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CHAPTER XXIX.

JUDGMENTS FOLLOWING THE REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH.

"Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children."-MATT. xxvii. 25.

ND now I dare say you will want to know, were the Jews quiet under their Roman rulers? I answer at first they did not often break out into open rebellion, though they detested their conquerors, and though they lived in the constant hope of a great king arising among themselves, who should deliver them from the yoke, and make them once more free and great.

"This was their idea of a Messiah, you know. They had read that a King was to reign in righteousness,' that in His days Israel was to be saved, and Judah to dwell safely.' They had read that all nations which had harmed them should be reduced to submission or destroyed by this great Conqueror; so when Jesus Christ came in His humiliation, and declared that His kingdom was not of this world, they turned from Him, and said, 'This is not he for whom we looked.'

And, mamma," said Stewart, was it any wonder that they were puzzled ?"

"Possibly not, with their half-knowledge," replied his mother; "at least, not that they should be for a time. But then they had no business to be content with this imperfect acquaintance with the writings of the prophets; and if there were these passages telling of His glory and might,

distinctly stated that Jesus did not come

you know there were others that as He would be despised and rejected. and go like a meteor; He lived and moved among them for three-and-thirty years; and all that time the prophecies were in their hands, that they might read and compare. It was therefore inexcusable in them not to do so. Nor must we forget the signs that accompanied Him,-His miraculous birth, the voice heard at His baptism, His transfiguration, resurrection, and ascension, besides all His gracious words and mighty acts."

"No," said Martin; "whatever excuse there might have been for a hesitation, there was certainly none for a final rejection of their Messiah. These things were enough to prove Him to be the Son of God, even if there had never been a prophecy at all. The nation well deserves all it has suffered."

Mrs. Conway looked rather surprised at these strong words; but she only answered, "Yes, you are right; God never punishes beyond our deserts. Yet I believe that none of you have an idea what their sufferings have been; how tremendous, how fearful. We are rapidly coming to them now.

"You see, from Pilate's conduct during the trial of the Saviour, that his general object was to please and content the Jews. Nevertheless, he provoked two outbreaks during his reign. The first was, when he on one occasion brought the Roman eagle and the effigies of the emperor into the Holy City. That time, however, he gave way, and removed them, on the long-continued entreaties of a large deputation. For the Jews were quite frantic at this outrage, and declared with one consent that they would rather die than suffer it.

"But another time Pilate went further, and seized some of the treasures in the temple, in order to build an aqueduct, and bring a supply of water into the city. The

people rose then en masse, and disturbed the workmen. And on this the governor attempted no open coercion, but disguised his soldiers as Jews, with their swords concealed, and bid them fall on the people as soon as they began to obstruct the building. And they did their work with such great cruelty, that they committed most terrible havoc among the mob.

"Josephus tells us that he believed the desperate spirit of resistance shown by the Jewish nation then and henceforward, to be due to the teachings of that Judas of Galilee, of whom I told you, and of whom Gamaliel speaks, as we read in the Acts. For his great doctrine was that it was lawful to submit to God only, and that the people should not pay tribute. Pilate himself was soon after recalled and disgraced, in consequence of an attack which he made on the Samaritans, who had hitherto lived peacefully under the Roman government, and whom his troops treated barbarously. Being banished into Gaul, he committed suicide soon afterwards. It was about this time that the Roman government began to change its policy in one important respect. Hitherto it had allowed all conquered nations to retain their own beliefs and rites and ceremonies; but now they began to think that what they called foreign superstitions were getting too much head in the state. Just before this both Egyptians and Jews had on this ground been banished from Rome; and when the wretched Caius Caligula mounted the imperial throne, he issued an edict which affected all the subject nations, though the heathen cared not to resist it.

"You remember, I dare say, how this emperor's vanity really amounted to madness, and how he was determined to be treated as a god by all the world, and therefore ordered temples to be built, and statues erected to his honour; and you see, if the Jews had submitted to this, they would have given up their religion at once.

They

"So a terrible storm seemed to hang over them. would not worship Him who had shewn Himself master of the elements, and of life and death and now they were to be forced to worship the image of a madman; and so the troubles began in Alexandria.

"I told you that many Jews lived there. We hear about them from Philo, a Jewish writer, who lived there at this period, and who so mixed up the philosophy of Plato with his own religion, that he is often called the Jewish Plato.

"He tells us that in Egypt there were at this time about a million Jews, who were very rich and very active traders. In Alexandria they formed a large part of the population, the other influential party being Greeks, while the native Egyptians were simply despised and overridden by them both. The Jews, you know, had been much favoured by some of the Ptolemies; and they had plenty of edicts to shew, which made them equal with the Greeks, between whom and themselves there therefore existed a great jealousy; and now it broke into a flame. The Roman prefect, Flaccus Aquilius, knowing himself to be disliked. by the new emperor, thought it best to gain the favour of the Alexandrians by various popular measures, and amongst others by allowing them to outrage and insult the Jews as much as they pleased.

"It happened that just at this crisis King Agrippa I. landed at Alexandria, on his way to take possession of his government. He had previously lived in Rome, and under Tiberius, as a prisoner. But now he was suddenly raised; and the sight of a Jew in this high position brought matters to a point.

"The Alexandrians insulted him in every possible way, even dressing up an idiot boy as king, presenting petitions to him, and doing him homage, in mockery of Agrippa's state.

"Of course he stayed no longer than he could help in such a city; and when he left, he took with him a document from the Jews, in which they explained why they could not obey the emperor's decree, though they offered him. all the honours that they could lawfully give.

"Flaccus had promised to send this to the emperor; but he had not done so; and the Greeks, now considering that they had his sanction, proceeded to demand that the Jews should at once comply with the edict, and then by force carried out their demand.

"They put statues in many of the Jewish synagogues, cut down the trees around them; and then got a chariot with four horses, in which they placed a great image. And they succeeded in putting this image into one of the largest and most important among the temples.

"Only a few days after this outrage Flaccus issued a decree, in which all Jews were proclaimed to be strangers. Then they were forced to crowd into one quarter of the city, instead of occupying more. Their houses were pillaged, and they were reduced to the utmost distress.

"Pestilence and famine prevailed amongst them; they were robbed, beaten, stoned; some were trampled to death; others were dragged through the streets by the heels; their houses were set on fire, and whole families burned alive.

"And Flaccus, who could have stopped it all, looked on a quiet spectator of all these horrors; in fact, in a little time he became the accuser and bitterest persecutor. Morning after morning people crowded to see the poor Jews scourged to death, crucified, or tortured on the rack. And this went on until, as it appears, on suspicion of treason, an officer named Bassus was sent from Rome to arrest the brutal prefect.

"The Jews were keeping their feast of tabernacles in melancholy mood, when they heard the news; and