felt himself so much out of place. Some such fraud it would not be +difficult to contrive with the help of Andronicus. Accordingly another of +the sacred vessels found its way to the dealer, and another purse of gold +into the pocket of the viceroy, and in a few hours the plot was arranged. +As Antiochus was on his way back from the north, there was no time to be +lost. + +Two days after the arrival of Oniah at the gardens a visitor to him was +announced. It was the viceroy himself. + +“Venerable sir,” he began, “it has grieved me beyond measure to find that +you were distrustful of my honourable, and I may say friendly, intentions +concerning you. Whoever accused me of ill-will towards you has wronged me +most foully. And let me add that you also have been wronged no less in +that you have been persuaded to come to a place so unworthy of your +dignity. Your safety should be ensured, not by a sanctuary in which +thieves and murderers find refuge, but by the inviolable precincts of the +royal palace itself. Let me offer to you, in the name of the King, the +hospitality of his abode. In the meanwhile I am willing to swear by any +oaths that may suffice to satisfy you and your friends, that you shall +suffer no injury from my hands.” + +One or two of Oniah’s friends strongly dissuaded him from trusting himself +to the viceroy. But their caution was overborne by their companions and by +the eagerness of the priest to quit so uncongenial a place. Andronicus +took every oath known to Greek or Jew that he would treat the priest with +all respect, and Oniah gladly bade farewell to the Gardens. His departure +was made at the dead of night, and unknown to any of the inhabitants of +Daphne. Had they been aware of his intention, it is probable, knowing as +they did the character of Andronicus, that they would have hindered it by +force. + +Almost at the moment of Oniah’s arrival at the palace a runner reached it +from the King announcing his intended arrival on the next day. + +Speedy action was necessary, and Andronicus, though not without +misgivings, determined to lose no time. A Court of Justice, so called, was +hastily held. A creature of his own was called to preside over it. +Witnesses whose testimony had been carefully prepared, deposed to +preparations for rebellion to which Oniah had been privy, and to which he +had lent his aid. The accused was not allowed to have an advocate, and +scarcely even permitted to speak. Two hours sufficed for this mockery of a +legal process, and two more for carrying into effect the sentence of death +which was of course pronounced. Though the brutal Cilicians who formed the +garrison of the palace were ready to carry out any order which their +officer might give, it was judged well to avoid anything like a public +execution. That very night Oniah was poisoned in his prison, and before +dawn the next day his body was hastily consigned to the tomb. + +The punishment for this atrocious act of treachery and cruelty was not +long delayed. One of the first acts of Antiochus, after his return to his +capital, was to demand the presence of Oniah, and then the story had to be +told. Andronicus did his best to put such a colour upon it as would +deceive his master. The attempt was vain. The King saw in a moment through +the idle charges which had been brought against the dead man. “What!” he +cried, “Oniah rebel against _me_!” His vanity and self-confidence made the +accusation seem the very height of absurdity. + +“Of course,” the King went on—“of course he did not acknowledge the +priesthood of Jason or Menelaüs; he has told me so himself twenty times. +He could not think otherwise, and he was as honest as the day. I only wish +that he had left another as honest behind him. Zeus and all the gods of +heaven and hell confound me if I do not avenge him to the uttermost. Tell +me,” he cried, turning to the captain of the Cilicians, who stood by +dismayed at his master’s rage—“tell me where you have buried him.” + +The captain described the place. + +“I will see him once more, and these villains shall see him too,” he said, +pointing to the trembling pair, Andronicus and his creature the judge. + +He went on foot, his royal dress discarded for a mourner’s cloak. His +courtiers followed him, and a guard of soldiers behind brought with them +the guilty viceroy and judge. + +“Open the grave,” he said, when he reached the spot. + +It was soon done, for the murderers had hurried their victim into a +shallow tomb. In a few minutes the body of the dead man was exposed to +view. Decay had not commenced, and death had given fresh depth and beauty +to the serenity which had been their habitual expression in life. +Antiochus gazed awhile at the face; then, dropping on his knees, covered +his head with his mantle, and burst into a passion of tears. + +In a few minutes he rose to his feet. Grief had given place to rage, and +his eyes blazed with fury. + +“Bind that wretch!” he cried, pointing to the wretched Andronicus. + +He was bound, and stood waiting his doom. + +“He is not worth the blow of an honest sword,” cried the King; “strangle +him, as if he were a dog. But first make him look at the man whom he has +murdered.” + +Andronicus was forced to the edge of the grave and compelled to look at +the dead. A halter was thrown round his neck, and the next moment he was a +corpse. The judge shared his fate. “And you, sir,” said the King, turning +to the captain who had administered the poison—“you, sir, though you are a +barbarian, and know no better, must learn that you cannot rob the world of +one who was worth a thousand such brutes as you. You are captain no more; +that is your successor,” and he pointed to an officer in his train. “You +can groom his horses, if you don’t want to starve. And think that you are +lucky that you keep your head.” + +So the good Oniah was avenged. + + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + THE WRATH TO COME. + + +A year has passed since the tragedy related in the last chapter. Menelaüs, +thanks chiefly to the fickle temper of Antiochus, had escaped the fate +which overtook his accomplice Andronicus, and had returned to pillage his +unfortunate countrymen in Palestine. But his lease of power had come to an +end. Jason, his dispossessed rival, had taken the opportunity of a report +that Antiochus was dead, and attacked him. There could hardly be any +choice between the two men. Both were equally rapacious; equally +unfaithful to their religion and their country. But Jason had been out of +power for two years, and his misdeeds had faded a little from the memory +of the people; Menelaüs’s enormities were still fresh in their +recollection. After a sharp conflict, the losses of which were utterly out +of proportion to any gain that could possibly come from it, Jason had won +the day, and his rival had been compelled to take refuge in the Castle. +Then came the news that the report of the death of Antiochus was false. He +had settled affairs in Egypt after his liking, and was now on his way +northwards, furious at the trouble which this obstinate province was +giving him, and resolved, as he said, to quiet it for good. Jason had fled +in headlong haste, and his partisans, and, indeed, most of those who had +the means to go, had followed his example. Meanwhile Jerusalem was +awaiting the future with fear and trembling. + +It is an evening in the early summer, and the western wall of the city is +crowded with men and women, who are gazing with awe-stricken faces on the +strange appearance of the sunset. All day people had been talking of the +marvellous shapes which had appeared the evening before in the western +sky, and now a great multitude had assembled to see whether the marvel +would be repeated, and, if so, to judge of it for themselves. Nor had they +assembled in vain. Never, within the memory of man, had the heavens worn a +stranger, a more terrifying look. Above the spot where the sun was just +sinking to his rest the whole sky glowed with a red and angry light. On +this background, so to speak, the clouds of a lower stratum had shaped +themselves into the forms of two armies ready to engage in battle. The +spectators seemed to be able to trace in one place the serried ranks of +infantry, in another the massed array of chariots and horses. A space, +brilliantly coloured, as it might seem, with something like the hue of +blood, intervened between the two airy hosts. But these seemed to be +slowly nearing each other, and the gazing people watched the lessening +space, expecting, one might think, to hear the actual clash of arms when +they should have met. But then the sun set, and with the sudden failing of +light that marks the evening of more southern climes than ours, the whole +pageant vanished from before the eyes of the spectators. + +Among the crowd is our old acquaintance Menander, or Micah, whom we last +met in the library of Jason. Things have not gone well with him since +then. He had cherished a belief that Greek culture, the brightness of +Greek literature and art, would do something to amend the severity, and +what he was pleased to call the tastelessness of Jewish life. To a certain +extent it had been an honest belief, though the pleasure-loving nature of +the man, in its revolt against the stern morality of the Law, had had +something to do with developing it. But his experience of Greek culture +and its works had not been encouraging. If the reforming doctrine had to +be preached by such prophets as Jason, and Menelaüs, and the cruel and +profligate young tyrant Antiochus, it was more than doubtful whether it +would do any good. Hitherto, certainly, it had done no good at all. The +people were more unhappy, more spiritless, more like slaves than they had +ever been before; the rulers were more greedy and selfish, more absolutely +careless of all that did not concern their own interests. Might he not, he +began to think to himself, have made a mistake? Might not the old life, +which was at least the life of free men, be better than the new? + +He was busy with such thoughts when he heard a woman’s voice behind him +whisper “Micah.” He did not recognize it at once, but its tones were +familiar to him, and they seemed to touch the same chord in his heart with +which his thoughts were then busy. And the name, the old Hebrew name, that +too was familiar, though it was long since he had heard it. He was +“Menander” to his friends; for his friends were either Greeks, or else +Jews who, like himself, had cast off the associations of his birth and +race. + +“Micah,” said the voice again, and he turned to look at the speaker. + +She was a woman of some thirty years, plainly, almost poorly, dressed, but +with all the air of gentle birth and breeding. Her face was beautiful, not +with the brilliant loveliness of youth, but with that which is brought +into the features by a pure and tender soul. There were the lines of many +sorrows and cares upon her forehead, and round her eyes, and in the +corners of mouth and cheek; but her eyes, save that they seemed almost too +large for the thinner contours of the face, were as beautiful as they had +been in the first glory of her youth. + +It was Hannah, his elder sister, who had been as a mother to him in his +orphaned childhood, that Menander recognized. Years had passed since they +met. There had been no quarrel, but circumstances had made a barrier +between them. What Menander’s life had been we know, and Hannah was the +wife of a faithful and devout Jew, Azariah by name, who, though still +cherishing kindly thoughts for his young kinsman, had felt that, for the +present at least, they were best apart. + +Brother and sister eagerly clasped hands, and Menander, or Micah, as we +will call him, felt a lump rise in his own throat as he saw the tearful +smile in Hannah’s lustrous eyes. + +“Micah,” she said—“for you will not mind my calling you Micah, though I +hear you use another name; but you were always Micah to me—this is a +strange sight on which we have been looking.” + +“Yes, sister,” he answered, with a gaiety of tone which was more than half +assumed—“yes, sister, strange enough; but then we know that the clouds do +take strange shapes at times. A current of air blows them this way or +that, and, with our fancy to help, they become anything in heaven or earth +that we may fancy.” + +“Nay, Micah, there is more than fancy here. You and I used to watch the +clouds from the window in the old house, and to laugh at the odd shapes +which we found in them—lions, and dogs, and whales, and such things—but we +never saw such a sight as this.” + +“But we had not in those days such thoughts of our own to read into the +sights of the skies. But tell me, Hannah, what do you think it means?” + +“What can it mean,” she answered, in a low voice, “but wrath—wrath upon us +and upon our children?” + +“Wrath, perhaps,” he cried; “and the sky has, I must confess, an angry +look. But why must it be upon us? Why not rather upon our enemies? I see +nothing in the skies which tells us whether these sights be meant for us +or for them.” + +“Nay, my brother, speak not thus, for you know better in your heart. The +heavens give us these signs, or rather God gives them to us through the +heavens, but He leaves it to our own hearts to interpret them. They tell +us surely enough on whom this wrath must fall.” + +“But, sister, tell me why on us? Are we worse than our neighbours—than +these robbers of Edomites and Ammonites, these sullen Romans, never +satisfied except when they are fighting—these mongrel Syrians?” + +“They are heathen,” said Hannah, in a solemn voice, “and they do not sin +against light. Let us leave them to the judgment of God. But ourselves we +can judge. Look at this city; we call it the City of David—but where is +the spirit of David? Have we not trampled the Law underfoot, making to +ourselves graven images of things in heaven and earth and the water under +the earth? Where is the honour of the Sabbath? Where is the morning and +evening sacrifice? Where are the yearly feasts? Will our God deliver us +again, when we will not thank Him for the deliverances that He hath +wrought already? Oh, Micah, I do not seek to anger you; but are you such +as our father, now in Abraham’s bosom, would rejoice to see you? And tell +me, how was it that we Hebrews became a great people? A Syrian ready to +perish was our father, and lo! before a thousand years were past, Solomon +reigned from the great river to the Western sea. How came we by this +might? Was it by aping Egyptian or Greek? Did we not keep to our own way, +and walk after our own law, and worship our own God? Then it was well with +us, and the nations round about feared us and honoured us; but now they +laugh us to scorn, for we are ashamed of our own selves, and seek to be +what they are, and cannot attain to it, and so fall short both of their +greatness and of ours.” + +Micah stood dumb before this fierce torrent of words. Was this the gentle +Hannah of his youth? There must be some mighty influence that could change +the lamb into the lioness. + +She went on, in a gentler voice, “You are not angry with me, brother?” + +“Surely not.” + +“I must go, for my husband will be waiting for the evening meal. Come, +children,” she went on, speaking to two little girls who had been clinging +to their mother’s cloak, gazing open-eyed and half-terrified at this +strange kinsman. + +“And are these my nieces?” + +“Yes; Miriam and Judith,” answered Hannah, pointing first to one and then +to the other. “This, children, is your dear uncle, Micah.” + +The young man stooped and kissed the children. + +“You will not let it be so long before we see you again?” said Hannah. + +His answer was to wring her hand, and turn away. Her words had pricked him +to the heart, and he did not know whether to thank her or be angry. + +We must now turn to another group which had also been drawn to the walls +by the report of the marvellous sights that were to be seen in the +heavens. A group it was that would have attracted attention anywhere, so +remarkable were the contrasts and the resemblances which it presented. + +The principal figure was an old man dressed in the everyday garb of a +priest. The burden of years had bowed his stately figure, for he had long +since passed the limit which the Psalmist assigns to the life of man, but +his eye was as brilliant as ever, and his voice, when he spoke, had lost +none of its depth and fulness of tone. His three companions were men in +the vigour of life. All surpassed the common stature, but yet none of them +equalled the height of their father, for that they were father and sons +the most casual observer must have seen. In age there was little +difference between them. The eldest may have numbered about forty years, +the youngest, perhaps, four less. Their dress was mainly that of the +middle-class Jew, and so different from the old man’s priestly garb, but +not without some distinctive marks that indicated the fact that they +belonged to the House of Aaron. The multitude of priests was indeed so +great that but a very small share in the services of the Temple, even when +these were fully carried out, fell to the lot of any one man. These +services had now been reduced to a minimum, and numbers of the priestly +houses, while not repudiating their hereditary office, practically devoted +themselves to the ordinary avocations of life. This had been done by the +three sons of Mattathias of Modin, for such was the name and such the +ancestral city of the aged priest. + +“Judas,” said the old man, addressing one of his sons, “these signs in the +heavens are of a surety from the Lord.” + +The son addressed was the youngest of the three; but it was evident from +the bearing of his brothers, and from the air of respect and attention +with which they waited for him to speak, that they were accustomed to see +him the first recipient of their father’s confidence. And indeed it was +not difficult to see, under a superficial resemblance of figure and face, +something that distinguished him from his companions. John, the eldest, +was a plain, blunt soldier, raised above the average level of his +profession, by the purity of his life and the depth of his religious +convictions, but still essentially a soldier, one who saw no way of +solving complicated questions save by a downright blow of the sword. +Simon, the second in point of age, had a singularly mild and benevolent +expression, though his eyes were full of intelligence and the lines of his +mouth and chin seemed to show that he could be firm on occasion. But Judas +had all the outward characteristics of a hero. A sturdier soldier never +wielded sword, but he saw that there are difficulties to which the sword +alone can bring no solution. Nor was he slow to follow all the subtleties +of diplomacy; but, at the same time, he never lost his grasp of the +principles which all the skill of the diplomatist is unable to change. + +“Father,” he now said, “that these signs are from the Lord I do not doubt. +But what is your counsel?” + +“Speak you first, my son,” replied the old man; “’tis ever best so. You +might be unwilling to differ from me and yet be in the right. This at +least my years have taught me—that it is easy for any man to err.” + +“Let us stay,” said Judas. “’Tis true the air is stifling, such as a free +man can scarcely bear to breathe. But there are many, father, that look to +you for counsel and guidance, and we may scarcely leave them, at least +till the call sounds more plainly in our ears.” + +“Nay,” cried John, the soldier, “I am not, as you know, one that would +readily give his vote for flight. But here we are, methinks, as rats in a +hole. May we not lawfully, and with good faith to God and our brethren, +seek some place where we may at least have space to draw our swords and +strike a blow?” + +“And you, Simon, what say you?” asked the old man, turning to his second +son. + +“God knows that I would give much to be back at home. But our brethren +need us here, and we may give them some comfort. Let us stay.” + +“Judas and Simon,” said the old man, after a pause, “you have spoken well, +and I give my voice with yours. As yet our duty seems to keep us here. +When it shall call us hence, we will follow it. And you, John, think not +that you will long want for an occasion to strike with the sword. It shall +come; but you will be readier for it if you make no haste to meet it.” + +With this the little party turned away from the wall, and made their way +to their lodging in the city. + + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE EVIL DAYS. + + +It was not long before the portent which the terrified crowd had watched +from the walls of Jerusalem found, or at least began to find, its +fulfilment, for, indeed, many days were to pass before the wretched people +had drained the cup of suffering to the dregs. + +First there was the actual arrival of the army, the rumour of whose +approach had struck such terror into Jason. At its head came Antiochus in +person, fresh from his successful campaigns in Egypt and in his train +followed the renegade Menelaüs with a crowd of unscrupulous and profligate +adventurers. There was no attempt at resistance. The gates were thrown +open by the King’s adherents in the city. But if the citizens had hoped to +soften the tyrant’s heart by their submissive attitude they were miserably +disappointed. For days the streets of the city ran red with blood. The +prominent members of the patriotic party were the first to perish. Then +came all the private enemies of the returning renegades; and then a far +greater multitude who were singled out for destruction by the possession +of anything that excited the cupidity of the conquerors. Lastly, as ever +happens at such times, the massacre that is suggested by hatred or greed +was followed by the massacre that is the result of the merest wantonness. +But there were victims more unhappy than those who thus perished by the +sword of the heathen. The money found on the persons and in the houses of +the victims did not satisfy the cupidity of their murderers. There were +thousands who had indeed nothing of their own to lose, but who were in +themselves a valuable property. These were sent off in droves to be sold, +till the slave-markets of the Eastern Mediterranean were glutted with the +Jewish youth. + +Still worse in the eyes of all pious Jews than the massacre or the +captivity was the profanation of the Temple. The innermost shrine, the +Holy of Holies, which the high priest himself was permitted by the Law to +enter but once only in the year, was thrown open to the unhallowed gaze of +a debauched heathen. With a horror that passes description the people saw +the renegade Menelaüs, bound to be the guardian of the sanctity of the +place, actually drawing aside the veil with his own hand, and conducting +the King into the awful enclosure. They saw the most sacred treasures, +gifts of the piety of many generations, treasures to which the revenue of +the Persian kings, and even of the victorious Alexander himself had +contributed, become the spoil of the sacrilegious intruders. The golden +altar of incense and the table of the shew-bread were taken by the King, +while the seven-branched candlestick of gold fell, as was commonly +believed, to the high priest himself. They saw it, and it almost +overturned their faith that no visible sign of the Divine wrath followed +an impiety so terrible. + +So Antiochus came and went, leaving behind him as his deputy, Philip, the +Phrygian, “in manners more barbarous than he who set him there.” The time +that followed was one of grievous depression and sadness. Life went on, as +it will even amidst the gloomiest circumstances, but all the joy and +brightness were crushed out of it. + +Micah’s sister, the Hannah whom we have seen talking to him on the wall, +gave birth to a son shortly after the departure of Antiochus. No feast was +held on occasion of the rite that made the little one a member of the +family of Abraham. When the forty days of purification were past, the +mother was not taken to present her offspring in the Temple. The Temple, +the haunt of pagans and apostates, was no place for faithful sons and +daughters of Abraham. A visit to its courts could hardly be the seal of +purification when it needed purifying so sorely itself. + +An occasion that should by right have been still more joyful was allowed +to pass with the absence of festivity. A younger sister of Hannah, Ruth by +name, had long before been promised to Seraiah, a friend and relative of +her husband. Time after time the marriage had been postponed, under the +pressure of evil times; and when at last it was performed, not even then +without sore misgivings and anticipations of evil among all the elders of +the family, the celebration was of the quietest kind. Not a guest beyond +the few friends who attended on the bridegroom was invited; and it was in +dead silence, not with the usual shouts of merriment and gay procession of +torches, that the bride was taken to her husband’s home. + +And yet, as we shall see, even for these evils there was a compensating +good. + +Micah, though he had affected to make light of the foreboding of evil +which he had heard from his sister, had really been impressed by it—so +much impressed, indeed, that he had left the city for a little country +house at the northern end of the Lake of Galilee, that belonged to him. He +had invited his relatives to accompany him, but they had declined. Their +place, they said, was at home, among their poorer brethren, where they +might do something to help and strengthen. All that Micah could do was to +commend them to the protection of the Greek party in the city, with whom, +in spite of his fast increasing disgust at their proceedings, he had not +yet broken. + +He had now returned, and he lost no time in finding his way to his +sister’s house. The ravages made by fire and sword were only too plainly +visible as he walked along. Houses that he had known from his childhood, +in which he had often been a guest, were now but blackened walls; others +were shapeless ruins. Again and again he saw on fragments of stone and +plaster hideous blotches which he knew to be of blood; and as he saw these +things he cursed aloud the hands which had wrought these horrors, not +without the bitterest self-reproach that his own hand might have grasped +them in friendship. + +It was a great relief to find that his sister’s house had been spared any +outrage. But when he demanded admittance in the usual way, by kicking the +door, it became evident that there had been a reign of terror, and that +the inmates of the dwelling were not sure that it was yet over. The door +was not thrown open in the usual free fashion of Jewish hospitality, but +he became aware by a slight movement of one of the closed lattices that he +was being inspected from above. The inspection was apparently +satisfactory, for in another minute there was a sound of undrawing bolts +and unfastening chains, and the inhospitable door was at last open. +Hannah, sadly aged in look her brother thought, met him in the hall, and +greeted him with a silent embrace. After a pause, in which she seemed to +be struggling with her tears, she said— + +“Welcome, dear Micah; while you and my husband and my children are left to +me I feel that I cannot be unhappy. And perhaps you,” she added, with a +wistful look in his face, “will draw nearer to us now. But come and see my +dear ones.” + +She led the way to a room at the back of the house, looking out into a +little garden shaded by a wide-branching fig-tree. Hannah noiselessly drew +aside the curtain that served for a door, and the two stood by common +consent and watched the scene that met their eyes. Azariah, the father of +the family, was sitting with his back turned to them, holding on his knees +a copy of the Law. On two stools at his feet sat his daughters, each +holding in one hand a tablet covered with wax, and in the other a _stylus_ +or sharp-pointed iron pen. He was slowly dictating to them the words, +“Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord,” and the little creatures +were laboriously forming, not without many pauses for thought, the +scarcely familiar letters. + +“Now read it, my children,” said Azariah, when the task was finished; and +one after another the sweet, childish voices repeated the well-known +words. Micah, as he listened, felt himself strangely touched. Presently he +heard his sister murmur to herself, “In Thy Law will I meditate day and +night,” and glancing at her face saw it illumined with a joy which he +could scarcely have believed those wasted features capable of expressing. + +“’Tis well, Miriam; ’tis well, Judith,” said Azariah to the little girls, +and putting his hands upon their heads, as they stood before him, for they +had risen to repeat the holy words, he repeated, “The God of Abraham and +Sarah bless you.” And then, for they were mere children after all, and not +above childish rewards, gave each a ripe fig from a basket which stood on +a table by his side. + +The lesson being over, Hannah advanced, and her brother followed. Azariah +turned and greeted the new comer not unkindly, but with a certain reserve, +for he could not forget that his visitor was a Menander as well as a +Micah, and that he had been the friend of the traitorous Jason, and the +yet more traitorous Menelaüs. The children, after their first feeling of +alarm, for a strange face was seldom seen in that home, and when Miriam, +the elder, had recognized her uncle, showed no reserve in their welcome. +They clung about his neck, and kissed him. They insisted on his coming to +see their pets—Miriam’s turtle-doves, and Judith’s dormice, and the little +gazelle fawn which they owned in common. “They have not heard a word +against me,” thought Micah to himself; and this affectionate loyalty +touched him to the heart. From his sister he might, perhaps, have expected +it, but that the stern Azariah, a narrow-minded bigot, without a kindly +thought for any that did not walk in his way, as he had been accustomed to +think of him—that Azariah himself should have dealt with him so +mercifully, was a surprise as it was also a reproach. + +He stopped with them for the rest of the day, and after the evening meal, +when the little ones had gone to bed, after making their uncle promise +that he would soon come and see them again, the three had much serious +talk together. + +Micah had, of course, the family history to hear, for, stranger as he had +been to them for some years past, he knew scarcely anything about it. He +learnt now for the first time that a little boy had been born who, had he +lived, would have been about two years younger than Judith. The mother had +much to say about his beauty and goodness, and his rare promise of +intelligence. Micah was touched all the more because he could not forgive +himself for the alienation which had prevented him from saying a word of +comfort to his sister in the hour of her bereavement. “It was, indeed, a +terrible loss,” and he rose from his seat and kissed her. He felt that +this little proof of his love would be better than many words. + +“Nay,” she said, with a cheerfulness that almost startled him—“nay; you +must not say that we have lost our dear little Joshua. I know that I have +a son still, though he is not here. I confess that it was very hard to +part with him. But he is quite safe in Abraham’s bosom, safer and better +off,” she added, with a sad smile, “than he would be here; and some day I +shall see him, and show him to you, dear Micah, and we shall be happy +together.” + +After this the little party had much talk about the state of things in the +present, and the prospects of the future. Again Micah was astonished to +see the cheerfulness and courage which his sister and her husband kept up +in the midst of circumstances which must have been most disheartening. + +“Ah!” said Azariah, when the conversation turned upon the desolation of +the Temple, and the loss of all the ceremonial of worship, the daily +sacrifice, and the great festivals of the year—“Ah! there are consolations +even here. Perhaps we thought too much of these things in the old time. We +were taken up with the outside, with the show and the splendour, the +vessels of gold, and the clouds of incense smoke as they curled about the +pillars and the roof, and we forgot what they meant. But now that the +outside things are taken from us, we can give our hearts to that which is +within. We have our gatherings still, though the Temple doors are shut. +Every Sabbath-day we meet, and the Law and the Prophets are read in our +ears—aye, and there are those who can expound them, and speak words that +comfort and strengthen us. I, myself, have felt the Spirit move me once or +twice to exhort and cheer the brethren. No, brother! believe me, it is not +wholly loss that we cannot assemble any more in our beautiful house. Our +fathers learnt much when they sat mourning by the waters of Babylon, and +we also are learning much in this our second captivity.” + +This sounded strange to the young man, who, indeed, had dulled his +understanding of spiritual things by his follies and excesses. Still he +could not help feeling deeply impressed by the evident earnestness of the +speaker. But he felt that he could say nothing. A trifler and unbeliever +like himself could only remain silent in the presence of thoughts and +feelings so much higher than anything to which he could reach. + +After a short pause Azariah went on—“The Lord has not seen fit to renew +among us the spirit of prophecy, and we know not certainly of the things +that are coming upon the earth. Yet a man, though he be no prophet, may +read the signs of the times. Believe me, there are days to come more full +of evil and darkness even than those that we have seen. My heart sometimes +fails me when I think of this dear woman,” and as he spoke he laid his +hand upon his wife’s shoulder, “and of the little ones whom God has given +us. It will be a hard time for men to battle through—but for women and +children——.” And his voice faltered. + +Hannah turned to him with her brave, cheerful smile—“‘As thy days, so +shall thy strength be.’ The great prophet said it, did he not, to all his +people—to the weak ones as well as to the strong?” + +Shortly after Micah took his leave. As he walked through the deserted +streets he thought much of the words which he had heard that night, and +still more of the cheerfulness and courage, ten times more eloquent than +all words, which he had witnessed. + +“Is all this a delusion?” he asked himself. “Six months ago, perhaps even +six hours ago, I should have had little doubt in saying so. But now—well, +if it is a delusion, it is strangely like a reality. Anyhow its effects +are real enough. Dear Hannah! always the best and kindest of sisters, but +a timid creature, whom I used to amuse myself by frightening. But now—she +is as bold as a lioness. Well, I can only hope that the truths which I +have been learning, if they are truths, will stand me in as good stead +when the need comes.” + + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE DARKNESS THICKENS. + + +Azariah had read the signs of the times aright. The darker days had come, +days so full of trouble that the unhappy people looked back to the past +that had seemed so sad and gloomy as to a time of rest. Things had not +been going well with King Antiochus, for the Romans had driven him out of +Egypt, and in his rage and fear he turned against his Jewish subjects with +greater ferocity than ever. One of his motives was the brutal desire to +wreak upon the feeble the vengeance which he could not exact from the +strong; the other was a genuine fear lest he should lose another province +as he had already lost Egypt. He saw that the policy of Rome was to stir +up against him the national spirit of subject peoples, and he knew well +enough that in the Jews, crushed though they had been by oppression and +massacre, this national spirit was not by any means dead. Accordingly he +set himself with relentless ferocity to extinguish it. Everything +distinctive of the people was to be rooted out; that done they might +become really submissive; there would be no more a land of the Jews, but +simply a province of Southern Syria. + +The first thing, he conceived, would be to strike such terror into the +hearts of the people that there should be no thought among them of +resistance. For such a purpose nothing could be more effective than +another massacre such as that which had already been perpetrated two years +before under his own eyes: only this, he determined, should be more +complete. He perceived with a devilish ingenuity that his orders would be +more relentlessly carried out if he entrusted their execution to some one +else, than if he were personally present. Appeals might be made to him to +which he might yield out of sheer weariness, whereas a lieutenant, if he +were only hard-hearted enough, would simply fall back upon the orders +which he had received, and refuse all responsibility save that of seeing +that these were fully carried out. + +Such a lieutenant he knew that he possessed in the person of a certain +Apollonius, a Cretan mercenary, who had already given proofs enough that +he was about as little troubled as any man could be with a conscience or +with feelings of compassion. To Apollonius, accordingly, the commission +was entrusted, and he proceeded to execute it in a particularly brutal and +treacherous way. + +He marched to Jerusalem, taking with him a picked force of some five +thousand men—picked, it may be said, quite as much for their unscrupulous +and ferocious character, as for their strength and skill in arms. There +would have been, in any case, little chance of resistance, but, to make +his task the easier of accomplishment, he had so timed his coming that he +approached the city two or three hours before the end of the Sabbath. +Secret orders had been sent to Philip, the Phrygian, that he was to relax +the severity of his rule; and the people had begun to breathe again after +a long period of repression. The Temple was still shut, or virtually shut, +but the synagogues were open, and were indeed frequented by throngs of +fervent worshippers. + +It wanted a couple of hours to sunset when the news ran through the city +that an armed force was approaching the walls. The first feeling aroused +by the tidings was naturally one of alarm. The appearance of the soldiers, +however, was such as to disarm all apprehensions. In the first place they +were more like a crowd of men who happened to be carrying arms than an +army. They were not marching in ranks, or indeed keeping any kind of +order. A multitude of country-folk could be seen mingled among them, +soldiers and civilians walking side by side in the most friendly and +unconstrained fashion. Some of the new comers recognized old acquaintances +among the townsfolk, and introduced their comrades to them; and though +some of the sterner sort stood rigidly aloof, there were quite enough +among the inhabitants of Jerusalem to give the visitors a general welcome. +Apollonius himself, a conspicuous figure as he rode on his white charger +up and down the streets of the city, was noticeably busy in renewing old +acquaintanceships and making new ones. + +And then in a moment the whole scene was changed. A soldier and a citizen +were standing on the wall, talking and laughing together, and that in a +place where they could be seen by all observers. Suddenly, without there +having been even the slightest sign of a quarrel, the soldier was seen to +plunge his sword into the side of his companion. It was a preconcerted +signal. The wretched inhabitants, who would have been defenceless in any +case, were taken absolutely off their guard, and had but slender chances +of escape. How many hundreds, possibly thousands, perished cannot be +guessed. But the massacre was more general, more pitiless than that which +had devastated the city two years before. Apollonius’s “picked” men showed +themselves altogether worthy of his choice, so brutal and bloodthirsty +were they. And Apollonius himself was to be seen everywhere urging his men +to make short work with these “pestilent Jews,” as he called them, and not +unfrequently striking a blow himself. He earned on that day such hatred +that thereafter there was not to be found a Jew, save among the vilest +renegades and traitors, but uttered a curse when his name was mentioned. + +Of course the soldiers had to be paid for their bloody day’s work, and +they were paid by the plunder of the city. The houses were stripped, and +the plunderers, when they had carried away everything that had roused +their cupidity, often, out of sheer wantonness, completed the work of +devastation, by setting fire to the desolated houses. Altogether Jerusalem +presented such a spectacle as had not been seen since the days of the +Babylonian conquest. + +The spirit of the people having been, as it would seem, thus effectually +broken for the present, it remained to provide against its possible +revival in the future. + +Long gaps were made in the line of wall, so long that it took not a few +days to make them, and would certainly require as many weeks to repair. +The town thus made defenceless was further overawed by the erection of a +fort in the City of David, this fort being held by a strong garrison of +Greeks and Asiatic mercenaries. + +The means of repression thus provided, the next thing was to extinguish +all that was characteristic of the national life. First, the great centre +of that life, the Temple, was formally desecrated. Already it had been +subjected to such indignities that the pious Jew could scarcely bear to +enter its precincts. But the final horror, the “abomination of +desolation,” was yet to come. On the 15th of the month Chisleu (December) +an altar of a Greek pattern, and consecrated to the Olympian Zeus, was +placed on the great altar of sacrifice, and ten days afterwards a huge sow +was slaughtered on this. Her blood, caught after the Greek fashion in a +bowl, was sprinkled on the altar of incense and on the mercy-seat within +the Holy of Holies—a hideous mockery of the sprinkling which the Law +enjoined to be performed once in every year. From the animal’s flesh a +mess of broth was prepared, and this was sprinkled on the copies of the +Law. The Temple, thus dishonoured, was as if it had ceased to be. + +The meeting-houses, in which, as we have seen, the people had found a +substitute for the Temple worship, were summarily closed. An edict was +issued commanding that every one who possessed a copy of the Law, or of +any one of the sacred books, should give it up without loss of time. To +call in cupidity to the aid of fear in enforcing this edict, the King’s +officers were instructed to pay a reasonable price for the manuscripts +thus produced. It was made a capital offence to read or to recite any part +of the proscribed writings. Then the practice of circumcision was +forbidden. Death was to be the penalty for all who should take any part in +performing this rite—for the circumciser, the mother, the father, even the +babe itself. + +And then to the policy of repression Antiochus added the policy of bribery +and temptation. Their own worship forbidden, the Jews were to be allured +by the seductions of the worship of their masters. Hitherto little had +been done in this way. Insults indeed, had been heaped upon the people; +but little attempt had been made to attract them. The Temple gates, closed +for more than a year, were again thrown open; and the courts, long silent, +resounded with the mirth of sacrificial banquets and the gaiety of +festivals. Not only all the splendours, but all the impure pleasures of +heathen worship were called in to assist the attempt that was being made +to sap what was left of the faith of the people. + +Antiochus, who, for all his wrath at Jewish obstinacy, could not help +feeling a certain respect for it, took the trouble to send among the +people a missionary, if he may be so called, who was to instruct them in +the new religion which their King was so anxious to impose upon them. + +Theopompus, or Athenæus, to use the name which was commonly given him from +his birthplace, was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus. He had held +a subordinate post, as lecturer in geometry, in the famous school of the +Garden, but had found his modest income insufficient to meet his somewhat +expensive tastes. If he had had but a tolerable competence, Athenæus would +have made an ideal Epicurean. He was devoted to pleasure, but there was +nothing unseemly or extravagant about his devotion. For the foolish people +who ruined their constitutions and emptied their purses by exhausting +excesses he had a genuine contempt. “Give me,” he would say, “a decent +sufficiency of ‘outside things,’ and I am content.” As he had a fair +smattering of culture, and a real acquaintance with geometry, and had a +venerable appearance which happily hit the mean between hilarity and +austerity, he might have been, but for a chronic want of money, a real +success among the somewhat _dilettante_ philosophers of Athens. But +circumstances were against him. Poverty did not ill become an Academic, +and positively set off a Stoic; but an Epicurean seemed to have missed his +vocation if he could not be always handsomely dressed and able to give +elegant entertainments to his friends. Athenæus, who liked above all +things to be on good terms both with himself and with every one else, felt +this very acutely, and he was proportionately delighted when the Syrian +King proposed to him that he should go as a teacher, not without a +handsome salary, of Greek religion and Greek culture. + +His success was not encouraging. In the first place he had a difficulty in +making himself understood. The pure Attic Greek on which he prided himself +was strange to the ears of his new audience, and he could not bring +himself to descend to the barbarous dialect to which they were accustomed. +And when he was seriously called to account in the matter of his belief he +found himself involved in difficulties from which he saw no way of escape. +At Athens religion was politely ignored. The common people must, of +course, have their gods and goddesses; and the wise man, if he were +prudent, would say nothing—anyhow in public—to disturb their belief; but +within the privileged walls of the schools the names of Zeus and Athené +and Apollo were never so much as mentioned, except, perhaps, in the course +of some antiquarian discussion. + +Among his new disciples, as he would fain have reckoned them, Athenæus +found a very different temper. They were terribly in earnest; abstractions +and phrases did not satisfy them; they pushed their questions home in a +very perplexing way. + +One day at the conclusion of a lecture, the customary invitation to the +audience to put any questions that might occur to them was accepted by a +young man who sat on one of the front benches. + +“I would ask you, venerable sir,” he said, “some questions about the gods +of your religion.” + +“Speak on,” replied Athenæus, with his usual courtesy; “I shall be +delighted to satisfy you to the best of my power.” + +“Are we to believe the stories that are told us in this book?” and he held +up, as he spoke, a little volume of popular mythology, filled from +beginning to end with tales that, to say the least, were not edifying. +“For, if these be true, these divine beings were such as would be banished +from the society of all honest men and women. They are thieves, +adulterers, murderers. It would be a thousand times better to have no gods +at all than such as these.” + +“You are right, sir,” said the lecturer; “these stories are for the +ignorant only, at least in their outward meaning, though they have an +inner meaning also, which I will take some fitting occasion to expound. +But not such are the gods whom we worship.” + +“Will you tell us something of them?” continued the questioner. + +“Willingly, for they are such that the wisest of men need not be ashamed +of them. They dwell in some remote region, serene and happy. Wrath they +feel not, nor sorrow, nor any of the passions that disturb the souls of +men.” + +“And do they care for our doings upon earth?” + +“How so? They neither love nor hate; and both they must do, I take it, did +they concern themselves with human affairs.” + +“What profit, then, is there in them? How are men the better for their +being?” + +“That I know not; only that it is part of the order of things that they +must be.” + +“Far be it from me,” exclaimed the young Jew, “to exchange for such idle +existences the God of my fathers! He may smite us in His anger till we are +well-nigh consumed, but at least He cares for us. He led our fathers +through the sea and through the wilderness in the days of old. He has +spoken to us by the prophets, and He has made His Presence to be seen in +His Temple; and though He has hidden His face from us for a time, yet He +will repent Him of His wrath, and devise the means by which He shall +recall His banished unto Him. No, we will not change our God for yours!” + +A loud murmur of assent went round the benches when the speaker sat down, +and Athenæus felt that he had made but small way with his audience. + +Finding his theology and philosophy but ill received, Athenæus bethought +him of what seemed a more hopeful method of proselytizing. Could not a +specially powerful attraction be found in the festival of Dionysus, the +wine-god? Vintage feasts, he reflected, are common to every country where +wine is produced, and it would not be difficult to ingraft the Greek +characteristics on a celebration to which the Jews were already +accustomed. Some of the less scrupulous might be tempted to take part in +such a festival, a beginning would be made, and more would follow in due +time. How the scheme prospered will be told in the next chapter. + + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + SHALLUM THE WINE-SELLER. + + +“Things are growing worse and worse; only three customers yesterday, and +not a single one to-day, though it must be at least an hour past noon. One +would think that all the world had become Nazarites. Then, though there is +next to nothing coming in, there is no stop to the going out. First comes +the rascally tax-gatherer, and squeezes one as dry as a grape-skin in a +press. And if, by chance, there happens to be a drop left, some snuffling +priest is sure to turn up, and talk about one’s duty as a patriot and a +Jew till he drags the last shekel out of one.” + +The speaker was one Shallum, a Benjamite, who kept a little wine-shop in +the Lower City. When he had finished his grumble, he thrust his hand into +an empty wine-jar, drew from it a little leathern bag, untied the string +which was round the neck, poured out the scanty contents on the counter +and counted them. He knew the amount perfectly well, for he had gone +through the counting process at least ten times before that day. But when +a man is desperately anxious to make two ends meet, he will measure them +again and again, though he may know exactly by how much they are too +short. + +“Twelve shekels and ten annas! And old Nahum will be here to-morrow, +asking for his thirty shekels!” + +Nahum was a Lebanon wine-grower, whose long-suffering had been already +tried to the utmost by the delays of the impecunious Shallum. + +At this moment his meditations were interrupted by the entrance of two +visitors, who had been standing, listening and watching outside the door. +They were traders in a small way, who had migrated from Joppa when they +heard that Greek wares were becoming the fashion in Jerusalem. + +“Ho! Shallum,” cried one of them, “two cups of your best Lebanon; and make +haste, for we have important business on hand.” + +“Shall I draw some water fresh from the well? This is a little too warm to +be used.” + +“Water!” said the man. “Jew, don’t blaspheme. Mix water with our wine +to-day, of all days in the year!” + +“And why not to-day?” said Shallum. + +“Because it is the feast of Dionysus, the wine-giver; and it would be the +grossest impiety to profane his bounty with any mixture of meaner things. +Commonly his godship winks at human weakness; but to-day it is different. +May he confound me if I do him such dishonour!” + +“He will certainly confound you if you drink this heady wine undiluted,” +muttered Shallum to himself, as he set the two cups before his guests. + +“Excellent! excellent!” cried Lycon, the elder of the two Greeks, as he +set down his goblet, half empty. “But why the god vouchsafes such capital +drink to these unbelieving dogs of Jews puzzles me beyond expression.” + +His companion broke out into a drinking-song: + + “Fill the cup with ample measure, + Dionysus’ gift divine; + Earth and sea hold no such treasure + As the gleaming, sparkling wine. + + All for youth are love’s caressings, + Gold and gems for princes shine; + All may share the wine-god’s blessings, + Rich and poor are glad with wine.” + +Shallum was fairly tolerant, as indeed a tavern-keeper can hardly fail to +be, of the ways and manners of his customers; but to hear this praise of a +false god, one of the odious demons that were worshipped by the heathen, +was too much for his patience. He muttered a curse under his breath, and +emphasized this expression of disgust by spitting on the floor. + +“Don’t talk to me of your gods and goddesses!” cried Shallum, goaded +beyond all endurance, “a lewd, drunken crew that no respectable person +would have anything to do with!” + +“Come, my friend,” said the Greek, “this is not the sort of talk which one +expects to hear from a loyal subject of the pious Antiochus. We Greeks are +not such bigots as you are, cursing every man, woman, or child that does +not go exactly in our own way; but you must treat us and our belongings +with respect. We are not going to have barbarians scoffing at what we +think fit to worship. I have heard of men being crucified for less than +you have said to-day. But hearken, Shallum, we did not come here to-day to +quarrel with you. You are a good fellow, after all, and keep as capital a +tap of wine as any that I know, King Tmolus(7) only excepted. We want you +to come with us and have a jolly day. What is the good of quarrelling +about words? You and we are quite agreed that there is something in wine +that makes it one of the finest things under the sun. Suppose that we +choose to call that something Dionysus the Wine-god, and you choose to say +that your god has to do with it, what is the difference? We are really +agreed. It is the goodness in wine that we both like, and I’m sure that a +really honest fellow like you, that we can always rely on to give us the +right stuff, should be the first to acknowledge it. Well, can’t we show an +agreement? That is why we want you to come with us. A whole crowd of your +countrymen are coming, I understand. It will be a pretty sight, and there +will be some of the finest music that you ever heard, and dancing, and fun +of all kinds, and, of course, as much wine as ever you want. Of course you +will come, my dear Shallum?” + +“_I_ come?” growled the wine-seller. “Not I! What do I care about your +dancing and singing? And as for wine, I can have as much as I want at +home, and better stuff, too, than any that I am likely to get elsewhere.” + +Lycon, who was evidently bent on getting his way, did not suffer his good +humour to be disturbed by the Jew’s churlishness. “Ah!” said he, “that +reminds me. Stupid fellow that I am, I quite forgot the matter of business +that really brought me here. To tell the truth, business and this old +Lebanon don’t very well agree. But listen; Neocles, who is +manager-in-chief of the whole festival, has quite made up his mind to have +your wine, and none but yours, for all the better sort of people. He was +to get some skins for the common folks from Zadok—do you know him?” + +“Know him?” said Shallum; “I should think I did—hasn’t got a drop of sound +wine in his shop.” + +“So the Chief said. But we were to come to you for the good wine. What can +you let us have? Mind that it must be the very best. We were not to haggle +about the price, Neocles said, so long as we got it really good.” + +And Lycon pulled out of his pocket a money-bag that was evidently much +better furnished than Shallum’s lean and hunger-bitten purse. Untying the +neck, he poured into his hand, with an air of careless profusion, some ten +or twelve gold pieces. + +Shallum’s keen eyes glistened at the sight. Here was enough to pay not +only Nahum but all his creditors, and leave him a handsome sum over +wherewith to tide over the hard times. His somewhat brusque manner changed +in a moment. He was now the most obsequious of tradesmen. + +“Everything in my stores is at your disposal. And I have a better wine +than this in my cellar, and only ten shekels a skin,” he went on, adding +about three to the utmost he expected to get. “But wait a moment, +gentlemen, you shall taste it for yourselves.” + +He took a small flagon from beneath the counter and disappeared. The two +Greeks smiled to each other. “We have the fish fast,” one of them said; +“after all there is nothing like a golden bait.” + +Shallum shortly reappeared with the wine, which was tasted and approved. + +“Well,” said Lycon, “we will say ten skins of this at ten shekels a piece, +and five of the other sort at eight—that is the price; is it not?” + +Shallum nodded assent. As a matter of fact he would never have expected +more than seven. But if these Greeks were so free with their money why +should not an honest Jew have the benefit of it? + +“Of course you will come with us?” said Lycon. + +“You may take my word for it, there will be nothing to offend you.” + +Shallum hesitated for a moment, and then muttered an unwilling “Yes.” + +“And you won’t mind wearing this little twig of ivy, just twisted round +your head? It means nothing—every one does it.” + +This was more than the wretched man was prepared for. “Not I,” he said; “I +am not going to wear any of your idolatrous ornaments.” + +Lycon put the money-bag into his pocket again. “Then, my dear Shallum, I +am afraid we shall not be able to do any business. ‘Give and take’ is our +motto. We put a nice little bargain in your way; and you must humour us. +However, if you are obstinate, there must be an end of it. I dare say +Zadok can find us what we want. Come, Callicles,” he went on, turning to +his companion, “we must be going.” + +Shallum saw his dreams of deliverance from his money-troubles vanishing +into air, and grew desperate. “Stop,” he said to his guests, “let me think +for a moment. You won’t ask me to do anything else. A few leaves can’t +make much odds either way. I don’t remember ever hearing anything in the +Law against wearing ivy. It isn’t like eating swine’s flesh, or those +detestable scaleless eels that you Greeks are so fond of. Yes, I’ll wear +the thing, if you want me to so much.” + +“That’s right, Shallum; I thought a sensible man like you would not throw +away a good chance for a mere nothing.” + +So saying, Lycon stepped outside the shop, and whistled. In a minute or so +a cart, which had been waiting round the corner, was driven up. The skins +of wine were stowed away in it, and the two Greeks, with Shallum between +them, all wearing the ivy-wreath, took their seats, and started for the +Valley of the Cheesemongers, where it had been arranged that the festival +should be held. + +The festival was scarcely a success, if it was meant, as it certainly was, +to attract the Jewish population. A few hundreds, indeed, had been +persuaded or compelled to be present. Most of them belonged to the lowest +and most degraded class, wretched creatures whom any purchaser might +secure for any purpose with a shekel or a flagon of wine. To-day they were +“hail fellow well met” with their Greek neighbours, but to-morrow they +would be perfectly ready to tear them in pieces. A few of somewhat better +character had been bribed, as Shallum had been bribed, to come. These had +little of the air of genuine holiday-makers. Their bursts of simulated +gaiety did not conceal the shame which they really felt. Others, again, +did not make even this pretence of hilarity. They had been actually +compelled to come, and they had all the air of prisoners led in the +triumphant procession of a victorious general. Their faces were ghastly +pale. Some, with their teeth firmly clenched, seemed to be forcibly +keeping in the curses which struggled to find utterance. Others, of a +gentler temper, were weeping silently; and others, again, preserved a look +of dogged indifference. The Greek part of the spectators, who could have +enjoyed the humours of the scene with a good conscience, were depressed by +the presence of these unwilling guests. In consequence, everything seemed +to fail. The jesters, with their grotesque garb and faces hideously +smeared with wine-lees, could scarcely get a laugh from their audience; +the singing lacked heartiness, the dancing was dull and spiritless. It is +only natural that revellers, who find the time passing slowly, should try +to quicken its movement. There was little brightness or gaiety in this +feast of the wine-god, and there was therefore all the more excess. Some +seized the rare opportunity of intoxicating themselves without expense, +while others drank to drown their shame or their anger. Shallum, whose +occupation had somewhat seasoned him against the effects of wine, remained +comparatively sober, but his Greek companions were less discreet or less +strong-headed. They became, by a rapid succession of moods, boisterously +gay, foolishly affectionate, and provokingly quarrelsome. It was not long +before things came to a crisis. Lycon taunted the wine-seller with the +quality of his wines; that did not affect him, for he was used to such +complaints from his customers, and took them as part of his day’s work. He +scoffed at the subjection of his nation to Greek rule; Shallum still kept +his temper. The tipsy Greek was only encouraged to further insults by his +companion’s self-restraint. He attempted to daub the Jew’s face with the +dregs from a broken flagon. Shallum angrily shook him off, and he reeled +back, just saving himself from a fall by catching at the trunk of an olive +tree. “Hog of a Jew!” he cried, “do you lay hands on a free-born Greek? +Come, Callicles,” he went on, turning to his companion, “let us teach the +beast how to behave himself.” The two rushed at the Jew, aiming blows at +his head with the staves which they carried in their hands. One of them +stumbled against the stones of a ruined house, and fell so heavily that he +was unable or unwilling to raise himself again. Shallum easily evaded the +attack of the other, dealing him at the same time so fierce a stroke of +the fist that it stretched him senseless on the ground. The deed done, he +looked hastily round to see whether any spectator had witnessed it. To his +great relief, he found himself alone. From the lower city came the sounds +of furious revelry and the strains of the Bacchic chorus— + + “Comrades, crown the bowl with wine, + Round your locks the ivy twine, + Deeper drink and join again + Bacchus and his reeling train.” + +His first impulse was to tear the ivy-wreath from his head. Then he +reflected that if he could endure to wear it for a few moments longer, it +might serve him as a passport. The event proved that he was right. He +passed unquestioned through the crowd of revellers, left the precincts of +the valley, and striking on an unfrequented path, hurried on at the top of +his speed, not pausing till he had put at least six miles between himself +and the scene of his late adventure. Then he threw himself on the ground +and bewailed his grievous fall in an agony of shame and remorse. After a +while the fatigue and excitement of the day, helped by the fumes of the +wine, which his rapid movements had sent to his brain, overpowered him, +and he sank into a heavy sleep. + +His slumbers lasted late into the day. When he woke, his head aching with +the excess of the day before, he felt even more wretched, more hopeless. +To return to the city was out of the question. But where was he to go? +While he was debating this question with himself, and could find nothing +in the least resembling an answer, he caught the sound of approaching +footsteps. Mingled feelings of shame and fear suggested to him that he +should hide himself, and he plunged into the bushes which lined the side +of the road. + +The traveller approached. He was a renegade Jew, and Shallum recognized +him as one who had taken an active part in the festivities of the +preceding day. Just as he passed Shallum’s hiding-place an unlucky impulse +made him burst forth into a snatch of the Bacchic chant— + + “Deeper drink and join again + Bacchus and his reeling train.” + +His listener heard the words with mingled feelings of disgust and rage, +and leaping down into the road felled him senseless to the ground. + +At first it seemed as if what he had done did not make his way plainer +before him. But as he stood by the prostrate man a thought occurred to +him. He took the purse which the man, in the usual traveller’s fashion, +wore by way of girdle round his waist, and examined its contents. It held +three gold pieces and some ten shekels. The gold he left; but half of the +shekels he transferred to his own keeping. One of the shekels sufficed to +purchase some bread and dried flesh at the neighbouring village. Thus +recruited in strength the fugitive made his escape to the mountains. + + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + THE PERSECUTION. + + +Menander, or Micah—the young man still wavered between the two moods which +were symbolized by these names—had been greatly moved, as we have said, by +what he had seen and heard in his visit to his sister and her husband. But +he could not shake himself free from the habits and prepossessions of +years. Though he had always kept aloof from the worst excesses of his +renegade and heathen friends, still his moral tone had been lowered, and +even his physical nerve weakened by a frivolous and self-indulgent life. +Sometimes he would half resolve to cast in his lot with his people. +Sometimes, again, the cynical or doubting temper returned. What madness it +would be, so the evil voice whispered to him, to sacrifice all that made +life pleasant, and, very possibly, life itself, for what both philosophers +and practical men of the world agreed in pronouncing to be a delusion! + +Till this question had been settled one way or the other, he found it +impossible to rest. The city became odious to him, for he shrank from the +sight of his fellow-men. Indeed, he did not know with whom to associate. +His Greek or Greek-loving acquaintances, with their frivolities and vices, +disgusted him; and the patriots regarded him with coldness and aversion. +Solitude, he fancied, might suit him better, and he went again to his +country house at Lebanon. But he found himself worse off than ever where +there was nothing to come between his thoughts and himself, and he +hastened back to Jerusalem. Then it suddenly occurred to him that his +sister had been expecting shortly to become a mother, and he made his way +to her house to inquire of her welfare. Azariah himself answered his +knock. + +“How is Hannah?” + +“Thanks be to the Lord,” replied Azariah, “she is well. She had an easy +travail.” + +“And the babe? A son or a daughter?” + +“The Lord has given us a son.” + +But he said it without the gladness that a Jewish father, newly blessed +with the hope that there should be one to preserve his name in Israel, +should have felt. + +“But you must come in and see him, for indeed he is of a singular beauty.” + +The young man followed his host into the chamber already described, and +sat down to wait. Presently Azariah reappeared, holding the child in his +arms. It was no father’s fondness that had made him speak of his singular +beauty. The child was but five days old; but he had none of the +“shapeless” look which is commonly to be seen in the newly born. His +features were shaped with a regularity most uncommon at so tender an age, +and his complexion beautifully clear, while his little head was surrounded +with what may be called a halo of golden hair. + +Micah was loud in his admiration. “I never saw his equal for beauty. You +are indeed a happy father to have the fairest son in all Israel.” + +The smile on Azariah’s face faded away. + +“I would not be thankless for the ‘gift that cometh from the Lord,’ nor +wanting in faith; yet I sometimes cannot but think that in these days the +childless are the happiest, or, I should rather say, the least unhappy.” + +“Of course you will be prudent,” said Micah, “and yield to the necessities +of the time. Put off the circumcision of the child. There can be no harm +in that. And when Hannah has got her strength again, you can come down to +my place in the Lebanon, and it can be done quietly, without any one being +the wiser.” + +Azariah said nothing. He turned away his face, but not before his +brother-in-law had seen his eyes fill with tears. After leaving some +loving messages for his sister the young man departed, hoping, though not +without some serious doubt, that his advice would be followed. + +A week after, when the question, he knew, would have been decided one way +or the other, he bent his steps again towards his sister’s house. As he +walked through the streets he could see that the persecutors were busy at +their work. Fires were burning here and there, and copies of the Law and +the other holy books were being burned in them. From a house which he +recognized as being the dwelling of a scribe of great learning, a party of +Greek soldiers burst forth, as he passed, dragging behind them a +richly-ornamented scroll of the Psalms. For a moment the wild impulse +surged in his heart to rescue the sacred writing from the flames; but he +recognized the hopelessness of the attempt; and, indeed, he sadly asked +himself, was he fit to be a champion of holy things? A soldier gathered up +the parchment in his arms, and tossed it in a heap on the fire. Part of it +opened as it fell, and Micah saw for a few moments before the flames +reached them, words which he never forgot till his dying day: “Princes +have persecuted me without a cause, yet do I not swerve from Thy +commandments.” As he stood and looked, with a rage in his heart which he +could not express, two more soldiers came out of the house, holding +between them the scribe himself, a venerable man, in whom Micah recognized +an old friend of his father’s. They threw him down, face foremost, on the +fire, and held him there till he was suffocated. But before the tragedy +was finished, the young Jew had turned away, feeling in his heart that the +question which he had been debating so long was being rapidly settled for +him. + +The blow that was to clinch his conclusions was not long in falling. As he +came near the bottom of the little hill on the top of which stood his +sister’s house, he saw a cross, and, bound to it by cords, what seemed to +be the figure of a woman, with a dead child hung round her neck. The sun +had set, and the light was failing with the rapidity that is +characteristic of a southern latitude. + +“Truly these Greeks have a strange way of showing their love of beauty. We +have had sickening sights in Jerusalem of late enough to make their name +stink in our nostrils for ever. What poor wretch is this? How has she +offended our masters? And the child—what treason can he have been guilty +of?” + +And as he spoke a dreadful fear shot through his heart. After all—for he +knew what a dauntless spirit his sister had shown at their last +meeting—after all they might have circumcised the child and brought down +upon themselves the vengeance of the persecutors. He turned aside from the +road and ran up to the terrible object. It was almost dark by the time he +reached it, and he had to light a torch which he carried with him in case +of need, before he could see what the object really was. Then one glance +was enough. The features of the woman were black and swollen; but he +recognized them in a moment. It was the face of Hannah, his sister. But a +month before he had seen it beaming with light and love, and now—— Had he +needed any confirmation he would have found it in the child. The features +were beyond recognition; but the golden halo of hair was there; its +brightness scarcely dimmed. + +He sank upon his knees, and lifting his hands to heaven he cursed the +authors of this wickedness, and swore that he would give all his life to +avenge the innocent blood. Then rising he hastened to the house of +Azariah. + +He found a considerable company assembled. They were deep in debate about +the course of action to be pursued when Micah, who had been met by Azariah +at the door, was introduced into the room. Most of those present were +acquainted with him, at least by reputation, and they were naturally +disposed to consider his presence an intrusion. But it was soon manifest +that the new comer was not indifferent, much less hostile, to their +objects. + +“Hear me, brethren,” he cried, “if, indeed, one so unworthy as I may call +you brethren,” and he went on to recount the struggles with which his mind +had been agitated during the weeks just past. Then, after briefly touching +on what he had just seen, he went on, “I have sinned; I have forsaken the +Law of my God; I have defiled myself by a companionship with the heathen; +and though I have not worshipped their false gods”—there was a sigh of +relief from the company as he uttered these words with a solemn +emphasis—“yet I have been a guest at the feasts of their temples. If, +therefore, you judge me to have transgressed beyond all pardon, cast me +out from your company; I can find some other way to do service for the +country that I have betrayed, and the God whom I have denied. Yet, if you +think me worthy of death, I do not refuse to die.” And he drew a dagger +from his belt, and offering it to one who seemed to be a leader in the +assembly, stood with bared breast before him. + + [Illustration: _The Persecution._] + +A murmur of admiration ran through the meeting. + +“Nay, brother,” said the man whom he addressed, “this is not the time to +take one soldier from the hosts of the Lord. You have sinned in the past; +make amends in the future. There will be time and opportunity enough. And +if you are the brother of her who has witnessed a good confession even +unto death, you will not fail to use the occasion that shall come.” + +The company then resumed the debate which had been interrupted by Micah’s +arrival. Little difference of opinion indeed remained among them, and when +the president, Seraiah by name, brother-in-law of Azariah, as being the +husband of his sister Ruth, stated his views they met with general assent. + +“We have seen enough,” he said, “and suffered enough. This city is +polluted, and is no longer a fit abode for the faithful. Let them that are +in Judæa flee unto the mountains. Meanwhile we will gather together such +as have not bowed the knee to Baal, and will make head against the +oppressor. But here we shall be struck down, and perish as a beast +perishes in the pit into which he has fallen.” + +After this the company dispersed to make such preparation as they could +for their departure, which was fixed for the night following. Micah and +Seraiah remained behind in the house of mourning. Azariah withdrew to +comfort his little girls, who were crying almost incessantly for their +mother. Comfort he needed sorely for himself, and he found it, as far as +it could be found, in this fatherly care. Every look and gesture of the +little ones reminded him of her whom he had lost, and seemed to open the +wound afresh. Yet it consoled him to talk to them about their mother, to +tell the story of her early days, to remind them, though they did not need +to be reminded, of all her goodness and love, and to picture her happiness +where she sat in Paradise with the holy women of old, with Miriam, and +Sarah, and Rachel. + +Meanwhile Seraiah told the story of Hannah’s end to Micah. “We came +together,” he said, “on the eighth day after the birth of her child; but +though all was prepared for the circumcision of the boy, we had not yet +resolved what was to be done. I know that I wavered—I confess it with +shame—and so did Azariah. And, indeed, I can scarcely find it in my heart +to blame him. He had no thought of his own life, but to risk his wife’s +and the child’s—that was terrible. And there were others who advised him +to yield for the time; the risk was too terrible. Indeed, that was the +feeling of most of us, and those who thought otherwise were unwilling to +speak. We were assembled, you know, in your sister’s chamber. She sat on +the bed, holding the little one in her arms. Her face was somewhat pale; +but she had a calm and steadfast look, like the look of one who watches +his adversary in the battle line of the enemy, and there was a fire in her +eyes, such as I have never seen in the eye of woman before. When I had +spoken, counselling delay and yielding for a while to the necessities of +the time, I turned to her and said, ‘And you, Hannah, what think you?’ + +“Then she spoke, and her voice never faltered for a moment, but was clear +and full, though indeed she never raised it above the pitch that becomes +the obedience and modesty of the woman. ‘Pardon me,’ she said, ‘fathers +and brethren, if I seem, in differing from your counsel, to reproach you. +I am but a weak woman, and know nothing of policy or of the needs of the +time. But I know the thing that the Lord our God has commanded: “Every +man-child among you shall be circumcised,” and “whosoever shall not be +circumcised that soul shall be cut off from among his people.” The Lord +hath given me this child, and shall I not do for him according to the +commandment? Shall we fear man rather than God? And for myself, is it a +new thing for a mother to give her life into the hand of God? Four times +already have I so given it, and He has restored it to me. And if it be His +will that it be taken, shall I not obey? What said the Holy Children when +Nebuchadnezzar would have had them fall down and worship the golden image, +lest they should be cast into the burning fiery furnace. “Our God whom we +serve is able to deliver us out of thy hand, and He will deliver us out of +thy hand, O King; but if not——”’ + +“Then she turned to her husband, and said, ‘What shall be his name?’ as +steadily and quietly as if there had been no question of danger or fear. +‘Let his name be David,’ said the father, as he took the babe from its +mother’s arms; for the sun was about to set, and in a few moments the due +time would be past. So they carried the child into the next room. And when +your sister heard his cry, she broke forth into blessings and +thanksgiving. ‘Thanks be to Thee, O Lord,’ she cried, ‘in that Thou hast +made him a child of the Covenant. And now I beseech Thee to grant that he +may walk before Thee all the days of his life as walked Thy servant David, +and that he may sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom +of heaven.’ + +“After that she bade us stay and partake of the feast which she had caused +to be prepared. Verily she had left nothing uncared for. Never was her +table better spread, and, as you know, she was a notable housekeeper. And +though, for her weakness, she could not sit at table with us, she was gay +and cheerful even beyond her wont, so that we men, for very shame, had to +banish the care from our faces, and laugh and be merry with her. But the +next day the soldiers came and beat Azariah, as they thought, to death, +and——” The speaker paused; indeed he could not speak for the choking +tears. At last he said, in a broken voice, “What need to tell the rest? +You know it.” + +The next night Azariah, Seraiah, Micah, and a company of some thirty men +and women left Jerusalem. Part of them were on foot, but an ass had been +found to carry Ruth, Seraiah’s wife, who was expecting shortly to become a +mother. Their destination was the hill-country that went by the name of +the Wilderness of Bethaven. + + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + IN THE MOUNTAINS. + + +The time is evening; the place is a rocky pass between Bethel and +Michmash. At the mouth of a cave which commands a view of the approach +from the westward, are seated two men, in one of whom we may recognize +Shallum, the quondam wine-seller of Jerusalem. + +“Well, comrade,” he is saying to his companion, “this business is not +quite to my liking. It is all very well when we can relieve a Greek +merchant, or, better still, a Syrian tax-gatherer, of his money-bags; but +I hate robbing our own people. That poor fellow to-day, for instance, who +was taking home his wages—he had been wood-cutting, he said, in Bashan—it +really went to my heart to take the money from him.” + +The companion whom he addressed was a rough, savage-looking fellow, who +certainly did not look as if he would feel very much for Shallum’s +scruples. He had followed, indeed, the robber’s trade, it may be said, +from his childhood, as his fathers had followed it before him, almost +since the days of the Captivity. + +He now broke out into a loud, mocking laugh. + +“Ah! my friend Shallum,” he said, “you are a great deal too soft and +tender-hearted. But then you are new to the business; when you have been +at it as long as I have, you won’t have these scruples. Now, mark what I +say; and if we are to be good friends, don’t let me hear any more of this +nonsense. You are a stout fellow and a man of your hands; and as for +myself, well, I rather think that a novice like you could hardly have come +across a better teacher. I don’t doubt that we shall do very well +together; and when we have made a little money, I shan’t blame you if you +give up the business and become what they call an honest man. For myself, +the ‘honest man’ line does not suit me—it is not in my blood, you know. +But, meanwhile, if we are to work together, we must agree. Now, all is +fish that comes to our net. Of course, I don’t mean the people about +here—our neighbours, you know. We must not touch them; on the contrary, +they must have a share of what we make. As long as they are our friends we +are safe. But all strangers are lawful booty. And mind—for I see that you +are a little wroth about this—mind, it is only dead men who tell no +tales.” + +Benjamin’s words of wisdom—the more experienced of the two robbers was +named Benjamin—were interrupted by an exclamation from his companion. + +“Hush!” he cried, “I hear a sound of voices from the pass.” + +The two men listened; Shallum was evidently right. A party of travellers +were approaching from the west. + +“We are in luck,” said Benjamin; “it is not often that we do business so +late in the day.” + +As he spoke the leaders of the party emerged into sight. + +“Shoot, Shallum!” said Benjamin; “strike one of those fellows down and we +shall have the whole party in confusion.” + +“Nay, Benjamin; I hear the voices of women and children; and see—God +wither my hand if I shoot at such helpless people as these.” + +The rest of the party was now in sight. Two men, one on either side of the +ass, were supporting Ruth, who, worn out by the fatigues of the day, could +with difficulty keep her seat on the animal. These were her husband and +Azariah. Close behind came Micah, carrying on his shoulder the little +Judith, who was fast asleep. Then followed Miriam, Judith’s elder sister. +The poor child limped sadly along, for her city life had been but a poor +training for that long day’s march, and she felt just a little envious of +the good fortune which Judith enjoyed in being carried. + +Shallum recognized the figures of Seraiah and Ruth, with whom he happened +to have had some slight acquaintance in Jerusalem, and from whom indeed he +had received no little kindness. + +“Benjamin,” he said, in a determined voice, “I know these people, and if I +can help it they shall suffer no harm.” + +“Well, well; have your way,” said his companion, who indeed was not quite +as hard of heart as he would make himself out. “If, as you say, you know +them, go down and make friends.” + +Shallum at once made his way down into the pass, and, standing in the +path, greeted the travellers with the customary salutation, “Peace be with +you!” + +“What, Shallum!” said Seraiah, “is that you? What brings you here?” + +“That were a long story,” returned the man, “and this is not the time to +tell it. But can I serve you?” + +“Can you find shelter for my poor wife? But it is idle, I fear, to ask +you. There can be no inn near this wild place.” + +“’Tis true, sir, there is no inn; yet if you can put up with such poor +lodging as we can give, the lady will have at least shelter.” + +Ruth was lifted from her seat on the ass, and carried between her husband +and Azariah up the rocky track that led to the cave, Shallum showing the +way with a lighted torch in his hand, for by this time the night had +fallen. + +Benjamin met the little party at the mouth of the cave. His life of crime +had not quenched all kindly feeling in him. He felt, too, that he was a +host; and the sense of hospitality, which keeps its hold on an Eastern +heart as long as anything good is left to it, bade him do his best for his +guests. And the sweet smile of thanks with which Ruth greeted him when she +was laid on the couch of cloaks, which the two inmates of the cave had +hastily arranged on a pile of heather, won him altogether. + +A minute or two afterwards Micah followed with the two children; Judith, +still fast asleep, was put down by Ruth’s side, while Miriam forgot her +fatigue in the delightful excitement of this new adventure. The new-comers +had brought with them a slender store of provisions. These they proceeded +to share, declining with thanks the dried flesh and wine which their +entertainers offered. The rest of the party found shelter, under guidance +of the robbers, in some of the many caves with which the rocks in the +neighbourhood were honeycombed. + +Next morning the arrangements for housing the little colony were made. +There was an abundance of caves to give shelter to all, and the +accommodation though rough, at least protected them from the weather. +Their life was simple in the extreme—simple even to hardness. They sought +for herbs and roots, and from the neighbouring peasants they bought a few +goats, to browse among the rocks, and a small quantity of corn, which they +bruised between stones and baked. The mountain springs furnished their +drink, a few flasks of wine being reserved for any cases of sickness. +Twice a day the whole company met for worship. Seraiah read a portion +first from the Law and then from the Prophets, for they had not forgotten +to bring rolls of the Sacred Books. Then standing erect, with covered +heads, their faces turned towards the Temple, they joined in prayer. In +the words of one who himself in old time had found himself shut out for a +while from the privileges of the Holy Place and was content to realize +them by faith, the congregation uttered together the petition, “Let my +prayer be set forth in Thy sight as the incense; and let the lifting up of +my hands be an evening sacrifice.” One of the psalms of penitence +followed; for surely they had all many sins to repent of—sins of which +they were now suffering the penalty; and, after the psalm, a prayer for +deliverance from the enemy, and for the setting up again of the throne of +David, and for that without which neither deliverance nor a restored +kingdom could profit them—purity and righteousness in their own hearts and +souls. + +Nothing could be more simple and frugal than their daily fare. Wild fruits +and herbs were largely used, and any little plots of fertile ground that +could be found were planted with vegetables, some far-seeing member of the +party having brought with him a small supply of garden seeds. When a few +days after their arrival Ruth gave birth to a son it was much feared that +the scanty supply of nourishing food might long delay her restoration to +strength. This fear was not realized. The feeling of freedom and +deliverance combined with the fine mountain air to bring her back to her +wonted health, and she found herself able to go about her daily work long +before she could have hoped to do so in the more enervating atmosphere of +the city. + +One day she had gone to gather herbs for the daily mess, a work in which +she was especially useful from the knowledge of plants which she had taken +pains to acquire in her unmarried days. She had taken, of course, the +new-born infant with her, and Miriam, who was delighted to perform, as far +as her strength permitted, the office of nurse. The little Judith, whose +night’s rest had been disturbed by some childish ailment, had been left at +home to make up her allowance of sleep. The mother found on her return +that a strange visitor had made herself at home in the cave. The little +one was fast asleep on a bed of rugs which had been made up for her, and +curled up at her side with one of her fore paws round her neck was a +jackal. The two companions were roused together by the arrival of the +party, and, wonderful to relate, neither showed any symptoms of alarm. The +jackal rose from its resting-place, approached Ruth, and fawned at her +feet, and the child came after its bedfellow and stroked affectionately +its shaggy skin. + +When, two or three weeks afterwards, the new comer gave birth to a litter +of cubs, the joy of the children was complete. The little animals soon +learnt to play with the girls, and their dam sat by and watched their +gambols, and sometimes even condescended to join in them herself. + +The little colony heard of the strange incident with delight, and saw in +it a token of Divine favour. “Man rages cruelly against us,” they said, +“but we find friends among the beasts of the field. Surely it is our God +who hath changed the heart of this savage dweller in the wilderness, and +we will trust that He will do yet greater things than these.” + +“Mother,” said Miriam one day to Ruth, “by what name shall we call our new +friend?” + +The question puzzled her, and she referred it to her husband. + +“It does not seem fitting,” she said, “that we should give the name of a +daughter of the Covenant to the beast, for though she is of kindly temper +yet she is unclean.” + +Seraiah thought awhile. + +“You say truth, my wife. Let us call her Jael.” + +“But why Jael?” + +“Because the wife of Heber was of the unclean, for was she not of the +house of the Kenite? Yet was she a friend of Israel, for she slew Sisera +that was captain of the host of Jabin, King of Canaan.” + +So thenceforward the creature went by the name of Jael. + +It was not long before she justified her name by showing that she could be +fierce on occasion. + +A wayfarer, who described himself as a discharged soldier and a Moabite by +birth, asked for shelter and food. Scanty as were the means of the +fugitives, they did not grudge the stranger a share of their meal. They +gave him their best, adding to their daily fare the special luxury of some +dried grapes. As he complained of being footsore, Ruth applied some simple +remedies to the blisters on his feet. Altogether he was treated not only +as a welcome but even as an honoured guest. On his part he professed a +fervent sympathy with the hopes and plans of his hosts. The next morning +he started as if to continue his journey. But the cupidity of the wretch +had been roused by the sight of the handsome earrings—almost the sole +remaining relic of former affluence—which he had spied in his hostess’s +ears. About an hour before noon, when he judged that the men would be +still busy about their daily work, he crept back to the cave. Ruth was +sitting by a fire nursing her babe. The jackal lay asleep in a corner; the +girls were playing with the cubs on a sunny little plot of ground outside. + +“Lady,” began the fellow, in a beggar’s wheedling voice, “can you spare a +little money for a poor fellow who has not so much as a copper coin to buy +him a piece of bread?” + +Ruth was startled at his re-appearance, but concealed her alarm. + +“Friend,” she said, “I have no money; but I will give you half a loaf if +you want food, though you had done better, I should think, to keep on your +way, for you can hardly find any that are poorer than we.” + +“But you have gold,” said the man. + +“Gold? Not I,” she answered. + +“Nay, lady,” he went on, with a perceptible tone of threatening in his +voice, “those earrings that you wear are doubtless of true metal. They +add, indeed, to your beauty, and it is a pity that you should lose them; +but then there is no one to admire you in this wilderness, and they would +keep a poor fellow like myself in flesh and wine for a month or more.” + +“My earrings?” said Ruth, stupefied by the man’s audacity. + +“Yes, your earrings, lady,” said the man. “I should advise you to take +them out yourself, for if I have to do it I am afraid that I shall show +myself a very rough tirewoman.” + +The spirit of Ruth, the same that had dwelt of old in a Miriam or a +Deborah, was roused at the man’s insolent audacity. She seized a +half-burnt brand from the fire and stood on her defence. The soldier, +thinking that he had found an easy prey, approached. But he had not +reckoned on an ally who was ready to help her in her need. Jael had been +woke by the voices, and watched with glaring eyes the soldier’s movements, +uttering every now and then a low growl, which, however, the man was too +much occupied to heed. As soon as he came within reach, she sprang upon +him from her lurking-place. The force with which she threw herself upon +him overset him, and he fell backwards, his head striking on the +mill-stone which formed part of the scanty furniture of the cave. In a +moment her fangs were in his throat. In vain did Ruth, who saw the man’s +danger and was unwilling that he should perish in his sins, call her by +her name. All the savage instinct in her was roused by the taste of blood. +Before two minutes had passed the freebooter was dead. + +“We did well to call her Jael,” said Seraiah that evening, as he helped to +carry the corpse out of the cave. “The wretch has received the due reward +of his deeds.” + + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + NEWS BAD AND GOOD. + + +As the weeks went by fugitives continued to arrive at the little asylum +which Seraiah and Azariah had founded among the hills. There was not one +of them but brought with him some dismal story of the cruelty of the +heathen and the renegades who acted as their instruments, and of the +sufferings of the faithful. We should weary our readers were we to relate +them in their monotony of horror. One will suffice, for it is the most +famous as it is the most tragic of all the tales of that reign of terror. + +One night the sentinels, whom the chiefs of the little colony were always +careful to post, heard the sound of approaching footsteps. They challenged +the new comer, and bade him stand, and tell them his errand. He could not +articulate his answer, so spent was he with fatigue and distress; but it +was evident that he was harmless, a mere youth, solitary, and unarmed. +Unwilling to disturb the little colony at so late an hour—it was indeed +past midnight—the sentinels bade the stranger rest before their +watch-fire. He was so exhausted and weary that he could swallow but very +little of the food which his entertainers offered him. A few mouthfuls of +barley cake, and a draught of milk more than satisfied him. Then he sank +down on the ground overpowered with sleep, and his hosts wrapped him in a +cloak and left him to his repose. Yet, wearied as he was, his slumbers +were broken. Again and again he started up with a cry of horror on his +lips. Those who listened to him felt sure that he must be going over in +his dreams some dreadful scenes which he had witnessed. + +The next day he could scarcely be recalled to consciousness. Indeed it was +judged well to leave nature to recover herself. The women of the colony +took it in turns to watch by his side, and were ready, when he awoke for a +few moments, with a cup of milk, the only thing which he seemed to relish. +By degrees his slumbers grew more peaceful, and on the morning of the +second day after his arrival he woke calm and collected. + +It was Ruth who then happened to be on duty at his side. When he saw her, +he said, “Lady, I have a story to tell, and the chief of this place should +hear it. Let him make haste to come, for I feel that I cannot rest while +it is untold.” + +Ruth sent one of her children to fetch her husband. The stranger refused +to postpone his narrative till he should have gathered a little more +strength. “Nay,” said he; “it is like a weight upon my soul, and I would +lighten me of it by committing it to faithful ears.” + +“Speak on,” said Seraiah. + +Then the lad told his story. + +“My name is Abimelech, and I come from Jerusalem. My father and mother are +dead; but I lived with my grandmother, the mother of my father, and his +brethren, my uncles. There were seven of them, the eldest being some +thirty-and-three years of age, and the youngest twenty; but my father that +is dead was the first-born. On the first day of the month, coming home +about the eleventh hour from the school of the Rabbi Zechariah——” + +“Are there then yet those who teach in the city?” interrupted Seraiah. + +“Yes,” answered the lad, “but they do it by stealth, for the reading of +the Law is strictly forbidden by the Governor. But we learn it +notwithstanding, and verily if the heathen should destroy every roll that +there is of the Holy Books in the whole world there are those who could +replace them from memory. I pretend not to so much; but I could say three +out of the five books of Moses, the man of God.” + +“Praised be the Lord God of Israel,” cried Seraiah, “who hath not left +Himself without a witness! But go on with your story.” + +“Coming home, then, from school I found the soldiers of Philip the +Phrygian in the house, Philip himself being there. They had set forth a +table in the court of the house, whereon they had placed abominable flesh. +My uncles were standing bound, guarded by soldiers, and with them was my +grandmother. Then said the Governor, Philip, to the eldest of the seven, +whose name was Judah, ‘Pleasure me, my friend, by eating this excellent +meat; ’tis of the most savoury, believe me.’ My uncle Judah answered, ‘I +cannot obey thee in this matter, for it is forbidden by the Law.’ Philip +said, ‘Maybe he lacks an appetite. Give him that which shall sharpen his +taste.’ Thereupon the executioner stepped forth with his lash, and gave +him ten stripes. ‘Dost feel hungry now?’ said the Governor. ‘I had sooner +starve,’ said Judah, ‘than eat the abominable thing.’ ‘Nay,’ cried the +Governor, ‘miscall not the good things which are provided for you at the +charge of thy lord the King.’ Then he said to the executioner, ‘This +fellow uses not his tongue for any good purpose, but only to rail against +my lord. Cut it out, therefore.’ So they cut the tongue out of my uncle’s +mouth; and after that they cut off his hands and his feet. And afterwards, +he being yet alive, they put him in a pan and burnt him over the fire. +Then the Governor said to the second in age, whose name was Eleazar, ‘Ah! +friend, like you this better than the swine’s flesh? You may have your +choice, if you will.’ But he answered nothing. Then they tortured him most +cruelly till he died. And so they did to all, one after the other. What +they did I cannot bear to tell; nor, indeed, do I know the whole truth, +for when three had perished in this manner I fainted for the horror of the +thing; nor did I come to myself till the sixth was ready to suffer. Him I +heard say these words to the Governor—‘Be not deceived, or think that our +God has abandoned us. He has given us over to your hand because we have +offended against Him; nor do we suffer beyond what we have deserved. But +as we have not escaped the punishment of our sins, so neither will you, +but will perish miserably!’ After this he did not speak another word; nay, +nor give a sign of pain, but stood steadfast and unmoved. + +“When there was but one of the seven left alive, Benjamin by name, the +Governor seeing him, and, I take it, having some pity on his youth, for he +was fair as a woman, said to him, ‘Young man, you see how all these have +perished miserably, because of their pride and obstinacy. Learn, then, by +their fate to behave yourself more wisely. And hark! I will give you +riches, more than you can desire, and promote you to honour, if you will +humour my lord the King in this small matter.’ Benjamin said, ‘Your gifts, +my lord, be to another, and your honours to such as are worthy of them; +but as for me, I will not depart from the law of my God.’ Then Philip said +to the mother of the seven, ‘Persuade him, for I would not have you left +childless, if there is any help. These your sons were stout fellows, and +could have done good service for my lord if they had been better advised; +and I would fain save this one that is left. Reason with him, then, that +he save his life, and that you be not wholly bereaved.’ Then the woman +said, ‘Trust me, my lord; I will reason with him.’ Then Philip smiled and +said, ‘Your wisdom comes somewhat late’; and he whispered to one that +stood by, ‘You see that I have prevailed at last.’ But the man shook his +head. Then the woman said to her son, ‘O, my child, have pity on me, for I +bore for you the pangs of childbirth, and spent on you the labour of +nurture, bringing you up to this age. Repay me, therefore, for all that I +have done.’ Then she paused awhile, and those that stood by scarcely knew +what was in her heart. But the young man said, ‘Mother, how shall I repay +you?’ And she answered, ‘By remembering that the Lord made heaven and +earth, and all that is therein. Depart not from His Law, nor forget Him. +Heed not this tormentor, who has power over your body for a short moment; +but stand steadfast, as your brethren have stood steadfast; so shall I +receive you with them into the everlasting glory.’ Then the young man +smiled, as a bridegroom might smile when the veil is lifted from the face +of his bride, and said, ‘Fear not, my mother; so it shall be, the Lord +helping me.’ As for the Governor, he was mad with rage, and cried to the +executioner, ‘Smite him, and this fool also.’ And the man, who indeed, I +take it, was weary of his work, smote the youth and mother, and killed +them, dealing each but one blow. So they escaped the torture.” + +On the following Sabbath Seraiah read to the congregation the story of the +Three Children in the fire, and then delivered a stirring address on the +faith and courage of the heroic mother and her sons. The people listened +with a breathless attention, and when he had finished, drew, so to speak, +together that deep sigh of relief which tells the speaker that he has been +holding the hearts of his hearers. He was one of those trustful souls who +amidst all dangers find their strength in quietness and confidence. But +the other leaders of the settlement could not help feeling somewhat +anxious as to the future. What was to be the end? This constancy under +suffering was grand beyond all praise; but were they and their brethren to +stand still and see the religion of their fathers trampled out in blood? +Was there no one to strike a blow for their faith and their fatherland? +For they could measure the average strength and depth of human nature, and +knew that there are ten who are ready to do and dare for one who can +suffer and be strong. “Do you remember,” said Seraiah to his +brother-in-law, as they were talking over the position of affairs after +the gathering for worship—“do you remember that day when we fought against +the Edomites, how our line crumbled away while we had to stand still as a +target for the Edomite arrows, and how it grew solid again in a moment +when our general gave the signal to charge? One was ready before to think +that half the men were cowards, and then one could almost have sworn that +there was not a coward among them. Yes, Azariah, we must strike when the +time comes; but when the time will come is more than I can tell.” + +The next day brought an answer to his question. + +The people were dispersing after the usual morning prayer when a stranger +was seen hurrying up the pass. Arrived at the top, where a party of the +men had gone to meet him, he threw himself breathless on the ground; at +the same time he drew a small piece of folded parchment from the pouch +which was fastened to his girdle, and handed it to one of the men. It ran +thus: “Mattathias to Seraiah, in the wilderness of Bethaven, greeting. +Listen to the young man who brings this present without doubting, for he +is faithful, and speaks words of truth.” In a few moments Seraiah +appeared. By this time the messenger had recovered his breath, and was +ready to tell his tale. + +“What news bring you?” said Seraiah. + +“Great news; for the Lord has smitten His enemies hip and thigh by the +hand of Mattathias, son of Asmon, and by the hand of his sons.” + +A murmur of delight ran through the little audience, and every eye +brightened at the prospect of action. + +“Tell on. We hear!” cried Seraiah. + +“May I crave a drink of water? for the way is long, and I have been +travelling since the sun set yesterday.” + +The water was fetched. When he had quenched his thirst, young Asaph—that +was the messenger’s name—began his story. + +“You know Mattathias, the son of Asmon, and the five young men, his sons, +how they dwelt at Modin? Two months since, Philip the Phrygian—may the +Lord cut him off in his sins!” and the speaker paused, and spat upon the +ground to emphasize his disgust. “This Phrygian, then, sent one of his +officers two months since to build an altar to one of the false gods +before whom these children of perdition bow down. So the altar was built, +none hindering, for the people were without a leader. This being finished, +the Governor’s officer proclaimed a sacrifice and a feast to one of the +demons whom these heathen worship. I know not the evil thing’s name, and +if I knew it, would not take the accursed word upon my lips. On the +appointed day there was a great gathering of the inhabitants of Modin. It +was about the tenth hour when the Governor’s deputy came, with his +trumpeters and a small company of soldiers—it may be a score. When he had +taken his seat the ministers brought up the ox that was for the sacrifice, +a great beast, altogether white; and they had gilded his horns and put +garlands of flowers about his neck, as their custom is. Then the deputy +called to one Menahem, a usurer that dwelt in the village, and one of +those who would sell their souls for a shekel. ‘Menon,’ he said—for they +had changed his name after their fashion to one of their own +tongue—‘Menon, come forth, and do your office.’ And then he turned to the +people, and said, ‘Hearken to me, ye Jews. This Menon here, who is known +to all of us, has been promoted to great honour, for my lord Philip, who +is the lieutenant of the Divine Antiochus, has made him priest. Honour him +henceforth accordingly. And be sure also that if you are obedient, and +give up your own dull and senseless superstition, and worship henceforth +as the King commands, it shall be well with you and your children.’ When +he had ended, the fellow approached the altar, and cut some hairs from the +forehead of the beast, and sprinkled some meal mingled with salt between +its horns. And it chanced, or, I should rather say, it was ordered of the +Lord, that as the man did this Mattathias and his sons passed by on the +outskirts of the crowd. And when he perceived the abominable thing that +was being done, and that he who did it was a Jew, his spirit was moved +within him. Then he ran forward, he and his sons with him. And when they +were come into the space before the altar the old man cried, ‘He that is +on the Lord’s side come hither!’ And some threescore of the people that +were there came to him, and the rest stood still, and did nothing, for +they knew that the sons of Asmon were mighty men of valour. As for the +deputy and his soldiers, they were astonished beyond measure, and before +they came to themselves some of the company of Mattathias rushed upon them +and disarmed them. But Mattathias himself, with Judas his son, laid hold +on Menahem. Then that miserable creature fell on his knees and begged for +pardon, saying that he had done this thing on compulsion. ‘Nay,’ said +Mattathias, ‘the compulsion was of thy own evil and greedy heart. Thou +hast sinned beyond all mercy of man; but the mercies of the Lord are past +all measure. Die thou must; but I would have thee die in the faith of a +son of Israel.’ Then the poor wretch—I had never thought to pity him, for +he turned my own mother, when she lay dying, on to the public road, but no +one could have refused him pity then—the wretch, I say, repeated with a +stammering tongue, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord.’ And now +he said, ‘I give thee for thy prayers to the All-Merciful, till the shadow +of this staff come so far,’ and he planted a staff in the ground. And when +the time was spent, the old man took his sword, and sheared off the +wretch’s head with one blow. I had not thought that there was such +strength in his arm. Then they brought the deputy and his soldiers to +Mattathias. First he dealt with the deputy. ‘Slay him,’ he said, ‘for he +has made the people of the Lord to transgress.’ So they slew him. Then +they made the soldiers stand before him. Four out of their number were +Jews. These he commanded to be slain, after giving them the same grace +that he had given to Menahem. To the others he said, ‘You have not sinned +as these your fellows, for you were born in darkness. Take, therefore, +your choice: depart, and take good heed not to fall into our hands again, +for, if you so fall, you die without further mercy; or, if ye will, stay +with us. Only you must follow our ways, so far as it is commanded that the +stranger should follow them.’ Half chose to depart, and half to stay. + +“After this, Mattathias chose some of the young men to go as messengers to +the villages round about, and carry the tidings of what had been done, and +to say, ‘The Lord hath lifted up His ensign; gather yourselves together +unto it.’ Also he appointed a place where they should meet—that is to say, +Michmash.” + +“And when may we look for his coming?” asked Seraiah. + +“Doubtless he will come to-morrow.” + +That night there was much rejoicing in the little colony. No one, indeed, +deceived himself with the thought that he could look forward to easy and +pleasant days. All knew perfectly well that a time of struggle and +suffering was before them. But there was hope. The darkness had parted, +and they saw a far-off gleam of light. At the least they would have the +chance of striking a blow for their country and their God. + + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + THE PATRIOT ARMY. + + +Three days passed before Mattathias and his sons arrived; but when they +came, they brought with them a considerable force. The news of the events +at Modin had spread like wildfire through southern Judæa, and hundreds who +had endured the rule of the heathen with ill-concealed impatience flocked +to the standard of revolt. It was a strange array that might have been +seen making its way up the mountain pass. A professional soldier would +certainly at the first glance have thought meanly of its fighting +capacities. Scarcely a score of the whole multitude was properly armed. +Old weapons that had hung unused for a century or more had been taken down +that they might strike another blow for the God of Israel. There had not +been time to rub the rust from the sword-blades and the spear-heads, much +less to hammer out upon the anvil the dents and notches left by the +half-forgotten battles in which they had last been used. But it was only a +few who had even these antiquated weapons. Most of the fighting men were +armed as their fathers had been under the domination of the Canaanites in +the days of Barak, or of the Philistines in the days of Saul. They carried +mattocks and hoes, pruning-hooks and reaping-hooks tied to the ends of +poles, or stakes shod with iron or even only hardened in the fire. But a +nearer inspection would have changed the contempt of the military critic +into something like admiration. These men had all that goes to the making +of the soldier except the arms, and this want, after all, is the easiest +to be supplied. They had on their faces the set, stern look of those who +are fighting for a cause, and that a cause very near to their hearts. +There were old men among them; but most were in the full vigour of youth +and manhood. A real leader of men would have preferred to be followed by +them than by the most handsomely equipped army of mercenaries. + +At the head of the column walked the aged Mattathias. Two of his sons, +John and Judas, were with him, the other two being busy with the +multifarious duties which fell upon the leaders of a force as yet so +imperfectly organized. The old man—he had passed the threescore years and +ten which are more commonly the limit of human existence, among the +short-lived races of the East than among ourselves—had been carried in a +litter for part of the way. This he had left at the entrance of the pass, +being anxious not to give an impression of weakness. He now walked erect +and with a firm step, his indomitable spirit supplying for the time all +that was wanting in his physical strength. Nothing could be more +enthusiastic than the reception which met him when he reached the little +colony among the hills. He was the champion for whom they had been +looking, and they received him as if he had been an “angel of God.” +Azariah and Seraiah, who had been hitherto informal leaders, gladly +resigned their power into his hands, and from thenceforwards acted under +his orders. + +There was indeed much to do. The little post in the mountains was now to +become a fortress, garrisoned by an army which was already considerable in +numbers, and which daily increased in strength. Faithful Jews from all +parts of the country flocked to the place which seemed the last refuge of +patriotism and faith. Nor were there wanting less respectable adherents. +There was not a few men who, like Benjamin and Shallum, had followed a +life in which right and wrong, good motives and bad, were curiously mixed +up and confounded. They were divided between patriotism and +robbery—divided, of course, in very varying proportions. None were quite +blameless, and none were quite bad. The most unprincipled had lurking +somewhere in his heart a real regard for his country, and, to say the +least, he found much more satisfaction in emptying the pockets of a +heathen than in robbing his own people. The most honest, on the other +hand, could not always guide his actions by any strict rule of integrity. +He had to live, and if his enemies did not furnish him with the means, he +must get them from his friends. Many of these men were genuinely attracted +by the new movement, genuinely glad to lead a life which their consciences +could heartily approve. Others found that their occupation was gone, and +that they must enlist in the new patriot army or starve. The garrison thus +gained a considerable number of recruits, but some of them were of a class +that was likely to give no little trouble in the future. + +In strong contrast with these doubtful adherents, and yet, in some +respects, even more difficult to control, were the Chasidim—the +“religious,” “mighty men and voluntarily devoted to the Law”—the spiritual +ancestors of the Pharisees of a later time, but actuated by a zeal far +more sincere than what could commonly be found in their degenerate +descendants. Men braver it would not have been possible to find; their +courage amounted to something like recklessness; but they were +enthusiasts, and held their tenets with a tenacity that sometimes made +discipline almost impossible. + +An incident that occurred soon after the arrival of Mattathias and his +sons exhibited these difficulties in a striking way. The scene of it was +the extreme right of the position, where Abiathar, one of the Chasidim, an +able soldier but a most uncompromising zealot, was in chief command. The +whole of the population had assembled to take part in a Sabbath service. +They had listened to the great chapter in Deuteronomy which proclaims the +blessings that will follow obedience, the curses that will fall on those +who disobey. They had sung together that Psalm “for the Sons of Korah,” +which tells of triumph and of shame, in which Israel now thanks Him who +has saved them from their enemies and now complains that He has made them +a reproach to their neighbours’ scorn, and a derision to them that are +round about. And they were listening to a stirring exhortation to quit +them like men and be strong, from the soldier-priest who was in chief +command, when an alarm was raised that the enemy were at hand. Some of the +younger men were on the point of running to fetch their weapons, for they +were of course unarmed, when the stern voice of their leader called them +back. “Have you so soon forgotten the blessing and the curse which the +Lord your God hath set before you? Has He not commanded you to keep holy +the Sabbath-day, and will you profane it by smiting with the sword?” They +obeyed the command, though not without some murmurs from those who had not +been thoroughly schooled in the stern tenets of the Chasidim. Meanwhile +the enemy, a strong force that had been sent out from the garrison at +Jerusalem, had come up. A herald from the officer in command approached, +and delivered a message in these terms:— + +“Philip the Governor, and Apollonius, captain of the King’s army, bid you +come forth from your hiding-place and deliver yourselves up. Let your +former transgressions against the King suffice, and do now according to +his commandment. So will he have mercy upon you, and admit you to his +grace.” + +The answer of the Jewish commander was brief and decisive: “We will not +come forth, neither will we do according to the King’s commandment.” + +Then followed one of the strangest scenes recorded in history. The +peremptory refusal of the proffered terms was followed in a few minutes by +a shower of missiles from the hostile force. The crowd at which they were +aimed made no attempt at resistance, or even at escape. They fell where +they stood, without lifting a hand, almost without uttering a cry. There +is no greater trial of an army’s discipline than to make it stand and see +its ranks thinned without being able to strike a blow in return. But the +soldiers who endure this trial endure it in the hope of an hour that +cannot be long delayed, when they shall reap the reward of their patience +in an assured victory. The Chasidim who followed Abiathar had no such +support in their endurance. They stood like sheep for the slaughter, +strong men as they were, and conscious that they could save themselves if +they would. Not a stone did they throw in reply to the missiles that were +showered upon them; and when the hostile ranks closed in, not till after +some wondering delay, and began to finish the bloody work with their +swords, they still held their ground with the same passive, unresisting +courage. + +To one man at least the sword of the heathen brought that day a welcome +release from his troubles. Shallum, the wine-seller of Jerusalem, had been +consumed with remorse for the part which he had taken on the day when he +followed “Bacchus and his reeling train.” The words haunted his mind with +maddening repetition. The stern doctrines of the Chasidim had exercised a +singular attraction for him, and though, stained as he was with sins for +which he could scarcely hope purification, he did not even propose to join +their ranks, he was a diligent attendant at their services and an +attentive listener to their teaching. This day he had stood on the +outskirts of the crowd, hearing with a rapt attention the promises and +denunciations of the Law, and listening to, though not daring to join in, +the chanted psalms. “Perhaps,” he said to himself, “the sound of the holy +music will rid me of that accursed Bacchic chant which rings for ever in +my ears.” For a moment, when the massacre began, that love of life which +even the most miserable scarcely ever loses rose up strong in his heart. +But he crushed it down. “I have transgressed too often,” he thought to +himself, “the commandment of the Lord; let me obey it at least this once, +though I die.” The next moment the stroke of a Greek sword levelled him to +the ground, and the Bacchic chant vexed him no more. + +Not a single man of all that company—so strong was the contagion of +enthusiasm among them—made any effort to escape the fate that overtook his +companions. Still there was left a survivor to carry to Mattathias the +news, at once so terrible and so glorious, of that day’s doings. One of +the men had been felled to the ground by the blow of a stone at the first +discharge of the enemy’s missiles, and had been left for dead upon the +field. When he came to himself, late in the night, he found himself the +only living being among masses of the slain. His first duty was obviously +to carry tidings of the events to the commander-in-chief, and he made his +way to head-quarters as quickly as his enfeebled condition permitted. + +Mattathias saw that this question of the Sabbath must be settled at once, +and, if the war was to be carried on with any prospect of success, settled +on the side of freedom. He called a council in the early morning of the +next day—the news had reached him about two hours after midnight. His five +sons were present, as were Azariah, and Seraiah, with others who held +command in the patriot army. A long debate followed, for some of the +Chasidim still clung to their rigid opinions, even in the face of the +disaster which had happened, and the manifest probability, even certainty, +of its happening again. They answered with stern iteration to each appeal +that was made to them by the advocates of reason and moderation, “Thou +shalt keep holy the Sabbath-day.” It was impossible to yield to them, and +yet, such was their courage and devotion, almost equally impossible to +break with them. + +Mattathias, who presided at the assembly, had left the debate to other +speakers, and had contented himself with keeping the peace between them, +as far as he could. At last he rose and delivered his opinion. + +“Brethren,” he said, “let us take heed that we break not the Law while we +seem to keep it. The Lord hath commanded us that we shall not work our own +works or do our own pleasure upon His day. Shall we take occasion thereby +to neglect His work and leave undone His pleasure? The heathen have come +into His inheritance and devoured it. Shall we suffer them to usurp it for +ever? Say, too, ye that will not stretch out a finger to save the people +of the Lord from destruction because it is the Sabbath, do ye not reach +out your hand to save a brother or a sister or a neighbour, yea, even a +stranger upon that day, if it so chance that they be overtaken by some +instant need? Nay, more; do ye not pull out an ox or an ass, if it be +fallen on that day into a pit? and will ye not pull out the Lord’s people +from the pit which the malice of their enemies shall have digged for them? +Listen, therefore, to my sentence. If the enemy come upon us upon the +Sabbath we will beat him back, God helping. Nevertheless, if it may be so +without damage to the Lord’s cause, we will not march against him on that +day. If there be sin in this matter let it be upon me and my children.” + +And as he spoke the five young men, his sons, rose up in their places, and +answered, _Amen_. + +The decision was generally accepted and acted upon, though to the last +some of the more determined of the Chasidim avoided, as far as was +possible, all military action on the Sabbath. + +The rule of Sabbath observance was, however, still very strictly kept. It +was two or three days after the council described above had been held, +when one of the half-bandit, half-patriot recruits was discovered busily +employed in cleaning his armour on the Lord’s day. He was kept in +confinement till sunset, when the Sabbath was considered to end; a council +of war was hastily summoned to hear the case. The man pleaded the recent +decision of Mattathias, which had, he said, relaxed the law of the +Sabbath. It was answered to him that the cleaning of armour was no +necessary work, and that the distinction must now be kept more strictly +than before, lest the people should fall into sin. He then urged that his +offence was an error, and might be atoned for by a sin-offering. + +“Alas! my son,” said Mattathias, “the Temple is profaned; nor can there be +any more either sin-offering or peace-offering till it be purified. You +must bear your iniquity yourself.” + +John the soldier, who was unwilling that the army should lose one whose +offence, after all, had only been an excess of military zeal, and Simon, +whose gentle soul always was inclined to the milder course, voted for a +lighter punishment than death, but they were overruled. Even Judas voted +against them, knowing that such an army as theirs could only be held +together by the bond of an enthusiastic faith. + +“Give the glory to God,” said the aged president of the Court, when he had +communicated his sentence to the prisoner, “and take your death patiently, +knowing that though you be judged according to men in the flesh, you shall +live according to God in the spirit.” The man bowed his head in +submission, and repeated the confession of faith, “Hear, O Israel, the +Lord thy God is one Lord.” + +“The Lord bless thee, my son,” said Mattathias, “and take thee into +Abraham’s bosom.” + +So the transgressor died. And they buried him under a heap of stones to +which every passer-by made it his duty to add his tribute. + + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + GUERILLA WARFARE IN THE MOUNTAINS. + + +Some weeks had necessarily to pass before the patriot army could assume +the offensive. Some kind of drill was necessary, though Judas, who had the +chief direction of military affairs, did not attempt to teach his men any +elaborate manœuvres. But practice in sword-play and in shooting with the +bow was diligently attended to. A corps of slingers was also formed under +the command of one Sheba, a Benjamite, who possessed that skill with his +weapon which was characteristic of his tribe. The sling was admirably +suited to the kind of warfare which they would have to wage. As long as +there were stones there would not be wanting missiles for the slings, +while the supply of arrows would be likely to fall short, and could not +easily be renewed. Meanwhile some rude anvils had been fitted up, and +every one who could work as a smith was pressed into the service of +repairing old arms or making new ones. By degrees many of the fighting men +obtained an equipment which, if not very handsome, was at least fairly +effective. Some of the new arrivals, too, were old soldiers, and brought +their arms with them. Jews who had enlisted in the armies of the various +Asiatic kings flocked to the standard of independence, when once it had +been set up. Even some of the well-paid mercenaries who formed the +bodyguard of Antiochus were patriotic enough to prefer to their luxurious +existence the privations of life among the mountains. It was a life which, +at the least, they could lead without offence. + +It was winter when Mattathias and his sons reached the mountains; and with +the first beginnings of spring the force under his command, now increased +to a respectable strength, commenced active operations. These were +extended over a considerable range of country to all the villages that had +submitted to the edicts of the heathen rulers of the land. Even fortified +towns, in several instances, were surprised, not, it may be guessed, +without the connivance of the patriotic party within the walls. The idol +altars which the King’s commissioners had set up were thrown down with +every circumstance of indignity. All stores belonging to the usurping +government were confiscated for the use of the national forces. But +private property was respected. Arms, indeed, if they were likely to be +useful, were taken, but always taken at a price. + +Severe as was the discipline, it met with a cheerful submission from the +men, so commanding was the influence exercised by their leaders. +Conspicuous among them were, of course, the sons of Mattathias. All were +favourites, but Judas and Simon took the lead. The strength, the skill, +and the daring of the first were such that he was absolutely idolized by +his troops. There was no task, however perilous, which they would not +attempt under his guidance, for there was nothing which he did not seem +capable of achieving. His physical strength was enormous; and his +fertility of resource unfailing. He had always some new device for +outwitting the enemy; and when the crisis of an undertaking arrived, if an +attacking party were to be helped up some almost inaccessible height, a +gate to be broken open by main force, or a pass to be held against +overwhelming odds, Judas was always ready and always, it seemed, +successful. Scarcely less honoured, though in a different way, was the +prudence and kindliness of Simon. If Judas never failed in an attempt it +was, in part at least, because Simon’s advice was so uniformly sagacious, +because he could measure so exactly the means at their command. And when +the fighting was over, no one could be more unwearying in his attentions +to the wounded. The voice which rang so loud and clear through the din of +battle was now soft and caressing, and the touch of his hand was as gentle +and tender as if it had been a woman’s. + +Such leaders could do anything with their troops, even when they had to +task their obedience by the infliction of punishment. Even such men as the +ex-robber Benjamin felt what may be called the infection of discipline. He +had accompanied one of the expeditions, in which a select force of +patriots, after marching forty miles within twenty-four hours, surprised a +squadron of Greek cavalry in one of the towns of Galilee. A short but +sharp conflict took place in the square of the town, and Benjamin had +borne himself with conspicuous courage. The struggle over, the soldiers +had received entertainment, not in every case very willingly given, from +the inhabitants of the town. Benjamin happened to be quartered upon a +particularly churlish host, and resenting the coarse and scanty fare, so +unsuited to the wealth apparent in all the fittings of the house, had +revenged himself by abstracting a rich cloak belonging to his miserly +entertainer. The article was stowed away on his own person, but the keen +eye of one of the Chasidim officers espied it; the thief was denounced +when the force had reached the encampment, and brought before the council, +which was held under the presidency of Judas. The culprit pleaded in vain +the shabby treatment which he had received. It was not for him, he was +told, to take the law into his own hands. When he urged that the man was a +traitor to his country he was asked whether he had himself taken the cloak +from patriotic motives. “Did you purpose,” said Judas, going to the point +with characteristic directness, “to make this a common possession, or to +take it for yourself?” Benjamin faltered under this searching question, +and had no answer to give. Then Judas pronounced his sentence: “In old +time he who had offended in this manner, as did Achan in the matter of the +spoils of Jericho, died the death. These times are not equal to a justice +so strict. But what the law enjoins that you will suffer. Were such sin as +yours to go unpunished we could expect no blessing on our arms. We should +become, not what we would be, the armies of the Lord, but a horde of +robbers. You will receive forty stripes save one; if you offend again, you +die.” + +Without a murmur the culprit bared his shoulders for the lash. When the +whip had once fallen Judas stayed the executioner’s hand. “Benjamin,” he +said, “you have done ill, but you have also done well. You saved from +death our brother Seraiah as he lay wounded under the feet of the +horsemen. For this good deed the rest of the punishment is remitted. Go, +and sin no more.” + +Seraiah indeed had been so seriously wounded that he had to be carried +back to the camp on a litter rudely constructed of boards, and Ruth was +now nursing him in the cave which had been originally set apart for their +dwelling, and which they still retained. It was a miserable abode, though +it at least afforded shelter from the rain. Indeed the lot of the women +and children in the patriot encampment was full of suffering. The men had +the constant excitement of their warfare to cheer them, but the women had +only to toil and to endure. In the day the drought consumed them, and the +frost by night. They had none of the comforts of life. Their food was +coarse in the extreme, and often very scanty. But, perhaps, their greatest +trial was in the matter of clothes. The stock which they had brought with +them from their homes was, for the most part, worn out, and it was only on +rare occasions, when some property of the heathen fell into the hands of +the patriots, that any part of it could be replenished. Sheepskins and +goatskins dried in the sun were commonly used, what remained of their +wardrobes being reserved for special occasions. + +Some time after the incident described above a serious trouble came upon +Azariah. Miriam, his elder daughter, when she returned one day from her +usual task of gathering herbs to eke out the family meal, complained of +headache. It was evident that she was suffering from sunstroke. As the +spring advanced the heat in some of the narrow mountain valleys became +exceedingly oppressive, and the town-bred child felt it acutely. For some +days her life was in danger, all the greater because she had neither +medical attendance nor skilful nursing. Ruth did all she could for the +little sufferer, but then Ruth had her own husband to attend to, for, +though recovering from his wound, he needed much care, and her child was +still too young to be left alone. One or two visits in the day was all +that she could give. For the most part the girl’s father was her nurse, +the little Judith giving such help as she could. Love gave a lightness and +tenderness to his touch, and supplied the place of skill in that +marvellous way which is so often possible to love. Day after day, as he +sat by the bedside, and watched his charge, the girl’s face, now pale and +wasted, and aged as it was with suffering, reminded him more and more of +his lost Hannah. He lived over the happy past that they had known before +the evil days began, the time when their first acquaintance as youth and +maiden had ripened into love, and the early years of their wedded life. +Thus he began to live in a world of imagination, while the sordid +circumstances of the present seemed to make no impression upon him, though +he always retained a punctual recollection of the duties that belonged to +his attendance upon the sick. + +One day Ruth had come in to pay the daily visit for which, however +engrossing her own occupations, she always contrived to find an +opportunity. The patient was in a sound sleep, with the little Judith for +her sole attendant, Azariah having received an urgent summons to attend a +council of war, in which some subject with which he was especially +acquainted was to be discussed. + +After a few minutes Azariah returned, but without any of the signs of +agitation or haste that might be expected from one hurrying back to the +performance of a duty that he had been compelled to neglect. His sister +wondered to see him so calm, and she was still more surprised when he went +on to say— + +“How like the child is growing to my dear Hannah!” + +Ruth had often thought the same, but had not ventured to say so, for +Azariah had never mentioned his dead wife. + +“Yes,” she answered, “I have often thought so.” + +“I have had some happy times of late. Before I could not get out of my +mind the dreadful sight of her face when I last saw it.” He paused for a +moment, overpowered by the recollection, but soon resumed in a cheerful +voice: “But now in this dear child I seem to see her as she was in those +happy Bethlehem days before our marriage, and again in the still happier +time we had together in Jerusalem.” + +“But does it not trouble you to leave the child alone?” + +“Nay, sister, she is not alone. Nor do I speak of our dear little Judith +here.” And he stroked the little girl’s head, and bade her go and play +outside, but be careful not to go into the sun. + +“Believe me,” he went on, “that when I am not here, Miriam’s angel is with +her. Perhaps you will think me mad when I say that I have seen, and that +not once or twice only, the flash of white garments vanishing in the +darkness as I came into the cave. And last night, as I sat here, dreaming, +it may be, but certainly seeing everything in the cave as plainly as I see +it this moment, the angel came with the little babe—our little David that +my Hannah took with her to Paradise—to kiss his sick sister. And when +Miriam awoke about an hour after dawn, the fever had left her.” + +At this moment the girl opened her eyes. “Oh, father,” she cried, “did you +indeed see little brother last night?—for I saw him too; but I did not see +that an angel was carrying him. He seemed to be in the air somehow, with +no one holding him up. And he had beautiful white clothes—not these nasty +sheepskins and goatskins that we have to wear—and he stretched out his +hands to me, and kissed me, and I felt that moment as if that dreadful +burning had gone out of me. And oh! there was such a wonderful look upon +his face. It was just like the look on dear mother’s face that evening +when the sun was just setting, and you took little brother up in your +arms, and said his name was David.” + +Ruth could only listen to such talk with wonder and awe. But she went back +to her husband and child with a lighter heart than she had borne for many +days. + +But a trouble was at hand which, though it had been for some time +foreseen, was great enough to make private sorrows and anxieties seem +inconsiderable. It was reported through the encampment that Mattathias, +the father of his people, was dying. + +The old man’s health had been failing for some time. The hardships of his +new life had told grievously upon it, all the more that he refused the +exemption from labour which his age required. He had ceased to accompany +the expeditions because he found that his presence hampered the movements +of younger and stronger men, but the management of the multifarious +affairs of the encampment—the home administration, as it may be called, of +the patriotic movement—he kept in his own hands. Early and late he busied +himself in this work, and before many weeks were past his labours wore him +out. + +He was well aware that the end had come, and that all that remained for +him to do was to appoint a successor who should accomplish, or at least +carry on—for he did not deceive himself as to the difficulty of the +work—the task which he had commenced. All the leaders were summoned to his +presence, the wounded Seraiah, for whose capacity and serene courage the +old chief had a high regard, being carried thither on a litter. The old +man was propped in his bed on cushions, the difficulty of breathing making +it impossible for him to lie down. On either side stood his five sons, +John, the eldest, being at his right hand, with Eleazar and Jonathan near +him, while Simon and Judas were on the left. A physician, the solitary +professor of the healing art that the camp possessed, sat by the bed’s +foot, with a cup of some cordial in his hand. + + [Illustration: _The Last Charge of Mattathias._] + +The old man began by laying his hand on John’s head. “My son,” he said, +“for your loyalty and faithful obedience I thank the Lord that gave me so +excellent a son for my first-born. You know what it is in my mind to do +with respect to the succession of my work, and I am assured that you +approve. But for the sake of those that stand by,”—and he pointed to the +assembled chiefs—“I solemnly declare that for no defect of courage or +honesty I pass you by. And say if you are content to leave it according to +what seems best to my judgment.” + +“Father,” said the faithful John, “I am content.” + +Simon beckoned to the physician, who handed the cup of cordial to the +dying man. He swallowed a few drops, and then went on: + +“Hear, my friends and brethren. In the distribution of my worldly goods I +follow custom and law. The inheritance of my fathers I give to my eldest +born, according to the custom of the birthright; and I direct that the +younger shall have such portions as are due to them. But I have that to +give which has been entrusted to me of the Lord, and with which I must +deal according to His pleasure, so far as it is given to me to know it. +Simon, I will that thou be the father of the people. Care for them as for +thy children. Do justice between man and man. Strive to the utmost that +they keep the Law of the Lord their God. He has given thee prudence and +discernment and knowledge of the customs of our fathers. See that thou use +these things for the glory of the Lord and the good of the people. Judas, +I will that thou be captain of the host. Be stout and of a good courage, +and the Lord shall fight on thy side, and give thee the victory. The end +is not yet, and maybe thou wilt not see it with thine eyes; but, though it +tarry, wait for it. ‘For they that go on their way weeping, bearing +precious seed, shall doubtless come again with joy, and bring their +sheaves with them.’” + +He then addressed a few words to the two other sons, words of mingled +encouragement and advice. This done he stretched out his hands, and, with +a voice of surprising firmness in one so weak, blessed the whole assembly, +repeated the usual profession of an Israelite’s faith, and then drew his +last breath without a struggle. + + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + THE BURIAL OF MATTATHIAS. + + +Judas and his brothers sat late into the night consulting about a daring +scheme which the new captain of the host proposed. + +“It would be an unseemly thing,” he said, “that Mattathias, the son of +Asmon, should be thrust into a hole among the rocks as if he were an +outcast or a robber. Verily we will bury him with his fathers in the +sepulchre of Asmon.” + +“’Twill be no easy matter to contrive,” said Jonathan, the man of many +devices. “The sepulchre is hard by the town, and we can scarcely avoid the +eyes of the people in coming and going.” + +“Nay, Jonathan, I have no purpose of doing the thing in secret. It would +not be well to bury my father by stealth in his own sepulchre. It shall be +done openly, and before the eyes of men.” + +The brothers, bold men as they were, were astonished at the hardihood of +the plan. But their respect for the genius of Judas silenced any +opposition. And then he had never failed in any enterprise. John was the +first to speak. + +“’Tis well thought of, Judas. Lead the way, and I follow;” and he clasped +his brother’s hand. + +The captain then developed his plan, which, when examined, seemed less +audacious than it had appeared at first sight. It was to be a surprise, +and the very unlikelihood of the attempt made its success more probable. +Modin was not occupied by a garrison, and the townsfolk, even if their +goodwill could not be counted on, would scarcely venture to resist. Only +it would be necessary to act before any rumour of their intention could +get about, and, the funeral march once begun, to hasten it to a completion +as much as possible. + +The body was at once preserved against decay as far as the scanty means at +the command of the patriots would allow. Then word was sent through the +encampment that all who wished to take their last look at the dead hero +must come at once. For three hours a constant stream of awestruck and +weeping visitors passed through the tent in which he lay, attired in his +priestly garb, the long white beard reaching almost to his waist, his +wasted features settled into the majestic repose of death. Every visitor +as he entered loosed his sandals from his feet, feeling that the place +which he was entering was holy ground. Every one, as he took his last look +on the hero’s face, prayed to the God of his fathers that his last end +might be like his. Women brought their children that they might kiss the +hem of his garment. It would be a distinction to them in their old age +that they had been privileged to pay this honour to Mattathias, the son of +Asmon. + +Before dawn the procession started. The body, in its rude coffin of wood, +was placed upon a bier, thirty bearers taking it in turns to carry it. The +thirty were divided into five relays of six, one of the sons of the dead +being always among those who performed the duty. With the exception of a +small force which was left for the protection of the women and children, +all the fighting men of the settlement accompanied the body. In spite of +the efforts which had been made to procure or manufacture arms, they were +still but poorly equipped. Of military display, of the “pomp and +circumstance of glorious war,” there was absolutely nothing. But the solid +qualities of endurance and courage could be seen in their sinewy forms and +resolute faces. To an observer who could look below the surface that +squalid array had in it the capacity for achieving an heroic success. + +Judas had been quite right in predicting that the expedition would meet +with little or no opposition. Its march, indeed, was absolutely unmolested +by the enemy. The movement was wholly unexpected, and consequently no +force had been collected to hinder it; while the garrisons of the two or +three fortified places which the army passed on its route did not feel +themselves strong enough to attempt any attack. Already, though as yet no +pitched battle had been fought, these Jewish “Ironsides” had inspired +their enemies with a wholesome dread of their prowess. Both Greeks and +renegades knew that these ragged, ill-armed mountaineers stood as stoutly +and plied their swords as fiercely as any soldiers in the world. + +No incident occurred in the course of the march save one, which, though +little thought of at the time, was destined to lead to events of +considerable importance. When the first halt was called, Benjamin, who was +a well-known personage in the neighbourhood, and who in spite, perhaps in +consequence, of his antecedents enjoyed not a little popularity, found +entertainment in the house of an old acquaintance. The man was a farmer, +who had been accustomed to make a handsome profit by supplying the bandits +with useful information. Recognizing his old accomplice in the ranks of +the patriot army, he invited him into his house, and entertained him with +his best. Unfortunately this best happened to be some salted swine’s +flesh. Benjamin had some scruple about eating it; but it was not strong +enough to resist the claims of a ravenous hunger, supported as they were +by his entertainer’s ridicule. The meal was washed down by the contents of +two or three flasks of potent wine, and the friends were so busily +occupied with discussing these, and with talking over old times, that the +signal for assembly passed unnoticed. Then followed a search for +stragglers, and Benjamin was discovered with the fragments of his meal +before him; and though his hunger had stripped the bones bare enough, no +one could doubt what was the animal to which they had belonged. + +The offender had been caught, so to speak, red-handed, and some voices +were raised to demand his instant execution. But the officer in command of +the detachment interposed. In any case he would have objected to a +proceeding of which Judas would certainly have disapproved, and he had +besides a certain kindness for Benjamin, of whose courage and dexterity he +had been more than once a witness. Accordingly the offender was put under +close arrest, and the army resumed its march. + +Benjamin had no need to be told that he was in very serious danger. The +Chasidim, at least, would be more ready to overlook fifty thefts than one +transgression in the matter of unclean food; and he felt sure that if he +could not contrive to escape before the army returned to the encampment, +possibly before they reached Modin, his days were numbered. While he was +meditating on the chances of escape, one of the escort, an associate of +former days, was thinking how he could help him. Happening to be in front +of the prisoner, he purposely stumbled and fell. The prisoner fell over +him, and in the confusion the soldier cut the cords that bound Benjamin’s +hands. The prisoner was not a man to lose such an opportunity. Waiting +till he reached a convenient spot on the march, he shook off his bonds, +sprang to the side of the road, and, before his keepers could recover from +their astonishment, was lost to sight in the woods which bordered it. + +When the army reached Modin no attempt was made to interfere with its +proceedings. Our old acquaintance, Cleon, had been sent to replace the +commissioner killed when Mattathias raised the standard of revolt, and +Cleon was far too careful of himself to risk his safety in any foolhardy +struggle against superior strength. When the body of armed men was first +seen approaching the town, he had supposed that its object was to possess +itself of any money, arms, or provisions that might be found in the place. +A nearer view showed the funeral procession, and one of the townspeople +was acute enough to guess the real purpose of the expedition. Cleon’s +resolve was at once taken. He would make the best of circumstances which +he could not control. Accordingly he went out of the town with a flag of +truce in his hand, and meeting the vanguard of the approaching array, +demanded an interview with its leader. + +He was brought into the presence of Judas. + +“May I ask,” he said, “the purpose of your coming?” + +“We are come to bury Mattathias, son of Asmon, in the sepulchre of his +fathers,” was the brief reply. + +“And you, sir,” continued the Greek, with elaborate courtesy, “may I ask +to whom I am speaking?” + +“I am Judas, son of Mattathias.” + +“Allow me, then,” answered Cleon, “to express my sympathy with you in the +loss of so renowned a father, once, I believe, a distinguished citizen of +this place, and to assure you that you will meet with no molestation in +whatever honours you may see fit to render to his memory. I would myself +willingly attend the obsequies, did I suppose that my presence would be +welcome.” + +“We thank you, sir,” said Judas, who was inwardly chafing at this +hypocritical politeness, but disdained to show his feelings; “we would +sooner be alone.” + +Cleon saluted and withdrew. + +The funeral ceremonies were performed with an impressive solemnity. The +stone which closed the entrance to the family tomb of the house of Asmon +had been rolled away, and the dead body was placed in the niche which had +been long ago prepared for its reception. Only the sons of Mattathias and +a few of their best trusted counsellors and lieutenants entered the cave; +the rest of the multitude stood without, waiting in profound silence till +they should be told that the old warrior had been laid in his last +resting-place. + +When the cave had been closed again John, as the eldest son of the +deceased, spoke a few words to the army. + +“We have buried our dead,” he said, “out of our sight; but his memory +lives and will live among us. Let us be true and faithful as he was, that +we may be with him when he shall rise again at the last day, and sit down +with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the supper of the people of God. +Meanwhile let us follow and obey him whom with his last breath he named as +his successor. Long live Judas, son of Mattathias, son of Asmon, the +captain of the host of the Lord!” + +And all the army shouted their approval. + +Cleon had followed up his courtesies by an invitation addressed to Judas +and his principal officers, in which he begged the honour of their company +at a meal. Judas declined the invitation, but intimated that he would +gladly purchase a supply of corn. The commissioner, well aware that his +guests could take by force anything that was refused to them, at once +acceded to the request, and Micah was selected, on account of his +familiarity with the Greek language, to conduct the transaction. + +The details of the business arranged with the commissioner’s secretary, +Micah received a message from the great man himself, begging for the +pleasure of an interview. + +“What!” cried Cleon, affecting a surprise which he did not really feel, +“is this my old friend Menander whom I see?” + +“My name is Micah,” said the Jew, not without a feeling of disgust and +shame as his mind reverted to the past. + +“As you please,” said Cleon. “By whatever name you may please to call +yourself, I hope that we shall always be good friends. But tell me, what +is the meaning of this disguise?” + +“I know not what you mean by disguise.” + +“I mean these rags, which a scarecrow would hardly condescend to wear; +that battered helmet, which looks as if the boys had been kicking it for a +month about the market-place; that deplorably shabby sword, which even a +rag-and-bone man would be ashamed to hang up in his shop. Is this the +elegant Menander—I beg your pardon, the elegant Micah, who was once the +very pink of neatness and fashion?” + +“As for my past follies, you may laugh at them as you will, nor can I deny +that you are in the right. But of these rags, as you are pleased to call +them, of these shabby arms, I am not ashamed. I have come to myself. The +things that I once prized I count as dung, and for that which I once +despised I would gladly die.” + +“Why, what madness is this? What have you got to live for? How can you +support existence among this deplorable crew of beggars and outlaws, with +not a man among them, I will warrant, who has the least taste of culture, +or the faintest tincture of art?” + +“These ‘beggars and outlaws,’ as you call them, are the soldiers of the +Lord; and you will find that they are enemies not to be despised, that +these battered helmets can turn a blow, and these jagged swords can deal +one that will make its way through all your finery.” + +“But, my dear friend—I may call you so, I suppose, in spite of any little +difference of opinion there may be between us?” + +The Jew made no motion of assent. + +“Well, you cannot be deceiving yourself as to the utter hopelessness of +your attempt. Why, when you come to meet our troops in regular battle, you +will disappear like chaff before the wind. You may take a few places by +surprise, but you have no more chance of winning a regular victory than a +dove has of killing a kite. Come now, be reasonable; give up this silly +affair, and be my guest, till we can find something suitable for you to +do. I will set you up with some new clothes, to which you are perfectly +welcome. And I will warrant that in a few days you will be wondering that +you were ever foolish enough to undertake such a wildgoose business as +this.” + +“Your gifts be to yourself. Nay, Cleon,” he soon went on to say, in a +softer tone, “I would not speak harshly to you for the sake of old +kindnesses which I doubt not you meant well in showing me. But be sure +that I am in earnest. The old things are hateful to me. I have other +desires, other hopes; and if they are not satisfied, not fulfilled, I can +at least die for them.” + +“Die for them, indeed! _That_, my dear Micah, is only too likely, and die, +I am afraid, in an exceedingly unpleasant way. It is simple madness to +suppose that a crowd of ragamuffins, under a general—Apollo save the +mark!—who has never seen a battle, can stand against the troops of the +King. You used to be a very good fellow, Menander or Micah, or whatever +you call yourself, but, as sure as you are sitting there, if you go on in +this mad fashion, I shall have the pain of seeing you some day hanging on +a cross.” + +At the sound of the word the young Jew started as if he had been stabbed. +It opened the way for a flood of memories which, for a while, carried him +out of himself. When he could command himself sufficiently to speak, he +burst out— + +“Yes—hanging on a cross! Nothing more likely if only you and your friends +get their way. You talk of taste, and art, and beauty: you have always +plenty of fine words on your tongues, but when it comes to practice you +are as brutal as the fiercest of the savages whom you profess to +despise—nay, you are ten times worse, for you know what you are doing. +Now, listen to me, Cleon. Some six months ago I was walking through +Jerusalem after your teachers of culture and art had been busy giving +their lessons. What think you I saw? I saw a woman hanging on a cross, and +her little son, a babe of a few days old, fastened about her neck. Thank +God they were dead. Some one of your people had in mercy—for you are not +altogether without mercy—strangled her before they fastened her to the +cross. And what was her offence? Was she unchaste, a thief, a murderer? +Not so; no purer, gentler soul ever lived on the earth. No, she had done +for her son as her fathers for a thousand years and more had done for +their sons. And this was how your prophets of refinement and beauty dealt +with her. Cleon, that woman was my sister. Do you think that such deeds as +that will go unpunished? Surely not; whether your faith—if you have a +faith—or mine be true, there is a vengeance that follows—slow, it may be, +but sure of foot—the men who work such wickedness. And, for my part, I +doubt not who the first minister of that vengeance will be. You sneer at +our general; he is no general at all, you think; a mere leader of +vagabonds, who has never seen a battle. He will see many a battle, yea, +and the back of many a foe, before his work is done. He is a very Hammer +of God, and he will break his enemies to pieces. And now, Cleon, hearken +again to me. You and I have broken bread together as friends. That is past +for ever. May the God of my fathers send down upon me all the plagues that +He holds in the vials of His wrath, if I have any truce with the enemies +of His people! But with you, as I would not join hands in friendship, so I +would not cross them in anger. Pray, therefore, to your gods, as I will +certainly pray to Him whom I worship, that we may never see each other +again. And now farewell!” + +The expedition returned to the mountains without mishap. + + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + THE SWORD OF APOLLONIUS. + + +The daring action of Judas at Modin was a defiance to the rulers at +Jerusalem, and felt to be so, not only by them, but by the whole country. +It was followed up by active operations on the part of the patriots +against the smaller towns of south-eastern Palestine. The population began +to feel that it was safer to be on the side of the patriots than against +them. Thanks to this feeling, to the genuine favour with which the +movement was regarded, and to the perfect system of scouts which he had +organized, Judas had early and trustworthy information of all the +movements of the enemy. Apollonius had made up his mind that he must act +if he was not to lose entirely his hold upon the country, and set about +organizing a force so overwhelmingly strong that it must, he thought, +sweep the insurgents before it. This intention, and indeed, it may almost +be said, every detail of his preparations, was communicated to Judas. He, +on his part, was determined that a heathen army should never again invade +the mountain sanctuary. He would not await attack. His military instincts, +which, indeed, were extraordinarily fine and true, warned him that +boldness was now his best policy, and that he should go down and give +battle to the enemy. + +It was on the eve of the departure of the patriot army, when Seraiah might +have been seen making his way back from a conference of the chiefs to the +cave which served him as a dwelling. He was now recovering from his wound, +but he was still too weak to support the fatigues of a march. Accordingly +Judas had left him in command of the little garrison, scarcely, indeed, +containing one able-bodied man, which was to protect the encampment. When +he reached his home he found his nieces, Miriam and Judith, sitting with +his wife, and watching the infant that was slumbering by her side. + +“See,” said Judith, as the child smiled in his sleep, “his angel is +whispering to him. Oh, uncle, have you ever seen the angel?” + +She prattled on without waiting for an answer. “Father sees angels, and +they bring him words from mother, where she is in Paradise. And, do you +know, uncle, last night he had a wonderful dream about a sword? He told it +to us this morning. He often tells us his dreams. Sometimes he seems as if +he were talking to mother; and he says that Miriam is so like her.” + +“Well, Judith, and what was the dream?” said Ruth. + +“Father saw a mighty angel—one of the cherubim, you know, that father says +God sends abroad to do His errands—come flying down, and the angel had in +his hand a great sword. And he stood by father’s bed, and showed him a +name graven on the blade—it was the name which we may not speak, though it +is part of father’s name(8)—and when he had done this he put the hilt in +his hand and departed. Then father awoke, and found only his own old sword +in his hand; and this, you know, is so hacked that it is not of much use, +and is very weak, too, in the handle. Father never sleeps without it, and +he must have drawn it out in his sleep, without knowing it, from under the +pillow where he keeps it. But he says the dream will certainly come true. +And now, Miriam,” she went on, turning to her sister, for the little +maiden was of the true housewife temper, “we must be going back to get +father’s dinner ready for him.” + +When they were left alone Seraiah said to Ruth, “It is as I feared—I am to +stay behind.” + +Ruth felt a thrill of joy go through her, but was too wise a woman to show +it. + +“Old Reuben will not hear of my going. He says that I should be more +hindrance than help, and perhaps he is right. The Lord’s will be done, +though I would fain have struck a blow in the battle that is to decide; +for I am sure that as this battle goes, so will the end be. But I am to be +in command of the garrison here.” + +“And you will not mind taking care of the women and children, dear +husband?” said Ruth. + +“I should be ungrateful indeed if I did,” said Seraiah, as he kissed her. + +Meanwhile the excitement in the camp had risen to fever heat. Scouts had +come racing in at headlong speed with tidings that the enemy’s army had +started from Jerusalem, and that it numbered not less than twelve thousand +regular troops, well-equipped, and furnished with a formidable supply of +the engines of war. The patriots were in that state of exaltation in which +men make little of the numbers opposed to them, and the disparity of +forces roused no apprehensions. If any such were felt they gave way to +rage when the messengers added that the hated Apollonius himself was in +command of the hostile army. + +Azariah and Micah were among a small company of chiefs who were standing +outside the tent of Judas, and were discussing the prospects of the war. + +“The curse of God light upon him!” cried Azariah. “Surely He will so order +it that I may smite him down on the field of battle, and avenge the +innocent blood! Surely the blood of my wife and my child cries against him +from the earth!” + +“Nay, brother,” broke in Micah, “the task of the avenger of blood lies +upon me, for I am next-of-kin to Hannah.” + +“Surely,” replied Azariah, with some heat, “there is no kinship so close +as the tie which binds husband to wife! ’Tis I that should be Hannah’s +avenger of blood.” + +“My brothers,” broke in the voice of Judas, who appeared in the door of +his tent, “you think too much of your private wrongs. Great they are, I +know—none greater. But is there one soldier in this army that has not lost +wife, or child, or father, or brother by the hand of this evil man? We +will go, one and all, as avengers of blood, and the Lord will deliver him +into the hands of him whom He shall choose.” + +Next day the army set out. On the evening of the second day they came in +sight of the forces of Apollonius. Some of the more fiery spirits were for +an instant attack, but the prudence of Judas, which was not less +conspicuous than his daring, restrained them. His men were wearied with a +long day’s march, and they wanted food. And he himself had not had time to +reconnoitre the enemy’s position or receive any intelligence from his +scouts. + +Early next day the battle began. In one sense Judas was greatly +overmatched. The enemy were superior in numbers—almost in the proportion +of four to one—and in equipment. But, on the other hand, the Hebrew leader +could rely implicitly on his soldiers. Anything that mortal man, inspired +by zeal and the burning sense of wrong, could achieve, they might be +trusted to do. To such a temper, of course, the policy of attack is best +suited. Judas massed his best troops on his right wing, which happened to +be opposed to what his eagle eye discerned to be the weakest part of the +enemy’s line. Apollonius saw his intention, and commenced a movement of +troops which was designed to strengthen the weak point in his array. But +such a movement in the face of a hostile force cannot be carried out +without confusion. Judas saw his opportunity, ordered his men to advance +at the double, and closed fiercely with the foe. + +The Greek line broke almost at once, and the chief danger now was that the +conquerors might press on too eagerly. The Greeks were not an +undisciplined mob which could be treated with contempt. Some of them, at +least, were veteran soldiers, in whom the sense of discipline was an +instinct, and who, if not very enthusiastic in the cause for which they +were fighting, were perfectly well aware that their best chance of +personal safety was to be found in keeping together and holding their +ground. Judas, in whom native genius seemed to supply the want of +experience, appreciated the enemy with whom he had to deal, and kept his +own men well in hand, though he was careful not unduly to check their +courage. + +The fortune of the day continued to declare in favour of the patriots; but +Apollonius himself, surrounded by a picked force of mercenaries, still +held his ground. Shortly after noon Azariah and Micah, who had kept close +together during the battle, and had both performed prodigies of valour, +gathering a company of their immediate followers, made a determined rush +in his direction. The bodyguard, terrified by the fierceness of this +onset, wavered and fled, leaving but three or four faithful attendants, +who refused to leave their commander. + +The Greek recognized Azariah, and called to him by his name. “Azariah, if +you think that I have wronged you, I do not refuse you the opportunity of +revenge. Come out from your companions, and I will meet you alone. You are +a brave man, and would not take a soldier at unfair odds.” + +Azariah did not deign to answer; but one of his comrades replied, “Dog of +a heathen! you forget where you are. We are not contending in your foolish +games: we are the avengers of blood—the innocent blood which you have +shed; and we will slay you as men slay a venomous snake. Such equity as +you have dealt to others, we will show to you. Was it in fair fight that +you slew women and children?” + +Apollonius looked on the ring of scowling faces that surrounded him, and +saw that there was no mercy or even what he would have called the courtesy +of war to be hoped from them. “I only wish,” he said, “that I had rooted +out the whole cursed brood from the earth, and burnt the den of thieves +which you call your city, and laid the shrine of the demon whom you call +your God level with the ground!” + +“Silence, blasphemer!” cried Azariah, as he whirled his sword over his +head. + +It was not the almost worthless weapon, with its dented edge and broken +hilt, that he had carried into the battle. Early in the day he had cut +down a Greek officer, and taken the sword of the dead man in exchange for +his own. + +As he spoke he beckoned to his countrymen. They stood back, even Micah +recognizing the right of the husband to strike the first blow at the +murderer of his wife. + +Apollonius raised his sword to parry the stroke which he expected to be +aimed at his head. With a rapid change of movement his adversary changed +the blow into a thrust, and drove the point of his weapon through the +Greek’s heart. + +Azariah was drawing out his weapon from the corpse, when Judas, who had +been hastening to the spot not without some hope of himself crossing +swords with the hated Apollonius, came up. + +“A mighty weapon that!” he exclaimed, as the conqueror wiped the blade on +the dead man’s tunic. “Let me take it in my hands.” + +He poised it and judged its balance, tried the edge, and then narrowly +scanned the markings on the blade. + +“Ah!” said he, “how came you by this sword? I had observed”—and indeed his +eagle eye noted every detail—“that yours was but a poor weapon, unworthy +of your strength, and I wished to find something better for you.” + +Azariah told him how he had taken it from a Greek on the field of battle. + +“And saw you this?” he went on, pointing to the Holy Name which had been +engraved on the blade. “Doubtless this belonged to some Hebrew warrior in +time past, for the fashion of the letters is somewhat antique; the heathen +whom you slew had taken it, and now the Lord has given it back into the +hands of the faithful.” + +Azariah then related his dream. + +“The angel whom you saw,” said Judas, “was, doubtless, the angel of +battle, and the Lord has been faithful, as ever, to His promise.” + +He gave back the consecrated sword to Azariah, and took the weapon which +was still grasped in the right hand of the dead Apollonius. “With this,” +he said, “I will fight as long as I live.” And he broke out into the +triumphal chant of the Psalmist—“The ungodly have drawn out the sword, and +have bent the bow to cast down the poor and needy. Their sword shall go +through their own heart and their bow shall be broken.” + + [Illustration: _The Sword of Apollonius._] + + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + NEWS FROM THE BATTLE-FIELD. + + +While the patriots, bivouacking on the field of battle, slept the sound +sleep of those who have fought a good fight, the women, left, with the +children and the sick, in charge of a small guard, only strong enough to +protect them against casual robbers, felt the most intense anxiety. Ruth +in her cave, with the children slumbering by her side, watched through the +night, listening intently to every sound. At one time she could hear the +bats which haunted the rocks flapping and fluttering as they went out to +take their flights in the night air. Then from farther away came the +moaning of the jackals, as they hunted for their prey, with now and then +the deeper note of a wolf, or the sound, so strangely like to mocking +laughter, of the hooting owls. Everything at that moment seemed very dark +and hopeless to the anxious wife. + +“’Tis everywhere the same,” she thought to herself—“the stronger hunt and +devour the weak. The lions roaring after their prey, do seek their meat +from God. The lambs and the fawns are their prey, and God gives the +helpless, innocent things into their jaws. And will he give us to the jaws +of the heathen who are hunting us that they may devour us? Did He deliver +the thousand who died that they might not profane His Sabbath? Not so. He +suffered them to perish, to be a prey for the beasts of the field and the +fowls of the air. ‘Verily our bones lie scattered before the pit, like as +when one breaketh and heweth wood upon the earth.’” + +And then her thoughts travelled to those who were especially close to her +heart. Azariah and Micah—where were they? How had it fared with them in +the battle? Were they lying on the field of battle with stark faces turned +to the stars of heaven, and the vultures preying on their limbs? And she +shuddered, and hid her face in the coarse coverlet under which she lay, as +if she would shut out the dreadful picture that her thoughts had conjured +up before her. + +When she opened her eyes again, there was a faint suspicion of light in +the darkness of the cave. The bats came flapping back from the outer air +to their haunts in the roof. Jael, the jackal, who had been for her +nightly prowl came back with her cubs, and lay down in her accustomed +corner. The light grew rapidly stronger, and when Ruth stepped from the +threshold of the cave into the fresh morning air, though the sun was not +visible, its light had begun to touch the highest summits of the +mountains. + +Looking to the head of the pass Ruth could see her husband where he stood +at his post of observation, a spot which commanded a distant view of the +westward approaches to the encampment. As she watched him she observed him +make a signal that indicated that he had to make some important +communication. A moment afterwards she could see other men hurrying to the +spot. She bade Miriam and Judith, who were always her guests during their +father’s absence, watch the still sleeping infant, and made all the haste +she could to join her husband. When she reached him she found the little +group of watchers straining their eyes as they gazed at a body of armed +men that could be seen in the distance. “Who are they? foes or friends?” +was the question that was in every heart, though none ventured to put it +into words. + +As the vanguard of the approaching force came to an eastward turn in the +path, a ray of sunshine touched the helmets of the men and made them +glitter. + +“What is this?” said one of the men. “They went with caps of leather; +whence come these helmets of brass and steel?” + +A shudder went through the hearts of Ruth and of the other women who by +this time had joined her. If the patriots had been overpowered, and these +armed men were heathen murderers and ravishers come to wreak their +vengeance on those who had been left behind—— + +“Whence come they?” said Seraiah. “They are the spoils of the heathen.” + +As he spoke the distant sound of singing was carried by the wind up the +pass, and though the words could not as yet be heard it was recognized at +once as one of the Temple chants. The little band of sentries and women +raised a joyful shout, and hurried down the pass to meet the new comers. +And now the noble voice of Judas could be heard leading the song of +triumph. “Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle; Thou shalt +throw down mine enemies under me. Thou hast made mine enemies also to turn +their backs upon me; and I shall destroy them that hate me.... I will beat +them as small as the dust before the wind.” And now the good news had +spread like wildfire through the camp. The rest of the women hastened down +to meet and greet the deliverers, and among them Miriam and Judith, +carrying Ruth’s infant child. The first thought of all was to do honour to +the chief who had led the host of the Lord to victory. They kissed the hem +of his robe, his hands, even his feet. It was only when they had satisfied +these feelings of gratitude and reverence that they could think of private +affections. And when the whole array, the women and children now mingling +in the ranks with the armed men, reached the top of the pass, it halted +for a few minutes. The name which Micah, in his talk with Cleon, had given +to Judas had passed through the army, and had caught the popular fancy. +There was scarcely a man among them but had seen him dealing death at +every blow among the ranks of the heathen. “Hail, Judah Maccâbah! Hail, +Hammer of God!” was the cry that went up from the assembled multitude. The +title has been given in after times to other sturdy champions of the +truth, notably to him who, in the Valley of Tours, turned back the tide of +Paynim invasion;(9) but never has it been more honourably gained, or more +worthily borne, than it was by Judas, the son of Mattathias. + + + +Great as was the exultation of the patriots over their victory, no one +among them, and least of all their far-sighted general, deceived himself +with the flattering notion that it had finished the war. Every one was +well aware that the defeat and death of Apollonius was not only a disgrace +that Antiochus and his lieutenants were bound to avenge, but a disaster +that had to be repaired. It was without surprise, therefore, that Judas +heard that Seron, Governor of Coele-Syria, was marching southwards over +the great maritime plain known by the name of Sharon, with what rumour +described as a vast host. + +Judas at once resolved to repeat the policy which had been found so +successful in the conflict with Apollonius. The enemy would soon reach the +passes that led into the hill-country of Eastern Palestine; and it was +there that he must be met. To allow him to make good this movement without +opposition would be to throw away a great advantage. The Jewish commander +resolved, accordingly, to dispute the possession of the pass. With a +boldness which seemed to some of his followers to verge upon rashness, he +left Jerusalem, occupied as it was by a hostile garrison, behind him, and +marched westward till he reached the range which looks over the Plain of +Sharon to the Great Sea. + +This strategy was simple enough, though it was not wanting in boldness; +but then came the difficult question, “What road will the enemy take—the +ordinary route by Emmaüs,(10) or the more difficult way through the pass +of Beth-horon?” The scouts were at fault, but it seemed likely that a +general strange to the country would prefer the easier course. But +scarcely had Judas acted on this probability and taken up his position on +the plateau of Emmaüs, than a breathless messenger came rushing in with +the intelligence that Beth-horon was to be the point of attack. The +patriots had already been in motion since dawn, but another march was +necessary, and, if it was to be of any avail, must be executed at full +speed, and without any pause for food or rest. There had been just time to +reach the head of the pass, and to hide the vanguard behind rocks and in +the ravines that led into the main road, when the Greek force was seen to +be approaching. It was still a mile distant, and as the road was steep, +making a rise of not less than five hundred feet in the mile, its progress +was slow. It was an anxious time of waiting as the patriots watched the +hostile column drawing nearer and nearer. They could see its strength, its +dense and numerous files, the discipline showed by the precision of its +march, and its complete equipment, so different from their own imperfect +supply of weapons and armour. And there were some whose hearts fainted +within them at the sight. “How shall we, being so few, be able to stand up +against so great and strong a multitude? And now we are worn with +marching, and weak for want of bread.” Judas was indefatigable in cheering +and encouraging them. “With the Lord our God,” he said, as he went from +one company to another, “it is all one to deliver with a great multitude, +or with a small company.” Then he pointed to Ajalon, and recalled to the +thoughts of his hearers the famous associations of the place. “Do you not +remember,” he said, “how Joshua, the son of Nun, smote the five kings of +the Canaanites? The Lord was with him, staying even the sun and the moon +in their course, that He might give to His people the heritage of the +heathen, and surely He will be with us on this day, for His name’s sake, +that he may restore to us this same heritage. His enemies come against us +in the pride of their hearts to destroy us, and our wives, and our +children. But the Lord is on our side; and He will overthrow them before +our face. And as for you, be not afraid of them. Stand fast and quit you +like men.” He had not completed the round of his force—and indeed there +were some companies in it which he knew to be of temper so sturdy that +they might safely be left to themselves—when the Greeks, slowly labouring +in their heavy armour up the ascent, came within reach. Judas gave the +signal, and with a loud cry, “The Hammer of God! The Hammer of God!” the +patriots rose from their ambush, and threw themselves on the van of the +enemy. The attack was entirely unexpected, for the Greek commander was +ill-served by his scouts, and it met with no serious resistance. Almost in +a moment the Greek line was broken, and a wild flight commenced. When the +fugitives reached the plain they scattered themselves in all directions. +With his usual prudence, Judas checked his men in their pursuit of the +vanquished, but eight hundred lay dead or seriously wounded upon the +plain. + +Seraiah, who had extorted from the old physician attached to the patriot +army an unwilling permission to bear arms, had fallen fainting to the +ground, close to the entrance to the pass. Near him lay six or seven Greek +corpses. The tide of battle had passed elsewhere, and the place was +deserted. This was exactly the opportunity which Benjamin and his +associates—since his escape during the expedition to Modin he had gathered +about him a small band—had been watching. They issued from their +hiding-places among the rocks, and began to search the prostrate bodies +for spoil. The first that they came to was a Greek sub-officer, somewhat +richly attired. The man was still alive and groaned as they turned him +over to get more conveniently at the silver ornaments of his belt. “Curse +the villain!” cried Benjamin, as he drove his sword into his side; and +when the poor wretch breathed his last, went on, “A brave man might have +been left to take his chance, but such cowards as these ’tis positively a +good work to despatch. Did you ever see such a scandalous flight?—and they +were positively five to one at the very least.” + +It was now Seraiah’s turn to be stripped. He, too, gave signs of life, and +one of the robbers, an Edomite, who hated Jews and Greeks impartially, was +about to stab him, when Benjamin, who recognized his old comrade’s face, +interfered. + +“Nay, man,” he said, “’tis one of the patriots, and an old friend of mine +to boot. Look you after the others, and I will attend to this brave +fellow.” + +Hastily and with a practised hand he bound up Seraiah’s wound, for the old +place had broken out afresh. The injured man, consumed by the thirst that +follows the loss of blood, begged for water. Benjamin supplied him with a +draught from the bottle which he carried, and followed it up with some +rough wine of the country in a wooden cup. By this time the robbers, who +had finished their work of spoiling the dead, were ready to return to +their hiding-place among the hills. + +“Come, captain,” said the Edomite, “’tis time to go; you had best leave +your friend to himself, or you will see more of his countrymen than you +will quite like.” + +“Go,” said Benjamin; “I will follow you soon.” + +Seraiah was now sufficiently revived to be able to sit up. The robber +offered him bread and flesh. “’Tis clean meat,” he said. The wounded man, +however, refused it. It might be of a lawful kind, but he did not know +that it had been lawfully killed, and he contented himself with bread to +which he added a few raisins with which he happened to have provided +himself. Another draught of wine completed the repast. + +“Benjamin,” he said, when he had finished, “you are too good for this +life, for these friends. Come with us and fight on our side, for be sure +that it is the side of the Lord. I will intercede for you to our captain, +and he is as merciful as he is strong.” + +“Nay, nay,” said Benjamin, “you are too confident; yours may be the side +of the Lord, for I don’t know much about these things, but the side of the +Lord, as far as I have been able to see, does not always win. I hate these +Greeks. They robbed me of my house and everything that I had. May all the +curses that are written in the Law overtake them! But they are very likely +to get the best of it after all.” + +“Did you see how they fled to-day?” cried Seraiah. + +“Yes; you made them run,” said the robber, with a grim laugh. “It was rare +sport to see them pelt helter-skelter down the pass, like so many sheep +with a dog after them. But there are many more where these came from, and +they will simply trample you down.” + +“That will not be done so easily as you think. Is Judas the Hammer—for +that is what the people call him—a likely man to be so dealt with? Nay, +Benjamin, he is another Joshua, another David, and I am as sure as if a +prophet had told me that the Lord of Hosts is with him, and will deliver +the heathen into his hands.” + +Benjamin was silent awhile. Then he said, in an altered tone, “You say the +truth about Judas, the son of Mattathias. A better captain to lead, a +better soldier to strike with the sword, I never saw. I would gladly +follow him. And verily I would sooner fight for my people than for my own +hand. But your ways are over-strict. I cannot put up with these +‘religious’ as you call them. Why should I not eat pig’s flesh if I can +get it? It has a good relish, and it has never harmed me yet.” + +“But ’tis forbidden, Benjamin,” gently answered Seraiah, now in good hopes +of winning over this somewhat stubborn proselyte, “and you are too good a +man to give up your country for a matter of meat or drink.” + +“Aye,” said the man, “but there are other things.” + +“Nothing surely that cannot be borne,” went on Seraiah. “Oh, Benjamin, you +have saved my life to-day, and henceforth you are my brother; but I could +almost wish, but for my wife and child’s sake—you remember Ruth and the +babe?—that you had left me to die, if I am to see you return to the ways +of death.” + +The cause was almost won when, at an unhappy moment, a party of Jewish +soldiers returning from the pursuit came in sight. One of them immediately +recognized Benjamin, and gave the alarm to his companions. They rushed to +arrest him, but Benjamin divined their purpose and dashed up the rocks. To +overtake him was impossible, for he was fleet of foot and unencumbered; +but one of the Chasidim, for the soldiers belonged to this party, let fly +an arrow which struck him in the left arm. It was but a slight wound, for +the barb was not covered in the flesh; but it stirred him to a furious +rage, which was all the fiercer because, by a great effort, he had just +brought himself to yield to Seraiah’s arguments. He tore the arrow from +the wound, hurled it at his pursuers with impotent rage, and crying, “All +the plagues of Egypt consume you!” disappeared among the rocks. + +“You have lost a good recruit,” said Seraiah to his comrades when they +returned to him. + +“What should this son of Belial profit us?” one of the Chasidim haughtily +replied. “The Lord grant that my next arrow may be driven better home!” + +Seraiah made no answer, but painfully lifting himself from the ground made +his way up the pass alone. He did not care for the company of his +comrades, and they, on their part, though they could not help respecting +him as a soldier, thought him sadly wanting in zeal for the Law and for +the traditions of the elders. + +Late that night some of the fugitives, who had crossed the mountains +somewhat further to the south, reached Jerusalem. They found the city +anxiously expecting tidings of the battle; and two of their number who +were officers were at once brought into the Governor’s house. He was +indisposed, and Cleon, who had given up his post at Modin and was now +attached to head-quarters, saw the new arrivals in his stead. When he had +heard their story, he did not conceal his scorn for the mismanagement—or +was it cowardice?—that had made a well-equipped and powerful army flee +before a crowd of half-armed vagabonds. + +“It is easy to talk, my fine sir,” retorted one of the men, “when you have +only got to stop at home and find fault; but if you had seen them to-day, +you would be singing to a very different tune. By all the gods above and +below, these Jews rushed on more like lions than men. And as to this +Judas, son of Asmon, there is no standing against him. No man wants two +blows from _his_ sword.” + +“A good soldier, I dare say,” said Cleon superciliously, “and a skilful +swordsman. But there are others as good as he. And as for his army, if it +is to be called an army, it is quite impossible that it can hold out very +long. I was a little hasty in what I said just now. These fanatics have a +way of giving some trouble at first, and it is quite possible for really +good troops to be beaten by them. But it is quite out of the question to +suppose that they can resist any serious attempt to deal with them. Of +course we have made the usual mistake of making too light of them. That +must not be done again. The next expedition will be made with overwhelming +force, and will unquestionably bring this troublesome matter to an end. I +hope to go with it myself.” + +“That will be as you please, sir,” said the officer, who had not by any +means recovered his temper after the imputations cast on his courage, “but +if I may venture to say so, I would recommend that you should not get in +the way of Judas, the son of Asmon.” + +And, indeed, whatever men like Cleon may have pretended to think, from +that time “began the fear of Judas and his brethren and an exceeding great +dread to fall upon the nations round about them.” + + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + THE BATTLE OF EMMAUS. + + +The effort to wipe out the disgrace of the two defeats and to restore the +Greek supremacy was not long delayed; and when it was made, it was made +with all the force which the lieutenants of Antiochus could command. The +King himself was absent in Persia; but his vicegerent had _carte blanche_ +for the preparations which they were to make. Lysias, Governor of Syria, +had collected forty thousand foot and seven thousand horse, and this force +had been put under the command of Nicanor, Gorgias being his principal +lieutenant. This time, it was intended, the work should be done +thoroughly. This Jewish people, so obstinately troublesome, was to be +absolutely extirpated. Not a single native inhabitant was to be left in +Palestine, which was to be peopled in future by a more accommodating and +manageable race. + +This scheme, if it was to be carried out, would involve huge dealings in +human flesh, and the slave-merchants of the sea-coast cities were, +naturally, vastly interested in its success. Anxious to do the business as +cheaply and effectively as possible, they formed what, in the language of +modern commerce, would be called a “Syndicate,” and sent parties of +dealers to follow the two armies, and act as their agents when the scheme +should begin to come into practical working. + +This was the occupation, then, of four repulsive-looking creatures who had +obtained permission to follow the army of Nicanor, and whom we may see +discussing a flagon of the best Chian wine—the trade was as profitable as +it was odious—and canvassing the prospects of business. + +“Well,” said one of the four, pursuing the narrative of an interview which +he had just been having with Lysias, “we had a long debate about terms. +The Governor was quite firm about one thing: there must be no picking and +choosing. ‘No,’ he said, ‘either you buy them all, or they shall be put up +in the open market.’ ‘But what,’ I said, ‘am I to do with the old and the +weak?’ ‘And what am I to do with them?’ he answered. ‘No; you must buy +them all or none.’ There I could not move him. He could not be bothered +with detail. For so many prisoners, so many talents, half paid down, half +six months credit. Old men and women at their last gasp, and new-born +babes were all to be counted in. Those were his terms and I had to accept +them, or we should not have come to an agreement.” + +“That does not seem a good bargain,” interrupted another member of the +company. + +“Wait a moment,” said the first speaker, “till you hear the price. I think +you will agree that there is no reason to complain. At first he wanted a +talent(11) for every fifty. That of course was out of the question on the +‘take-all’ terms, and I told our friend so quite plainly. ‘No,’ I said, ‘a +talent for every hundred is about the right price, and even then we may +very well lose,’ which, you will allow, was sailing very near the wind +indeed. Well, we had a long argument. First he would meet me half way. But +I held out. You know they _must_ have money. There is Antiochus—the +‘Glorious’ they call him—gone off to Persia on a wild goose chase after +some treasures he has heard of. I’ll wager that he’ll spend more than he +gets by a long way. I have friends at Court, and they tell me that the +treasury is as empty as—well, we’ll say a wine jar, after our friend +Nicias there has had it at his mouth for a minute. So I was firm. And at +last—to make a long story short—we came to terms at a talent for ninety. +And I can’t help thinking that it is not by any means a bad bargain.” + +“And what are we to do with the worthless ones?” said one of the dealers. +“Surely having to keep them will take all the shine off our profits.” + +“Keeping them! Who talks about keeping them? We shall only have to bury +them, and that does not cost very much. You have not been long in the +trade, my good friend, and you don’t know how soon their food seems to +disagree with the poor wretches whom we can’t sell.” + +He smiled an evil smile, and the others burst out into a laugh, in which, +however, the young man who “had not been long in the trade” did not join. + +“And what becomes of all the money?” said one of the dealers, who had +hitherto taken no part in the conversation. + +“Well, a part will be wanted for present expenses, pay of the troops, +stores, and so forth; and that is to be paid in gold. But the greater part +has to go to Rome—the King, you know, owes a great deal on the indemnity +account. For that we shall find bills of exchange.” + +“Most of the money, then, is to go to Rome?” + +“Yes; and don’t you see the advantage of the arrangement? Of course most +of it will come back into our pockets. Slaves from this part of the world +are quite the fashion in Rome now; and I am very much mistaken if these +Jewish slaves don’t turn out a great success. They are quite a novelty; I +should think that they have hardly been seen in the Roman markets. And +then they have a very distinguished look, and the girls are sometimes +remarkably handsome. I don’t like to brag—and of course this is all +between ourselves—but I think that we shall make a _very_ good business +indeed out of this campaign.” + +“If our side wins, that is,” said the youngest of the dealers, who was +evidently a little discomposed by what he had heard. + +“_If_, indeed! There is no ‘if’ in the matter. You don’t suppose this set +of ragged beggars can stand against the army of Lysias?” + +“Well, they stood against Apollonius, and killed him; and they stood +against Seron.” + +“Yes, but this is another matter altogether. Lysias has got fifty thousand +as good troops as there are in the world, barring, of course, the Romans; +and they _must_ win. And then we shall all make our fortunes as sure as +the sun is in the sky.” + +And, indeed, as viewed from without, the prospects of success which seemed +to lie before the forces of Antiochus were very great. The army was +powerful—it numbered nearly eight times as many as that of the patriots—it +was thoroughly well equipped, and it was led by men who at least had the +reputation of being good soldiers. + +This time it was judged expedient to avoid the difficult pass of +Beth-horon and to advance by the easier road of Emmaüs. At Emmaüs, +accordingly, Nicanor had pitched his camp for the night, intending to move +early the next day on Jerusalem, to occupy that city with overwhelming +force, and to carry on the operations of the campaign from that base. He +was the more hopeful of success because he had received exact information +of the position of the patriot general. Benjamin had never forgiven the +painful wound which he had received from the arrow of one of the Chasidim +after the battle of Beth-horon. The injury had galled him all the more +because his feelings had been really touched by the appeals of Seraiah, +and he had seriously meditated throwing in his fortunes once more with the +cause of his countrymen. He now made his way to the camp of Nicanor, and +told him all that he knew of the position of Judas. The Greek general +despatched his lieutenant with a picked force to attack him. While the +enemy was thus occupied he should be able, he thought, to make the passage +of the mountains without hindrance or loss. + +Judas was at Mizpeh, in command of a force more numerous than any he had +before been able to collect, but still not amounting to more than six +thousand men. But the sight that this six thousand saw from the Mizpeh +ridge—the watch-tower, as it was called—was such as to rouse to fury the +hearts of all who beheld it. For there, lying before them, was the city of +their love, the city of David, of Solomon, of Josiah, of Hezekiah, of +Ezra, and Nehemiah, and they could see, only too plainly in the clear +sunset light, the horror of its desolation. The streets were empty; the +walls, in old time thronged at evening by crowds of citizens and their +families, were deserted; the gates were shut. The Temple could be seen, +but its courts were silent and empty. And, rising above, in the City of +David, in the very heart of the Jewish kingdom, was the fort of the Greek +garrison—the hateful sign of the domination of the heathen. Then followed +a touching ceremony, by which the servants of the Lord, banished from the +courts of His House, yet sought to show the reverence and the love which +they felt for its sacred precincts, for the Holy Place which they could +see with their eyes, though they might not tread it with their feet. A +numerous company of mourners, chosen to represent the whole people, ranged +themselves on the ridge which commanded the prospect so sad and yet so +dear. They were clad in garments of black sackcloth, itself ragged and +tattered, and had strewn ashes on their heads. They spread out copies of +the Law—that Law which the heathen had silenced in its own peculiar seat, +and which they had insulted and profaned, picturing on its very pages the +cruel and lustful demons whom they worshipped; the functions of the +priests had ceased, but they could at least display within sight of the +Sanctuary the garments which they wore; the sacrifices could not be +offered, but they could at least show the bullocks and rams, the +firstfruits of the cornfield and the vineyard, and present them in heart +and will; vows could not be performed, but the Nazarites, with their +unshorn locks, could stretch out their hands to the Sanctuary, and +dedicate themselves in intention. And then from the whole multitude rose +the cry, “What shall we do with these, and whither shall we carry them? +For Thy Sanctuary is trodden down and profaned, and Thy priests are in +heaviness and brought low. And lo! the heathen are assembled together +against us to destroy us; what things they imagine against us, Thou +knowest. How shall we be able to stand against them, except Thou, O God, +be our help?” + +This done, the trumpets sounded, as if to remind the mourners that they +were soldiers again, and the whole multitude fell at once into military +order. Judas carefully inspected his force. Mindful of the old indulgence +given by the Law, he proclaimed that any among his followers who were +building a house, or planting a vineyard, or had left behind him at home a +newly-married wife, should depart. Those were not days when houses were +being built or vineyards planted, for the land, save for some barren +mountain ranges, was in the power of the heathen; nor was it a time for +marrying or giving in marriage. Scarcely a man out of the whole array +claimed the exemption. And when the leader went on, “If any man be timid +or of a faint heart, let him turn back, while there is time,” only two or +three slunk away. + +To those that remained Judas addressed a few stirring words. “You have +seen,” he said, “the city of your fathers from afar, how it lies desolate +and dishonoured. Be bold and quit you like men, and the Lord will deliver +it into your hands, for He can deliver both by many and by few. Arm +yourselves at dawn, and we will fight with those nations who have defiled +our sanctuary and have now come out to destroy us.” + +But the struggle was to come sooner than any one had looked for it. +Azariah had been setting the sentinels who were to watch the northern side +of the encampment, when he heard a voice that seemed to have a familiar +sound. + +“Azariah!” it said, in a penetrating whisper. + +“I am here; say on;” and he felt sure that he recognized the voice of +Benjamin. + +“Tell your captain that Gorgias has come out of the camp of Nicanor with +six thousand men, the very choicest of his army, and that he will attack +him this night. Farewell!” + +And before Azariah could answer he was out of sight and hearing. A quick +remorse had overtaken the robber for his treacherous act, and he had done +his best to remedy the wrong. + +Judas, on hearing the news, lost no time in making his resolve. It was +bold, even audacious. He would not wait to be attacked, but would himself +attack, and that not the detachment under Gorgias, which it was quite +possible he might have some difficulty in meeting, but the main body +itself. Here he would certainly have the advantage of being utterly +unexpected. And a victory over this would be almost, if not absolutely, +decisive. + +Accordingly he left his camp at Mizpeh without attempting to remove any of +his belongings. In truth, they were scanty enough, and, if things went +well with him, he should secure spoil of a hundredfold more value than all +that he had left. With nothing but their arms, and such scanty provision +as they could carry in their pouches, his men marched through the darkness +down into the plain. + +The day was dawning when he came within sight of the camp of Nicanor. +Though not regularly fortified, it was a place of considerable strength, +which an army far more numerous and better equipped than that which Judas +had under his command might hesitate to attack. The cavalry had bivouacked +outside; the infantry were within the lines, but might be seen passing out +of the gates. + +So formidable a task did it seem to attack a fortified camp, held by a +vastly superior force, that even Judas’s band of heroes hesitated for a +moment. He felt it at once, and at once addressed himself to check it. He +called a halt, and bidding the ranks close in to as small a space as +possible, he addressed them, sending his mighty voice in the still air of +the morning with so commanding a power that it reached the very extremity +of the crowd. In a few stirring words he reminded them of the deliverances +which God had wrought in old time for His people. He spoke of the three +hundred of Gideon, how they had discomfited the host of the Midianites, of +the angel that had smitten with an unseen sword the legions of the haughty +Sennacherib. He told them of the day when Macedonian and Jew had stood +side by side against the Gallic invaders of Asia, and of how the Jew had +stood firm while the Greek had fled before the fury of the barbarian +onset. Finally he reminded them of the victories which they themselves had +so lately won against overwhelming odds. + +When he had finished his harangue, he divided the host between himself and +his brothers, John, Simon and Jonathan. Eleazar was to recite the Holy +Book, and to give his name as the watchword of the day. These arrangements +made, he gave a signal to the trumpeters. They blew a piercing blast. +Then, with a shout, “The Help of God! The Help of God!”(12) the patriots +charged. It might have seemed to an onlooker the strategy of despair, but +it was successful, as it had been many a time in history before, as it has +been many a time since. + +The Greeks stared at them, as they advanced, with astonishment. Were these +men madmen, or were they fired by some Divine fury? In either case they +would be dangerous antagonists. As the patriots drew nearer, without a +sign of hesitation or holding back, the terror which had been creeping +over the minds of the Greeks became insupportable. They broke and fled, +and did not even, so complete was their demoralization, attempt to hold +their camp. Though pursuit was shortened by the approach of the Sabbath, +which Judas would not suffer to be infringed upon even to complete his +victory, more than three thousand fell, and as the Greek line had not +waited to receive the onset of the patriots, all of them perished in the +flight. + +The work was not yet done, for the detachment under Gorgias had still to +be accounted for. This, however, gave the conquerors very little trouble. +That general had found the camp of Judas empty, and had naturally +concluded that its occupants had been frightened away by his approach. He +started in pursuit, but without being able to find any clear traces of the +route which the supposed fugitives had taken. Probably, he thought, this +would be in the direction of the mountain retreat from which they had +issued. It was long before he satisfied himself that he was mistaken; but +the peasants whom he questioned were evidently truthful when they declared +that they had seen nothing of the force of which he was in search. He had +to retrace his steps, and could not do this till he had given his men a +rest, wearied as they were with almost incessant marching for a night and +a day. It was late in the afternoon before he arrived in sight of the camp +of the main body, and by that time Judas’s victory had been won. He was +astonished and alarmed to see that part of it was on fire. Shortly +afterwards a fugitive from the defeated army came in with news of what had +happened. Neither Gorgias nor his men were in any humour to encounter the +patriots; they hastily turned and made the best of their way to Jerusalem. + +Information of this retreat was soon brought to Judas by his scouts, and +he felt that now at last he and his followers might enjoy their victory. +The Sabbath was given, as usual, to rest and devotion. A great service was +held, a prominent feature of it being the chanting of the great Psalm of +Thanksgiving,(13) “O give thanks unto the Lord, for His mercy endureth for +ever.” The marvels of creation, the deliverance from Egypt, the passage of +the hosts of the Lord through the Red Sea, the fall of the Amorite kings +who had sought to stop their way to the Promised Land, the possession of +the inheritance which had been promised to the fathers—all these blessings +were enumerated, and after each new theme, given by the clear voices of +the singers, rose the thunderous chorus of reply from the multitude, “For +His mercy endureth for ever.” + +On the first day of the week the spoils were divided. The division was +made with scrupulous fairness, and with a reverent regard to the +injunctions of the Law. The wounded received a special consideration for +their sufferings; a share was reserved for the widows and orphans of the +slain; and those to whom had been given the unwelcome duty of staying +behind to guard the encampment were not forgotten. The rich furniture of +the officers’ tents, the gold and silver plate, the many-coloured silks, +and robes of Tyrian purple, with a well-furnished pay-chest, made together +a splendid booty. + +Among the prisoners was the party of slave-dealers to whom our readers +were introduced at the beginning of this chapter. + +“Who are you?” cried Judas, when they were brought before him, “and what +do you here?” + +“We are merchants,” said their spokesman, “brought by business into the +camp of his Excellency Nicanor.” + +“And in what merchandize do you deal?” asked Judas, though, as may be +supposed, he was perfectly well acquainted with their occupation. + +“We deal in the prisoners of war,” answered the man. “Permit me, sir,” he +went on, “to congratulate your Excellency on the splendid victory that you +have won, and to beg the favour of your custom. We offer the best of +prices for goods, and pay in ready money or in bills on the best houses, +quite as safe as cash, I can assure you, and far more convenient to +carry.” + +“Do you know this document?” asked Judas, holding up a piece of parchment +which had been found among the property of the slave-dealers. + +The man turned pale and said nothing. + +Judas then proceeded to read aloud: “It is hereby covenanted between the +most excellent Lysias, Governor of Syria, on the first part, and Theron +and his Company, dealers in slaves, on the second part, that the said +Lysias shall hand over, and that the said Theron and his Company shall +take all persons that shall be captured in the operations now about to be +begun by the army of the said Lysias. And it is further covenanted that +the said Theron and Company shall pay to the said Lysias or such other +persons as he shall appoint, the sum of one talent of gold for every +ninety persons delivered alive into the hands of the said Theron and +Company. Furthermore it is agreed that the said Theron and Company shall +have no claim for a drawback for any such persons dying after they have +been once delivered; but that a drawback shall be allowed at the rate of +six _minæ_(14) for every person, who, as being a loyal subject of our lord +and king Antiochus, or of any prince in friendship and alliance with him, +shall have been wrongfully taken prisoner.” + +“Know you this document?” + +Theron stammered an assent. “It is but a common matter of business, my +lord. Such covenants must be drawn up, and, doubtless, they sound somewhat +harsh.” + +“Ye have digged a pit, and are fallen into the midst of it yourselves,” +said Judas, in a voice of thunder. “Let them be taken with the followers +of the camp to the slave-market of Sidon.” + +“Mercy, my lord!” cried the dealers, falling on their knees. + +“Such mercy as you have shown yourselves you shall have, and no more. Lead +them away.” + +“Nay, my lord,” cried Theron, struggling away from the soldier who had +grasped him by the arms, “you do ill to deal so harshly with men that have +not borne arms against you.” + +“You have done tenfold worse,” was the answer. “I know your works. You +sell our youths to the mines, where the young man grows old and decrepit +before he has reached to middle age, and the maidens you sell to shame; +and the old and sick you slay with the sword or poison. Take them away.” + +“Listen once more, my lord,” cried the man, in an agony of despair. “We +have money; not here, of course, but with those whom we represent; if you +should want a loan, we can find it for your Excellency, and at low +interest, lower than you will find elsewhere.” + +“Take them away!” thundered Judas. + +And taken away they were, still screaming out, as they were dragged off, +offers of ransom, or loans at five per cent. interest, or no interest at +all. + +The next day Judas and his army, richly laden with spoils of every kind, +returned to the sanctuary among the hills. + + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + THE BATTLE OF BETH-ZUR. + + +Several months have passed since the scenes described in the last chapter. +During the winter Judas has been increasing and consolidating his army, +and he has now a force both more numerous and better equipped than any +that he had hitherto commanded. Again he has marched to encounter the +Greeks, but he has no easy task before him. Lysias in person commands the +Syrian army. Antiochus has sent him some veteran troops from the capital; +he has raised fresh levies of his own, and he has enrolled in his ranks +the remnants of the armies of Seron and Nicanor. Altogether he has +collected an army of sixty thousand men, and must out-number his +antagonists at least five times. The struggle will be of a critical kind, +and the victory, if won at all, can hardly be won without grievous loss. +The Greeks are fighting for their last stake. If they lose this they are +disgraced. + +The experience of a soldier’s wife had not lessened the anxiety with which +Ruth waited for news of the battle. This time all that were especially +near and dear to her had gone with the army—her husband, her brother, and +Azariah—all had run or were even then running deadly peril of their lives. +When the news came it might find her utterly desolate, a widow indeed. + +During the night these terrors had had almost undisputed sway. It seemed +impossible to her to recall the holy words which at other times brought +comfort to her soul. Some dreadful picture of her dear ones lying cold and +stark upon the battle-field would rise up before her eyes; and again and +again the hideous laughing of the hyenas, echoed among the hills, seemed +to her like the mocking triumph of the heathen. + +The light of morning brought, as it is wont to bring, if not cheerfulness, +at least a more hopeful spirit. Anyhow she had not to lie in forced +inaction. The daily duties had to be done; and she could find in them not +forgetfulness, indeed, but the wholesome invigorating influence of work. +Her first task was to fetch the daily ration of food. Miriam and Judith +accompanied her, and her little boy was now old enough to toddle by her +side. The girls had already begun to bear the burdens of a woman’s cares, +but the child was in happy unconsciousness of trouble, and there was a +certain infection of cheerfulness in his laughter and prattle. + +Ruth’s way to the store where the rations were distributed led past the +point from which the best view of the pass could be obtained. She scanned +the prospect eagerly as she went, but could see nothing. On her return she +espied the figure of a man who seemed—for he was still almost too distant +to be distinguished—to be approaching. + +“Look, girl,” she cried, “surely some one comes yonder, and he must be +bringing tidings of the battle. Oh! if they are safe——” + +As she spoke she dropped the piece of flesh, which she was carrying, from +her hand; and immediately a vulture swooped down and carried it off. + +The watchman had now descried the figure of the traveller, and made the +signal which was to indicate to the inmates of the encampment the fact +that tidings from the army was at hand. In an instant all that were able +to move had poured out, and were hurrying to the top of the pass. + +The messenger was Micah, whom, as one of the fleetest runners in the army, +Judas had selected to carry the news of his victory. He had traversed the +distance, which could not have been less than thirty miles, at a pace +which had sorely tried even his athletic frame. He flung himself on the +ground, panting convulsively for breath, and unable to speak. One of the +elders poured a few drops of cordial into his mouth, and by degrees he +recovered his powers. His first act was to kneel and with outspread hands +to thank the Lord of Hosts. “We thank thee, God of our fathers, that thou +hast delivered us out of the hand of the enemy, and brought us unto the +haven where we would be.” Then, amidst the breathless attention of the +listening crowd, he told the story. + +“Judas the Hammer,” and as he said the name a murmur of blessing could be +heard from the whole assembly—“Judas, the Hammer of God, has smitten the +enemy to pieces. Two days since he met Lysias—for the Governor himself was +in command—at Beth-zur. There by that valley of Elah, where David slew +Goliah of Gath, has the Lord God of Israel proved again that the battle is +not to the strong nor the race to the swift. Judas himself led the right +wing; the left he had given to Seraiah and Azariah, whom I myself had the +privilege of following. The lines of the two armies were about equal in +length; nor, indeed, was there room on either side for more; but they had +their ranks forty deep and more, and we but seven or eight at the most, +for they were many times more numerous. But the Lord showed once again +that He can deliver as surely by few as many. Our captain, than whom no +man has a more generous temper, though he would gladly have been the first +to advance against the enemy, granted that privilege to us. Then we +shouted, as we did in the day of Emmaüs, ‘The Lord is our Help!’ and ran +forward. While we were yet half a furlong from them, we saw them tremble +and waver; and before we could cross our swords with them their line had +broken. That done, their numbers availed them no more, but rather hindered +them, so crowded and crushed together were they. We slew till we were +weary of slaying.” + +“And what befell Lysias, the Governor?” asked one of the elders. + +“He had posted himself over against Judas himself, judging that there +would be the most need of his presence. And indeed they say—for I myself +did not see him, being, as I have said, on the other side of the +field—that he bore himself as a brave soldier and a good captain. And +Judas, when he saw him, pressed forward, seeking to meet him face to face. +But Lysias was struck with terror and fled. He had not the heart to abide +a stroke from the Hammer. He escaped with some hundred horsemen of his +bodyguard from the field. The prisoners say that he is gone to Antioch to +gather another army. Let him gather it. We will deal with it and him as we +have dealt hitherto with the enemies of the Lord.” + +“And what does Judas now?” asked the elder. + +With a look of joy and triumph Micah lifted his head and said, “He is in +Jerusalem. The Lord has given back into our hands the Holy City, the City +of David His servant.” + +It is impossible to describe the delight with which this announcement was +received. The women, even the men, wept for joy. This was indeed a +glorious gain of victory. Last year they could only see the Holy City from +afar, and weep over its desolation. Now they could pour out their love and +their sorrow within its sacred precincts. + +“Yes,” he repeated, “Judas is in Jerusalem, and is making ready to purify +the Temple. And you are to return as speedily as you can. The days of your +exile are over. Our God has recalled His banished unto Him.” + +His public mission finished, Micah could give time to private affection. +He went with Ruth and the children to their cave, and then, after sharing +their morning meal, told them all they wanted to hear. Seraiah and Azariah +were both safe, though both had had narrow escapes, Azariah’s helmet +having been broken in by a sword-stroke from a gigantic Gaul, and Seraiah +being saved by a little roll of the Prophecy of Daniel, which he always +carried about with him—it was a gift from his wife—and which had stopped +the point of a javelin that would otherwise have pierced his heart. Ruth +and the children were never satisfied with asking questions and listening +to his answers. Even the little Daniel seemed to understand something of +what was being said, as he listened, with his baby-eyes wide open, to the +talk of his elders. + +“And Cleon,” asked Ruth, “the Greek with whom you used to be so friendly +in time past—did you see him? You met him, you told us, in Modin, and +parted in anger; did you meet him again?” + +A cloud seemed to pass over Micah’s face at this question, and for a few +moments he was silent. + +“Ah! Ruth,” he said, “the Lord be merciful to him, as He has been merciful +to me! And did I not sin against Him tenfold more grievously than any +heathen could have sinned? For was I not a child of the Covenant, and had +I not light and knowledge, whereas he was born in ignorance and knew not +of the mercies and deliverances which I knew, and knowing despised.” + +“Is he a prisoner, then?” asked Miriam, “and will Judas spare him?” + +“He needs no mercy from man, my child,” said Micah, solemnly. “In the +battle I did not meet him. That was well. I should have been loath to +cross swords with him; and yet I could hardly have failed to do so. But in +the evening, when Lysias had fled eastward with the remnants of his host, +and the victory was won, I saw him on the field of battle. The captain +himself was with me, as we went among the wounded and the dead, looking +for any to whom we could give such help as they needed. He had been +pierced with a ghastly wound through the breast. And when Judas saw him, +he said to me, ‘Ah! that is a brave soldier, and as good a swordsman as +ever I met. I had a hard bout with him this morning, and had he not +slipped in making a blow, it might have gone ill with me. Do you know +him?’ ‘Yes;’ I said, ‘in the old time, when I mingled with the heathen and +walked in their ways.’ ‘See, then, whether you can help him in any way; I +love a brave man, be he heathen or no.’ I was willing enough to do +anything that I could for him, you may be sure; one glance at that pale +face was enough to chase away all the anger with which we had parted. +‘Cleon!’ I said. And he knew me and smiled—a very wan and feeble smile, +but still a smile. Then I tried to stanch the blood that was flowing from +his wound. ‘Nay,’ said he, ‘’tis idle; I am past all help; let it flow, +and I shall be sooner out of my pain. But, dear Menander—nay, pardon me, I +should call you Micah—give me some water to drink, for I have a raging +thirst.’ I had a leathern bottle of water, and gave him a draught. Then I +rested his head upon my shoulder, and bathed his forehead with the water. +Judas meanwhile had gone further, and I saw a party of the Chasidim +ranging the field, and I thought that they could scarcely pass us by +without seeing us, so I said to Cleon, ‘Let me lay you down till these are +past; for if they know you as a friend of Jason they will not spare your +life. ’Tis better to feign death than to meet it at their hands.’ Then he +smiled and said, ‘No need, Micah, to feign death. Your Hammer has smitten +me down, and I shall not need another stroke.’ And almost as he spoke the +words, he died. And just then the captain came back, and we buried him +where he had fallen. The Lord have mercy on him!” + +“But will He have mercy on the heathen?” said Miriam, who had begun to +think. + +“Nay, child—who knows?” answered Micah. “Surely some of us need His pardon +more than they, who have not known Him, nor have been called by His name.” + + [Illustration: _Farewell to the Mountains._] + +The next day Micah returned, in obedience to orders, and two or three days +afterwards all the party that had been left in the mountains followed him +to Jerusalem. It was a happy day, but saddened, for the children at least, +by one loss. The jackal, Jael, followed the party awhile, but when they +reached the plain, stood still and watched them disappear, making mournful +cries the while. Even the prospect of seeing their old home could not +quite reconcile the children to the loss of this strange playmate, who had +yet grown so dear to them. + +And so the rugged mountains which had afforded a refuge to the faithful +remnant were left again to silence and solitude. But the memory of what +the confessors and martyrs had endured in the evil days was never to +perish. Generation after generation remembered with sympathy and reverence +what men, aye, and weak women and children had borne for conscience’ +sake—cold and hunger and nakedness, and that anguish of soul which is +harder to be endured than all bodily pain. Two centuries later, an +inspired Hebrew, writing to Hebrews, commemorated the noble endurance of +this faithful band in his famous roll of the triumphs of faith: “They +wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, +tormented, of whom the world was not worthy; they wandered in deserts and +mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”(15) + + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + IN JERUSALEM. + + +Among those who watched the approach of Judas and his host to Jerusalem +were two men, one in extreme old age, the other numbering, it would seem, +about fifty years. They wore the priestly garments, old indeed and +threadbare, but still clean and showing many signs of careful repair. +Theirs was a strange history. For two years they had been in hiding in the +city. When Apollonius had filled the streets of Jerusalem with blood, the +murderers had sought with especial care for all priests and Levites. To +them at least no mercy was to be shown. These two men—Shemaiah was the +name of the elder of the two, and Joel that of the younger—had narrowly +escaped death from the soldiers of Apollonius. They had taken refuge—so +close was the pursuit—in a garden, the gate of which happened to be open, +and had hidden themselves in the bushes till nightfall. Where they were, +who or of what race was the owner of the house, whether they were likely +to meet with more mercy from his hands than they could expect from the +soldiers, they knew not. But that hiding-place was their only chance, and +in their desperate strait they snatched at it. While they were debating in +whispers whether they should throw themselves on the compassion of this +unknown person, they saw—for it was a moonlight night—the figure of a +woman walking down a path which passed close by their hiding-place. They +could see from her features, which the brilliant moonlight of the East +lighted up, that she was a countrywoman of their own, and they resolved to +appeal to her for protection. Shemaiah, whose age and venerable appearance +would, they judged, be less likely to alarm, threw himself on the ground +at her feet. She started back in astonishment. + +“Lady,” he said, “I see that you are a daughter of Abraham. Can you help +two servants of the Lord that have so far escaped from the sword of the +Greeks?” + +She was reassured by a nearer view of the speaker. “Who are you?” she +said. “Speak without fear, for there is no one to harm you.” + +Shemaiah told his story. + +“And your companion,” said Eglah—for that was the woman’s name—“where is +he?” + +The old man called to Joel, who came forth at his bidding from his +hiding-place. + +Eglah stood for a few minutes buried in thought. Then she spoke. + +“As I hope that the Lord will have mercy on me and pardon my sin, so will +I help you even to the giving up of my life. But I am not worthy that you +should come under my roof. Now listen to my story. When Antiochus—the Lord +reward him for the evil that he has done to His people!—came to this city, +I was seized and sold for a slave. And a certain Greek soldier, Glaucus by +name, the captain of a company, bought me in the market. He had compassion +on me, and dealt honourably with me, and made me his wife after the +fashion of his people. And I consented to live with him, though I knew +that it was a sin for a daughter of Abraham to be wife unto a man that was +a heathen. But alas! sirs, what was I to do? for I was a weak woman, and +there was no one to help me. Should I have slain him in his sleep, as +Judith slew Holofernes? Once I thought to do so, and I took a dagger in my +hand, but when I saw him I repented. Whether it was fear or love that +turned me I know not. That I was afraid I know, for the very sight of the +steel made me tremble. And I must confess that I loved him also, for he +had been very kind and gentle with me; and there is not a goodlier man to +look at in all Jerusalem.” + +“Be comforted, my daughter,” said Shemaiah, whose years had taught him a +tolerance to which his younger companion had, perhaps, scarcely attained. +“’Tis at least no sin for a wife to love her husband.” + +“Then you do not think me so wicked as to be beyond all hope?” cried poor +Eglah, eagerly. + +“Nay, my daughter,” said the old man; “you were in a sore strait, and all +women are not as Judith was.” + +“Then you will not refuse to come into my house? I have a large cellar +where you can lie hid. ’Tis under the ground, indeed, but airy and dry, +and you can make shift to live there. And I will feed you as best I may. +My husband has an open hand, and never makes any question as to the money +that I spend upon the house, and he will not know what I have done. I +judge it best to keep the thing from him, not because I fear that he would +betray you—for he is an honourable man and kindly, but it would go hard +with him, being an officer in the army of the King, if it should be +discovered that he knew it.” + +And so for two years Shemaiah and Joel had inhabited the cellar in Eglah’s +house. Glaucus, the husband, was just the kindly, generous man whom his +wife had described. Once or twice he had terrified her by some joking +remark about the rapidity with which the provision purchased for the house +disappeared. “When we dine together, my darling,” he said, on one +occasion, “you eat what would be scarce enough for a well-favoured fly; +but I am glad to think that you are hungry at other times.” “O husband,” +she said, “there are many poor of my own people, and I cannot deny them.” +She hoped as she said it that the falsehood would not be counted as +another sin against her. “Nay, nay, darling,” said the good-natured man. +“Give as much as thou wilt. Thank the gods and his Highness the King I +have enough and to spare.” + +Glaucus, though allowed to live in his own house, had, of course, to spend +much time upon his military duties, and was, consequently, often away. +During his absence Eglah could bring out the two prisoners from their +underground lodging, and allow them to enjoy the fresh air of the garden, +which, happily, was not overlooked. She gave them the best food that her +means would procure, and at the same time took pains, as has been said, to +keep their garments scrupulously clean and neat. On the whole they passed +the time of their captivity in tolerable comfort, and without much injury +to their health. Latterly they had been cheered by the tidings, always +given to them at the very earliest opportunity by their hostess, of the +successes of Judas. Within the last few days Glaucus had told his wife +that a decisive battle was expected, that it would probably be fought at +Beth-zur, and that if her countrymen won it, there was nothing that could +hinder them from taking possession of Jerusalem. + +Glaucus, who held a command in the garrison of the fort, had not been with +Lysias at Beth-zur, but he had heard late on the evening of the day of the +result of the battle and had, of course, told it to his wife, and she in +turn had communicated it to her inmates. They had been scarcely able to +sleep for joy, and had eagerly waited for news of the conqueror’s +approach. Evening was come, and Eglah had not paid them the accustomed +visit. The house was curiously silent; all day not a sound of voices or +steps had reached their ears. And now the suspense had become unbearable. +“Go forth,” said Shemaiah to his younger companion, “go forth, and bring +me word again.” Joel crept out of his retreat. The streets were deserted; +but the fortress was crowded. The garrison stood thickly clustered on the +walls, and with them were many inhabitants of the city. It was easy to +guess that what Glaucus had foretold had happened. Judas was on his way to +take possession of Jerusalem, and all who had compromised themselves by +resisting him, had either fled from the place altogether or had taken +refuge in the fort. He returned to Shemaiah with a description of what he +had seen, and the two at once hastened down to the walls to greet the +deliverers. + +The sun was near its setting when they entered the city. Without turning +to the right or left, though many must have been consumed with anxiety to +hear the fate of kinsmen and friends, they marched to Mount Sion. It was +an hour of triumph, the fruition of hopes passionately cherished through +many a dark day of sorrow. To stand once more in the place which God had +chosen to set His name there, how glorious. But it had its bitterness, as +such hours will have, for it was a miserable sight that greeted them. +Nothing, indeed, had been done of which they had not heard. There was +nothing that they might not have expected or foreseen. Yet the actual view +of the holy place in its dismal forlornness overpowered them. It was as if +the sight had come upon them by surprise. “When they saw the Sanctuary +desolate and the altar profaned, and the gates burnt with fire, and shrubs +growing in the courts as in a forest or one of the mountains, and the +chambers of the priests pulled down, they rent their clothes, and made +great lamentations, and cast ashes upon their heads, and fell down flat to +the ground upon their faces.” + +To repair this ruin, to put an end to this desolation, to purify the place +which had been so shamefully polluted, was the first duty of the +deliverers. But that the work might be done in peace it was necessary that +the fortress of Acra, to use military language, should be masked. A strong +force was told off to perform this duty; the rest would lend their aid to +the great work of purification. + + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE. + + +Azariah and Micah had been put under John, the eldest of the five +brothers, in command of the force employed to blockade the garrison of +Acra. The night had passed quietly; the garrison had not attempted a +sortie, and had not even harassed the besiegers with a discharge of +missiles. And when the morning came they seemed inclined to continue the +same inaction. From the high ground the two Jews looked down upon the +Temple courts and saw the priests directing a crowd of eager helpers in +the work of cleansing the Sanctuary, and labouring diligently with their +own hands. The first task was to pull down the idol altar which had been +erected on the altar of burnt-offering. This was done in a fury of haste. +The hands of the workmen could not, it seemed, move fast enough in +destroying the abominable thing. The stones were carried out of the temple +with gestures of loathing and disgust, and afterwards taken to the Valley +of Hinnom—unholy things to be cast away in an unholy place. + +But the stones of the holy altar itself had been polluted by the +superstructure that had been erected upon them. What was to be done with +them? At least it was manifest that they could not stand where they were. +Sacrifice could not be offered upon them. They were reverently detached +from the cement which bound them together, and then borne one by one to a +chamber of the Temple, where they were to be laid up till a prophet should +arise who should show what was to be done with them. The first duty of +dealing with the altar completed, came the work of cleansing and repairing +the courts and chambers. The long, trailing creepers were pulled down; the +weeds and shrubs were rooted out. The place was still a ruin, but the +manifest signs of its desolation and abandonment were removed. So numerous +and so eager were the labourers that for this part of the work a few hours +sufficed. The task of reparation would, of necessity, be longer and more +tedious. + +Azariah and Micah had been watching the work with perhaps a more absorbing +interest than was quite consistent with their duty of watching the +garrison, when suddenly one of the sentries blew an alarm. Scarcely had it +sounded when a flight of arrows from the garrison of the fortress fell +among the besiegers. The Greeks had watched their opportunity, and when +almost all eyes were turned on the work that was going on below, had sent +a volley among the ranks of the enemy. + +This sudden attack did no little damage. One or two of the patriots were +killed on the spot, several were seriously wounded; the others either +covered themselves with their shields, a precaution which they ought not +to have neglected, or sought refuge among the ruins. + +Azariah, though he had been caught a little off his guard, was not +unprepared to deal with a manifestation of this kind. He had organized a +company of slingers, and he now ordered them to advance and clear the wall +of its defenders. They knelt with one knee upon the ground, and covered +themselves with their shields. Under this shelter they loaded their +slings. Then, rising rapidly at a preconcerted signal from their +commander, they sent a simultaneous and well-directed shower of leaden +bullets on the defenders of the wall. These missiles, sent with a skill +and a strength in which the Jewish slingers were unsurpassed, had a +marvellous effect. In a moment the wall was cleared, except that here and +there along its length the dead and wounded might be seen. The survivors +did not venture forth from shelter to carry them away. A fierce conflict +followed. From the loopholes of the towers and from behind the battlements +the Greek archers kept up the discharge of their arrows, and the Jewish +slingers replied. No great damage was done on either side; but every now +and then a skilful aim at some exposed body or limb was followed by a cry +of pain from the wounded man, and the cry was taken up by a shout of +triumph from the hostile force. In the course of the afternoon a storm +came on, with thunder and lightning and a deluge of rain. Before it had +cleared away the light had failed, and hostilities had perforce to be +suspended. + +About the beginning of the second watch(16) Micah, who was making a round +of the sentries, heard the sound of something that seemed to fall heavily +upon the soft and plashy ground. The rain had ceased, and the sky had +partially cleared; for a few minutes all was still; then Micah could hear +a sighing which was not the sighing of the wind. He followed the guidance +of the sound, and found a woman lying almost insensible upon the ground. +He called one of the sentinels to help him, and together they carried her +under shelter, and brought torches, by the light of which they might +examine her injuries. That she was stunned by the fall was evident, for +she did not speak, and when they attempted to move her she groaned with +the pain. When left alone she did not seem to suffer much, and they judged +it best to wait for the morning, administering meanwhile a little wine and +water from time to time. + +The next morning four of the soldiers were told off to remove her on a +litter that had been constructed for the use of the wounded to a deserted +house in the Lower City—and of deserted houses there was only too great a +choice. As the bearers put down their burden on the way to take a brief +rest a strange figure came up to the party. It was a woman, young and +still showing the remains of beauty, but with a miserably haggard look. It +was easy to see from her uncertain gait and wandering eye that she was a +lunatic. + +Huldah had been for some time a well-known figure in Jerusalem, and her +story was of the saddest. She had been a servant in the house of Seraiah, +and had been Ruth’s own waiting-maid. Returning home from some errand on +which she had been sent one day at the beginning of Apollonius’s reign of +terror, she had been seized by the attendants of the newly-dedicated +Temple of Jupiter, and made a slave. Before many weeks had passed the +cruel outrages to which she was subjected overthrew her reason. Thus +become a trouble to her captors she was permitted to escape. Since then +she had been accustomed to wander about the city. The horrors of the past +still haunted her, and the recollection of the abominable idolatries in +which she had been forced to serve. At every pool of water and fountain +she would stay and wash. From every passer-by she would beg for something +that might serve for her cleansing: it was the one craving of her soul to +be rid of its defilement. For food or money she never asked; but a few +kindly souls in the city gave her enough to support life, and sometimes +would renew the garments, threadbare, but always scrupulously neat and +clean, which she wore. Of these friends the kindest was Eglah, who had a +fellow-feeling for the sufferer, and who was always on the watch to atone +by her charitable deeds for what she believed to be the great offence of +her life. + +Huldah cast a glance at the litter in passing, and at once recognized in +the suffering woman her own benefactress. For indeed it was Eglah whom +Micah had found under the fortress wall. The recognition made a marvellous +change in the poor maniac. It turned her thoughts in another direction. +She ceased to dwell upon her own sufferings, and, for the time at least, +reason regained its sway. + +She knelt down by the side of the litter, and kissed one of the hands that +hung listlessly down. Then, rising to her feet, she arranged the cushion +on which Eglah lay so as to make it more comfortable. That done, she bade +the bearers take up their burden, made a gesture of dissent when they were +turning aside to the house to which they had been directed, and led the +way to Eglah’s own dwelling. + +The unhappy creature was positively transformed by the charge which had +thus been laid upon her. The most intelligent and thoughtful nurse could +not have done better for her patient than did the poor distracted Huldah. +A physician who was called in examined Eglah, and found that though she +had been sadly bruised and shaken, no bones were broken. Whether any +internal injury existed was more than he could positively say; that time +alone would show. Meanwhile careful attention was all that could be done +for her, and attention more careful than Huldah’s it would be impossible +to imagine. + +The two priests who had found shelter in Eglah’s house were naturally +among those whom Judas had summoned to take part in the cleansing of the +Temple when he made proclamation for all such as, being of the House of +Aaron, were “of blameless conversation and had pleasure in the Law.” Posts +of special dignity were, indeed, conferred upon them, for both were men of +high reputation for sanctity and learning, which was not a little +increased by the romantic story of their long seclusion and marvellous +escape. Judas assigned them quarters near to his own, and was accustomed +to have frequent recourse to their advice. They thus found themselves +almost constantly employed, and were unable for several days to find an +opportunity of inquiring what had happened to their protectress. + +When at last they found their way to the house Eglah had sufficiently +recovered her strength to be able to rise from her bed. She was sitting, +busy with her needle. Huldah was watching her with an intense look of +affection that was infinitely pathetic. + +The poor woman told her story with a voice that again and again was broken +with sobs. + +“When I was preparing your morning meal in the kitchen my husband, whom I +had never before known to set foot in the place, suddenly appeared. I was +greatly terrified lest he should ask for whom I was getting the food +ready, but he was too much occupied with other things to notice it at all. +‘Eglah,’ he said, ‘you must come with me into the fort. Judas the Hammer +has broken our army to pieces. Lysias has fled before him, no one knows +whither, and within a few hours he will be in the city. I would have you +here, for the fort is scarcely a place for a woman, but I fear your +people. Haply they may slay you as having been yoked to a heathen. My +darling,’ he went on—and here poor Eglah’s voice was choked with tears—‘I +have done ill for you, I fear; but I meant it for the best. And now, I +fear, you must cast in your lot with me. May the God whom you serve turn +it for good.’ So I gathered a few things together, and went with him. I +thought many times that we should scarcely have reached the fort alive, +for the people cursed us as we went, the women especially casting many +bitter words at me as one that had left her people to join herself to the +heathen. But my husband had some six or seven soldiers with him; and they +were brave men and well armed. We had not been many hours in the fort +before there began a battle between the garrison and the soldiers of +Judas. One of my husband’s men, who had gone in a spirit of folly and +vanity to show his courage, was struck down with a stone, and my husband +ran forth to drag him in. And just as he was returning, another stone from +the slingers struck him on the back of his head. It was about the ninth +hour of the day when he was wounded, and he lived till the beginning of +the second watch, but he never spoke again.” + +Here the poor creature’s story became confused and broken, and her +listeners could only guess what had followed. The tale of what followed +must be told for her. “‘Ah!’ said one of the soldiers, ‘Glaucus has it. He +will never move again, I reckon. A good fellow, but overstrict.’ ‘But how +about the Jewish girl whom he calls his wife?’ said the other; ‘I shall +take her.’ ‘Nay, nay; let there be fair play between us, comrade, as there +has always been. Why you more than I?’ ‘Because I was the first to speak.’ +‘Not so; ’twas I that first spoke of her.’ ‘Well, we won’t quarrel, +comrade. No woman is good enough to separate old friends. Let us cast the +dice for her, and the man that wins shall stand treat for a flagon of +wine.’ And then Eglah heard them cast the dice, and count the numbers—they +would have twenty throws a-piece, they said—and curse and swear when they +threw low. And when they had finished their dice-throwing they came in to +see how Glaucus fared; and just as they entered the chamber, he drew a +long breath and died. One of them put his hand upon his heart and said, +‘’Tis all over with him; he will never toss a flagon or kiss a pretty girl +again.’ And then he laid his hand upon Eglah’s shoulder, and said, ‘Cheer +up; we will find another husband for thee as good as he.’ But the first +said, ‘Nay, Timon, leave her alone. The women are not like us. You must +give them a few hours to cry.’ ‘Well, well,’ said his comrade, ‘you were +always soft-hearted. Let us come and have our flagon; there is no reason +why we should wait for that.’” The comrades went on their errand and left +the widow alone with her dead husband. She kissed him, and cut off a +little curl of his hair, and then went forth on the wall—for the chamber +in which he lay was in one of the wall-towers—and threw herself down to +the ground. It was better, she thought, to die than to sin again. + +“Daughter,” said Joel, “you should thank the Lord that, without your own +doing, the tie that bound you to this heathen man is broken.” + +“O sir,” broke out the poor woman, “do not say so. I cannot find it in my +heart to thank Him, though I do try to say in my heart, ‘Thy will be +done.’” + +“Brother,” said the old Shemaiah, “you are too hard upon her. ’Tis right +that a wife should mourn for her husband, be he Jew or Greek. Before the +Lord, I had thought ill of her had she been of the temper that you would +have her.” + +Eglah turned to the old man a grateful look. “O sir,” she said, “you do +not know how kind and good my Glaucus was. I never had an angry word from +him. Nor did he ever hinder me from my prayers. Rather he would say when I +went three times to my chamber to pray, ‘Speak a word for me, wife, if you +will.’ And he would oftentimes speak to me about my God, and say that he +liked Him better than the gods in whom _he_ had been taught to believe. +And I used to tell him stories out of the Book, and how the Lord had +delivered his people out of the land of Egypt, and had brought them into +the land which He sware to Abraham to give him. And he never mocked or +laughed, but listened with all his heart. And, sir, I do sometimes think +that if he had been spared to live longer, he would have become one of us. +But he is dead, and I shall never, never see him any more.” + +And the poor desolate widow burst out into a passion of tears, and threw +herself prostrate on the couch, Huldah trying to comfort her, not with +words—which, indeed, she could not command, and which, in any case, would +have been of small avail—but with great demonstrations of love. + +After a while Eglah looked up, and turning to Shemaiah, in whose sympathy +and charity she trusted, said, “O, sir, do you think that there is any +hope for him? Must he go into that dreadful Gehenna? For indeed he was +kind and good, and never thought of any woman but his wife, and never +injured one of our people, but would help them and defend them when his +fellows were rough with them. He was better than many Jews that I know. Is +it not possible that God may have mercy upon him?” + +Joel was about to speak, but Shemaiah beckoned to him to hold his peace. +“My daughter,” he said, “these things are too deep for us; but I would +say, be of good hope for him that is gone, seeing that he was such as you +say. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? To some He giveth much +light, and to some but little; and He judgeth each according to that which +He has given. Therefore I bid you be of good cheer.” + +“And may I pray for him?” asked Eglah. + +“Surely you may, for no prayer, so that it come out of an honest heart and +pure lips, but finds some fulfilment.”(17) + +He rose and, giving her his blessing, departed, followed by Joel, whose +narrow intelligence was not a little startled by what his old companion +had said. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. + + +Jerusalem now began to assume an aspect very different from that which it +had borne for some years past. Thousands, who had been driven away by the +terrors of the evil days, now hastened to return. Many of the lower class, +constrained by the necessity of poverty, had always remained, enduring +persecution as best they could, and often, of course, escaping it by their +obscurity. Now the wealthier inhabitants began to flock back from their +hiding-places in the country and from foreign lands; the streets again +began to be busy; the shopkeepers displayed the wares which there had been +no one to purchase, or which they had been afraid to show; the long-shut +markets were reopened and thronged with purchasers. + +The priests alone, gathered as they were from their abodes scattered +throughout Palestine, made a considerable addition to the population of +the city. They were a numerous class, far beyond any requirements of their +sacrificial duties, and commonly remained at home, awaiting the rarely +recurring occasion of services that called them to Jerusalem. But now a +work was before them in which all could take part, for the Temple, having +been cleansed and having received such repair as could be done at once, +was to be dedicated afresh. + +The first necessary work was the construction of a new altar of sacrifice. +This work was to be of the primitive kind, in strict conformity to the +Law, and as unlike as possible to the elaborate erections of the alien +worship, and it was to be done, from first to last, by the consecrated +hands of the priests. They dug out of the earth of the valley rough +stones. No tool of iron was to be used in raising them from their place; +none was to be employed in hewing them into shape. It was the priests +again who solemnly conveyed them into the Great Court of the Temple, who +joined them together with mortar, and covered them with whitewash. +Meanwhile other preparations for a wholly renovated service were being +busily carried on. Most of the furniture of the Temple had been carried +off by a succession of plunderers; if any of the less valuable and less +easily removed articles had been left these had suffered an irremediable +defilement. Everything therefore had to be replaced; and workmen were now +busily employed in this work. The altar of incense, the candlestick with +its seven branches, the table on which the loaves of the shew-bread were +to be placed, the mercy-seat with the overshadowing cherubim that was the +chief feature of the Holy of Holies, and the various curtains that were +needed for the separation of the various parts of the building, were +manufactured with all possible haste, some of the articles, from lack of +time and materials, being intended to serve their purpose only till they +could be more worthily replaced. Generally, however, it was time rather +than means that was wanting, for in the late campaigns treasure almost +enough to replace the spoliations of years had been taken from the Greeks, +and this, after being duly purified and blessed, could be devoted to holy +uses. + +And so came on the day that had been appointed for the Feast of +Dedication. It was to be the 25th of the month Chisleu.(18) It was a +memorable day, both for good and evil, in the annals of Jewish worship. On +this day, ages before, Jerusalem, the newly-won capital of the nation, had +been finally chosen as the place where God should set His name; for on +this day David, as he made atonement in the day of pestilence, bought the +threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite to be the future dwelling-place of +the Presence of the Lord God of Israel. And on this day, again, five years +ago, the first idol sacrifice had been offered within the consecrated +precincts. + +In the early morning, before the sun had risen upon the earth, a spark was +obtained by striking stone against stone, the fire was rekindled on the +altar, the golden candlestick was lighted and the table of the shew-bread +duly furnished with its twelve loaves. + +Meanwhile the rest of the people also had been busy in making preparations +for the great celebration. Every family, even the poorest, was to keep +festival on the day that was to be a new beginning of the national life. +The women and children were early afoot, gathering branches of palms and +other “goodly trees”; none of them having busier hands than Ruth and her +nieces. Even the little Daniel would take his part in the work, tottering +along by his mother’s side with his arms full of boughs. When they had +gathered as great a burden as they could carry, Ruth gathered her little +company about her, and told them, just as the rising sun began to flood +the valley with its slanting rays, the story of the day—of the glory and +the shame which it had brought to Israel. + +And now, as the time of the morning sacrifice drew near, the whole people +moved in one great stream towards the Temple, and the Great Court was +crowded. On the walls of the fortress the heathen soldiers of the garrison +stood in throngs watching the solemnities of the day. Some of them, of +course, were ready with their mockery; but most looked on in respectful +silence. Many of them had witnessed the prowess of these strange fanatics +in the field. They might be given over to a “senseless and tasteless +superstition,” but they could deal shrewd blows with their swords, and +therefore they were not to be despised. No truce had been arranged, but +one was tacitly observed. The forbearance of the Greeks was partly due to +a wholesome awe of the Jewish archers and slingers, partly to a curiosity +that, as has been said, was not wholly unmixed with respect. + +Then came the solemn ritual of sacrifice. This ended, the whole +congregation of the people united in solemn supplication to the Lord God +of Israel. Usually it was the custom to stand during the office of prayer; +sometimes the attitude of kneeling was used; now, as if to express the +intensity of their feeling, they threw themselves flat upon their faces, +and poured out their entreaty that evils such as they had endured in the +past might never again come upon them in the future. “O Lord,”—this was +the burden of their prayer,—“if we sin against Thee any more, do Thou +chasten us Thyself with Thine own hand, after the multitude of Thy +mercies. Make us suffer that which shall seem good to Thee here in our own +land, but scatter us no more among the heathen, and deliver us not again +unto the nations that blaspheme Thy holy name.” + +The prayer ended, came the great Psalm of Thanksgiving; and then the +people dispersed to their houses to hold festival. Their mirth was +prolonged far into the night, which, indeed, was almost turned into day +throughout the streets of Jerusalem, so brilliant was the light that +streamed from the lamps set in almost every window. + +For eight days the Feast of Dedication was continued. Each day the +services began with the customary morning sacrifice. At earliest dawn the +Master of the Temple summoned the priests who had been watching round the +fire in the gate-house as they waited for his summons. Then they went out +and fetched the lamb for the burnt-offering. The creature had already been +examined on the previous day, and pronounced to be free from spot or +blemish. This done, they went outside the court in which the great altar +stood, and watched for the coming day. The Mount of Olives stood between +them and the East, and far behind it were the mountains of Moab. Here the +first streaks of the morning light were to show themselves. Then the +priest whose turn it was to slay the victim of the day bathed in the great +laver. Thus purified for the performance of his office, he stirred up the +burning embers from under the ashes of the altar, and added fresh fuel. +This done, he was joined by the other priests, and the morning sacrifice +was offered. Then followed the special ceremonies of the festival, among +them the prayer for deliverance from captivity, as already given, and the +singing of the great Thanksgiving. And every day the public services were +followed by private rejoicings. No one could have believed that the +rejoicing city, gay with its brightly dressed throngs of merry-makers and +resounding with the music of tabret and harp, was the desolate place so +long trodden down by the heathen. There had been days in the past when the +most hopeful could scarcely discern any light in the darkness. But now +they could see the “silver lining of the cloud.” In this very Temple, now +dedicated afresh with such joyous zeal, but a few years before, the +priests “had left the sacrifices when the game of the Discus called them +forth.” That deadly folly had been purged with blood. The brutal violence +of Antiochus had saved the nation from an imminent relapse into +heathenism. + +Among the many hearts that were gladdened by these rejoicings there was +one, as sorely burdened as any, that had found a complete deliverance from +the troubles of the past. The unhappy Huldah, in proportion as her charge +gained strength, and her work became less absorbing, had seemed to be +falling back into her old condition. For the time her thoughts had been +concentrated on the suffering Eglah; now they were free to be turned upon +herself, her own troubles, her own dismal memories. Eglah did all she +could to keep her employed, and the girl’s gentle and affectionate nature +still felt her influence. Yet it was evident that unless some remedy could +be found the old madness would resume its sway. + +On the first day of the Dedication festival, the two were standing +together in the Court of the Women. The priests, who were making a circuit +of the whole building, sprinkling everywhere the blood of purification, +came in due course to the spot. As they performed their office a drop fell +upon the garment of Huldah, who had been joining in the prayers with an +earnestness almost frenzied. The effect was marvellous. In a moment the +excitement passed away. Her eyes lost their wandering look, and, in a tone +calmer and more collected than any that she had ever before been known to +use since the time of her trouble, she said, showing the crimson spot to +Eglah—“He has heard my prayer; He has sprinkled me with the blood of +cleansing.” She stood silent and collected until the whole ritual was +finished, and when the time for the hymn of thanksgiving came round joined +her voice with a quiet happiness to the voices of the congregation. + +When the people returned to their homes Huldah left the Temple in company +with Eglah. But it was evident that her strength was exhausted. She could +barely totter along with all the help that Eglah and a neighbour could +give her, and when she came to the house of Seraiah and Ruth, which +happened to lie in her way, she sank almost unconscious to the ground. +Providentially at that moment Ruth came up with her husband and the little +Daniel. + +“She seemed so much better in the Temple—was quite calm and peaceful +again—and now I am afraid that she is going to be very ill,” said Eglah. + +Woman’s wit suggested to Ruth a happy thought for dealing with the +sufferer. + +“Leave her to me,” she said. “She was happy here once, and here, if it +please the Lord, she will be happy again.” + +Ruth and her husband carried her into the house, and laid her upon her bed +in her old chamber. Once there she was able to swallow a little broth +which had been hastily prepared, cast one grateful look of recognition at +her old mistress, and then fell into a deep sleep. The next morning she +awoke, entirely restored to reason, and, though still somewhat weak, able +to go about the household tasks in which she had been once employed, and +which she resumed at once without a question, and as if, indeed, they had +never been interrupted for a day. The three years of misery were entirely +blotted out of her memory; nor did any spectre from the past ever come +back to trouble her. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS. + + +The Feast of Dedication having been kept and made an ordinance in Israel +for ever,(19) Judas’s next act was to fortify the restored Temple. It was +exposed, even more than the rest of the city, to a sudden attack from the +garrison of the fort, which might work irreparable mischief could it gain, +even for an hour, possession of the sacred building. Accordingly a high +wall, strengthened at intervals by towers, was now erected round it, and a +force was told off from the army to watch it. This done, the patriot +leader could attend without anxiety to other cares. At Beth-zur a fortress +was erected and strongly garrisoned to guard the Eastern frontier +especially against the attacks of the Idumeans, who, under their new name, +inherited all the old Edomite jealousy of Israel. After personally +superintending the erection of this stronghold, Judas marched against +other tribes on the east and south, who had been taking advantage of the +troublous times to plunder their Jewish neighbours. The Arabs of the +Negeb, or South Country, were defeated at a pass near the Dead Sea, which +bore the appropriate name of the Pass of the Scorpions; the Ammonites, +another tribe whose kinship with the chosen people seems to have +embittered their hereditary enmity, were defeated under their Greek +leader, Timotheus. + +Meanwhile life at Jerusalem had been settling down into a peaceful order. +The younger of the two priests whom Eglah had befriended had found scope +for his energies by joining the army; Shemaiah, the elder, was again an +inmate in the house which had sheltered him, where Eglah, who had never +forgotten the charity with which he had spoken of her husband, tended him +with all the care of a daughter. The old man was never tired of hearing +the story of the two dismal years during which he had been in hiding. + +“Ah, father!” she said to him one day, “you were not so ill off in your +poor prison after all. Had you had your liberty you would have seen altars +to the false gods in every street. And it was not safe to pass them +without showing some sign of reverence.” + +“And how did you fare, my daughter?” asked the old man. + +“I could avoid them, knowing where they were, by passing by on the other +side, and my good Glaucus—the Lord have mercy on him!—was always kind and +helpful. He would fetch the water regularly from the fountain, where there +was an altar to the Naiad, as they called the demon of the spring, which I +could not have avoided. The people used to laugh at him for doing a +woman’s work, but he did not heed them. O why was he taken away before he +could learn the truth? I think that he would have known it if he could +have lived a little longer.” + +And the poor woman burst into a passion of tears. She was always haunted +with this fear of her husband’s fate, and reproached herself with not +having been earnest enough in speaking of the truth to her husband. + +“Peace, my daughter,” said the old man, gently; “the mercies of the Lord +are without end, and His ways past finding out. Be sure that He will not +forget the kindness that was showed to a daughter of Abraham. But tell +me,” he went on, anxious to change the subject—“tell me how we came to +find the courts of the Temple desolate and overgrown as though no one had +entered them for months? Did you not say that there were sacrifices there, +and feasts to the demons whom the Greeks worship?” + +“Yes, father; it was so for a time. But soon there were few or none to +make sacrifices, for the city was utterly impoverished. So the priests, +whom Philip the Phrygian and Apollonius—the curse of the Lord be upon +him!—brought in to serve at the altars, went elsewhere, for, of a truth, +they would have died of hunger had they stayed here. O father, it was a +mournful existence; of a truth we were fed with the bread of affliction +and the water of affliction.” + +As they talked Ruth came in with a troubled face. + +“O Eglah!” she cried, “I did hope that we should have peace and quiet, but +there are wars and rumours of wars on every side. This morning letters +came to the captain from our brethren in Gilead. That evil Timotheus—would +to God he had not escaped out of the hand of Judas!—has gathered together +a host of the Ammonites and slain some—a thousand, ’tis said, with their +wives and children, and shut up the rest in the fortress of Dametha. And +now my husband and my brother are in council with the captain, and I fear +me much that they will be sent to the wars, for indeed,” she added, with a +touch of a woman’s pride in those that are dear to her, “Judas esteems +them highly, and will always have them in places of trust. Nor would I +keep them back from helping the Lord’s people. But hark! I hear his step.” + +As she spoke Seraiah came in from the council. + +“How is it?” cried Ruth, with trembling voice, her fears again getting the +upper hand. “Do you go? and Azariah?” + +“Yes, my dearest, I go, and next in command to the captain and his +brothers.” + +Ruth flung her arms round her husband’s neck. “Oh! I am proud of you; but +yet if you could have stayed, for our little Daniel is so young——” + +And she could say no more. + +“Nay, wife, be of good cheer, and do not grudge us to the Lord’s service, +for indeed there is need of us all. Even while the letters from Gilead +were being read there came messengers from Galilee with their clothes +rent. From them we heard that the men of Ptolemaïs and of Tyre and Sidon +and all Galilee of the Gentiles were gathered together. Then it was +determined that Simon should go to Galilee with three thousand men, and +Judas and Jonathan to Gilead.” + +“And what of Azariah?” + +“He and Joseph, the son of Zachariah, are to be left in the city with the +remnant of the army as captains of the people. They are to have the +Governor’s house, and you, with our little Daniel, will live there while I +am away. This will be well for you, and for Miriam and Judith also, for +there will be many coming and going, and Miriam is a fair maiden, as she +should be, being kin to you.” + +Ruth smiled through her tears at the lover-like compliment. + +“Come now,” Seraiah went on, “and get ready what I shall want for my +journey, for we set out at sunset.” + +The two women kissed each other, and the old priest blessed Seraiah. “The +Lord give thee strength in the day of battle, and deliver thee out of the +hand of the enemy, and bring thee back to the house of thy fathers.” + +At sunset exactly—for Judas was one of the commanders who are exactly and +punctually obeyed—the two expeditions set forth. + +Their departure was, of course, observed by the garrison of the fort, who +were encouraged by it to make some fierce sallies on the diminished forces +of the patriots. These were as fiercely repelled, and in a few days things +settled down again into the virtual truce which had existed for some time +between besiegers and besieged. + +Eight days after the departure of the expeditions tidings of victory came +from the main army under Judas. The captain of the host had taken Bozrah, +in Edom. The place lay at least a hundred miles to the east; but the +patriots had covered the distance with unexpected rapidity, and, reaching +the place before there had been any notion of their approach, had taken it +almost without resistance. The messenger had left, he said, as soon as the +place was taken, but Judas had marched the same night to Dametha, which +was in urgent need of relief. + +The next day came in tidings of further success. Dametha and its garrison, +with the crowd of helpless fugitives which had sought shelter within its +walls, was safe. The night march from Bozrah had been made just in time. +Had it been delayed till morning it might well have been too late. The +Ammonites had chosen that very day for a fierce assault upon the place. +Just as the day was dawning and the assailants were close under the walls +Judas had appeared. His approach had been observed by the besieged, who +had watched it from the citadel, but the assailants were taken by +surprise. Hemmed in between two attacking forces, the garrison who made a +sortie from the town and the army of the patriots in the rear, they had +been utterly routed. Timotheus had barely escaped with his life, and had +fled northward, followed by Judas in hot pursuit. A few days afterwards +came the news that the campaign was at an end—begun and finished within +the space of two weeks. This time the captain had found time to write a +despatch. It ran thus:— + +“Judas, Captain of the Lord’s host, to Azariah, greeting. Know that the +Lord has delivered the enemy into our hands. Timotheus, having suffered +defeat at Dametha, fled northward to a temple where the heathen worship +the ‘Two-horned Ashtaroth,’ a strong place by nature and skilfully +fortified. I judged it better that I should not spill the blood of the +people of the Lord in assaulting it, and so, having cleared the walls of +defenders by help of my slingers, I surrounded it with great quantities of +faggots. To these I caused fire to be set, nor did my slingers suffer the +Ammonites to approach to put out the flames. In the end the whole was +consumed, and Timotheus perished in the fire. The Lord has rewarded him +according to his deeds. So much for what has been done: now for what +remains to do. This country is not as yet a safe dwelling-place, and will +not be till the heathen shall be more thoroughly subdued. It is my +purpose, therefore, to bring the people of this land to Jerusalem. +Provide, to the best of your ability, for their food and lodging. +Farewell!” + +The exultation felt by the people at Jerusalem when the tidings of their +final victory reached them passes description. The times of David, they +were sure, were about to return. The promise was once again to be +fulfilled—“He shall reign from the flood [the Euphrates], unto the world’s +end.” In the Temple chant of the day the words went—“I will not be afraid +of ten thousands of the people that have set themselves against me round +about. Up, Lord, and help me, O my God, for Thou smitest all Thine enemies +upon the cheek-bone. Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.” + +But when tidings of still further victories, won by Simon in Galilee, came +in to swell the popular enthusiasm, there was a certain change of feeling, +something of the jealousy that almost inevitably springs up when great +deeds are done. Joseph and Azariah chafed at the life of inaction which +they were forced to live at Jerusalem, and what they thought in their +hearts the soldiers did not hesitate to express openly. “Let us also,” so +ran the common talk—“let us also get for ourselves a name, and go and +fight against the enemies of the Lord.” + +On the day after the tidings of Simon’s victories came in the two captains +were waited upon by a deputation of soldiers, who came to urge that they +might be relieved from the inaction to which they were condemned, an +inaction made all the more hard to bear by the glories that were being won +elsewhere. Azariah and Joseph listened with attention, and, indeed, were +at no pains to hide their sympathy. + +“The men are right,” said Joseph, when the deputation had withdrawn. “They +will lose all heart if we keep them idling here.” + +“In my heart I am inclined to agree with you,” answered his colleague; +“but what did the captain say?—‘Watch the garrison of the heathen that +they do no hurt to the city and the Holy Place while we are away.’ But he +said nothing of going elsewhere, and I should be unwilling to disobey him, +for, beyond all doubt, the Lord is with him.” + +“Nay, brother, you are too narrow in your thoughts of obeying. We obey him +best if we do the best that we can for the cause of the Lord. And though I +honour Judas greatly, yet he is but a captain in the Lord’s host, even as +we are. Why should we not do as he has done? And tell me, Azariah,” he +went on, “do you think that the vision which you saw when the angel of the +Lord brought you a sword with the Name written on it has been altogether +fulfilled? Shall this sword which he bade you use for the Lord always +abide in the scabbard? Is this the life to which you are called?” + +“You speak truly,” said Azariah. “I can scarcely be faithful to my trust +if I suffer the sword of the Lord to rust. But tell me, what think you we +had best do?” + +“Gorgias,” said Joseph, “is encamped at Jamnia, and does great mischief to +the land and the people; if we can drive him out we shall earn great +thanks both from the captain and from our brethren.” + +The resolution of the commanders was heard with unmingled delight by their +men, and with almost equal pleasure by the inhabitants of the city. Some +of the more cautious disapproved, and Shemaiah even made his way to the +Governor’s house—no easy task for his scanty strength—and remonstrated +with Azariah. “My son,” said he, “your strength is to sit still. Make not +too much speed, and be not over-bold.” He was listened to with respect, +and even with some compunction on Azariah’s part. But it seemed too late +to retreat. To hold back now would infallibly give rise to the charge of +cowardice, and Azariah, brave as a lion against all outward danger, had +not the rare moral courage which would have enabled him to face such an +accusation. + +At sunrise on the day after the resolution had been taken, the expedition +set out with confident expectation of victory, and watched from the walls +by an eager multitude. At sunset a miserable remnant came straggling back +into the city. They had fared, as their fathers had fared many centuries +before, when, with the like unauthorized daring, they had assaulted the +hill fortress of Ai, and had returned, bringing discouragement with them. +Gorgias had sallied out from his hill fortress, had charged the Jewish +force with full advantage of the ground, and had driven them in headlong +flight before them. Azariah and Joseph had done all that leaders could do +to turn the tide of battle, but their efforts had been in vain. Two +thousand men had fallen, the wounded being, perforce, left to the mercy or +cruelty of the enemy. + +The city was filled with mourning for the dead; and, of course, there was +a rapid revulsion of feeling against the leaders whose rash action had +ended in such disaster. “Who are these men,” was the general cry, “who +have caused the people of the Lord to perish? They are not of the seed of +those by whose hand deliverance is given to Israel.” + + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + MORE VICTORIES. + + +The heathen in the fort observed the return as they had observed the +departure of the expedition that had ended so disastrously. Their sallies +became fiercer and more frequent, and Azariah, his forces weakened by the +loss of two thousand men, found it difficult to repel them. Nothing could +have exceeded the energy with which he devoted himself to this duty, or +the courage with which he executed it. Night and day he was at his post, +for it was here only that he found a refuge from the anguish and doubt +which tormented him; here only the reproaches of the widows of the slain +could not follow him. He allowed himself no rest; sleep he seemed +absolutely to do without, and food he hastily snatched at any moment when +the opportunity offered. + +One remission only from this task he allowed himself, and this because it +was a duty. He paid a daily visit to his children. They, too, poor little +souls, had not escaped a share in the trouble. The life which they had led +for the last two years had developed their understanding beyond their age, +and they felt, if they did not fully appreciate, their father’s +unhappiness. One consolation they had, the care of two little orphans—the +father had fallen in the expedition, and the mother had been struck down +by the news of her husband’s death—who had been taken into the house and +put under the charge of the elderly kinswoman who looked after Azariah’s +household. + +On one of these occasions he found the aged Shemaiah. His first impulse +was to avoid the old man, but a few words of sympathy overcame him; his +self-control broke down, and hiding his face in his robe he shed the rare +and painful tears of a man. + +When the first outburst of grief was over he spoke. + +“Tell me, father, why has God forsaken His servant who trusted in Him. I +went out in faith—and see the end. Would that I had died in the battle!” + +“My son, may it not be that you tempted the Lord? Did you count the cost +when you went forth against Gorgias, whether you had force sufficient for +the attack, or skill to handle it?” + +“Does faith, then, go for nothing? Had Judas men enough, as soldiers +reckon in such matters, or skill enough, seeing that he had had no +experience in war, when he overthrew Apollonius? Yet the Lord gave him the +victory because he trusted in Him.” + +“My son, God gave the victory to Judas, having first given him not +strength only and courage, but skill also and understanding. He gives not +the same gifts to all: to Moses wisdom and learning, but to Aaron eloquent +speech; to David the arts of war, but to Solomon the arts of peace. Think +you that because you are a servant of the Lord, you are therefore to +choose the service that you will do? You would be captain of the Lord’s +host like Judas. Would you also indite psalms with David, and devise +proverbs with Solomon? The Spirit of the Lord divideth to every man +severally as He will. To Mattathias He gave discernment to see in Judas +the leader and commander of the people, and the people were obedient to +him. And so Judas discerned in you one who might be entrusted with the +defence of the city, but not with the warfare against the heathen that are +without. This was your service, but you were not content with it. Think +not that the Lord has forgotten you, but rather that you have left the +place in which you were set.” + +This was plain speaking, but given with such gentleness and sympathy that +the rebuke healed more than it wounded. Humbled yet comforted, Azariah +returned to his post before the fortress. But he could not forget that his +great trial was yet to come. Nor was it long delayed. The next day it was +evident that something was happening that had attracted the attention of +the garrison. The highest tower was crowded with soldiers who were +intently watching something that could not be seen from below. And indeed +it was a remarkable spectacle. Judas was returning with his victorious +army, escorting at the same time a vast crowd of non-combatants, men, +women, and children, the whole population of the country beyond Jordan, +which could no longer be inhabited with safety, and all Jerusalem had gone +out to meet the champion. Then, in a moment, the tower was deserted, the +gates were thrown open, and a furious sortie, the last that could be +attempted with any hope of success, was made with the whole force of the +garrison. It was with a desperate courage that Azariah repelled the +attack. Never had he exposed himself so recklessly. He could almost have +wished to fall in the fight; for now the dreaded meeting was at hand, and +he had to render up to his chief the trust which he had so abused. The +attack was repelled, and then Azariah had to remain in an inaction that +was almost unbearable till he should be summoned to the interview with his +chief. + +The sun was just setting when a soldier presented himself, and, after +saluting, said, “The general seeks you.” + +“Has he summoned the council?” asked Azariah, who dreaded a public +censure. + +“Nay,” said the man; “he is alone.” + +And Azariah followed him to the captain’s house, with such a tremor in his +heart as no dangers of battle had ever caused. + +What followed at the meeting was never known, save as far as the result +was concerned. Shemaiah was awaiting his return, and the first glance +showed the old man that things had gone well with his friend. The burden +of trouble was gone. Azariah looked brighter and more cheerful—so great is +the force of reaction—than he had done since he had lost his Hannah. +Shemaiah felt that there was no need to question him, and waited in +silence for what his friend should please to tell him. What he heard was +this: + +“The captain would have kept me in the office to which he appointed me +when he departed. He said—and I repeat his words, not for my own glory, +but for a proof of his generosity—‘No man could have better kept the +heathen from the fort in check than you have done. Therefore, I would have +you stay where you are. I must go again to the wars, for the Idumeans and +the Philistines have to be subdued. And I shall go with a lighter heart, +leaving the defence of the city in your hands.’ But I said to him, ‘O my +lord, let me rather go with you. You have accomplished to the full the +work unto which you were sent of God, and have come back, having redeemed +from captivity and death our brethren from beyond the river, nor lost one +of your own people. But I, going in the presumption of my heart to a +warfare unto which I was not sent, have accomplished nothing; I have +wrought no deliverance for my people, and the bones of two thousand of my +brethren lie scattered on the plain. Henceforth I am but a sword in the +hand of the servant of the Lord.’ But the captain said nothing. Let it be +as he will. As for me, I am content, for I know that he has pardoned me.” + +Whatever the kind of service in which Judas might see fit to employ his +lieutenant, it was clear that there would be no lack of work for him to +do. + +The victories of Judas in Gilead had been followed by successes won by +Simon in Galilee. And from Galilee, as from Gilead, there had been a great +migration of the inhabitants, who sought in Jerusalem a safer home than +they could find in their own country. + +And now, at the head of a more powerful army than he had hitherto been +able to collect, Judas set out. His first object was Hebron, which had for +some time past been in the possession of the Idumeans. He took it by +assault; it might almost be said, so unexpected was his coming, by +surprise. Indeed, one cause of his success was the extraordinary rapidity +and secrecy of his movements. Almost the moment that his plans were +formed, he was on his way to execute them. Even if there had been traitors +or spies in his camp—and such were almost unknown—any information which +they could send to the enemy was outstripped, so to speak, by his action. +Hebron had to be abandoned after its capture, for he could not spare a +sufficient garrison to hold it. All that could be done was to take care +that it should not, for some time at least, become a stronghold of the +enemy. Its citadel was destroyed; the towers on the wall burnt, and a +furlong of the wall itself broken down. + +From Hebron the Jewish leader marched southward, and then turning eastward +invaded the country of the Philistines. Azotus, which was supposed to be +safe on account of its maritime position, and was, in consequence, +negligently guarded, was assaulted with success, and its temples and +altars destroyed, though Gorgias was still in force at Jamnia, only nine +miles to the north. Several of the smaller Philistine towns were taken on +the return march to Jerusalem; and altogether this people received a +lesson which they were not likely soon to forget. All this was +accomplished with very little loss. Joel, the priest, however, was killed +at Azotus, where he had recklessly exposed himself in the attack. + +Great as was the popular rejoicing at these victories, it was nothing to +the exultation caused by the next tidings that reached +Jerusalem—Antiochus, the oppressor, the blasphemer—Antiochus was dead! + +The day after the return of the army a Syrian runner was caught while +endeavouring to make his way into the fortress through the lines of the +besiegers. He had been sent by Lysias with a despatch to the commander of +the garrison. The document was of the briefest. It ran thus: + + + “_Lysias, the Governor, to the most valiant Eucrates._ + + “Know that our most excellent Lord and King, Antiochus, surnamed the + Illustrious, is dead in Persia. Let the soldiers that are with you + swear allegiance to the son of our departed master by the name of + Antiochus Eupator, which he has taken to himself in remembrance of the + glories of his father.”(20) + + +The man, when questioned by Judas and the council, was able to supplement +the bare news of the King’s death with some interesting details. He had +had some talk with the messenger who had brought the tidings to Antioch, +and had heard all that was as yet known. His story ran thus: + +“The King was in Persia when he heard how his armies had been defeated, +not once or twice only, in the land of Judæa. Great was his rage—so great +that for the space of three or four hours none dared to come near him. +Then he summoned his counsellors to him, and said, ‘I will destroy this +nation of rebels till there shall be not one of them left,’ and giving up +all other plans he marched westward with all his army. But on his way he +came to the city of Elymaïs, where there is a temple, the treasury of +which is reputed to be more wealthy than any in the whole land of Persia, +for it has never been spoiled within the memory of man. Even the great +Alexander left it untouched, adding also much of the spoil which he had +taken himself. This temple the father of the King had sought to plunder; +but the people of the city rose against him, and drove him away. When the +King came to this city he said, ‘Here is another nest of rebels. Did they +not rise against the King, my father? Verily I will avenge his memory upon +them.’ So he went into the city, having some five hundred soldiers with +him. And the magistrates received him with honour. And when he said, ‘I +would see your temple and its treasures,’ they consented. ‘Only,’ they +said, ‘it is our custom that no armed man may come within the precincts.’ +‘Will you strip me of my sword?’ said the King. ‘Not so,’ they answered, +‘but your followers must be without any, and not more than ten in number.’ +When the King heard this he was greatly wroth, and said to the magistrates +of the city, ‘I will come in despite of you.’ So he went, he and his five +hundred, to the square in which the temple stands. But he found the whole +place filled with an armed multitude, and when he would have forced his +way into the precincts he was beaten back, losing not a few of his +soldiers, and being himself struck on the head with a stone. After this, +whether it was from his rage, which became more terrible than ever, or +from any other cause, I know not; but the King was smitten with some +disease, and could no longer ride, as he had been wont, but was carried in +a litter. And they say that the stench of his wounds was so great that the +men who bore the litter could scarcely endure it, but were changed +continually. So they brought him to Tabol, in the land of Persia, and +there he died, being terribly tormented with pain. And I heard that when +he was dying, he cried out with a most lamentable voice repenting him of +the wrong that he had done against the gods in robbing their temples.” + +“Of what did he speak?” asked one of the council. + +“Nay,” said the man, “that I know not. Some said that he spoke of this +Temple in Jerusalem, and some that it was the temple in Elymaïs, where men +worship the moon-goddess, that was in his mind. But more I do not know.” + +Judas rose up in his place and repeated the last words of that great +triumphal chant in which more than a thousand years before Deborah and +Barak had celebrated the overthrow of another king who had mightily +oppressed the children of Israel. + +“So let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord, but let them that love Him be as +the sun when he goeth forth in his might.” + + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + THE SABBATICAL YEAR. + + +A time was now approaching to which the responsible leaders of the people +looked forward, for the most part, with great anxiety. This was the +Sabbatical year. During a whole twelve months it would not be lawful to +carry on any offensive war, or, a far more serious matter, to till the +ground. Debate ran high as to whether the Law could be observed in its +strictness. There were many who asked, with no little show of reason, +“Will it be possible in times so troublous to keep a year of rest? Moses, +when he commanded it, thought of a people dwelling quietly in a land from +which they had driven out all their enemies. As things are now, these +enemies are about us, and even in the very midst of us. And then the +harvest? Will it suffice to feed the people, already more than twice as +numerous as in the previous year, and daily increasing?” + +The answer of the Chasidim was peremptory. “For what,” they asked, “have +we suffered and fought? For what did the martyrs lay down their +lives—Eleazar the priest, and the mother and her sons, and Hannah, the +wife of Azariah, and others without number? For what did Mattathias wear +out the remnant of his years? Was it not for the Law, that it might be +kept whole and undefiled? Might we not have lived in peace, and stood high +in favour with the King, if we had been content to forsake the law of the +Lord our God? And now that He has given us the victory, and delivered us +from the hand of the heathen, so that we may serve Him without fear, shall +we cast His commandments behind our backs? Were we not few in number, and +scarcely armed, and yet did He not give into our hands great armies, well +equipped with shield and sword and spear? Were we not well-nigh perishing +of hunger among the mountains, and did He not richly supply our needs? +Surely the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof, and, if He will, +He can make that which it bringeth forth of itself to abound even as the +fields which the sower has sowed and the reaper has reaped?” + +And the Chasidim had their way, as zealous men are wont to have it, when +they know exactly their own minds and what they want. The Sabbatical year +was proclaimed. There was to be no labour, no ploughing or sowing, no +tendance of oliveyards and vineyards. The people were to live simply and +wholly on the bounty of the earth. + +The first month of the Sabbatical year itself bore the name of the +Sabbatical month. Into this were crowded three of the great feasts and +celebrations of the year—the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and +the Feast of Tabernacles. But the whole year was to be one round of +religious celebrations. To the daily sacrifices in the Temple were added +special services of intercession, praise, and thanksgiving. Nor did the +Temple-worship alone satisfy the religious wants of the people. The +synagogues were thronged, and that not on the Sabbath only but on every +day of the week. The Law and the Prophets were read and expounded, not, we +may be sure, without many stirring references to the events of the day. + +All this religious enthusiasm was wanted to support the people under the +hardships of the time. Provisions, if they did not actually run short, +began to rise in price. Judas and his council did their best to prevent +it; but the selfish instincts of the possessors of corn could not be +overcome; stores were held back from the market, and the poorer class, +swollen as it was in numbers by the great immigration of the preceding +year from Gilead and Galilee, began to suffer seriously. + +Meanwhile the insolence of the Greek garrison was increasing daily. The +Jewish soldiers contented themselves, or endeavoured to content +themselves, with repelling attack. This meant, of course, standing exposed +to showers of missiles which they could not return, and it tried their +patience to the uttermost. Even some of the Chasidim were heard to murmur +that there must be some limits to this endurance; among the besiegers in +general, who had not risen to the height of Chasidim zeal, a spirit of +discontent was growing up that might well have become dangerous. + +Before long, however, the evil worked its own cure. One sabbath-day, about +the beginning of the month which we should call November, there was a +great solemnity in the Temple, and the outposts of the besieging force had +been more than usually weakened. Ruth, with her little Daniel and her two +nieces, was going towards the Temple, escorted by her husband and Micah, +when one of the lower gates of the fortress was suddenly thrown open, and +a party of Greeks rushed out upon the party. Seraiah and Micah were both +armed, but for some minutes they had to make head against their assailants +alone. One of the soldiers who had seized Ruth was promptly felled to the +earth by a blow from Micah’s sword; and Seraiah did similar execution on +another. But the odds were too great for them. Micah was brought to the +ground, and it was only by desperate efforts that his brother-in-law could +save him from being stabbed as he lay. Ruth, meanwhile, being left without +help, was carried off to the very gates of the fortress. And then, just +before it was too late, came the longed-for help. The two girls, who, with +their little cousin, had been some distance behind, ran screaming towards +the Temple, and happily met with their father, who was just about to +change guard at one of the posts. He and his company ran at the top of +their speed to the scene of the conflict, plunged recklessly through the +missiles which were showered on them from the fortress, and reached the +wall at the same moment with the ravishers, whose progress was impeded by +the struggles of the captive, for, brave woman as she was, she never lost +her presence of mind. A few of the party escaped into the fortress, the +nearest gate of which was cautiously opened to receive them; but the +greater number were instantly put to the sword. Ruth, whose strength broke +down when she knew that she was safe, was carried home, sorely bruised and +half-unconscious. + +Judas was profoundly moved when he heard of this outrage. He had long been +chafing under the restrictions imposed upon his action by his rigid +supporters, and this determined him to break through them. He had a great +affection for Azariah and his kindred. The men were known to him for their +loyalty and courage, and Ruth as an indefatigable worker among the sick +and wounded. His resolution was taken, but with the prudence and soundness +of judgment that were habitual to him he was careful to avoid any +appearance of being peremptory or self-willed. He called to him one of his +lieutenants, who was reputed to be a leader among the Chasidim. + +“Micaiah,” he said, “you remember when a thousand of our brethren were +slain by the heathen, helpless and unarmed, because it was the sabbath?” + +“I remember,” replied the man. + +“And that it was determined by my father, as captain of the host, with +full consent of all the princes and priests, that such a thing should +happen no more?” + +“It was so determined.” + +“Think you, then, that there is one law for the seventh day, and another +for the seventh year?” + +“I know nothing, save what I find in the traditions of the fathers.” + +“Our fathers had no such experience as we have had. No, Micaiah, we will +not reap nor sow, trusting that the Lord will feed us. But I see not that +the Law forbids us to strike with the sword when the heathen seek to carry +our wives and our children into captivity, nor will I lay upon the people +a burden that the Lord has not laid upon them. If I sin in this matter, +let the punishment fall upon me and upon my father’s house.” + +Micaiah was not altogether content, but he did not feel sufficiently +convinced to resist. And, indeed, the character and the exploits of Judas +gave an overpowering weight to any conclusion at which he arrived. + +The next day an assembly of the soldiers was held, and Judas informed them +that operations would be more vigorously conducted for the future. The +announcement was received with great satisfaction, even by the stricter +partisans of the Law. The insolence of the garrison was summarily checked. +The sallies on which it ventured were repulsed so fiercely that they were +soon discontinued, while relays of archers and slingers, succeeding each +other without intermission from earliest dawn to nightfall, kept the walls +clear. + +But though this difficulty was surmounted others not less serious +remained. The privations resulting from the observance of the Sabbatical +year were such as to overtask the endurance of all but enthusiasts. And, +of course, under these circumstances it was inevitable that the +regulations should be evaded. Huldah, with the children, was wandering one +day among the gardens in the neighbourhood of the city. They were +searching for some fruit for Ruth who was now making a very slow recovery +from the injuries which she had received. They were at liberty to go where +they pleased, for all right of property was at an end, at least for the +time. But others had been before them, and it seemed as if everything had +been gathered, even before it was ripe. They were returning home with but +the scantiest results from this toil when they witnessed a scene of +uproar. Some men had been discovered by the officers of the chief priests +in the unlawful act of cultivating the ground. They had been sowing the +seeds of some quick-growing plants, doing it in such an irregular fashion +that what came up might seem to have been chance-sown, but they had been +detected, and were now being led off in custody, angry and defiant, and +loudly condemning the bigoted folly which, as they said, to carry out an +obsolete enactment, condemned a whole people to starvation. + +A crowd speedily gathered and followed the officers and their prisoners to +the house of one of the chief priests. Huldah and the children went with +it. The case was tried, in Eastern fashion, in the open air and in public. +The process was short, for the offenders had been caught in the act, and +the law which they had transgressed was plain. The defence which they +attempted on the plea of necessity was cut short by the judge. “The Word +of God,” said he, “is of more account than meat and drink. Take these +men,” he went on, speaking to an officer whom we should call the +provost-marshal, “and see that they suffer each forty stripes save one. +And you,” he added, turning to the prisoners, “know that if you offend +again in this matter you shall be stoned with stones till you die.” + +The men were bound and flogged. That was a sight which Huldah and the +children did not wait to see; but just as they were reaching their home +the men passed them, furious at the indignity which they had suffered, and +loudly proclaiming their determination to be revenged. + +The next morning they were missing from the city. A porter at one of the +smaller gates was found tied and gagged. He said that he had been attacked +by a party of men, some of whom could be identified by his description +with the sufferers of the day before. The others were Greeks, apparently +belonging to the garrison. They had surprised him, taken his keys from +him, and had gone—so he judged from something that he had overheard—on the +road to Antioch. This gave a serious aspect to the affair. The men had +evidently deserted, and would put all the information that they had at the +service of the enemy. Judas immediately ordered a pursuit. But though the +party that he sent out was more than once close upon the tracks of the +fugitives it did not succeed in overtaking them. + +Time went on. The Feast of the Dedication came round, and was kept with as +much cheerfulness as the depressed spirits and scanty means of the people +permitted. Spring succeeded winter, bringing with it in its milder +temperature and in the abundance of its natural growths some alleviations +of the common suffering. But the prospect, as a whole, was scarcely +brighter. It was almost a relief when tidings reached the city that a +struggle was at hand. It was better, thought many, to die on the field of +battle than to sit still and starve. And, indeed, death on the +battle-field seemed a likely prospect. Lysias, who had been making his +preparations during the whole of the winter, was now, it was said, about +to set forth. The force which he had under his command was reported to be +overwhelmingly strong, numbering not less than 120,000 men. It was also +said that he had with him thirty-two war-elephants. The boy-King—Eupator +was not more than nine years old—was also said to be with him. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + REVERSES. + + +Judas met the danger with his accustomed resolution. He waited in the city +till he could be certain of the road which the invaders were taking. As +soon as he knew that it was from the south that they were approaching, he +collected all his available force, having for the purpose to raise the +siege of the fortress, and marched forth to meet them. + +The fortress of Beth-zur, which was intended to be the first line in the +defence of the capital, was in danger of falling into the hands of the +enemy. Micah had received, early in the year, a commission to revictual +it, but had found the task one that was difficult, if not impossible, to +execute. There was a positive scarcity of food, and the scarcity was +aggravated as usual by the practice of hoarding. It was to little purpose +that Micah scoured the country, making requisitions of grain and other +supplies. Some few, strong in their faith, gave up what they had, and +committed themselves and their children to the Lord, whose law they were +seeking to obey. Others met the demand with a flat refusal, and at the +same time taunted Micah with the folly of enforcing an impracticable law +in times of such difficulty. Many met him with the plea of poverty, and +their wasted forms and sunken faces were proof enough that this plea was +genuine. The work, therefore, for all the zeal that Micah displayed, went +on but very slowly, and, indeed, was not half finished when the advanced +guard of the army of Lysias appeared. Beth-zur was immediately invested. +The engines, of which Lysias had a large stock, played fiercely upon the +walls, and preparations was made for an assault. Micah, on the other hand, +saw no hope that he would be able to stand a long siege. The garrison +under his command was not large enough adequately to man the walls, while +it was too large for the stock of provisions which he had been able to +collect. + +Under these circumstances his resolution was soon taken. Before dawn on +the second day of the investment the whole garrison made a desperate +sally. Happily they had no non-combatants to care for, and as yet no sick +or wounded. Fire was set to the engines. The besiegers, thinking that this +was the object of the attack, and that the garrison would make their way +back into the fortress, when this had been accomplished, occupied +themselves chiefly in putting out the fire. But Micah had no intention of +returning. He availed himself of the confusion caused by the burning of +the camp, cut his way with desperate resolution through the enemy, and +succeeded in reaching the camp of Judas with the larger part of his force. +The rest were not able to follow him, but succeeded in regaining the +fortress, which they continued to hold against the Greeks. + +The camp was at Beth-Zachariah, about nine miles south from Jerusalem, and +on an elevated position, not less than three thousand feet above the level +of the sea, which commanded the whole of the neighbouring country. Behind, +to the north, could be seen the towers of Jerusalem, with Bethlehem, the +City of David, in the nearer foreground, nestling among its oliveyards and +vineyards. To the west lay the plain of Philistia, with the white cliff of +Gath clearly visible in the extreme distance; to the east could be seen +the purple mountains of Moab. The road from Hebron, by which the Greek +army would approach, crept along the eastern side of the mountains. From +his elevated position Judas could see the movements of his adversaries +while they were still at a considerable distance. Observing that they +pitched their camp on the further side of a narrow defile, with the +character of which he was intimately acquainted, he conceived the idea of +an ambush. + +He summoned Azariah to his tent and detailed his plan. Azariah also knew +the place well, and entered into the scheme with enthusiasm—such +enthusiasm, indeed, that Judas felt it necessary to give him a parting +caution. “Remember,” he said, “if this scheme fails, that you come back to +me immediately. If the ambush should be discovered, retreat at once. There +must be no attack. I cannot spare a man. We shall want all that we have, +if not more than all, to make head against the thousands of Lysias.” + +Azariah promised obedience, and lost no time in setting out on his errand. +Shortly after sunset he started, having with him a picked force of a +thousand men. Before midnight he had reached the place fixed upon by +Judas, and there, in a hollow half-way up the side of the hill that formed +one side of the pass, he laid his ambush. + +It was an anxious night for the little band. It was always an accepted +maxim in ancient warfare that it was the most steadfast courage that was +wanted for the ambush. Men who were brave enough when fighting in the open +plain found their courage fail when they had to lie for hours watching for +the moment of attack, crouched upon the ground, unable to move and +scarcely venturing to talk. Azariah’s men were brave—indeed they had been +carefully chosen for this very service—but they were not altogether +insensible of the dangers of their position. They knew, too, and even +exaggerated the strength of the advancing army. As they talked in whispers +during the night, for, as may be imagined, few could sleep, they spoke of +the chances of the coming day. The elephants, which had never before been +seen on Jewish soil, were mentioned with special awe. + +“Strange and terrible beasts they are,” said one man to his neighbour; +“savage as lions, and many times larger and stronger.” + +“Is it so?” said the other. “I heard once from an Arab, who had been +driver of one of these creatures, that they are marvellously gentle and +tame.” + +“Maybe they are by nature; but their drivers have ways of rousing them to +fury before the battle.” + +“How so?” + +“They show them the blood of grapes and mulberries, and the creatures rage +terribly. ’Tis said that one of them can tread down a whole company of +men.” + +“Well, but ’tis possible, I know, to stand against them. King Antiochus, +father to the madman whom the Lord smote for his sins, had an array of +them in his army when he fought against the Romans at Magnesia, but they +profited him little. So Simeon told me—you know the man, the old Benjamite +who took service with the King. The Romans stood firm in their rank, and +threw their javelins at the beasts’ trunks, and in the end, so Simeon +said, they did more damage to their own people than to the enemy.” + +“The Lord grant that it be so to-morrow.” + +The sun had just risen when the approach of the Greek army became visible. +And now the vanguard was almost within striking distance of the ambush +which, to all appearance, was still undiscovered. Another few steps and +they would be immediately below, at a point where they might be assailed +with disastrous effect. Behind a little rock which was within a few yards +of the pass Azariah knelt, sword in hand, waiting to give the signal to +his men. Their fears had mostly vanished in the morning light, and the +dreaded elephants did not form part of the advanced guard. + +But just as Azariah was about to give the signal to charge his quick ear +caught the sound of tramping feet, which seemed to come from some place +above his own position. The next moment he caught sight, in the slanting +rays of the early sun, of the glitter of helmets and shields. A Greek +force, fully equal in number to his own, was marching in a direction +parallel to the pass but higher up the mountain-side. Lysias had learnt +wisdom from experience. He no longer despised his enemy, but credited him +with the military skill which, indeed, he had more than once proved +himself to possess. He had foreseen the ambush, and had sent a force to +guard against the danger. Azariah’s force, though out of sight of the +road, could be seen from the higher ground, and the Greeks greeted their +appearance with shouts of laughter. For one moment a wild desire to charge +swept through the mind of the Jewish captain. He had hoped to blot out by +some brilliant service the remembrance of his former disaster, and now he +had failed again. True, it was not by his own fault; yet he had failed, +and he would have to go back to Judas empty-handed. A single word would +have sent his men in furious onset against the foe. Should he say it? Then +there came back to his recollection the gentleness and forbearance of +Judas. He could not disobey such a leader a second time. He gave the +signal to retreat. His men heard it with disgust; but they knew that he +was acting against his own desire as much as against theirs, and they +obeyed without a murmur, or, if some of the youngest and fiercest among +them complained of the order, it was only under their breath that they +spoke. + +Azariah now made his way to Judas with all the haste that he could use. + +“I have failed,” he said. “The heathen seemed to know of our design +beforehand. There could be no surprise, so I did not attack, but came back +to you at once.” + +“You have done well,” said Judas, who knew what a sacrifice the fiery +soldier had made. “A chance victory won by disobeying orders is worse than +a defeat.” + +But Judas, though, as always, he did full justice to his lieutenant, was +much depressed by the failure of the attempt, and he looked with a gloomy +brow at the approaching host, as it came on in all the pomp and +circumstance of war, the sunlight gleaming on the banners, the helmets of +brass and gold, and on the long, slanting lines of spear-heads. As it came +nearer the regular tread of the columns and the clang of arms, with now +and then the shrill voice of a clarion or the deep note of a trumpet heard +above the roar, moved even the stoutest warrior to something like fear. + +Judas followed once more the tactics which he had so often found +successful. To stand on the defensive was hopeless; his few thousands +would inevitably be trodden down under the feet of this huge multitude. +His only hope was in attack. If he could but break the line at a single +point his success might be again, as it had been before, the beginning of +a panic, and the great host of Lysias might melt away as the host of +Apollonius had melted; but the attack must be made while the enemy were +yet upon ground where they had not space to make full use of their +numbers. He charged with his accustomed fury before the vanguard of the +enemy had emerged into the open. For a time it seemed as if his audacity +was to be successful. The hostile army reeled under the shock of the +patriots’ furious charge. In two or three places it broke. But there was +in reserve a second line of veterans, the steadiest and best troops that +could be found in the Syrian armies, for Lysias knew by this time that +none but the very best could stand against Judas and his Ironsides. And +then the numbers were overpowering. Step by step the Jewish column was +forced back. They left six hundred of the enemy dead on the field behind +them; but the attack had failed. + +Then, as the Greek army deployed upon the open ground which the retreat of +the Jews left open to them, the elephants came upon the scene—the “huge, +earth-shaking beasts,” which even the hardiest warrior could hardly see +for the first time without some sinking of heart. Each animal was +accompanied by picked bodies of horse and foot. Each carried a tower from +which skilful marksmen, whose accurate aim was greatly helped by their +elevated position, hurled missiles upon the ranks of the foe. The +creatures themselves seemed to share in all the fury of the battle. They +trumpeted loudly and furiously; at the bidding of the Indian drivers who +were perched upon their necks they seized soldiers from among the Jewish +ranks with their trunks, whirled them aloft, and then dashed them down, +mangled and lifeless corpses, upon the ground. + +Then was done one of the heroic acts which stand out conspicuously on the +pages of history. Eleazar, one of the Maccabee brothers, saw how his +countrymen were being demoralized by the terror of these strange +adversaries, and felt that it was a crisis that called for personal +devotion. One of the elephants was conspicuous among the rest, not only +for its superior size but for the splendour of its equipment. He felt sure +that it must be the one that carried the boy-King himself. Immediately his +resolve was taken. He made his way, striking furiously right and left, and +dealing death with every blow, through the Syrian ranks, crept under the +huge beast, and dealt him a mortal wound. Like another Samson, he perished +by his own success. The creature fell with a suddenness that gave him no +opportunity of escape, and he was crushed to death by its weight. + + [Illustration: _The Death of Eleazar._] + +The hero did not accomplish his object, to rally his countrymen. One might +rather say that their panic was heightened by the fall of one of the +heroic brothers, a son of the great house to which they owed their +liberty. But his deed was not forgotten. The fourth of the Maccabee +brothers lived in the history of his people as Eleazar Avaran—Eleazar “the +Beast Slayer.” + +But the battle was lost beyond all hope. The only thing left for Judas was +to save as much as he could out of the wreck. He sounded the signal for +retreat, drew off his men in good order, and, making his way back as +rapidly as possible to Jerusalem, threw himself into the Temple fortress, +resolved to stand a siege. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS. + + +For a time the prospects of the patriots seemed dark indeed. Beth-zur had +fallen, and the only hope of the cause was in the Temple fortress. This +was fiercely assailed by the garrison of the Greek stronghold of Mount +Zion on the one side, and, on the other, by the army which had been +victorious at Beth-Zachariah, and which now occupied the Lower City. The +Temple fortress was strong; it was fairly well supplied with munitions of +war; and the garrison was large—indeed, almost too large for the +accommodation of the place. The fatal weakness of the position was the +scanty supply of provisions. Only water was abundant, for the unsparing +toil of former generations had provided for this want; had it not been for +this the resistance of the garrison must very soon have come to an end, +for food was scarce—so scarce, indeed, that the strength of the fighting +men could hardly be maintained by the insufficient rations which were +doled out to them, while the few non-combatants received barely enough to +keep body and soul together. + +The condition of the Jewish population of the city was not as bad as might +have been expected. The cruelties of the days of Apollonius and Philip +were not repeated; for Lysias, who, as guardian of the boy-King, was +practically supreme, favoured a policy of conciliation, and did his best +to repress outrage. Indeed he sanctioned the establishment of what may be +called a municipal guard or militia, which, while under obligation to give +no assistance to the garrison of the Temple, was permitted to protect the +peaceful inhabitants of the city. This guard was under the command of +Seraiah. + +There was much, of course, that it was difficult for those to bear who +looked to Judas and his brothers as the hope of Israel. Menelaüs had +returned, and with him a whole troop of renegade Jews, whose insolence and +impiety sorely tried the patience of the faithful population. And the +scarcity of food was only less severe in the city than it was in the +fortress. + +For some time Seraiah’s own household continued to receive mysterious +supplies from some unknown source, which made them far more comfortable +than their neighbours. Once a week, or even oftener, they would find a bag +of corn or flour, a basket of dried grapes or other fruits, a bundle of +salt fish, a string of doves or wood-pigeons, put in an outhouse, nor +could they guess who their benefactor could be. But when this had gone on +for nearly two months, the secret came out. Seraiah, returning from his +military duties at an early hour in the morning, and entering by a little +postern gate in order to avoid disturbing the household, saw a man drop +from the garden wall. He seized him by the arm, and the stranger, turning +sharply round, revealed the well-known features of Benjamin. + +“What do you here?” he asked. + +“I am come on an errand of my own,” answered the robber. + +“But in my house?” + +“Ask no more questions,” said the man; “but take my word—and I would not +lie to you for all the kingdom of Antiochus—that I mean no harm to you or +yours.” + +A thought flashed across Seraiah’s mind. + +“It is you, then, who have been bringing us, week after week, these +supplies of food?” + +Benjamin said nothing. + +“I adjure you by God that you answer me,” said Seraiah. + +“Well, if you will know it, it is I who have done it. Why should not God +use a man’s hands to feed His servants, as well as a raven’s beak?” + +“Tell me—how did you come by these things?” + +“In various ways.” + +“Lawfully?” + +“Well, I can hardly say; you and I might not agree about the matter.” + +“Tell me—did you buy them with your money?” + +“Nay; that is not my way. I do not buy or sell.” + +“Then you stole them.” + +“I told you that we should not agree. But this I know, that they to whom +they belonged could do without them better than you and your children.” + +“Benjamin,” said Seraiah, “you mean well, and I thank you. But after this +bring no more of these gifts, for I cannot receive them. I would not have +my Judge say to me, ‘When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst unto him.’ +I had sooner die of hunger—aye, and what is far worse, see my children +die—than take that which has not been lawfully acquired.” + +“As you will have it,” said Benjamin; “if there were more like you, mayhap +I should have been a better man. But meanwhile, the world being what it +is, you and yours will have a hard time of it;” and he turned to go away. +“And the captain,” he went on—“how does he fare? I hear that things are +not going well with him. ’Tis a thousand pities, for a braver man never +handled sword.” + +Seraiah told him briefly the story of recent events, and described the +present condition of affairs, the other listening with an eager attention, +and breaking in now and then with an exclamation of wonder and admiration. + +“Come, Benjamin,” he said, when he had finished, “why will you not throw +in your lot with us? Things look dark just now; but they will brighten. He +who has helped us so far will not desert us now.” + +“Sir,” said the man, “I would gladly follow the captain, whether he led me +to life or to death. No man could ask a better lot than to be his soldier. +But I like not all that are with him. They are over-strict, and make no +allowance for such as have not their zeal. Once they beat me; another time +they had stoned me to death but that I slipped out of their hands; and +both for some miserable trifles which no man of sense would care about. +No, sir; Judas I honour and love, but these bigots who give a man no peace +I cannot away with. And now the day is beginning to break, and I must go. +I am sorry that you will not take my poor gifts.” + +The next moment he had disappeared. + +And now came a time of grievous trouble for Ruth and her young charges, +for she had naturally taken charge of Azariah’s two daughters. She did not +question her husband’s refusal to share any longer the illicit gains of +Benjamin, but she could not shut her eyes to the fact that the children +were suffering grievously. For herself she could endure, as women can; the +girls, too, were old enough to understand the cause of their suffering, +though they could not enter into the reasons of what seemed so strange an +observance—the Sabbatical year; but little Daniel was too young to know +much beyond the fact that he was always terribly hungry, and though he was +often brave enough to check his crying when he saw how it distressed his +mother, there were times when the pangs of hunger were more than he could +bear in silence. Poor Ruth denied herself everything but the few scraps +that were absolutely necessary to keep body and soul together, and her +physical weakness did not make it easier to keep up her hope and courage. +Her hardest task, perhaps, was to hide, as far as it was possible, the +true state of things from her husband. His strength must be kept up, for +so much depended upon it; but the children, not to speak of herself, had +to have their scanty share diminished that it might be so. This, of +course, he was not allowed to know, and Ruth was at her wits’ end again +and again to keep it from him. + +Within the Temple fortress, meanwhile, things had become almost desperate. +A few shekels’ weight of flour was given out to each man daily, for Judas +insisted that all should share alike. That even this scanty allowance +might hold out the longer, numbers of the garrison made their escape every +night under the cover of darkness that the remainder might prolong their +resistance for yet a few days more. + +Before long came a time when absolutely nothing was left. “Their vessels +were without victuals,” and Judas and the few that still remained with him +met to hold a final deliberation. + +“My friends,” said the great captain, “you see the straits into which we +are brought. There is no need to tell you of them, or to prove by words +what we all know too well in fact. What, then, shall we do? Shall we stay +here and perish slowly by hunger, or shall we fall upon our swords, or +shall we sally forth from the gates, and, having slain as many of the +heathen as we may, so perish ourselves? I had hoped that the Lord would +give deliverance to Israel by my hand, and by the hand of my brothers. But +if it be not so, His will be done. For He is not shut up to do that which +it pleaseth Him by one man or another. He can call whomsoever He will, and +give him strength for the work.” + +He paused for a moment, and Azariah broke in, “It is well said, O captain +of the host. The Lord hath helped His people hitherto, and He will help +them to the end. Only let us trust in Him, for”—and here, with an +impetuous gesture, he struck his foot upon the rock—“they that put their +trust in the Lord shall be even as this mountain, which may not be +removed, but standeth fast for ever.” + +Judas was just rising to announce his resolve when the sound of a trumpet +was heard at the gate of the fortress. It was a herald bringing a message +from the young King. + +“Have you aught to say to me in private?” asked Judas, when the man was +brought in. + +“Nay,” he answered; “my message is one that all may hear.” + +He then delivered it, reading the words from a parchment which he carried +in his hand, and which bore the sign-manual (an impression of the +seal-ring dipped in ink) of Antiochus Eupator, as well as that of Lysias. +They ran thus: + +“Antiochus, surnamed Eupator, King of Syria and Egypt, offers to the +people of the Jews peace and friendship. He permits them to worship God +after the manners and customs of their fathers, and he hereby revokes all +the edicts which the King, his father, having been misinformed by +unfaithful advisers, issued against the said nation of the Jews.” + +Never was there a more surprising, a more unexpected change in the +position of affairs. But it might have been foreseen by those who had +watched with a full knowledge of the truth, the recent course of events. + +Despatches had reached Lysias from Antioch which convinced him that he and +his young charge had enemies to reckon with who would be far more +formidable than Judas and his followers. Philip had returned from Persia +with the host of Epiphanes, and had assumed the management of affairs, and +Philip was a dangerous rival. Were he to prevail, his own position as the +chief adviser of the King would be untenable; and the King himself would +very probably be dispossessed by some other claimant to the throne. + +He laid the case, or at least so much as it was necessary to explain, +before the boy-King. The lad, who was indeed intelligent beyond his years, +at once acquiesced in the advice, that easy conditions of peace should be +offered to the garrison. + +Then an assembly of the soldiers was summoned. All the officers were +invited by name, and, after the usual fashion of such gatherings, as many +of the men as could crowd into the chambers were also present. To them +Lysias said nothing about the news from Antioch, which it would be better, +he thought, to conceal as long as possible; but he dwelt on the useless +hardships which they were all enduring. + +“Famine and the pestilence are upon us,” he said, “and we decay daily. But +the place to which we lay siege is strong, and we are no nearer to the +taking of it than we were six months since. Now, therefore, let us offer +to these men, who are neither robbers nor murderers, peace and liberty, +that they may worship God after their own fashion, and live by their own +laws. For, of a truth, it is far better, as many of yourselves know, that +they should be our friends than our enemies.” + +An unanimous shout of approval was the answer; and hence the message which +came so opportunely to Judas and his followers in the very crisis of their +despair. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + A PEACEFUL INTERVAL. + + +It was one of the stipulations of the peace offered by the young +Antiochus, and accepted by Judas, that the King should be admitted with +due ceremony into the surrendered fortress. It was to be a formal +acknowledgment of his authority, but nothing more. No change, it was +understood, was to be made; the King and his attendants were not to go +beyond the court which it was lawful for the Gentiles to enter. + +On the morrow, accordingly, the boy-King came with a splendid procession +of nobles and officers. In front marched a company of soldiers, picked +from the whole army for their beauty of feature and commanding stature, +and gorgeous with their gilded arms. Then, in the order of their dignity, +came the high officers of state; last, the young monarch himself, the +Governor Lysias leading him by the hand. + +The approach to the Temple was thronged by a crowd of eager spectators, +none of whom were more profoundly interested in the sight than the little +Daniel, with his cousins, Miriam and Judith. The child’s fancy had been +caught by all that he had heard of the young prince. It seemed strange to +him, almost beyond belief, that a lad, a little older, it was true, than +himself, but younger than Miriam, should have power to do so much harm. +“Mother,” he said one day to Ruth, “why does God let him hurt so many +people? It is all his doing that the brave soldiers are shut up in the +Temple, and that we have so little to eat. Will he not be punished for it +some day? I suppose, as he is a king, nobody can punish him except God. +But He will, won’t He, mother?” + + [Illustration: _The Boy King._] + +Then came the unexpected news of the peace; and nothing would satisfy +little Daniel but that he must see the boy-King received in the Temple. +Eagerly did the child watch him as he walked in his little suit of armour, +which the most skilful artizans in Antioch had made so light as not to be +too much for his strength, and great was his delight when Eupator, +catching a sight of his eager face, kissed his hand to him with a pleasant +smile. That smile he never forgot, though it is true that his old anger +against the young king returned next day almost as vehemently as ever when +he heard that orders had been given that the ramparts of the Temple +fortress were to be broken down, and that the Greek soldiers, anxious to +depart, had begun the work of destruction the very hour at which the edict +had been published. + +Though this breach of faith was a great blow to the patriots, still they +had much to console them. In the first place, to their intense relief, the +Greek army marched away, and the Holy City was no more defiled by the +presence of the heathen. Then the renegade Menelaüs, whom every faithful +Jew hated with a more bitter hatred than he felt for the heathen +themselves, went away, but not of his own free choice, with the King. +Lysias had an honest man’s dislike for a traitor, and indeed did not +scruple to say that this impostor, who was neither good Jew nor real +Greek, had done more than any one else to cause the recent troubles. + +Not less welcome was the end of the Sabbatical year. This of itself would +not, of course, have relieved the pressure of scarcity; but there was help +from without which before had not been available. Hitherto the Jews had +been under a ban; they were enemies of the Syrian King, and none who +desired to be his friends would have any dealings with them. Now all was +changed. The ban was removed. The people were in favour with Eupator and +Lysias. A brisk trade commenced, and supplies of food came in abundance. +With good heart and hope the people set themselves to their work. From +being a city of mourning Jerusalem became gay and cheerful. + +The general gladness culminated in the Feast of Tabernacles, always the +most joyous of Jewish festivals, and now celebrated with special +manifestations of delight. Never had the people felt so keenly the +pleasure of seeming at least to return to the simple life of earlier +times, the rustic enjoyments of a nation that had not yet learnt to dwell +in cities. It was the ordinance that for seven days the Israelite should +dwell, not in his house, but in a booth of boughs. For days waggon-loads +without number of the boughs of the olive, the palm, the pine, the myrtle, +and other trees which had a foliage sufficiently thick for the purpose, +were brought into the city. When a house had a roof of a convenient size +and situation, the booth was built upon it; in many cases it was set up in +the court. Those who had come from elsewhere to share in the festival set +up their booths in the court of the Temple, in the street of the Water +Gate, and in the street of the Gate of Ephraim. It was a beautiful sight +at any time, and now the fresh foliage hid the scars of many a grievous +wound that had been inflicted during the years of desolation. + +Every day, at the time of the morning sacrifice, each Israelite, gaily +dressed in holiday attire, made his way to the Temple. Each carried in one +hand a bundle of the same branches that were used in the building of the +booths, and in the other a fruit of the citron tree. When all the company +was assembled, and the parts of the victim had been laid upon the altar, a +priest was seen approaching with a golden ewer in his hand. He had filled +it at the pool of Siloam, and he brought it into the court of the Temple +through the Water Gate. The trumpets sounded as he came in and ascended +the slope of the altar. On each side of this were two silver basins; into +that on the eastern side he poured the sacred water; while another priest +poured wine into that on the western. Then the “Hallel”(21) was sung; when +the singers came to the words, “O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is +good, because His mercy endureth for ever,” each Israelite shook his +bundle of branches; he did it again when they sang, “Save, Lord, I beseech +Thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity;” and a third +time at the words, “O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His +mercy endureth for ever.” In the evening there was a grand illumination. +Eight lamps, so large and so high that they sent their light over nearly +the whole of the city, were set up in the court of the Temple, while many +of the people carried flambeaux in their hands. Meanwhile a company of +Levites, standing on the steps of the Court of the Women, chanted to the +music of cymbal and the harp the fifteen “Songs of Degrees.”(22) + +These were the public rejoicings; the private festivities were on the most +liberal scale. Never did the maxim that he who fails to contribute +according to his means to the general joy is a sinner above other men meet +with a more hearty acceptance. + +Azariah with his daughters and little Daniel were watching the ceremonies +of the last and greatest day of the feast from the roof of the Governor’s +house, where they were joined by Micah and by Joseph, who, it will be +remembered, had shared with him the disastrous command of the city during +the absence of Judas in Gilead. Joseph was exultant; Micah’s face was +grave and even sad. + +“Thank the Lord, Azariah,” cried Joseph, “for He has dealt with the +traitor after his deservings.” + +“Whom mean you?” asked Azariah; “for we have had more traitors here than +one.” + +“Whom should I mean but Menelaüs, the false priest who sat in Aaron’s +seat?” + +“And what has befallen him?” + +“The King has caused him to be put to death. He was in little favour when +they took him home, for Lysias said that he had wrought all the mischief +that had been done. And when they came to Antioch the matter of Oniah was +brought against him, for there were many who loved the old man, and had +taken it ill that his death had not been fully avenged. And when the young +King heard the story, Menelaüs being present, and having nothing to say +against it, he cried, ‘I wonder that the King, my father, suffered this +murderer to escape, but he shall not go unpunished any more. Take him, and +cast him alive into the Tower of Ashes.’ So they took him and did as the +King had commanded.” + +“And what is the Tower of Ashes?” asked the little Daniel, who had been +listening to this conversation with a sort of terrified interest. + +Micah answered his question. “At Berea is a tower, the bottom of which is +full of ashes, and in the tower is a machine which revolves and plunges +the criminal who is bound to it deep into the ashes until he is smothered. +But as for this unhappy man, the Lord have mercy upon him!” + +Joseph turned fiercely upon him. “I marvel,” he said, “that you should +pray for this fellow, who was worse than the heathen. He has but had his +deservings.” + +“And where should I be, if I had had mine?” answered Micah. “I walked in +the same way with this Menelaüs, and sinned against the Law, even as he +sinned, and but that God had mercy upon me, surely I had come to the same +end.” + +“Don’t be sorry, uncle,” said the boy, holding up his little face for a +kiss; “I am sure that God has forgiven you, for He knows how bravely you +have fought for Him, and how many of the heathen you have killed with your +sword.” + +“May it be so, dear child! But though He has forgiven me, yet I must reap +as I have sown.” + +“And who shall be high priest in this traitor’s place?” asked Joseph, +after a pause. “For Oniah, the son of him that was slain at Antioch, is in +the land of Egypt, and he takes part with the unfaithful brethren who +would build another Temple among the temples of the heathen, leaving the +place which the Lord has chosen to set His name there.” + +“And if the House of Zadok have perished, why should not Judas, son of +Mattathias, be high priest?” said Azariah. “He is of a principal house +among the sons of Aaron, and the Lord has been with him always.” + +Joseph had never forgiven Judas for his own disaster. His was one of those +mean natures that justify the saying, “The injured may forgive, the +injurer never.” The captain had treated him with the same generous +kindness which he had showed to Azariah, but this kindness had not been +received in the same temper. On the contrary it rankled in his mind, till +by a strange, yet not uncommon, perversion of feeling, it had produced a +positive sense of injury. He now broke out: + +“Nay, nay, my friend, you say too much. That he has won victories I deny +not; but was the Lord with him when he fled before the face of the heathen +at Beth-Zachariah, or when Beth-zur was yielded up to Lysias, or when we +had well-nigh perished with famine in the siege, or when the King broke +down the ramparts of the Temple? Not so: whatever the people may shout or +sing in his praise, he too has known defeat, even as we have.” + +“This I know,” said Azariah, “that whereas we were trodden underfoot by +the heathen till there was no life left in us, now we are risen and stand +upright.” + +“And how long, think you,” returned Joseph, “will it be so with us? Did we +drive away the King, or did he not rather depart of his own accord, +because of what he and his counsellors had heard of the doings of Philip? +And will he not return, and the end be worse than the beginning?” + +Azariah answered, with some heat, “As for that which may happen hereafter, +I say nothing. These things are in the hand of God. But that the young +Antiochus departed to his own land was, I doubt not at all, of the Lord’s +doing. Why, even this child knows the story of Sennacherib, and the words +which Isaiah the prophet spoke to Hezekiah when the King was +faint-hearted, and could not see how there should be any deliverance for +Israel. Did not the prophet say, ‘He shall hear a rumour, and shall return +unto his own land?’” + +Joseph said nothing. With all his meanness and littleness he was a +patriot, and really loved his country; and it went against his heart and +conscience to prophesy evil against her. + +Then the little Daniel startled them all by saying, with flashing eyes, +“And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” + + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + HOPES AND FEARS. + + +A few weeks after the conversation recorded in the last chapter, Ruth was +hearing her little boy repeat the Commandment when Seraiah came in, +carrying in his hand an open letter. + +“There is news from Syria,” he said. + +“And is it good or bad?” asked his wife. + +“That I can hardly say,” was Seraiah’s reply. At the same time he +signalled to his wife that she should take the child out of the room. The +signal, however, was too late. The quick-witted little fellow had heard +what had been said, and immediately jumped to the conclusion that +something had been heard about the boy-King. His mind was occupied, it +might almost be said, day and night with the thought of the young Eupator. +He scarcely knew whether he hated or loved him; but the brilliant figure +of the lad had caught his imagination. He lived, as imaginative children +often will, a sort of second life in thinking of him. + +“Oh! father,” he now cried, “I am sure that you have something to tell me +about the boy-King. Is he coming here again? I should like to see him, +though he did break his promise so shamefully.” + +“My boy,” said his father, “you will never see him again.” + +“Oh! Why?” + +“He is dead. This letter tells me all about him.” + +The boy burst into a passionate fit of tears, which all his mother’s +caresses and attempts at consolation were for some time unable to stop. +When the violence of his grief had spent itself he said— + +“Oh! father, tell me about him. Were they very cruel to him? And how did +it happen? I thought that kings killed people, but I did not know that any +one could kill them.” + +“Listen, my child, and I will try to explain it to you. The father of +Eupator, the boy who is just dead, was not rightfully King. He came after +his elder brother, and this elder brother had a son named Demetrius, who +ought to have succeeded his father. But this son had been sent to Rome as +a hostage.” + +“What do you mean by a hostage, father?” + +“When you are going to trust some one about whom you do not feel quite +sure, you take something from him that he values very much, and say, ‘You +will lose this unless you behave well.’ So Demetrius’s father gave his son +to the Romans to keep, and the Romans were sure that as long as they had +the child his father would not do anything that they did not like. Well, +as I told you, Demetrius was sent to Rome to be security for his father’s +good behaviour, and there he lived all the time that Antiochus, whom they +called Epiphanes, was King. And when Epiphanes died Demetrius asked the +Romans to let him go, that he might claim the kingdom which, he said, +belonged to him and which his cousin Eupator was too young to be able to +govern. But they would not let him go, and I have been told that Lysias +bribed some of the chief men among them, and these persuaded the rest. At +last he got tired of waiting for leave, and he ran away from Rome without +it, and landed at a place called Tripolis, not very far from Antioch, with +only twenty or thirty men with him. But as soon as ever the soldiers at +Antioch heard of his coming, they declared that they would have him for +their King.” + +“But why?” put in Daniel. + +“Well, if they did not know much that was good about him, they knew +nothing that was bad. Anyhow they all rose in his favour; and they seized +the young King and Lysias the Governor and brought them to him, and asked +him what they should do with them. He would not say, ‘Kill them,’ for, +after all, the little boy was his cousin, and had not done him any harm. +And he did not like to say, ‘Keep them alive,’ for he was afraid that his +cousin might some day have his throne; so he only said to the soldiers, +‘Take care that they do not see my face.’ So the soldiers—they were the +young King’s own guard—took him and killed him, and Lysias with him.” + +When he had heard this the child allowed his mother to take him away. He +saw that his father, usually so calm, was anxious and troubled, and, wise +with a wisdom beyond his years—the fruit of the troubled life which he and +his had been leading—would not ask him any more questions. But that night, +when his mother came to give him the last kiss before he went to sleep, he +had many things to say to her. Poor little fellow! he had seen many +terrible sights, which all his parents’ care could not keep from his eyes, +and had heard of many more, and he could not help asking again, “Did they +hurt him very much?” and when she had comforted him as best she could on +this score, he showed that there was another trouble in his mind. “Oh! +mother,” he said, “do you remember that when he ordered the walls of the +fortress to be pulled down, I prayed to God that he might be punished for +breaking his promise? and only the other day, when Joseph was talking +about his coming back, I said—something in me seemed to make me say it +almost without my knowing—‘He shall fall by the sword in his own land.’ +And now he is punished, for he has fallen by the sword. Do you think that +God listened to me, and did it because I said these things? But, mother, I +did not hate him very much; sometimes I used to think I loved him; and oh! +it would be dreadful to think that I had anything to do with his being +killed!” + +“My son,” said Ruth, “do you remember what our father Abraham said, ‘Shall +not the Judge of all the earth do right’?” + +“Yes, mother, I am sure that He will do right; and the King did deserve to +be punished. But perhaps his counsellors told him to do it; and I am sure +that if I was told to do something that was wrong by people that I loved, +I should be very likely to do it.” + +When his mother came to see him some hours afterwards she found him +asleep, but his pillow was wet with tears, and now and then a little sob +showed how deeply the trouble had entered into his little heart. + +There was trouble in older and wiser hearts than his. The Jews had hoped +much from the boy-King. His bad faith in the matter of the Temple fortress +they had willingly put down to evil counsellors, and they could not forget +that he had given them terms, good beyond all their hopes, when they were +in the last extremity. The death of Lysias was a more serious loss. He was +the pacificator; to his influence they ascribed the conciliatory policy of +the young Antiochus. And now he was gone. Would his death be the signal of +a change? Would Demetrius go back to the ways of the mad Antiochus? or had +he learnt prudence, if not mercy, from his sojourn among the Romans and +the bitter experience of an exile? + +Opinion was divided. Some hoped, some feared; but all were resolved that +they would never give way, that they would defend to the last drop of +their blood the freedom which they had won. Azariah, whose temper of mind +had gathered a certain gloom from the unhappy experiences of his life, +took a desponding view of the situation. Micah, on the contrary, was +cheerful, and he had some strong arguments to back him up. + +“Remember,” he said to his brother-in-law one day, when the subject had +been discussed at some length between them, “that I have had opportunities +for forming a judgment which, happily for you, have not come in your way. +I once saw much of these Greeks—I am ashamed to remember the time, but +still it would be folly not to make use of what I then learnt—and I am +sure that that madman Antiochus did not represent what they really feel. +You don’t know how they despise all barbarians as they call them; and, +despising them, they are disposed to let them alone. They don’t want us to +worship their gods; they think that we are not good enough. But Antiochus +was mad with pride and arrogance, and it is not likely that any one else +should be found to follow his steps. We may have trouble; indeed I feel +sure that we shall; but depend upon it there will not be another such +attempt as the madman made to stamp out our religion.” + +And the tidings that soon after reached Jerusalem from Antioch seemed to +justify this forecast. There seemed to be trouble ahead, but it was not +trouble of the sort which had brought desolation upon the Holy City. A +deputation from that party among the Jews which affected Greek habits and +Greek practices had been admitted to the presence of the new King. They +had accused Judas, the son of Mattathias, of having driven them from their +land, and of being an enemy to the sovereignty of the Greeks. Demetrius +had listened to their representations, and had conferred the office of +high priest on Alcimus,(23) the leader of the malcontents, and had +promised to send a force which would instal him in his office, and at the +same time take vengeance on Judas and the Chasidim. This force was to be +under the command of Bacchides, one of the most trusted of his +counsellors. + +A high priest of the stamp of Menelaüs—for such Alcimus was known to +be—would be anything but welcome. Probably it would be necessary to resist +him and his proceedings by force. Still things were not as bad as they +might have been. That King Demetrius should have appointed a high priest +at all showed that he was not bent, as Epiphanes had been, on extirpating +the Jewish faith. With such doubtful comfort as this assurance could give +they were compelled to be satisfied and to await the development of +events. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + CIVIL WAR. + + +The new high priest arrived at Jerusalem, escorted by a powerful force +under the command of Bacchides. None but absolute renegades were glad to +see Greek soldiers again lording it in the streets of Jerusalem; but +otherwise there was a wide difference of opinion as to the duty of +faithful Jews with regard to the reception of the stranger. Alcimus and +his Greek companions were loud in their professions of good will. They +intended, they said, nothing but benefits to the people. All would be well +if they were only received in the same spirit in which they came. + +Judas and his brothers received these assurances with profound +incredulity. They and their immediate followers had thought it prudent to +leave the city. There had been no opportunity of properly repairing the +walls of the Temple fortress, and without some such stronghold to serve as +shelter in case of need, they would, they felt, be at the mercy of the +Greeks. In the position to which they had withdrawn there was a hot +discussion. Judas, as usual, urged the counsels of prudence and common +sense. It was easy, he said, to make these professions of peace and good +will—so easy that, without some substantial guarantee of their sincerity, +it would be madness to risk anything on the strength of them. Alcimus, or +Eliakim—he must own that he did not like or trust these double-named Jews, +for they were often double-faced also—might be thinking of nothing but +peace; but why did he come with an army behind him? He might have been +sure, sprung as he was from the race of Aaron, that none of his countrymen +would harm him. Why had he surrounded himself with a multitude of godless +heathen who would be only too likely to harm them? “Let us wait”—this was +his final advice—“till he and his friends give us some proof that they +really mean what they say.” + +The Chasidim were loud and vehement in their opposition to this counsel. +Joseph, whose bitterness and jealousy had not been weakened by the lapse +of time, constituted himself their spokesman. + +“The Law,” he said, “plainly declares that there shall be a high priest. +There are acts, acts of the highest importance, even necessity, which only +he can perform. Our worship without him is maimed and imperfect. We cannot +expect that there will be a blessing upon it, that, lacking this essential +part, our sacrifices will be accepted or our prayers heard. And now we +have a high priest that is of the race of Aaron. He promises—and why +should we not believe him?—that his purposes towards us are for good and +not for evil. Let us go to him, and do him the honour that is due to his +office. If harm come of it, we shall have at least obeyed the commandment +of God.” + +Judas and his brothers, with such faithful followers as Seraiah and Micah, +stood resolutely aloof, but they could not control the action of the +enthusiasts. A large body of the Chasidim paid to Alcimus a formal visit. +They welcomed him to the seat of his office; they paid him their homage; +intimating at the same time that there were grievances for which they +asked redress and abuses which needed reform. Nothing could have exceeded +the show of politeness and even friendship with which they were received. +Alcimus made the most solemn protestations that neither they nor their +friends should suffer any harm. He could only regret that unfounded +suspicions had kept away the great soldier who had done so much for his +country and whom he would have had so much pleasure in welcoming. They +were invited to a banquet, which had been duly prepared, they were +assured, in obedience to the requirements of the Law, and of which they +could partake without any fear of contracting impurity. + +After the banquet there was to be a conference. The proceedings began, and +were continued for some time without interruption, though Alcimus could +scarcely control his impatience at what he thought the unreasonable +demands of the bigots. Meanwhile Bacchides, who had hitherto kept himself +in the background, was quietly surrounding the council-chamber with +troops. Joseph was in the midst of an harangue when the doors were thrown +open, a company of soldiers marched in, and arrested every member of the +deputation. It was now the turn of Alcimus to retire into the background. +He had served his purpose, acting, it may be said, as a decoy, and, thanks +to him, some of the most inveterate enemies of the Greek party had been +entrapped. The Greek commander made short work with his prisoners. Alcimus +went through the farce of interceding for them, but he never expected, +and, perhaps, never intended, to obtain his requests. Sixty of them were +executed on the spot, and the rest were cast into prison. The bodies of +the victims were hurriedly thrown into carts, drawn outside the city, and +left to be the prey of the vulture and the wild dog. + +The horror and dismay which spread through the city with the news of the +bloody deed were such as it would be impossible to describe. The victims +were well-known men, and, for the most part, as much respected as they +were known. There was a frantic rush to do honour to the remains of the +martyred patriots. But Bacchides had foreseen that this would probably +occur, and had surrounded the place with a cordon of soldiers. The people +could do nothing but stand upon the walls while the birds and beasts of +prey mangled the corpses, and mingle, in their impotent rage, curses on +the murderers, with lamentations over the dead. In more than one of their +national hymns they found a fitting expression of their grief; but none +was more suitable to the circumstances of the time than the words of the +seventy-ninth Psalm: “The dead bodies of Thy servants have they given to +be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and the flesh of Thy saints unto the +beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about +Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.” + +The conduct of Judas did not, as may be supposed, escape censure. It is +the first impulse of a multitude in the presence of some great disaster to +throw the blame upon its rulers, and the Jews, in their anger and grief, +felt and yielded to it. + +“Yes,” said an old man, who had lost a brother and a son in the massacre, +“he was too prudent to trust himself to the heathen; he stood aloof from +their danger, and when they offered themselves up as a sacrifice, he was +not there.” + +“And did he not well?” said a zealous partisan. “Did he not warn them and +entreat them, and they took no heed to his words?” + +“But had he and his men of war gone with them,” returned the other, “they +had not been left without defence. But now they went as sheep to the +slaughter.” + +“What can you look for when the sheep will go where the shepherd does not +lead them? And as for Judas, did he ever spare his life? Has he not taken +it in his hand time after time, fighting with a few men against thousands +of the heathen? And tell me now,” went on the speaker, “to whom should we +have looked for deliverance had Judas also been slain with these? The Lord +has had mercy upon His people, lest they should be utterly cast down, and +has left unto them their captain.” + +On the whole, popular opinion was strongly in Judas’s favour. Then came +another turn of events. The Greek general, weary of his sojourn among a +people that hated him, marched out of Jerusalem, and encamped in one of +the suburbs,(24) where he could keep his troops better in hand, and not +expose them to the daily risk of collision with a hostile population. This +place, too, he shortly evacuated, returning with the main part of his army +to Antioch, though he left a small force to support Alcimus, who would +now, he thought, with this help, be able to hold his own. + +But before he went he committed another deed only less atrocious than the +treacherous massacre of the Chasidim. Every partisan, or supposed +partisan, of Judas whom he could either entrap or seize was mercilessly +slaughtered. Nor did Greeks, who, from motives of expediency or under +pressure of superior force, had submitted to Judas, escape. + +If Bacchides imagined that these cruelties would strengthen the position +of the renegade high priest he was greatly mistaken. Alcimus was more +universally, more fervently hated than even Jason or Menelaüs had been. +The disappointment caused by this renewal of troubles was all the more +bitter because it had succeeded to hopes that seemed so well established. +And every one felt that it was Alcimus who was to blame. His greed and +ambition had disturbed the peace which they were beginning to enjoy. On +his head was all the innocent blood that had been shed. + +And now a new horror was added to all that the unhappy country had +endured. It was no longer Jew fighting against Greek, but Jew against Jew. +Civil war, always more bitter, more ruthless than the very fiercest +struggle between strangers, broke out. The renegades rallied to Alcimus. +Their interests were bound up with his cause. Some of them had committed +themselves so deeply that they could not hope for pardon from the +patriots. Others had a genuine dislike for Jewish severity and a liking +for Greek license, and fought for all that, as they thought, made life +worth living. But the number of these philo-Greek partisans was but small, +and the popular feeling was unmistakably against them, and Judas felt +himself strong enough to assert his position vigorously. He was not now a +partisan leader, raising the standard of revolt against established +authority; he was himself the established authority, justified in +punishing all that presumed to rebel against him. This judicious display +of firmness, of what might even be called severity, vastly strengthened +his position. The waverers who always go with the strongest, who care +little for principle, but most for self-interest and safety, when they saw +that the sword of Judas was a more immediate danger to his enemies than +the sword of the Syrian King, hesitated no longer about joining him. +Alcimus found himself deserted by all but a few desperate partisans. The +commander of his Greek auxiliaries declared himself unable to give him +sufficient help. Accordingly he had no alternative but to give up the +unequal contest, and to hurry back to Antioch, where he might lay his +complaints before King Demetrius. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXX. + + NICANOR. + + +The complaints which Alcimus carried to the Syrian King at Antioch were +eagerly listened to. Demetrius was eager, as new rulers frequently are, to +reverse the policy of his predecessor. Eupator had yielded to the +persistency of these obstinate Jews, but he would show them that it was he +and not they who was master. A new expedition should be sent, and this +pestilent rebel, who, after all, had been shown not to be invincible, +should be extinguished for ever. There was some doubt as to who should be +put in command; but ultimately the King’s choice fell upon Nicanor, the +same that had been associated with Gorgias in an earlier campaign. He had +been since promoted to the exalted office of “Commander of the Elephants,” +and was in high favour with Demetrius. + +Once more Judas found himself obliged to retire from Jerusalem, where he +could not command the liberty of movement that was necessary for his +safety; but he remained in the neighbourhood, and watched the development +of events. + +Nicanor’s first idea was to repeat the treachery of Bacchides, and to get +Judas and his brothers into his power. A letter, written in studiously +friendly terms, was sent to the Jewish captain, suggesting a conference, +at which the matters in dispute might easily be settled. Judas was not +likely, especially after recent experience, to fall into the trap; but +nevertheless he did not refuse the invitation. He came to the conference, +but he came with a strong guard, and not till he had secured such +conditions as seemed to make a treacherous surprise impossible. The +meeting took place. Side by side, on two chairs of state, sat the two +generals, each with their armed guard within call. On either side was a +barrier, beyond which no one that did not belong to the stipulated number +of attendants was allowed to pass. The conversation between the two was +friendly and animated. Nicanor’s treacherous purpose did not prevent him +from having a genuine admiration for the character and achievements of his +great adversary; and the praises which he heaped upon him were perfectly +sincere. But this feeling did not make him at all less anxious to get this +formidable hero into his power. + +Negotiations had not proceeded very far, in fact had not got beyond the +initial stage, when a preconcerted signal warned Judas that there was +danger at hand. Self-possessed as ever, he showed no sign of having +penetrated his companion’s intention. A point of some importance was +raised by Nicanor, and Judas intimated that he could not deal with it +until he had consulted his council. Rising from his seat, without allowing +the least indication of disturbance to be seen in his manner, he bade the +Greek general a courteous farewell, rejoined his guard, and was soon out +of the reach of danger. But when he was again among his friends, he did +not conceal his feelings. “He is a false liar,” he said, “and, so long as +he lives, I will see his face again no more.” The words were to have a +singularly close fulfilment. + +Nicanor, finding his attempted fraud unsuccessful, resolved to try force. +He marched against Judas, who, for military reasons, had retired as far as +Samaria, and gave him battle at Capharsalama. But the plans of Nicanor +were conceived with more haste than prudence. He delivered his attack +under unfavourable conditions, and received a crushing defeat in which he +lost fully five thousand men. + +Thus baffled for a second time, he returned to Jerusalem in a frenzy of +rage. On the day after his arrival he went, followed by an armed guard, to +the Temple, and forced his way into the Great Court. It was the time of +the morning sacrifice, and the trembling priests came down from the altar +to salute him. + +“Rebels,” he cried, “you are praying to your God that the enemies of the +King may prosper.” + +“Not so, my lord,” said the presiding priest, “we have but this moment +offered the customary sacrifice for the health and welfare of the most +excellent Demetrius.” + +“These are but words, and I ask for deeds. Let this pestilent fellow, this +Judas, be delivered into my hands. Thus and thus only shall I know that +you are faithful to my lord the King.” + +“But, my lord, you ask that which is impossible. How can we, that are men +of peace, have power to lay hands upon this man of war?” + +“Ask me not how, but do the thing that I command, or it shall go ill with +you and your city.” + +“Nay, my lord, speak not so. Ask that which is possible, and it shall be +done to the uttermost of our power.” + +“Fair words! fair words! But I know well that, after the manner of your +race, for you are the enemies of all men, you curse me behind my back. Now +listen unto me. You will not deliver this traitor into my hands——” + +The priests attempted to speak, but he silenced them with an imperious +gesture. + +“So be it. Then I will take him by force. And when I have taken him, and +dealt with him after his deserts, then——” he paused for a moment, and held +out his right hand with a threatening gesture towards the altar—“then I +will burn this house with fire; even as the Chaldæans burnt it in the days +of your fathers, so will I burn it. All the gods of heaven and hell +confound me, if I do not burn it, as a man burns a brand in the fire.” + +So speaking he turned away, and without deigning to salute the terrified +priests, quitted the precincts of the Temple. + +When he was gone the priests stood weeping and praying before the altar. +“O Lord,” they said, “for the blasphemies wherewith Thine enemies +blaspheme Thee, reward Thou them sevenfold into their bosom. Thou didst +choose this house to be called by Thy name, and to be a house of prayer +for Thy people. Avenge Thyself, therefore, of this man and his host, and +cause them to fall by the sword.” + +Nicanor had sent to Antioch for reinforcements, for he would not fail +again for lack of strength or due preparation, and marching out of +Jerusalem, he awaited their arrival at the western end of the Pass of +Beth-horon. Judas, who, after his victory near Samaria, had followed his +beaten enemy, took up his position at Adasa, an elevated position about +four miles to the north of Jerusalem. He thus put himself between Nicanor +and the Holy City. But he had only three thousand men to match against a +force three times as numerous. + +The fate of the Sanctuary of Israel now seemed to be trembling in the +balance. If Nicanor was victorious its doom was sealed. He had vowed, with +all the emphasis of an awful curse upon himself, that if he came again in +peace he would utterly destroy it. Day after day the women and the old men +left behind were continually in the Temple, which, perhaps, they might in +a few days see destroyed before their eyes. And when at night the Temple +gates were shut they sought their homes to fast and to renew in private +their prayers for the deliverance of the Holy Place, and the victory of +the armies of the Lord. + +By a notable coincidence the anniversary of a great danger and a great +deliverance was approaching. Within a few days the Feast of Purim would be +celebrated. Would the time bring with it a fresh cause for thanksgiving, +or a disaster so terrible that all the deliverances of the past would seem +to be of no avail? + +“Tell us, mother,” said little Daniel, one evening when they had returned +from their daily visit to the Temple—“tell us about Mordecai and the +wicked Haman.” He knew the story well, but, after the manner of children, +liked it better the oftener he heard it. + +So Ruth told the familiar tale again—how the wicked Haman, wroth that the +honest Mordecai would not pay him reverence, slandered the whole nation to +the King till he obtained a decree for their slaughter, how Mordecai went +to Esther the Queen, a Jewess herself, and bade her save her people, +though she risked her own life to do it, how the wicked Haman was hanged +on the gallows which he had made for his enemy, and the Jews had license +given them by the King to slay their adversaries in every city of the +kingdom of Persia. + +“And this Nicanor,” she went on, when she had finished her story—“this +Nicanor is a new Haman. May the God against whom he has uttered his +blasphemies cast him down and destroy him.” + +Meanwhile the hour of battle was drawing near. Judas and his little army +were bivouacking on the hills of Adasa. It was the 12th day of the month +Adar—about equivalent to the beginning of March—and on that high ground +the night air was cold and piercing. Seraiah, Azariah, and Micah were +sitting by a camp-fire, and talking over the chances of the coming +struggle. + +It was the eve of the great Purim feast—the memorial which had been kept +now for three hundred years of the great deliverance which God had wrought +for His people by the hands of Mordecai and Esther. The thoughts of the +comrades naturally turned to this memorable day. + +“Where and how,” said Micah to his companions, “shall we keep the Purim +feast?” + +“Shall we keep it at all?” said Azariah, always somewhat disposed to take +a gloomy view of their prospects. “A Mordecai we have, none more +steadfast; and there is a Haman against us even more cruel and wicked than +he of Persia. But Ahasuerus is against us, nor do I see who shall turn him +from his purpose.” + +“Well,” said Seraiah, with a smile, “at least we can use our swords +without his license.” + +While they were talking they observed a figure emerge from out the +darkness into the circle of light made by the flames. They rose to their +feet, for it was the captain himself. + +“Sit down, my friends,” he said, “we shall be on our feet enough +to-morrow.” And as he spoke, he took his seat on the ground by their side. + +He went on, after a few minutes of silence, “So Azariah doubts what sort +of a Purim festival we shall keep. As for myself I doubt not. But I have +been thinking not so much of Mordecai and Haman—though it seems to me a +happy thing that we shall fight on the day of that deliverance—as of +Hezekiah and Rabshakeh. Did not the king his master send him to blaspheme +the Holy City? And did not Hezekiah lay the letter before the Lord? And +what was the end? In one night the host of the Assyrians was as if it had +not been. So shall it be, I am persuaded in my heart, with this +blaspheming Nicanor and his host. He and they shall be utterly destroyed. +Yes, Azariah, we shall keep our Purim right joyously, after the manner of +our fathers. But as for our enemies, the wine that they shall drink(25) +will be the wine of the wrath of God.” + +He rose with these words, and passed away to spend the rest of the night +in meditation and prayer. His face next morning, when in the early dawn he +stood in front of his slender line, was as the face of one who has talked +face to face with God. Not less rapt than his look was the tone of his +voice as he poured out the words of his prayer—“O Lord, when they that +were sent from the King of the Assyrians blasphemed, Thine angel went out +and smote an hundred fourscore and five thousand of them. Even so destroy +Thou this host before us this day, that the rest may know that he hath +spoken blasphemously against Thy Sanctuary, and judge Thou him according +to his wickedness.” + +A murmur of assent passed through the little army as he uttered these +words in that clear, thrilling voice which was one of his many gifts as a +born leader of men. The next moment the line advanced, for Judas followed +again the successful tactic of attack. Never had his Ironsides advanced +with a more determined courage; never did they deal fiercer blows. The +enemy were scattered by their impetuous onset, as the dust is scattered +before the wind. For all his brutality and falsehood, Nicanor was no +coward. He stood in the very van of his army, giving such cheer as he +could to his men, and though the lines behind him reeled and shook with +that movement which is the sure presage of defeat to a soldier’s eye, at +the approach of the Chasidim, he stood his ground with a dauntless +courage. He was almost the first to fall, Azariah striking him to the +ground with a sweeping blow of his sword. It was an appropriate ending to +the blasphemer that he should receive his death-stroke from the weapon +that bore the talisman of the Holy Name. + +The Greek line had been already beginning to break, but the death of the +leader completed the rout. + +It was no common victory that Judas won that day. The pursuit was long and +bloody. The beaten army fled in wild disorder over the country, only to +find enemies on every hand. Before the sun set it was simply annihilated. +The tradition of that awful slaughter still lingers in the place, and the +valley is called “The Valley of Blood.” + +Their work done, the conquerors entered the city. The news of the great +deliverance had already reached it, and the Feast of Purim was being kept +in earnest. During the earlier part of the day the suspense and anxiety +had been too great to admit of anything more than formal rejoicing. The +customary sacrifices were offered, the customary prayers put up; but the +thoughts of all were with Judas and his men on the battle-field of Adasa. +Then came rumours, at first wholly vague and even fictitious—rumours first +of victory, then of defeat, then of victory again. An hour or so after +noon a swift runner came in with some authentic tidings. But he could not +tell of all that happened. This was gradually learnt, and then, long after +the darkness had closed in, came the advanced guard of the conquering +army, and, close upon midnight, Judas himself. In spite of the darkness, +multitudes thronged to meet him. With extravagant manifestations of +delight, with shouting and singing, with mingled tears and laughter, they +welcomed him home, the deliverer of the city and the Temple. Never before +had he been so enthusiastically received. And it was well that it should +be so, for this was his last return as a conqueror. + +The feast was continued with yet more hearty rejoicing into the next day. +And indeed from thenceforth the two deliverances were to be celebrated +together—the salvation which Judas had wrought for his people on the +battle-field of Adasa, and that which Esther and Mordecai had accomplished +in the presence-chamber of the Persian King. + +Ruth would gladly have stayed at home and expressed thankfulness in +private, but the children were urgent with her that she should take them +into the streets that they might see the people keep holiday. It was a +request that, as the wife and sister of patriots, she could not refuse; +and in the depth of her mother’s heart was the proud thought that the +little Daniel was not an unworthy scion of the race, and that not a few +would look with admiration on the son of Seraiah, the nephew of +Azariah.(26) And indeed she did hear as she passed along not a few +whispered praises, which made her pulses beat quick with thankfulness and +joy. + +As they came in their rambling into the neighbourhood of the Temple, they +found their way blocked by a dense crowd, which seemed eagerly pressing +forward to see some spectacle of surpassing interest. “What is it?” she +asked of one who had been, it seemed, successful in the struggle for a +glimpse of this interesting sight, and was now turning away. She could not +help shuddering at his answer, and called to the children to come away. +But the quick ears of little Daniel had also caught the man’s reply, and +he loudly objected. + +“Nay, mother,” he said, “I must see. Such things are not for women to +see”—the little fellow of five or six had already caught the masculine +tone of superiority—“but I am a soldier’s son, and shall not be afraid to +look. And when I am a man I shall fight for God and for His Holy Temple.” + +“You are a brave lad, and if I mistake not, and you are the nephew of +Azariah, there is no one here that has a better right to look at yonder +sight than you. For ’twas your brave uncle, I am told, that slew that son +of Belial with his sword.” + +So saying he lifted the child from the ground, and raised him till he +could stand upon his shoulders. And what did the little Daniel see that +made him shout and clap his hands? It was the head and hand of Nicanor +nailed against the Temple wall. There were the pallid, distorted lips that +had uttered such proud blasphemies against the Sanctuary of the Lord; +there was the shrunken, bloodless hand that had been lifted up with +threats and scorn against His Holy Place. The Lord had indeed punished the +proud doer. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + THE FALLING AWAY. + + +Though Jerusalem was almost wild with joy—and, indeed, so utterly had the +Greek army disappeared that deliverance was complete for the time—Judas’s +heart was full of sad forebodings. Demetrius, he knew, had a steadfastness +of purpose which augured ill for the future. He was not a madman like +Epiphanes, nor a child like Eupator; but a cool-headed, resolute man, who +had seen something of the world, and would carry out his plans with both +perseverance and skill. Would he sit down under the defeats which he had +received and recognize Jewish independence? Judas thought it unlikely. The +vengeance might be laid aside, but it would be sure to come. Could he hope +to repeat these victories again and again? Once before he had been reduced +to the greatest straits, and had only escaped by an unexpected change in +the purpose of the young Antiochus. Could he look for anything so +marvellous again? Only one plan appeared to him to be possible, and he +lost no time in calling a council of his principal followers and +announcing it to them. It was certain, he told them, that there would be +another war, and a war that would last for years, if only the Jewish +people could hold out so long. “We warriors may endure it, and if the +worst come to the worst, we can but fall on the field of battle. But what +of the old and the weak? What of the women and children? And then we are +not united. Our foes are of our own household. We have to fight not only +against the Greek, but against the Jew also. And even in this assembly +there are some,” he went on, with an emphasis which could not be mistaken, +“who speak evil of me behind my back. What, then, shall we do? Speak, any +one who has counsel to give.” + +The appeal was met with silence, and the speaker continued, “You have +nothing to advise. Listen, therefore, to my counsel, and resist it not in +haste because it seems strange. There is a nation that, rising from a +beginning small as ours, has now made for itself a great dominion. They +are stern to their enemies, but they are just and faithful to their +friends. Like Israel in the earlier and better days, they have no king to +rule them after his own pleasure, but an assembly that weighs every plan +carefully and wisely. And in battle they cannot be resisted. Have you +heard of such a people?” + +One or two voices answered with the word “Rome.” + +“You have said well,” he said; “it is of the Romans that I have been +speaking. Let us make alliance with them. We shall be, as it were, an +outpost for them against the King of Syria, against whom they have fought +already, and, doubtless, will fight again. And they will be a protection +to us. And with the Romans on our side, we need fear the Greeks no more.” + +One or two of the council were in Judas’s secret. Others had guessed, more +or less correctly, what he was intending, but on most the announcement of +his intention fell like a thunderbolt. For a few moments there was the +pause of intense astonishment. Then followed a burst of indignation, in +which, of course, the Chasidim led the way. + +“Say not,” cried one of their chief speakers, “the Romans are like to +Israel because they have no king. Did not Samuel say to the people, when +they fell away from their faith because of Nahash the Ammonite, and would +have a king after the manner of the heathen round about, ‘The Lord your +God is your King.’ And shall we, knowing that the Lord Jehovah is the King +of the Jews, reject Him from reigning over us, and choose us for rulers an +assembly of some three hundred idolaters. Will you set these men of sin to +be lords over the City of God?” + +“Nay,” replied Judas, “you speak unadvisedly and rashly. We shall have our +own rulers. We shall worship after our own way. The Romans will help us in +war; and we shall help them as we only can. Did not David make friendship +and alliance with Hiram, King of Tyre, and did not Solomon, in whose reign +was peace, make that friendship and alliance yet closer?” + +The Chasidim replied, quoting the prophets and denunciations of the +Egyptian alliance. “Even that accursed Rabshakeh,” they said, “spoke the +truth, when he said that Pharaoh, King of Egypt, was a bruised reed which +will go into a man’s hand and pierce it, if he lean upon it. So shall it +be with thee, if thou lean upon Rome.” + +The war of words raged long and furiously. The Chasidim had the best of +the argument, but to the majority of the council the prospect of a settled +peace was irresistibly alluring. And the influence of Judas, too, was +overpowering. By a large majority it was decided to send to Rome, +Eupolemus, the son of John, and Jason, the son of Eleazar,(27) envoys who +had been selected for the mission by Judas himself. + +When the resolution had been passed the council broke up, and the Chasidim +dispersed with dark looks and saddened hearts. The next few days passed in +uncertainty and gloom. No news had come from Antioch as to the movements +or intentions of the King. But there was little doubt as to what he would +do. Whatever they might try to believe in their secret hearts they could +not but own that when the opportunity came Demetrius would deal them a +blow into which he would put all his strength. + +And how would that blow be met? Would they be able to escape it, or parry +it, or stand up against it? The Chasidim, the Ironsides, the men who had +been the stay and strength of Judas’s armies, who had followed him to +victory at Beth-zur, at Beth-horon, at Adasa, were miserably dejected. The +embassy to Rome had broken their spirits. The issue, before so simple to +these stern souls, narrow, perhaps, in their range of vision, but of a +clear and single eye, was now confused. While they fought for the Lord +against the gods of the heathen, they could confidently expect that He +would show Himself greater than all gods, and this faith had made them +irresistible. But now, if Jew and Roman were to fight side by side, with +what confidence could they call upon the Lord of Hosts? Was He the Lord of +_that_ host, in whose ranks were ranged the battalions of the +uncircumcised? + +Some left the leader whom they now regarded as unfaithful to his trust, +and departed to distant villages, hanging up the swords which they were +steadfastly resolved not to draw side by side with the heathen. Others, in +whom the military instinct of discipline, or the personal attachment to +Judas, as the general who had led them so often to victory, were so strong +as to overpower all other considerations, remained with him. Nothing could +take them from his side, but they went with heavy hearts and with an +outlook on the future that was almost hopeless. + +Meanwhile the embassy started. What the answer of the Romans would be +Judas did not doubt. They would rejoice to secure the alliance of a people +who could lend them aid so useful. But would the answer come in time to +save the city and the Temple from the wrath of Demetrius? + +And indeed that wrath did not linger. Within a month Bacchides was on his +way from Antioch with a force of twenty thousand foot and two thousand +horse. The renegade Alcimus accompanied him, and was to be reinstated in +his high-priesthood. Their line of march was through Galilee. On their way +they took the fortified town of Masaloth, and put the garrison to the +sword. It was about the time of the Passover feast that the invaders +reached Jerusalem. There was some talk about attacking it; but Alcimus was +urgent in resisting the proposal. “The King’s quarrel,” he said, “is with +Judas, who is the cause of all this mischief, and Judas is not here. And +the King has commanded that I should be replaced in my office; but what +shall my office profit me if there be no city for me to govern, nor Temple +in which I am to minister?” Bacchides yielded to these representations, +and leaving the city unhurt marched to Beeroth (a few miles north-east of +Jerusalem) and there pitched his camp. + +Among the patriots there was such doubt and dismay as had never been felt +from the day when the aged Mattathias struck the first blow for freedom, +not even in that dark hour when Judas and his famine-stricken followers +were about to make their desperate sally from the Temple fortress. It was +not that they were fighting against overwhelming odds, for they had faced +as great before; it was that they had lost their unquestioning faith in +their leader. + +“Ah!” said Micah to Azariah, when they were discussing the matter for the +twentieth time—and indeed it was almost the only subject of their talk—“I +have seen these heathen from near at hand—I say it with shame—and I know +what they are better than you, better than Judas, who is so good that he +can scarcely believe that other men are bad. ‘He that toucheth pitch shall +be defiled,’ says Jesus, the son of Sirach, and though our captain is +greater than other men, in this matter he is but as they are. What madness +drove him to meddle with the accursed thing? God forgive me if I speak +evil of the ruler of my people, but I must say that which is in my heart.” + +“Nay,” said Azariah, still loyal to his great-hearted chief, though he too +had doubts which he had to crush down by sheer force of will—“nay, you go +too far. Did not Jehoshaphat, the servant of the Lord, make alliance with +the children of Edom when he fought against Mesha, the King of Moab?” + +“But the children of Edom,” answered Micah, “were akin to our people; but +as for these Romans, they are utterly unclean. O, brother, I have often +thought whether, as a faithful servant of the Law, I could remain any +longer with the captain.” + +“You will not leave us?” cried Azariah—“it only wants that, and I shall be +ready to fall on my own sword.” + +“No; I shall not go. If I am wrong the Lord pardon me; but I cannot go +when so many are falling away. Yet if these Romans come—then I shall +depart.” + +“They will not come—at least before the battle. Judas knows it, and it +troubles him. As for me, I know not. But this I know, that he is the +servant of the Lord, and I will follow him to the death. Nevertheless I +cry day and night unto the God of Israel that He will not suffer His +servants to be found fighting in the ranks of them that know Him not.” + +There were the same doubts among the faithful in the city. The aged +Shemaiah had been in the Temple all day, assisting at the sacrifices which +were being offered, and the prayers which were being put up for the +success of Judas and his army. All night the services would be continued; +but the old man was utterly worn out, and he had been led back by one of +the Levites to Seraiah’s house. + +“Father,” said Ruth, “do you think that our prayers are heard? I know that +God does not vouchsafe the visible signs of His presence in His Temple as +He did in the days of old, and that He does not touch with fire from +heaven the sacrifice that He accepts. But yet He sometimes seems to +answer, and we feel in our hearts that He will give us what we ask. Has it +been so to-day with you, father?” + +There was a touching eagerness in her manner, as she put the question. Not +Miriam, not Deborah, had loved their country with a sincerer passion than +did she; and then she had a husband and a brother in the camp, and she +knew that before another sun had set, their fate and the fate of their +country would be decided. + +The priest shook his head. “My daughter,” he said, “I can give you no +comfort, for no comfort has been given to me. My heart was cold within me +while I prayed, for I could not forget that the servant of the Lord had +touched the accursed thing when he sought the alliance of the Romans.” + +“O sir,” broke in Huldah, who had been eagerly listening, “he did not do +it for his own gain or advancement. He did but seek the peace of Israel.” + +“Daughter,” said the old man, solemnly, “there are that cry ‘Peace! +Peace!’ when there is no peace; and that is no peace which can be got only +by unlawful dealing with the heathen. It is God, and God only, that can +give this blessing to His people. And He has greater blessings in store +than this. Does Judas seek to be honoured and to make us honoured by the +nations round about? If he would be in truth the servant of the Lord let +him rather be content with the lot of which Isaiah the prophet speaks: ‘He +is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with +grief.’ So only shall he make many righteous; so only shall he be exalted +of God. This is the lot of the chosen people: not to live at ease among +the nations.” + + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII. + + THE LAST BATTLE. + + +It was the night before the battle. Day by day and hour by hour the +contagion of doubt and disaffection had been spreading through the little +army that followed Judas. He had had three thousand men when he pitched +his camp at Eleasa, and the three thousand had now dwindled down to less +than one. + +Judas was sitting by one of the camp-fires with Azariah and Seraiah, when +two soldiers came up, bringing bound between them a man who had +endeavoured, they said, to make his way into the camp. He wore his hat +drawn down over his forehead, and little of his face could be seen, but +there was something in his figure that seemed familiar to Azariah. + +“Who are you?” said Judas, “and what want you in the camp? Are you for us +or for our enemies?” + +“My lord,” said the man, “my name is Benjamin, and—for I will hide nothing +from you—I am a robber. Once I was a soldier in your army, but I broke the +law, and I fled lest I should be put to death. Now I am come, of my own +accord, to make such amends for my transgression as I may. Slay me, if you +will, as I stand here. There is no need of a trial. I have been tried and +condemned, and I acknowledge that I deserve to die. But if you will be +merciful, let me fight in the morning by your side; and on the morrow, if +I yet live, let me suffer the due punishment. Life I ask not, but only +that I may strike a blow for you before I die.” + +“Unbind him,” said Judas to the soldiers. + +The command was obeyed. + +“You are free to go or stay. But I would gladly have you at my side +to-morrow, for I have forgotten all but that you are a brave man.” + +Benjamin stepped forward, and raising the hem of the captain’s robe to his +lips, kissed it. He then knelt, and putting his head to the ground made as +though he would have placed Judas’s foot upon his neck. + +“Nay,” said the captain, “we want not slaves, but brothers.” And he raised +him from the ground. “And now,” he went on, “sit down and tell us what you +know, for I make sure that you have not come empty of news.” + +Benjamin did indeed know all that could be known about the enemy, and, +indeed, about the situation of affairs. To a question from Seraiah he +replied that a surprise was impossible. The camp was too well guarded and +watched. + +“Do they know our real numbers?” asked Judas. + +“Yes,” was the answer, “the deserters have told them.” And he proceeded to +give a number of names of those who had gone over to the enemy, with a +readiness and a precision that showed how diligent had been his watch. + +When he had told all his story, and understood that there was nothing more +for him to do before the morrow, he wrapped himself in his cloak, and with +characteristic indifference to the future, fell immediately into a +profound and dreamless sleep. + +As soon as the first rays of light were seen Judas mustered his soldiers +and hastily numbered them. There were about eight hundred in all, while +the army of Bacchides, according to the calculations of Benjamin, which +seemed to have been carefully made, could not be less than twenty +thousand. + +Judas was not dismayed by this disparity of numbers, but was still true to +his old strategy of attack. “Let us go up against our enemies,” was the +exhortation that he addressed to the remnant that was still faithful to +him. At first they shrank back. The odds were too vast; the attempt too +desperate. An old soldier who had proved his valour on more than one +battle-field was put forward as their spokesman. + +“This, sir,” he said, “will be to tempt God. Let us now save our lives. +Hereafter we will return again, and fight with them. But now we are too +few.” + +But Judas did not waver for a moment. “God forbid,” he cried, “that I +should do this thing, and flee away from them. Not so; if our time is +come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and not stain our honour.” + +His words roused once more an answering echo in the hearts of those who +heard him. They replied with a cry of assent. Victory they could not hope +for, but their captain they would follow whithersoever he should lead +them, and as long as he lived they would guard his life with theirs. + +The little host was then divided into five companies, commanded by Judas +and his two brothers, Simon and Jonathan, by Seraiah and Micah +respectively. Azariah, whose standing in the army would have entitled him +to a separate command, had made a special request that he might be allowed +to fight by the side of Judas. Benjamin had begged and obtained the same +privilege. + +On both sides the trumpets sounded, and both armies moved forward. It was +with nothing less than astonishment that the Greeks saw the slender +proportion of the force that was opposed to them. Most laughed aloud at +the thought that such a handful of men should venture to stand up against +their own well-appointed and numerous host. Others, who had before crossed +swords with Judas’s men knew that that day’s battle, end as it might, +would be no laughing matter. And indeed they were right. The little +company of Jewish heroes fought as three centuries before Leonidas and his +men had fought at Thermopylae.(28) The Greeks came on with the same +arrogant confidence in their numbers as did the picked Persian force +against the defenders of Greece, and met with a like disastrous repulse. +Such was the fury of the Jewish soldiers, such their agility and strength, +that they kept the attacking force in check during the whole day. When +night approached the Greeks had made, it might almost be said, absolutely +no way. + +But the resistance, successful as it had been, had cost lives, and Judas +saw his force dwindling before his eyes. Then he made his last desperate +effort. He threw himself on the right wing, where Bacchides commanded in +person, broke the line, and drove it in confusion before him. Possibly he +was too rash in his pursuit, but on such a day, when such odds are to be +encountered, it is scarcely possible to distinguish between rashness and +courage. Anyhow, it was but a brief success. The left wing closed in upon +his rear, and he and his gallant band were surrounded. Judas was the mark +of a hundred swords and spears. For a time he seemed to bear a charmed +life. Azariah and Benjamin, at his right hand and his left, beat down the +blows aimed at him, wholly careless of their own lives, while he with the +long sweep of his fatal sword—the same that he had taken from the dead +Apollonius on his first battle-field—dealt blow after blow, till the +ground was covered with the corpses of his enemies. But a spear pierced +the stout heart of Benjamin, and a sword-stroke laid Azariah in the dust; +and just as the sun sank behind the rugged hills, the hero who had smitten +the enemies of his country at Bethhoron and Emmaüs, at Elah and at Adasa, +had struck his last blow. The Hammer lay broken on the rock. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. + + +A week had passed since the fatal day of Eleasa. Judas had been buried in +peace in the grave where he had laid, five years before, the aged +Mattathias. The Greek general had been so much impressed with the valour +and generalship of the Jewish hero that he strictly ordered that no +indignity should be offered to his remains; and when an envoy came from +the surviving brothers to ask that the corpse should be given up for +burial, made no difficulty about granting the request. It was only fitting +that a brave man should be so honoured. The King, too, had been avenged on +his enemy, nor did he imagine for a moment that the rebels, as he called +them, would continue to hold out now that their leader had been taken from +them. It was impossible for him to foresee that those undaunted brothers +would maintain the desperate struggle until they had wrung from the Syrian +king the recognition of Jewish independence. Accordingly he granted a +truce for a fortnight, and even sent some of his troops to accompany the +funeral procession. It had been a touching scene; and when the hero had +been laid to rest in the sepulchre of his fathers, and the piercing voices +of the women, many of whom had struggled over the long and toilsome way +from Jerusalem to be present, raised the cry of lamentation, many of the +Greek soldiers found themselves moved to tears. This had been the dirge +that had been sung over the grave:— + + “How is the valiant man fallen that delivered Israel. + In his acts he was like a lion, and like a lion’s whelp roaring for his + prey. + For he pursued the wicked, and sought them out, and burnt up those that + vexed his people. + Wherefore the wicked shrunk for fear of him, and all the workers of + iniquity were troubled, because salvation prospered in his + hand. + He grieved also many kings, and made Jacob glad with his acts, and his + memorial is blessed for ever.” + +And now once more the little company of those whom we have known by name +are gathered in Seraiah’s house. The orphaned girls are there, Miriam and +Judith, passionately grieving for their father, but yet exulting as +passionately that he was at the side of Judas to the last, and that his +hope had been at least so far fulfilled that he and the captain whom he +loved had been saved from drawing sword among the legions of Rome. Little +Daniel, too, is there, his childish heart sorely troubled with the +darkness of a dispensation which he cannot understand; and Ruth, +comforting herself and the children with the thought that he whom they had +lost had rejoined his own Hannah, and half reproaching herself for her +selfish joy in having her Seraiah still spared to her. Huldah and Eglah, +who had been among the mourners at Modin, are there also, and the aged +priest Shemaiah. + +“O father,” cried one of the women, “tell us why these things are so. Why +does God so disappoint us of our hopes? We trusted that it had been he who +should have delivered Israel, and now he is dead!” + +“We must wait,” said the old man, “for God’s good time, for He seeth not +as we see. Did not David think that Solomon, his son, should be the +promised king of Israel; and, behold, he turned aside to worship idols, +and laid such burdens on the people that his kingdom was broken in twain? +And now we, too, have built our hopes upon a man, and they have failed. +Surely of Judas it might have been said, ‘He shall deliver the needy when +he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper; he shall redeem +their soul from deceit and violence, and dear shall their blood be in his +sight.’ + +“We looked,” said Seraiah, “for the time when all kings should fall down +before him, all nations should do him service. He seemed like the stone +cut out of the mountain without hands that should smite all the kingdoms +of evil, and we waited for the reign of Messiah the Prince.” + +“And will Messiah come?” cried little Daniel, who had been eagerly +listening to these words, not understanding all, indeed, but catching +their general purport. + +“Surely, my son,” said the old man; “but there are many things to be +suffered first.” + +He was silent for a time, sitting with eyes that seemed to take no heed of +the present, but to be gazing into a far futurity. At last he spoke. + +“He loved Israel with all his heart, but he has brought upon us a people +of iron, harder than the brazen Greeks. He looked to them for help that he +might build up the walls of Sion, and behold! in the days to come they +will make Jerusalem a desolation and the inhabitants thereof a hissing. +And yet, by the Lord’s help, he wrought a great deliverance for Israel. He +recovered and cleansed the Temple, and by his hand the Lord changed the +king’s commandment, so that we may once more worship Him in the beauty of +holiness. And surely, had it not been for him, when he put to flight the +hosts of Lysias, we should have been carried away again into captivity. +For this was in the heart of our persecutors; only Judas stood in the way +that it should not be done. The Lord reward him for it, and impute not his +transgression unto him, for he did not transgress wilfully, or out of an +evil heart. Nevertheless, I am persuaded that it shall not be so when +Messiah shall come, for come He will at the appointed time, seeing that +the Lord repenteth Him not of His promises. Verily He shall not do homage +to any godless bestower of kingdoms, nor listen to the voice of the Evil +One, though he promise Him all the world and the glory of it. With His own +right hand and with His holy arm will He get Himself the victory!” + + + + + + + THE FAMILY OF THE ASMONEANS, OR MACCABEES. + + +The name “Maccabee,” probably derived from a Hebrew word signifying a +“Hammer,” was originally given to Judas, and afterwards extended to his +four brothers. They came of a priestly family, belonging to the first and +noblest of the twenty-four “courses,” taking its name from a certain Asmon +or Chasmon, great-grandfather of Mattathias, father of Judas. The five +heroic brothers all met with a violent death. + +That of Judas and Eleazar has been already described. + +John, the eldest, was killed in a skirmish, shortly after the death of +Judas. + +Jonathan maintained himself in power by a clever policy of leaning on +Rome, and taking part with various claimants to the Syrian crown. He +became High-priest at some time after the year 153, and perished in 144 by +the treachery of a certain Tryphon, who usurped for a time the throne of +Syria. + +Simon succeeded to the High-priesthood, and governed the Jewish people for +a period of eight years with great success. In B.C. 143 he obtained from +the Syrian king a formal recognition of the independence of the Jews, and +in the following year he got possession of the fortress in Jerusalem +occupied by the Syrian faction. In 135 he was treacherously murdered by +his son-in-law, Ptolemaeus. + +Simon, who had maintained the alliance with Rome, was succeeded by his son +John Hyrcanus, who followed the same policy, and he again by his son +Aristobulus, who assumed the title of King in 107. + +Mariamne, the unhappy wife of Herod the Great, belonged to the Maccabean +House. With the death of her two sons it became extinct. + + + + + + The Gresham Press, + UNWIN BROTHERS, + CHILWORTH AND LONDON. + + + + + + BY THE SAME AUTHOR. + + ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ + +STORIES FROM HOMER. With Coloured Illustrations. Eighteenth Thousand. +Price 5s., cloth. + +“A book which ought to become an English classic. It is full of the pure +Homeric flavour.”—_Spectator._ + + +STORIES FROM VIRGIL. With Coloured Illustrations. Fourteenth Thousand. +Price 5s., cloth. + +“Superior to his ‘Stories from Homer,’ good as they were, and perhaps as +perfect a specimen of that peculiar form of translation as could +be.”—_Times._ + + +STORIES FROM THE GREEK TRAGEDIANS. With Coloured Illustrations. Eighth +Thousand. Price 5s., cloth. + +“Not only a pleasant and entertaining book for the fireside, but a +storehouse of facts from history to be of real service to them when they +come to read a Greek play for themselves.”—_Standard._ + + +STORIES OF THE EAST FROM HERODOTUS. With Coloured Illustrations. Seventh +Thousand. Price 5s., cloth. + +“For a school prize a more suitable book will hardly be found.”—_Literary +Churchman._ + +“A very quaint and delightful book.”—_Spectator._ + + +THE STORY OF THE PERSIAN WAR FROM HERODOTUS. With Coloured Illustrations. +Fifth Thousand. Price 5s., cloth. + +“We are inclined to think this is the best volume of Professor Church’s +series since the excellent ‘Stories from Homer.’”—_Athenæum._ + + +STORIES FROM LIVY. With Coloured Illustrations. Fifth Thousand. Price 5s., +cloth. + +“The lad who gets this book for a present will have got a genuine +classical treasure.”—_Scotsman._ + + +ROMAN LIFE IN THE DAYS OF CICERO. With Coloured Illustrations. Fourth +Thousand. Price 5s., cloth. + +“The best prize-book of the season.”—_Journal of Education._ + + +THE STORY OF THE LAST DAYS OF JERUSALEM FROM JOSEPHUS. With Coloured +Illustrations. Fourth Thousand. Price 3s. 6d., cloth. + +“The execution of this work has been performed with that judiciousness of +selection and felicity of language which have combined to raise Professor +Church far above the fear of rivalry.”—_Academy._ + + +A TRAVELLER’S TRUE TALE FROM LUCIAN. With Coloured Illustrations. Third +Thousand. Price 3s. 6d., cloth. + +“There can hardly be a more amusing book of marvels for young people than +this.”—_Saturday Review._ + + +HEROES AND KINGS. Stories from the Greek. Fifth Thousand. Price 1s. 6d., +cloth. + +“This volume is quite a little triumph of neatness and taste.”—_Saturday +Review._ + + +THE STORIES OF THE ILIAD AND THE ÆNEID. With Illustrations. Price 1s., +sewed, or 1s. 6d., cloth. + +“The attractive and scholar-like rendering of the story cannot fail, we +feel sure, to make it a favourite at home as well as at +school.”—_Educational Times._ + + +THE CHANTRY PRIEST OF BARNET: A Tale of the Two Roses. With Coloured +Illustrations. Fourth Thousand. Price 5s. + +“This is likely to be a very useful book, as it is certainly very +interesting and well got up.”—_Saturday Review._ + + +WITH THE KING AT OXFORD. A Story of the Great Rebellion. With Coloured +Illustrations. Fourth Thousand. Price 5s. + +“Excellent sketches of the times.”—_Athenæum._ + + +THE COUNT OF THE SAXON SHORE. A Tale of the Departure of the Romans from +Britain. With Sixteen Illustrations. Third Thousand. Price 5s. + +“A good stirring tale.”—_Daily News._ + + +STORIES OF THE MAGICIANS: THALABA; RUSTEM; THE CURSE OF KEHAMA. With +Coloured Illustrations. Price 5s. + +“Worthy of all praise.”—_Pall Mall Gazette._ + + +THREE GREEK CHILDREN. A Story of Home in Old Time. With Twelve +Illustrations. Price 3s. 6d. + +“This is a very fascinating little book.”—_Spectator._ + + +TO THE LIONS! A Tale of the Early Christians. With Sixteen Illustrations. +Price 3s. 6d., cloth. + +“The picture of the life of the Early Christians is drawn with admirable +simplicity and distinctness.”—_Guardian._ + + + + + + FOOTNOTES + + + 1 Nearly £2,000. + + 2 “The exceeding profaneness of Jason, that ungodly wretch, and no + high priest” (2 Macc. iv. 13). + + 3 Antiochus’s surname, self-assumed or given by the flattery of his + courtiers, of “Epiphanes” (the Illustrious), was jestingly changed + by his subjects through the alteration of a single letter into, + “Epimanes” (Madman). + + 4 The Suburra was one of the least reputable quarters in Rome. + + 5 “He came with the King’s mandate, bringing nothing worthy the high + priesthood, but having the fury of a cruel tyrant, and the rage of a + savage beast” (2 Macc. iv. 25). + + 6 Son and successor of Seleucus Nicator, the first of the dynasty of + the Greek Syrian kings. + + 7 The wine of Mount Tmolus, a mountain near Smyrna, before which, as + Virgil says (Georgics ii. 184), all other wines rise as before their + betters. + + 8 Azariah, holpen of Jehovah. + + 9 Charles Martel defeated the Saracens between Poictiers and Tours + (A.D. 732). + + 10 Not to be confounded with the village near Jerusalem. + + 11 The talent must have been a talent of gold, which may be reckoned as + equal to £3,300. + + 12 This is the meaning of the name Eleazar. + + 13 Psalm cxxxvi. + + 14 About £,24. + + 15 Hebrews xi. 37-38. Compare ii. Macc. x. vi. “When as they wandered + in the mountains and dens like beasts.” + + 16 Nine o’clock, p.m. + + 17 There seems to have been a belief among the Jews of this time in the + efficacy of prayers for the dead. So we read in 2 Maccabees xii. 45: + “Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead that they might be + delivered from sin.” This is probably the chief reason why the + Council of Trent included the Books of Maccabees and other + Apocryphal writings in the Canon of Scripture. + + 18 The month Chisleu about corresponds to our December. + + 19 See S. John x. 22, 23: “And it was at Jerusalem the Feast of the + Dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the Temple, in + Solomon’s porch.” + + 20 Eupator means “Born of a great father.” + + 21 Psalms cxiii.-cxviii. + + 22 Ibid. cxx.-cxxxiv. + + 23 Alcimus seems to have been an adaptation, not a little remote, + however, from the original, of the Hebrew name Eliakim. + + 24 “Bezeth,” it is called. Possibly it may be identified with Bezetha, + which was afterwards part of the city. + + 25 Copious draughts of wine were an important part of the customary + celebration of the Purim festival. + + 26 “Et pater Æneas et avunculus excitet Hector.” + + 27 Observe the Greek names of the two. In each case the father’s name + is Hebrew, and the son’s Greek. This seems to show how far the + Hellenization of the people had proceeded. + + 28 We commonly talk of the “three hundred” at Thermopylae. As a matter + of fact there were _a thousand_, not reckoning the Thebans, who are + said to have laid down their arms at once. But the seven hundred men + from Thespiae, a little Bœotian town, fought bravely to the end; + only their glory is swallowed up in that of the “three hundred” + Spartans. Canon Westcott speaks of this battle as the Jewish + Thermopylae (“Dictionary of the Bible”). + + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE + + +Variations in hyphenation have not been changed. In several places, wrong +quotation marks have been silently corrected. + +Other changes, which have been made to the text: + + page xi, “ELEAZER” changed to “ELEAZAR” + page 230, double “the” removed + page 354, “of” changed to “or” + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAMMER. A STORY OF THE MACCABEAN TIMES*** + + + + CREDITS + + +December 31, 2013 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by sp1nd, Stefan Cramme and the Online Distributed + Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was + produced from images generously made available by The Internet + Archive) + + + + A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 44550‐0.txt or 44550‐0.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/4/5/5/44550/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one — the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the +General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and +distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the Project +Gutenberg™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered +trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you +receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of +this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook +for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given away +— you may do practically _anything_ with public domain eBooks. +Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + + THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE + + +_Please read this before you distribute or use this work._ + +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or +any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), +you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ +License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + + Section 1. + + +General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works + + + 1.A. + + +By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, +you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the +terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) +agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this +agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of +Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee +for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work +and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may +obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set +forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + + + 1.B. + + +“Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or +associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be +bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can +do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying +with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are +a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you +follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to +Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + + + 1.C. + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or +PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual +work is in the public domain in the United States and you are located in +the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, +distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on +the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of +course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of +promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project +Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for +keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can +easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you +share it without charge with others. + + + 1.D. + + +The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you +can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant +state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of +your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before +downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating +derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. +The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of +any work in any country outside the United States. + + + 1.E. + + +Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + + + 1.E.1. + + +The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access +to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever +any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase +“Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” +is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or +distributed: + + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with + almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away + or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License + included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org + + + 1.E.2. + + +If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from the +public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with +permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and +distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or +charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you +must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 +or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + + + 1.E.3. + + +If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the +permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply +with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed +by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project +Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the +copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + + + 1.E.4. + + +Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License +terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any +other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. + + + 1.E.5. + + +Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic +work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying +the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate +access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License. + + + 1.E.6. + + +You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, +marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word +processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted +on the official Project Gutenberg™ web site (http://www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. +Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as +specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + + + 1.E.7. + + +Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, +copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply +with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + + + 1.E.8. + + +You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or +distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that + + - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to + the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to + donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 + days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally + required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments + should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, + “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary + Archive Foundation.” + + - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. + You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the + works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and + all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + + - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + + 1.E.9. + + +If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic +work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this +agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from both the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael Hart, the owner of the +Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in +Section 3 below. + + + 1.F. + + + 1.F.1. + + +Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to +identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread public domain +works in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these +efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they +may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, +incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright +or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk +or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot +be read by your equipment. + + + 1.F.2. + + +LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES — Except for the “Right of +Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for +damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE +NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH +OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE +FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT +WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, +PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY +OF SUCH DAMAGE. + + + 1.F.3. + + +LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND — If you discover a defect in this +electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund +of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to +the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a +physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. +The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect +to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the +work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose +to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in +lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a +refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem. + + + 1.F.4. + + +Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in +paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ’AS-IS,’ WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + + + 1.F.5. + + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the +exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or +limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state +applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make +the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state +law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement +shall not void the remaining provisions. + + + 1.F.6. + + +INDEMNITY — You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark +owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of +Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and +any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs +and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from +any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of +this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect +you cause. + + + Section 2. + + + Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ + + +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic +works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including +obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the +efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks +of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance +they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring +that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for +generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for +Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations +can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation web page at +http://www.pglaf.org. + + + Section 3. + + + Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of +Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. +The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. +Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. Contributions to the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full +extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. + +The Foundation’s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. +S. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 North +1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact information +can be found at the Foundation’s web site and official page at +http://www.pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + + Section 4. + + + Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive + Foundation + + +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the +number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment +including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are +particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. +Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable +effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these +requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not +received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or +determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have +not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against +accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us +with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any +statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the +United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation methods +and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including +checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please +visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + + Section 5. + + + General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. + + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with +anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ +eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, +all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless a copyright +notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance +with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook’s eBook +number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, compressed +(zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected _editions_ of our eBooks replace the old file and take over the +old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +_Versions_ based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org + + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how +to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, +how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email +newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + + + + + +***FINIS*** +
\ No newline at end of file |