joyment of their public worship, as far as it respected the imperial sanction; but as it is out of the power of the strongest cdicts, at once, to root out inveterate prejudices, the reformers of that age had to encounter with many formidable difficulties. Many of the people had suffered from poverty as well as from exile, and therefore were little able to make any considerable exertions in that cause, which they deemed the most important; while others, who had obtained riches in the land of their conquerors, were disinclined to forego their present comforts, for the sake of re-establishing the religion and customs of their fathers at Jerusalem. Many, also, who consented to return, had married heathenish women, whom they were unwilling to divorce; and had contracted habits of superstition, licentiousness, and oppression, which they were, with extreme reluctance, prevailed upon to abandon. Besides these internal troubles, the Samaritans, irritated at being refused a share in the erection of the temple, exerted all their influence with the court of Persia, to procure the interference of authority for depressing and persecuting the Jews. Still, however, the good cause continued to prosper; Jerusalem its temple and its wall, were rebuilded; many excellent institutions were set on foot for the instruction of the people; and religion again lifted up its head. It was not, indeed, long, before many abuses found an entrance; but the Jews, as a body, never afterwards practised idolatry.

But though the Jews were now restored to the free exercise of religion, they were neither a free nor a powerful people, as they had formerly been. They were few in number, and their country only a province of Syria, subjects to the kings of Persia. The Syrian governors conferred the administration of affairs upon the high-priestз, and their accepting this office, and thus deviating from the law of Moses, must be considered as one of the chief causes of the misfortunes, which immediately befel the people ; because it made room for a set of men, who aspired at this high office merely through ambition or avarice, without either zeal for religion, or love for their country. It, besides, made the high-priesthood capable of being disposed of at the pleasure of the governors; whereas, the Mosaic institution had fixed it unalienably in the family of Aaron. Of the bad effects of this practice, a fatal instance happened in 373, B. C. Bagoses, governor of Syria, having contracted an intimate friendship with Jeshua, the brother of Johanan the high-priest, promised to raise him to the pontifical office, a few years after his brother had been invested with it. Jeshua came immediately to Jerusalem, and acquainted his brother with it. The interview happened in the inner court of the temple, and a scuffle ensued: Jeshua was killed by his brother, and the temple thus polluted in the most scandalous manner. The consequence, to the Jews, was, that a heavy fine was laid on the temple, which was not taken off till seven years after.

The first public calamity which befel the Jewish nation after their restoration from Babylon, happened in the year 351, B. C. for having, some how or other, disobliged Darius Ochus, king of Persia; he besieged and took Jericho, and carried off all the inhabitants captives. From this time they continued faithful to the Persians, insomuch, that they had almost drawn upon themselves the displeasure of Alexander the Great. That monarch, having resolved upon the siege of Tyre, and being informed that the city was wholly supplied with provisions from Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, sent to Jaddua, then high-priest, to demand of him that supply, which he had been accustomed to pay to the Persians. The Jewish pontiff excused himself, on account of his oath of fidelity to Darius, which so provoked Alexander, that he had no sooner completed the reduction of Tyre, than he marched against Jerusalem. The inhabitants then, being, with good reason, thrown into the utmost consternation, had recourse to prayers; and Jaddua is said, by a divine revelation, to have been commanded to go and meet Alex»:

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ander. He obeyed accordingly, and set out on his journey, dressed in his pontifical robes, at the head of all his priests in their proper habits, attended by the rest of the people dressed in white garments. Alexander is said to have been seized with such awful respect, on seeing this venerable procession, that he embraced the high-priest, and paid a kind of religious adoration to the name of God, engraven on the front of his mitre. His followers being surprised at this unexpected behaviour, the Macedonian monarch informed them, that he paid that respect, not to the priest, but to his God, as an acknowledgement for a vision which he had been favoured with at Dia, where he had been promised the conquest of Persia, and encouraged in his expedition, by a person of much the same aspect, and dressed in the same habit, as the pontiff before. He afterwards accompanied Jaddua into Jerusalem, where he offered sacrifices in the temple. The high-priest showed him, also, the prophecies of Daniel, wherein the destruction of the Persian empire, by himself, is plainly set forth; in consequence of which, the king went away highly satisfied; and, at his departure, asked the highpriest, if there was nothing in which he could gratify himself or his people. Jaddua then told him, that, according to the Mosaic law, they neither sowed nor ploughed on the seventh year; therefore would esteem it an high favour, if the king would be pleased to remit their tribute in that year. To this request the king readily yielded, and having confirmed them in the enjoyment of all their privileges, particularly that of living under their own laws, he departed.

Whether this story deserves credit or not, (for the whole transaction is not, without reason, called in question by some) it is certain, that the Jews were much favoured by Alexander, but with him their good fortune seemed also to expire. The country of Judea, being situated between Syria and Egypt, became subject to all the revolutions and wars, which the ambitious successors of Alexander waged against each other. At first, it was given, together with Syria and Phenicia, to Leomedon the Mitylenian, one of Alexander's generals; but he being, soon after, stripped of the other two by Ptolemy, Judea was next summoned to yield to the conqueror. The Jews scrupled to break their oath of fidelity to Leomedon, and were, of consequence, invaded by Ptolemy, at the head of a powerful army. The open country was easily reduced, but the city, being strongly fortified both by art and nature, threatened a strong resistance. A superstitious fear of breaking the sabbath, however, prevented the besieged from making any defence on that day; of which Ptolemy being informed, he caused an assault to be made on the sabbath, and easily carried the place. At first he treated them with great severity, and carried 100,000 men of them into captivity; but reflecting, soon after, on their known fidelity to their conquerors, he restored them to all the privileges they had enjoyed under the Macedonians. Of the captives, he put some into garrisons, and others he settled in the countries of Libya and Cyrene. From those who settled in the latter of these countries, descended the Cyrenean Jews, mentioned by the writers of the New Testament.

Five years after Ptolemy had subdued Judea, he was forced to yield it to Antigonus, reserving to himself only the cities of Ace, Samaria, Joppa, and Gaza; and carrying off an immense booty, with a great number of captives, whom he settled at Alexandria, and endowed with considerable privileges and immunities. Antigonus behaved in such a tyrannical manner, that great numbers of his Jewish subjects fled into Egypt, and others put themselves under the protection of Seleucus, who also granted them considerable privileges. Hence this nation became gradually to be spread over Syria and Asia Minor, while Judea seemed to be in danger of being depopulated, till it was recovered by Ptolemy in 292. The affairs of the Jews then took a more prosperous turn, and continued in a thriving way till the reign of Ptolemy Philopator, when they

were grievously oppressed by the incursions of the Samaritans, at the same time that Antiochus Theos, king of Syria, invaded Galilee. Ptolemy, however, marched against Antiochus, and defeated him; after which, having gone to Jerusalem to offer up sacrifices, he ventured to profane the temple itself, by going into it. He penetrated through the two outer courts; but as he was about to enter the sanctuary, he was struck with such dread and terror, that he fell down half dead. A dreadful persecution was then raised against the Jews, who had attempted to hinder him in his impious attempt; but this persecution was stopped by a still more extraordinary accident, and the Jews again received into favour.

About the year 204, B. C. the country of Judea was subdued by Antiochus the Great, and on this occasion, the loyalty of the Jews to the Egyptians failed them, the whole nation readily submitting to the king of Syria. This attachment so pleased the Syrian monarch, that he sent a letter to his general, wherein he acquainted him, that he designed to restore Jerusalem to its antient splendor, and to recal all the Jews that had been driven out of it; that out of his singular respect to the temple of God, he granted them 20,000 pieces of silver, towards the charges of the victims, frankincense, wine, and oil; 1400 measures of fine wheat, and 375 measures of salt, towards their usual oblations; that the temple should be thoroughly repaired at his cost; that they should enjoy the free exercise of their religion, and restore the public service of the temple, and the priests, Levites, singers, &c. to their usual functions; that no stranger or Jew that was unpurified, should enter further into the temple than was allowed by their law; and that no flesh of unclean beasts should be brought into Jerusalem, not even their skins; and all these, under the penalty of paying 3000 pieces of silver into the treasury of the temple. He further granted an exemption of taxes, for three years, to all the dispersed Jews, that should come, within a limited time, to settle in the metropolis; and that all who had been sold for slaves, within his dominions, should be set free.

This sudden prosperity proved of no long duration. About the year 176, a quarrel' happened between Onias, at that time high-priest, and one Simon, governor of the temple, which was attended with the most fatal consequences. The causes of this quarrel are unknown. The event, however, was, that Simon, finding he could not get the better of Onias, informed Apollonias, governor of Cœlosyria and Palestine, that there was, at that time, in the temple, an immense treasure, which, at his pleasure, might be siezed upon, for the use of the king of Syria. Of this the governor instantly sent intelligence to the king, who dispatched one Heliodorus to take possession of the supposed treasure. This person, through a miraculous interposition, as the Jews pretend, failed in his attempt of entering the temple; upon which, Simon accused the high-priest to the people, as the person who had invited Heliodorus to Jerusalem. This produced a kind of civil war, in which many fell on both sides. fell on both sides. At last, Onias having complained to the king, Simon was banished; but, soon after, Antiochus Epiphanes having ascended the throne of Syria, Jason, the high-priest's brother, taking advantage of the necessities of Antiochus, purchased from him the high-priesthood, at the price of 350 talents; and obtained an order, that his brother should be sent to Antioch, there to be confined for life.

Jason's next step was to purchase liberty, at the price of one hundred and fifty talents more; to build a gymnasium at Jerusalem, similar to those which were used in the Grecian cities; and to make as many Jews as he pleased free citizens of Antioch. By means of these powers, he became very soon able to form a strong party in Judea; for his countrymen were exceedingly fond of the Grécian customs, and the freedom of the city of Antioch was a very valuable privilege. From this time, therefore, a general:

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apostacy took place, the service of the temple was neglected, and Jason abandoned himself, without remorse, to all the impieties and absurdities of paganism.

He did not, however, long enjoy his ill-acquired dignity. Having sent his brother Menelaus with the usual tribute to Antiochus, the former took the opportunity of supplanting Jason, in the same manner that he had supplanted Onias. Having offered for the high-priesthood three hundred talents more than his brother had given, he easily obtained it, and returned, with his new commission, to Jerusalem. He soon got himself a strong party; but Jason, proving too powerful, forced Menelaus and his adherents to retire to Antioch. Here, the better to gain their point, they acquainted Antiochus, that they were determined to renounce their old religion, and wholly conform themselves to that of the Greeks, which so pleased the tyrant, that he immediately gave them a force sufficient to drive Jason out of Jerusalem, who thereupon took refuge among the Ammonites.

Menelaus being thus freed from his rival, took care to fulfil his promise to the king, with regard to the apostacy, but forgot to pay the money he had promised. At last he was summoned to Antioch, and finding nothing but the payment of the promised sum would do, sent orders to his brother Lysimachus, to convey to him as many of the sacred utensils, belonging to the temple, as could be spared. As these were all of gold, the apostate soon raised a sufficient sum from them, not only to satisfy the king, but also to bribe the courtiers in his favour. But his brother Onias, who had been all this time confined at Antioch, getting intelligence of the sacrilege, made such bitter complaint, that an insurrection was ready to take place among the Jews at Antioch. Menelaus, in order to avoid the impending danger, bribed Andronicus, governor of the city, to murder Onias. This produced the most vehement complaints, as, soon as Antiochus returned to the capital (he having been absent for some time, in order to quell an insurrection in Cilicia), which, at last, ended in the death of Andronicus, who was executed by the king's order. By dint of money; however, Menelaus still found means to keep up his credit, but was obliged to draw such vast sums from Jerusalem, that the inhabitants, at last, massacred his brother Lysimachus, whom he had left governor of the city in his absence. Antiochus soon after took a journey to Tyre, upon which the Jews sent deputies to him, both to justify the death of Lysimachus, and to accuse Menelaus of being the author of all the troubles which had happened. The apostate, however, was never at a loss while he could procure money. By means of this powerful argument, he pleaded his cause so effectually, that the deputies were not only cast, but put to death; and this unjust sentence gave the traitor a complete victory over all his enemies, that from thenceforth he commenced a down-right tyrant. Jerusalem was destitute of protectors, and the sanhedrim, if there were any zealous men among them, werc so much terrified, that they durst not oppose him, though they evidently saw that his design was finally to eradicate the religion and liberties of his country.

In the mean time Antiochus was taken up with the conquest of Egypt and a report was, somehow or other, spread, that he had been killed at the siege of Alexandria. At this news the Jews imprudently showed some signs of joy, and Jason, thinking this a proper opportunity to regain his lost dignity, appeared before Jerusalem at the head of 1000 resolute men. The gates were quickly opened to him, by some of his friend's ini the city; upon which, Menelaus retired into the citadel, and Jason, minding nothing but his resentment, committed the most horrid butcheries. At last he was obliged to leave both the city and country, on the news, that Antiochus was coming with a powerful army against him; for that prince, highly provoked at this rebellion, and especially at the rejoicings the Jews had made on the report of his death, had actually resolved to

punish the city in the severest manner. Accordingly, about 170, B. C. having made himself master of the city, he behaved with such cruelty, that within three days they reckoned no fewer than 40,000 killed, and as many sold for slaves. In the midst of this dreadful calamity, the apostate, Menelaus, found means, not only to preserve himself from the general slaughter, but even to regain the good graces of the king, who, having, by his means, plundered the temple of every thing valuable, returned to Antioch in a kind of triumph. Before he departed, however, he put Judea under the government of one Philip, a barbarous Phrygian; Samaria, under that of Andronicus, a person of a similar disposition; and left Menelaus, the most hateful of all the three, in possession of the high-priesthood.

Though the Jews suffered exceedingly under these tyrannical governors, they were still reserved for greater calamities. About 168, B. C. Antiochus, having been most severely mortified by the Romaus, took it into his head to wreak his vengeance on the unhappy Jews. For this purpose he dispatched Apollonius, at the head of 22,000 men, with orders to plunder all the cities of Judea, to murder all the men, and sell the women and children for slaves. Apollonius, accordingly, came with his army, and, to outward appearance, with a peaceable intention; neither was he suspected by the Jews, as he was superintendant of the tribute in Palestine. He kept himself inactive till the next sabbath, when they were all in a profound quiet, and then, on a sudden, commanded his men to arms. Some of them he sent to the temple and synagogues, with orders to cut in pieces all whom they found there; whilst the rest, going through the streets of the city, massacred all that came in their way, the superstitious Jews not attempting to make the least resistance, for fear of breaking the sabbath. He next ordered the city to be plundered and set on fire, pulled down all their stately buildings, caused the walls to be demolished, and carried away captive about 100,000 of those who had escaped the slaughter. From that time, the service of the temple was totally abandoned, that place having been quite polluted, both with the blood of multitudes, who had been killed, and in various other ways. The Syrian troops built a large fortress on an eminence in the city of David, fortified it with a strong wall and stately towers, and put a garrison in it, to command the temple over against which it was built so that the soldiers could easily see, and sally out upon all those who attempted to come into the temple, so many of whom were continually plundered and murdered by them, that the rest, not daring to stay any longer in Jerusalem, fled for refuge to the neighbouring nations.

Antiochus, not yet satiated with the blood of the Jews, resolved either totally to abolish their religion, or destroy their whole race. He therefore issued out a decree, that all nations, within his dominions, should forsake their old religion and gods, and worship those of the king, under the most severe penalties. To make his orders more effectual, he sent overseers into every province, to see them strictly put in execution; and as he knew the Jews were the only people who would disobey them, special directions were given, to have them treated with the utmost severity. Atheneas, an old and cruel minister, well versed in all the pagan rites, was sent into Judea. He began by dedicating the temple to Jupiter Olympius, and setting up his statue on the altar of burntofferings. Another lesser altar was raised before it, on which they offered sacrifices to that false deity. All who refused to come and worship this idol, were either massacred, or put to some cruel tortures, till they either complied or expired under the hands of the executioners. At the same time, altars, groves, and statues, were raised every where through the country, and the inhabitants compelled to worship them, under the same severe penalties; while it was instant death to observe the sabbath, circumcision, or any other institution of Moses.

At last, when vast numbers had been put to cruel deaths, and many more had saved