cunningly conceal his suspicion: and while he was inwardly ready to die for fear, he put on a forced boldness of countenance. Nor could he now flee any whither; nor had he any way of emerging out of the difficulties which encompassed him. Nor indeed had he even there any certain intelligence of the affairs of the royal family; by reason of the threats the king had given out. Yet had he some small hopes of better tidings. For perhaps nothing had been discovered: or, if any discovery had been made, perhaps he should be able to clear himself by impudence, and artful tricks; which were the only things he relied upon for his deliverance.

With these hopes, therefore, he solaced himself, till he came to the palace; without any friends with him. For these were affronted, and shut out at the first gate. Now Varus, the president of Syria, happened to be in the palace at this juncture. So Antipater went in to his father: and putting on a bold face, he came near to salute him. But Herod stretched out his hands, and turned his head away from him, and cried out, "Even this is an indication of a parricide, to be desirous to get me into his arms, when he is under such heinous accusations. God confound thee, thou vile wretch. Do not touch me, till thou hast cleared thyself of those crimes that are charged upon thee. I appoint thee a court where thou art to be judged; and this Varus, who is very seasonably here, to be thy judge. Get thy defence ready, therefore, against to-morrow; for I give thee so much time to prepare subtle excuses for thyself." And as Antipater was so confounded that he was able to make no answer to this charge, he went away: but his mother and wife came to him, and told him of all the evidence they had gotten against him. Hereupon he recollected himself, and considered what defence he should make against the accusations.

CHAP. XXXII.

ANTIPATER IS ACCUSED BEFORE VARUS, AND CONVICTED BY THE STRONGEST EVIDENCE.-HEROD PUTS OFF HIS PUNISHMENT TILL HE SHOULD BE RECOVERED; AND IN THE MEAN TIME ALTERS HIS WILL.

THE day following the king assembled a court of his kinsmen and friends; and called in Antipater's friends also. Herod himself, and Varus, were the presidents: and all the witnesses were ordered to be brought in. Among these were some of the domestics of Antipater's mother, who had but a little while before been caught; as they were carrying the following letter from her to her son :-" Since all those things have been already discovered by thy father, do not thou come to him, unless thou canst procure some assistance from Cæsar." When this and the other witnesses were introduced, Antipater came in and falling on his face before his father's feet, he said, "Father, I beseech thee do not condemn me beforehand: but let thy ears be unbiassed; and attend to my defence. For if thou wilt give me leave I will demonstrate that I am innocent."

Hereupon Herod cried out to him to hold his peace, and spake thus to Varus: "I cannot but think that thou, Varus, and every other upright judge, will determine that Antipater is a vile wretch. I am also afraid that thou wilt abhor my ill fortune, and judge me also worthy of all sorts of calamity, for begetting such children. Yet I ought rather to be pitied; who have been so affectionate a father to such wretched sons. For when I had settled the kingdom on my former sons, even when they were young; and when, besides the charges of their education at Rome, I had made them the friends of Cæsar, and made them envied by other kings, I found them plotting against me. These have been put to death; and that in a great measure for the sake of Antipater. For as he was then young, and appointed to be my successor, I took care chiefly to secure him from danger. But this profligate wild beast, when he had been over and above satiated with that patience which I showed him, he

made use of that abundance I had given him against myself. For I seemed to him to live too long; and he was uneasy at the old age I was arrived at. Nor could he stay any longer; but would be a king by parricide. And justly an I served by him for bringing him back out of the country to court, when he was of no esteem before: and for thrusting out those sons of mine that were born of the queen; and for making him a successor to my dominions. I confess to thee, O Varus, the great folly I was guilty of. For I provoked those sons of mine to act against me; and cut off their just expectations for the sake of Antipater. And indeed what kindness did I do to them, that could equal what I have done to Antipater? to whom I have, in a manner, yielded up my royal authority, while I am alive; and whom I have openly named for my successor to my dominions in my testament; and given him a yearly revenue of fifty talents; and supplied him with money to an extravagant degree out of my own revenue and when he was lately about to sail to Rome, I gave hini three hundred talents; and recommended him, and him alone of all my children, to Cæsar, as his father's deliverer. Now what crimes were those other sons of mine guilty of like these of Antipater's? And what evidence was there brought against them so strong as there is to demonstrate this son to have plotted against me? Yet does this parricide presume to speak for himself, and hopes to obscure the truth by his cunning tricks. Thou, O Varus, must guard thyself against him. For I know the wild beast, and I foresee how plausibly he will talk, and his counterfeit lamentation.* This was he

when he was

This was he any one should

who exhorted me to have a care of Alexander, alive, and not to entrust my person with all men! who came to my very bed, and looked about lest lay snares for me! This was he who took care of my sleep, and secured me from any fear of danger; who comforted me under the trouble I was in upon the slaughter of my sons; and

* An allusion of this kind, so justly descriptive of a ferocious and ungovernable temper, migh be more safely made, than a direct assertion. It was not unusual to describe a man by the name of that beast to whom he assimilated himself by some particular evil quality. Thus one might be called a fox, another a lion, a third a tiger. B.

looked to see what affection my surviving brethren bore me! This was my protector, and the guardian of my body! And when I call to mind, O Varus, his craftiness upon every occasion, and his art of dissembling, I can hardly believe that I am still alive; and I wonder how I have escaped such a deep plot of mischief. However, since some fate or other makes my house desolate, and perpetually raises up those that are dearest to me against me, I will, with tears, lament my hard fortune; and privately groan under my lonesome condition. Yet am I resolved that no one who thirsts after my blood shall escape punishment although the evidence should extend itself to all my sons."

:

Upon Herod's saying this, he was interrupted by the confusion he was in but ordered Nicolaus, one of his friends, to produce the evidence against Antipater. But in the mean time Antipater raised up his head; (for he lay on the ground before his father's feet ;) and cried aloud, "Thou, O, father, hast made my apology for me. For how can I be a parricide, whom thou thyself confessest to have always had for thy guardian? Thou callest my filial affection prodigious lies, and hypocrisy. How, then, could it be that I, who was so subtle in other matters, should here be so mad as not to understand that it was not easy that he who committed so horrid a crime should be concealed from men; but impossible that he should be concealed from the Judge of heaven, who sees all things, and is present every where? Or did not I know what end my brethren came to, on whom God inflicted so great a punishment for their evil designs against thee? And indeed what was there that could possibly provoke me against thee? Could the hope of being king do it? I was a king already. Could I suspect hatred from thee? No. Was not I beloved by thee? And what other fear could I have? Nay, by preserving thee safe, I was a terror to others. Did I want money? No. For who was able to expend so much as myself? Indeed, father, had I been the most exeerable of all mankind, and had I had the soul of the most cruel wild beast, must I not have been overcome with the benefits thou hadst bestowed upon me? Whom, as thou thyself sayest, thou broughtest into the palace; whom thou

didst prefer before so many of thy sons; whom thou madest a king in thy own life-time; and, by the vast magnitude of the other advantages thou bestowedst on me, thou madest me an object of envy. O miserable man! that thou shouldest undergo this bitter absence: and thereby afford a great opportunity for envy to rise against thee; and a long space for such as were laying designs against thee! Yet was I absent, father, on thy affairs, that Sylleus might not treat thee with contempt in thine old age. Rome is a witness to my filial affection; and so is Cæsar, the ruler of the habitable earth; who oftentimes called me *Philopator. Take the letters he hath sent thee: they are more to be believed than the calumnies raised here. These letters are my own apology. These I use as the demonstration of that natural affection I have to thee. Remember that it was against my own choice that I sailed to Rome; as knowing the latent hatred that was in the kingdom against me. It was thou, O father, however unwillingly, who hast been my ruin; by forcing me to allow time for calumnies against me, and envy at me. However, I am come hither; and am ready to hear the evidence there is against me. If I be a parricide, I have passed by land and by sea, without suffering any misfortune on either of them. But this method of trial is no advantage to me. For it seems that I am already condemned both before God and before thee. And as I am already condemned, I beg that thou wilt not believe the others that have been tortured; but let fire be brought to torment me; let the racks pass through my bowels. Have no regard to any lamentations that this polluted body can make. For ifl be a parricide, I ought not to die without torture." Thus did Antipater cry out with lamentation, and weeping: and moved all the rest, and Varus in particular, to commiserate his case. Herod was the only person whose passion was too strong to permit him to weep: as knowing that the testimonies against him were true.

And now it was that, at the king's command, Nicolaus, when he had premised a great deal about the craftiness of Antipater, and had prevented the effects of their commiseration to him, af