"As soon as the Jews within recovered their courage, they poured out in marvellous numbers to attack the guards posted at the entrance, nor could they be driven. back until Titus charged them with his cavalry.

"It was now the 10th of August, the very day on which the first temple had been burnt by King Nebuchadnezzar; and the sun was just casting its last beams on that glistening roof, when a wild shriek of despair arose : 'the temple was on fire.' It happened thus:

"There had been another sally from within; and the Romans, in driving their opponents back, forced their way to the door of the temple itself; and then a soldier, mounting on the shoulders of a comrade, flung a blazing torch through a small gilded doorway in the porch. Instantly the flames spread; and the Jews, grasping their arms, determined not to die unresistingly with the last hope of the nation.

"It was in vain that Titus rushed to the scene, shouting and making signs to his men to put out the flames. They either would not or did not hear.

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Seeing at length, therefore, that he could not arrest the bloody and destructive work, Titus entered with his troops ere the flames had yet reached the Holy of Holies; but the fury of the soldiers could not be controlled; and the glitter of the gold, and the splendour of all they saw, made them eager for plunder.

"Another torch was surreptitiously thrust between the hinges of the door; and then the fate of this building was decided. Those gilded pinnacles, those cedar roofs, came crashing down; and Mount Moriah seemed altogether on a blaze; while the screams and wail of the terrified people mingled with the shouts of the Roman troops.

"And meanwhile the slaughter within went on; men and women, old men and children, alike entreating in vain for mercy. In one part of the outer cloisters,

Josephus says, six thousand unarmed people, led there by some wretched deceiver, perished in the flames.

"You will remember that Simon had never been within the walls of the temple; and now John, having cut his way out, marched to join him in the upper city, which still held out. Thence they demanded a conference, which was granted; and Titus then offered them both their lives if they would instantly surrender. Instead of this they asked to be allowed simply to march out with their wives and children into the wilderness. Rejecting this demand, Titus vowed to exterminate the whole people; and immediately the troops had leave to plunder at their will, and all the captured part of the city was set on fire, together with the archives and council house.

"All the insurgents who had escaped were now confined to the upper city, in the subterranean passages of which lay their last hope.

"And now the mounds were raised to attack this remaining part, eighteen days being occupied on these works, eighteen days more of starvation, during which many escaped by desertion, while others crept down to the ruins of the lower city, or hid themselves in the subterranean passages. Some of the priests escaped by discovering hidden treasures, robes, and stores to the Romans.

"A breach was soon made in the wall, and the leaders, whose courage at last gave way, instead of remaining at the defence or retiring to their impregnable towers, then went down into the streets, and thence escaped into the valley of Siloam.

"And so the Romans went up, and entered easily by the breach; and while the soldiers everywhere took possession, plundering and slaying as they went, Titus also entered, and seeing the immense strength of the walls and fortifications, declared that the victory was of

God alone. He released the victims of the hatred of the rival chiefs, and then gave orders for the whole city to be razed to the ground, with the exception of three towers which were to be left to mark the site of the victory.

"So the work of slaughter went on, until the soldiers began to spare from utter weariness, and to kill only those who resisted.

"A large number were driven into a space that used to be the court of the women, in order that selections might be made of noted insurgents to be put to death, or of tall and handsome men to grace the triumph of Titus. Vast numbers were sold as slaves, some to work in the mines in Egypt, others to be afterwards exhibited as gladiators, and in combats with wild beasts. Of these, 12,000 died of hunger, many of them voluntarily refusing food. It is stated by Josephus that during the whole siege, 1,100,000 were killed, and 97,000 made prisoners! Some dispute these figures, but we must remember that the siege occurred during a feast time, and that numbers kept pouring in to the defence, so that the whole number would not be inside at once. As for the two dauntless leaders, John and Simon, they escaped at first by hiding in subterranean vaults; but at length, reduced by famine, they surrendered themselves to the victor. The latter, perhaps hoping to overawe his captors, suddenly burst upon some soldiers resting amidst some of the ruins, arrayed in white, and wearing a robe of purple. He appeared to rise from the earth in silent and mysterious dignity; and when questioned by the soldiers, only demanded to see their general, to whom he yielded.

"At length, Titus, having completed his awful work, and sacrificed to his gods, departed with his army, followed by wretched bands of captives, whom he exhibited wherever he went. Terentius Rufus was left to finish the work of demolition; and so unrelenting was he, that of all those

wondrous buildings very soon not even a ruin remained, except those three towers of which I spoke.

"Not one stone was left upon another,' as the Lord had foretold forty years before; and when all was done, and the conqueror had in various places exhibited his trophies and received the ovations that were considered his due, he proceeded to Italy, and in company with his father, Vespasian, made his triumphal entry into Rome, the splendour of which has probably never been surpassed. Among all that display of treasures brought from many a desolated country, none told so sad a tale as that golden table, that seven-branched candlestick, that book of the law, and those golden vessels brought from the city that once had been the joy of the whole earth,' and from that house which once had been known as the dwelling of the Lord of hosts.

"All these, with a long procession of Jews, are represented on the arch of Titus, which still remains a witness of the dreadful tragedy. The triumph ended by the death of Simon, who, after being dragged to the place of execution with a halter round his neck, and scourged all the way, was at length slain.

"It was a cruel end for one of the most cruel of men. As for John of Gischala, he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment."

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CHAPTER XXXV.

DESOLATION AND DESTRUCTION.

"So the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you; and ye shall be plucked from off the land."-DEUT. xxviii. 63.

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"S

O the land became desolate, and its cities waste (Lev. xxvi. 33); aye, the whole land as brimstone, and salt, and burning" (Deut. xxix. 23), said Mrs. Conway, as the chairs were drawn close up next day; “and now we must go on to see how the rejected nation was 'rooted out of their land' (Deut. xxix. 28), and scattered among the heathen, while a sword was drawn out after them. (Lev. xxvi. 33.)

"It was not the work of one year or of two that accomplished this, however, though surely and certainly it came about.

"Three strong fortresses still held out: Herodion, which soon yielded; Machærus, which surrendered to save the life of a young hero, Eleazar, whom the Romans had seized and were about to crucify; and Massada, in which the garrison, reduced by famine, first killed their wives and children, and then destroyed one another.

"And then, the cities destroyed, the crops downtrodden, and corpses alone covering the land, the whole country lay in ruins.

the

"Moreover, though quite contrary to Roman custom, emperor ordered all the lands to be sold, and forbade any Jews to return to rebuild the cities, while only old