Grecian habits and Grecian worship became general in Jerusalem; the Temple and its service were neglected, and Jason went so far as to send 300 drachms of silver to Tyre, where the quinquennial games in honour of Hercules or Baal were celebrated, professedly as a contribution towards the building of ships, but in reality for the sacrifices of Hercules. Antiochus himself visited Jerusalem, where he was received with every demonstration of joy and loyalty.

Three years later, Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the above-mentioned Simon, to Antiochus with the promised money: Menelaus succeeded in winning the king's favour, offered him 300 talents more than Jason had paid, and thus basely obtained the High-priesthood for himself. Jason, fearing his unscrupulous rival, fled into the land of the Ammonites, whilst Menelaus entered Jerusalem in triumph. In order to pay the purchase-money, he oppressed and heavily taxed the Jews; yet he failed to remit the stipulated sum to Antiochus. He was, therefore, commanded to appear before the king; and when he went, he left his brother Lysimachus behind to represent him as High-priest. In order to bribe the governor Andronicus, who stood in high favour with Antiochus, he took a number of holy vessels from the Temple, and presented them to the governor. Onias, escaping into the sacred city of Daphne, near Antiochia, vehemently denounced that act of impious sacrilege; but on the instigation of Menelaus, Andronicus cunningly lured him from his safe retreat, and treacherously murdered him. A general cry of indignation rose both from Jews and Syrians against the perpetrator of the crime; Antiochus himself was revolted, and instantly ordered the execution of Andronicus. But Menelaus and Lysimachus continuing in Jerusalem their deeds of oppression and plunder, the people broke out into rebellion, and Lysimachus was slain.

The elders of the Jews now went to Antiochus to accuse Menelaus of cruelty and lawlessness; the king saw and condemned his guilt and his crimes, yet by a bribed official he was persuaded to declare him innocent, to confirm his rights, and even to order the death of the elders. Many unoffending and faithful Jews were killed in Jerusalem, and Menelaus ruled as High-priest with fierce barbarity.

But Antiochus undertook a second expedition against Egypt, where Ptolemy VI. Philometor was then reigning. Soon after his departure, the report of his death was spread. Jason, believing that now an opportunity had arrived for recovering his lost position, suddenly made an attack upon Jerusalem with 1,000 men, and mercilessly cut down his Jewish brethren; yet he was compelled to retreat; and he fled first to Arabia, from thence to Sparta, where in vain he raised claims of relationship, and finally to Egypt, where he died hated and friendless. A confused account of what had happened in Jerusalem came to the ears of Antiochus; believing that the Jews meditated rebellion, he hastened back from Egypt, causing a fearful slaughter in Judea, and especially in Jerusalem; and many Jews he sold as slaves. Led by the impious Menelaus himself, he entered the Temple, polluted the holy implements and vessels, and took away 1,800 talents of silver. The Jews raised bitter cries of anguish and despair. The successful king returned to Antiochia, 'meaning in his pride to make the land navigable, and the sea passable by foot, such was the haughtiness of his mind.' He left behind him as governor in Jerusalem the cruel Phrygian Philippus, and as High-priest Menelaus, the worst enemy of his people. Soon afterwards he sent his general Apollonius with 22,000 men into Judea, giving him strict orders to kill all those who might be come dangerous to his rule. Feigning peaceful designs,

Apollonius attacked the defenceless Jews on a Sabbathday, when they offered no resistance, and slew large numbers of them. He fortified Zion with a new wall and high towers, to serve as a well-garrisoned and well-stored Syrian stronghold against the Jewish people. And now followed religious persecutions unsurpassed in frenzy and bloodshed even during the darkest times of fanaticism; and atrocities were practised unknown in the days of Assyrian and Babylonian supremacy. It was the avowed object of Antiochus to compel the Jews to abandon the customs and the faith of their ancestors. The Books of the Law were rent and burnt. The Temple of Jerusalem was called the temple of Jupiter Olympius, and that on Gerizim the temple of Zeus Xenios, the defender of strangers, and in both of them were placed statues of the heathen gods. The precincts of the Temple were polluted by unholy revelries, and the altars defiled by unclean meat, especially swine's flesh, and by detestable images of idolatry, in honour of which the first victims were slain on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month (Kislev) in the year 168. No sacrifices were permitted in accordance with the Law of Moses. Altars and temples of idols were erected in every street; and offerings were presented and incense rose before every house in honour of Hermes, Apollo, and Dionysus. Circumcision was rigidly forbidden, and mothers who had acted against this decree were hurled down the high wall, with their infants tied round their necks, while their houses were plundered, and those that had performed the rite punished with death. The people were forbidden to keep the Sabbath or any of their festivals; they were even warned not to call themselves Jews. On the other hand, they were forced to take part in the pagan sacrifices, and, wreathed with garlands of ivy, to accompany the wild processions in honour of Bacchus. These acts of violence were extended to the Jews who

were living in any of the Greek cities or islands. The towns of Judea were visited and searched by Syrian officers appointed to enforce the faithful execution of the king's edicts. Many Jews submitted, and sacrificed to the Syrian idols set up in every town. But those who refused to do so, or in whose possession was found a copy of the Law, were massacred. Large numbers fled from Jerusalem, and soon the town was almost deserted by its native inhabitants. Many who had taken refuge in neighbouring caves, for the sake of keeping the Sabbath according to the Law, were surrounded and mercilessly burnt. Loud was the cry of despair which rang through the towns and provinces of Judah.

Yet oppression only strengthened in the hearts of many the firm determination to abide by their time-honoured observances, and to cling the more devotedly to their sacred faith. History has preserved to us some instances of heroic resistance, which will ever be admired and extolled. Eleazar, one of the principal scribes, an aged man, was to be forced to eat swine's flesh. But he refused, and boldly went to the torture. Even his persecutors felt pity, and they tried to persuade him, secretly to bring meat of his own choosing, and to substitute it for the swine's flesh. But he rejected the proposal. It becomes not our age,' said he, in any wise to dissemble, whereby many young persons might think that Eleazar, being fourscore years old and ten, had now turned to a strange religion. Wherefore now manfully changing this life, I will show myself such a one as my age requires, and leave a notable example to those who are young, to die willingly and courageously for our honoured and holy laws.' He then bravely submitted to the stripes, and died with these words: 'I now endure sore pains in body by being beaten, but in soul I am well content to suffer these things, because I fear God.'

Even more remarkable is the account of a mother and her seven sons who were to be compelled to taste unlawful meat. They were punished with scourges and whips. Then the eldest son exclaimed, 'What wouldest thou ask or learn of us? We are ready to die, rather than to transgress the laws of our fathers.' The enraged king ordered his tongue, his hands, and his feet to be cut off before the eyes of his mother and his brothers, and himself to be thrown alive into a red-hot cauldron. He died with the praise of God on his lips, while his relations exhorted each other to firmness, and prayed to the Lord for courage in their impending trial. Five of the brothers were next subjected to tortures varied with fiendish cruelty, and then, upheld in their last moments of agony by their heroic mother, they suffered the death of martyrdom with equal resignation and in unshaken hope of a future reward. And now the youngest son alone remained. Antiochus, thinking it a disgrace to be so completely baffled, promised the youth honour and riches if he would forswear the Jewish faith; and then he bade the mother counsel her son to yield to his persuasion. But the lion-hearted woman laughed the tyrant to scorn, and bursting forth in her own Hebrew tongue, said to her son, Fear not this tormentor, but being worthy of thy brothers, take thy death that I may receive thee again in mercy.' The youth needed no admonition; turning to the Syrians, he cried, 'Whom do you wait for? I will not obey the king's command, but I will obey the commandment of the Law that was given to our fathers by Moses.' And then predicting a fearful fate to the wicked king, 'he died undefiled, putting his whole trust in the Lord.' Bereft of her children, the mother, last of all, suffered death for her faith without a murmur. But in this darkest hour of gloom and distress help was at hand.