such power, too, of getting out of the scrapes and dangers in which he not seldom found himself.

"For instance, that old high priest did not fall, you may be sure, without some stir being made about it. Indeed, Herod was obliged once more to go to Rome to defend his conduct; but Augustus Cæsar was won over by his money and his arts, as others had been before him; so that the tyrant was again only confirmed in his kingdom, instead of being disgraced as he deserved.

"I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.' How often must the few pious ones in the nation then have thought of the words of that thirty-seventh Psalm, and wondered when the time should come for deliverance, and for the Lord to avenge the death of the many innocent ones who were slaughtered at the pleasure of this wicked man!

"The fate of poor Mariamne is, I think, the saddest page in this miserable history. Herod had divorced his first wife, Doris, in order to marry her; and her extreme beauty had inspired him with a passionate attachment which never seemed to decline.

"She was a high-minded woman, and her character spotless; but she was somewhat haughty, and frequently irritated the mother of Herod and his sister, Salome, by reproaching them with the lowness of their birth. Moreover, she seemed at last to loathe the husband, who had caused the death of her grandfather, father, brother, and uncle, and who had twice given orders that she should not be allowed to survive him. When therefore Herod, on his return from his interview with Augustus, went straight to her to tell her before any other of his good fortune, she replied with a groan instead of any sign of pleasure. And this, of course, put him in a passion. Had she been any one else, she

would have doubtless been ordered for instant execution.

But he loved her too well to part with her. So he hesitated for a long time, and but for the constant insinuations of Salome, whose spite caused her to wish the queen's death, she would no doubt have escaped. But when Salome saw how angry the king was, she sent his cupbearer to tell him that Mariamne had prepared a poisonous potion for him; and on that her poor servant was caught and tortured, until he cried out that she only hated the king because of what a certain Solienus had told her about the charge concerning her own death.

"Then poor Solienus was despatched at once; but Mariamne was allowed to take her trial. The king's fury did not abate whilst that was going on; and the obsequious judges, seeing the state of his mind, declared her guilty.

"Still Herod only meant to keep her in prison: but Salome and her friends gave him no rest, and kept exciting his mind until the order was given for her execution.

"The innocent queen was therefore at length led out, and went quietly to her death, without betraying the slightest change of countenance, amidst the pitying sympathy of all beholders, which was increased by the inhuman conduct of her own mother on the occasion.

"No doubt she trembled for her own life; but it is shocking to read that in order to curry favour with Herod, she actually sprang forward as her poor daughter passed along, and assailed her with a torrent of reproaches and invectives, declaring that she richly deserved her fate for her conduct to the most gentle and loving of husbands.

"As for Herod himself, after his wife's death, he became frantic with grief and remorse. Sometimes he would call on her and order his servants to call on her as if she were still alive; then he would plan feasts and all sorts of diversions to drive away the thoughts of her. But all in vain. He became very ill for a time, and although in succession he married eight more wives

during his lifetime, yet the spirit of Mariamne seemed to haunt him until his death.

"The restless Alexandra took advantage of the first hours of his grief and of this terrible malady, from which he but slowly recovered, to renew her intrigues; on which she was disposed of in the usual way.

'So, you see, he went on putting to death one after another of his own family, and of those who stood in his way, while all the time his public administration was liberal and magnificent.

"To please his subjects he professed great respect for the Jewish religion; and on one occasion, before he went to war, we read of his offering certain sacrifices. At the same time he now greatly offended many of the people by the introduction of public sports such as those in which the Romans delighted, and by building a theatre and amphitheatre, and having fights of wild beasts and gladiators in Jerusalem.

"It is not very surprising, therefore, that we should read of a conspiracy of ten men formed to destroy him. These men no doubt regarded themselves as so many Phinehases, and were inspired by a stern sort of religious feeling; but Herod had spies about to discover all such attempts on his life; and the conspirators were soon seized and tortured to death.

"At last he began to live in fear of his own life, and built himself a strong palace on Mount Sion, and a fortress which he called Antonia. Building, indeed, was his passion. He erected citadels in many towns, and rebuilt Samaria in a splendid way, filling it with his own adherents and soldiers. It was he, too, who built Cæsarea, which he so named in honour of the Emperor. And all this building procured him a certain sort of popularity. But he tried to please the people in many other ways. It was a time of national distress. There was a drought, a famine, and a pestilence; the corn

rotted, and there was no seed to sow the ground. Herod at once unlocked his own storehouses, sent for grain from Egypt, and for food and clothing, so that fifty thousand persons are computed to have been fed by him at that time. "Amidst all his cruelties a strong Grecian party supported him; indeed, he had many qualities which always win popularity. He was affable and courteous, and, like one of his descendants, very fond of making orations to the people. But as I said, his great passion was for building; and he gained a certain sort of glory, and even a certain respect from the people, by the improvements which he thus made in the country.

"It was in the eighteenth year of his reign that he set about that work which was to be its chief glory, namely, the rebuilding of the temple. And this plan he introduced by making a great speech, in which he made mention of our fathers,' as if he had been himself a Jew, and reviewed the history of the second temple, and the reasons why it was neither so large nor so grand as that of Solomon, and then told them what he meant to do. And when he saw that many of the people thought that he intended first to pull down the whole building, and so leave them for a time without a temple, he promised to have all prepared beforehand; and kept his word.

66

Josephus has a long account of Herod's temple and all its grandeur; but I must be content to tell you that its essential parts were all finished in eighteen months, and that Herod did not attempt to enter any part forbidden to the laity. As for the cloisters and courts around the building, they occupied eight years, and Herod took special care of them. But constant additions were made to this building even after his death; which led the Jews of our Lord's time to speak of fortysix years that the work had occupied."

244

CHAPTER XXVII.

66

YET

THE MESSIAH.

"He came to His own."-JOHN i. 11.

ET, strange to say," Mrs. Conway began next evening, taking up the thread of her narrative, 66 strange to say, even while so occupied there was no pause in that course of bloody deeds which so disfigured Herod's reign, and in which his own family were such great sufferers.

"Poor Mariamne had left four children, two sons and two daughters. The former were sent by their father to Rome for education, that they might be near the emperor; and when as young men they returned home, he provided wives for them, and put them forward in many ways. But the poor youths had enemies in their aunt Salome, and others who had calumniated Mariamne; for these people feared that one day they would revenge on them their mother's murder. Thus their father's mind was poisoned against them by continual tales, until from loving he grew to hate his own children. Then he brought forward Antipater, the son of his first wife, Doris, of whom he had before thought nothing, in order to vex and depress them.

"But the young men had bold tempers like their father, and something of their mother's high spirit. They in their turn hated their aunt Salome and all her party; and so the whole city was filled with the talk of these family discords.