K"^^- 
 
 IJalifornial 
 
 igional 
 
 cility
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED . 
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 SIEGE OF THAT CITY BY TITUS, 
 
 ABRIDGED 
 
 FROM FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS: 
 
 Together with some Brief Notices of the Jews since thtir 
 Dispersion to the Present Period. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 LILY DOUGLAS, PIERRE AND HIS FAMILY, &c. 
 
 *' Even the rapt stranger shall admire and ask. 
 Where that proud City stood, which was Jerusalem !" 
 
 Milman. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM OLIPHANT, 22, 
 
 SOUTH BRIDGE STREET; AND SOLD T.Y M. OGLE, AND 
 CHALMERS & COLLI NS, GLASGOW ; j. FIKLAY, NEWCASTLE; 
 BEILBY & KNOTTS, BIRMINGHAM; J. HATCHARD& ^ON, 
 HAMILTON, ADAMS & CO. J. NISBET, AND J. DUNCAN, 
 LONDON; AND R. M. TIMS, AKD W. CURRV, JUK. & ^0. 
 DUBLIN. 
 
 MDCCCXXVI.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 1 o those who have been accustomed to conduct 
 the exercises of a Sabbath School, and therein to 
 trace, and retrace, the wanderings of the children of 
 Israel, — from the call of Abraham to the descent in- 
 to Egypt, — from the Exodus to the entrance into 
 Canaan, — thence through the eras of Judges and 
 Kings to the captivity,— and onward to the build- 
 ing of the second temple, — and again through 
 the acts of the apostles, — it has no doubt often 
 been a matter of regret, that the sphere of duty, 
 in such a place, precluded them from following 
 the history farther, and pointing out to their chil- 
 dren not only the apostacy of the Jews, but the 
 final destruction of their city and temple. 
 
 While this desire has been strongly felt on the 
 part of the Teacher, it has often been as vividly 
 met by evidences of expanding intellect, and 
 quick perception on the part of the Scholar. 
 And the delight with which young minds have 
 been observed to enter into the details of the do- 
 mestic history of the patriarclw and their descen- 
 
 1104481 .
 
 n PREFACE. 
 
 dants ; as well as into the collateral circumstances 
 connecting them with the surrounding nations ; 
 has discovered a susceptibility to the pleasures 
 derived from historic truth, as well as a degree of 
 intelligence — regarding events, differing so materi- 
 ally from those with which they are conversant in 
 their humble sphere of life, — no less gratifying 
 than astonishing. 
 
 The difficulty however of imparting distinct 
 Tiews of the history of any nation, to young peo- 
 ple possessed of no other advantages than ability to * 
 read the Scriptures, is no doubt very considerable ; 
 and as it does not appear very clearly to be a 
 point of duty to attempt it, the task is perhaps 
 unnecessary : And it becomes the Teacher to 
 cui'b the desire he feels to be more explicit. 
 
 The children are accustomed to hear the words 
 Jerusalem — Egypt — the wilderness — Canaan — 
 but where this local Jenisalem existed, is perhaps 
 as indistinctly defined upon their minds, as is the 
 idea of that which cometh down from heaven. 
 
 They hear of the Jews — the Romans — Tiberias 
 Caesar — Felix and Fes-tus — Greeks and barbarians; 
 ' — but except the Israelites, with whose history 
 they are made familiar by tracing them through 
 all their descent from the birth of Isaac, they 
 know nothing of the state of the neighbouring
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 pations. And their ignorance of geography, as 
 well as of secular history and chronology, almost 
 unfits them from ever forming any thing like a 
 perspicuous perception of a great part of the his- 
 toric suhjects of holy writ. 
 
 But happily such knowledge is not necessary 
 to salvation : And all that is requisite for them to 
 know of the path that leads to heaven, is so plain, 
 that " the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not 
 en- therein." 
 
 Tliis little volume therefore is not designed to 
 obviate any of the above difficulties : but it is in- 
 tended to meet the eager inquiries of young minds 
 after truth, in exhibiting to tb.em the accomplish- 
 ment of the prophetic passages of the New Tes- 
 ment, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the 
 Old in the dispersion of the Jews. And however 
 painfully affecting the melancholy story, yet it 
 is so fraught with warning and admonition to all, 
 and so strongly corroborative of the truth of the di- 
 vine testimony, that while we tremble at the awful 
 details, we must also be led to give glory to God, 
 for this additional evidence of the prescience and 
 sympathy of our divine Redeemer, who wept over 
 the devoted city, even at the moment when he 
 denounced its ruin. 
 
 Wliile from these circumstances the following
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 work may prove interesting even to uneduca- 
 ted readers, notwithstanding the obscurity which 
 may involve their view of it, — to the young in the 
 higlier ranks of society, who come to its perusal 
 with all the advantages of previous information, 
 it is hoped it will he no unacceptable present. 
 From their acquired knowledge of various other 
 subjects, they will at once perceive the local situ- 
 ation of the scene of contest,— the power of the 
 Romans, — the era in which the transaction took 
 ])lace ; and while they witness the Jews in a state 
 of political subordination to the Roman empire, 
 they will observe that hitherto their religious pri- 
 vileges were preserved to them inviolate, though 
 their civil ordinances were annulled many years 
 before. 
 
 It may be necessary Iiere to premise, that 
 wiiile the narrative of Josephus is taken up at 
 that part of the Scriptures where St Luke con- 
 cludes in the Acts of the Apostles, yet the object 
 of the writer is to abridge the account of the siege 
 of Jerusalem alone. The intermediate events are 
 therefore merely alluded to in passing, and all tliat 
 is necessary to lead tlie reader to tlie commence- 
 ment of the terrific scene, is condensed within a 
 iew pages. 
 
 With regard to Josephus, the author of th«
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 • 
 History of the Jewish Wars, he was a Jew of a 
 noble family, connected by descent both with the 
 eacredotal and royal dignities, being at once of 
 the blood-royal, and of the line of the priests. 
 He was a general of the Jewish army at the 
 commencement of the war, and had a command 
 in Galilee ; and after sustaining, with admirable 
 talent, the long protracted siege of Jotapata, he 
 was taken captive by the Romans, and lived a 
 prisoner, yet much esteemed in the camp of Ves- 
 pasian, till that general was declared emperor by 
 the legions in Judea, on which occasion Joseph us 
 received his freedom. He still, however, con- 
 tinued among the Romans, where he acted as in- 
 terpreter between them and the Jews. Being an 
 eye-witness of the war, he has left a most affect- 
 ing and authentic history of the miseries of his 
 own nation, as well as of their crimes ; and has 
 given such a detail of massacre and rapine ; fa- 
 mine and fire, as is unparalleled in all the annals 
 of all other nations on the earth. 
 
 Many learned commentators on the Sci'iptures 
 have remarked, regarding the writings of Jose- 
 phus, that his history is so perfect a delineation of 
 certain passages in the Bible, and particularly of 
 those two verses in the twenty-fourth chapter of 
 St. Matthew, — " For there shall be great tribula-
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 « 
 lation, such us was not since tlie beginning of the 
 world to tills time, no nor ever shall be. And ex- 
 cept tliese days should be shortened, there should 
 no flesh be saved," &c. — that they are not only the 
 exact counterparts of each other, but seem almost 
 as if they had been written by the same person.* 
 Yet Josephus was not bom till after our Saviour's 
 crucifixion ; he was not a Christian, but a Jew, 
 and certainly never meant to give any testimony 
 to the truth of the Christian religion. -j- 
 
 With regard to the following Abridgement of 
 liis account of the siege of Jenisalem, the proprie- 
 ty of retaining, as much as possible, the style of 
 the translator has been steadily kept in view ; 
 both because it was conceived that the Jewish 
 historian would not appear so well in a more 
 modem dress, and also because the very facts 
 which he relates have in them something so vene- 
 rable, that it seemed it would have been doing a 
 kind of violence to their antiquity and sadness, to 
 have presented them in a more garish style, or 
 even— had the writer been capable— in a more 
 elegant phraseology. For the same reason, the 
 nomenclature of the days and months of the year 
 in the European calendar has not been followed, 
 nor even that of the Syro-INIacedonian, though 
 
 " Newton. + Bishop Portcus, quoted by Scott.
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 used by Josephug ; but the names of the Jewish 
 months appended by Whiston are adopted, as be- 
 ing more familiar to the reader of the Bible in the 
 one case, and more sacred than the modern in the 
 other. Or to be more explicit, the word Tamuz 
 is used instead of Jul 5^, and Elul instead of Au- 
 gust. It appeared that it woidd have resembled 
 the account of the attrocities of some European 
 revolution, of the twelfth of August, to have used 
 the latter ; while many a sacred association falls 
 in with the feelings of the .Jewish historian, when, 
 describing the sacking of the holy city, he says, 
 " while all was burning, came on the dawn of 
 the eighth day of the month Elul on the ashes of 
 Jerusalem." 
 
 As many passages in Joseplms are rather ob- 
 scure, and it is sometimes difficult to arrive at his 
 precise meaning, in all such cases the exact words 
 of the translator have been retained ; and where 
 conjecture is necessary, it has been thought ad- 
 viseable rather to leave it to the mind of the 
 reader, than to venture to use any freedom with 
 the text. 
 
 For similar reasons, namely, to preserve as 
 much as possible the identity of the historian in 
 this abridgement, the writer has been very sparing 
 of reflections on what is related ; and indeed the
 
 xii PREFACE. 
 
 feelings of a Jewish wnter, and those of a Chris- 
 tian on this subject, must he so totally opposite, as 
 far as matters of faith are concerned, as to be 
 nearly incapable of amalgamation. A few quota- 
 tions from Scripture are appended to the chapters, 
 on which it will be found that the text of the 
 historian contains the best annotation. In each, 
 giving evidence of the truth of that appalling sen- 
 tence, — appalling so far as it regards the impeni- 
 tent, — " Heaven and earth shall pass away, bulf my 
 w^ords shall not pass away." 
 
 In conclusion, it is only necessary to add, that, 
 as in the perusal of this book, sentiments must 
 necessarily be excited in the mind, such as no one 
 in this day of the spreading of glad tidings would 
 wish to entertain towards any nation, much less 
 towards the Jews, — it has been attempted to fol- 
 low it up by a selection of some historical facts 
 connected with the fate of that exiled and perse- 
 cuted people, since the loss of their beloved and 
 devoted city, which, it is hoped, will lead every 
 pious reader to pray, that the set time to favour 
 Zion may speedily arrive — that, " in Judah, Je- 
 hovah-Jesus may be well known, and that his 
 name may be great, as the Glory of Israel." 
 
 LcitJi, Felriiary, 182G.
 
 JE11USALE3I DESTROYED. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 We have no King but Csesar!" 
 
 1 HE memorable occasion on which these words, 
 — " we have no king but Csesar," — were vocife- 
 i-ated by the Jewish multitude, is well known 
 to every Christian reader ; and it is not my in- 
 tention to allude, at present, to the sacred and 
 awful circumstances with which this exclama- 
 tion stands connected. But it may be well, 
 before entering on the following histoiy, to draw 
 one or two proofs from Scripture, illustrative at 
 once, of the power of the Roman authorities in
 
 14 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Judea, in the times of the apostles ; and of the 
 frantic and unbridled fury with which this tu- 
 multuary people, seem ever to have acted, when 
 any event excited public interest, or pressed with 
 peculiar force on the feelings or prejudices of 
 the nation. 
 
 For this purpose it might be sufficient to cite 
 the case of Stephen, whom, untried and uncon- 
 demned, they proceeded against with the most 
 infuriate rancour, — " they gnashed on him with 
 their teeth," — and hastily put him to death, 
 even at a time when, by their own acknowledg- 
 ment, no such judicial power belonged to them. 
 Or we might point to the case of Paul, when 
 he went up to Jerusalem with alms for his na- 
 tion; who being found in the temple by certain 
 Jews of Asia, who had probably heard him 
 preaching to the Gentiles in their own country, 
 " stin-ed up all the people, and laid hands on 
 him ; and all the city was moved, and the people 
 ran together, and all Jerusalem was in an uproar, 
 until Lysias, the chief captain," or commanding 
 officer of the Roman forces in Jerasalem, came 
 down and rescued Paul, and earned him into the
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 15 
 
 If it excite astonishment to observe a mixed 
 multitude, in the precincts of the temple, thus 
 transported with rage ; the dissensions in the 
 Sanhedrim the next day, when Paul pleaded 
 his own cause before them, will not diminish 
 it ; for the strife and passion of the members 
 of that sacred court arose to such a height, 
 that Lysias, " fearing that Paul should be pulled 
 in pieces of them, commanded the soldiei's to go 
 down and take him by force from among them, 
 and bring him into the castle." 
 
 This total want of decency and decorum in the 
 highest ecclesiastical court in the world, marks, 
 more strongly than a thousand arguments could 
 do, the peculiarly ferocious temperament of the 
 Jews ; their unrestrained fury, and ungovernable 
 passion ; and detadies all respect from an assem- 
 bly, Avhich we should otherwise have considered 
 of the most august and dignified character : 
 While the interference of Lysias, a Roman tri- 
 bune, in interrupting those sacred proceedings, 
 over which the high priest of the Jews was pre- 
 siding in person, proves, unequivocally, that all 
 civil authority had passed away from tliis people,
 
 1^ JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 — that the sceptre had depaited from Judah, — 
 that Shiloh was come, — and that, in a temporal 
 sense, they had indeed " no King but Caesar." 
 
 The sacred Iiistorlan continues to inform us, 
 that " certain. Jews banded together, and bound 
 tiiemselves by a curse, that they would neither 
 eat nor drink till they had killed Paul ;" and that 
 Lysias imagined Paul was a certain chief of ban- 
 ditti, who had led into the wilderness four thou- 
 sand men that were murderers. 
 
 These scattered notices of the state of society 
 in Jei-usalem, strongly con-oborate the coirectness 
 of the statements of the historian whom we are 
 about to introduce to the reader ; and prepare the 
 mind for the reception of the melancholy details 
 of the disorganized condition of this distracted 
 Jiation, which are contained in the following nar- 
 rative. 
 
 It seems unnecessary, here to allude any fur- 
 ther, to the circumstances wliich induced Lysias 
 to send Paul to Felix, the Roman goveraor, who 
 resided at Cesarea, and who kept the apostle two 
 years a prisoner. And when we read that Felix 
 " hoped that money should have been given him
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 17 
 
 of Paul to loose him," we see at ouce the cornipt 
 and avaiicious character of the Roman govern- 
 ment ; and that Felix, while he was ready to sell 
 justice, if such an anomaly could exist, was yet, 
 without any conviction of the guilt of Paul, hut 
 merely to ingratiate himself with the Jews, lest 
 they should accuse him of rapacity and mal-ad- 
 ministration to Ca3sar, " willing to show them a 
 pleasure," and so " left Paul hound." 
 
 Felix was succeeded in the government of 
 Judea hy Porcius Festus, hefore Avhose trihunal 
 Paul was again accused of the Jews, and again 
 found guiltless hy the Romans ; hut having ap- 
 pealed to Ca;sar, he was sent to Rome ; and 
 the sacred writers of the New Testament make 
 no further mention of the political state of Judea, 
 or the administrators of its civil polity. 
 
 When Festus came into Judea, he found the 
 whole country infested with banditti, who mur- 
 dered the inhabitants, plundered the houses, and 
 set fire to the villages. That such should be the 
 demoralized state of the provmces need excite 
 no surprise, when the citizens of Jerusalem, or 
 perhaps some of the very members of the Sanlie- 
 
 b2
 
 18 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 (liirn, had bound themselves by aii oath to attempt 
 the assassination of Paul. These robbers were 
 called Siccarii, on account of certain small swords 
 called Siccje, which tliey carried concealed under 
 their gannents. They slew men in open day, in 
 the midst of the city, but chiefly at the festivals, 
 where they mingled among the multitude, and 
 stabbing their enemies, they immediately affected 
 to join the outcry against the mmderers, and thus 
 escaped detection. 
 
 Festus sent out patroles of soldiers to destroy 
 these men, and to deliver the country from their 
 t)Tanny : But Festus was soon succeeded by Al- 
 binus, as Procurator of Judea, who v\'as rery re- 
 miss in his endeavours to coiTect these abuses ; 
 on the contrary, there was hardly any wickedness 
 of which he was not himself guilty. His rapa- 
 city and extortion were so great, that he not only, 
 in his political or official capacity, robbed and 
 plundered the people, and burdened them with 
 the most vexatious and oppressive taxes, but he 
 sold the very contents of the prison house ; and 
 every robber and malefactor who Iiad been incar- 
 cerated for their crimes bv former sovernors, he
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 19 
 
 permitted to be redeemed by their friends or ac- 
 complices for money ; so that the prisons ceased to 
 contain any but such as were too poor to pay for 
 tlieir liberty. These disorderly persons being 
 suffered to regain their freedom, only increased 
 the evils and terrors of the people ; for every 
 bandit was encompassed by his own troop, and 
 those who were robbed were obliged to be silent, 
 while others who escaped being plundered, were 
 constrained to flatter the guilty, lest in their turn 
 they should be exposed to depredations. 
 
 But while such was the administration and 
 character of Albinus, Gessius Florus, who suc- 
 ceeded liim, was still more flagitious. Indeed, 
 wicked as Albinus was, yet in comparison of 
 Florus, he was a most excellent governor. For 
 this latter omitted no kind of rapine or plunder ; 
 his turpitude and effrontery were unparalleled 
 even by all who had gone before Iiim. He 
 scorned to pilfer individuals only ; such a booty 
 was too contemptible for his avarice. He spoil- 
 ed whole cities, — he ruined entire bodies of men, 
 — and almost proceeded so far as openly to guar- 
 antee the safety of a«sassms and rol^bers, provid-
 
 20 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 ed he went shares with them in their spoils. His 
 extortion and rapacity brouglit whole toparcliies 
 into a state of desolation ; and many of the peo- 
 ple, oppressed beyond endurance by liis insuffer- 
 able cupidity, left the land of their father, and 
 went into exile to foreign countries. 
 
 At this period, Cestius Gallus was President 
 of the Roman possessions in Syi'ia, and resided at 
 Antioch; but coming to Jerusalem during the 
 season of the Passover, the Jews gathered around 
 him in numbers, not less than three millions, be- 
 seecliing him to have compassion on then' nation, 
 and free them ft-om the cmel exactions of Florus. 
 But Florus, who was standing beside Cestius at 
 the moment, laughed at their demands, and con- 
 triving to colom' over his enormities and his 
 crimes in the eyes of Cestius, the latter merely 
 temporized with the Jews, and dismissed them 
 with an assurance that their governor would treat 
 them more gently in future. 
 
 Cestius returned to Antioch, and Florus con- 
 tinued as tyrannical as before ; and it was at this 
 period that the occsion of the war commenced. 
 The Jews at Cesarea held a sjTiagogue, which
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 21 
 
 was built on the proj)erty of a certain Greek. The 
 Jews had frequently wished to purchase the 
 place, hut tlie Greek would not dispose of it ; 
 and he continued to raise otlier buildings around 
 them, such as shops, with the view of affronting 
 the Jews, and left them so narrow an entrance to 
 their synagogue, that it was difficult of approach. 
 The Jews bribed Flonis with the sum of eight 
 talents to prevent the work ; and he being intent 
 only on getting money, took the bribe, promising 
 to protect them, but went away from Cesarea, 
 and suffered the business to go on. 
 
 On the next Sabbath-day when the Jews were 
 crowding to their place of worship, a man of 
 Cesarea took an eaithen vessel, and placing it at 
 the entrance of the synagogue, sacrificed upon it 
 some birds — thereby affronting the Jews through 
 the medium of their religion, and also polluting 
 their sanctuaiy. The Jews and the populace of 
 Cesarea came to blows upon this occasion ; and 
 the former, taking away their sacred books, retir- 
 ed to Narbota, and afterwai-ds complained to 
 Flonis : But this oppressive governor instead of 
 ietuppoKting their cause, seized upon certain of the
 
 22 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Jews, and put them in prison for caiTying the 
 books of the law out of Cesarea. 
 
 Though tlie inhabitants of Jemsalem were as 
 deeply offended by this event as tlie rest of their 
 brethren, they yet restrained their passion, and 
 passed it over in silence, till Florus, rising in 
 wickedness, and ingenious in insult and rapacious- 
 ness, sent to the temple and took seventeen talents 
 out of the sacred treasury, under pretence that they 
 were demanded by Caisar. Upon this the inhabi- 
 tants of Jerusalem became exasperated, and ran in 
 crowds to the temple, calling upon C£8sar by name 
 to free them from Florus. They seem also to have 
 treated Florus with ridicule and pasquinades, 
 cariying about a basket through the streets of 
 the city, and begging pieces of money for him as 
 for one who was destitute. Upon this Floras 
 marched to Jemsalem, instead of quelling the 
 disturbances at Cesarea, and did all in his power 
 to provoke the Jews to revolt, that he might 
 screen himself from the wrath of Csesar. The 
 confusion in Jerasalem at the arrival of Florus 
 was tremendous, and his cruelties so excessive, 
 that in one day upwards of three thousand of the 
 populace were slain.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 23 
 
 Agrippa, who was at this time in Jerusalem, 
 attempted to allay the ferment of the people, and 
 induce them to obey Florus till Csesar should ap- 
 point another to succeed him, — but this conduct 
 of the king procured him nothing but insult and 
 contumely ; so, perceiving that his advice was dis- 
 agreeable to them, and that they had not paid the 
 tribute to Csesar, he sent the i-ulers and chief 
 men to Florus, who had returned to Cesarea, 
 that he might appoint persons to collect the tii- 
 bute, and Agi'ippa himself retired into his own 
 kingdom. 
 
 The whole administration of Florus is marked 
 by the same cruelty and oppression — the same 
 reckless and merciless tyranny : ^^'^lile the con- 
 duct of the Jews is not unstained by treachery to 
 the Romans, particularly in their slaughter of the 
 Roman guards in the castle of Antonia, after having 
 laid down their arms on terms of peace. This lat- 
 ter insult brought up Cestius from Syiia, "with an 
 immense army, who beseiged Jerusalem ; and cer- 
 tainly had he continued the seige at that time, the 
 Jews had sooner met the fate which hung over 
 them ; but by one of those unaccountable circum-
 
 5^4 JERUSALExM DESTROYED. 
 
 stances which, however mysterious to the mere 
 worldly mind, marks so strongly the interposition 
 of Divine Providence, Cestius raised the siege, and 
 fled from Jerusalem, pursued and discomfited hy 
 the Jews ; and having thus tarnished the glorj' of 
 the Roman arms, prepared for the unhappy Jews, 
 all the hoiTors which awaited them, during the 
 war carried on by Vespasian. 
 
 On this occasion, however, through the mercy 
 of God, the Christians in Jerusalem found the 
 means of their preservation ; for the great tribu- 
 lation which was brought uj^on the nation by the 
 conduct of Cestius, in besieging the city, led 
 those who remembered the words of the Lord, 
 " when ye shall see the abomination of desola- 
 tion," (or the Roman ensigns, on which were 
 the idolatrous images of the heathen,) spoken of 
 by Daniel the prophet, " stand in the holy place, 
 then let them which be in Judea flee into the 
 mountains. For there shall be gi-eat tribulation, 
 such as was not from the beginning of the world, 
 no, nor ever shall be." The Christians in Jeru- 
 salem, recalling this prediction, made their escape, 
 upon the retreat of Cestius, out of the city, and
 
 JERUSALEM DESTilOYED. 25 
 
 fled to Pella beyond Jordan, and to the mountains 
 of Perea. Or to use the words of Josephus, — 
 though he knew not the cause of their fiight, — 
 " After this calamity which had befallen Cestius, 
 many of the most eminent Jeu's swam away from 
 the city as from a ship that was going to sink." 
 
 On this state of affairs being reported to Nero, 
 tlie Roman emperor, he appointed Vespasian, 
 one of his most able and experienced generals, to 
 go into Judea to take the command of the army 
 there, to punish the refractory Jews, and restore 
 the tarnished honour of the Roman legions. 
 
 Vespasian having sent his son Titus to Alex- 
 andria in Egypt to bring up two of the Roman 
 legions which were in that country, proceeded 
 himself into Syria. From Antioch he went to 
 Ptolemais, a city in Palestine, where Titus joined 
 him with his soldiers. 
 
 , While Vespasian was in Judea, he besieged 
 the different cities in that country, and in Galilee, 
 and after various \icissitudes succeeded in mak- 
 ing himself master of the whole comitry. Dur- 
 ing this part of the war, the Roman emperors 
 who succeeded Nero, were deposed and slain, and 
 
 c
 
 26 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the army of Vespasian proclaimed him emperor. 
 Upon this occasion Vespasian went to Rome, and 
 the command of the army, as well as the whole 
 conduct of the war, devolved on Titus, his son. 
 It is at this period that I shall commence the re- 
 gular abridgment of Josephus' history of the seige 
 of Jerusalem ; beginning first with a description of 
 Judea ; then of the Roman army ; lastly, the de- 
 tails of the siege, and the destruction of the city 
 and temple. And this account I shall preface 
 with the following quotation from Tacitus, which 
 will serve as a kind of proem or catalogue, de- 
 scriptive of the persons who were the principal 
 actors among the Jews, in this scene of teiTific 
 warfare : — 
 
 " There were three captains," says Tacitus, 
 " and as many armies among the Jews. Simon 
 had the remotest and lai^est parts of the wall 
 under him ; John had the middle parts of the 
 city under him; and Eleazar had fortified the 
 temple itself. John and Simon were superior in 
 multitude and strength of arms ; Eleazar was su- 
 perior by his situation ; but battles, factions, and 
 buniins^s were common to them all. After a
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 27 
 
 wlille Jolin sent some, who, under pretence of 
 offering sacrifice, might slay Eleazai* and his body 
 of troops, which they did, and get the temple un- 
 der their power. So the city was now parted 
 into two factions, until upon the coming of the 
 Romans, this war abroad produced peace between 
 those that were at home. 
 
 " Against this city and nation, Titus resolved to 
 fight by ramparts and ditches, since the situation 
 of the place did not admit of taking it by storm, 
 or by surprise." 
 
 Tacittcs' Anil,
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF GALILEE, SAMARIA AND 
 JUDEA. 
 
 " A land fiowirg with milk and honey;" 
 " I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand 
 which is upon the sea-shore." 
 
 ft HEN ^Moses, the propliet and lawgiver of the 
 Israelites, described the countiy beyond Jordan 
 to Iiis people, he said, " The Lord bringeth 
 thee into a good laud, a land of brooks of water, 
 of fountains and depths, that spring out of vallies 
 and hills ; a land of wheat and bai'ley, and vines, 
 and figtrees, and pomegranates ; a land of oil-olive 
 and honey." It is of this beautiful country, of
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 29 
 
 which Jerusalem was the capital, that I now pro- 
 ceed to give you some account, abriding the text 
 of the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus. 
 
 The upper and lower Galilee ai'e encompassed 
 by Phoenicia and Syi'ia : They are bounded on 
 the west by the territory of Ptoleraais and Car- 
 mel, and on the south by Samaria, as far as the 
 river Jordan ; on the east by Hippene, Gadaris 
 and Gaulonitis, and the kingdom of Agrippa ; on 
 the north by Tyre and the country of the TjTians. 
 
 The population of these two Galilees is very 
 great. The people are inured to war from their 
 infancy, and it has never been without men of 
 courage. The soil is rich, and full of planta- 
 tions of trees of all kinds. The cities lie crowd- 
 ed together ; and its innumenible villages are so 
 full of people, on account of the richness of their 
 soil and salubrity of the climate, that the very least 
 of them contained above fifteen thousand inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 This observation of the historian, in regard to 
 the populousness of the villages of the Jews, as 
 well as the other occasions in which we shall re- 
 mark the immense multitude of tliis people, re- 
 
 c2
 
 so JERUSALEM DESTROYED.- 
 
 minds us of the truth and beauty of the promise, 
 as made to Abraham on that night when the 
 Lord " brought liim forth abroad, and fsaid, look 
 now toward lieaven, and tell tlie stars if thou be 
 able to number them ; and he said unto him, so 
 shall thy seed be." Gen. xv. 5. 
 
 Perea is larger in extent than Galilee ; and, 
 though the greater part of it is desert, yet the soil 
 being moist in other parts, it produces all kinds 
 of fruits ; and its plains are planted with ail va- 
 rieties of trees — but the olive, the vine, and the 
 j)alm-tree are the chief objects of cultivation. It 
 is also well watered with torrents from the moun- 
 tains ; and when these toiTents fail, which they 
 do in the heats of summer, yet the springs of 
 v.'ater never run dry. The length of Perea is 
 from Macherus to Pella, and its breadth from 
 Philadelphia to Jordan. These are on the north 
 and west ; the land of Moab is it southern limit, 
 and on the east it readies to Arabia. 
 
 Samaria lies between Judea and Galilee, and 
 is entirely of the sanie nature with Judea ; for 
 both countries are made up of hills and valleys, 
 are fit for agriculture, and very fmitfid. They
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 81 
 
 m"e full of trees and frait, both that wliich gTOws 
 wild, and that which is cultivated. They are 
 naturally watered by many rivers, but derive their 
 chief moisture from rain. Tlie waters of their 
 rivers are exceedmgly sweet, and their pasture so 
 excellent, that the cattle yield more milk than 
 tliose in other places ; and what is the greatest 
 proof of excellence and abundance, they each of 
 them are exceedingly populous. 
 
 The village of Anuath is the northern boun- 
 dary of Judea. On the south it adjoins tlie con- 
 fines of Arabia ; its breadth extends from Jordan 
 to Joppa. The city Jerasalem, is situated in the 
 centre. Judea is not without such benefits as are 
 derived from the sea, for its maritime border ex- 
 tends to Ptolemais. It was divided into eleven 
 portions, of which the royal city Jerusalem was 
 supreme. As to the inferior cities, they presided 
 over their several toparchies, from Gophna to 
 the kingdom of Agrippa ; which latter country 
 begins at Mount Libanus, and the fountains of 
 Jordan, and reaches in bi-eadth to the lake of Ti- 
 berius ; and in length from Arpha to Julias. Its 
 inhabitants are a mixture of Jews and Svrians.
 
 32 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAP. 11. 
 
 THE ROMAN ARMY. 
 
 The Lord of Hosts, mustereth the host to the battle." 
 
 Ji> s lias been hinted in the preface to tliis book, 
 when Vespasian took the command of the war in 
 Judea, lie sent his son Titus into "Egypt, to bring 
 up some of the other legions.* Accordingly he 
 came to Ptolemais, and there finding his father 
 tnth the two legions, the fifth and tenth, which 
 were the most eminent of all the Roman soldiers, 
 he joined to them the fifteenth. Eighteen co- 
 horts followed these legions ; there came also five 
 cohorts from Cesarea, with one troop of horse- 
 
 ■ Tacitus says, that Titus " was received in Judea by 
 iliree legions, the fifth, and the tenth, and the fifteenth, 
 who were Vespasian's old soldiers ;" but we have followed 
 the account of Josephus.
 
 JERITSALEM DESTROYED. 'AS 
 
 men, aiul five other tn)op<5 of liorstvinen from Sy- 
 ria. These ten coliorts Jiad eacii athoiisaml fool- 
 men, but the other sixteen coliorts had no more 
 tliaii six hundred footmen eacli, vAxh a hundred and 
 twenty horsemen. There were besides these a niiui- 
 ber of auxiliaries which eanie from the tliree kings, 
 Antioehus, Aiirippa, and Sohenms, eacli contri- 
 buting- one thousanil footmen, tliat were archers, 
 and one thousand horsemen. Malciius also, the 
 king of Arabia, sent a thousand horsemen, and 
 five thousand foot, the greatest part of whom 
 were arcliers ; so that the whole army amounted 
 to sixty thousand men, besides the ser^•ants, who 
 as they followed in vast numbers, and had been 
 trained up to war, ought not to be distinguished 
 from tlie soldiers. For as they served both in 
 peace and war, they were infeiior to none either 
 in skill or strength. 
 
 The military exercises of the Romans differed 
 so little from the real use of ar:ns, that their ex- 
 ercises might be called bloodless battles, and their 
 battles deadly exercises. So that no disorder 
 could move them from their usual regularity, ntn- 
 any labour tire them : nor cr>.n tlicir enemies oa^iH*
 
 34 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 surprise them ; for, whenever they march into aii 
 enemy's country, they do not begin to fight till 
 they have walled in their camp and levelled their 
 ground. 
 
 Their camp is made four square by measure ; 
 that wliich is within is set apart for tents, but the 
 outward circumference resembles a wall, and is 
 adorned with towers at equal distances, between 
 which are placed the engines for throwing aiTows, 
 and darts, and slinging stones. They also erect 
 fom* gates, one on every side, large enough for 
 the entrance of beasts of burden, and for making 
 excursions against the enemy. The camp is di- 
 vided into streets, Avith the tents of the com- 
 manders in the middle ; and in the centre of all, 
 is pitched tlje general's own tent, in the nature of 
 a temple, so that it ajjpears to be a city built on 
 a sudden, with its market-place — its place for 
 handicraft trades, and seats for the supeiior and 
 inferior oiiicers, where, if any differences arise, 
 causes are heard and decided. 
 
 Wiien tliey liave thus secured themselves, they 
 live together by companies, with 'quietness and 
 decency, Eacli company have their wood and
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 35 
 
 their com brought to them, and they sup and 
 dine together. Their times also for sleep, and 
 watching, and rising, are notified by the sound of 
 trumpets ; nor is any thing done without similar 
 signals. In the morning, the soldiers go to their 
 centurions, and the centurions to their tribunes, 
 to salute them, with whom all the superior offi- 
 cers go to the general, who then gives them the 
 watchword and other orders, to be carried to 
 those under their command. 
 
 When they go out to war, a person stands at 
 the general's right hand, and aslis them three times 
 if they are ready ? to which they reply with a loud 
 and cheeiful voice, ' We are ready.' And this 
 they do almost before the question is asked, as if 
 filled with a kind of martial fury, lifting up their 
 right hand towards heaven. 
 
 With this superb ai'my, Vespasian and Titus 
 proceeded to besiege, and succeeded in taking all 
 the cities in Galilee ; but not before it had cost 
 the Romans incredible labour, and the Jews the 
 loss of innumerable lives, besides six thousand 
 youths sent at one time as slaves to the emperor 
 Nero, at Rome.
 
 SG JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 STATE OF PARTIES IN JERUSALEM, 
 
 Robbers, and zealots, and wild Edomites ! 
 Vea, these are they that sit in Moses' seat. 
 Wield Joshua's sword, and fill the throne of David." 
 
 MUman. 
 
 r^ ow, at the suiTender of Gischala, which was 
 among one of the last cities of GaUlee that was 
 taken, John, who commanded there, and who 
 had escaped by a stratagem by which he had de- 
 ceived Titus, fled and took refuge in Jerusalem. 
 Upon his entry into that city, the whole body of 
 the people were in a tumult, and thousands 
 crowded about John and the fugitives who ac- 
 companied him, to enquire what had happened 
 abroad. But the fugitives talked big under their 
 misfortunes, and pretended to say that they had
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 37 
 
 not fled from the Romans, but came to Jenisaleni 
 in order to fight them there with less hazard. 
 
 John, who may be characterized as g, man of 
 great subtilty, who had no regard for truth, as- 
 serted tliat the affairs of the Romans were in a 
 weak condition, and extolled his own power. 
 By these harangues he corrupted a number of 
 the young men, and puffed them up for war ; 
 but among those in years, there was not a man 
 who did not foresee the danger that was approach- 
 ing, and lamented it as much as if the city were 
 already ruined. 
 
 There was not only discord and sedition in 
 the city, but the multitudes that came out of 
 the countiy, flying for refuge from the other 
 cities and villages to Jerusalem, were at 
 variance among tliemselves. Tliere was, in 
 short, civil wars in every city ; and those that 
 were at peace with the Romans, were tighting 
 among themselves. Tliere were also bitter con- 
 tests among the men who were fond of war, and 
 those that were for peace. At first, these quar- 
 rels began among private families — then among 
 friends, and even those that were dearest to each
 
 38 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 other broke through all restraints, associated only 
 Avitli men holding- their own opinions, and began 
 to stand in opposition one to another ; so that se- 
 ditions arose in every quarter, the young and in- 
 experienced that were for war, by their youth 
 and boldness, were too strong for those who, be- 
 ing aged and pnident, were more pacific. While 
 all, and in every place, betook themselves to ra- 
 pine ; and it seemed to be even a lighter thing to 
 be ruined by the Romans, than to become a prey 
 to each other. 
 
 The Roman garrisons that guai'ded the cities, 
 did nothing for the relief of their miserable mul- 
 titudes, till the captains of the various troops of 
 robbers being satiated with plunder and rapine in 
 the country, assembled together from every quar- 
 ter, and becoming a band of wickedness, crept in- 
 to Jerusalem, which was now become a city with- 
 out a governor ; and, according to ancient custom, 
 received into its bosom, without distinction, all 
 who belonged to the nation, because it imagined 
 that they came out of kindness, and to its assist- 
 ance. Instead of which, they were one cause of 
 the city's destruction ; not only proving a useless
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 39 
 
 and unprofitable multitude, but consuming'before- 
 hand the provisions which might have been suffi- 
 cient for the men of war. Besides this, they 
 proceeded to all kinds of barbarity, murdering the 
 most eminent men of the city, and im])risoning 
 and slaying some even of the royal lineage. They 
 even went so far as to disannul the regular suc- 
 cession of the high priesthood, and to ordain cer- 
 tain unknown, ignorant, and ignoble persons to 
 that office ; and, having satiated themselves with 
 unjust actions towards men, they transferred their 
 contumelious behaviour toward God himself, and 
 came into the sanctuary with polluted feet. 
 
 The multitude were now ready to rise against 
 them, and were persuaded to do so by Ananus, 
 the most ancient of the high priests, who was a 
 prudent man, and would perhaps have saved the 
 city, had he escaped the hands of the seditious. 
 But they sent for one of the pontifical tribes, and 
 cast lots which of it should be the high piiest, 
 and the lot fell upon Phannias, a mere rustic, 
 who knew nothing ; yet this man was brought 
 from the countiy, and adorned with a counterfeit 
 face or mask, and clothed witli the sacred gar-
 
 40 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 ments, and instructed how to conduct himself. 
 Tliis dreadful act of wickedness was sport to 
 some, but occasioned the other priests the deepest 
 g:rief, makhig tliem shed tears, and lament the dis- 
 solution of so sacred a dic^nitv. 
 
 Wiiile these things were acting among the 
 zealots, the name by which tliis sacrilegious party 
 called themselves, Ananus bitterly reproached the 
 people for permitting it, and urged them to rise 
 against them to disperse them, and dispossess 
 them of the temple. Upon which a dreadful 
 contest took place, and both parties fought with 
 fury, till the robbers were obliged to retire into 
 the temple, wliich they polluted with their blood. 
 But, as Ananus deemed it unlawful to talve the 
 njuititude into the inner court of the temple, be- 
 fore they were purified, he chose out of the peo- 
 ple, by lot, six thousand armed men, and placed 
 them as guards in the cloisters ; and there was a 
 succession of such guards, one after another, and 
 every one was forced to attend in his course. 
 
 Now the chief cause of these distractions was 
 John of Gischala, who fled, as already related, 
 from that city to Jerusalem. He was a man of
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 41 
 
 great cunning, with a strong passion for power ; 
 and, while he affected to be of the opinion of 
 Ananus and tlie people, he divulged their secrets 
 to the zealots in the temple, and betrayed all the de- 
 liberations of the high priest and the citizens. But 
 while they suspected his treachery, they found it 
 impossible to get rid of him, so potent was lie 
 become by his wicked actions, and from the 
 support which he met with from many eminent 
 men in Jerusalem, whom it was necessary to con- 
 sult on all ali'airs of importance. 
 
 Cut while John betrayed the secrets of one 
 party, he was equally false to the other ; for he 
 led them to believe that Ananus was about to 
 send ambassadors to invite Vespasian into the 
 city, which v/as false ; and thereby he prevailed 
 on the zealots to seek for reinforcements to their 
 party, and to admit the Idumeans within the 
 walls. 
 
 The leaders of the zealots were Eleazar, the 
 son of Simon, and Zacharias the son of Phalek, 
 both of whom derived their families from the 
 priests. When they heard from John, that An- 
 anus and the people intended to call in the Ro- 
 d2
 
 4-r2 JEIILTSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 n>ans, they wrote a letter to the Idumeans to this; 
 oiiect, that, " Aiianus had imposed on tlje peo- 
 ple, and was betraying- their metropolis to the 
 Romans — tliat they th.emselves had revolted from 
 tlie rest, and were in custody in the temple, on 
 acconnt of the preservation of their liberty — that 
 there was bnt a small time left when they mig-ht 
 hope for deliverance, and that, unless they would 
 come immediately to their assistance, they should 
 themselves be soon in the power of Ananus, and 
 the city would be in the povrer of tlie Romans." 
 
 Now the Idumeans were always a disorderly 
 people, ever ready to put themselves in motion, 
 and to make liaste to a battle, a-s if it were to a 
 feast. Twenty thousand of them, therefore, were 
 soon in battle-airay, in order to maintain the li- 
 berty of tlieir metropolijsi ; and came to Jenisa- 
 lem under four comniandfers; John and Jacob, the 
 sons of Sosas ; Simon, the son of Cathlas, and 
 Phineas, the son of Clusotlius. 
 
 This secret embassy from the zealots to tlie 
 Idumeans was unknown to Ananus, but lie soon 
 perceived the approach of their anny, and order- 
 ed th.e o-at-es to be shut, and the walls to be
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 43 
 
 guarded. After whicli, Jesus, the high priest 
 next to Ananus, addressed them from the wall, 
 and explained to them the state of parties within 
 the citV) advising them to withdraw, and to ab- 
 stain from seeking to assist the band of tyrants 
 and ti-aitors in the temple. 
 
 The multitude of the Idumeans, however, paid 
 no attention to what he said, but were provoked 
 at being denied a ready entrance into the city. 
 But Simon, the son of Cathlas, after many efforts 
 quieted the tumult of his own men, and standing 
 near a part of the wall so as the high priests might 
 hear him, spoke nearly as follows : — " I can no 
 longer wonder that the patrons of liberty are under 
 custody in the temple, since there ai*e those that 
 shut the gates of our common city to their own na- 
 tion, and are prepared to admit the Romans ; nay, 
 are perhaps disposed to crown the gates with gar- 
 lands at their coming, while they wall up that city 
 from their own nation, which used to be open even 
 to all foreigners that came to worship there. But 
 here will we abide before the walls in our armour, 
 until either the Romans grow weary in waiting for 
 you, or you become friends to liberty, and repent 
 of what you have done/'
 
 U JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 As Simon concluded his speech, the Idumeans 
 set up an acclamation, shewing they were of the 
 same mind ; while Jesus, tlie high priest, went 
 away sorrowful, perceiving that they were against 
 all moderate counsels, and that the city was be- 
 sieged on both sides. 
 
 Many of the Idumeans angry at once at being 
 excluded from the city, and finding none of the 
 zealots there to support them, repented of taking 
 ai-ms against it, and were disposed to depart. But 
 a false shame induced them to remain, and they 
 lay all that night before the wall, though in a very 
 bad encampment ; while there broke out a tre- 
 mendous storm, which raged with the utmost vio- 
 lence, and very strong winds, and toiTents of 
 rain, with continued lightnings, terrible thunder- 
 ings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of 
 the earth, and all thought these wonders fore- 
 shewed some great calamities to the Jewish 
 nation. 
 
 In this opinion the citizens and the Idumeans 
 were agi*eed ; for the latter thought that God was 
 angry at their taldng arms, a^id that they would 
 not escape punislunent for making war upon their 
 metropolis. And Ananus thought that he had
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 45 
 
 conquered without fighting, and that God acted 
 as a general for the people. But they were both 
 mistaken ; for the Idumeans fenced one another 
 by uniting their bodies into one band, thereby 
 keeping themselves warm ; and connecting their 
 shields over their heads, defended themselves 
 from the rain. The zealots, on their part, were 
 deeply concerned for their auxiliaries, and were 
 for forcing the guai'ds and opening the gates for 
 their admission ; but the more prudent party 
 among them thought that step would be rash and 
 impracticable, as Ananus would be everywhere 
 visiting the guards every horn-, which indeed was 
 done on other nights, but was omitted that night, 
 not by any negligence of Ananus, but by the ap- 
 pointment of divine Providence, that both he him- 
 self and the multitude of the guards might perish ; 
 for, as the night was gone, and the storni tixily 
 terrible, Ananus pennitted the guards in the 
 cloisters to go to sleep, and the zealots making 
 use of the saws in the temple, cut the bars of the 
 gates to pieces. The noise of the wind, and the 
 sound of the thunder conspiring with their design, 
 they were not discovered.
 
 46 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 By this means the Idumeans were admitted 
 within the gates, and ascended tlu-ough the city 
 to the temple, fi-om whence the zealots came out, 
 and, mixing- with the Idumeans, tliey attacked 
 and slew the sleeping guardg. But as those that 
 were now awalcened made a ciy, the whole mul- 
 titude of the people arose and betook themselves 
 to their arms, imagining it was the zealots only 
 whom they had to paiTy ; but when they found 
 the Idumeans in the city, they lost courage, and 
 gave themselves up to lamentations. Some of 
 the young men covered themselves wdth their ar- 
 mom-, and valiantly defended the old ; others gave 
 a signal to those in the city of what had happen- 
 ed ; but when they undei-stood the Idumeans 
 were come in, they only returned the tenible 
 echo of wailing and lamentation. The cries of 
 the women also mingled with the other shouts of 
 war and woe, while the storm itself rendered all 
 more terrible. The Idumeans, infuriated at once 
 by passion and the tempest, spared none whom 
 they approached ; and slew all who ventm-ed to 
 supplicate them to remember the relation in which 
 they stood to each other, and to have regard to
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 47 
 
 their common temple. But there was neither 
 mercy to spare, nor space to fight, nor hope of 
 preservation ; the outer temple was overflowed 
 with blood, and the dawn of day saw in that 
 sacred place, eight thousand, five hundred bodies 
 lying dead. 
 
 Murder and plunder stalked hand in hand 
 through the devoted city. The high priests were 
 slain, and their bodies insulted, and even cast 
 away without burial, though the Jews in general 
 are so pailicular regai'ding the burial of their dead, 
 that they even take down the bodies of malefac- 
 tors, and inter them before the setting of the sun. 
 I should not mistake, — continues om- interest- 
 ing historian, whose graphic description of this 
 terrific night is surpassed by no passage in the 
 most celebrated classics of antiquity, — I should 
 not mistake if I said that the death of Ananus, 
 slain in the midst of Jerusalem, was the begin- 
 ning of the destruction of the city ; and that from 
 this very day may be dated the overthrow of her 
 wall, and the ruin of her affairs. 
 
 Ananus, besides the grandeur of his nobility, 
 and the dignity and honour which he possessed, was
 
 48 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 a venerable and a just man, — a lover of equality 
 even witli regard to the meanest of the people, — a 
 lover of liberty? — an admirer of democracy in go- 
 vernment, and ever preferred the public welfare 
 to his own advantage, and loved peace above all 
 things. He was persuaded the Romans could 
 not be conquered, and foresaw that, unless the 
 Jews came to terms with them, they would cer- 
 tainly be destroyed. Jesus, the other liigh priest, 
 though inferior to Ananus, was superior to the 
 rest ; and I cannot but think that it was because 
 God had doomed this city to destruction, as a 
 polluted city, and was resolved to purge his sanc- 
 tuary by fire, that he cut off these their great de- 
 fenders, and permitted men who had worn the 
 sacred gamients, — had presided over the sacred 
 worship, — had been deemed venerable by all who 
 dwelt on the habitable earth, to be cast out thus 
 naked, and to become the food of dogs and 
 vultures. — Virtue itself must have groaned at 
 BO fearful a lot awarded to such men, and la- 
 mented that she was here conquered by such 
 wickedness. For such was the end of Ananus 
 and Jesus.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 49 
 
 After these venerable piiests were slain, the 
 zealots and their auxiliaries fell upon the peo- 
 ple, as upon a herd of profane animals, and slew 
 them. They first imprisoned the nobles and the 
 youth of the city, then endeavoured to bring 
 t})em over to their party ; and, failing in cori-upt- 
 ing them, they scourged and tortured their bodies 
 till they died. Those whom they siezed through 
 the day, they slew in the night ; and the terror 
 that dwelt in the minds of survivors was so ex- 
 treme, that no one had courage enough either 
 to weep openly for the dead, or to bury them se- 
 cretly. Those who were shut up at home shed 
 tears in secret, but durst not utter a sigh lest they 
 should be heard. Only in the night they ven- 
 tured to take up a little dust and throw it upon 
 the bodies of the dead. Twelve thousand of the 
 upper ranks of the inhabitants, or better sort of 
 people, perished in this sanguinary mamier. 
 
 The zealots and Idumeans, weary of putting 
 the people to death in this summaiy way, insti- 
 tuted a kind of mock tribunal, as if they would 
 give a colour of justice to their proceedings ; and 
 placed seventy men as judges, to try a certain 
 
 z
 
 60 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 man of the name of Zachaiias, whom they accused 
 of a design to betray their city to the Romans. 
 But the seventy judges, chusing rather to die than 
 to be unjust, brought in a verdict in favour of 
 Zachai-ias, whereupon two of the boldest of the 
 zealots slew him in the middle of the temple, and 
 cast his dead body over the wall. 
 
 The Idumeans at last, touched with remorse, 
 repented of the part they had acted ; and being 
 persuaded that the imputation of treason was a 
 calumny, and that the Romans were not at that 
 time coming nearer the city, they withdrew, set- 
 ting at liberty two thousand of the populace who 
 were in prison ; who, on being liberated, went 
 and joined Simon, of whom we shall speak here- 
 after. But the zealots continued to thirst after 
 the blood of the most valiant and most noble in 
 the city ; the former they destroyed out of en^y, 
 and the latter out of fear. Thus they slew 
 Gorion, a man of eminent dignity, and also Niger 
 of Perea, who in dying uttered this imprecation, 
 which, alas I was too fatally confirmed, — that 
 ** they might suffer both famine and pestilence in 
 tba war, and that they might end in the mutual 
 slaughter of each otheT."*
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 51 
 
 The Roman commanders, heaniig of the sedi- 
 tious state of the city, urged the general to attack 
 it, hut he replied, wliile tlieir enemies were de- 
 stroying each otlier, his business was to sit still as 
 a spectator. Many of the Jews deserted to the 
 Romans : The rich purchased their flight by 
 money, but the poor who attempted to desert, 
 were skin. The zealots became so barbarous, 
 that they denied burial alike to the slain in the 
 city, and tlie dead that lay along the roads. 
 Cancelling at once tlie laws of nature and of their 
 country, they insulted God also, and left the dead 
 bodies to putrify under the sun. The same pun- 
 ishment awaited the deserter, and the man that 
 buiied his friend ; and he that granted a grave to 
 another, speedily stood in need of one for him- 
 self. In one word, no other gentle passion was 
 so entirely lost among them as mercy ; and terror 
 was so universal, that he who was alive, called 
 him happy who was dead, — and they that were 
 under torture in prisons, called titem the happiest, 
 who lay unburied.
 
 62 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 "Manasseh" ngainst "Ephraim; and Ephraim" againit '* Ma- 
 nasseh ; ajul they together shall be against Judah." 
 
 J^ ow John began to tyrannize over liis party, 
 and joining himself to the most wicked of them 
 all, broke off from the rest of the faction. Some 
 submitted to him out of fear, and others from 
 goodwill ; and many thought they would be safer 
 if their misconduct and cruelty were reduced to 
 one head. John was a shrewd man, great both 
 in action and in counsel, but very impeiious, and 
 evidently aiming at monarchy. Thus the sedi- 
 tion w§is divided into two pai'ts, and John reigned 
 in opposition to his adversaries, — and both fought 
 against the people, and contended one with ano- 
 ther who should bring home the largest prey.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 53 
 
 But while the city had to contend with war, ty- 
 ranny, and sedition, it appeared to many that war 
 was the least evil of the tliree : thus many desert- 
 ed to the Romans, and found that protection from 
 their enemies, which they despaired of obtaining 
 among their own people. 
 
 Now there was a man whose name was Simon, 
 the son of Gioras, who, after ravaging the coun- 
 try, marched unexpectedly into Idumea, and took 
 the city of Hebron. From thence he made a 
 progress over all Idumea, ravaging the cities and 
 villages ; and besides those that were completely 
 armed who accompanied him, he had forty thou- 
 sand men who followed him, insomuch that he 
 had not sufficient provisions for such a multitude, 
 — and as one may see all the woods despoiled of 
 their leaves by locusts, so there was nothing left 
 behind Simon's army but a desert. 
 
 These ravages of Simon excited the wrath of 
 the zealots ; and, though they were afraid to fight 
 him openly, they lay in ambush in the passes near 
 Jerusalem, and seized his wife. Upon this occa- 
 sion, Simon came to the wall of Jerusalem, infu- 
 liated like a lion when it is wounded, and vented 
 
 e2
 
 54 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 his wrath on all whom he met. He seized on 
 the poor who came out of the city gates to gather 
 herbs or sticks, and who were unarmed and aged. 
 These he tortured and destroyed. He mutilated 
 numbers of the unhappy persons whom he cap- 
 tured, and, cutting off their hands, returned them 
 to his enemies, in order to intimidate the popu- 
 lace, and lead them to desert from the men who 
 had robbed him of one whom he seems devotedly 
 to have loved, — swearing, that unless she were 
 restored to him, he would break down their walls, 
 and entering into the city, would neither spare, 
 nor pity, either age or sex. By these threaten- 
 ings, both the people and the zealots were so 
 much alarmed, that the wife was restored to her 
 husband. 
 
 Simon, however, was veiy little pacified by 
 this act of conciliation ; for, though it led him a 
 little farther from the wall, it was only to return 
 to ravage the rest of Idumea. He compelled the 
 people everywhere to flee before him, many of 
 whom took refuge in Jerusalem. Thus Simon 
 became even a greater terror to the unhappy peo- 
 ple m tfee city than the Romans thenieelvesj
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 55 
 
 while the zealots bore heavier on them than both. 
 The people who attempted to escape from John 
 the tyrant within the gates, were seized by Si- 
 mon the tyrant without the gates; so that the 
 last resource of the wretched inhabitants till this 
 period, which had consisted in desertion to the 
 Romans, was now utterly cut off. 
 
 John, rising in excess of tyranny as he rose in 
 power, became so furious in his despotism as to 
 bo ready to set fire to tlie city. This led the 
 people and the high priests to assemble together, 
 to take counsel how they should be able to resist 
 his assaults ; and God, wlio overruled their deli- 
 berations for the accomplishment of his own pur- 
 poses, permitted them, in their desire to relieve 
 themselves from the cnielty of one oppressor, to 
 submit to another, and to in\dte Simon to come 
 into the city for their defence. Simon, upon re- 
 ceiving their invitation, arrogantly granted to 
 them his lordly protection, and entered Jerusa- 
 lem ; but took care first to secure his own autho- 
 rity, and then looked upon those who had invited 
 him, as no less his enemies, than the zealots he 
 bad been called to oppose. Thus Simon got
 
 55 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 possession of Jerusalem in the tliird yeai' of the 
 war, in tlie montli of Nisan, and Jolm and his 
 multitude of zealots beheld his entry with des- 
 pair. It was indeed the signal for battle ; for 
 Simon, aided by the people, made an immediate 
 assault upon the temple. But though supenor 
 in numbers to John, yet the elevated position of 
 the zealots, who defended tiiemselves from the 
 walls and battlements, and cloisters surrounding 
 the holy house, prevented him gaining any great 
 advantage over them : and as many of his men 
 were slain, and many wounded, and the rest 
 wearied of the work, he proceeded but faintly, 
 though unremittingly in the warfare. 
 
 It being foreig-n to the purpose of this narra- 
 tive, — which is designed solely to detail the siege 
 of Jerusalem, — to enter into the contemporary 
 state of aliairs in the rest of the Roman empire ; 
 it may be sufficient to observe here, that Nero 
 the Roman emperor being dead, as well as Galba 
 and Otho who succeeded him, and Vitellius their 
 successor being esteemed a person too vicious and 
 imbecile for so distinguished an office ; the Roman 
 legions in Judea, according to the manners of that
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 57 
 
 age, proclaimed their owti general Vespasian em- 
 peror ; which nomination by the anny in the idea 
 of June, was afterwards confirmed by the legions 
 in Alexandria on the kalends of July. On this 
 occjision Vespasian presented Josephus, our his- 
 torian, with his freedom, who had been taken pri- 
 soner, as Ave have already related, at the siege of 
 Jotapata. But though set at liberty, he still 
 continued attached to the service of Titus, and 
 acted as interpreter betw^een the Roman armies, 
 and his brethren the Jews. 
 
 While the settlement of these affairs occupied 
 the Romans, the sedition was revived within the 
 city'of Jerusalem, and divided into three factions, 
 one faction fighting againet another. 
 
 The attack which the zealots made against the 
 people, and which our historian considered as the 
 beginning of the city's destruction, has already 
 been related ; but as to the new faction which 
 had sprang up, it might be called a sedition be- 
 gotten of sedition, — like to a wild beast grown 
 mad, which, for want of prey abroad, begins to 
 devour its own flesh. 
 
 Eleaxar who had made the first separation of
 
 58 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the zealots from the populace, and had led 
 them into the temple, became very angry at 
 John's insolent attempts upon tlie people. Thus 
 being jealous of John, and anxious to get tlie en- 
 tire power into his own hands, he levolted from 
 him, and took with him Judas the son of Chelcias, 
 and Simon the son of Ezron, who were among 
 the men of most influence and greatest power. 
 There was also with him Hezekiah the son of 
 Chobar, a person of eminence. Each of these 
 were followed by numbers of the zealots, who 
 seized upon the inner court of the temple, and laid 
 their arms upon the holy gates, and over the holy 
 fronts of that sacred court. And having plenty 
 of provisions, they were of good corn-age, for there 
 was ample abundance of what was consecrated to 
 Bacred uses within trie temple ; but as their party, 
 though bold, was comparatively small, they did 
 not move from the place. 
 
 In regard to John, though he had the advan- 
 tage of Eleazar in point of the multitude of his 
 followers, yet, in point of situation, he w^as placed 
 at a great disadvantage : for he had his enemies 
 over hi« head, and though lie rould not asaault
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 69 
 
 them without terror and danger, and though in 
 every engagement he was a sufferer, yet his wrath 
 was too great to permit liim to rest. Tlius, they 
 perpetually made sallies against each other, and 
 the temple was defiled every where with Wood. 
 
 Now the tp'ant Simon, the son of Gioras, 
 whom the people had brought into the city, in 
 the hope that he would deliver them from their 
 distresses, was placed in the same circumstances 
 in regard to John and his party, as John was 
 placed in regard to Eleazar and his party. For 
 Simon having in his power both the upper city, and 
 great part of the lower city, was underneath John, 
 in the same manner aa John was underneath 
 Eleazar. And thus it happened that John both 
 inflicted and received great injury, as he fought 
 between two fires, and battled both with Simon 
 and Eleazar. He had besides, engines which 
 threw stones, darts, and javelins, in great num- 
 ber, with which he not only defended himself, but 
 slew many of the priests as they were engaged in 
 their sacred ministrations. For, notwithstanding 
 ail the evident impiety of those wicked men, yet 
 tliey still admitted such as were anxions to offer
 
 CO JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 sacrifices in the temple, though they carefully 
 searched their own people before they permitted 
 them to enter, but were less suspicious of stran- 
 gers and foreigners. Nevertheless, many of those 
 were destroyed by the seditious; for the darts 
 tjirown from the engines, came with such force 
 that they went over all the buildings, and reach- 
 ing as far as the altar and temple, fell upon the 
 pi-iests, and those who were engaged in the sacred 
 offices ; insomuch, that many who came from the 
 ends of the earth to offer sacrifices in this celebra- 
 ted place, fell down with their own offerings, and 
 sprinkled that venerable altar with their own 
 blood. Thus the dead bodies of strangers were 
 mingled with those of their own people ; and the 
 bodies of profane persons, with the bodies of the 
 priests, and the blood of both stood in pools in 
 tlie holy courts of the sanctuary. 
 
 " And now, O wretched city !" exclaims Jo- 
 sephus, " what misery so gi-eat as this didst thou 
 experience from the Romans, when they cmne to 
 purify thee from thine intestine hatred ? For 
 thou couldst be no longer a place fit for God, nor 
 couldst thou long continue in being, after thou
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 61 
 
 Iiadst been a sepulchre for tliiiie own people, and 
 Iiadst made the holy house itself a burying-place 
 in this civil war of thine ! Yet mayest thou 
 again grow better, if perchance thou shalt hereaf- 
 ter appease the ang-er of that God who is the au- 
 thor of thy destruction. But I must restrain 
 myself from these passionate regrets, since this is 
 not a proper place for domestic lamentation, but 
 for historic truth : I therefore return to my his- 
 tory." 
 
 Eleazar and his party, ^vho kept the sacred 
 first-fruits, carae against John and his party. 
 Those who were with John plundered the popu- 
 lace, and went out with zeal against Simon, who 
 had his supply of provisions from the city. When 
 John was assaulted on both sides, he threw his 
 darts upon the citizens froiri the cloisters ; while 
 lie criposGu those who attacked Iiiin from the 
 temple, by his engines of war. When freed from 
 those wlio were above him, he sallied out upon 
 Simon, and set fire to the magazines in the city 
 which were full of corn, and all kinds of provi- 
 sion. The same thing was done by Simon, 
 when, upon Jolm retreating, he also attacked the
 
 63 JERUSALEM DEfeTROYED. 
 
 city ; as if they had pm-posely done it to eerre 
 tlie Romans ; for by destioying what the city had 
 laid up against the siege, they thus cut off tljc 
 very nerves of tlieir own power. Accordingly, 
 all the places about the temple were burnt down, 
 and became an intermediate desert, and a fit 
 theatre for v>^ar ; and as much com was consum- 
 ed by fire, as would have sustained a siege of 
 many years. Thus they made a league with 
 famine itself, without v/hich they could not have 
 been destroyed. 
 
 \Yhile the city was engaged in war on every 
 side, by means of these wicked men, the popidace 
 between them Mere like a great body torn in 
 pieces. The aged men and the women were in 
 such distress, that they wished for the Romans, 
 and hoped that an external war would deliver 
 them from their domestic miseries. The great 
 mass of the citizens also wei-e in equal fear, for 
 they had no opportunity of taking counsel, or of 
 changing their conduct ; neither had they any 
 hope of coming to an agi'eement with their ene- 
 mies, or of making their escape from the city. 
 For however the seditious warred among them-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 63 
 
 eslves, on one point they* were all agreed, namely, 
 to slay every one who spoke of making peace 
 with tlie Romans, or who were even suspected of 
 an inclination to desert to the enemy. The noise 
 of those that fought was incessant night and day ; 
 while the lamentation of those who mourned, 
 was louder than the other. Relations paid no 
 reg^ard to such of their kindred as were yet alive; 
 nor was any care taken of the hurial of such as 
 were dead, because every one despaired for him- 
 self. They wlio were not among the seditious, 
 expected soon to be destroyed ; while the sediti- 
 ous themselves trode upon the dead as they lay 
 heaped one above another, and grew fiercer and 
 fiercer as they felt them under their feet. 
 
 John, in his impiety, seized upon the sacred 
 materials which had been brought in by Agrippa 
 for raising the holy house twenty cubits higher, 
 and turned them into engines of war ; he also 
 had them erected beliind tiie inner court, over 
 against the west end of the cloisters, to build 
 towers for opposing his adversaries. But God 
 himself demonstrated tliat his impiety would b«
 
 64 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 of no avail, by bringing ' the Romans upon him 
 before he had reared one of his towers. 
 
 Vespasian being now emperor, and at Rome, 
 the conduct of the war in Judea devolved upon 
 Titus, his son. Titus having got his forces around 
 him, marched out of Cesarea, and ordered the rest 
 of his anny to meet him at Jerusalem. He had 
 with him those tlu-ee legions, of winch we have 
 already spoken, and with which \'espasian had 
 laid waste the beautiful cities and country of 
 Judea ; he had also with him the twelfth legion, 
 which had been discomfitted formerly at Jerusa- 
 lem, under the command of Cestius, and which 
 was now fired with vengeance at the remembrance 
 of that defeat. Of these legions, Titus ordered 
 the fifth to meet him by going through Em- 
 maus ; and the tenth he directed to go up by 
 Jericho. He marched on with the rest himself, 
 namely, the auxiliaries furnished by the kings, 
 now augmented in numbers ; together with others 
 which came from Syria. There were also two 
 thousand men chosen out of the armies at Alex- 
 andria, to supply the place of others who had
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 65 
 
 '^one with Mucianus to Italy, when Vespasian was 
 i^ade emperor. These were followed by three 
 thousand morC; (h-awn from the anny tliat guard- 
 ed the Euplirates. Tiberius Alexander, the 
 friend and counsellor of Titus, accompanied him, 
 and acted as general of the army under Caesar. 
 He was a man valuable to Titus, both on ac- 
 count of his age and prudence, as well as his skill 
 in the affairs of war. 
 
 fS
 
 66 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 " And when ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then 
 know that the ciesolation thereof is nieh." 
 
 -i HE Older in whicli tliis formidable army ap- 
 proached Jerusalem, was as follows : — The auxi- 
 liary troops led tlie van, accompanied by the men 
 who were to prepare the roads and measure the 
 encampments, TJien followed the baggage of 
 the commanders, with the soldiers, all completely 
 armed, who were destined to ])rctect it. Next 
 Titus, with his select guard ; then the pikemen ; 
 and after tbese the cavalry belonging to that le- 
 gion. All these preceded the engines, which were 
 followed by the tiibunes, and tlie leaders of the 
 cohorts, with their select bodies of men. After 
 these were carried the ensigns with the eagle,*
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 67 
 
 preceded by the trumpeters belonging to the 
 standards ; next came the main body of the army 
 in their ranks, every rank six deep. Tlie ser- 
 vants belonging- to each oi, the legions, v.'ith their 
 baggage, followed close upon the main body. 
 The mercenaries came last, and thosewthat guard- 
 ed them brought up the rear. 
 
 Now Titus, according to the Roman custom, 
 went in the fi'ont of the army, and marched 
 through Samaria to Gophna, a city tiiat had been 
 taken by Vespasian Caesar, and which was gar- 
 risoned by Roman soldiers. After lodging there 
 one night, he marched next day to a valley called 
 the Valley of Thorns, where he pitched his camp 
 near a village called Gabaoth-Saul, which signifies 
 the Hill of Saul, being distant from Jerusalem 
 about thirty furlongs, or four ^ English miles. 
 Here he chose out six hundred select horsemen, 
 and went to view the city, — to observe its strength 
 and the courage of the Jews, and to discover 
 whether, when they saw him, they Avould stand a 
 battle or submit ; for, hearing of their intestine 
 seditions, he believed many wished for peace, 
 but that, beinc^ afraid, or too weak to rise up
 
 68 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 against the rest, tliey were constrained to lie 
 quiet. 
 
 While Titus kept the straiglit path tliat led to- 
 wards tlie wall of the city, m) one appeared to 
 come out of the gates. But wlien he declined 
 towards the tower Psephinus, and led liis horse- 
 men ohliquel}^, an immense number of the Jews 
 leapt out suddenly at the towers, called the Wo- 
 men's Towers, and intercepted his cavalry. They 
 intercepted Titus also, and a few otliers, which 
 made it impossible for him to proceed, — for the 
 ground was all dug with trenches to preseiTe the 
 gardens round about, and was full of gardens and 
 hedges,^ — and to return to his own men from 
 whom he had been separated was equally impos- 
 sible, on account of the multitude of enemies that 
 lay between them, — while his own men were ig- 
 norant of his danger, thinking tliat Caesar was still 
 among them.* 
 
 Titus, perceiving that his safety must depend 
 upon his courage, wheeled round, and cried out 
 
 • Joseplius, here and elsewhere, often styles Titus, CsDsar 
 and king, though he was not so at this time, but only ge- 
 neral of the army — and the Romans never had a king.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 09 
 
 aloud to thosG who were near hiin to follow him. 
 He then ran with violence into the midst of his 
 enemies, in order to force his way back to Lis 
 own men. An innumerable multitude of darts 
 were thrown at him ; but, though he had neither 
 on his head-piece nor his breast-plate, none of 
 them Imrt him, but, as if all of them missed him 
 on purpose, they only made a noise as they pass- 
 ed by him. He turned aside, and overthrew all 
 who opposed him, and made his horse ride over 
 those on the ground. The enemy made a shout 
 at the boldness of Ctesar, and exhorted one ano- 
 ther to rush upon him. But, though some of 
 his companions were surrounded and slain, Titus 
 himself escaped and came safe to the camp. This 
 partial success gave great courage to the Jews. 
 
 So soon as the legion which came round by 
 Emraaus had rejoined Ccesar, he removed from 
 his camp, and came to a place named Scopus, 
 from whence the city might be seen, together 
 with a view of the great temple. This place, 
 which was on the north quarter of the city, was 
 a plain, very suitably named Scopus, which sig- 
 nifies prospect : it was only seven furlongs distant
 
 70 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 from Jerusalem. Here Titus ordered a camp to 
 be fortified for two of liis legions, and ordered 
 another camp for the fifdi legion, three furlongs 
 behind ihe first. While these were beginning 
 their operations, the tenth legion, which came 
 through Jericho, arrived at a place where a certain 
 number of armed inen had formeily lain to guard 
 that pass into the city, which had been taken by 
 Vespasian. These legions had orders to encamp 
 at the distance of six furlongs from Jerusalem, 
 at the mount called the Mount of Olives, which 
 lies over against the city on the east side, and is 
 parted by a deep valley interposed between them, 
 which i.s named Cedron. 
 
 When the seditious in the city saw the Ro- 
 mans pitching three several camps against them, 
 they began to tisink of an awkvAard sort of con- 
 cord, and said one to another, '• What do we 
 here, when we suffer three fortified walls to be 
 built to coop us in ? While the enemy is secure- 
 ly building a kind of city in opposition to us, 
 shall we sit still within our own walls, and be- 
 . come idle spectators of their labours, with our 
 ;armour laid by. as if tiioy were doing some things
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 71 
 
 that was to be for our advantage ? We are, it 
 seems, courageous only against ourselves, while 
 the Romans are likely to gain the city without 
 bloodshed, by our internal sedition !" 
 
 Thus they encouraged one another, and arm- 
 ing immediately, ran out against the tenth legion, 
 and with a tremendous shout, fell upon the Ro- 
 mans while they were unarmed and engaged in for- 
 tifying their camp. By this means many of them 
 were slain, being taken unawares ; while the Jews, 
 encouraged by the success of the first party that 
 had gone out, came forth in still greater numbers ; 
 and the Romans, not being accustomed to fight 
 in that disorderly manner, but only in their ranks, 
 and at the word of command, gave way under 
 this tumultuous assault. Indeed, the entire le- 
 gion would have been in danger, had not Titus 
 been informed of the attack, and sent succours 
 immediately to their aid. He reproached his 
 soldiers with cowardice, for flying before the 
 Jews ; and falling upon the flank of the enemy 
 himself, he drove them into the valley, where 
 they continued to fight till noon, when Titus set 
 a part of his men to prevent the Jews making
 
 72 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 any more sallies, and desired the rest of the le- 
 gions to g-o to the upper part of the mountain, to 
 fortify their ramp. 
 
 The marc)] of the Romans toward their camp, 
 was consti-ued by tlie Jews into a flight ; and, as 
 the watchman who was placed upon the wall gave 
 a signal by shaking his garment, there issued forth 
 a fresh multitude of Jews with such a mighty 
 violence, that it was like the nishing of wild 
 beasts. And their attack was so furious, that, as 
 if they had been cast out of an engine, they broke 
 the enemy's ranks in pieces, and obliged them to 
 fly to the mountains ; Titus and a few others be- 
 ing left alone on the acclivity. These, ashamed 
 to leave their general, earnestly exhorted him to 
 give way to the Jews, who, said they, are so 
 fond of dying-. They besought him to consider 
 his fortune, and not, by supplying the place of a 
 common soldier, to turn back upon the enemy, 
 for that hs was general in the war, and lord of 
 the habitable eai-th, and on his preservation the 
 public affairs all depended. 
 
 These entreaties Titus did not so much as lis- 
 ten to, but opposed himself to the enemy, beat-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 73 
 
 ing them back, and slaying them. He also fell 
 on great numbers as they mai'ched down the hill ; 
 while they, amazed at his courage and his strength, 
 gave way on both sides, and pressed after the sol- 
 diers that fled up the hill. Yet he still combated 
 their flank, till he put a stop to their fury. 
 
 Meanwhile disorder and terror siezed upon the 
 Romrtns, who were fortifying their camp at the 
 top of the hill, on seeing those beneath them run- 
 ning away, imagining that Titus himself was 
 slain. In their panic they dispersed, some one 
 way, some another, till at last they perceived 
 Caisar in the midst of the conflict, which they 
 made known to the whole legion ; and return- 
 ing to tlie battle, they drove the Jews before 
 tliem into the valley. Titus also pressed upon 
 the Jews that were near him, and sent the legion 
 again to fortify their camp, while he, and those 
 who were before him, kept the Jews from doing 
 farther mischief; so that, to speak the plain truth 
 without flattery, says Josephus, Ca.'sar did twice 
 that day deliver that entire legion when it v/as in 
 jeopardy, and gave them an opportunity to con= 
 tinue their operations. 
 
 a
 
 74 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 The war, liaving ceased awhile on the outside 
 of the gates, revived within tlie city of Jerusalem. 
 It being now tlie fourteenth day of the month 
 Nisan, when the Jews hold the feast of unleaven- 
 ed bread, Eleazar and his party opened the gates 
 of the inner court of the temple, to admit such of 
 the people as were desirous to worship God.* 
 But John made use of this festival as a cloak for 
 his treacherous designs ; and arming his own 
 party with weapons concealed under their gar- 
 ments, sent them with great zeal into the temple, 
 in order to sieze upon it. 
 
 These men were no sooner admitted, than they 
 threw away their garments, and appeared in tlieir 
 armour ; T\'hereupon there was a great disturb- 
 ance about the holy house. For the people who 
 had no concern in the sedition, supposed that the 
 
 • We here find the reason of the vast multitude of Jews 
 that were in Jerusalem during this siege by Titus ; for it 
 began at the feast of the Passover, when such prodigious 
 numbers of Jews and proselytes of the gate, were come from 
 all parts of Judea, and other countries, in order to celebrate 
 that great festival. Thus 1,100,009 perished at the siege, 
 besides 9T OCO captives.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 75 
 
 assault was made solely aguiiist tliem ; while 
 Eleazar's zealots, on tJieir part, tlioiiglit it Vv'^as 
 only against thein. The zealots, deserting the 
 gates which they had been guarding, leapt down 
 from the battlements, and fled away into the sub- 
 terranean caverns ; while the people that stood 
 trembling at the holy altar, and around the holy 
 house, were rolled on heaps together, and tramp- 
 led under foot, and beaten without mercy. When 
 the guiltless had been treated with the greatest 
 cruelty, they granted a truce to the guilty, and let 
 those go off who came out of the caverns ; while 
 John seized upon the inner temple, and all the 
 warlike engines that were in it, and then opposed 
 himself to Simon, — and thus that sedition which 
 had been divided into three factions, was now re- 
 duced to two. 
 
 Titus, intendiiig to pitch his camp nearer to the 
 city than the site of Scopus, gave orders for the 
 whole army, — except such ^s acted as a guard 
 against the Jews, — to lerel the distance as far as 
 the walls of the city. So they threw down all 
 the walls, 'gardens, hedges and fruit trees, and
 
 16 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 filled up ail the chasms and hollow places, and 
 broke the rockv precipices in pieces with tlieir 
 iron instruments, and levelled the whole way from 
 Scopus to Elerod's monmnent, which adjoined to 
 the Seq^ent's Pool. 
 
 ^^ hen the space hetween the Romans and the 
 wall had been leAelled, — v^-hicli was done in four 
 days, — Titus brought the baggage of the army, 
 with tlie rest of the multitude that followed him, 
 safely to the camp, guarding himself in such a 
 way as to prevent the Jews from sallying out of 
 tlie gates, — for he set the strongest part of his 
 army over against the wall v>'hich lay on the north 
 and west quarters of the city, and made his army 
 seven deep, with the footmen placed before them, 
 and tlie horsemen behind ; eacli of the last in 
 three ranks, while the archers stood in the midst, 
 in seven ranks. Now, as the Jevv's were prohi- 
 bited by so great a body of men from making sal- 
 lies upon the Romans, both t})e beasts that bore 
 the burdens and the rest of the multitude march- 
 ed on without fear. But as for Titus liimself, 
 he was onlv about two furlonars from the wall ;
 
 JIERUSALEM DESTROYED. 77 
 
 but the other part of the army fortified itself at 
 the tower called Hippicus, and was distant in 
 like manner about two furlongs from the city. 
 The tenth legion continued to occupy its own 
 encampment upon the Mount of Olives. 
 
 o2
 
 jp:rusalem destroyed. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 •' Walk about Zion and .<?o round, 
 *' The high towers thereof tell ; 
 
 '* Consider ye her palaces, 
 *' And mark her bulwarks well. ' 
 
 1 HE city of Jei-uraleni, wliidi was built upon 
 two hills, was fortified with three walls, wherever 
 it was not encircled with impassable valleys, — in 
 such parts it had but one wall. 
 
 The upper city was built on the hijrhest of 
 those two hills, and was called the Citadel, by 
 kinjr David. The other hill, which was called 
 Acra, sustained the lower city, and is of the 
 sliape of the moon when she is horned, or a cres- 
 cent. Over afiain>t this there was a third hill, 
 which was originally lower than Acra, and di- 
 vided from it by a valley. But Acra was lower- 
 ed, and tiie valley filled up. These hills are, on
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 79 
 
 the outside, surrounded by deep valleys, and be- 
 ing very precipitous, are everywhere impassable. 
 
 Of these three walls, the old wall was most 
 difficult to be taken, both on account of the val- 
 lej's, and of the hill on which it was built, over- 
 looking them. This wall began on the north, at 
 the tower called Hippicus, and ej^tended as far as 
 the Xistus ; then joining to the council-house, 
 ended at tlie west cloister of tlie temple. But 
 reaching- westward, it began at the said cloister of 
 the temple, went thence to a place called Bethsa, 
 towards the gate of Essenes ; after which it went 
 southward, benciing at the fountain of Siloam ; it 
 also bends again towards the east at Solomon's 
 Pool, and reaches as far as a place called Ophlas, 
 where it is joined to the eastern cloister of the 
 temple. 
 
 TJie second wall began at the gate called Gen- 
 nath ; it only encompassed the northern quarter 
 of the city, and reached as far as the tower called 
 Antonia. 
 
 The third wall began at the tower called Hip- 
 picus, whence it reached as far as the north quar- 
 ter of the city, and the tower Psephinus ; thence
 
 80 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 to the monument of Helena, extending to a great 
 length, passing the sepulchral caverns of the kings, 
 bending at the monument of the Fuller, and join- 
 ing the old wall at the valley of Cedron. It was 
 Agrippa who made this wall, to inclose the parts 
 added to the old city ; which, as it became more 
 populous, occasioned the liill called Bezetha to 
 be inhabited also. This hill lies over against 
 the tower Antonia, but is divided from it by a 
 deep ditch. This new built portion of the city 
 is called Bezetha, which signifies the new city. 
 As its inhabitants stood in need of protection, 
 Agrippa began this wail ; but he discontinued it 
 after laying the foundations, out of fear of Clau- 
 dius Csesar, lest he should suspect him of making 
 innovations. Had tliis wall been finished in the 
 manner in which it was begun, the city could not 
 have been taken. After the death of Agiippa, 
 the Jews erected it to the height of twenty cubits ; 
 above which they built battlements and turrets, 
 so that its entire altitude was twenty-five cubits. 
 These towers were square and solid as the wall 
 itself ; and in the beauty of the stones, and nice- 
 icess of the joints, were not inferior to th® holy
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 81 
 
 house. Above this solid altitude of the towers, 
 there were rooms of great inagiiilicenco, and over 
 thera there were upper rooms, and ci^itenis to re- 
 ceive rain water. Of these towers the ihhd wall 
 Ijad ninety ; in the middle wail were forty ; tl;e 
 old wall was parted into sixty ; and the whole 
 compass of the city was thirty-three furlongs. 
 The third wall was altogether wonderful, yet the 
 tower Psephinus was elevated above it at the 
 north-west corner, and there Titus pitched his 
 own tent. This tower, being seventy cubits 
 high, afforded at once a pros])ect of Arabia at the 
 smi-rising, or towards the east ; and the utmost 
 limits of the Hebrew possessions at the sea, west- 
 ward. It was of an octogon shape, and over 
 against it was the lower Hippicus, and near it 
 king Herod erected two other towers in the old 
 wall. These were for size, beauty, and strength, be- 
 yond all that were to be seen in the habitable earth ; 
 for besides the usual magnificence of Herod, he 
 built these to gratify his own private friendships, 
 and dedicated them to the memory of the three 
 objects dearest to his affection, namely, his friend, 
 his brother, and his wife. Hippicus, so named
 
 82 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 from his friend, was a square tower, in length 
 and breadth twenty-five cubits, in height thirty. 
 Over this solid building tliere was a resei-voir, 
 then an house of two storeys, then battlements, 
 then turrets all round, so that its entire height 
 was eighty cubits. 
 
 The second tower which he named after his 
 brother Phasaelus was even larger in breadth and 
 length than Hippicus ; it was surrounded with a 
 cloister, and covered with breast-works and bul- 
 warks. Over the cloister was another tower, 
 containing magnificent apartments, and baths, in 
 sliort every thing fit for a royal residence. It 
 was also adorned with battlements and tuiTets ; 
 it resembled the Pharos of Alexandria in appear- 
 ance, but was much larger in compass : This was 
 the place where Simon exercised his tyrannical 
 authority. 
 
 The third tower was jMariamne, so called after 
 the queen. It was not so laige as the others, but 
 it was more magnificent ; for the king thought it 
 proper to adorn that which was named after his 
 wife more elegantly than those which were nam- 
 ed after m^n. They exceeded in strength, this
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 83 
 
 in beauty. The whole were built of white mar- 
 ble hewn out of the rock, and the marble was 
 so exactly fitted, each separate mass to the other, 
 that they appeared rather to grow naturally out 
 of the rock on which they were built, than to 
 have been joined by the hands of artificers. 
 
 While these towers were on the north side of 
 the wall, the king had a palace adjoining, which 
 exceeds all power of description. Neither ex- 
 pense nor skill were spared in its construction. 
 It was adorned with towers at equal distances, 
 containing apartments large enough to hold beds 
 for a hundred guests a-piece. The roofs, both for 
 the length of their beams, and splendour of their 
 ornaments, were admirable. The number of the 
 rooms was immense, — the variety of figures in 
 them prodigious, — the furniture was superb, — 
 and the gi'eatest part of the vessels were of silver 
 and gold. The palace was surrounded with 
 porticoes and pillars, open courts, groves of trees, 
 long walks, canals and cisterns, with brazen sta- 
 tues convejdng the water, with dove-courts con- 
 taining flocks of tame pigeons. All these were 
 consumed by fire, which was Idndled not by the
 
 84 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Romans, but by the rebel Jews themsehes ; for 
 the fire began at the tower Antonia, spread to 
 the palaces, and consiiiued tiie upper parts of 
 Hippicus, Phasaelus, and Mariamne. 
 
 The Hol}^ House, tlie most celebrated temple in 
 the Vv'orld, was built i?pon a strong hill. At first 
 the plain at the top was scarcely sufficient for 
 the holy house and the altar, for the ground was 
 uneven and precipitous. But Solomon added 
 one cloister, founded on a bank cast up for it, 
 ^nd the other parts of the house stood naked. 
 In after ages the people added new banks, and 
 the hill became a larger plain. They then broke 
 down the wall on the north side, and took in as 
 much aft w^as sufficient for the entire temple. 
 
 When they had built walls on three sides of 
 the temple, and had performed a vrork in wliich 
 ages were spent, and immense treasures exhaust- 
 ed — though still replenished by tributes from the 
 ends of the earth — they then encompassed the 
 upper courts with cloisters, as also sometime 
 afterwards the lower. 
 
 Tlie superstnicture was not unworthy of the 
 foundation. The cloisters were all double, sup-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 85 
 
 ported on lofty pillars — each pillar formed of one 
 entire piece of marble. The marble was white, 
 and the roofs were curiously adorned with cedar. 
 The magnificence, polish, and harmony of the ar- 
 chitecture of the cloisters was perfect. 
 
 The cloisters of the outer court were in breadth 
 thirty cubits, while the entire compass of it, in- 
 cluding the tower of Antonia, was six furlongs. 
 Passing through the first of these cloisters into 
 the second court of the temple, there was a parti- 
 tion made of stone of the most elegant construc- 
 tion, upon which stood pillars at equal distances, 
 declaring the law of purity ; some in Greek, and 
 some in Roman letters, signifying that " no fo- 
 reigner should go within that sanctuaiy ;" for 
 that second court of the temple was called the 
 sanctuary, to which you ascended by fourteen 
 steps from the first court. 
 
 This court was four square, and had a wall pe- 
 culiar to itself. Beyond the first steps all was 
 plain ; from whence there were other steps that 
 led to the gates ; of which gates there were four 
 on the north, and four on the south, and two on 
 the east. And as there was a partition built for 
 
 H
 
 86 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the women on that side where they were to wor- 
 ship, there was a second gate for them. There 
 was also, on the other sides, one southern and one 
 northern gate, through which was a passage into 
 the court of the women. This place was allotted 
 to the women of our own countiy, and of other 
 countries, if they were of the same nation ; the 
 western part of this court had no gate. But 
 the cloisters which were between the gates were 
 supported by very noble pillars. These cloisters 
 were single ; and, excepting their magnitude, were 
 not inferior to those of the lower court. 
 
 Nine of these gates were covered over with 
 gold and silver, as were the jambs of the doors 
 and the lintels ; but there was one gate which 
 was without the inner court of the holy house, 
 composed of Corinthian brass, and greatly excel- 
 led those which were only covered wdth silver 
 and gold. All these gates had two doors or leaves, 
 with side-rooms and towers supported by pil- 
 lars. The Corinthian gate, which opened on the 
 east of the holy house itself, was larger than any 
 of the others, and adorned in the most costly 
 manner. These nine gates had all their silver
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 87 
 
 and gold poured upon tliem by Alexander, the 
 father of Tiberias. Fifteen steps led from the 
 wall of the court of the women to this greater 
 gate ; those that led thither from the other gates 
 were five steps less. 
 
 As to the holy house itself, which was situated 
 in the midst of the inner court, that most sacred 
 part of the temple, it was ascended by twelve 
 steps. Its first gate was of immense height, but 
 had no doors ; for it represented the universal 
 visibility of heaven, which cannot be excluded 
 from any place. Its front was covered with gold, 
 and through it the first part of the house was 
 seen ; which, as it was very large, so all the 
 parts about the more inward gate appeared to 
 shine ; but as the holy house was divided into 
 two parts, the first part only was open to the 
 view. The gate which was at this end of the 
 house was all covered with gold, as was the whole 
 wall about it ; it had also golden vines above it, 
 from which hung clusters of grapes as tall as the 
 height of a man. The inner house was divided 
 from the outer by golden doors of great altitude
 
 88 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 and breadth ; but before these doors hung a veil, 
 or Babylonian curtain, embroidered with bkie and 
 fine linen, and scarlet, and purple of a most won- 
 derful contexture. This mixture of colours was 
 not without its mystical interpretation.* 
 
 The first part of the temple had three things in 
 it wliich were very wonderful and famous in the 
 earth, "viz. the candlestick, the table of shew-bread, 
 and the altar of incense. The innermost part 
 of the temple was twenty cubits long, separated 
 from the outward part by a veil. In this there 
 was not any thing. It was inaccessible and in- 
 violable, and was called the Holy of Holies. 
 
 The outward front of the temple possessed every 
 thing that was capable of exciting the astonish- 
 ment and admii-ation both of the mind and senses ; 
 for it was covered all over with plates of gold of 
 great weight, and at the first rising of the sun re- 
 
 • I forbear giving the explanation of Josephus on the 
 subject of this mystical curtain, conceiving, that whatever 
 opinions may have been entertained by the Jews of his day 
 in regaid to it, the Bible is the best interpreter of the mean- 
 ing of this sacred veil. The same observation, peihaps, 
 might have applied to his explication of the " gate without 
 doors," but his idea wa« so beautiful that I have reuined it.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 89 
 
 fleeted back such a flood of splendour, that those 
 who attempted to look at it, had to turn away 
 their eyes as from the intolerable brightness of 
 the sun itself. Viewed by strangers coming from 
 a distance, the temple appeai-ed like a mountain 
 covered with snow, for tliose parts which were 
 not gilded were exceedingly white. 
 
 Before the temple stood the altar ; its figure 
 was square, and it had corners like homs ; you 
 ascended to it by an imperceptible acclivity. It 
 was formed without any iron tool, nor did any 
 such thing so much as touch it. There was also 
 around it a low wall of paitition, made of fine 
 stones, and grateful to tlie sight, which encom- 
 passed the altar, and the holy house, and kept the 
 people on the outside, at a distance from the 
 priests. The priests who officiated went up to 
 the altar clothed in fine linen. The high priest 
 went up with them only on the seventh days, and 
 new moons, or at any other of the festivals of the 
 Jews. When he ofiiciated, he was clothed in an 
 inner garment of linen, together with a blue gar- 
 ment without seam, with fringe-work reaching to 
 h2
 
 90 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the feet, w-ith golden bells that hung upon the 
 fringes, intermixed with pomegranates. The gir- 
 dle which fastened the garment round his breast, 
 was embroidered with five rows of various co- 
 lours, of gold, and purple, and scarlet, as also of 
 fine linen and blue, with which colours the veils of 
 the temple were likewise embroidered. The same 
 kind of embroidery was on the ephod, but the 
 quantity of gold on it was greater. Its figure 
 was that of a stomacher for the breast, with two 
 golden buttons with small shields which buttoned 
 the ephod to the garment : in these buttons were 
 inclosed two very large jmd beautiful sardonyxes, 
 having the names of the tiibes engraved on them. 
 On the other pait there hung twelve stones, three 
 in a row one way, and four the other ; a sardius, 
 a topaz, and an emerald ; a curbuncle, a jasper, 
 and a sapphire ; an agate, an amethyst, and a li- 
 gure ; an onyx, a beryl, and a chrysolite ; upon 
 every one of which was again engraved one of the 
 forementioned names of the tiibes. A mitre also 
 of fine linen encompassed Iiis head, about which 
 there was a golden crown, having engraved on it
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 91 
 
 the sacred name, consisting of four letters. These 
 garments the high priest wore only once a-year, 
 when he went into the most sacred part of the 
 temple — that is, the Holy of Holies. At other 
 times he wore a plainer habit. 
 
 The tower of Antonia, which is yet to be 
 mentioned, was situated at the corner of two 
 cloisters of the court of the temple, of that on 
 the west, and that on the north ; it was erected 
 on a rock of gi-eat height, which was a precipice. 
 It was the work of king Herod, wherein he de- 
 monstrated his accustomed magnificence. The 
 rock on which it was built was covered over with 
 smooth pieces of stone from its foundation, both 
 for ornament, and to prevent any one ascending 
 it. Next to this, and before you come to the 
 edifice of the tower, there was a wall. The parts 
 within the wall had the largeness and form of a 
 palace, being divided into all kinds of rooms and 
 other conveniences, such as courts and places for 
 bathing, and broad spaces for camps ; insomuch, 
 that having all the appurtenances of cities, it 
 might seem as if composed of many cities, but
 
 9-2 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 by its magnificence it appeared one palace. And 
 while the entire stmcture resembled a tower, yet 
 there were four other distinct towers at its four cor- 
 ners ; of which that on the south east corner was 
 so high, that the whole temple might be viewed 
 from it ; but on the corner where it joined to the 
 two cloisters of the temple, it had passages lead- 
 ing down to them both, through which the guards, 
 — for in this tower there lay always a Roman 
 legion, — went with their arms among the clois- 
 ters, on the Jewish festivals, in order to watch 
 over the people. For while the temple was a for- 
 tress that guarded the city, the tower of Antonia 
 was a guard to the temple. 
 
 There was also a peculiar fortress belonging to 
 the upper city, which was Herod's palace. The hill 
 of Bezetha was divided from the tower of Antonia, 
 as already mentioned ; and as the height of the hill 
 on which it stood, rendered Antonia the highest 
 of these three fortresses, so it adjoined to the new 
 city, and was the only place which intercepted 
 the view of the temple on the north. 
 
 On reading the above description of this superb.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 93 
 
 njagnificent, and holy city, who does not sigh that 
 not one stone of it is left upon another ! 
 
 " O ! beauty of earth's cities ! throned queen 
 " Of the milk-flowing valleys ! crowned with glory ! 
 " The envy of ihe nations ! — now no more 
 " A city "
 
 94 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 •• Advance the eagles, Cains Placidiis, 
 
 " Even to the walls of this rebellious city !" 
 
 X HE multitude of the seditious who bore arms 
 in the city under Simon the son of Gioras, were 
 ten thousand men, besides the Idumeans. These 
 were under fifty commanders, over whom Simon 
 was supreme. Tlie Idumeans who did homage 
 to him, were five thousand, under eight com- 
 manders, among whom those of most eminence 
 were John, and Jacob, the sous of Sosas ; and 
 Simon the son of Cathlas. 
 
 John of Gischala, who had seized the temple, 
 had six thousand armed men, under twenty com-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 93 
 
 manders ; while the zealots, who had come over 
 to his party, amounted to six thousand four hun- 
 dred more, under the command of Eleazar, and 
 Simon the son of Arinas. 
 
 Now while these factions fought one against 
 the other, the people were their prey on both 
 sides, and were plundered by both factions. 
 
 Simon the son of Gioras, held the upper city, 
 and the great wall as far as Cedron, and as much 
 of the old wall as bent from Siloam, and went 
 down to the palace of Monobazus. He lield also 
 the fountain of Siloam, the lower city, which was 
 situated on Acra, and all that reached to the pa ' 
 lace of queen Helena.* 
 
 John, on his side, possessed the temple, with 
 the parts adjacent ; also Ophla, and the valley of 
 Cedron. And when the intermediate places 
 were burnt between them, they left room sujfli- 
 cient to fight in ; for this internal sedition did not 
 cease their warfare, even when the Romans were 
 encanjped at their veiy walls. These men con- 
 tinued to fight with fury and madness, and did 
 
 • Monobazus was king of the Adiabeni, beyond the Ku- 
 phratep. Queen Helena was his mother.
 
 96 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 all that tlie besiegers themselves could have de- 
 sired. For I venture to affirm, says Josephus, 
 that it was the sedition that destroyed the city, 
 and the Romans that destroyed the sedition, which 
 was a more difficult achievement than to rase the 
 walls ; for we must ascribe our misfortunes to our 
 own people, and the just vengeance taken on 
 them to the Romans. 
 
 While this was the posture of affairs in Jeru- 
 salem, Titus, with some chosen horsemen, went 
 round to reconnoitre the walls ; and decided to 
 make his assault upon the monument of John, the 
 high priest, for there the first fortification was 
 lower, and the second was not joined to it ; the 
 wall having been neglected at that spot where the 
 new city was but thinly inhabited. Here also 
 was an easy passage to the third wall, by which 
 he hoped to take the upper city, and, through the 
 tower of Antonia, to seize on the temple itself. 
 
 While Titus was thus employed, his friend 
 Nicanor was wounded with a dart, as he and Jo- 
 sephus approached near the wall to discourse 
 about terms of peace. Caesar, irritated at their 
 vehemence, gave his soldiers leave to set fire to
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 97 
 
 tlie sul)nrbs, and ordered timber to be brought to 
 raise banks against the city. While tlie Romans 
 were engaged in raising tlieir banks, the Jews 
 made continual sallies to annoy them. 
 
 John, however, out of his fear of Simon, re- 
 mained behind, even wliile liis own men sallied 
 out upon the enemy. Simon, on liis part, brought 
 forward liis engines of war, both those which had 
 been taken when Cestius fled from Jerusalem, 
 and those which had belonged to the Roman gar- 
 rison when it lay in the tower of Antonia. But 
 their ignorance of the method of using these en- 
 gines made them of little value. Some desert- 
 ers, however, who understood their use, instruct- 
 ed them, and they cast stones and ai'rows at the 
 Romans. The engines of the Romans, however, 
 repelled tliose of the enemy ; yet the Jews con- 
 trived by nitrht and by day to disturb them, 
 while employed in raising their banks. 
 
 When the Romans had finished their works, 
 they brought their engines to bear upon the Vv'alls 
 of the city, upon which a tremendous noise echoed 
 round from three different places, Avhile a still 
 greater noise arose from the terror of the citizens 
 
 I
 
 98 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 within the walls. The different factions then 
 cried out, that they were acting as if in concert 
 with their common enemy, and said that if they 
 could not enter into a lasting concord, they ought 
 at least to unite, in their present circumstances, 
 against the Romans. Accordingly, Simon, by pro- 
 clamation, permitted those who came from the tem- 
 ple to go upon the wall ; John also gave the same 
 liberty to his men. So they formed themselves into 
 one body, and having a great number of torclies, 
 they threw them at the engines, and shot darts 
 perpetually upon the Roman soldiers who were 
 battering the wall. Titus sent assistance con- 
 stantly to those who were hardest beset ; and, 
 placing both horsemen and archers on each side 
 the engines, beat off the Jews who brought the 
 fire. Yet the wall yielded not to their repeated 
 blows, except where the battering ram of the fif- 
 teenth legion moved the comer of a tower ; but 
 the wall itself remained uninjured. 
 
 The Jews having intermitted their sallies for 
 a while, the Romans thought they had retired out 
 of fear. But when the Jews observed their ene- 
 mies scattered about at their works, and in their
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 99 
 
 camps, they made a furious sally through an ob- 
 scure gate at the tower Hippicus, and cariying- 
 fire in their hands, went boldly up to the Ro- 
 mans, to burn their works. So the fight about 
 the machines became very hot, and the boldness 
 of the Jews was too great for the good order of 
 the Romans. The fire caught hold of the Avorks, 
 and both they and the engines would have been 
 destroyed, had not the select soldiers from Alex- 
 andria behaved with such courage, that they out- 
 did those in the fight who hitherto had held the 
 highest reputation. At this juncture, Caesar 
 brought up the boldest of his horsemen, and attack- 
 ing the enemy, he himself slew twelve men who 
 were in the forefront of the battle. It happened 
 in this engagement that a certain Jew was taken 
 alive, and Titus commanded him to be crucified 
 before the wall, in the hope of intimidating the 
 Jews, and of making them abate their obstinacy. 
 After the Jews had retired, John the son of So- 
 sas, who was commander of the Idumeans, while 
 standing talking to a soldier before the wall, ivas 
 wounded by a dart shot at him by an Arabian, 
 and died immediately : his death occasioned the
 
 100 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 greatest lamentation among the Jews, and great 
 grief to the seditious, — for he was a man of great 
 eminence among them, and held in high esteem 
 by the rebels. 
 
 Titus having gi^-en orders to erect three towers 
 of fifty cubits high, he placed men in them at 
 every bank, to assail the Jews with lighter engines 
 upon the walls. By these tov\^er3 the Jews were 
 exceedingly annoyed, for they could neither reach 
 those that were over them, on account of their 
 height, nor was it found practicable to take them, 
 or to overtum them, they were so heavy, nor to 
 set them on fire, being covered witli plates of iron. 
 Accordingly they retired out of the reach of the 
 daits, and no longer attempted to prevent the 
 beating of the rams, which, by incessantly pl)dng, 
 began gradually to prevail, till at last the wall 
 gave way to Nico, a name by which the Jew^ 
 called the greatest of the Roman engines, because 
 it conquered all things. The Jews, weary of 
 fighting and of keeping guards, being at variance 
 among themselves, and having other two walls re- 
 maining, became slothful, and retired at niglit to 
 lodge at a distance from the danger. The Roman*
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 101 
 
 perceiving their negligence, mounted that part of 
 the wall where Nico had made the breach ; and 
 the Jews retiring to their second wall, the Ro- 
 mans opened the gates of the first, and received 
 all the army within it. And thus they got pos- 
 session of the first wall, on the fifteenth day of 
 the siege, which was the seventh day of the month 
 Jyar. They demolished a gi-eat part of it, and al- 
 so of the northern portion of the city. 
 
 And now Titus pitched his camp within the 
 cify, at that place which was called the Camp of 
 the Assyrians, seizing upon all that lay before 
 him as far as Cedron, but taking care to keep 
 beyond the reach of the darts of the Jews. 
 
 Titus having thus got within the first wall, be- 
 gan liis attacks upon the second. Whereupon 
 the Jews divided themselves into several bodies, 
 and courageously defended the wall ; M'bile John 
 and his faction did the same from the tower of 
 Antonia, and from the northern cloister of the 
 temple, and fought the Romans before the monu- 
 ments of king Alexander. 
 
 Simon's army undertook to defend the spot of 
 ground which was near John's monument, and 
 
 I 2
 
 102 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 fortified it as far as tlie gate wliere water was 
 bronglit in to the tower Hippicus. 
 
 The Jews also made frequent sallies out of the 
 gates, but being infinitely less skilful than the 
 Romans at that Idnd of warfare, they were gene- 
 rally beaten back ; wliile, on the other hand, they 
 were too hard for the Romans when they fought 
 from the walls. Yet neither side grew weary, 
 either of attacks from the wall, or sallies from the 
 gates. Kight itself could hardly separate them ; 
 nay, they slept in their ai'mour, that by the first 
 break of day they might be ready for the fight. 
 And sometimes they slept not at all, — the Roman 
 legions, lest the Jews should make sallies on the 
 camp ; and the Jews, lest the Romans should 
 mount the wall. 
 
 The Jews were so ambitious to gratify their 
 commanders, and so gi'eat was their veneration 
 and regard for Simon, that those under him were 
 ready, had such a sacntice been required, to kill 
 themselves at his command ; while the courage 
 of the Romans arose from tlieir custom of con- 
 quering, — from their never being used to defeat, 
 — from their habits of war and warlike exercises.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED- 103 
 
 and from the greatness of their fame, and the gran- 
 deur of their dominion. But, above all, be- 
 cause Titus was everywhere present with them, 
 fighting near them himself, and an eye-witness of 
 those who distinguished themselves, and ready to 
 reward their valour, — and every one Avas ambi- 
 tious to be noticed by Caesar. Thus Longinus, — 
 one of the equestrian order, while the Jews were 
 standing in a strong body in array before the wall, 
 and both parties throwing their darts at each 
 other, — leapt down into the midst of them, and 
 as they dispersed, he slew two of their men of 
 greatest courage, and thus signalized himself; and 
 many were ambitious of the same honour. But 
 Titus did not approve of inconsiderate rashness 
 in war, saying, that alone was true courage which 
 was joined with good conduct. 
 
 When Titus had brought his engines to bear 
 upon the north part of the wall, a Jew, in 
 one of the towers, affected to sue for mercy, 
 on purpose to gain time and to deceive Titus, 
 Csesar, however, perceiving his aim, gave or- 
 ders for the engine to work more strongly 
 than before ; and when the walls began to give
 
 104. JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 way, Castor, tlie Jew, aiid his companions, set 
 the tower on fire and leapt into the flame, into 
 a concealed vault that was under it ; which be- 
 ing unknown to the Romans, they admired the 
 courage of those men who could thus precipitate 
 themselves into the very fire. 
 
 Now Caesar took this wall also, on the fifth 
 day after he had possessed himself of the first ; 
 and entered it with a thousand armed men, the 
 flower of his legions. If he Iiad, as is common 
 according to the laws of war, demolished the 
 wall, or even greatly enlarged the breach when he 
 entered it, he would have secm'ed a safe retreat 
 for his men in case of need ; but being desirous 
 to preserve the city for his own sake, and the 
 temple for the sake of the city, he neither slew 
 tlie people, nor destroyed their effects ; but direc- 
 ted his soldiers to fight only with the zealots and 
 the seditious, and to spare the citizens alive. 
 The zealots, however, construing the humanity 
 of Titus into a symptom of weakness, threatened 
 to put the people to death if they dared so much 
 as to utter the word surrender ; and slaying those 
 who talked of peace, they attacked tlie Romans
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 105 
 
 who had entered within tha wall. Some tliey en- 
 countered in the narrow streets, and some they 
 fought from their houses, while others, mak- 
 ing a sally from their npper gates, assaulted 
 the Romans wh.o were beyond the wall, wlio 
 leaping down from their to were, retired to their 
 several camps. 
 
 The Romans, within the walls, being thus en- 
 I compassed on every side, made a great noise ; 
 for the Jews increased perpetually, and they, be- 
 ing acquainted with the streets and lanes of the 
 city, fought at a great advantage over the enemy ; 
 who, on account of the breach of the wall being 
 ; so narrow, could not extiicate themselves from 
 ! their dangerous situation. It is probable they 
 I would have been all cut to pieces by the Jews, had 
 I not Titus sent the archers to stand at the upper 
 I end of these narrow lanes, and do execution up- 
 on the enemy ; while he himself stood amid tlie 
 thickest multitude, and with Doniitius Sabinus 
 continued to direct the dnrts against them, till 
 he had covered the retreat of his men from the 
 city. 
 
 When the Romans were thus driven out, after 
 tbey had possessed tlie second wall, the Jews
 
 106 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 were so elated with their success, that they ima- 
 gined Titus would never approach the city again. 
 For God had blinded their'eyes on account of their 
 transgressions, so that they neither considered 
 the strength and numbers of the Roman forces, 
 nor yet that a famuie was creeping in upon the 
 city, for hitherto they had fed themselves out of 
 the public miseries, and drank the blood of the 
 citizens. 
 
 But poverty had seized upon many of the bet- 
 ter part of the inhabitants, and many had already 
 died for want of the necessaries of life. These 
 the seditious saw perish without regret, consider- 
 ing a diminution of the people as a relief to them- 
 selves. With such feelings, they covered them- 
 selves with their armour, and made a wall of 
 their own bodies, at the breach where the wall 
 had been cast down ; and thus valiantly defended 
 themselves for three days against all the attacks 
 of Titus, until the fourth day, when unable longer 
 to support the vehemence of the Romans, they suf- 
 fered Titus to re-possess the wall ; who, demohsh- 
 ing it entirely, put a garrison into the towers on 
 the south quarter of the city, and made prepara- 
 tions for assaulting the tliird wall.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 107 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 ! *f They shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry ; and they 
 shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied : they shall 
 eat every man the flesli of his own arm ," 
 
 1 ITUS being now desirous of bringing tlie Jews 
 to terms of peace, abated the operations of war 
 for a little, that tlie seditious might have time for 
 consideration, being in hopes that the destruc- 
 tion of their second wall, and the approach of 
 famine, would soften and subdue their obstinate 
 resistance. 
 
 To second this design, and to intimidate the 
 enemy, Titus set his army in battle an-ay, not 
 with the intention of fighting, but to distribute 
 the subsistence money to the troops, which was 
 due at tliis time. So, according to the custom
 
 108 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 of the Romans, the soldiers opened the cases 
 v.'heiein tijey kept their ai'ms, and marched out 
 with their hreast-plates, the horsemen leading 
 tfieir horses in their splendiil trappings : and all 
 the way shone with tl'.e gorgeoiisness and splen- 
 dour of the troops. The walls and houses were 
 covered with spectators who eame out to view 
 this super!) army ; Avhile consternation seized 
 upon the Jews when they saw them all assem- 
 bled in one place, and observed the fineness of 
 tlieir arms, and tlie order of tlieir men. And 
 surely if the crimes which the seditious had com- 
 mitted had not led them to despair of forgiveness, 
 they would have trembled at that sight, and 
 finished the strife ; but believing, as they did, that 
 torments and death awaited them in every case, 
 they thought it better to die in defence of the 
 city, than to capitulate. Fate also, or rather di- 
 vine Providence, had ordained that the innocent 
 and the guilty were to perish together, and tliat the 
 city and the seditions were to be consumed in one 
 common destruction. 
 
 Four days were thus occupied by the Romans 
 in distributing the pay to the legions. On the
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 109 
 
 fifth day, as no signs of peace appeared to come 
 from the Jews, Titus divided his legions, and 
 began to raise banks at the tower of Antonia, 
 and at John's monument, witli tlie intention of 
 taking the upper city at that monument, and the 
 temple at the tower of Antonia. Simon and liis 
 party annoyed t]ie men who were employed in 
 raising the banks at the monument ; while John 
 and his zealots assailed those who worked before 
 the tower. And the Jews having by practice 
 become skilful in the use of their own engines, of 
 which they had three hundred for darts, and 
 forty for stones, tliey delayed the work exceed- 
 ingly, and rendered the operations of the Romans 
 very tedious. 
 
 Titus, however, knowing that the city would 
 be either saved or lost for liimself, not only pro- 
 ceeded earnestly in the siege, but endeavoured, 
 through means of Josephus, to persuade the Jews 
 to listen to terms of accommodation. So Jose- 
 phus went upon the wall, and again exhorted his 
 countrymen to spare themselves, their country, 
 and their temple. To remember that the power 
 of the Romans was invincible, — that they had long 
 
 K
 
 110 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 been subject to tliem, — that it was folly now to 
 attempt to throw off the yoke, — that it was no ig- 
 noble servitude, all nations being under their 
 sway. He reminded them also of the famine 
 that was augmenting every hour, and how im- 
 possible it was for them to conquer the natural 
 appetites of hunger and thirst. That their past 
 actions would be forgotten and forgiven, in proof 
 of which Caesar now offered them his right hand 
 for security. 
 
 While Josephus was thus addressing them, 
 many of them jested on him from the wall, and 
 many upbraided him, and many even threw darts 
 at him. But finding that such admonitions as he 
 had already used, proved altogether vain wdth his 
 countrymen, he reminded them, out of their own 
 books, of the past histoiy of their nation ; and, in 
 a speech of much eloquence, besought them to 
 submit to the Romans, who demanded no more 
 from them than the payment of the accus- 
 tomed tribute-money ; which, when they should 
 have obtained, they would neither destroy the 
 city, nor touch the sanctuary, and would preserve 
 the holy laws inviolate. " Cast away your arms,"
 
 ! JERUSALEM DESTROYED. Ill 
 
 I continued Josephiia, " have pity on your coun- 
 1 try — regard the beauty of that city you are going 
 ; to betray : Who would be the first to set fire to 
 I that temple ? wlio could consent that tliese things 
 \ should be no more ? and what is there that can 
 1 better deserve to be preserved ? But if you are 
 1 insensible to such things, have pity on your chil- 
 1 dren, your wives, your parents, who will be gra- 
 ' dually consumed either by famine or by war. I 
 i know that my mother and my wife, and that my 
 j family, which are by no means ignoble, are ex- 
 j posed to the same danger, and you may think I 
 I plead for them, and for their sakes alone give you 
 ' this advice : if so, slay them, — nay, take my own 
 ' blood as a reward, — only spare Jerusalem 1" 
 ) Josephus however spoke in vain ; the seditious 
 would neither yield to what he said, nor did they 
 I tliink it safe to alter their conduct. The people 
 il on their part saw no means of escape left for 
 : them, but to desert to the Romans, and this they 
 i did as they had opportunity ; Titus permitting a 
 great many of them to go away into the country 
 where they chose. Wlien John and Simon, and 
 their factions, perceived this, they then began
 
 112 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 more carefully to watcli those that went out> 
 tlian tliey watched the coming in of the Romans ; 
 and if they suspected any one of the least sha- 
 dow of deserting, they were immediately put to 
 death. 
 
 As to the rich among the people, whether they 
 intended to desert, or to remain in the city, was the 
 same to them, for under pretence that they were 
 known to entertain the former design, though they 
 did not, they were murdered for the sake of their 
 wealth. The fury of the seditious also increased 
 with the pains of famine. For there heing now no 
 com to he had publicly, the seditious entered into 
 men's private houses in search of It ; if they found 
 any, they tormented the people for having It ; and if 
 they found none, they tormented them still more, 
 for concealing it as they supposed beyond the 
 power of discovery. The method by which they 
 ascertained the probability of food being conceal- 
 ed In any house, was by examining the appear- 
 ance of Its Inhabitants ; If they were in good con- 
 dition they supposed they had food to feed on ; 
 but If they appeared wasted with hunger, they 
 pursued the searcli no faither. Many there were
 
 i JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 113 
 
 I who gave all they possessed for one measure of 
 
 I com ; if they were among the richer ranks of the 
 people, they gave it for wheat ; if of the poorer 
 
 I ranks, they purchased barley. Then they shut 
 
 f themselves up in the inmost recesses of their 
 houses, and eat their portion ; some baking it in- 
 
 i to bread, others eating it even without grinding. 
 
 , A table was nov^here laid for the scanty morsel ; 
 
 ! they snatched it hastily, half baked, out of the fire, 
 
 I and devoured it in a moment.* 
 
 In this state of misery the common feelings of 
 Iiumanity were forgotten, and all the decencies 
 and ties of life abandoned ; so that children who 
 were wont to love and reverence their parents 
 and relatives, plucked the food even out of the 
 mouth of their fathers ; and what was still more 
 
 I pitiful, moi'hers themselves did the same to their 
 infants : and while those most dear to them were 
 thus perishing under their eyes, they took from 
 them, without remorse or shame, the last drop, 
 or the last morsel that could have sustained 
 
 • And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry ; 
 and he shall eat on the left hand, and he shall not be satis- 
 fied. Isaiah ix 20. 
 
 K 3
 
 lU JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 them. And all this was not accomplished in 
 secret, but openly, and under the sun ; for when- 
 ever a house was shut up, tlie seditious con- 
 ceived it to be a sign that the inhabitants had 
 procured some food, and breaking in on them, 
 they tore it even out of their throats ; beating 
 the aged, — tearing the women by the hair, — 
 and taking up children who had fastened up- 
 on some article of food, they shook them down 
 to the ground, as they hung on the morsel they 
 were gnawing, and dashed tliem to death on the 
 stones. They also invented means of torture 
 too shocking to be named, to make the miserable 
 people discover where they liad hid a liandful of 
 barley-meal, or a loaf of bread : and this was 
 done by the seditious when they themselves were 
 not hungry, but only with the view of procuring 
 provisions for the following days. They also 
 went in pursuit of those who had crept out of the 
 city by night, in search of herbs or wild plants 
 to feed upon ; and when, in returning, these 
 WTetched creatures thought they had escaped the 
 enemy, the seditious seized upon their little trea- 
 sure, snatched it from tliem, even while they in-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 115 
 
 treated them, by the tremendous name of God, 
 to give them back some portion of what they had 
 gathered, for their own support ; but tliey refused 
 to restore them a single blade, telling them to be 
 thankfulthey were only spoiled, and not also slain. 
 Such were the afflictions of the poor, and these 
 miseries they endured fi-om their own guards 
 on duty. The rich were plundered in their turn 
 by Simon and John, the two tyrants ; and he 
 who was utterly despoiled by Simon, was then 
 sent to John ; and those who had already been 
 nearly despoiled by John, were robbed of the rest 
 by Simon ; so that they drank the blood of the 
 populace between them, and agreed in nothing 
 but in their common wickedness and barbarity. 
 Suffice it to sum up the history of their ini- 
 quities, by saying, that no city ever experienced 
 such miseries, nor did any age ever bring forth 
 a generation so fruitful in wickedness from the 
 creation of the world. These men brought the 
 whole Hebrew nation into utter contempt, that 
 they themselves might appear compai-atively less 
 impious. They were indeed, says Josephus, the 
 ' slaves, the scum, the spurious and abortive off-
 
 116 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 spring of our nation. It was they, and they 
 alone, who destroyed our city Jenisalem, and 
 who forced the Romans to gain a melancholy re- 
 putation by taking it. Nay, as if their destruc- 
 tion came too slow, they seemed to draw down 
 fire upon the temple with tlieir own hands ; and 
 even when they saw that temple in flames, they 
 neither mourned over it, nor shed tears for it, — 
 while yet the Romans themselves strove to extin- 
 guish the fire, and lamented so dreadful a catas- 
 trophe. 
 
 The famine had now attained to such a height, 
 that men became bold from hunger, and ventured 
 out of the city in search of food, even in defiance 
 of the enemy. These were seized on by the 
 Roman soldiers ; and being too numerous either 
 to be set at liberty or guarded by soldiers, they 
 were first whipped, then tortured, and last of all 
 emcified before the walls of the city. Titus per- 
 mitted all this cruelty with the view of intimidat- 
 ing the rest, and in the hope that feai* might make 
 the Jews yield to his terms. Sometimes five 
 hundred of these miserable creatures would be 
 taken in a dav, sometimes more ; and the Roman
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 117 
 
 soldiers, out of the Iiatred which they bore to 
 ihem, nailed those they caught to crosses, some 
 in one way and some in another, as a sort of jest, 
 till the multitude was so great, that there was no 
 room left to erect the crosses, nor crosses enough 
 on which to hang the wretched victims. 
 
 This fearful spectacle, seen from the walls of 
 Jerusalem, dreadful as it was, did not prevent the 
 citizens from continuing to desert, esteeming 
 death from their enemies to be a peaceful depart- 
 ure, when compared with the agonies of famine. 
 
 Titus commanded the hands of many who were 
 taken to be cut off, and sent them back to Simon 
 and John, that they might not be thought desert- 
 ers, — exhorting these tyrants to " cease their ob- 
 stinate resistance, and not force him to destroy so 
 fine a city, and so wonderful a temple." In an- 
 swer to which message, the tyrants threw out re- 
 proaches on Caesar, and also on Vespasian, saying, 
 " that they contemned death, and did well in pre- 
 ferring it to slavery, — that they would, while they 
 had breath, do all the evil they could to the Ro- 
 mans, — that, as for their city, since they themselves 
 were to be destroyed, they had no concern about
 
 118 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 it, — and that the world itself was a better temple 
 for God than theirs. Yet that the temple would 
 be preserved by Him who dwelt therein, — that 
 he was their help in the war, — that all the threat- 
 enings of the Romans were only to be laughed at, 
 for the conclusion depended on God alone." 
 These words were mixed ■udth clamour and re- 
 proaches. 
 
 Meanwhile the banks erecting by the Romans 
 had advanced a great way, notwithstanding the 
 opposition of the Jews ; and, after labouring at 
 them continually for seventeen days, they were 
 finished by the twenty-ninth of the month Jyar. 
 The fifth legion had raised a bank over the 
 middle of that pool which was called Struthius. 
 At twenty cubits distance from this, there was 
 another cast up by the twelfth legion. The tenth 
 legion had also raised one a great way off from 
 these, on the north quaiter of the city, at the pool 
 called Amygdalon ; while the fifteenth legion rais- 
 ed theirs about thirty cubits farther off, at the 
 high priest's monument. 
 
 John, however, -with wonderful art and skill, 
 had constructed a mine under one of the Roman
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 119 
 
 banks, and filling it with pitch and bitumen, set it 
 on fire, to the dismay of the Romans, who thus 
 saw all their labom-, at least at that point, quite 
 destroyed, and that at the very moment when they 
 thought they had attained their object. 
 
 Two days after this, Simon attempted to de- 
 stroy the other banks ; for the Romans had 
 brought their engines there, and had begun to 
 make the wall shake. At this crisis Tephtheus, 
 and Megassarus, and Chagiras, certain champions 
 among the Jews, seized some lighted torches, and 
 ran suddenly upon the engines. And this they 
 did with all that fearlessness for which they were 
 famous during the war, going out upon the Ro- 
 mans not as enemies, but as if they had been 
 friends, and rushing violently through the midst 
 of them, set fire to the machines. The Romans 
 assaulted them with their swords on every side, 
 yet would they not withdraw till they had accom- 
 plished their purpose. 
 
 Then the Romans endeavoured to get their en- 
 gines out of the fire ; but the Jews nished forth, 
 and caught hold of the battering rams through the 
 flame itself, and while the iron upon them was red
 
 120 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 hot; the fire spreading meantime to the banks 
 themselves, so that the Romans, despairing of 
 saving their works, retired at last to their camp. 
 The Jews, emboldened by their success, and aid- 
 ed by the innumerable multitude who came out 
 to their assistance, proceeded as far as the fortifi- 
 cations of the camp, and fought tlie guards. 
 
 Now there stood in array before the camj) a 
 body of soldiers in armour, who succeeded each 
 other in rotation ; and these, according to the 
 Roman laws of war, were never to leave theij* post 
 but on pain of deatli. Such men, therefore, pre- 
 feiTed dying in the fight to being punished ; so 
 they stood firm against the violent assaults of the 
 Jews, who now fought hand to hand, and made 
 the Romans give way. But Titus coming upon 
 them, attacked them in flank with some chosen 
 troops ; till the Jews, who had hitherto been at- 
 tacked in front, wheeled round, and fought with 
 Titus ; and the armies became so mingled toge- 
 ther, and the dust and the noise so great, that at 
 last they could not distinguish friend from foe. 
 
 The Jews however did not flinch ; not so much 
 on account of their valour and prowess, as from
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 121 
 
 their despair of deliverance. Neither would the 
 Romans yield, on account of their love of glory, 
 and because Csesar himself was in the midst of 
 the danger. The wrath of the Romans was so 
 great, that, had not the Jews retired into the city, 
 the whole multitude would doubtless have been 
 taken. But the destruction of the banks discon- 
 certed the Romans so much, that they began to 
 think it would be impossible to take the city, at 
 least not with the usual engines of war ; and, be- 
 fore taking any new step, Caesar called a council 
 of bis commanders.
 
 122 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 '• The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword, and the glitter- 
 ing spear; and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of 
 carcases : and their is none end of their corpses : they stumble upon 
 tkeir corpses." 
 
 After the circumstances related in the last 
 chapter, Titus called the commanders of his army- 
 together, to consider what steps ought now to be 
 taken to discomfit the Jews. While some were 
 for bringing the whole army against the city and 
 storming the wall, — and while others were for 
 acting with more caution, and leaving the enemy 
 to be destroyed by the famine, — Titus himself 
 was of opinion that a wall should be built all 
 round, completely to encompass Jerusalem, and 
 thereby cut off all supplies that might be earned 
 m by stealth, as well as^ completely prevent the 
 
 i
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 123 
 
 iiTuption of the Jews ; adding, that if any one 
 should think such a labour too mighty an under- 
 taking, they should remember that it was on that 
 very account fit for the Romans, — and, as for the 
 difficulty of the task, none but the gods could 
 without labour accomplish any thing that was 
 great. 
 
 These arguments of Titus prevailed in the coun- 
 cil of commanders, and the work was immediately 
 commenced, not only by the legions, but also by 
 the inferior divisions of the ai*my, the whole be- 
 ing fired with a certain divine fury, — so that each 
 soldier was ambitious to please his centurion, — 
 each centurion his tribune, — and the ambition of 
 the tribunes Avas to please their superior officers ; 
 while Csesar himself observed and rewarded all, 
 going round the works repeatedly every day, and 
 fiui'veying their operations. 
 
 This wall commenced at the camp of the As- 
 syrians, — where Csesar's own camp was pitched, 
 — and went down towards Cenopolis ; thence 
 along the valley of Cedron to the Mount of 
 Olives. It then bent towards the south, and en- 
 compassed the mountain as far as the rock called
 
 124 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Peristereon, and the hill whicli lies next it, and 
 is over the valley that reaches to Siloam ; wJience 
 it bent again towards the west, going down to the 
 valley of the fountain ; whence it ascended at the 
 monument of Ananus, and encircling the moun- 
 tain where Pompey had formerly pitched his 
 camp, it returned back to the north side of the 
 city, and was carried as fiir as the village called 
 the House of Erebinth ; after which it encom- 
 passed Herod's monument, and there, on the east, 
 was joined to Caesar's own camp where it began. 
 Thirteen places were erected without to keep 
 garrisons in ; and the whole work, which would 
 naturally have required many months to finish, 
 was, with incredible labour, accomplished in three 
 days. Titus himself went round the wall at the 
 first watch of the night, to observe hoAV the guard 
 was kept ; the second watch he allotted to Al- 
 exander ; the commanders of legions took the 
 third. They also cast lots among themselves 
 who should be upon the watch during the night, 
 and who should go round the intermediate spaces 
 between the garrisons. 
 
 All means of escape, and all means of relief
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 125 
 
 being now cut oflf from the Jews, the city exhi- 
 bited such a spectacle as had never before been 
 seen under the liglit of the sun.* The famine, in 
 its resistless progress, devoured whole houses at 
 once. The upper rooms were full of women and 
 children, who were dying : the lanes of the city 
 were full of the dead bodies of the aged. The 
 children and the young men wandered about the 
 market-places, swelled with the famine, and fell 
 down and expired wherever their misery seized 
 them. As to burying the dead, it was impossi- 
 ble, on account of the innumerable multitude who 
 stood in need of this last office of affection and 
 humanity ; and even those who attempted it, died 
 themselves while interring their friends, and many 
 went into their coffins before the fatal hour was 
 come. No voice of lamentation or of mourning 
 was heard even in the midst of all this wretched- 
 
 ■ Then was fulfilled those words of the Divine Redeem- 
 er, " The days shall come upon ihee, that thine enemies 
 shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and 
 keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with 
 the ground, and thy children within thee." Lukexix, 43, 
 44. 
 
 T 9
 
 126 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 ness. The famine confounded and sealed up the 
 expression, and even the feeling of all the pas- 
 sions common to human nature ; and those who 
 were just expiring, looked with tearless eyes, and 
 open mouths, upon those who were gone to their 
 rest before them ! Silence more deep than death 
 had seized upon the city. The seditious and the 
 robbers were still more terrific than the famine ; 
 for they broke open the houses, which were no- 
 thing else than the graves of the dead, plundering 
 them of their last coverings, — trying the temper 
 of their swords upon the corpses, — running those 
 through who were yet alive upon the ground, — 
 while they refused to dispatch others who craved 
 death as a boon. All these died with their eyes 
 fixed upon the temple. 
 
 The seditious at first gave orders that the dead 
 should be buried at the cost of the public trea- 
 suiy, not being able to endure the stench of the 
 bodies ; but when, from the number, this became 
 impracticable, they were cast over the wall into 
 the valley beneath. When Titus, in going his 
 rounds, saw the vallies full of the dead, and the 
 putrefaction running among them, he groaned,
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 127 
 
 and, spreading forth his hands to heaven, called 
 the gods to witness that this was no act of his. 
 While the inhabitants of Jerusalem were thus the 
 prey of want, the Romans liad abundance of pro- 
 visions, being supplied with corn and other ne- 
 cessaiies out of Syria, and the adjacent pro- 
 vinces, even to satiety. When Titus found that 
 even the extremities to which the Jews were now 
 reduced would not compel the seditions to sur- 
 render, he could no longer forbear to finish the 
 war ; and, out of pure compassion to the wretch- 
 ed, he again set about raising new banks where- 
 with to take the city, — and though he had to 
 bring timber even from a distance of ninety fur- 
 longs, the v/hole country being already laid naked 
 near the city, he set his legions to raise four banks 
 in the neighbourhood of the tower of Antonia. 
 He then shewed the seditious that they were now 
 in his power ; but these men were incapable of 
 repenting of their wickedness, — for no gentle af- 
 fection could touch their souls, nor did any pain 
 seem to affect their bodies, — while they could 
 still tear the dead bodies of their own people, like 
 wolves or dogs, and still crowd their prisons with 
 the sick.
 
 1S8 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the misery that has al- 
 ready been detailed, the tyrant, Simon, conti- 
 nued to torment the inhabitants of Jemsalera ; 
 and because INIatthias, one of the high priests, 
 had been faithful to the people, and was held in 
 esteem by them, Simon had him accused of fa- 
 vouring the Romans, and he and his three sons 
 were put to death. After the slaughter of these, 
 a certain priest named Ananias, a person of emi- 
 nence, as also Aristeus, the scribe of the Sanlie- 
 drim, with fifteen men of note among the people, 
 were slain. They also slew such as lamented the 
 fate of others ; and keeping the father of Jose- 
 phus in prison, made a public proclamation that 
 no citizen should speak to him. 
 
 When Judas, one bf Simon's under officers, 
 saw all these ciuelties, he and some others of his 
 band determined to go over to the Romans ; but 
 they were discovered before they could desert, 
 and all put to deatli by Simon. 
 
 As Josephus was going round the wall, he was 
 wounded in the head with a stone, and fell down ; 
 upon which the Jews made a sally, and he would 
 have been cai'ried off into the city, had not Titus 
 instantly sent men to his succour. Hi» mother,
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 129 
 
 who was in prison, when slie heard it reported 
 that he was dead, made great lamentations pri- 
 vately to her maids who were about her. But 
 this false report did not long afflit t her, as Jose- 
 phus soon recovered, and shewed himself again 
 upon the wall, vvjiich greatly encouraged the peo- 
 ple, and brought consternation upon the seditious. 
 Some of the Jews, who determined at all haz- 
 ards to desert, leapt from the walls, and went in 
 among the Romans ; others, pretending they were 
 going out to fight, went forth with stones, and 
 then fled to the Romans. But there they met a 
 more instantaneous death from abundance, than 
 they would have experienced from the famine ; 
 excepting such as were cautious enough to re- 
 strain their appetites, and took only a little food, 
 by degrees, till they were accustomed to it. For, 
 being swelled with the famine like m.en in a 
 dropsy, if they fed too suddenly, their bodies 
 burst asunder and they died. But a more fright- 
 ful death awaited them still ; for, it being report- 
 ed in the Roman camp that the Jews who es- 
 caped had swallowed much gold, as a mean of 
 bringing it away, the Syrians and Arabians, when
 
 130 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 they met with the deserters, ripped them up, and 
 searclied for gold in their bodies. So that, in the 
 course of one night, not less than two thousand 
 of these miserable deserters were thus dissected. 
 When Titus heard of this infamous act of his 
 soldiers, he was about to surround them with his 
 cavalry, and to put them all to death ; and he 
 would doubtless have accomplished his purpose, 
 liad not the multitude of those who were guilty, 
 been greater than those that were slain. How- 
 ever, he called around him the commanders of the 
 auxiliary troops, as well as the commanders of 
 the Roman legions, for some of his own soldiers 
 were also culpable, and threatened with death all 
 who should again dare to perpetrate so infamous 
 a deed. But the love of money was still stronger 
 than the fear of punishment ; and, notwithstanding 
 the threat of Caisar, many still watched their op- 
 portunity, and slaying the deserters, dissected 
 their bodies, and drew the polluted gold from 
 their bowels ; while numbers who were thus 
 slain from the bare hope of gain, happened to 
 have nothing in them to recompense their execm- 
 ble enemies. But it was God who condemned
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. ISl 
 
 the devoted nation ; and every course that was 
 adopted for their preservation, ended only in their 
 more speedy and tremendous destruction.* 
 
 Now when Jolm could no longer plunder the 
 people, he began to rob the temple, and with 
 fearful sacrilege, melted the sacred vessels of the 
 sanctuary — the caldrons, the dishes, and the tables, 
 all which were of gold, and even the pouring ves- 
 sels which Augustus had bestowed : for the Ro- 
 man emperors always honoured and adorned the 
 temple. But this man, who was a Jew, seized 
 upon the donations of foreigners, saying, that as 
 he fought for the Divinity, he had a right to use 
 divine things, and that they who war for the 
 temple, should live of the temple. So he emptied 
 the vessels of the sacred wine and oil, which were 
 kept to be poured on the burnt-ojfferings, and dis- 
 tributed it among the multitude, who, in anointing 
 themselves and drinking, consumed an bin a-piece. 
 And here, says Josephus, I must declare my finn 
 belief, that if the Romans had any longer delayed 
 
 * " I will slay the last of them with the sword ; he that 
 fleeth of them shall not flee away ; and he that escapeth of 
 them shall not be delivered." Amos ix. 1.
 
 132 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 coming against the city, it would have been swal- 
 lowed up, or destroyed by fire from heaven, like 
 Sodom and Gomorrha, for the atheistical genera- 
 tion it had brought forth were worse than those. 
 
 But why indeed do I relate these particular ca- 
 lamities ? while Manneus at this very time came 
 running to Titus and informed him, that there 
 had been carried out of that one gate alone, of 
 which he had the charge, not fewer than one 
 hundred and fifteen thousand, eight hundred and 
 eighty dead bodies, during the interval between 
 the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, when the 
 Romans pitched their camp by the citj', and the 
 first day of the month Tamuz. This of itself was 
 an immense multitude ; yet this man was not set 
 as a governor at that gate, yet he was appointed 
 to pay the public stipend for carrying out the 
 bodies, ar.d so was obliged to number them, 
 though the rest were buried by their relations — 
 though all their burial was but to bring them 
 away, and cast them out of the city. After this 
 person, there came to Titus many other eminent 
 citizens, who informed him of the entire number 
 of the poor who were dead, and that no fewer
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 133 
 
 than six hundred thousand were thrown out at 
 the gates, though tlie number of the rest could 
 not be ascertained. They also told him, that 
 when they were no longer able to carry away the 
 poor that died, they heaped up their corpses in 
 large houses, and shut them up. They likewise 
 related, tljat a medimnus of wheat was sold for a 
 talent, and that, after the city was walled round 
 hy the Romans, and the people could no longer 
 get out to gather herbs, they searched the com- 
 mon sewers of the city, and dunghills of the cattle, 
 to eat the dung tliey got there, and what tliey 
 foi'merly could not so mucii as look on, they now 
 devoured as food.* llie Romans, at the bare re- 
 cital of such things, were deeply affected ; while 
 the seditious, still remained impenitent and un- 
 subdued, suffering the same distress to come up- 
 on themselves, for they were blinded by that fate 
 which hung over the city. 
 
 Though it appeared scarcely possible that the 
 misery of Jerusalem could sustain any increase, 
 
 * How must the horrors of the famine have been aug- 
 mented by the peculiar feelings of the Jews, and their re- 
 gard to ceremonial purity !
 
 1S4 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 it nevertheless became more dreadful every day ; 
 for the seditious being unsubdued either by their 
 own calamities, or the afflictions of the people, 
 naturally became more hardened, and their de- 
 spair of deliverance irritated them to deeds of 
 greater hiry. 
 
 The multitude of corpses which lay without 
 the walls, and encircled tlie city with a pestilen- 
 tial atmosphere, also impeded the progress of the 
 soldiers when they endeavoured to make a sally 
 from the gates. But as their hands were already 
 polluted with the blood of those whom they had 
 murdered, they cared little to tread upon the 
 bodies of their fellow-citizens as they went out to 
 fight against the enemy. 
 
 The country surrounding their once magnificent 
 city, was itself an object of most aflfecting contem- 
 plation ; for the Romans, in constructing their dif- 
 ferent works, walls, and banks, had swept the once 
 beautiful suburbs, of every tree whicli liad adorn- 
 ed them ; and the country of Judea, which was 
 once as the garden of the Lord, was become a 
 desert ; and if any one who had formerly known 
 it, had come suddenly upon the spot, or even in-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 135 
 
 to the city itself, be would have asked "where 
 is Jerusalem ?" 
 
 When Titus 'liad at last constructed his banks 
 a second time, which labour occupied his legions 
 twenty-one days, they became a source of mutual 
 anxiety, both to the besieged and the besiegers. 
 For the one party felt that if they could not de- 
 stroy these banks, they themselves must perish ; 
 while the Romans, exhausted by excessive toil, 
 and by the scarcity of materials for raising any 
 more banks, were persuaded that if the Jews 
 succeeded in destroying these, all means of tak- 
 ing the city would be cut off. The calamities al- 
 so in the city proved as great a source of discour- 
 agement to the Romans as any other thing, for as 
 their miseries had not softened the seditious, they 
 operated, as already hinted, to infuriate them still 
 more ; and despair of life, added to the wi*atb 
 which burned within them, rendered their assaults 
 tremendous and overwhelming. Thus the Ro- 
 mans had perpetually less and less hope of suc- 
 cess ; and their banks were forced to yield to the 
 stratagems of the enemy ; their erigines to the 
 stjength of their walls ; and tlieir closest encoun-
 
 13G JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 ters to tlie boldness of their attacks. For they 
 found the courage of the Jews superior to all tlie 
 multiplied miseries heaped upon tSem by sedition, 
 war, and famine, — for they turned their very ca- 
 lamities into a cause of valour, and the more des- 
 perate their affairs became, the more invincible 
 grew their arms. These considerations made the 
 Romans double their guards on every side. 
 
 John and his party, before the battering rams 
 were brought to bear against the wall, attempted 
 to set fire to them ; and sallied out of the city 
 with their torches. But before they had got 
 the length of the Roman banks, they came back 
 under great discouragement ; for, on this occa- 
 sion, their conduct was not unanimous, — they 
 went out in detached parties, at distinct intervals, 
 and timidly ; in short, not as usual with Jewish 
 courage. While this languor had crept over the 
 Jews, so different from their customary mode of 
 attack, which was bold, fearless, and persevering, 
 they found the Romans in battle array, guarding 
 their banks at once with their bodies and their 
 armour, and in such good courage that they would 
 rather die than desert their ranks. For, besides
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 137 
 
 being weary of the siege, aud hopless of success 
 should these works be destroyed, the soldiers 
 were ashamed that subtilty should succeed against 
 valour, that madness should be proof against ar-' 
 mour, multitudes too strong for skill, and Jews 
 too powerful for Romans. They had another 
 advantage too, for the engines for sieges could 
 also throw darts and stones; with these they 
 fought against the Jews at a distance, and as the 
 first that was slain was an impediment to him 
 Avho followed, and as they who came near were 
 pricked witli the spears of the Romans, the 
 Jews at last reproached each other with coward- 
 ice, and without accomplishing their purpose re- 
 tired within their walls, from whence they assail- 
 the enemy with fire and darts, and eveiy kind 
 of weapon wliich their necessities led them to 
 employ. 
 
 The Romans undaunted by all these missiles, 
 continued to draw nearer and nearer, till they 
 fixed their machines in a posture to batter the 
 walls, and endeavoin-ed to make an impression on 
 tlie tower of Antonia, while the Jews fought from 
 above. 
 
 The tower however remained immoveable by 
 M 2
 
 138 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the engines ; at last, partly with tlieir hodie«, 
 partly with their iron crows, they untlermined its 
 foundations, and with infinite labour removed 
 four of its stones. Night came on and put an end 
 to the struggle on botli sides. Ho\^ ever the wall 
 having been undermined, by that stratagem of 
 John wherein he blew up the first banks of the 
 enemy, the ground under the wall gave way in 
 the night, and it fell down suddenly. 
 
 The minds of both parties were vaiiously af- 
 fected by this unexpected event ; for the Jews 
 rejoiced that, though the wall had fallen, the 
 tower of Antonia was still safe. And while the 
 Romans on their part rejoiced tliat, the wall had 
 given way, they were petrified with grief and 
 astonishment, when they observed that John had 
 built another wall within it. Yet, as the new 
 wall appeared much weaker than the former, 
 they hoped that it would be more easily over- 
 thrown ; though how to commence the attack 
 was most perplexing, as vvhoever should venture 
 to do so, must inevitably be slam. 
 
 Titus considering the hazard, and knowing 
 lliat men are actuated by hopes and promises, so
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 139 
 
 as sometimes to despise danger, and even death 
 itself, drew together the most courageous part of 
 his army, and addressed them in a speech of con- 
 siderable length ; animathig them witli the pros- 
 pect of final success if they could possess them- 
 selves of the tower ; and, according to the ideas 
 of the Romans, reminding them of the immortal- 
 ity which awaited such as were slain in acts of 
 martial glory : he concluded by saying, " As for 
 myself, I should blush for shame if I did not 
 make him who first mounts the wall to be envied 
 of all, for those rewards which I shall bestow up- 
 on him. If such an one escape with his life, he 
 shall have the command of others that are now 
 his equals ; although it be certain that the great- 
 est of all rewards shall be his, who falls in the 
 attempt."* 
 
 The multitude on hearing this speech of Titus 
 v/as frig]) ten ed by the danger. But there was 
 one Sabinus, a soldier that served among the 
 cohorts, a Syrian by birth, of great fortitude and 
 
 * The heathen " judged that man happy who laid down 
 his life in battle. ' ' 
 
 AmmiaHua Marcellvnus, Alani. lib, 31.
 
 140 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 courage of soul ; he was apparently weak in con- 
 stitution, and diminutive in his appeaiance, but 
 he possessed a certain heroic .spirit, too great for 
 the narrow coin})ass in which it dwelt. This 
 man was the first tliat rose up, and addressing 
 Titus, said to him, " I readily surrender up myself 
 to thee, O Cffisar ! I first ascend the wall, and I 
 heartily wish that my fortune may be equal to my 
 courage and resolution. But if some ill fortune 
 gi'udge me success in my undertaking, take no- 
 tice, that my want of success will not he unex- 
 pected, but that I chuse death voluntaiily for thy 
 sake !" Thus saying, he spread out his shield 
 over his head with his left hand, with his right he 
 drew his sword, and marched up to the wall just 
 about the sixth hour of the day. Eleven only 
 followed him, resolved to imitate his bravery, he 
 leading the way, animated as if with a divine 
 fury. Those who guarded the wall, cast innum- 
 erable dai'ts upon them from every side, and roll- 
 ed great stones upon them, which overthrew some 
 of the eleven. But Sabinus, though covered with 
 showers of darts, proceeded in his dauntless at- 
 tempt, gained the wall, and put the enemy to
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. HI 
 
 flight ; for the Jews were confounded hy his 
 courage, and astonished at tlie lieroism of his 
 soul, and thought also that many more had fol- 
 lowed him. But his success was only temporary ; 
 for stumbling over a stone upon the wall, he fell 
 down, and the noise he made, probably the rat- 
 tling of his armour, made the Jews look round, 
 who seeing he was alone, and no man with him, 
 and that he had fallen down, tumed back upon 
 him in their fury ; and though Sabinus got up on 
 his knee, and covered himself with his shield, and 
 at first not only defended himself, but wounded 
 many of the Jews, yet being obliged to relax his 
 right hand from the number of wounds he had 
 received, he at length gave up the ghost, covered 
 over with innumerable darts. 
 
 As to his partners in this attempt, three of 
 them who mounted the wall were dashed in 
 pieces by the Jews ; and the other eight being 
 wounded, were pulled down by their fellow- 
 soldiers, and carried back to the camp. These 
 things were done on the third day of the month 
 Tamuz. 
 
 Two days after this unsuccessful, yet heroic
 
 142 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 attempt of Sabiims, twelve soldiers who kept 
 watch on the forefront of the Roman banks, 
 called to them the stand ard-beai'er of the fifth: 
 legio7i, two horsemen, and a tmnipeter, and at 
 the ninth honr of the night stole cautiously througli 
 the ruins to the tower of Antonia, and finding the 
 Jewish gTiards asleep, they slew them, and getting 
 possession of the wall, ordered the trumpeter to 
 sound his trumpet. The guards awakened by 
 the sound of the tnuupet, and imagining that a 
 multitude of the Romans had got possession of 
 the wall, fled away on every side. But as soon 
 as Cffisar heard the notes of the trampet, he or- 
 dered his men to arm, and was the first to ascend 
 the wall, accompanied by some chosen followers. 
 The Jews, in their flight towards the temple, fell 
 into a snare of their own, which John had dug to 
 undermine the banks of the enemy. But reco- 
 vering themselves, they attacked the Romans 
 with the greatest force and alacrity, feeling per- 
 suaded, that if they once got possession of the 
 temple, they must consider every thing as already 
 lost. The same cause which animated the onf 
 pai-ty to resist with fury, inspired the other witi
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 143 
 
 equal impetuosity in their assault; and as the 
 field of contest was too circumscribed to ad- 
 mit the use of either darts or spears, both parties 
 drew the sword, and, fought hand to hand : 
 While Jews and Romans were so intermingled 
 with each other, as to be indistinguishable, and 
 fighting at random, the noise, narrowness of 
 the place, and bitter enmity which prevailed, 
 made the battle dreadful. Great slaughter was 
 made on both sides ; the combatants trode upon 
 the bodies and armour of the slain : those that 
 had the advantage exhorted each other to go on, 
 while those that were beaten made great lamen- 
 tation, for there was neither room for flight nor 
 for pursuit, but only for disorderly evoluflons 
 and retreats. They in the front were obliged to 
 slay or'be slain. At length the accustomed zeal 
 and impetuous assaults of the Jews, proved too 
 powerful for the skill of the Romans ; and the 
 battle inclined so strongly in favour of the form- 
 er, that after figliting from the ninth hour of the 
 night, till the seventh hour of the day, the Romans 
 witlidrew for the present, taking possession of the 
 tower of Antonia. 
 
 There was one Julian, a centurion, a man of
 
 144 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 great reputation, renowiied for Lis skill in war, 
 for strength of body, and courage of soul, who, 
 seeing the Romans retire, as he stood by Titus on 
 the tower of Antonia, leaj^t out, and of himself put 
 the Jews to flight, while they were already con- 
 querors, and made them retire towaixls the inner 
 court of the temple ; flying away from him in 
 crowds, imagining that such valom-, and strength 
 as he exhibited, belonged to no mere mortal. 
 He, rushing through the midst of the Jews, slew 
 whoever opposed him, dispersing all before him ; 
 nor did any spectacle appear more wonderful to 
 Cassar, or more terrible to all who beheld it. 
 HowcA^er he was himself pursued by fate, for 
 having on shoes full of tljick and sharp nails, 
 such as are worn by the Romans soldiers, he 
 slipped upon the marble pavement of the temple, 
 and falling douTi upon his back — the linging of 
 his armour, and the shout raised by the Romans 
 in the tower — made those who were flying before 
 him look round, and seeing him in that condition, 
 the Jews came round him in crowds, endeavour- 
 ing to womid him witli their spears and darts. 
 Many of these he received on his shield, pan^nng
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 145 
 
 their iron weapons, and attempting to rise, but 
 was always again tlirown down. The struggle 
 was not soon over, for Julian being covered with 
 his helmet, breast-plate, and armour, could not 
 easily be mortally wounded ; at last, drawing his 
 neck close to his body, till all his limbs were 
 shattered, and no one daring to come to his de- 
 fence, he yielded to his fate. The Jews then 
 caught up his dead body, and shut up the Ro- 
 mans again in the tower of Antonia. 
 
 That there might be an open passage for the 
 entrance of the Roman soldiers, Titus gave orders 
 to dig up the foundation ■; of the tower of An- 
 tonia, while he directed Josephus to come to 
 him to address tlie Jews, and endeavour once 
 more to induce them to surrender. Now, on this 
 very day which v\%fe tlie seventeentli day of the 
 mouth Tamuz, the sacrifice to God, called the 
 daily sacrifice, had ceased, there being none to 
 offer it up.* On this account, the people were 
 
 • Thus, A. D. 70. the prophecy of D.miel was accom- 
 plished. Dan. ix. 27. For, from the time when Vespasian 
 began the war in Judea, till this date, was three years and 
 a half; or, half a leeck, according to the mystic measure- 
 ment of prophetic chronology.
 
 146 JERUSALEM DESTROYED, 
 
 exceedingly distressed. Accordingly, Csesar 
 commanded Josepliiis to inform Jolm and the 
 other Jews, that if any of them were maliciously 
 inclined to fight, they might come out, and bring 
 as many Avith them as they pleased, without haz- 
 arding the destruction of the city or temple ; and 
 that they might still offer the sacrifice, which he 
 understood was discontinued, by any of the Jews 
 whom they pleased. 
 
 Josephus, therefore, came forward, and stood 
 in a place where he might be heard, both by John 
 and many more, and, speaking in the Hebrew 
 language, delivered to them the sentiments of 
 C»sar, earnestly beseeching them " to spare the 
 city, and to prevent the kindling of that fire which 
 was ready to seize upon the temple, and to offer 
 their customaiy sacrifices to <jrod." At these 
 words a great sadness and deep silence was ob- 
 served among the people ; but John himself cast 
 many reproaches upon Josephus, as well as im- 
 precations, adding, " that he had no fears for the 
 city, because it was God's own city." Upon 
 hearing these words, Josephus upbraided him 
 with his impiety, expressing his wonder how
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 147 
 
 he could hope for assistance from God, whose 
 temple he had defiled, whose altars he had pol- 
 luted, and whose accustomed sacrifices he had 
 dared to withhold ; depriving him of that ever- 
 lasting worship which even foreigners and ene- 
 mies wished to he continued, and which they 
 would by no means desire to be intermitted. He 
 also warned John of the consequences of his oh • 
 stinacy, and reminded him it was not yet too late 
 to repent, promising him forgiveness from the 
 Romans ; putting him in mind that he himself 
 was a Jew, and wished the good of his own na- 
 tion in giving him this advice, and that he would 
 never forget his own kindred, nor the laws of his' 
 forefathers. On this, a great clamour was raised 
 among the Jews, reproaching Josephus ; upon 
 which he finished his address by referring to the 
 prophets, who have said, that this city shall be 
 taken, when some one shall begin to slaughter 
 their own countrymen. " And are not both the 
 city and the temple full of tlie dead bodies of 
 your countrymen ? It is God, therefore, it is 
 God himself who is preparing the fire that is to 
 purge both the city and temple — the Romans ai-e
 
 148 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the instiiiments in his liaiid of plucking up this 
 city, which is full of your pollutions !" 
 
 Josephus spoke these words with tears and 
 sobs of soiTow, insomuch that the Romans them- 
 selves were aifected with wojuler and grief, but 
 John remained inexorable. JMany of the Jews, 
 however, were not unaifected by what he said, 
 and endeavoured to. get away to the Romans, of 
 whom, were the high priests Joseph and Jesus, 
 and of the sons of the high priests three, and four 
 sons of INIatthias ; many also of the other nobility 
 went over to the Romans, together with the high 
 priests. 
 
 Caesar not only received these men kindly, but, 
 knowing that they would not willingly live ac- 
 cording to the customs of other nations, sent them 
 to Gophna, promising to restore to them their 
 possessions when he should have finished the war. 
 But as it was reported by John that these men 
 were slain, Titus recalled them from Gophna, 
 and made them go round the wall, to shew that 
 they were alive — upon which a great many fled to 
 the Romans. These all came together upon the 
 walls in front of the Jews, and besought them to
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 149 
 
 spare tlie city ; or, if they would not capitulate, 
 at least to come out of the temple, that the holy 
 place might not he destroyed, for nothing hut the 
 most pressing necessity would induce the Romans 
 to set fire to the sanctuary. 
 
 These intreaties only added greater fury to tlie 
 wrath of the Jews, so that they placed their war- 
 like engines upon the sacred gates of the temple 
 itself, — thus, the holy house might he compared 
 to a citadel, and all the courts around it to one 
 common charnel house, so pent was the multitude 
 of dead bodies that they contained. The impi- 
 ety of the Jews was so appalling, that the Ro- 
 mans looked upon the holy house Avitli a kind 
 of sacred hoiror, and adored it, and wished that 
 tlie seditious T\'ould repent before tlieir miseries 
 became incurable. 
 
 The anxiety of the Romans to preserve the sacred 
 edifice of the temple was so great, that when the ex- 
 hortation of Josephus failed of moving John to re- 
 lent, Cajsar himself addressed him, and once more 
 endeavoured to induce him to spare the temple, 
 and shewed that nothing but the infatuated ob- 
 stinacy of the Jews themselves would ever lead 
 n2
 
 150 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 him to consent to its destruction. " Have not 
 you," said Titus, " by our own pennission, erect- 
 ed a partition wall before your sanctuary, and on 
 its pillars have inscribed, that no foreigner shall 
 go beyond it ? and have not we permitted you to 
 slay the man that passes it, even though he were 
 a Roman ? Yet you pollute this holy house with 
 the blood, not only of foreigners, but of Jews 
 themselves ! I appeal to the gods -of my own 
 country, — I appeal to mine ovm army, — I appeal 
 to those Jews who are with me, and even to you 
 yourselves, that I do not compel yon to defile this 
 sanctuary ; and if you will but change the place 
 of battle, no Roman shall approach your holy 
 house, or offer any insult to your sanctuary. Nay, 
 I will myself preserve that holy temple, even in 
 despite of you, and whether you will or no !" 
 
 As Josephus interpreted these words fi'om the 
 lips of Csesar, the infatuated Jews attributed them 
 to the fears of Titus, rather than his respect for 
 that sacred place ; and, instead of being pacified 
 or affected by the regard of a Roman for the tem- 
 ple of Jehovah, they only became more insolent. 
 \Mien, therefore, Titus perceived that neither pity
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 161 
 
 for themselves, nor regard for their sanctuary, had 
 power to subdue their hearts, or lead them to 
 change the field of slaughter, he proceeded, 
 though unmllingly, to take the only steps that 
 remained for him, to finish the conflict. 
 
 As the spot was too confined to permit him to 
 bring all his army against them, he selected thirty 
 of the most valiant of his men out of every hun- 
 dred ; and, committing a thousand to every tri- 
 bune, he appointed Cerealis commander-in-chief ; 
 and gave orders that he should attack the guards 
 of the temple, at the ninth hour of the night. 
 And while Ca3sar was himself in armour, preparing 
 to go down with them, his friends crowded near 
 to prevent him, on account of the greatness of the 
 danger ; the commanders suggesting that he would 
 do more by sitting above in the tower of Antonia, 
 as a witness of the fight, and a dispenser of re- 
 wards, than by hazarding his own person in the 
 forefront of the battle ; for the soldiers would be 
 stimulated by thinking that Caesar beheld them. 
 With this advice he complied, and sending off 
 Cerealis, he went out himself to a more elevated 
 situation in the tower, from whence he might
 
 152 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 witness the combat, and there awaited with im- 
 patience the result. 
 
 The Romans did not, as they expected, find 
 the Jewish guard asleep, but awake and ready to 
 receive them, so that the battle began on the in- 
 stant ; and as soon as those who were within the 
 temple heard the shout of the watch, they rushed 
 out in troops upon the enemy. The Romans re- 
 ceived the onset of those wlio came first, but they 
 that followed fell upon tJieir own men, confused 
 by the noise and dai'kness of the night, and that 
 blindness which arose at once from passion and 
 feai". This darkness and disorder was less inju- 
 rious to the Romans, — who were joined together 
 under their shields, who made their sallies with 
 more science, and who constantly retained the re- 
 collection of their watchword, — than to tiieir ad- 
 versaries ; while the Jews were attacked, dis- 
 persed, and retreated at random, and fought 
 against themselves as often as against the enemy ; 
 imagining that those who fell back upon them 
 were Romans, while, in fact, they were Jews, and 
 by that means, till day liglit appeared, more of 
 tlieir own people v/ere slain by their own liands
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 153 
 
 than by the soldiers of Titus. But when the dawn 
 appeared, they stood in battle-an-ay, cast their 
 darts, and acted in defence, witli perfect order. 
 
 The Romans, being under the eye of Titus, 
 fought, both individually and in whole cohorts, 
 with the most distinguished bravery, each expect- 
 ing that this day would witness his own promo- 
 tion. The Jews, on their part, were urged to 
 the conflict, at once by fear for themselves and 
 for their temple ; while John, the tyrant, encou- 
 raged some, exhorted others, and beat and threat- 
 ened by turns. The nature of the battle, on ac- 
 count of the narrow ground which it occupied, 
 admitted only of sudden assaults, for there was 
 no room for flight or pursuit. But from the tower 
 of Antonia, where the Romans stood as specta- 
 tors of the contest, there was ever and anon a tu- 
 multuous shout ; the soldiers calling to their com- 
 rades to press on, as they saw them advance, — 
 a nd to stand, as they saw them retiring. It was, 
 in short, a theatre of war, on which the actors 
 were Jews and Romans, — the audience Csesar 
 and his legions, — the scene Jerusalem and its 
 temple I
 
 154 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 The battle, — which continiied from the ninth 
 hour of the night to the fifth hour of the day, and 
 which occupied the same spot on which it had 
 begun, — ended without any advantage being gain- 
 ed by either paiiy. Victory belonged to neither ; 
 but many had signalized their courage on both 
 sides. Among the Jev.s, those under Simon 
 who were most distinguished, were Judas the son 
 of INIeito, and Sunon the son of Sosas. Among 
 the Idumeang, James, and Simon, the sons of 
 Cathlas, and of Sosas. John's heroes were Gyph- 
 theus and Alexas ; and, among the zealots, the 
 most warlike was Simon the son of Jaims. 
 
 Meanwhile the rest of the Roman army conti- 
 nued to undermine the foundations of Antonia, 
 and succeeded in making a broad way for the en- 
 trance of the legions, as far as the outer coiu-t, or 
 Court of the Gentiles, and began to raise banlis 
 over against the inner temple, — over the two 
 gates, — at the western cloister, and at the north- 
 ern cloister. For materials to construct these 
 banks, the Romans had to go to the distance of 
 a hundred fmlonga from the city. 
 
 Tlie Jews being now so dreadfully pressed by
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 155 
 
 tlie famine, and prevented all egress from the 
 city, determined to make an assault upon the 
 Roman guards, encamped upon the Mount of 
 Olives ; and this they did at the eleventh hour of 
 the day, two days after the Romans had ascend- 
 ed the hieach. Upon this there was a sharp en- 
 counter, and great actions were performed on both 
 sides ; the Romans displaying their usual courage 
 and skill in war, and the Jews their immoderate 
 violence and intolerable passion. The one part 
 were urged by shame, the other by necessity. 
 When the Jews were beaten, and forced down 
 into the valley, a Roman horseman of the name of 
 Pedanius, spuri'ed on their flank with great vio- 
 lence, and caught up a young Jew by liis ancle 
 as he was flying away. Pedanius was of a ro- 
 bust body, and clothed in armour ; yet so low did 
 he bend himself from his horse, though on full 
 gallop, and so great was the strength of his right 
 hand, and so exquisite his skill in horsemanship, 
 that he seized upon the Jew as a precious trea- 
 sure, and carried him captive to Caesar. Titus 
 admired the prowess and horsemanship of Peda- 
 nius, but ordered the Jew to be put to death.
 
 156 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 While Ca3sar continued to advance his works, 
 and the war pressed higlier and higlier, creeping 
 up even to the holy house itself, the Jews were 
 compelled to cut off, as it were, those limhs of 
 their own hody which were infected, to prevent 
 the disease spreading farther ; and to set fire to 
 the north-vrest cloister, which was joined to the 
 tower of Antonia, and therehy made a beginning 
 of the burning of the sanctuary. Two days after, 
 the Romans burnt the cloister next to it, and the 
 fire went fifteen cubits farther. The Jews cut off 
 its roof, nor did they entirely leave oft' the work of 
 destruction, till the tower of Antonia was separa- 
 ted from the temple ; nay, tliey lay still while 
 the temple was first set on fire, deeming this 
 spreading of the flames to be for tlieir own ad- 
 vantage. Meanwhile both armies continued fight- 
 ing round the temple, and the war was carried on 
 by perpetual sallies. While the Jews, as usual, had 
 recourse to all those stratagems which so strongly 
 mark the details of the history of this war, and, 
 among others, filling one of the cloisters with 
 combustible mateiials, they withdrew from it, 
 and upon the Romans getting on the roof, they
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 157 
 
 set it on fii-e, and destroyed great numbers of tlie 
 soldiers. The Romans, in their turn, burnt down 
 the northern cloister entirely, as far as the east 
 cloister, whose common angle joined to the valley 
 called Cedron, and was built over it ; on which 
 account the depth was terrific. Such was the 
 state of the temple at this time. It remains to 
 give some account of the famine.
 
 158 JERUSiVLEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Ben Cathla. But ever as she minisfer'd, ^ 
 
 Quick, sadden sobs of laughter broke from her. 
 
 At length the vessel's cov'ring she raised up. 
 
 And there it lay 
 
 High Priest. What lay ?— Thou'rt sick and pale 
 
 Ben Cathla. By earth ! and heaven ! — the remnant of a child f 
 
 Fall of Jerusalem^ 
 
 The multitude who perished by the famine in 
 the city was innumerable, and the miseries they 
 endured, unutterable. If so much as a shadow of 
 any species of food was visible, the dearest ties 
 of kindred and relationship were forg-otton, and 
 each began to fight, snatching from one another 
 the most loathsome and disgusting articles for the 
 support of life. Nor would they believe that 
 even the dying had no food, but would search 
 them while expiring, thinking that they coun-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 159 
 
 terfeited the pangs of death, and had food con- 
 cealed in their bosoms. These robbers gaped for 
 want, and ran about stumbling and staggering, 
 reeling against the houses us if they were intoxi- 
 cated, and in their distress would rush into the 
 same houses two or three times in one day. The 
 pangs of hunger were so intolerable that it com- 
 pelled them to chew every thing, even such things 
 as the most sordid animals would not look upon. 
 Girdles and shoes, even the leather which covered 
 their shields of war, they tore off and gnawed. 
 Wisps of old hay became food to some ; and some 
 gathered up fibres, and sold a very small weight 
 of them for four attic drachmse. " But why," 
 exclaims Josephus, " should I speak merely of 
 men eating inanimate things ? while I am about 
 to relate a fact which has no parallel in history, 
 either among the Greeks or barbarians. I 
 would indeed gladly have omitted this calamity of 
 ours, that I might not seem to deliver what is so 
 portentous, to posterity ; but, besides that I have 
 innumerable witnesses to it in mine own age, my 
 country would have had little reason to thank me 
 for guppres&ing the miseriea she underwent."
 
 160 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 There was a woman that dwelt beyondJordan, 
 of the name of Mary, the danghter of Eleazar, of 
 the village of Betheziib. She was emment for 
 lier family and her wealth, and had taken refuge 
 with others in Jerusalem, during the war in Ju- 
 dea, and was there at this time. All the effects 
 which she had brought with her from Perea had 
 been seized. What food she had treasured up, 
 and contiived to save, had also been stolen from 
 her by tlie rapacious guards, wlio came every day 
 to her house for that purpose. The frequency of 
 these visits had led her to utter many reproaches 
 and imprecations upon the soldiere, yet none of 
 them had taken away her life ; and if she found 
 any food, her labours were for others and not 
 for herself, as it was instantly taken from her. 
 It was now impossible for her to get any more 
 food ; the famine pierced through her vitals, 
 and her passion against the soldiers was fired 
 Iteyond th? famine itself. So that, urged by her 
 rage and hunger, she snatched up her son, who 
 was an infant sucking at her bosom, and exclaim- 
 ed, " O thou miserable infant, for whom shall I 
 preserve thee in this war, — this famine, — this se-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 161 
 
 dition ? As to the war with the Romans, if they 
 preserve our lives, we must be slaves, — the fa- 
 mine will destroy us even before slavery can come 
 upon us, — yet are the seditious more terrible than 
 both. Come on, then, — be thou my food, — be 
 thou a fury to these seditious robbers, — be thou 
 a bye-word to the world, — it is all that is wanting 
 to complete the calamities of the Jews I" 
 
 As soon as she had uttered these words, she 
 slew her son, — then roasted him, — and, eating 
 the one half, she kept the remainder concealed ! 
 
 The seditious presently came in, and scenting 
 her horrible repast, threatened her with instant 
 death if she did not reveal where it was hid. She 
 replied that she had saved a portion for them, and 
 uncovered what was left ! Upon this discovery, 
 the seditious were paralyzed with horror, and 
 stood fixed with astonishment and amazement of 
 mind. " This is mine own son," she exclaimed ; 
 " this w^s mine own doing, — come, eat of this 
 food, for I have fed upon it myself. Pretend 
 not to be more delicate than a woman, — more 
 compassionate than a mother. But if you be so 
 
 o2
 
 16'2 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 scrupulous, and abominate this my sacrifice, let 
 the remainder be reserved for me."* 
 
 Tlie men went oat trembling with hoiTor and 
 affright, and with some difficulty left the rest of 
 
 * Josephus, in relating the above terrific transaction, 
 says, that it is a fact unparalleled in any history, either 
 among the Greeks or barbarians, horrible to speak of, 
 and incredible when heard. But he seems to have for- 
 gotten the details of the famine during the siege of Sa- 
 maria by Bcn-hadad, king of Syria, and that the straits 
 to which Israel was exposed in those days, were as great 
 as the calamities afterwards sustained by Judah. — " And 
 as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, 
 there eried a woman unto' him, saying, Help, my lord, 
 O king ! And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, 
 whence shall I help thee ? out of the barn- floor, or 
 out of the wine-press ? And (he king said unto her. 
 What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman 
 said unto me" — See 2 Kings vi. 26 — 29 ; we suppress 
 the rest of the quotation, as too shocking to be dwelt 
 upon, even for a moment. Yet among the many plagues 
 predicted against the Jews for disobedience, none seems 
 more frequently to have been foretold than this very thing, 
 as may be seen by consulting the following references, 
 which go back to the days of Moses. Lev. xxvi. 29. 
 Deut- xxviii. 5S— 57. Jer. xix. 9. Lam. ii. 20. and 
 iv. 10. If such afflictions have ever happened in any 
 other nation of the earth, it appears that no historian has 
 been found willing to stain his page with the record.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 163 
 
 that meal to the mother. Upon this the whole 
 city was full of the noise of this horrid action ; 
 and, while every one laid the miserable case be- 
 fore their own eyes, each trembled as if this un- 
 heard of deed liad been committed by themselves. 
 Those wlio were pained by the faniine now wish- 
 ed oidy for death ; and those already dead were 
 envied, because they had not survived to hear, or 
 see such miseries as these. 
 
 This sad circumstance was soon communicated 
 to the Romans, many of whom disbelieved it, and 
 others pitied the sorrows of the Jews. As for 
 Cffsar, he excused himself before tlie gods as to 
 tiiis matter, and said, " that he hud proposed 
 tenns of ])eace and freedom to the Jews, as well 
 as an oblivion of all offences ; but tliat they had 
 preferred sedition to concord, — war instead of 
 peace, — and, before abundance, they had chosen 
 famine. That they had begun to burn down that 
 temple wliich even the Romans would have pre- 
 ser\-ed ; but tliat tliis atrocious act, of a mother 
 feeding- on her own cliild, ought to be covered 
 over vvilh the ruins of their country itself; aud
 
 164 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 tlial men ought not to leave such a city on the 
 habitable earth to be seen by the light of the 
 sun I" 
 
 Now on the eighth day of the month Ab, two 
 of the legions had completed their banks ; and 
 Titus commanded the battering rams to be brought 
 to bear against the western edifice of the inner 
 temple, for the other engines had for six days 
 unceasingly plyed against the walls without pro- 
 ducing the slightest effect ; and indeed the vast 
 size of the stones, and the strong manner in which 
 they were connected together, resisted every at- 
 tempt of all tlieir engines to remove them. The 
 Romans, however, undermined the foundations of 
 the northern gate, and, after incredible labour, re- 
 moved some of the outermost stones ; yet the gate 
 was still upheld by the inner works, and remain- 
 ed altogether immoveable. The workmen, there- 
 fore, despairing of effecting any thing, either by 
 crows or engines, brought their ladders to mount 
 the cloisters. The Jews permitted them to as- 
 cend the ladders, but no sooner were they up, 
 than they attacked them, slew them, and thrust
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 165 
 
 them clown, throwing them back headlong, lad- 
 ders and all, full of armed men. A great slaugh- 
 ter was also made of the Jews, yet nevertheless 
 they got possession of the Roman engines. But 
 when Titus saw that all the eftbrts he made to 
 preserve a foreign temple only tended to the de- 
 stiTiction of liis own troops, he gave orders to set 
 the gates on fire. The soldiers no sooner received 
 the command than it was executed ; and the sil- 
 ver, with which the gates were covered, speedily 
 carried the flame to the ivood within them, whence 
 it instantaneously spread all around, and caught 
 hold of the cloisters. 
 
 When the Jews beheld themselves thus in the 
 midst of flames, their spirits sunk within them, 
 and their astonishment and grief was so great, 
 that not one seemed to make haste either to ex- 
 tinguish the flames, or to defend himself. The 
 fire prevailed all that day, and all the day follow- 
 ing ; for the soldiers were not able to consume 
 the whole of the cloisters at once, but only in 
 pieces. 
 
 Next day Titus commanded the fire to be 
 quenched, and a road to be made for the admis-
 
 166 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 sion of the legions, while he himself corirened 
 the commanders. The six principal leaders of 
 the Roman army accordingly came near, together 
 with the procurators and tiibunes, namely, Tiberius 
 Alexander, commander of the army under C«sar ; 
 Cerealis, commander of the fifth legion ; Lepidus, 
 commander of the tenth legion ; Frigius, com- 
 mander of the fifteenth ; Eternius, leader of the 
 two legions that came from Alexandria ; and 
 Marcus Antonius Julianus, procurator of Judea. 
 With these, Titus consulted what steps ought to 
 be followed with regard to the holy temple. 
 Some were of opinion it should be destroyed, ac- 
 cording to the rules of war ; others were for spar- 
 ing it, provided the Jews would come out of it ; 
 but if they persisted in fighting there, that it ought 
 no longer to be considered holy, but looked upon 
 merely as a citadel, and then the impiety of de- 
 stroying it would rest upon the Jews, and not on 
 the Romans. Titus, however, appeared deter- 
 mined in his own mind to preserve the temple j 
 he was unwilling to destroy so superb an edifice, 
 and wished it saved, possibly to grace his own 
 vicXory-f and as an ornament to the Roman go-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 167 
 
 vernment while it continued. Fronto, Alexan- 
 der, and Cerealis, agieed with the opinion of Cae- 
 sar ; so tho assembly dissolved, and Titus com- 
 manded chosen men to be taken out of the co- 
 horts, to make a way through the ruins, and to 
 quench the fire. 
 
 On this occasion the Jews were so much ex- 
 hausted in body, and under such consternation of 
 mind, that they made no assaults on tlie enemy ; 
 but the next day they collected together their 
 whole force, and ran out upon those who guard- 
 ed the outer court of the temple about the second 
 hour of the day. The guards received them with 
 great bravery, covering themselves with their 
 shields, and drawing their squadron close toge- 
 ther; but it was evident they could not long 
 stand the brunt of the battle, the multitudes of 
 the Jews, and the warmth and passion with which 
 they were assailed. But Caesar perceiving from 
 the tower of Antonia where he stood, that his 
 soldiers were likely to give way, sent some chosen 
 troops to support them. Upon which the Jews 
 found themselves unable to sustain the conflict, 
 and retired ; but as the Romans were going off,
 
 163 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 tlie Jews returned'; and wlien the Romans came 
 back upon them, they retreated again, until the 
 fifth hour of the day, wlien, being overborne, they 
 withdrew, and shut themselves up in the inner 
 court of the temple. 
 
 After tliis, Titus retii-ed into the tower of An- 
 tonia, resolving with his whole ai'my to storm the 
 temple early the next morning, and to encamp 
 around the holy house. As for that sacred place, 
 God had doubtless doomed it to the fire, and the 
 fatal day, according to the revolution of ages, had 
 already anived. It was the tenth day of the month 
 Ab, the same on which it was formerly burned by 
 the king of Babylon ; and the flames which now 
 kindled around it, were lighted by the Jews them- 
 selves, or solely occasioned by them ; for, upon 
 Csesai- retiring to the tower of Antonia, the Jews 
 lay quiet for a little while, and then again attack- 
 ed the Romans, while they were endeavourmg to 
 quench the fire which was consuming the inner 
 court of the temple ; but the Roman soldiers put 
 the Jews to flight, and pursued them as far as tlie 
 holy house itself. Here a soldier, without waiting 
 for orders, and without any feeling of diead upon
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED* 169 
 
 his raind at so great an undertaking, Iiuriied away 
 by a certain divine fury, snatched a brand out of 
 tlie flaming materials which lay scattered around 
 him, and, beuig lifted up *by another soldier, set 
 fire to a golden window, through which there was 
 a passage to the apartments that were round 
 about on the north side of the holy house. 
 
 Immediately some one came running to Titus 
 and told him of this fire, while he was reposing 
 in his tent after the fatigues of the morning's bat- 
 tle. Caisar instantly started up, and, unarmed as 
 he was, hastened to the holy house in order to 
 quench the fire. After him followed all his com- 
 manders, then the legions, all in the greatest as- 
 tonishment ; so that the clamour and tumult 
 which arose from the disorderly movement of so 
 great an army was truly terrible. 
 
 CjBsar, by his voice and gestures, calling to the 
 soldiers, and making signals, endeavoured to 
 get them to quench the flames. But they nei- 
 ther heard his voice, nor observed his signals ; 
 the noise and confusion were so great, and 
 tlieir passions were so exasperated against tiie 
 Jews, and their minds so distracted with the 
 
 P
 
 170 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 fierceness of the conflict. As to the legions 
 which came running thither, neither persuasions 
 nor threatenings could restrain their fury ; hut 
 each man's passions was his own commander, and 
 as they crowded into the holy house, they 
 trampled upon one another, fell among the 
 smoking ruins of the cloisters, and, utterly re- 
 gardless of Caesar's orders, encouraged only those 
 that set on the fire. As for the seditious, their 
 afflictions were so great they could not aid in 
 quenching it, they were everywhere slain and de- 
 feated ; and, as for the people, most of them 
 were weak and without arms, and wei'e murdered 
 wherever they were taken ; while round about 
 the altar dead bodies lay heaped one above the 
 other, and its sacred steps were deluged with 
 blood. 
 
 While this dreadful scene was acting, Csesar, 
 who could by no means restrain the enthusiastic 
 fury of his soldiers, went with his commanders 
 into the holy place, and saw all that it contained, 
 and found it far superior to all that foreigners had 
 related concerning it, and not inferior to what the 
 Jews themselves bad boasted of. Titus suppos-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 171 
 
 ing it still possible to save some part of this su- 
 perb edifice, came out again with liaste, and 
 endeavoured to persuade tlie soldiers to spare it, 
 giving orders to Liberalius, and one of jiis spear- 
 men, to beat the refractory soldiers with their 
 staves, and if possible to restrain them. But 
 neither their love nor dread of Caesar had any 
 power over them. The hope of plunder also in- 
 duced them to proceed, for seeing that all around 
 was made of gold, they expected that all within 
 would be full of treasure. At last the flames 
 burst from the holy house itself, and it was burn- 
 ed down, notwithstanding all that Csesar desired, 
 and all that he attempted to do to save it. 
 
 Thus, the most admirable of all the works on 
 the earth was destroyed. Its magnificence, its 
 curious workmanship, its magnitude, its wealth, 
 its reputation for holiness, its glory, — all could 
 not save it ; the decree, inevitable and unalter- 
 able, wliich had gone forth against it, brought it 
 to the dust ! and that on the same day, of the 
 same month, on which it was burned by the Ba- 
 bylonians. 
 
 The number of years from its first foundation
 
 172 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 by Solomon, to this destruction in- the second 
 year of Vespasian, are one tliousand, one hundred 
 and tliirty years, seven months, and fifteen days ; 
 and from the period of its second buikling by 
 Haggai — in the second year of Cyrus the king — 
 to tliis its second destruction, were six hundred 
 and thirty-nine years, and foity-five days.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 173 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 •' And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and 
 pcstil< nccs, and leaiful sights, and great signs shall there be from 
 heaven." 
 
 A LL i\\e calamities hitherto experienced by tlie 
 miseral le Jews, Keemeci liglit in c<")nipai-ison of 
 tlfi:^ tlio acme of their suifering — the destruction 
 of tlu* holy lumse, 
 
 ^VJiiie the temple was Imrning-, thousands of 
 Jews were taken and put to death. No respect 
 ^vas sliown to age or rank, — no pity to children, 
 — no compassion to women, — no reverence to 
 piiests — all Avere slaughtered — all conditions of 
 men were brought to destruction ; the same event 
 happened to each, whether they supplicated for 
 mercy, or defended themselves in battle. 
 
 As the hill — that " mount Zion, beautiful for
 
 174 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 situation on the sides of the north" — on which 
 the temple was built was of great height, the 
 wliole city itself appeared as if on fire. The 
 flames were carried an immense way off; nor can 
 any tiling be imagined more terrific tb.an the 
 noise, for the rattling of the flames was echoed 
 from liill to liill — there was also the shout of the 
 Roman legions,-— the clamour of the seditious, — 
 the groans of the dying, — and the lamentations of 
 those who wept for the holy house. Tlie multi- 
 tude in the city also joined in the terrific cry ; 
 and thoHgh many of tliem were wora away with 
 famine, and had their lips neai-ly closed, yet when 
 they beheld the temple on fire, they exerted tlieir 
 last energies, and witli their utmost strength 
 broke out in groans and lamentations. Perea 
 also returned the eclio, and the mountains round 
 about Jerusalem redoubled tiie fearful sound ! 
 Tremendous was the disorder, the confusion, and 
 tlie tumult. The hill itself on which the temple 
 stood was seething hot ; and tlie blood was in 
 greater quantity than the fire, and they that were 
 slain were more in number tlian those wlio slew 
 them, and no where was an inch of ground visi-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 17 
 
 ble for the dead bodies which covered it — and tho 
 soldiers trampled over the heaps of slain. The 
 multitudes of the seditious were now thrust out of 
 tlie inner court of the temple, into the outer 
 court, from whence they escaped into the city ; 
 while the remainder of the populace fled into the 
 cloister of the outer court. The priests, driven 
 by the flames, retired to the wall, which was 
 eight cubits broad, and there remained ; yet two 
 of great eminence among them, Meirus and Jo- 
 seph, who might have been saved by going over 
 to the Romans, ilirew them.seives into the fire, 
 and perished with tlie temple. 
 
 The Romans ceased not in this work of de- 
 struction, till they had bm-ned down all that 
 surrounded the holy house — the cloisters, the 
 gates, tlie treasury cliambers, in which were im- 
 mense quantities of gold, and garments, and rich 
 furniture ; in short, all the treasures of the rich 
 and noble inhabitants who had built apartments 
 for securing their property in the event of the 
 Romans entering the city. In the cloisters of 
 the outer court of the temple, the women and 
 children had taken refuge, as well as a mixed
 
 nn JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 niultitude, amoniitlng to about six thousand. 
 Before Csesar liad come to any decision what 
 sliould be done with these unhappy creatures, 
 the Roman sohiiers set the place on fire, and not 
 one of tliem escaped with lite ; for those who 
 attempted to save tliemselves by throwing them- 
 selves down were killed on tlie spot. These 
 people owed their destruction to a false jirophet, 
 who had that very day made a public proclama- 
 tion in tlie city, sayings, that " God commanded 
 tliem to go up to the temple, and there he would 
 deliver them." T\Iany false propliets were su- 
 borned by the tyrants to delude the people, that 
 tliey might prevent them from deserting to the 
 enemy. Thus, these miserable citizens were de- 
 ceived by the deceivers, Avhile tliey discredited 
 the signs of God himself. God had already de- 
 nounced evil upon tlie city ; for a star, resem- 
 bling a sword, stood over Jerusalem, and a comet 
 also which continued for a v\hole year. And be- 
 fore the tumults which preceded tlie war, when 
 the people liad come in great multiiudes to the 
 feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of 
 the month Nisan, at the ninth hour of tlie night,
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 177 
 
 so great a light shone round the altar and the 
 holy liouse, for the space of half an hour, that it 
 appeared as bright as noon-day. This light ap- 
 peared to the ignorant a token of good, but the 
 sacred scribes intei'preted it as foretelling porten- 
 tous events. At the same festival, a heifer, as 
 she was led forth by the high priest for sacrifice, 
 brought forth in the midst of the temple. The 
 eastern gate of the temple, which was of brass, 
 immensely heavy, and requiring twenty men to 
 move it, which rested upon a basis of iron, and 
 had bolts fastened into the floor, opened of its 
 own accord at the sixth hour of the night. Those 
 who kept watch in the temple, ran instantly to 
 inform the captain of the temple, who, not with- 
 out great difficulty, had the gate closed again. 
 But this appeared only to the ignorant vulgar as 
 a happy omen; though to the learned it bore 
 another aspect, denoting that their holy house 
 was dissolved of its own accord, and its gate 
 opened to their enemies. Besides all these, ano- 
 ther prodigious and incredible phenomenon ap- 
 peared, the account of whicli might well l>e 
 deemed a fable, were it not perfectly authenticat-
 
 178 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 ed by eye-witnesses, and confirmed by the events 
 lliat followed it. A few days after the above 
 feast, on tlie twentieth day of tlie month Jyar, 
 just before sun-set, there appeared among: tlie 
 clouds of the sky, chariots, and troops of soldiers, 
 running about and surrounding' cities. And at the 
 feast of Pentecost, when the priests, according to 
 custom, were going up by night to perform their 
 eacred ministrations in the inner court of the tem- 
 ple, they first felt a quaking, then a great noise, and 
 after that a sound as of a great multitude, saying, 
 Let us remove hence. But what was still more 
 gtiiking, there was one Jesus, the son of A nanus, 
 a plebian, and a husbandman, vrho, four years be- 
 fore the commencement of the war, when the city 
 was in peace and prosperity, came up to the feast 
 of tabernacles, and began on a sudden to crj 
 aloud, " A voice from the east, a voice from th( 
 west, a voice from the four winds, a voice agains; 
 Jenisalem and tlie holy house, a voice against th< 
 bridegrooms pnd the brides, a voice against th< 
 people." This was his cry perpetually day an{ 
 night in the streets and lanes of the <ity. Th< 
 eminent men among the people, indignant at tiii
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 179 
 
 cry, had liim severely scourged, but he said no- 
 thing for himself, nor any thing peculiar against 
 those who chastised him, hut still repeated the 
 same cry as before. He was afterwards brought 
 before Albinus, the Roman procurator, who had 
 him scourged and whipped till his bones were 
 laid naked ; yet he made no appeal to their pity, 
 nor any supplication for himself, but at every 
 lash of the whip, cried, " Woe, woe to Jerusa- 
 lem I" Albinus conceiving him to be a madman, 
 let him go free. This cry of his was always 
 loudest at the festivals ; and he continued his 
 ditty for seven years and five months, till his pre- 
 sage was fulfilled in the siege by the Romans ; 
 when, going round the wall, he was killed by a 
 stone from an engine, and, as he was uttering his 
 usual words, — adding, " Woe to myself also," he 
 gave up the ghost. 
 
 Our historian adds two other predictions to 
 the foregoing, one of which is unimportant ; but 
 the other, mentioned as being the means of urg- 
 ing the Jews to undertake the war, evidently re- 
 lated to Messiah, whom they expected as a tem- 
 poral prince, but which Josephus interprets in 
 favour of the Romans. " That which did most
 
 180 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 elevate them," says he, " m undertaking this 
 wai', was a certain ambiguous oracle found in 
 their sacred books, intimating, that ' about this 
 time one from their country should become 
 governor of the habitable earth.' This oracle," 
 he adds, " certainly denoted the government 
 of Vespasian, who was appointed emperor of 
 the Romans by the legions in Judea." Bless- 
 ed be God, that we know the oracle was neither 
 ambiguous nor unaccomplished; but that Jesus 
 Christ, whom forty years before the Jews had 
 crucified at Jerusalem, was that mighty Prince, 
 King of every ci'eature, and that " upon his 
 shoulders is the government" of all the nations 
 of the earth.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 181 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 '' Therefore said I, look away from me, I will weep bitterly, la- 
 bour not to comfort me ; because of the spoiling of tho daughter ot 
 my people." 
 
 " And they shall fiill by the edge of the sword, and shall be led 
 away captive into all nations ; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down 
 of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." 
 
 After the destruction of the holy house, and the 
 escape of the seditious into the city, the Roman 
 soldiers brought their ensigns to the temple, and 
 planted them on the site of the eastern gate. To 
 them they offered sacrifices, and, with the loud- 
 est acclamations, declared Titus emperator.* 
 
 " " The entire religion of the Koman camp consisted in 
 worshipping the ensigns, — in swearing by the ensigns, — 
 and in preferring the ensigns before all the gods." 
 
 Tcrlullian.
 
 182 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 The Roman soldiers were so enriched by the 
 spoils and plunder which they had collected, that 
 in Syria a pound weight of gold was sold for half 
 its former value. 
 
 The priests who kept still upon the wall of 
 the holy house, at last, pined with famine, came 
 down on the fifth day and supplicated mercy 
 from Titus. But he replied, that " the time for 
 pardon was past, and that this very holy house, on 
 whose account only they could hope for preserva- 
 tion, was destroyed, and that it was agreeable to 
 their ofEce that priests should perish with their 
 temple." So he commanded them to be put to 
 death. 
 
 The tyrants Simon and John, with the rest of 
 the seditious, being now shut up in the city, with- 
 out hope of escape, desired an interview with 
 Caesar that they might come to terms of peace : 
 Accordingly, both parties appeared on each side 
 of the bridge which connected the temple with the 
 upper city, when Titus, commanding his soldiers 
 to restrain their anger, spoke to the Jews by an 
 interpreter. 
 
 On thii5 occasion Titus ennumerated the vari-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 183 
 
 OU8 provocations of the Jewish nation, and the 
 
 several acts of clemency shewn towards tliem by 
 
 Ij the Romans ; concluding, by saying, " If you will 
 
 ji 
 
 ; throw down your arms, and deliver up yourselves 
 
 1 
 
 I to me, I grant you your lives, and I will act like 
 
 I a mild master of a family ; what cannot be heal- 
 
 1 ed shall be punished, and the rest I will preserve 
 
 I for mine own use." 
 
 j To these terms the Jews replied, that they 
 could not consent ; for that they had vowed never 
 to lay down their arms, but desired permission to 
 go through the wall, with wdiich he had encircled 
 them, with their wives and children, and that 
 they would go into the desert, and leave the city 
 to him. 
 
 Titus, indignant that they should presume to 
 make their own terms witli him, as if tliey were 
 the conqiierors, ordered a proclamation to be 
 made, " That thej^ should no more come out to 
 him as deserters, nor hope for any further secu- 
 rity, for that henceforth he would fight them 
 with his whole army, and treat them according 
 to the laws of war." Accordingly, he ordered 
 the Roldiers to burn and plunder the city, who,
 
 184 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 next day, get fire to tlie repository of the ar- 
 chives, — to Acra, — to the council-house, — and to 
 Opiilas ; the flames reached as far as the palace 
 of queen Helena, in the centre of Acra. They 
 also Imrned dovvn the lanes and the houses filled 
 with the dead hodies of those who had perislied 
 hy the famine. 
 
 On the same day, however, Titus, with more 
 moderation, received the sons and brothers of 
 Izates, the king, together with many other emi- 
 nent men among the populace, who besought him 
 to give them his right hand as a pledge of their 
 safety. He kept them, however, all in custody, 
 but still bound the king's sons and kinsmen, and 
 led them with him to Rome, as hos-tages for their 
 country's fidelity. 
 
 The seditious now rushed into the royal pa- 
 lace, where they had placed their eflfects for se- 
 curity, and drove away the Romans from it. They 
 slew all the people who liad taken refuge there, 
 and who amounted to eight thousand four hun- 
 dred persons. Next day the Romans drove the 
 seditious from the lower city, and set all on fire 
 as far as Siloam. The last hope wliich now sup-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 185 
 
 ported the tymnts and the seditious, were tha 
 caves and caverns underground ; to tliese they in- 
 tended to resort, in the vain expectation that, 
 when the Romans shoukl have withdrawn from 
 Jerusalem, tliey might again come forth : hut this 
 was no better than an idle dream, for they could 
 not hide themselves from God, nor from the Ro- 
 mans, who were the instruments in God's hand 
 for their destruction. Nevertheless, they depend- 
 ed on these subteiTanean concealments, and set 
 more houses on fire than even the Romans ; and 
 those who escaped from their flaming habitations, 
 the seditious murdered in the ditches ; and if they 
 discovered any food belonging to any of them, 
 they swallowed it down together with their blood ; 
 and if their destruction had not prevented it, 
 doubtless they would have tasted even of the dead 
 bodies themselves. 
 
 Csesar now perceiving that the upper city was 
 so steep that it could not be taken without banks, 
 set his legions again to work on the twentieth 
 day of the month Ab. The four legions erected 
 their v/orks on the west side of the city, opposite 
 the royal palace ; but the auxiliary troops, with 
 q2
 
 ISo JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the rest of the multitude, raised theirs at the 
 X)etus, from whence they reached to the bridge 
 and to the tower tliat Simon had built as a cita- 
 del for himself against John. 
 
 It was at this conjuncture that the Idumeans 
 privately toolc counsel among themselves, to treat 
 with Titus for their own surrender. But their 
 plans were discovered by Simon, who, when they 
 were preparing to march out, took their com- 
 manders and put them in prison, a,n<l had the 
 multitude of the Idumeans watched by a garri- 
 son. Yet the garrison could not altogether pre- 
 vent desertion ; and, tliough many were slain, 
 still many more deserted. 
 
 These Vv'ere received by Titus, who grew neg- 
 ligent as to ills former orders of putting them to 
 death ; even the soldiers became weary of slaugh- 
 ter, and spared the Jews in hopes of gain ; for 
 tliey left only the populace, and sold the rest of 
 the multitude, with their wives and families, and 
 these at a very low price, because the multitude 
 T^'as great and the puichasers few. * The num- 
 
 * " Ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and 
 bondwomen, and no man shall buy you." Deiif. xxviii. 68.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 187 
 
 ber that were sold, however, was immense ; but 
 forty thousand of the populace were saved, whom 
 Caesar permitted to go free. 
 
 It was at this time that Thebuthus, — one of 
 the priests, upon tlie oath of Csesar that he fshould 
 be preserved, on condition of delivering up cer- 
 tain precious articles which had been deposited in 
 the temple, — came out, and delivered him from 
 the wall of the holy house two candlesticks, like 
 to those that lay in the holy house, with tables, 
 and cisterns, and \dals, all of solid gold, and very 
 weighty. He also gave him up the veils and the 
 garments, with the precious stones, and a great 
 many other precious vessels which pertained to 
 their sacred worship. Phineas, the treasurer of 
 the temple, was seized, and shewed Titus the 
 coats and girdles worn by the priests, witli a great 
 quantity of purple and scarlet, deposited for the 
 uses of the veils ; also large quantities of cinna- 
 mon, cassia, and other sweet spices, which com- 
 posed the sacred incense offered up to God every 
 day. Many other things were also delivered to 
 Ctesar, with the sacred ornaments of the temple, 
 for Avhich this man also obtained his pardon.
 
 188 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 In eighteen days the Roman works were com- 
 pleted, and the engines brought to bear against 
 the wall of the upper city ; upon which many of 
 the seditious, in despair, retired from the wall to 
 the citadel. And even those who still continued 
 to offer resistance, no sooner saw the walls and 
 some towers fall under the force of the battering 
 rams, than they fled away. Many, however, 
 paralysed with terror, and obeying only the dic- 
 tates of fear, fell upon their faces lamenting their 
 fate, their nerves being so loosened that they had 
 not even power to flee. Thus they came down 
 from these towers of their own accord, from which 
 they never could have been dislodged but by fa- 
 mine ; for three of these towers were so strong, 
 that no mechanical force in the world could have 
 niade any impression upon them. 
 
 They left them, therefore, or rather they were 
 ejected out of them by God, and fled towards 
 Siloam, where they rallied, and made an assault 
 upon the Roman wall ; but they were so much 
 dejected and depressed, and so broken with af • 
 fiction and fear, that the guards easily repulsed 
 fheirij and dispersing at distances from each other,
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 189 
 
 tliey went down into the subterranean caverns. 
 Thus the Romans took possession of the walls 
 A\iih great rejoicing and shouting, believing it 
 '■ rdiy possible that they had thus, without blood- 
 . A, found the end of the war so much lighter 
 than the beginning ; and, seeing nobody to op- 
 pose them, they wondered what this solitude could 
 mean. TJiey then rushed into the lanes of the 
 city, and put to the sword all whom they met, 
 setting fire to the houses whither the people had 
 fled, burning every one in them. And when they 
 entered any houses in search of plunder, they 
 found only entire families of dead men, the up- 
 per rooms full of corpses, which made them stand 
 in horror, and withdraw in a moment. But. 
 though they were thus affected with the state of 
 the dead, they had no pity for the living, but 
 slew with the sword all whom they met, till the 
 very flames were nearly quenched with blood. 
 But though the slayers left off at evening, the 
 fire prevailed in the night ; and as all was burn- 
 ing, came on the dawn of the eighth day of the 
 month Elul, upon the dying embers of Jerusalem ; 
 a city that had sustained such an accumulation of
 
 190 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 miseries, that, had it been blessed from the day of 
 its first foundation witli a proportion of happiness 
 equal to the evils it suffered during this siege, 
 would certainly have been the envy of the world. 
 
 When Titus entered the upper city, lie ex- 
 pressed his admiration of its strength, especially 
 of those towers which the tyrants had relinquish- 
 ed ; and when he beheld their solid altitude, the 
 immense size of the stones of which they were 
 built, and the symmetry of their joints, he ex- 
 claimed, " The gods have surely been our as- 
 sistants in this war, and ejected the Jews out of 
 those fortresses ; for by what power of man, or 
 what force of mechanism could they have been 
 overthro\\Ti ?" And though he entirely demol- 
 ished the rest of the city, he spared these towers 
 as a monument of his good fortune. 
 
 Notwithstanding the number of the Jews who 
 had been slain during the siege, an immense mul- 
 titude were still found alive ; but Cajsar gave or- 
 ders that none should be slain but such as were 
 in arms, and opposed to them. The soldiers, 
 however, slew not only those they met in arms, 
 but all the aged and infirm ; but such as were
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 191 
 
 jT^ung, and might be useful to them, they drove 
 in herds into the temple, and shut them up with- 
 in the walls of the Court of the Women ; and 
 Caesar set one of his freed-men over them, and 
 Fronto, his friend, who was to determine every 
 ones fate according to his merits. Fronto slew 
 all the seditious, who wore impeached by one 
 anotlier, but he reserved the tallest and most 
 beautiful of the young men to grace the triumph 
 of Titus. As for the rest of the multitude, un- 
 der seventeen years of age, he put them in bonds, 
 and sent them to the Egyptian mines. Titus 
 also sent them in presents into the provinces, that 
 they might be destroyed upon the theatres by the 
 wild beasts ; but those under seventeen years old 
 were sold for slaves. While Fronto was engaged 
 in this work of discrimination, eleven thousand 
 Jews perished for want. From some, the food 
 was withheld by the Roman guards, but others 
 would not take it when offered to them. The 
 multitude indeed was so great that there was not 
 corn enough for their sustenance. 
 
 The number of those carried away captive, 
 during the whole war, was ninety-seven thou«
 
 192 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 sand ; the number of those that perished during 
 the siege, eleven hundred tliousand I These had 
 come up from all the country to the feast of un- 
 leavened bread, and, being suddenly shut up in 
 Jerusalem by the besieging army, -^-ere destroy- 
 ed both by the pestilence and famine, as well as 
 by the war. That the city could contain such a 
 multitude is undoubted, a census having been 
 made by the high priests during the reign of 
 Nero, who, calculating the people by the number 
 of sacrifices at the Passover, gave the immense 
 amount of two millions, seven hundred thousand, 
 and two hundred persons, that were ceremonially 
 pure and holy. The vast multitude in Jenisalem, 
 during the siege by Titus, was not the stated in- 
 habitants of the city, but persons collected out of 
 all the countries round about, and consisting of 
 both Jews and proselytes. And what is here 
 observed by the translator, may well be embo- 
 died in our text, though it is no remark of Jose- 
 phus, namely, that no foreign nation Isad ever come 
 up before against the Jews at any of their solemn 
 festivals, because the promise was express, that 
 at such times " no man should desire their land."
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 193 
 
 This, therefore, was one evidence more of their 
 apostacy from God. 
 
 Besides those already enumerated as slain and 
 carried away captive, many Jews were found in 
 the vaults and caverns imderground ; two thou- 
 sand of whom had heen slain, partly hy their own 
 liands, partly hy one another, hut chiefly consum- 
 ed hy famine. The effluvia from the putrid bo- 
 dies was so dreadful as to repel even the cupi- 
 dity of the Romans, who went down in search of 
 gold ; for much treasure was found there, and 
 the Romans trode over the dead bodies which 
 lay in heaps that they might possess themselves of 
 the spoil. John who, together with his brethren, 
 had liid himself in these subterranean passages, op- 
 pressed by the pangs of hunger, now solicited as 
 a boon, that right hand of security which he had 
 before so often and so proudly rejected. He was 
 accordingly brought out under a promise of life, 
 but was condemned to perpetual imprisonment. 
 Simon, who had fled from the upper city at the 
 time Titus was entering the w^alls, took with him 
 some of his most faithful friends, and certain men 
 who were stone cutters, with the tools and in- 
 
 R
 
 194 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 struments of their trade ; also, as many provisions 
 as would sustain tliem for a length of time, and 
 concealed themselves in a certain cavern, the en- 
 trance to which was not visihle above ground. 
 Here they vainly hoped to he able to work their 
 way to some outlet beyond the city, and escape 
 in safety. But the miners proceeded so slowly, 
 and met with so many obstacles, and their provi- 
 sions failing them, Simon resolved upon coming 
 above ground ; and disguising himself, hoped to 
 elude the \igilance of the Romans. So he put 
 on a white frock, and threw over him a pmple 
 cloak, and appeared out of the eailh on the site 
 of the temple. They who saw him at first were 
 astonished, but he was afterwards known, and 
 put in bonds, and kept to grace the triumph of 
 Titus at Rome, on which occasion he tvas put 
 to death. 
 
 The Romans having finally achieved their vic- 
 tory, utterly demolished the walls, and set fire to 
 the extremities of the city ; and thus, in the se- 
 cond year of Vespasian, and on the eight day of 
 the month Elul, Jerusalem was taken ; and nei- 
 ther its great antiquity, its immense riches, iti
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 195 
 
 magnificence, nor its celebrity — neither the diffu- 
 sion of its nation over all the earth, nor the great- 
 ness of the veneration in which it was held, were 
 suflGcient to preserve it from destruction. For 
 the wickedness of the people was it destroyed, 
 adds Josephus : but he points not at that act of 
 supreme wickedness whicli was the immediate 
 cause of its desolation ; " His blood be upon us 
 and upon our children !" — an imprecation fulfilled 
 to the letter. 
 
 " O JeiTisalem ! Jerusalem ! thou that killest 
 the prophets, and stonest them which are sent 
 unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy 
 children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
 chickens under her wings, and ye would not I — 
 
 " Behold ! your house is left unto ' you de- 
 late !" 
 
 Thus all the woes that were denounced up- 
 on Zion, " the perfection of beauty," were ful- 
 filled; not one jot or title remained unaccom- 
 plished. And this history of her destruction 
 may be said to close the canon of the gospel, for 
 those were the last words which Christ spake
 
 196 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 concerning the temple, and were probably ut- 
 tered at the moment when he took Iiis last view 
 of that sacred and long chent^hed spot. All 
 the calamities which were to follow, were doubt- 
 less then present to his omniscient mind, and 
 gave a keener edge to the s)'mpathies of his hu- 
 manity, and brought forth those worcls and tears, 
 so full of grief and compassion, that it is impossi- 
 ble to divide the mingled emotions, and to say, 
 which was the deepest — his love, or his sorrow. 
 
 Tlie propliets had foreseen in vision, all that 
 was to happen to Zion ; and whether they por- 
 tray her as a city once full of people — now she is 
 become solitary, — whether as a princess among 
 tlie provinces — now she is become tributary, — whe- 
 tlier as a wife of youth — now she is forsaken, — 
 whether as a matron — now she is a widow, — 
 whether as a mother — now hath she forgotten her 
 sucking child, and ceased to have compassion on 
 the son of her womb, and has sunk below the 
 level even of the sea-monsters.* " For the hands 
 of the pitiful women have sodden their own chil- 
 
 • Lam. iv 3.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 197 
 
 dren, they were their meat in the destruction of 
 the daughter of my people." 
 
 Doubtless, had the details of what parsed in 
 the interior of the city, been conveyed to us by 
 the same graphic pen which has portrayed the 
 siege, all that we read of in the prophets would 
 have been beheld accomplished to the letter. The 
 famine itself implies all that is dreadful, beyond 
 what imagination can conceive, or language utter; 
 and those incidents which touch the heart, as an 
 infant's hand touches the cheek, with a softness 
 peculiar to their tenderness and delicacy, are 
 sketched by the prophets with no less faithfulness 
 of delineation assuredly, than the broader and 
 more palpable features, confirmed by Josephus. 
 But with all that is related, much that was acted 
 has not transpired ; and though we see not, yet 
 can we doubt that such and such predictions were 
 fulfilled, as the following ? 
 
 " The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to 
 the roof of his mouth for thirst. 
 
 " The young children ask bread, and no man 
 breaketh it unto them. 
 
 " They that did feed delicately are desolate iu 
 r2
 
 198 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the streets ; they that were brought up in scarlet 
 embrace dungliills. 
 
 " They took the young men to grind, and the 
 cJiildren fell under the wood. 
 
 " Those that I have swaddled and brought up, 
 hath mine enemy consumed." 
 
 If it be a dreadful evil to be abandoned of God 
 — to be left even to the sport of our own hearts, 
 and the play of our own passions, without the 
 restraining grace of God, and the hedging up of 
 his providences — what must it be to be under his 
 malediction ? How doth it eat as a canker, and 
 wither as the blast of the desert ! If we contrast 
 the state of Jerusalem, in the days of David and 
 Solomon, with the scene we have been engaged 
 in exhibiting, then may we know the difference 
 between being beloved and cherished by the Al- 
 mighty, and being denounced and pui'sued by his 
 vengeance. " The Lord," saith the sweet singer 
 of Israel, " The Lord loveth the gates of Zion 
 more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious 
 
 things are spoken of thee, O city of God For 
 
 the Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for 
 his liabitation. This is my rest for ever, liere
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 199 
 
 will I dwell, for I have desired it." " Behold, I 
 ! have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, 
 thy walls are continually before me." 
 
 If we would escape a worse destruction than that 
 which befel the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and flee 
 from the wrath to come, let us seek to Christ the 
 Saviour of sinners, that he may be our refuge in 
 that day, when not only the cities of the earth 
 shall be consumed, but the elements themselves 
 shall melt with fervent heat, and the heavens and 
 the earth pass away. Let us, by prayer and 
 supplication, seek of God those graces of the 
 Spirit, which shall make us meet to become in- 
 habitants of that New Jemsalem which cometh 
 down out of heaven, whose walls are salvation, 
 and her gates praise.
 
 200 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 ** Wilt thou be angry with us for ever ? wilt thou draw out thine 
 anger to all generations ?" 
 
 Having brought the account of the siege of the 
 devoted cit)'^ to a conclusion, we intend not to fol- 
 low the triumph of Caesar, or describe the pomp- 
 ous manner in which, from a tribunal planted 
 amid the ashes of Jerusalem, he distributed re- 
 wards, and confeiTcd honours on his legions. 
 Neither do we mean to accompany him to Ce- 
 sarea, where he celebrated the birth-days of his 
 imperial father and brother; and to enrich the 
 magnificent spectacle, gave two thousand five 
 hundred captive Jews to be slain, burned, and 
 torn in pieces by wild beasts, and gladiators. 
 Such splendid sports became a heathen conqueror, 
 %he executioner of the vengeance of Jehovali, but
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 201 
 
 are utterly abominable in tlie view of any wlio 
 know that God hath made of one blood all the 
 dwellers upon earth ; or who have received, with 
 any measure of faith and love, that heav^enly pre- 
 cept, " Do unto others as ye would that they 
 should do unto you." Neither would we trace the 
 j steps of the imperial victor to the capitol, or seek 
 I to engage the admiration of our reader for him, by 
 presenting him clothed in purple, and crowned 
 witli laurel, — greeted by the acclamations of an 
 I unarmed and vain-glorious soldiery, decked in 
 (sjlken vestures, and wreathed with garlands of 
 of flowers, offering vain oblations to the gods of 
 'the Gate of Pomp — "Gods of silver and of goldj 
 the work of men's hands/' Neither would we enu- 
 merate the sacred spoils that graced the triumph : 
 I Such pageants, on such occasions, are like insult 
 ; added to sorrow; and perhaps of all the pangs 
 that wrung the heart of the wretched Jew, be- 
 holding the golden table, and the golden candle- 
 stick — the lamps of the temple, and the book of the 
 law — carried in such a procession, brought into his 
 bosom its last, and most exquisite, and most un- 
 utterable agony !
 
 202 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 But as the whole circumstances of the history 
 ah'eady detailed, are of a nature so painfully dis- 
 honourable to the Jewish nation, and as we would 
 rather wish to leave upon the mind of the reader 
 an affectionate feeling of sympathy and tenderness 
 for the posterity of Abraliam, and the descendants 
 of the patriarchs ; we propose, in a rapid and brief 
 sketch, to exhibit such particulars of the suffer- 
 ings of this devoted people, since their exile from 
 their holy city, as may well excite emotions of 
 pity and compassion even in the hardest heart. 
 
 While we are aware that the destruction of 
 Jerusalem and the misery of the Jews — their dis- 
 persion and degi'adation, were foretold by the 
 prophets, and have since been accomplished in 
 their experience — so also their return to God, 
 their future usefulness in the church, and their 
 future glory, are no less distmctly predicted, and 
 will as assuredly be fulfilled. Let us then straiu 
 every effort to bring about, by the use of all legi- 
 timate means, this merciful purpose of our com- 
 mon Father ; and by our prayei-s, influence, 
 wealth, or talents, endeavour to become far more 
 honoui-ed as the instruments of tlieii' restoration,
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 203 
 
 than the imperial Titus, in all his pride of pagan 
 glory, was as their destroyer. 
 
 When the Roman had at last sheathed his glit- 
 tering hut hlood-stained sword, he commanded 
 the whole city to be rased to its foundations, 
 preserving only the towers built by Herod the 
 Great, as a memorial at once of the magnificence 
 of his conquest, and the strength which had been 
 opposed to him. The walls of the temple were 
 also demolished for the sake of the tj'easures which 
 were buried under their ruins, and Zion was at 
 length literally ploughed as a field, by order of 
 Terentius Rufus ; and, in the words of the pro- 
 phet, " Jerusalem became as heaps, and the 
 mountain of the house as the high places of the 
 forest." " For," says Gibbon, " after the final de- 
 struction of the temple by Titus and Hadrian, a 
 ploughshare was drawn over the consecrated 
 ground, as a sign of perpetual interdiction. Sion 
 was deserted, and the vacant space of the lower 
 city was filled with the public and private edifices 
 of the iElian colony, which spread themselves 
 over the adjacent hill of Calvary." * 
 
 * Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 
 IV. p. 150.
 
 201 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 In the reign of Adrian the city was partly re- 
 built, but all the ancient monuments were de- 
 stroyed ; and the places particularly venerated by 
 the Jews, were profaned with a studied maligni- 
 ty. Adrian erected a theatre with the stones 
 which had formed part of the building of the 
 holy house ; and he dedicated a temple to Jupi- 
 ter on the spot formerly occupied by that of the 
 most high God. And knowing that there was no 
 description of animals which the Jews held more 
 abominably unclean than swine, he placed the fi- 
 gure of a hog, sculptured in marble, over the gates 
 of the city leading out tovrard Bethlehem. And 
 as his antipathy to the Christians was hardly 
 less rancorous than his hatred of the Jews, he 
 erected a statue of Venus on ]\lount Calvary, and 
 in the grotto at Bethlehem, he instituted rites in 
 honour of the heathen Adonis. * 
 
 • For the historical facts detailed in this chapter, — ex- 
 cept where other authorities are cited, — the compiler is 
 indebted — nearly verbatim. — to a "History of the Jews, 
 by Hannah Adams.' America. A work of great re- 
 search, and deep interest, and which is strongly recom- 
 mended to the philanthropist and the Christian This 
 general acknuwledgeinent is made to the author to save 
 repetition.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 205 
 
 At tlie fair of Terebinth, winch was held on 
 the plain of Mamre — that spot sacred to the 
 Jews from so many and interesting associations, as 
 the place where the uncreated angel of the cove- 
 nant foretold the set time of the birth, of the long 
 promised, and long desired, Isaac — the captive 
 Jews were exposed to sale at tlie common price of 
 cattle, from whence they were dispersed over the 
 whole world ; and such of them as there " found 
 no man to buy them," were carried to Gaza, another 
 scene of foi-mer Jewish glory, and were sold there. 
 
 Adrian, ingenious in his malice, carried lus 
 cruelty so far, as to forbid this uidiappy people, 
 on pain of death, from entering Jerusalem, and 
 placed a vigilant garrison of the Roman cohorts 
 to enforce the execution of his edict. He even 
 forbade them to view their once beloved city from 
 a distance. No doubt these things were permit- 
 ted in the Providence of God, even fnnn pur- 
 poses of mercy, to convince the Jews that the 
 laws of Moses, so far as tijey were only initiatory 
 to a better order of things, were now abrogated, 
 — that tJie types of the Old Testament were ful- 
 filled, — tiiat Messiah, the Prince, was come, — and
 
 206 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 tliat it was in vain for tliem any longer to look for 
 another. But their passionate recollections of 
 their former glory, and the sacred and exclusive 
 veneration with which they had in all generations 
 ever viewed the scene of their local worship, still 
 led their hearts with a melancholy and undiminish- 
 ed love towards Jerusalem ; and as David in the 
 wilderness cried out, " O ! to see thy power and 
 glory as I have seen thee in the sanctuary !" so 
 the exiled Hebrew still turned towards the sit-e 
 of the holy house, as if it contained only a local 
 divinity. 
 
 " Before this last order of Adrian, the Jews 
 were seen covered with rags, and traversing, with 
 sighs and lamentations, the sides of the Mount of 
 Olives, and wanderinii: amid the ruins of the tem- 
 pie ; but even this favour they had to purchase 
 of the Roman cohorts, whose avarice alone insti- 
 gated them to transgress the orders of their em- 
 peror."* But Saint Gregory Nazianzen relates, 
 that the Jews were permitted to enter iElia once 
 a-year to \er.t their sorrows ; and Saint Jerome 
 
 • Gregoire, quoted by Adams.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 207 
 
 adds, that they were compelled to purchajse, at an 
 exorbitant price, the privilege of shedding tears 
 OTer the ashes of their country. 
 
 Five hundred and eighty-five thousand Jews, 
 according to the account of Dio, perished by the 
 sword during the war under Adrian ; prodigious 
 numbers of slaves were sold, as we have already 
 stated, at the fairs of Gaza and Mamre ; and 
 fifty castles, and nine hundred and eighty-five 
 Tillages were destroyed. * 
 
 At the time of Dioclesians' persecution, the 
 very name of Jerusalem was so utterly forgotten, 
 that a maj-tyr, having said, in reply to the question 
 of a Roman governor, that he was a native of 
 Jerusalem, the latter iiiiagined it to be some fac- 
 tious town secretly erected by the Chnstians. 
 And the city continued to retain the name of 
 iElia Capitolina, till towards the conclusion of 
 the seventh century. -{- 
 
 In the fourth century, Constantius renewed 
 
 • Travels in Palestine, by the Viscomte de Chateau* 
 briand, vol. II. p. 58. 
 
 t Ibid.
 
 20S JERUSALEM DESTROYED, 
 
 and enforced the prohibition of Adrian, and the 
 Jeu's viewed from afar the walls of the holy city, 
 now not less profaned, in their opinion, by the 
 triumphs of the cross, and the devotion of Chris- 
 tians, than by the abominations of heathen idol- 
 atry. 
 
 Having, in the intervening period, gained ac- 
 cess again to the city, Heraclius, in the begin- 
 ning of the seventh century, issued a new edict, 
 forbidding them to approach within three miles 
 of its walls. 
 
 The cruelties and indignities which this un- 
 happy ])eo]ile have suffered in every succeeding 
 age, and in every country whether they were 
 di-iven, surpass the power of language to describe, 
 or even the heart of man to conceive. 
 
 As they affected them nationally or collective- 
 ly, they were immense and immeasurable- But 
 who can tell their individual misery? who can 
 naiTate their bosom sorrows ? We hear of their 
 afflictions in crowds — in nmltitudes — in thou- 
 sands, — but what do we know of their domestic 
 history— their home calamities — the affliction of 
 fathers and mothers — of pai'ents, for their little
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 209 
 
 ones — of brothers for fclieir sisters — of the brido- 
 groom, for the bride ! 
 
 Ill England, in the reign of Henry III., upon 
 a petition from the inliabitants of Newcastle, the 
 king granted them the inhospitable privilege of 
 preventing every Jew from residing in their town. 
 In the same reign, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 and the bishops of Lincoln and Norwich, witli a 
 view of expelling the Jews from' England, issued 
 an order through their several dioceses, that no 
 Christian should sell any provisions to a Jew on 
 pain of excommun ication ! 
 
 In addition to such persecutions as these, every 
 possible calumny w£is invented against them. In 
 Nonvicli they were accused of stealing a Clu'is- 
 tian child, in order to crucify him at the Pass- 
 over. In London they were charged with mur- 
 der and forgery, — of coining false money, — of 
 counterfeiting the king s seal, — and, under these 
 pretences, were deprived first of a third part of 
 tiieir property, and then loaded with enormous 
 taxes. The hatred of tlis English against tlie 
 Hebrew nation had risen to such a height, that, 
 when the barons appeared in arms against Henry, 
 
 s2
 
 210 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the expedient tliey employed to secure the co- 
 operation of the citizens of London in tlieir fa- 
 vour, was to massacre seven hundred of this de- 
 voted people I 
 
 Nor was their condition at all ameliorated in 
 the succeeding reign of Edward I. ; they were 
 shunned as infamous, they were lahelled as pesti- 
 lential. No Christian was allowed to lodge in 
 the dwelling of a Jew ; and upon their upper 
 garment they v\'ere constrained to wear a mark, 
 by which they might he known and avoided : 
 and, as if in mockery of justice on the one hand, 
 and misery on the other, a statute passed in this 
 reign has the following clause, or words to that 
 effect, — that the " good Christians shall not take 
 above half their substance" from the Jews ! 
 
 Though we behold the finger of God in all 
 they suffered, let us not extenuate the guilt of 
 their oppressors. It was indeed written by the 
 inspiration of Him who knoweth the end from 
 the beginning, that, for their disobedience and 
 apostacy, they " should be only oppressed and 
 spoiled evermore, and that no man should save 
 them." But the forelmowledge of God does not
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 211 
 
 exonerate the base conduct of men, or release 
 them from their responsibility. And while the Jews 
 were thus groaning under so many evils, under 
 contumely, and suspicion, and calumny, we need 
 not wonder, as has been well observed, if tliey 
 were become regardless of character, and cared 
 not to cherish either principles of truth or integ- 
 rity, where no credit would be given for their 
 possession ; and even thought it not criminal, 
 amid the extortion and robbery of which they 
 were the prey, sometimes to resort to methods of 
 indemnification, by no means justifiable. 
 
 In an appeal to the justice of nations and kings, 
 cited in the transactions of the Sanhedrim at 
 Paris, the following splendid, eloquent, and in- 
 dignant apostrophe is made by the Jews, against 
 the oppressions they have so long endured. 
 *' Compelled to wear exteriorly the badges of their 
 abject state, the Jews were everywhere exposed 
 to the insult of the vilest populace. When, from 
 his solitary retreat, an enthusiastic hermit preach- 
 ed the crusades to the nations of Europe, and a 
 part of its inhabitants left their country to mois- 
 ten with their blood the plains of Palestine, the
 
 212 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 knell of promiscuous massacre tolled before the 
 alarum-ljell of war. Millions of Jews were there 
 murdered to glut the pious rage of the crusaders. 
 Skulls of men, and bleeding hearts, were offered 
 as holocausts on the altars of that God, who has 
 no pleasure in the blood even of the innocent 
 lamb ; and ministers of peace were thrown into 
 a holy enthusiasm by these bloody sacrifices. It 
 is thus that Basil, Treves, Coblentz and Cologne 
 became human shambles ; it is thus that up- 
 wards of fom- hundred thousand victims, of all 
 ages, and of both sexes, • lost their lives at Cesa- 
 rea and Alexandria ! And is it, after they have ex- 
 perienced such treatment, that they are reproached 
 with their vices ? Is it, after being for eighteen cen- 
 turies tlie sport of contempt, that they are reproach- 
 ed with hewg no longer alive to it 9 Is it, after 
 having so often glutted with their blood the thirst 
 of their persecutors, that they are held out as ene- 
 mies to other nations ? Is it, when they have 
 been bereft of all means to mollify the hearts of 
 their tyi-ants, that indignation is roused, if now 
 and then they cast a mournful look towards the 
 ruins of their temple — towards thtir country,
 
 JERUSALElAl DESTROYED. 21S 
 
 where formerly happiness crowned their peaceful 
 days, free from the cares of ambition and 
 riches ?" 
 
 ' Being accused, as we have already hinted, of 
 adulterating the coin, circulating counterfeit 
 money, and making fraudulent exchanges, all the 
 Jews in England were in one day imprisoned 
 throughout the kingdom ; and, besides those who 
 suffered in the different counties, two hundred 
 and eighty were executed in London. 
 
 Edward finally ordered them to be banished 
 from the kingdom, and never to return under pain 
 of death. He seized ait once their whole pro- 
 perty, and allowed them only money sufficient to 
 bear their expenses into foreign countries. But 
 the seamen of the Cinque Ports, whence they pro- 
 ceeded for embarkation, robbed most of them of 
 that disgraceful pittance, and drowned some hun- 
 dreds of these miserable outcasts by throwing 
 them into the sea ! The number expelled 
 amounted to upwards of sixteen thousand souls ; 
 and the Jews did not again appear in England as 
 a body, till five hundred and fifty years after- 
 wards.
 
 2U JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Tlioii2:Ii the Jews had I0112: since ceased to in- 
 herit flocks and herds, the peculiar possessions of 
 theu' ancestors, yet do we not trace, in tliese in- 
 tances of extortion, of plunder, and spoiliation — in 
 this destitution of all their property — tlie fidelity of 
 that portrait, finished so many thousand years be- 
 fore by tlieir still idolized lawgiver ? " Thine ox 
 sliall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not 
 eat thereof ; tliine ass sliall be violently taken away 
 from before thy face, and shall not be restored to 
 thee ; thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, 
 and thou shalt have none to rescue them. The 
 fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation 
 which thou knowest not eat up ; and thou shalt 
 be only oppressed, and cruslied alway !" 
 
 If such was the lot of the Jews in England, the 
 land of so many superior pretensions, wliat must 
 their fate have been among tlie less barbarous na- 
 tions of the earth ? In France, they became a part 
 of tlie property attached to the soil — an article of 
 trade — an object of commerce — wliere they were 
 forbidden to change the place of their abode, or 
 were transferred, with tlie domain, from one 
 landholder to another ; or, harder still, were
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 215 
 
 sometimes sold separately from their families and 
 kindred, rising or falling- in value according to 
 their talents, ingenuity, or industry. 
 
 Ill Portugal, that favoured seat of intolerant 
 zeal, and inquisitorial mercy, Emmanuel, the king, 
 commanded all the children of the Jews, under 
 fourteen years of age, to be separated from tlieir 
 parents, that they might be initiated in that reli- 
 gion falsely called Christian, to which they owed 
 these tender mercies. The execution of this sen- 
 tence of exquisite cruelty was attended, as might 
 have been expected, by circumstances of the deep- 
 est sorrow ; and indeed many of the parents, in 
 the frenzy which it inspired, both killed their 
 children and destroyed themselves : — " Thy sons 
 and thy daughters shall be given unto another 
 people, and tliine eyes shall look, and fail with 
 longing for them all the day long ; and there shall 
 be no might in tliine hand. — And among these 
 nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the 
 sole of thy foot have rest, but the Lord shall give 
 thee a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and 
 sorrow of mind !" 
 
 In the same country, also, the name of Jew
 
 21C JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 became a term of siidi contenijjt, that it was iie-r 
 a^ssaiy to enact laws for preventing- its being ap-r 
 plied by one man to the reproacli of another, 
 Tlius the law declared, tljat if any man called 
 another " a Jew" to his face, the person of^ 
 fended wjis at liberty to stab the offender, with- 
 out fear of pmiishment.* Thus, as in ten thou- 
 sand other instances, their very name became " ^ 
 reproach" and " a hissmg." — " And thou slialt 
 become an astonishment, a proverb, and a bye- 
 word among the nations, whither the Lord thy 
 God shall lead thee." 
 
 To tliese instances of unmingled and unmiti- 
 gated misery, one or two circumstances of slight 
 alleviation in their lot may be remarked. In 
 Persia, under Shah Abbas I. and II., they met 
 with no kindness, but they were afterwards nu- 
 merous at Shhaz ; and at Lar, the capital of one of 
 the provinces of Persia, they were treated with so 
 much consideration, as to have a particular quar- 
 ter of the city assigned for their habitations ; and 
 they were permitted to extend themselves on tliQ 
 
 • Grej'oire.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 217 
 
 coast of Ormuz, where tliey engaged in tlie trade 
 with India. Thoiigli Bagdad, wliich was once 
 the residence of the princes of the captivity, was 
 much reduced after it was taken by Amurat IV., 
 yet a large proportion of the inliabitants were 
 Jews, wlio not only possessed a synagogue, but 
 enjoyed the iiin-estrained exercise of their reli- 
 gion. But thougli their religion was tolerated, 
 they were themselves botli hated, and despised, 
 by the Persians. 
 
 The condition of the Jews in Poland, under 
 Casimir the Great, formed another exce])tioii to 
 the universal cruelty with wliich tliey were treated 
 in Europe. The extensive privileges which they 
 enjoyed in that country, during his reign, were 
 supposed to be in consequence of the monarch's 
 regard fur Esther, a beautiftd Jewess, wlio Iiad 
 solicited, like the queen of Ahasuerus, these im- 
 munities for her people. 
 
 Under John Sobieski, also, tlie Hebrews were so 
 highly favoured, that his administration obtained 
 invidiously, tlie denomination of a Jewish junto. 
 
 In addition to these solitary exceptions, it may 
 be noticed, that among the Roman pontiH^, Iniio- 
 
 T
 
 218 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 cent IV. undertook tlieir vindication, when ac° 
 cused of crimes, so fax as to say, that they were 
 more miserable under Clii-istian princes than their 
 fathers had been under Pharoah. Clement VII. 
 was also favourable to them, pitied their afflic- 
 tions, and acted as their friend and protector ; 
 and when they were massacred without mercy 
 in every other part of Europe, they found an 
 asylum at Avig-non. 
 
 Thus we have seen, that to all the accumulated 
 afflictions sustained by the Jews in the siege of 
 Jerusalem, what has befallen their posterity in the 
 latter days has not been less severe. That they 
 were a people favoured above all the nations of tlie 
 earth, so long as they were an obedient, or even so 
 long as they were occasionally, a penitent people, 
 their own sacred books sufficiently attest. Their 
 desertion by God for so many centuries, ought to 
 be frauglit with warning and admonition to us ; 
 for if the Lord spared not the natural branches, 
 how will he deal with us if we also rebel ? If 
 the Jews, as a beloved people, — chosen before all 
 the nations of the earth, — to whom pertained the 
 adoption, and the glory, and the co^'enants, and
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 219 
 
 the giving of the law and the promises, — to whom 
 the very elements were subservient, — who were 
 fed with angels' food, — guided by a pillar of fire by 
 night, and a pillar of a cloud by day, — to make 
 place for whom, kings were dethroned, and na- 
 tions were disinherited of their long possessed 
 domains — If this people were, after all, deserted 
 and forsaken of their God, O what may not we 
 dread in this happier era of the gospel, if we keep 
 not his commandments, neither remember his 
 statutes, and his judgments, to do them ! 
 
 But, though long forsaken of God, they are 
 not forgotten ; they shall yet dwell in Bashan and 
 in Gilead, as in the days of old. * " Again I 
 
 • As every thing that tends to throw light upon the 
 Scripture, though it be but its local scenery, is interesting, 
 we quote the following beautiful and animated passages 
 from Buckingham's Travels among the mountains of 
 Gilead, and rich pastures of Bashan ; a part of Palestine 
 hitherto almost unvisited, and only penetrated by Mr 
 Buckingham and his companion, Mr Bankes, at the great- 
 est personal hazard. 
 
 — '* We had no sooner passed the summit of the second 
 range, going down a short distance on its eastern side, by
 
 220 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin 
 of Israel ! Thou shalt again be adorned with thy 
 tabrets, and shall go forth in the dances of them 
 til at make merry. Hear the word of the Lord, 
 O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, 
 
 a very gentle descent, than we found ourselves on plains 
 of nearly as high a level as the summits of the hills them- 
 selves, and certainly eight hundred feet above the stream 
 of the Jordan. We were now in a land of extraordinary 
 richness, abounding with the most beautiful prospects, 
 clothed with thick forests, varied with verdant slopes, and 
 possessing extensive plains. — We continued our way to 
 the north east, through a country, the beauty of which 
 so surprised us, that we often asked each other what were 
 our sensations ? as if to ascertain the reality of what we 
 saw, and persuade each other, by confessions of mutual 
 delight, that the picture before us was not an optical illu- 
 sion. The landscape alone, which varied at every turn, 
 and gave us new beauties from every point of view, was, 
 of itself, worth all the pains of an excursion to the east of 
 Jordan to obtain a sight of ; and the park-like scenes 
 that sometimes softened the romantic wildness of the gen- 
 eral character, as a whole, reminded us of similar spots in 
 less neglected lands." — Travels in Palestine, through the 
 Countries of Bashan and Gilead, by J. S. Buckingloara. 
 Vol 2.^. 104.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 221 
 
 and say, He that scattered Israel will gatlier him, 
 and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. Turn 
 again, O virgin of Israel ! turn again to these thy 
 cities." 
 
 If the religion of the Jew was a religion ex- 
 clusive heyond that of all the sects and schisms, of 
 which the world has since been so prolific, surely 
 the religion of the Christian, is one of the most 
 universal, that the human mind is capabla of con- 
 ceiving; and might, from this very peculiarity, 
 combined with its other accompaniments of purity 
 and sanctity, he sufficient to demonstrate its hea- 
 venly origin, as proceeding from the father of all, 
 who will have all men to be saved. And if, in 
 the exertions with which every day of the Chris- 
 tian's life in this happy era is so fully fraught, it is 
 their endeavour to preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture, to whom ought they to turn with a tender- 
 ness and affection, beyond that due to all other na- 
 tions, if not to their elder brother the Jew ? 
 Though Jehovah, to manifest the splendour of 
 his justice, and to evince the concentrated glory of 
 all his attributes, has seen fit, for many centuries, 
 to pursue this devoted nation with '" a flaming
 
 222 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 sword, tiiniing eveiy way" for their destmction, — 
 and has fulfilled his own curse, " I will make 
 thy plagues wonderful, and th.e plagues of thy 
 seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance ; 
 and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance," — 
 yet he has not said for ever. The hlessiiig ab- 
 sorbs the denunciation, even as the drop of dew 
 is lost in the depths of the ocean. " Considerest 
 thou not what this people have spoken, saying, 
 The two families which the Lord hath chosen, he 
 hath even cast them oif ? Thus saith the Lord, 
 If my covenant be not with day and night, and if 
 I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven 
 and earth, then will I cast away the seed of Ja- 
 cob, and David my servant. — For I will cause 
 their captivity to return, and will have mercy 
 upon them, saith the Lo]*d." 
 
 Let us then not only cherish the hope, but 
 take rest in the assurance, that if the expatriated 
 Hebrew be not brought back to his local sanctuaiy, 
 — of which, however, there seems to be no doubt, 
 — and to his beloved earthly Jerusalem, he shall 
 assuredly be brought back a willing subject " to 
 David his king, and his eyes shall see the
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 223 
 
 land that is very far off." And that it may kin- 
 dle in the Iieart of tlie reader some desire to aid 
 in tlie blessed task of winning him to tliis sweet 
 and sacred consummation, we shall here give an 
 affecting instance of that " fervid and melan- 
 choly love for the scene of his faith, which still 
 glows in the heart of the Jew — a love which has 
 outlived so many centuries of exile, and disap- 
 • pointment, and wretchedness," that it throws the 
 cold, lukewarm, and too often heartless devotion 
 of the more highly favoured Christian, into the 
 shade, and ought to be to us a source of deep and 
 self-abasing lamentation. 
 
 " The Jews speak of Palestine," says Buch- 
 anan, in his Researches in India, " as if it were 
 close at hand, and easily accessible. Distance of 
 time and place seems to have no power to oblit- 
 erate the remembrance of the desolation of Jeru- 
 salem. *■ If I forget thee, O Jenisalem, let my 
 right hand forget its cxmning ; if I do not remem- 
 ber thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
 mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief 
 joy.' It has become an ordinance of their rab-
 
 224^ JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 bins, in some places, that when a man builds s^ 
 new house, he shall leave a small part of it un- 
 finished, as an emblem of ruin, and write on it 
 these words, Zeclier Lachorchan, i. e. in memory 
 of desolation." * 
 
 While the Asiatic Jew thus expresses his fond 
 remembrance of that 
 
 *' Deauty of earthls cities/' 
 
 and demonstrates that to him " her very dust i^ 
 dear," the European Jaw mourns over tlie fallen 
 glory of his nation with all the ])athos, passion, 
 and eloquence, "with wliith such a genius as that 
 of Berr, might be expected to weep, and plead for 
 son-ows such as theirs. 
 
 -|- "Braving- all kinds of torments, the pangs of 
 death, and still more terrible pangs of life, we 
 have withstood the impetuous torrent of time, 
 sweeping indiscriminately in its course, nations, 
 
 • Christian Researches in Asia, by the Rev. Claudiut 
 Buchanan, quoted by Adams. 
 
 -|- Michael Ben's Appeal to the Justice of Kings.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 225 
 
 religions, and countries. What has become of 
 those celebrated empires whose very name still 
 excites om* admiration by the idea of splendid 
 greatness attached to them, and whose power em- 
 braced the whole surface of the known globe ? 
 They are only remembered as monuments of the 
 vanity of human greatness. Rome and Greece are 
 no more : their descendants, mixed with other na- 
 tions, have lost even the traces of their origin ; 
 while a population of a few millions of men, so 
 often subjugated, stands the test of thirty revol- 
 ving centuries, and the fiery ordeal of fifteen 
 centuries of persecution. We still preserve laws 
 which were given to us in the first days of the 
 world, in the infancy of nature. The last follow- 
 ers of a religion which had embraced the universe, 
 have disappeared these fifteen centuries, and our 
 temples are still standing. We alone have been 
 spared by the indiscriminating hand of time, like 
 a column left standing amid the wreck of worlds, 
 and the ruins of nature. The history of our peo- 
 ple connects present times with the first ages of 
 the world, by the testimony it bears to the exist- 
 ence of those early periods. It begins at the
 
 226 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 cradle of mankind, and its remnants are likely to 
 be preserved to the very day of universel destniCr 
 tion !"* 
 
 Having portrayed the feelings of these 
 
 •• Tribes of the wand'ring foot, and weary breast," 
 
 inliabiting Asia and Europe, I shall conclude the 
 series of citations in this cliapter, by exhibiting the 
 touching picture of the unmurmuring Jew in his ^ 
 beloved Jerusalem, a " wretched outlaw from 
 jvistice and compassion,", from sympathy and hur 
 man chai'ity, with his eyes still fixed upon Zion, 
 as if he knew hy Jieart that Scripture quoted by 
 the apostle of the Gentiles, *•' There shall come 
 
 ^ In this enlightened period a more generous system 
 is taking place. France has allowed them the rights of 
 citizens, which induces a number of the most wealthy 
 Jews to fix their residence in that country. Poland is 
 about granting them very great privileges and immuni- 
 ties ; England, Holland, and Prussia, tolerate and protect 
 them, and the Emperor has revoked some restrictions, for 
 which an edict has lately passed ; Spain, Portugal, and 
 some of the Itahan States, are still, however, totally averse 
 to their dwelling among them. 
 
 [Encyclop. Britann, Vol. IX. Art. ijcws.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 227 
 
 out of Zion the deliverer, and he shall turn away 
 ungodliness from Jacob." — The Lord hasten the 
 auspicious moment, " for if the casting away of 
 the Jews he the reconciling of the world, what 
 shall the receiving of them be, but life from the 
 dead ?" 
 
 " While the new — or modern — Jerusalem isr 
 seen shining in the midst of the desert, you may 
 observe between Mount Zion and the temple, 
 another spectacle of almost equal interest ; it is 
 that of the remnant of another people, distinct 
 from the rest of the inhabitants ; a people indiyi-» 
 dually the objects of universal contempt, who 
 suffer the most wanton outrages without a mur- 
 mur ; who endure wounds and blows without a 
 sigh ; who, when the sacrifice of their life is de- 
 manded, unhesitatingly stretch forth their neck to 
 the sabre. If a member of the community, thus 
 cruelly proscribed and abused, happen to die, hi» 
 companions bury him clandestinely dimng the 
 night, in the valley of Jehosaphat, within the 
 purlieus of the temple of Solomon. Enter their 
 habitation, and you find them in the most squalid 
 misery, occupied, for the most part, in reading a
 
 228 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 mysterious book to their cliildren, with wliom 
 again it becomes a manual for the instruction of 
 of succeeding generations. What these wretched 
 outlaws from the justice and compassion of tlie 
 rest of mankind did in the first ages, they do still. 
 Six times they have witnessed the destruction of 
 Jeiiisalem, and are not yet discouraged. Nothing 
 can operate to di\ert their looks from Zion. 
 We are surprised no doubt when we observe the 
 Jews scattered over tlie face of the earth ; but to 
 experience an astoni-slunent more lively, we have 
 but to seek them in Jerusalem. The legitimate 
 masters of Jiulea should be seen in their owir 
 land, sla^•es and strangers ; they should be seen 
 awaiting, under the most ciiiel and ojipressive of 
 all despotisms, a king who is to work their deliv- 
 eran(;e. Near the temple, of which there does 
 not remain one sione upon another, they still 
 contiiuie to dwell ; and witii the cross as it were 
 planted upon their heads, and bending them to 
 the earth, still cling to their errors, still labour 
 under the sam^e deplorable and afiecting infatua- 
 tion. The Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, 
 are swept from the earth ; and a })etty tribe,
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 229 
 
 whose origin preceded that of these great nations, 
 still remains unmixed among the ruins of its na- 
 tive land. If any thing among nations wears the 
 character of a miracle, that character is here legi- 
 bly impressed."* 
 
 In these circumstances of deepest wretched- 
 ness, Avitli no eye to pit}', no lip to utter in the 
 accents of compassion, "Alas! my brotLer!" 
 let the Christian church send up her strong sup- 
 plications, that while Israel ponders tliat beloved 
 book, and teacheth it to ids children, the mystic 
 thaled may be removed from his eyes, and blind- 
 ness from his heart, and that he may be enabled 
 to behold, even in his own degradation, tlie last 
 and mightiest link in the chain of argument, and 
 of prophecy, that Shiioh is come, and that Jesus 
 Christ, " the crucified and slain," is the alone 
 deliverer ! 
 
 * Chateaubriand's Travels in Palestine, vol. II- p 183.
 
 230 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 CHAP. XIV 
 
 " Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, 
 " O captive daughter of Zion !" 
 
 1 HE recent journals of travellers in Palestine, 
 contain little to satisfy the feelings of those who 
 search in such records for information respecting 
 the children of Israel in the land of their fathers : 
 and perhaps nothing could more strongly mark 
 the indifference and apathy with which the Jews 
 are viewed by common observers, or the low state 
 of their political and religious existence, than the 
 total silence preserved regarding them by travel- 
 lers, otherwise intelligent, classic, and communi- 
 cative, — who have measured every monument and 
 vestige of antiquity in and around Jenisalem,—
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 231 
 
 have traced the windings of the brook Cedron, — 
 the ascent to the Mount of Olives, — the site of 
 the temple of Solomon, — the extent and circum- 
 ference of the new citj'', without once alluding to 
 the original masters of Judea, except perhaps as a 
 nation which once existed, but of whom all traces 
 have since been lost. 
 
 It belonged, indeed, to the man of genius to 
 sketch, as we have shewn, with a pencil of fire, 
 the Jew in Jerusalem I and, doubtless, after such 
 a picture, few would be found hardy enough to 
 attempt another. The Christian missionary, how- 
 ever, undeterred by the fear of failure, because 
 unambitious of the glory of success, has given us 
 various details of the circumstances and character 
 of the Hebrews scattered throughout Palestine. 
 And the excellent and enthusiastic Richardson, 
 amid " the interesting scenes and places of glo- 
 rious recollection" with which the holy land 
 abomids, has delighted us -udth many expressions 
 of fine scriptural feeling, if he has not also thrown 
 some light upon the present state of the Jews in 
 Judea. 
 
 As in this book we pretend to no higher ho-
 
 232 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 lumr than tliat due to a compiler, we shall endea- 
 vour to condense, into as small a compass as pos- 
 sible, the materials we have been enabled to col- 
 lect, for illustrating the actual condition of the 
 dispersed of Israel, now in the Holy Land. 
 
 We have already related that Jenisalem was 
 sebuilt by Adrian, under the name of /Elia, and 
 it now occupies the same spot as it did then, 
 Mount Calvary being included within the walk. 
 After being transformed into a Pagan city, He- 
 lena, the motif er of Constantine, OATrthrew its 
 monuments of idolatry, and erected over the sup- 
 posed site of tlie sepulchre of Christ, a magnificent 
 church, winch included as many of the scenes of 
 our Saviour's sufferings, as superstition and tradi- 
 tion could conveniently crowd into one spot. 
 
 The emperor Julian, in the trae spiiit of an 
 apostate, designing to give the He to prophecy, 
 assembled the Jews at Jerusalem, and endeavour- 
 ed in vain to rebuild the temple. Li this attempt 
 lie was frustrated by an earthquake, and fiery 
 eruptions from the earth, which totally destroyed 
 the work, consumed the materials which had
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 233 
 
 been collected, and killed a gi'eat number of the 
 workmen. * 
 
 Jerusalem continued in the power of the eas- 
 tern emperors till the reign of the caliph Omar, 
 the third in succession from Mahomet, who re- 
 duced it under his subjection. This Omar wan 
 afterwards assassinated in Jerusalem in 643. 
 
 The Saracens continued masters of Jenisaleni 
 till the year 1099, when it was taken by the cru- 
 saders, under Godfrey of Bouillon. They found- 
 ed a new kingdom, of which Jerusalem was the 
 capital, and which lasted eighty-eight years, un- 
 der nine kings. At last this kingdom was utterly 
 ruined by Saladin ; and though the Christians 
 once more got possession of the city, they were 
 again obliged to relinquish it. In 1217, the Sara- 
 cens were expelled by the Turks, who have ever 
 since continued in possession of it. 
 
 Seventeen times has Jerusalem been taken and 
 pillaged : millions of men have been slauglitered 
 within its walls. No other city has experienced 
 
 • Ammianua Marcellinus and Gregory Nazianzen, quot- 
 ed in the controversy with Warburton. 
 
 u3
 
 234. JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 such a fate. This protracted and almost super- 
 natural punishment announces unexampled guilt.* 
 
 The present political state of Jerusalem is per- 
 haps as low as it has been at any time, while un- 
 der the dominion of the Turks. It has not even 
 the honour of ranking as a provincial capital, and 
 enjoys none of the immunities peculiar to the 
 other holy cities of Islamism. It is included 
 within the pashalic of Damascus, and is goveiTied 
 by a IVTutesellim, appointed from thence. No 
 deference is created by the peculiar sanctity of 
 the place, as is done by that of the Arabian cities 
 of INlecca and ^Medina ; for while a governor of 
 either of these is honoured by distinguislied pri- 
 vileges, the jNIutesellim of Jerusalem ranks only 
 as a magistrate of a provincial tow n. 
 
 The force usually kept in Jerusalem consists of 
 about a thousand soldiers, including horse and 
 foot, armed and equipped in the common Turk- 
 ish fashion, and composed of Turks, Arabs, and 
 Albanians. These are stated to be sufficient to 
 repel any attack from the armies of the country, 
 
 • Chateaubriand.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 23.5 
 
 but could offer no effectual resistance to Euro- 
 pean troops. * 
 
 Witlr regard to the present appearance of Je- 
 rusalem, while some have described it as full of 
 " glittering domes and stately palaces," f others 
 have spoken of it as a cemeteiy in the midst of a 
 desert. :}: Allowance, however, must he made 
 for the different feelings, and different preposses- 
 sions and prejudices of men, as well as for the 
 point of view from which the object is beheld. 
 He who describes it, therefore, more as a matter- 
 of fact-man than as a man of genius, an enthusiast 
 or an artist, is the safest to follow, and the least 
 likely to mislead. 
 
 " Though long stripped of its ancient beauty, 
 it may still be ranked as a considerable city. It 
 appears to be in the form of a triangle, and is si- 
 
 • Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, vol. II. 
 
 + Clarke's Travels in the Holy Land. 
 
 J A la vue de ces maisons de pierres, renferm^es dans 
 un puysage de pierres, on se demande si ce ne sent pas la 
 les monumens confus d'un cimetiere au milieu d'un de- 
 sert ?■ — Chateaubriand, Itinerairc de Paris a Jerusalem'^ 
 torn. II.
 
 236 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 tuated oil a rocky eminence, with steep ascents on 
 all sides, and at the south end of a large plain, 
 extending northward to Samaria, inclosed with 
 walls, which in some parts may he one hmidred 
 and fifty feet in heiglit, encompassed hy a deep 
 valley enveloped with mountains. From a dis- 
 tance, it presents a most imposing appearance ; 
 but, internally, ruins, wretchedness, desolation, 
 nan-ow streets, filthy bazaars, and a few relics of 
 sculpture, appear to be all the evidence of its for- 
 mer grandeur. It contains six gates, which are 
 regularly shut at sunset. To the north is the 
 holy sepulchre ; Mount Zion to the south ; and 
 to the east is the place where the tem})le of Solo- 
 mon formerly stood." * 
 
 "With regard to the population of Jerusalem, it 
 is a matter of some difficulty properly to ascer- 
 tain it, because the inhabitants consisting of so 
 many diflferent nations, sects and parties, each 
 separately desires to multiply his own particular 
 proportion above that of all the others. The 
 
 • Travels in Egypt and the Holy Land, by W. R. 
 Wilson, p. 112.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. S37 
 
 number of inhabitants, liowever, is generally 
 computed at between eighteen and twenty thou- 
 sand. Among these are reckoned five thousand 
 Mussulmans, five thousand Christians, and three 
 or four thousand Jews. Of the latter, only one 
 thousand are males, and three thousand females. 
 The Mahomedans consist of nearly equal por- 
 tions of Osmanli Turks from Asia Minor ; de- 
 scendants of pure Turks by blood but Arabians 
 by birth ; a mixture of Turkish and Arabian by 
 intermarriages, and pure Synan Arabs. The 
 Christians consist of a vaiiety of sects, of which 
 the Greeks are the most numerous. * 
 
 It is melancholy to reflect, that, in the city of 
 Jerusalem, there should be found at this day only 
 such a proportion of Jews, as in the times of So- 
 lomon would merely have sufficed for porters to 
 wait at the gates of the temple, and which is 
 numerically less than the choir that David or- 
 dained to praise the Lord on instruments of 
 music ; besides a hierarchy of six thousand priests 
 of the house of Aaron, and twenty four thousand 
 
 • Modern Traveller, Part. I. p. 14T.
 
 238 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Levites, for the other services of the sanctuary.* 
 Even in the days of Vespasian, the population of 
 Judea, properly so called, including Galilee, Pal- 
 estine, and Idumea, amounted to upwards of seven 
 millions ; and, at the siege of Jerusalem alone, 
 eleven hundred thousand Jews perished I How 
 has the malediction of Jehovah scattered and 
 j)eeled the holy nation. So early as in the thir- 
 teenth century, when -j- Benjamin of Tudela wan- 
 
 • The tribe of Levi, when numbered in the wilderness, 
 contained twenty. two thousand males above a month old,* 
 and eight thousand five hundred and eighty males between 
 thirty and fifty. -|- They were all devoted to the service of 
 Jehovah ; but only a single family, that of Aaron, had the 
 privilege of furnishing priests for the altar : the rest of the 
 Levites were only the servants of the priests. In David's 
 time, the number of the Levites, from twenty years and 
 upwards, was thirty-eight thousand ; ij: that of the priests 
 six thousand. 
 
 Hclon's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem^ vol. II. p. 81. 
 
 •f- Benjamin of Tudela was a Spanish Jew, who travel- 
 led in the thirteenth century, to ascertain the state of the 
 
 * Numb. iii. oO. f Numb. iv. 4S. + I Chron. xxiii. 3.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. S39 
 
 dered over the earth to number his people, the 
 Jews were diminished to one-sixth of the amount 
 of their population, previous to the dispersion. 
 
 Though it is to the Jews alone that we would par- 
 ticularly limit our observations at present, yet the 
 state of Christianity in the land of Zion is not itself 
 uninteresting ; and nothing can be more affecting 
 than to behold the holy city, not only trodden down 
 under the foot of the Gentile worshippers of the 
 impostor, but also degraded by the folly and avar- 
 ice of devotees calling themselves Christian. Mr 
 Jo wet, in his Researches in the Mediterranean 
 and Palestine, gives a melancholy account of the 
 spirit of superstition which he witnessed in the 
 churches of Jerusalem. And the following nar- 
 i-ation of his interviev/ with Daniel, the bishop of 
 Nazareth, whom he met with in the holy city, is 
 touching, both as it relates to Islamism, and to 
 Christianity ; and few perhaps will be found able 
 to peruse it, without saying, with the Greek bishop, 
 " How long ? O Lord ! how long ?" 
 
 Hebrew nation in the known world. It is not, however, 
 certain that he visited all the places mentioned by him. 
 Chateauhrumh vol, II.
 
 i>iO JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 " I went In tlio course of the afternoon to see 
 the bishop of Nazareth, Daniel. — He was in- 
 quisitive to know of what rite my servant was ; 
 I gladly availed myself of the opportunity of ex- 
 plaining to him in what light I regarded these 
 differences. The youtli, I said, is by profession 
 of tlie Latin church, but I did not, in taking him 
 into my service, inquire into that matter, but 
 merely desired him in the morning and evening 
 to come to us when we read the Bible, and pray 
 together, to which lie never made the least ob- 
 jection, but, on the contrary, seems to be pleased 
 with it. 
 
 " The bishep was veiy attentive, and spoke 
 little ; so that, as I feared to trespass on his feel- 
 ings, the conversation was often suspended. Li- 
 (leed I thought I perceived a great degree of de- 
 jection on his countenance. 
 
 " Presently, it being three o'clock, our atten- 
 tion was roused by the voice of the Mowedden 
 from one of the minarets, calling the ]Mahome- 
 dans to their usual prayers at that hour. The 
 bishop mournfully turned to me and exclaimed, 
 " How long ?" — His few and simple words quite
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 241 
 
 sunk into my heart. I said it was truly painful 
 
 ito Lear that sound in the lioly city, and that I 
 viewed with sincere sympathy the piesent dis- 
 ! tresses which tliey suffer. ' Our sins !' lie slow- 
 I ly replied, ' the measure of our punishment is 
 j not yet filled up !' I could only assent hy a mo- 
 tion of my head. 
 
 " I tijen informed him that I was writint^^ a 
 tract, in Avhich I wished to address his nation in 
 as consolatory a manner as I could ; hut added, 
 * it will not all be consolatory.' He plainly took 
 my meaning, as one who understood that it was 
 impossible to speak agreeably to the truth of a 
 suftering nation, without saying something con- 
 cerning their sins- Yet I never felt more tlian I 
 did at this interview a desire to address them with 
 tenderness ; and that verse in Isaiali, — Isa. 1. 4. — 
 was brought with fresh feeling into my memory : 
 ' The Lord hath given me the tongue of the 
 learned, tliat I might speak a word in season to 
 him that is weary.' How difficult to do this ! 
 It is easy to chiile with justice, but it is a high 
 attainment, learned only in the school of suffer- 
 ing, to reprove with a merciful Sj>irit.
 
 242 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 *• To his expression, which he would ever and 
 anon sigh forth, * How long ? Lord, how long !' 
 I at at length made some reply, di*awn from the 
 interpretation of prophecy. He listened with 
 great interest ; for on no topic is it more easy to 
 gain an eager ear in the east, than on that of the 
 mysterious and unknown future. I limited my- 
 self, however, to general allusions to the period 
 of twelve hundred and sixty years, now apparent- 
 ly drawing to its close ; and endeavoured to ex- 
 hibit also some of those signs of the times, which 
 indicate the approach of an important crisis, par- 
 ticularly mentioning the Bible Society, and the 
 system of general^ education. As I described 
 the convulsions which shake the continent of 
 Europe, from the west to the east, he mentioned 
 the affairs of Spain as being settled, and seemed 
 therefore to infer, that no good liad resulted from 
 
 that movement 1 retired from this interview 
 
 with spirits unusually depressed. I had felt 
 throughout the whole conversation that my heart 
 was drawn in contrary directions ; on the one 
 hand, by emotions of pity for these suffering ori- 
 entals, and, on the other, by a view every day
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 243 
 
 augmenting of their sinful blindness and unchris- 
 tian superstitions. While humanity pleads for 
 them, Christian faithfulness can not acquit them 
 as innocent." * 
 
 While Chateaubriand has drawn with unrival- 
 led beauty the moral picture of the Jew in the 
 midst of the daughter of Zion, we think Dr Rich- 
 ardson's sketch of the surrounding scenery of the 
 holy city, with its languishing verdure, its with- 
 ered pasture, and its scanty soil, is not inferior 
 in interest to any thing we have met with de- 
 scriptive of the environs of Jerusalem. But in 
 adverting, as we have done in the beginning of 
 this chapter, to tlie investigations of travellers in 
 regard to the antiquities of Jerusalem, we must 
 be understood as alluding to the local anti- 
 quities of its rocks and mountains alone, for not 
 one stone is left upon another of any of its state- 
 ly palaces. So fully has Scripture prophecy been 
 accomplished in this respect, that Richardson, 
 who visited the holy city in 1818, informs us, 
 that the greater part of the objects described by 
 
 ■ Jowet's Christian Researches in the Mediterranean, 
 Egypt, and Palestine, p. 24-2.
 
 244 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 tlie Jewish lustorian, Josephus, and by the in- 
 spired writers, are so entirely demolished, that 
 no name, trace, or vestisre of tliem can be discov- 
 ered. " Not an ancient tower, gate, or wall, or 
 hardly even a stone remains. The foundations 
 are not only broken up, but every fragment of 
 which they were composed is swept away ; and 
 the spectator looks upon the bare rock, with 
 hardly a sprinkling of earth to point out her gar- 
 dens of pleasure, or groves of idolatrous devotion. 
 And when we consider the palaces, and towers, 
 and walls about Jeiiisalem, and that the stones 
 of which some of them were constructed were 
 thirty feet long, fifteen broad, and seven in thick- 
 ness, we are not more astonished at the strength, 
 and skill, and perseverance by which they were 
 constructed, than shocked by the relentless and 
 brutal hostility by which they were shattered and 
 overthrown, and utterly removed from our sight. 
 A few gardens still remain on the sloping base of 
 Mount Zion, watered from the pool of Siloam ; the 
 gardens of Gethsemane are still in a sort of ruined 
 cultivation ; the fences are broken down, and the 
 olive trees decaying, as if the bauds that had
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 245 
 
 dressed and fed tliem were withdrawn. Tiie 
 Mount of Olives still retains a languishing ver- 
 dure, and nourishes a few of those trees from 
 which it derives its name ; but all round about 
 Jerusalem, the general aspect is blighted and 
 barren : the grass withered, the bare rock looks 
 through the scanty sward, and the grain itself, 
 like the starving progeny of famine, seenis in 
 doubt whether to come to maturity or die in the 
 ear. The vine, that was brought from Egypt, is 
 cut off from the midst of the land ; the vineyards 
 are wasted ; the hedges are taken away, and the 
 graves of the ancient dead are open and tenant- 
 less. How is the gold become dim, and every 
 thing that was pleasant to the eye withdrawn. 
 Jerusalem has lieard the voice of David and So- 
 lomon, of prophets and apostles ; and he who 
 sj)ake as never man spake, has taught in her sy- 
 nagogues, and in her streets. Before her legis- 
 lators, her poets, and her apostles, those of all 
 other countries became dumb, and cast down 
 tlieir crowns as unworthy to stand in their pre- 
 sence. Once she was rich in eT.'ery blessing, vic- 
 torious over ail her enemies, and resting in peace, 
 
 x2
 
 246 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 ■u'lth every man sitting under his own vine, and 
 under liis own fig-tree, with none to disturb or to 
 make him afraid. Jerusalem was the brightest 
 of all the cities of the east, and fortified above all 
 other towns ; so strong that the Roman con- 
 queror thereof, and master of the wliole world 
 beside, on entering the city of David, and look- 
 ing on the towers which the Jews had abandoned, 
 exclaimed, * Surely we liave God for our assist- 
 ance in the war, for what could human hands do 
 against these towers !' But the glory departed 
 from Israel, the day of vengeance arrived, and the 
 rebellious sons of Jacob are scattered, and peeled, 
 and driven under every wind of heaven, without 
 a nation or country to call their own ; unamal- 
 gamated, persecuted, plundered, and reviled, like 
 the ruins of a blighted tower, whose fragments 
 remahi to show the power that smote it, and to 
 call aloud to heaven and earth for repair ! It is 
 impossible for tlie Christian traveller to look up- 
 on Jerusalem with the same feelings with which 
 he would set himself to contemplate the ruins of 
 Thebes, of Atliens, or of Rome, or of any other 
 citv which the world c^er saw. There is, in all
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 24^7 
 
 tlie doings of the Jews, — their virtues and their 
 vices, their wisdom and their folly, — a height and 
 a depth, a breadth and a length, that angels can- 
 not fathom. Their whole history is a history of 
 miracles : the precepts of their sacred book are 
 , the most profound, and the best adapted to every 
 I situation in Avhich man can be placed. They 
 I make him moderate in prosperity, — sustain him 
 in adversity, — guide him in health, — console him 
 in sickness, — support him at the close of life, — 
 travel on with liim through death, — live with him 
 throughout the endless ages of eternity ; and Je- 
 rusalem lends its name to the eternal mansions of 
 the blessed in heaven, which man is admitted to 
 enjoy through the atonement and righteousness of 
 Jesus Christ, who was born of a descendant of 
 Judah." * 
 
 We do not intend to enter into any details of 
 
 w^hat are called the " holy places" in Jerusalem, 
 
 except to quote one description of the mosque of 
 
 • Omar ; or to disgust the reader with an account 
 
 of the trumpery, mummery, and absurdities, if we 
 
 • Richardson's Travels in Egypt, Syria, &c, vol. II. p. 
 25i.
 
 24S JEIlUSALExM DESTROYED. 
 
 ought not rather to call them the abommatious, with 
 which the eastern and western antichrists have 
 oveiTun the sacred territory, farther than to bear 
 testimony against it, both in thus expressing om- 
 own opinions, and in quotting the judicious re- 
 marks of the two travellers whose works have al- 
 ready afforded us some interesting information. 
 Mr Jowet observes, that the " doctrine of the 
 merit of pilgrimages has, for neai'ly fifteen hund- 
 red years, been a standing order of the Chi istians 
 of Jerusalem. Yet of the deep-rooted error of this 
 system, who are so insensible as the ecclesiastics 
 themselves ? Probably in reading the lamentations 
 — still in many points most applicable to Jerusalem 
 — they would appropriate this verse as depicting 
 their state : * The ways of Zion do mourn, be- 
 cause none came to the solemn feasts.' This, in 
 a literal sense, is exactly the case at present. 
 
 " The more the circumstances of Jerusalem are 
 reflected upon, the more they wound the heart. 
 They may well be represented thus : The Latins 
 live by remittances from Spain, and other Roman 
 Catliolic powers ; the Greeks and Armenians by 
 the contributions of the pilgrims ; the Jews by
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 249 
 
 collections made in all tlie world, and Itj' alms 
 brought by devotees of their religion ; the Turk;, 
 in the midst of them, by exacting money from all. 
 There is little common traffic in the city and 
 neighbourhood, and very little stir or activity. 
 Foreign purses are the source to which they prin- 
 cipally look ; when these fail they pine and mur- 
 mur."* 
 
 To this fact regarding the absence of trade> 
 other writers also bear witness, as the author of 
 Lettres Curieuses et Edifiantes, who remarks, 
 that " the city is without trade, and consequently 
 exceedingly poor. Its principal revenue consists 
 in the profit gained by the pilgrims."-|- 
 
 And Buckingham observes, that " in Jerusa- 
 lem there is scarcely any trade, and but few ma- 
 nufactures. The only one that at all 11 ourishes, is 
 that of crucifixes, chaplets, and relics, of which, in- 
 credible as it may seem, whole cargoes are shipped 
 off from Jaffa for Italy, Portugal, and Spain."f 
 
 • Jowet's Researches, p. 245- 
 
 + Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. I. p. 420. 
 
 J Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, vol. II. p. 6.
 
 250 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 To the system of pilgrimages to holy places, as 
 they are called, — the parade of processions, — and 
 worshipping of images, with which the name and 
 profession of Christianity is dishonoured and bur- 
 lesqued in Jenisalem, we may add the judicious 
 observations of Dr Richardson, regarding the 
 baneful effects produced by such mummeries on 
 the minds both of the Jews and Turks, whose 
 abhorrence of polytlieism, seems to be quite as 
 strong as the Protestant's honest indignation and 
 hatred of beads, crosses, pictures, and pilgri- 
 mages ; and that of all places in the earth, Je- 
 rusalem is not the spot where the mind is pre- 
 pared to bow to such charlatanism. 
 
 " We should not expect to meet with any 
 statues or carved images in Jerusalem. This is 
 not the home of idolatry. The worship of the 
 Jews Iiad a Iiigher aim. And simple as the idea 
 may appear, it is tlie only country on earth where 
 men kept animals, and stocks, and stones, in 
 their proper place, and knew that it was a crime 
 to exalt or fashion them into the image of their 
 Invisible Creator, snd fall down and worship them 
 as gods. In the ruins of Jerusalem, a higher
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 251 
 
 feeling takes possession of tlie mind than that 
 which is occasioned by contemplating works of 
 art ; and the discovery of the finest statues, so far 
 from awakening pleasurable sensations in the 
 mind of the Christian, would, like the ugly toad 
 in paradise, only mar the holy enjojTnent, and 
 destroy that hallowed and unbroken connexion 
 which the heart wishes to maintain inviolate be- 
 tween Israel's city, and Israel's God. 
 
 " In cities where the inhabitants know no bet- 
 ter tlmn to worship the Almighty through the 
 gross medium of material objects the case is dif- 
 ferent ; there the mind is pitched for relishing 
 works of art, and human invention. It is their 
 celebrity that throws the mantle of classical asso- 
 ciation over all the scene, and makes the amateur 
 hunt after them with a frenzied a\4dity. But the 
 feeling is of a gi-oss and inferior description. It 
 is that of a child to his rattle, or his whistle, 
 compared with the thrilling and rapturous sensa- 
 tions of a man of taste and genius towards the 
 sublime passages of Holy Writ, that purify, refine, 
 and exalt the mind, and bring the soul into con- 
 tact with its God."* 
 
 * Richardson's Travels, vol. I J. p. 269.
 
 252 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 The Turks, who are tlie the present masters of 
 Judea, entertain senthneuts of the most decided 
 hostility to idolatry, or what they are pleased to 
 call the many gods of the antichristian world, the 
 devotees of tlio Greek and Latin churches in Asia 
 and Palestine. " The Turks," says Dr Richard- 
 son, " are determined menotheists, and the unity 
 of Deity is constantly in their mouths, and tliey 
 cannot endure the Christians whom they believe 
 to be polytheists and idolaters ; hence they will 
 not associate witli them, lest they should be in- 
 fected by the contagion of their example ; and 
 tlieir conslaiit prayer is that they may be preserv- 
 ed from it. Their constant address to Christians 
 is * Allali watchet — there is but one God ;' and 
 in looking at the pictures and images with which 
 tiie churches in the east are disgraced and profan- 
 ed, I am sorry to say they have but too much 
 reason for the accusation. The Turks have never 
 seen a Christian church as it ought to be, and 
 they have never seen, and they know nothing of 
 Christianity ; hence their aversion to it, and to 
 Christians, and to every thing that comes from 
 tliem. There is a reniai]cal)le coincidence in tfiis 
 respect between the Turks and the Jevvs. Thi*
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 253 
 
 wonderful and unfortunate people, believing that 
 all their misfortunes have arisen from their prone- 
 ness to idolatry and polytheism, now, in the day 
 of their calamity, hope for salvation and restitu- 
 tion by constantly avowing the the unity of God. 
 Ached, or one (God), is the last word that a Jew 
 wishes his mortal lips to pronounce in the hear- 
 ing of his friends upon earth ; and when his soul 
 takes its flight into the world of spirits, this is its 
 only rest and consolation, and on this he confides 
 for acceptance with .Tehovuh. Wlio will take the 
 veil off Israel's race, and teach the Mussuhnau 
 and the Jtw that there is but one Mediator be- 
 tween God and man, and that there is no idola* 
 try or polytheism in the religion of Jesus ? To 
 let them alone is miserable ; it is to pass by ou 
 the other side, and leave the Samaritan to die of 
 his wounds."* 
 
 Mr Jowet relates an interesting scene which 
 he witnessed at Jerusalem, at the spot called the 
 Place of Weeping, where the Jews, amid all the 
 despotism, and tyranny, and extortion of tlieii' 
 
 • iii chard son's Travel;^^ vol. 11. p. 286.
 
 254 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Turkisli masters, are enabled to purchase, from their 
 iivarvlce, permission to momn, and to pray one day 
 in every week close upon the precincts of the Holy 
 of Holies. The pictm'e he draws of ihe pining away 
 of the Jew under the bratal treatment to which 
 he is exposed, is truly affecting ; while the strong 
 characteristics by which he is marked of suspicion 
 and disguise, are the native fruits of being him- 
 self perpetually suspected* While we witness the 
 degrading and demoralising effects of despotism 
 upon the feelings and lineaments of other nations, 
 let us give thanks to God for our own civil and 
 religious privileges, and bless him for that liberty 
 which is the most precious boon of heaven, next 
 to the gospel of Christ. 
 
 JEWISH PLACE OF WEEPING. 
 
 " Rabbi Isaac conducted us to see an interest- 
 ing spot, to which the Jews frequently went on 
 the afternoon of Friday. It is on the outer side 
 of the wall of the mosque of Omar. Within the 
 area which surrounds the mosque, none may en- 
 ter under pain of death, unless he become a Ma- 
 homedan ; but at a particular part of the outside
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 255 
 
 of the buildings, the Jews have the permissiou, — 
 for which they pay money, — to assemble every 
 Friday to pray. There were only eight while we 
 were there ; but at a later hour probably there 
 would be more. On other occasions they are 
 numerous ; but the measures of the new gover- 
 nor have thrown them into consternation^ so that 
 they are not so forward to shew themselves. I 
 observed, as we passed through the Jew quarter, 
 and upon many faces in most parts of Jerusalem, 
 a timid expression of countenance, called in Scrip- 
 ture a 'pining away : with a curiosity that de- 
 sires to know every thing concerning a stranger, 
 there is at the same time a stealing away from 
 the curiosity of others.* We stood a while with 
 
 • We re-entered the city at the Zion Gate, and turning 
 down a little on the right, we came into the quarter of 
 the town inhabited by Jews. We met here a number of 
 that nation always conversing in Hebrew. There was an 
 appearance of poverty, and a seeming love of concealment 
 in the seclusion of their humble dwellings ; and they them- 
 selves were marked by the same peculiarities of dress and 
 feature* as all the other Jews that I had seen throughout 
 the East." 
 
 Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, vol /. p. S75.
 
 256 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 the worshippers at this spot, which tliey regard 
 as close to the place where, in ancient times, the 
 Shechinah w^as ; and though the gloiy of the 
 Lor<l has departed, they still venerate the place 
 where he once manifested his presence. To 
 worship here must be the summit of theU* de- 
 sires : It seems to he somewhat in the spirit of 
 David's vow, " In tliy fear will I worship to- 
 ward thy holy temple." 
 
 The mosque of Omar, with descriptions of 
 which every hook of travels in the holy land is 
 filled, stands on the site once occupied by Solo- 
 mon's temple. None but Mahomedans can en- 
 ter it under the penalty of death. Mr Jowet 
 and his friends solicited permission to view it from 
 tlie roof of the governor's house, which overlooks 
 the mosque, the Sakkara el Aksa, and the sur- 
 rounding spacious area, of which the governor's 
 house forms one side. Permission being accord- 
 ed, " We availed ourselves," says Mr Jowet, " of 
 the moment, attentively to survey the solemn 
 scene before us, wliere once that wonder and 
 praise of the whole world, Solomon's temple, 
 gtood. The ample area is in some parts covered 
 with turf, in others the bare rock shews itself,
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 257 
 
 and a few scattered trees scarcely suffice to give 
 it the title of picturesque. The dome of the 
 mosque is a truly noble specimen of taste ; but, 
 pressing too low upon the subjacent part of the 
 structure, it overwhelms the symmetry of the 
 whole. It is, in fact, best viewed at a distance, 
 when it is seen apart fiom the lower building 
 with which it is connected, and standing pre-emi- 
 nent for beauty among the buildings of the city — 
 a pre-eminence, however, diminished by its mourn- 
 ful defect in moral beauty. Here they of tlie 
 captivity in Ezra's days, ' priests, and Levites, 
 and cliief of the fathers, who were ancient men, 
 that had seen the first house, wept with a loud 
 voice' on beholding the inferiority of the second. 
 Here the Hebrew and the Christian may now 
 also mingle their tears over the violation of the 
 true faith. Here are neither the holy precepts of 
 the law, nor the inviting promises of the gospel, 
 to dignify or endear the place. This splendid 
 edifice, surmounted with the crescent, serves only 
 to exhibit to all the world this desecrated spot, as 
 a central monument of Divine vengeance. It 
 may spiritually be called an " abomination of de- 
 
 y2
 
 258 JERUSALEM DESTROYED, 
 
 solatlon standing in tlie holy place, where it 
 ought not.' " 
 
 Dr Richardson, who travelled in the suite of the 
 Earl of BeliTiore, appears, from his chai-acter of 
 physician, to have had a ready access to the 
 houses of all descriptions of persons in Jerusa- 
 lem ; and, among others, he failed not to visit the 
 dispersed of Israel. He describes the Jews as 
 residing in that part of the city, called, in Scrip- 
 ture, The Daughter of Zion ; and though many of 
 them are in circumstances of wealth and comfort, 
 yet the distrust they entertain of the Turkish 
 government, leads them frequently to put on a 
 greater appearance of poveity than is altogether 
 necessary. In going to visit them, lie says, it 
 is no uncommon thing to have to mount to their 
 dwellings over ruins and rubbish ; but, once ad- 
 mitted, every thing appears comfortable, clean, 
 and v\'ell furnished, and the stranger is entertain- 
 ed with coffee and tobacco, the same as in other 
 houses in Turkey. Contrary to the custom of 
 oriental nations, the women mingle in their fa- 
 milies with the same ease and address as in 
 Eui-opean society.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 259 
 
 On paying- a visit to a respectable Jew in the 
 holy city, it ha])penecl to be during the time of 
 the feast of tlie Passover, and lie found them eat- 
 ing unleavened bread. " Some of which," says 
 he, " was presented to me as a curiosity, and I 
 partook of it merely that I might liave the grati- 
 fication of eating unleavened bread, with the sons 
 and daughters of Jacob in Jerusalem : it was very 
 insipid fare, and no one would eat it from choice. 
 For the same reason I went to the synagogue, of 
 which there are two in Jerusalem. They are 
 both poor and small, not owing to the poverty of 
 their possessors, but to the pmdential motives 
 already hinted at : yet it was delightful to mix 
 with them in their devotions, and to see perform- 
 ed before your eyes that ceremonial worship by 
 the descendants of that very people to whom it 
 was delivered by the voice of God. I should 
 look at the ceremonies of Pagan temples as a 
 matter of little more than idle curiosity, but the 
 ceremonies of the Jews dip into tlie heart. This 
 is the most ancient form of worship in existence ; 
 this is the manner in which the God of heaven 
 was worshipped by Abraham and his descend-
 
 260 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 ants, when all the other nations were sitting in 
 darkness, or falling down to stocks and stones. 
 To the Jews were committed the oracles of God. 
 This is the manner in which Moses and Elias, 
 David and Solomon, worshipped tlie God of their 
 fathers. * This worship was instituted hy God 
 himself, and in Jerusalem, the chosen and ap- 
 pointed city ; and on the rock of Zion, God's 
 holy hill, to sing a psalm of David, in company 
 with the outcast race of Judah, winds to ecstasy 
 the heart. The vital history of the Christian 
 faith passes over the memory, and you feel as if 
 you joined your voice witli those chosen spirits 
 who spoke tin-ough inspiration, and told the will 
 of God to man. The time will come when the 
 descendants of his ancient people will join the 
 song of Moses to the song of the Lamb, and, 
 
 • This certainly was not the manner in which God was 
 T.orshipped by the patriarchs and their first descendants, 
 though, no doubt, a modilication of it, but assuredly con- 
 tduiinatcd and corrupted in a very hi^h degree, even eight- 
 teen centuries before this period ; yet doubtless enough 
 remaining, to excuse the spirit of fine enthusiasm with 
 which the whole of this passage is written.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 261 
 
 singing- hosanna to tlie son of David, confess Iiis 
 power to save ! 
 
 " I never see the fine venerable aspect of a 
 Jew, but I feel for him as for an elder brother. 
 I have an aifection for him that far transcends my 
 feeling for a Greek or for a Roman, who have 
 left the world but childish rhythms and sprink- 
 lings of a groundless morality, compared with 
 that pure and lofty thought which pervades the 
 sacred volume. I have a desire to converse 
 with him, and to know the communings of a heart 
 formed by the ancient word of inspiration. I 
 would rather pity than persecute him for refusing 
 the gospel. I'he thunders of Sinai once rung in 
 his ears, need we wonder that they have sunk 
 deep into his heart ? The rock must be struck 
 before the water can gush out. The coal must 
 be warmed before it can be fanned into a flame. 
 The fort must be taken by gradual approaches. 
 Zacchaeus must be abolished by little and little. 
 The Jews are a hard working and laborious peo- 
 ple ; the world has never been oppressed by their 
 poor ; the obstinacy with which they cling to 
 their institutions shews the stuff that is in them.i
 
 262 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Plundered and expatriated for eighteen hundred 
 years, they have earned then- hread from under 
 the feet of those to whom the writings of their 
 fatliers reveal the will of heaven, and from which 
 we derive the soundest rules of life, and the glad- 
 dening hopes of a future existence. One would 
 Bay, that the son of Judah was a gem, whom 
 every Christian would be anxious to polish and 
 refine, by how much it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive. They have given to all ; but, 
 saving the buffettings of tpanny and adversity, 
 what have they received from the world ? The 
 elements of Christianity are incorporated in their 
 institutions : when they consider and know them, 
 they will see that the religion of Jesus is but the 
 consummation of their own. Let us treat them 
 like fellow-creatures : we owe them every thing, 
 and they have not more of the original contamina- 
 tion of human nature than we ourselves." 
 
 Though we admire the generous and liberal 
 tone of feeling which pervades the above expres- 
 sion of tlie emotions of this traveller, yet we do 
 not altogether coincide with his train of reason- 
 ing. To pity and compassionate, either the afBic-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 263 
 
 tioiis, or the eiTors of the Jew, is not only a 
 Christian's duty, but there are none bearing that 
 name who could, consistently with their profes- 
 sion, he destitute of such sentiments. To defend 
 him, however, is altogetlier another matter, and is 
 a gratuitous service which no Christian is called 
 to perform : " Who hath believed our report ? 
 and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" 
 are questions wliich would not have been uttered 
 in the language of complaint, had there not been 
 sufficient grounds for des})ondency and displeasure 
 in the mind of the prophet. Neither would St. 
 Paul have shook his raiment, and called heaven to 
 witness that he was pure from the blood of his 
 countrymen, had not their unbelief been a crime 
 of a far deeper dye, than that to which we attach 
 the mere name of obstinacy. But while it is ne- 
 cessary thus to draw a line between sympathy and 
 approbation, and to guard the young mind from 
 conceiving that the errors of the Jew are respect- 
 able or unimportant, we follow, with the greatest 
 pleasure, tlie whole of this entertaining traveller's 
 account of his visit to the Holy Land, and shall 
 conclude our extracts from it with the following
 
 5G4 jr.KUSALI-M DESTKOYED. 
 
 interestiriir passage, imbesitatingly joining in its 
 t.uatbeuia on tl»e cold heart tliat wonld not fer- 
 vently reiterate its closing snpplicatioiis. 
 
 " Tlie siglit of a poor Jeu- in Jenisalem has in 
 it something peculiarly aiTecting. The heart of 
 this wonJerful people,, in "whatever clime they 
 roam, still tunis to it as the city of their pro- 
 riii?eil ro>:. They take pleasure in her ruins, 
 rjui woulil lick the very dust for her sake. Je- 
 rusalem is tlie centre around which th.e exiled 
 sons of Juilali build, in airy dreams, the mansions 
 of tlieir future greatness. In whatever part of 
 the world he may live, the liearts desire of a Jew, 
 vlien sntbered to liis fatJiers. is to be buried in 
 Joiusabnn. Thitlier t];ey return from Sinnn and 
 }\)rtui:al, from Egypt and Barbary, and oti^ier 
 countries among wlufh they Iiave been scattered ; 
 end wlieii, after all tlieir longings, and all their 
 stmsrdes up the steeps of life, we see them poor, 
 and blind, and naked in the streets of tlieir once 
 happv Zion, he must have a cold lieart who can 
 remain untouched by their snfterings. witliout 
 uttering a prayer that the light of a reconciled 
 fonntenanco would shine on the darkness of Ju-
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. SQ", 
 
 dah, and the day aVas of Bethiehein ttriae iu thoir 
 hearts." 
 
 Every thing mthin and around the sacred pre- 
 cincts of this once holy city, demomstrale the 
 truth of Divine revelation ; and the testimony 
 home to the prescience and faithfulness of Jeho- 
 vah, is as striking- and indubitable in the present 
 state of the city, as it was in the days of the fa- 
 thers ; manifested, no doubt, in the lanjruage of a 
 series of dispensations of a character infinitely op- 
 posed to that of former times, but equally the do- 
 ings of the Lord. For if •* Jerusalem be trodden 
 down of the Gentiles," it is not less tlje work of 
 the God of Judg-ment, than its former manifesta- 
 tions of his o])erations in Providence were the 
 doings of the God of 3Iercy. 
 
 The Jew loving his native land from the ]>f''/m- 
 ning, seems to love it also to the end ; and when ai 
 last despairing of the restoration of his people to the 
 favour of God in time, he hastens to meet it at t.he 
 moment of the resurrection ; and that he may be 
 near to that spot of earth on which the long desired 
 Deliverer shall first plac« his sacred feet, he de- 
 iire« to be buried as close to tlie vestiges of ihri 
 
 z
 
 2GG JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 temple, as the tyranny of the Turks will permit 
 him to repose. 
 
 " The Jews have their burying-ground on the 
 north side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, over 
 against where the temple anciently stood. It is 
 the idea of many, that the scene of the day of 
 judgment will here take place, according to a 
 well known intei-pretation of Joel iii. 11 — 17, 
 * Assemble yourselves and come, &c. — Let the 
 heathen be awakened, and come up to the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat ; for there will I sit to 
 judge on all the heatlien round about. Put ye in 
 the sickle, for the harvest is ripe,' &c. &c. And 
 these children of Abraham seem to have chosen 
 this spot for the repose of their mortal remains, to 
 be ready to rise at the voice of the Judge, 
 and receive the favour promised to their people. 
 The sceneiy on this side of Jerusalem is peculiar- 
 ly bold, and well suited to inspire feelings of su- 
 blimity and awe." 
 
 We shall here cite one or two more authors 
 who give testimony to the same feelings regard- 
 ing the love of the Jews for being buried in the 
 Holy Land :—
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. S67 
 
 " We quitted this spot," says Buckingham, 
 " to return to the town, and in our way by the 
 bath," — the hot baths of Tiberias, — " we saw a 
 party of Jewish women just coming- out from the 
 female apartment. Their conversation was in 
 German ; and, on inquiry, they said that they had 
 come with their husbands from Vienna to end 
 their days in the land of their fathers. A little 
 after we met a Jewish funeral, attended by a 
 party of about fifty persons, all males. A group 
 of half a dozen walked before, but without any 
 apparent regard to order ; and all seemed engaged 
 in singing indistinctly hymns, or prayers, or lam- 
 entations, for they might have been either as far 
 as we could distinguish by the tone and the man- 
 ner of their utterance. The corpse followed, 
 wrapped in linen, without a coffin, and slung on 
 cords, between two poles borne on men's shoul- 
 ders, with its feet foremost. A funeral service 
 was said over it at the grave, and it was sunk in- 
 to its mother earth in peace."* 
 
 Burckliardt, in his Travels in Syria, mentions, 
 
 * Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, vol. II. p. 371.
 
 2G8 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 finding a number of Jews at the same place, Tibe- 
 rias, animated witli tLe same feelings, many of 
 Polish origin ; the rest from Spain, Barbary, and 
 different parts of Syria. A few of them, he says, 
 find their way back to their native country, but 
 the greater number remain, and look forward to 
 the inestimable advantage of having their bones 
 laid in the Holy Land. The cemetery of the 
 Jews of Tiberias is on the declivity of the moun- 
 tain, about lialf an hour's walk from the town ; 
 where the tombs of their most renowned persons 
 are visited, much in the same manner as are the 
 sepulchres of ^Mussulman saints. I was informed 
 that a great Rabbi lay hurried there, with four- 
 teen thousand of his scholars around him.* 
 
 Sandys, who began his travels in 1610, relates, 
 that the Jews in Constantinople, at that time, 
 had the same veneration for the Holy Land as a 
 place of sepulture, which modern trayellers affirm 
 of them at the present day. He says of them, 
 that even after they have been buried there, they 
 wait till the " flesh is consumed, then dig up the 
 
 * Travels in Syria and the Holy Land, by the late J. 
 L. Burckhardt, quarto, p. 328.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 269 
 
 bones of those that are of their families ; whereof 
 whole boat-fulls not seklome do arive at Joppa, 
 to be conveyed and again interred at Jerusalem : 
 imagining, that it doth adde delight unto the soules 
 that did owe them, and that they shall have a 
 quicker dispatch in the general judgment/'* 
 
 Before taking leave of Mr Jowet's notices 
 concerning Jerusalem, we may congratulate our- 
 selves on the existence of a tnie church there, at 
 least on one SabhaiJi, however few and scanty 
 were the worshippers. Comj}ared to the loud 
 hosannahs of the many thou.-,ands of Israel, who 
 once worshipped under the " deep profound" of 
 its blue sky, how feeble the lispings of their 
 praise ; yet that Jesus Christ was with them, no 
 more admits of a doubt, than that " wherever 
 two or three are gathered together in my name I 
 am in the midst of them to bless them," admits 
 of any other interpretation than the gracious, 
 tiiough invisible presence of God in the assemblies 
 of the faithful. 
 
 Sunday^ Dece7nber 14^, 1823. — "In the morn- 
 
 " Relation of a Journey, begun A. D. 1610, to Egypt 
 and the Holy Land, by George Sandys, quarto, p. 146. 
 
 Z2
 
 270 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 ing," says IMr Jo\i^t, *' Mr Fisk, INTr Lewis, 
 Pappas Ysa Petros, and myself, united in divine 
 service in Italian. This is my last Sabbath in 
 
 the holy city. On this very spot did David 
 
 once delight in these Sabbatic hours ! But what 
 would he think, were his spirit to descend from 
 its eternal rest, to see his stronghold of Zion dis- 
 mantled, and his brethren, for whose peace he 
 prayed, broken in pieces by the oppressor ? Were 
 Solomon again te walk this earth, and view his 
 unrivalled temple s\ipplanted by the mosque of 
 Omar ; or could Isaiah know that his evangelical 
 raptures are still unrevealed to multitudes on his 
 holy hill of Zion, and that the watchmen who 
 should have kept their stand day and night upon 
 the walls of Jerusalem have long since held their 
 peace, and sunk into almost Pagan stupor ; or 
 could the first Apostles look round and ask in 
 this place, Who are they that have kept the faith? 
 what would be the emotions of their re-embodied 
 spirits ! We so greatly their inferiors, — not so 
 devout, nor fervent, nor conversant with divine 
 mysteries as they, — yet feel amazed, and utterly 
 fast down when we contemplate so many visible
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 271 
 
 marks of departed glory. If, however, the work 
 now beginning here be — as we would humbly 
 trust it is — right in principle, and the woikmen 
 right in heart, we must not despise the day of 
 small thinofs. Two ministers of the Church of 
 Enojand, one a missionary to the Jews, and ano- 
 ther to the Gentiles, and a minister from the dis- 
 tant shores of the New World, uniting in prayer 
 with a native minister of the gospel in Jerusalem, 
 form but a small assemblj'', yet such a congrega- 
 tion as I once never thought to see. May our 
 prayers for an increase of labourers be heard, and 
 accepted by the Lord of the Sabbath."* 
 
 The Jew in his native land, — if indeed Israel 
 may be said to have a land, — is the same at this 
 
 • The above circumstance recalls the conversation of 
 Woiff with the Samaritan Jew, Israel, Scrivano, to a Turk- 
 ish merchant at Jaffa. " The Lord does not consider the 
 number," said Israel ; " he considers those who love him, 
 and keep his commandments." And again, " We know 
 that when nations from afar shall come to inquire into our 
 state, the time will not be far off, — the time of the redemp- 
 tion,— the time of the arrival of the Messiah!" The 
 Lord multiply these happy signs of the times. 
 
 Scoltish Missmmry Register.
 
 272 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 day on the shores of the lake of Gennesaret, as the 
 children of the captivity were in tlie land of the As- 
 syrian, and on the banks of the Euphrates. The mis- 
 sionaries, as the guests of Rafaele Picciotto, a Jew 
 in Tiberias, were permitted to witness the scene 
 of liis household performing their evening prayers. 
 " About thirty persons," says Mr Jowet, *' came 
 irito the court, and united in repeating the service, 
 in conducting Avhich, Rabbi Samuel was tlie chief 
 leader. It was affecting at one part to see them 
 turning their faces towards Jerusalem, bowing 
 and lifting up their voices in fervent petitions. 
 It reminded us of Daniel's supplications when in 
 Babylon, who had his window open towards Je- 
 rusalem, and kneeled upon liis knees three times 
 a-day and prayed.'* (Dan. vi. 10.) 
 
 This same Jew^ happy doubtless in the tolera- 
 tion which permitted him to worship even with 
 his face towards Jemsalem, seems to have been 
 equally satisfied, nay, even to have exulted in the 
 petty and contemptible political immunities which 
 he also enjoyed from the protection of the Turk. 
 For having been formerly Consul at Aleppo, he 
 had procured, on his retuement to Tiberias, a
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 273 
 
 Firman from the Porte, whicli he exhibited to 
 these strangers, from the land of freedom, with a 
 degree of triumph that only excited their com- 
 passion. This Firman, which was intended to 
 guarantee his safety, and that of his family, in 
 Palestine, and secure for him the protection of 
 the several authorities under the Grand Seignior, 
 he displayed before the eyes of his English guests, 
 saying, while he kindled with a degree of anima- 
 tion, which proved that the feebleness of age had 
 not extinguished the love of life, * I wish you could 
 read Turkish, that you might understand my Fir- 
 man; it is so strong, it cuts like a sword." We could 
 not," adds Mr Jowet, " but feel compassion for 
 the man, who, living In this land of wrongs, clings 
 to such a document as his sole security against 
 extortions, oppressions, insults, and violence ; 
 which would otherwise be heaped upon him by 
 every Turkish inferior, wherever he might be. 
 They who breatlie the air of liberty, and walk 
 erect in open day, and at night retire to a home, 
 which however^ humble its dimensions, yet the 
 common parlance of their country denominates 
 their Castle, — 8uch persons can ill compreherad
 
 274 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 how, or why it is, that in Turkey tlie sole guar- 
 antee against the most unmerited imprisonments 
 and exactions, is a piece of parchment sealed with 
 the sitniet of the Grand Seignior ! Yet thus it 
 is.' 
 
 We may add to this account of the political 
 degradation of the Jew in his native land, the 
 following anecdote which was related to Mr 
 Jowet at Safet : " In the evening some of the 
 Jews called upon us ; one of them complained 
 most bitterly of the treatment wliich he had re- 
 ceived at the last festival of Suocoth ; he had 
 brought it indeed upon himself by having gone to 
 some excess in wine. A Turk laid to his charge 
 the crime of blaspheming the Mahomedan reli- 
 gion, when, without further witness or investiga- 
 tion, tlie governor ordered him to be punished ; 
 and he pwallowed, to use his own expression, five 
 hundred stripes of the bastinado. ' Ho mangiato 
 cinque cento bastonate' "* , 
 
 The followingj instance may be given as ano- I 
 ther specimen of the indignity to# which this poor 
 
 * IIo mangiato. — Literally, I have eaten.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 275 
 
 persecuted people are exposed, in the land over 
 which they once reigned in peace, even from Dan 
 unto Beersheba: " Travelling from Nazareth," says 
 Buckingham, " we met a party of Jews on asses 
 coming from Tiberias, to the great public market 
 at Sook-el-Khan, who conceiving me, from my 
 Turkish dress and white turban, to be a Maho- 
 medan, they all dismounted, and passed by us on 
 foot. These persecuted people are held in such 
 opprobrium here, that it is forbidden them to pass 
 a Mussulman mounted, while Christians are suf- 
 fered to do so either on mules or asses."* 
 
 These evils are not of one or two years' stand- 
 ing: Sandys, who visited Palestine in IGIO, two 
 hundred years before, in enumerating the popu- 
 lation of the Holy Land, after remarking that it is 
 for the most part inhabited by Moors and Arabi- 
 ans, those possessing the vallies, and these the 
 mountains, says, " Turkes there be few, but many 
 Greeks, with other Christians of all sects and 
 nations. Here be also some Jewes, yet inherit 
 they no part of the land, but in their owne coun- 
 
 * Buckingham's Travels, vol. II. p. 322.
 
 275 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 trie do live as aliens. A people scattered 
 throughout the whole world, and hated by those 
 amongst whom they live ; subject to all wrongs 
 and contumelies, which they support with an in- 
 vincible patience. jNIaiiy of them have 1 seen 
 abused, some of them beaten, yet never saw I 
 them \\ ith an angry c(mntenance."* 
 
 Having collected, for the infoiTnation of om* 
 young readers, the most interesting notices re- 
 specting the descendants of Abraham, which we 
 have found in the works of French and English 
 travellers, the English missionary, and the Scot- 
 tish pliysician, — for we conclude Dr Richardson is 
 our own countryman, from the intimate know- 
 ledge he discovers of his Bible, an accomplishment 
 common, we hope, to all Christians, but peculiar- 
 ly characteristic of l.;)mien from the north of the 
 Tweed, — we now proceed to describe the feelings 
 of a converted Jew in the land of liis fathers, and 
 fervently pray that many such may run to and fro 
 in the earth, and increase knowledge among their 
 brethren, until there shall no longer be occasion 
 
 • Sandy's Relation of a Journey, Sue. p. 146.
 
 JERUSALExM DESTROYED. 277 
 
 to say, Know the Lord, for all shall know him 
 from the least unto the greatest." 
 
 To shew the state of feeling in the heart of 
 this converted man, who seems to be an Israelite 
 indeed, we shall give one or two extracts from 
 his journal, expressive of his Christian experience, 
 and his desires to be confirmed in the faith. 
 
 " that the Lord may have mercy upon me, 
 and call unto me with the power of his Holy 
 Spirit, Joseph, my son ; Joseph, my son I Lord 
 help me, I beseech thee I Lord help me with the 
 light of thy countenance ! O ! that I may be- 
 come a Jew te'uly converted unto thee, like thy 
 servant Paul ! Out of the depth, O Lord, I call 
 
 unto thee I 1 have heard with mine ears, my 
 
 fathers have told, what works thou didst in their 
 days, in the times of old ! Thou art my king, O 
 God ! command deliverance for Jacob, and for 
 myself ! 
 
 *' Thy law is so beautiful, — thy word, thy cove- 
 nant is so beautiful, — make with me tliat new co- 
 venant, not according to the covenant that thou 
 madest with my fathers, in the day that tl\ou took- 
 eat them by the hand, to bring them out of the 
 
 A ft
 
 278 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 laiu! of Eg}'|it, but let iliis he thy coveuaiit with 
 
 me. put thy laxv in my inward part;*, and icrite it 
 in mv heart. ar.J be my God_. ."":;vioiir I and let 
 me he thy sor., that I may have my dehuiit iu 
 thee day and nii:hi !'" 
 
 This Christian Hebrevr. if we may so speak, 
 is a native of Bavaria,, wlio. bein^' convened from 
 Judaism, has devoted himself to tlie >acred la- 
 houi-s of a niissionary amoui: his Jewish brethren. 
 He has been twice in Eirypt. and twice in Jeru- 
 salem : from thence lie vi>iied the Jews at Ba.ir- 
 dad. wliere tlie prince of the captivity still re- 
 sides : and now he is at Bossorah in Persia. He 
 appears xo be the Henry Alarryn of tlie Jews. — 
 fired wiih the same spirit. — animated by the same 
 passionate devotion to the same sacred cause, and 
 possessed of the same indomitable courage and 
 superhuman eneriiy. •• A man who. at Home, 
 calls tt;e pope ' tlie dust of the earth," and tells 
 the Jews at Jerusalem that • the Gemara is a 
 lie." — who pa.-ses his (.lays in disputation,, and his 
 nidits in di^Ling the Talmud. — wlio makes or 
 finds a friend alike in the persecutor of his former 
 or present faidij— who can conciliate a pacha, or
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 279 
 
 confute a patriarch, — who travels without a guide, 
 speaks without au interpretor. — can live without 
 food, and pay without money, — foi^ving" all the 
 insults he meets with, and forgetting all the tiat- 
 tery he receives, — who kaou's little of worldly 
 conduct, and y^t accommodates him.-elf lo all 
 men, without giving offence to any ; — sucli a man, 
 — and such and more is Wolff," *— may be con- 
 sidered as raised up by divine Providence for 
 purposes, not only of eminent service, but of emi- 
 nent usefulness to the Jewish nation. 
 
 " By this man," adds IMr Way, '• whom no 
 school hath tau^dit, whom no colleiT could hold, 
 is the v>'ay of the Judean wilderness preparing ; 
 thus is Providence shewmg the nothingness of 
 the wisdom of the vn^e, and bringing to nought 
 the understandine of the prudent." 
 
 ]Mr Wolff having arrived at Jerusalem, as an 
 agent of the Jews' Society in London, had frequent 
 interviews there with his brethren according to 
 the fle>h. Sitting at dinner one day with some 
 English gentlemen wlio were his visitors, Rabbi 
 
 • Letter of the Rev. Lewi* Wav, from Palestine.
 
 280 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 Mose Locot, one of the divines of the Talmudist 
 Jews at Jerusalem, a Pharisee, entered tlie room, 
 and after some conversation, Wolff asked him if 
 he had read the Law of Moses and the Prophets? 
 The Rabbi answered, " Yes ; the name of the 
 Lord he blessed for it." After reading the pro- 
 phet Jeremiah together, they conversed about 
 the present state of Jerusalem ; Mose observed, 
 " JeiTisalem is a holy city, it has been once the 
 residence of the Holy One, blessed be he ; but 
 Jeremiah has given a true picture of its present 
 
 state." Wolff interrupted him, and said, *' How 
 
 doth the city sit solitary that was full of people ?" 
 
 ?»Iose interrupted him with tears, and said, 
 
 ** How is she become a widow I" 
 
 Wolff rejoined, " She that was great among 
 the nations, and princess among the provinces, 
 how is she become tributary I" 
 
 The Rabbi, weeping, exclaimed, " Judah is 
 gone into captivity because of affliction ; the ways 
 of Zion do mourn : O Lord, though our iniquities 
 testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake ; 
 for our backslidingg are many, we have sinned 
 against thee !"
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 281 
 
 I turned to my guests, says WoliF, and said, 
 " Friends, witness the tears of tins Jew on ac- 
 count of the destiiiction of Jerusalem." 
 
 After praying with an Armenian priest, WoliF 
 exclaims, " O that I could so kr.eei down to prayer 
 with one of my bretliren according to the flesh, 
 and pray with Iiim to that Saviour who wept for 
 tiiat very city where I am now — who wept for 
 Jerusalem !" 
 
 Mr Wolff was vehemently solicited by some of 
 the Jews at Jerusalem to return to Judaism, and 
 burn the New Testament, — to let iiis beard grow, 
 — not to eat swine's flesh, — and to marry a Jewess. 
 In the spirit of Paul he replied, " Dear friends, 
 you l:now that I love the Jews, but I am now 
 alone with y;;u, and no Clsrl-^tian does hear us ; 
 I declare, even I'cfore you, that I believe Jesus 
 of Nt^zareth is the true ?iless;ah I I may accom- 
 Kiodate myself to y(m in many things, just as St. 
 Paid and Peter did. I am willing to let my 
 beard grow, — to wash my hands before I eat, — 
 yea, even to peiiurm all those prayers of the Jews 
 which are agreeing with Moses and the Prophets; 
 A a 2
 
 S82 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 but I must always tell you, that I do not believe 
 I shall be justilied before God for performing 
 certain prayers, nor by washing; my hands, but by 
 faith in the Messiah, who is Jesus of jSazareth: 
 upon him we must look whom we have pierced, 
 and mourn,—' And he believed in the Lord, and 
 he counted it to him for rigb.teousness.' I be- 
 lieve in Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour." 
 
 Bathsheba, the wife of Rabbi Solomon, said, 
 she would give him the books of the Rabbies to 
 read, and he would be convinced. He replied, 
 that he would read them with pleasure, so far aa 
 they are agreed with INIoses and the Prophets ; 
 but added, " Christ Jesus is too deeply in my 
 heart, no book can take him out of me. Read 
 the New Testament, which I will give you, and 
 you will be persuaded that Christ has commanded 
 us to do nothing against the Prophets." 
 
 Afterwards they went to dinner, and IVIr Wolff 
 willing, like St. Paul, to be all things to all men, 
 consented to wash his hands before eating ; but 
 when asked to perform the prayer that accompa- 
 nied that ceremony, he declined doing it, saying, 
 I cannot recite tliat prayer, for tlie Lord has not
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 285 
 
 given us that commandment, it is neither to be 
 found in Moses, nor in the Prophets." 
 
 On being asked to perform the prayer common 
 at tlie breaking of bread, he did 80, saying, with 
 a loud voice, " Blessed be thou, O Lord, our 
 God, King of the worlds, who hast brought forth 
 the bread from the earth." 
 
 After dinner was over, he begged permission 
 to teach them a prayer which he often said at 
 home ; upon wbich he repeated, in Hebrew, 
 " Our Father which art in heaven ; hallowed be 
 thy name," &c. All the Jews present, exclaim- 
 ed, " Exceedingly fine ! exceedingly beautiful !" 
 But when told it was taken from the New Testa- 
 ment, they were silent. 
 
 Being reproached and upbraided on account of 
 his renouncing Judaism, he meekly replied, " I 
 have not renounced Moses and the Prophets, but 
 the tradition of the elders only ; I believe in the 
 Messiah of Israel, in Jesus of Nazareth I" 
 
 Oh ! that many of the children of Israel were 
 thus converted, then would " ten men out of all 
 languages of the nations take hold of him that is
 
 284 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 a Jew, saying, We will go with you ; for we have 
 heard that God is with you." Zech. viii. 23. 
 
 It remains now to say a few words in regard 
 to divine prophecy and its fulfilment, in the per- 
 son of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 as well as to point out a few promises, from the 
 many thousands that might be produced, to shew 
 that the Jews are still " beloved for the father's 
 sake," and that there is laid up for their nation and 
 people, even in this world, such glorious things as 
 cannot enter into the heart of man to conceive. 
 
 The first propliecy that might be produced 
 here, has already been hinted at in the introduc- 
 tion to this volume, viz. that delivered by Jacob 
 wlien he blessed his c.iiildren around him, " The 
 sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law- 
 giver from between his feet, until Siiiloh come, 
 and unto him shall the gathering of the people 
 be." Shiloh is by the Jews themselves acknow- 
 ledged to be the jNIessiah ; and in their targums, 
 — books of great authority among the Jews, — 
 Ben Uzziel renders this passage, " Until the time 
 wherein the King IMessiah shall come," — and
 
 JEIIUSAI^EM DESTROYED. 285 
 
 Onkelos, " Until the Messiah shall come, whose 
 is the kingdom :" and in the targum of Jerusa- 
 lem it is thus explained, " Kings shall not cease 
 from the house of Judah, nor doctors that teach 
 the law to his children's children, until the time 
 that the King Messiah do come, whose the king- 
 dom is ; and all the nations of the earth shall he 
 subject to him." * 
 
 That the sceptre and lawgiver are both de- 
 parted from Judah, we have sufficiently proved 
 in the melancholy history already related, both 
 by Josephus the Jew, and by the various citations 
 we have made from different authors in the course 
 of our concluding chapters. To say more on this 
 head would therefore be superfluous, unless it 
 were to augment the strength of the argument by 
 bringing in the testimony of the Jewish rabbins 
 themselves, to set their own seal to this truth. 
 Kimchi, on Hosea, thus remarks : " These are 
 the days of captivity wherein we have neither 
 
 • See '• Two Letters from a Merchant in London to kit 
 Friend in Amsterdam^'''' whose train of argument is follow- 
 ed in these observations.
 
 2S6 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 king- nor priest of Israel, but we are in the power 
 of the Gentiles, and under the power of their 
 kings and princes." And Abarbenel, on Isaiah, 
 observes, " That it is a great part of their misery 
 in their captivity, that they have neither kingdom, 
 nor rule, nor sceptre of judgment :" * which ac- 
 knowledgment is equivalent to declaring, that the 
 sceptic has departed from Judah, and that no 
 lawgiver now mles in Israel. 
 
 The next proof which might be produced from 
 prophecy, is that regarding the state of the second 
 temple : " Who is left among you that saw this 
 house in her first glory ? and how do you see it 
 now ? Is it not in your eyes in compai-ison of it as 
 notliing ?" Yet again the same prophet exclaims, 
 *' The glory of this latter house shall be greater 
 than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts : and 
 in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of 
 hosts." To this very temple another of the pro- 
 phets declares, Messiah should come suddenly ; 
 and surely by his personal and visible presence 
 alone ^'as it made to transcend the glory of the 
 
 • ibid, page 34.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 287 
 
 first. It has indeed been argued that Herod the 
 Great magnificently adorned the temple, long pos- 
 terior to the time of Haggai's declaration ; but 
 all the wealth of Herod would not have sufficed 
 to have maintained the veiy men who were 
 employed by Solomon in putting together the 
 materials which David, his father, had collected 
 for the building of the first.* Where then would 
 he have found the iron in abundance, — the brass 
 in abundance without weight, — the cedar-trees in 
 abundance ? — the hundred thousand talents of gold 
 — the tliousand thousand talents of silver ? — the 
 timber and the stone ? For " of the gold, the 
 silver, and the brass, and the iron," saith David, 
 *' there is no number ;" and thou mayest add 
 thereto, " for the house that is to be builded for 
 the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame 
 and of glory throughout all countries." \ How 
 could the second house approach the splendour of 
 the first, or where was there ever on earth any 
 thing to compare with this superb and unrivalled 
 
 * The number of workmen employed by Solomon ex- 
 ceeded three hundred and thirty thousand. 
 -j- 1 Chron. chap. xxii.
 
 288 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 edifice ? Tlie glory of the second temple there- 
 fore could be superior to that of the first, only by 
 the manifested glory of Him who was " greater 
 than the temple :" and if He came not to that 
 temple, he cometh not at all ; for, according to 
 his own prediction, as we have already demon- 
 strated, " not one stone is left upon another." 
 
 The next proof is tliat of the lineage and de- 
 scent of Christ, as traced by the prophets from 
 Ahraliam to the tribe of Judali, and from the 
 tribe of Judah specifically to the house of 
 David. This also was accomplished in the 
 birth of IMessiah, as is proved at length by the 
 Evangelists, both as regards Mary and Joseph. 
 But if the unbelieving Jew will still be faithless 
 and unwilling to lend his ear and his heart to this 
 assertion, how will he now ascertain the genea- 
 logy of any prince who may arise for his deliver- 
 ance, seeing that all ability to recognise him by 
 this prediction is utterly and irremediably lost 
 since their dispersion ? * 
 
 • In Wolff's interview with the high priest at Bagdad, 
 where the Prince of the captivity was present, the follow- 
 ing conversation took place : —
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 289 
 
 We need hardly pause upon those other two 
 scriptures, " the seed of the woman," and the 
 " vh'gin's son ;" both were fulfilled in the birth of 
 the holy child Jesus, — while the place of his na- 
 tivity was not njore distinctly marked out by 
 the prophet Micah, than it was authenticated by 
 the Jewish records, and by the archives of the 
 Roman empire. 
 
 I see, said Wolff, that you have here a worthy prince of 
 the captivity. To which the high priest replied. We must 
 have some prince, for it is written, " The sceptre shall not 
 depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, 
 until Shiloh come." As the prince of the captivity was 
 present, delicacy on my part was necessary, says Wolff, I 
 therefore confined myself to the three following questions, 
 and after they had been answered unsatisfactorily, I turned 
 the conversation to another subject. 
 
 Has the prince of the captivity, in whose company I 
 have the honour to be, royal power ? 
 
 May he enact laws ? 
 
 Is he of the tribe of Judah ? 
 
 No, said the high priest, he has no royal power, he is a 
 prince of the captivity ; he has however a little, little, little 
 power ; he cannot enact laws, and we do no know our 
 tribes. 
 
 IVoff's Journal. Scottish Miss. Res- vol. VL 
 S b
 
 290 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 We miglit go on to prove that Jesus of Nazar- 
 eth was tlie Messiah by his threefold offices, 
 namely, that he was a king, though his kingdom 
 was spiiitnal, and " not of tins world ;" that he 
 was " a prophet like unto IMoses," but as much 
 excelled the type in this respect, as, in all other 
 things, he hath the pre-eminence ;" for he reveal- 
 ed the mind and will of God, in revealing the 
 mystery of the Mosaical ordinances and institu- 
 tions, shewing the natui-e, use, and end of all that 
 was hidden even from the eyes and understand- 
 ings of the Jewish nation, though they had been 
 familiar with the letter and ceremonial of their 
 ritual worship for many ages. And if we speak 
 of him as a priest, " he offered up himself to 
 God and the Father, a sacrifice of a sweet smel- 
 ling savour ; by which offering he hath perfected 
 for ever them that are sanctified, and made re- 
 conciliation for their sins. He, by his own blood, 
 — of wliich the blood of bulls and goats were but 
 the types, — is entered into the holy place, that is, 
 into heaven itself, where he appears in the pre- 
 sence of God for us." 
 
 Tlie sufferings and humiliation of our blessed
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 291 
 
 Lord, no less clearly predicted, than the glory of 
 his person, have likewise all been fulfilled in 
 Jesus of Nazareth ; and if our beloved elder bro- 
 ther would but ponder tlie writings of the Evan- 
 gelists, as he reads Moses and the Prophets, he 
 would discover that all which Is written therein 
 has been accomplished in our Messiah. Betray- 
 ed by his friend, — forsaken of all, — sold for thirty 
 pieces of silver, — exposed to shame and buffet- 
 tings, — cut off, but not for himself, — lifted up up- 
 on the cross, even as Moses lifted up the seipeut 
 in the wilderness, and for the healing of the na- 
 tions, — his garments parted among the Gentile 
 soldiers, who pierced his hands and his feet, — 
 despised and rejected of men, — forsaken of God I 
 Is not this the Christ, the Son of the blessed ? or 
 if one proof more be wanting, is it not found In 
 the unbelief of the Jews : " Who hath believed 
 our report ?" 
 
 From these ample testimonies of the identity 
 of Jesus of Nazareth with the P^Iessiah of the 
 Scriptures, we might pr- '-eed to his resurrection 
 and exaltation ; but, '• if they believe not Moses 
 and the prophets, neither will they believe though 
 one rose from the dead."
 
 292 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 With regard to the blessings which remain iil 
 store for the Jews, they seem to be, like the first 
 promise to Abraham respecting his posterity, 
 " so many as tlie stars of the sky in multitude, 
 and as the sand wliich is by the sea shore inuu 
 merable." (Heb. xi. 12.) Though scattered, 
 cast out, dispersed, and persecuted, they will yet 
 be sought out, and not forsaken. And, however 
 commentators may differ in their interpretation 
 of the manner in which they will be brought in 
 again, — whether by a national and miraculous 
 conversion, similar to their Exodus from Egypt, 
 — or whether by tlie instrumentality of the writ- 
 ten word, diffused throughout the world with a 
 rapidity hitherto unexampled, through the me- 
 dium of innumerable languages, resembling the 
 preaching of the apostles on the day of Pente- 
 cost, — or whether, by tlie destruction of their 
 enemies, and the enemies of the church of Christ, 
 in the great day of God Almighty at Armaged- 
 don,* Rev. xvi. 14, 16, — all seem to be of opi- 
 nion that they will be restored to the land of their 
 fathers, and that every impediment will be re- 
 
 • Cunninghamc on the Apocalypse,
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 293 
 
 moved to make way for those kings of the east to 
 repossess their own territory in Jiidea. To prove 
 this, a few quotations shall suffice : — " In that 
 day Vvdil I make the governors of Judah like a 
 hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch 
 of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the 
 people round ahout, on the right hand, and on 
 the left : and Jerusalem shall he inhabited again 
 in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The Lord 
 also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the 
 glory of the house of David, and the gloiy of the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem, do not magnify them- 
 selves against Judah. Li that day shall the Lord 
 defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem : and he that 
 is feeble among them at that day shall Lo as Da- 
 vid ; and the house of David shall be as God, as 
 the angel of the Lord before them." Zech. xii. 
 G— 8. 
 
 " These verses confirm the supposition that 
 the grand accomplishment of this prophecy is yet 
 future, and that it relates to the times when the 
 Jews shall be converted and restored to their own 
 land. Then their governors will be like a fire 
 upon a hearth, that kindles the wood laid upon 
 
 Bb2
 
 294 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 it ; or like a torch put into a sheaf, as they will 
 consume all those who oppose their re-establish- 
 ment in their oion land. And Jerusalem rcill be 
 rebuilt in its ancient situation, to be their habita^ 
 lion or capital city. At the time predicted, the 
 Lord will save the tents of Judah first. The con- 
 version of the nation will begin among the more 
 obscure Jews, and not among their leaders, who 
 occupy the rank of the house of David, that these 
 may not glory over their infmors, as if the change 
 had been effected by their power, sagacity, or 
 influence, or assume any improper ascendancy 
 over them ; or inferior persons, from whom less 
 is expected, will be first honoured, as instruments 
 of their deliverance and victories. At the same 
 time, even the feeblest will resemble David in 
 courage, faith, and grace, and be as eminent in 
 every thing good, as that man after God's own 
 heart had been : whilst the house of David, or 
 their most eminent persons, will be as God, even 
 as the angel of the Lord, or Christ, to go before 
 them and set them an example." * 
 
 " Scott on Ztchariah.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 295 
 
 The same commentator, on Jeremiah xxxi. 7, 
 and some other passages In the same eminently 
 beautiful chapter, repeats the expression, " their 
 own land," more than once ; and It Is not less 
 delightful to a Christian to bring forward such 
 good news, than It must be to a Jew to hear 
 them. 
 
 " For thus saith the Lord, sing with gladness 
 for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the na- 
 tions : publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, 
 save thy people the remnant of Israel I" 
 
 " The most powerful, renowned, and civilized 
 nations on earth at this day, professing Christia- 
 nity, praising God for his mercies to his ancient 
 people, and praying for the conversion and sal- 
 vation of the Jews, forms a striking accomplish- 
 ment of this prophecy : But the re-establishment 
 of Judah and Israel In their own land are espe- 
 cially foretold." And on the eighth and ninth 
 verses of the same chapter, " There Is abundant 
 reason to conclude, that they predict a future ga- 
 thering of the Israelites to Christ, and into their 
 own land, from all the quarters of the globe." 
 And, again, his notes on the fifteenth, sixteenth,
 
 296 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 and seventeenth verses of the same chapter, the 
 following beautiful explication is given of Rachel 
 weeping for her children, in addition to the usual 
 comments on the words, as they stand connected 
 with Herod "s murder of the innocents. 
 
 " The sepulchre of Rachel was between Ra- 
 mah and Bethlehem ; and she is here poetically 
 introduced as rising from her gi'ave, looking 
 around, seeing none of her offspring, and incon- 
 solable in her soitow, supposing tliem utterly ex- 
 tirpated. The Lord here addresses her, and calls 
 on her to refrain from weeping ; for her sorrow 
 and labour, in bearing and brmging up her children, 
 should not be lost ; as those who were left and 
 scattered among their enemies would come again 
 to tJieir own land"^ 
 
 And, agam, on Ezekiel, xxxvii. 25, — " And 
 they shall dwell in the land that I have given un- 
 to Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have 
 dwelt ; and they shall dwell therein, even they 
 and their children, and their childi-en's children 
 for ever ; and my servant David shall he their 
 prince for ever." 
 
 ■ Scott on Jeremiah xxxi.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 297 
 
 " This cannot possibly be interpreted of any 
 events that took place before the coming of 
 Christ ; and, after his coming, the Jews were soon 
 driven from their own land, and have never re- 
 gained possession of it. Yet the language is so 
 expressive, that it seems plainly to mean, that the 
 Jews should divell in Canaan under the rule of 
 Christ, from the time intended, through all gene- 
 rations to the end of tlie world." 
 
 And of the prophecies, in the thirty-eighth and 
 thirty-ninth of Ezekiel, the following explication 
 is given by Lowth :— " The prophecy contained 
 in these chapters, without question, relates to the 
 latter ages of the world, when the whole Iiouse of 
 Israel shall return into their own land. Magog 
 was the son of Japheth, from whence the Scy- 
 thians are generally supposed to be derived. The 
 Mogul Tartars are still called so. By Gog and 
 Magog may most probably here be meant the 
 Turks. The land of Canaan has been, for several 
 years, in the possession of the Turks. The peo- 
 ple here called Gog, and their allies, will attempt 
 to recover it again out of the hand of the Jews. 
 This may probably occasion the war and victory
 
 298 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 here spoken, of. The Septuagint takes the word 
 JRosh, commonly translated chief, for a proper 
 name ; so they render the sentence thus : ' the 
 prince of Rosh, Meshecli and Tubal.' Rosh, 
 taken as a proper name, signifies those inhabitants 
 of Scythia, from whence the Russians derive their 
 name and original." * 
 
 And on Amos ix. 14 and 15, the same expec- 
 tation of the restoration of the Jews to their own 
 land is expressed by Lowth, Newcome, Scott, &c. 
 *' These verses ought to be understood of the 
 happy state of the millenium, which may be sup- 
 posed to begin after the Jews are restored to tlieir 
 country.'' f 
 
 " This part of the prophecy will receive its 
 completion, on the future restoration of the Jews 
 to tJieir land.'' 4: 
 
 " This cannot be interpreted of the return of the 
 Jews from the Babylonish captivity; for they 
 were afterwards driven out of their land by the 
 Romans, and continue excluded from it to this 
 day : So that the future conversion of the Jews, 
 
 * Lowth. f Ibid. X Bishop Newcome.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 299 
 
 and their restoration to their oivn land, and the 
 security and felicity of the cJiurch in times to 
 come, must be here predicted."* 
 
 " Since this prediction was delivered (Mat. xvi. 
 28.), the Jews have been led away captive by 
 the Romans, and to this present liour continue 
 dispersed over the face of the whole earth. Je- 
 rusalem has never ceased to be trodden down of 
 the Gentiles ; being successively occupied by the 
 Romans, the Persians, the Saracens, the Turks of 
 the Seljuccian race, the Egyptian caliplis, the 
 Latin Christians, the Egyptian caliphs a second 
 time, the Mamelukes, and the Turks of the Otto- 
 man race. These last are its present masters. 
 But, when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, 
 when the 1260 years shall have expired, it will 
 begin to be delivered out of tlieir hands, and 
 cease to be trodden down ; and at length, after all 
 the political changes which it has witnessed, it will 
 once more revert to its ancient possessors, tJie 
 children of Judah. Thus are the Jews them- 
 selves, through the whole period both of their 
 
 Scott.
 
 SOO JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 dispersion and restoration, a standing evidence of 
 the divine mission of Him whom they refuse ta 
 acknowledge as the promised Messiah." * 
 
 But the accomplisl)ment of prophecy is a sub- 
 ject far too deep and mysterious for our contem- 
 plation, it is sufficient for us to believe and adore 
 the wisdom that predicts, and the goodness that 
 will fidfil it ; of this however we may be persuad- 
 ed, that Judali and Israel shall be saved, that they 
 will be restored to the land of their fathers, which 
 hath thus, a second time, become the land of pro- 
 mise ; and that " Old me^i and old women shall 
 yet dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man 
 with his staff in his hand for very age ; and that 
 the streets of the city shall be full of boys and 
 girls, playing in the streets thereof." f Then 
 shall they call them, " The holy people ; the re- 
 deemed of the Lord,— Sought out, — A city not 
 forsaken."^: 
 
 Will the Lord tlien indeed restore Judah and 
 Israel to their own land ? Hath he said it, and 
 \jill he not do it ? By what means, or by whose 
 
 • Faber, vol. II. p. 326. f Zech. viii. 4, 5. 
 
 S ls:i. hii. 12.
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. SOI 
 
 instrumentality shall these gracious promises be 
 accomplished ? To this we can give no reply. 
 But if the Lord hath said, " all they that devour 
 thee shall be devoured ; all thine adversaries shall 
 go into captivity, and they that spoil thee shall 
 be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give 
 for a prey," — it becomes us to take heed how we 
 act towards them, and how we add to the grief of 
 those whom the Lord hath wounded. 
 
 Jehovah hath made " a full end" of all the na- 
 tions who oppressed his people in the earlier ages 
 of their history, and we ask in vain where is the 
 Assyrian, — where is the Chaldean, — where is the 
 Syrian, the Egyptian, the Mede, — where is the 
 Roman that once devoured, spoiled, preyed upon 
 Judah ? Their very names are extinct from the 
 face of the earth, and their nations have been ab- 
 sorbed in the powerful monarchies which con- 
 quered or succeeded them : While the Jews, 
 after all the oppressions, cruelties, contumelies, 
 and calumnies, of which they have been the 
 objects, are still, by a miraculous interposition of 
 Providence, — like the bush in Horeb burning 
 yet unconsumed,— a distinct people unto this 
 very day. Nineveh, that great city, wherein.
 
 302 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 besides its multitudinous population, were six 
 score thousand infants, or persons who could not 
 discern between their rij^ht hand and their left,— 
 where is she ? " She is empty, and void, and 
 
 waste." Babylon, witli her temples, her palaces, 
 
 her gardens, her hundred gates, and all her splen- 
 dour, —where is she ? or what is she ? A pool for 
 the bittern, and a cage of every unclean and liate- 
 
 ful bird I And Egypt, with her monuments of 
 
 art, her fallen colunms, and broken entablatures, 
 covered with a language whicli no man has been 
 able to interpret for thousands of years, — what is 
 she ? Except on the borders of her river, a de- 
 sert of sand, inhabited by a people so ignorant, 
 that the poorest peasant in our own country is 
 
 more learned than her imperious pacha ! The 
 
 Macedonian, the Syrian, and the Roman, have 
 equally disappeared from the earth ; but the Jew 
 is the same, — in visage, in liabits, in faith, — as in 
 the days of liis fatliers. And why ? because God 
 hath been pleased to preserve liim, both for jus- 
 tice and for mercy. If natural c^iuses had alone 
 operated in swallowing up all other dpiasties and 
 kingdoms, how comes it that the Jews, suffering* 
 evils so much greater than other nations, have not
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 303 
 
 also been destroyed ? Had natural cgjises alone 
 opeiated, they must long since have been exter- 
 minaled and blotted out, with the most complete 
 erasure, from theii* place among the nations. 
 But the Lord has been mindful of Jacob even in 
 his misery : " I have scattered thee, yot will I 
 not make a full end of thee. Behold I will bring 
 again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have 
 mercy on his dwelling places ; the city shall be 
 builded on her own heap, and the palace shall re- 
 main after the manner thereof." 
 
 For her iniquity has Judah thus been scatter- 
 ed — for her tremendous guilt in crucifying the 
 Lord of glory I The avenger of blood has pur- 
 sued the deicide nation to the ends of the earth, 
 and they have found in the wide universe no city 
 of refuge. But the intercession of Him, who 
 never " asked" without " receiving," will yet 
 prevail for the remission of their sins ; and, 
 though his petition on the cr^ss has been uttered 
 and unanswered for eighteen hundred years, it 
 ■will not be deferred for ever. " Father, forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do," will yet 
 receive its full acceptance and accomplislnnent, 
 whenever, iu the revolution of a^es, the time to
 
 304 jerusale:^! destroyed. 
 
 favour Zion, yea, the set time, is come : " for 
 lie that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep 
 liini as a shepherd doth his flock." — " Yea, 1 will 
 rejoice over them, to do them good ; and I will 
 T»]ant tliem in this land assuredly, with my whole 
 heart, and with my Avhole soul !" The children 
 of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their 
 God, and David their king ; and, while the.y look 
 on him whom they liave pierced and inoum, they 
 tihall also rejoice with joy unspealvable and full of 
 glory I 
 
 In conclusion, let me ask the Christian reader, 
 if he owes nothing to the Jew — nothing to the 
 expatriated, persecuted Hebrew, that should im- 
 pel him to use such means in his favour, as may, 
 by the blessing of Jehovah, lead to his conver- 
 sion, and to his restoration to the promised land. 
 
 Christian, do you know any thing of God ? 
 
 Vrho instructed you ? Vv'ho revealed to you the six 
 days' work of Jehovah, when he created this beau- 
 liful world, and iinished tlie earth, and the hea- 
 vens, and all the host of them ? Was it not a 
 Hebrew ? — Who told you of the sweet rest of the 
 Sabbath, on wliich you have so often ceased from 
 toil, and paused from care and anguish ? Was it
 
 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 305 
 
 not a Hebrew ? — Who detailed to you the history 
 of all the loving kindnesses of the Lord to his 
 diosen people, amid their oppressions in Egypt ? 
 all his wonders when he led them through the 
 wild and trackless v/ilderness ? Who told you 
 that the name of the Lord was, like his benignant 
 nature, The Lord God, merciful and gracious ? 
 WliO revealed to you the character and impress 
 of his untainted purity in the moral statutes of 
 his law ? Was it not a Hebrew ? — Who predict- 
 ed tlie birth of Emmanuel, and his love to the 
 nations of the Gentiles ? Was it not a Jew ? — 
 Who related to you the birth of Christ — the suf- 
 ferings of the man of soirovvs — his labours— his 
 miracles of mercy — his ])ity and his love — his 
 agony — his crucifixion— his ]-esurrection ? Was 
 it not a Jew ? — What knowledge have you of the 
 true God— of the Savioui — of that light of the 
 Gentiles, and glory of Israel, which you have not 
 d;*rive(l from the Hebi*ew lawgiver — from the 
 J * wish pl•opl)^3ts — Jewish kings — Jewish evan- 
 gelists, and Jt wish apostles ? Do you then owe 
 nothing to the Jews in return ? If pity, if grati- 
 tude, if piety, do not compel you to put forth 
 your endeavours in their behalf, will you venture
 
 306 JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 
 
 also to resist the demands of justice ? Be that 
 far from you. Give tliem your effectual fervent 
 prayer, — give them of your gold and silver, — give 
 them your precious Testament, in the language 
 
 of their fathers. Christian, you have much to 
 
 give, and are they not poor indeed who lack your 
 aid ? and is there not a Hehrew— is there not a 
 Wolff ready to receive your hounty, and to carry 
 up your alms even to Jerusalem ? O, then, defer 
 not the sweet work of mercy ! And, as you hope 
 to see Ahraham, and Isaac, and Jacoh, in the 
 kingdom of heaven, ahew pity and kindness to 
 their posterity on eartli I 
 
 Leitii : 
 
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