knew no compromise between themselves. Never was a race where party feeling and faction ran so high. And it was their ruin final and complete. For it they were not altogether to blame. It was largely due to their geographical position, as we have pointed out, but for all that the results were no less disastrous. As we have seen, their politics were simple enough in theory; it was the carrying of them out that was so difficult. Should they cast in their lot with this gentle thug of Egypt and escape strangling; or with that kindly cut-throat of Assyria and elude his pleasantries : this was the one supreme question that agitated them and, susceptible of no concession by either side, violently divided them into opposing factions or camps. And this violence of sentiment got into the blood; it became a racial complex, a part of the race genius itself, and it was their undoing. Whether they have learnt their lesson, whether mankind has learnt the lesson, who shall say? Perhaps most important question of all-have we ourselves learnt this lesson? To delimit this compromise, i.e. to do justice between man and man, is a matter of infinite difficulty, but surely more likely to be achieved by discussing questions in friendly conclave than by ever spoiling for a fight.

26. We follow the Persian regime as we find it established amongst the Jews. For the time being we see Ezra and Nehemiah with absolute powers as governors. Both were of high rank, and Ezra in particular boasted descent from Aaron, from whom (not from the house of David, not from the stem of Jesse), according to Josephus, nobility was virtually to be traced. And we are to find that for the future it is the High Priest who is to be the chief magistrate in the land. We thus gather how the idea developed of the rule being theocratic. As long as the Persian dominion continued their king was the Persian monarch. And so, when the Egyptian Greeks and the Syrian Greeks were overlords. But, subject to such overlordship, the High Priest not only exercised the powers of a

sovereign, but also was recognized as such by other nations. The union of the regal with priestly functions was general in those times. The difference was, with most nations the king became hierarch because he was king, whilst with the Jews the High Priest became king de facto because he was hierarch. When independence was secured and the overlordship of the Syrian Greek ended, the priest class naturally approved the flattering and convenient doctrine that they knew no king but God. The irony of it was that later on it was to prove a very double-edged sword indeed. It was one of those popular phrases to be appealed to according to the exigencies of the moment. It sounded well, and could mean anything or nothing at the will of the user. In days to come, when Rome had established her dominion it was this same priestly class who were so furiously opposed to the breaking with the empire. Readily they accepted Caesar as their lord. But not so the Zealots; irreconcilables and who enthusiastically made the same doctrine their great battle-cry. It was summation of their politics in a word; it united their ranks with an aspiration common to all, and they put it in the forefront of their propaganda as they hurled defiance at their rulers. This period, from the giving of the law by Ezra to the battle of the Issus, Alexander's first great victory over the Persians, B.C. 444-333, is probably one of the most important in the history of the Jews. It was one of comparative tranquillity, so much so that we have mostly to fill in by inference and deduction the story of these years. We have hazarded the idea that the money instinct had already become developed in the race. Probably during this period it must have been maturing. After Alexander's success, and when the Egyptian Greeks became overlords, we have a curious incident relating to the tribute which suggests roots in these days. Naturally, in the eyes of such overlords, its collection and punctual remittance was the one allimportant duty of the governor or in the case of the Jews of their High Priest. About B.C. 250, when

Ptolemy Euergetes was overlord Onias held the sacred office, but although he had collected the tribute, he had failed to forward it to the imperial treasury. His omission was like to have occasioned serious trouble to himself and his people, and they were only saved from it by the judicious action of his young nephew Joseph. Having received permission to go to Egypt to intercede for the nation he there so ingratiated himself with the king that Ptolemy not only passed over the offence, but made him general collector of the tribute of other cities and provinces as well. When the day came for the king to let out the taxes to farm, Joseph accused the other bidders of having conspired together to undervalue them, and offered double the amount if let to himself. The king was pleased, and then asked for the usual security. The youth replied, "I give thee no other persons, O king, for my sureties than thyself and this thy wife, and you shall be security for both parties.' So Ptolemy laughed, and gave him the farming of the taxes without any sureties. Fable as this tale may be, yet probably underneath it is a substratum of fact, and we may be certain that then as now kings did not let their taxes to farm without some fair assurance that they would ultimately come to hand. In modern parlance, Joseph had no doubt substantial underwriters behind him, and the incident evidently indicates business conditions then already well established. While the glories (?) of war flame in every page of history the happy arts of peace have thus to be sought and dug out of the past; but certainly it would seem that dating from these Ezrean days we do see this people seeking its prosperity in steady and progressive industry and commerce. And we have only to study their law to realize how well it harmonizes with conduct, how essentially it tends to efficiency as a whole. It is intensely practical, and obedience to it cannot do other than bring prosperity in this life. Prosperity did not come with them. by wishing or praying, but by the blessing of God on *Joseph. Antiq., xii. 4, 4.

straight living and hard work. Industry was an integral part of their creed, and industry will never be denied above all when there is intelligence behind it. Give a Jew peaceful conditions and he prospers. That he is money-lender to so many rude tribes to-day is that he alone has anything to lend. Others laze and squander, and he works and saves. And very largely the world may share his prosperity if the world will adopt his habits of patient toil and wise economy. The world of to-day belongs to him who lives in the morrow, and be society what it may, there seems little chance that this law, the law of self-denial, will ever be denied.

27.

And during this period-B.C. 444-333-the Jews prospered exceedingly. Of this we get glimpses in the vivid touch of the Talmud. "It is said that the Rabbi had a servant who was richer than the Emperor. He acquired his wealth from the sale of litter from the Rabbi's stables, which gives some idea of the number of animals which the Rabbi Judah possessed." We need not take this too literally, but it is suggestive of a princely establishment of some magnificence, and of which the Rabbi or High Priest was the recognized head. Probably co-extensive with this prosperity at home would be the extension of their foreign enterprise. In these years this may still have more identified itself with the Babylonian colony than with the Jews of Jerusalem. It is difficult to determine to what extent the home Jews did trade abroad, and probably agriculture or peasant farming must still have remained their staple industry. But generally, as time passes, we are beginning to find them further and further afield. Then, with the fall of Persia, and as Babylon waned in importance, they seem to have entered into its banking and commercial inheritance. And this may account for their receiving a consideration which neither their numbers nor their surface political importance would seem to warrant. And in particular we are to find that Jerusalem has once more become an important and strong city. And more, we

are to see its temple as the bank or even as the clearing house of their scattered people. Thus the presence of the money-changers in the time of our Lord in busy trim. As to its propriety there seems to have been divided opinion, as marked by the fact that our Lord was able to drive them out of its precincts. There is no reason to believe that during the Persian supremacy or even afterwards the connection with Babylon was ended, but there seems to have been a change in their relative importance. In fact, we are to find Jerusalem becoming so sufficiently distinct that for for the future it is by Greek influence to be most largely affected. It is doubtful if it was as wholesome a one. At the same time it was especially seductive. It is about this time that we see the Greek mind in its resplendent magnificence. That the educated Jew delighting in culture could have escaped its influence was an impossibility. But under the aegis of their exquisite art was covertly introduced the old world religion, which in their hands became beautifully sunny, human, and rational. In anthropomorphic guise religion became an enchantment of delightful representations which appealed equally to the reason and the emotions. But for all that, at heart it was the old-world religion, more than ever in antagonism to the puritan simplicity of the true Jewish faith. As long as the Persian with his sterner teaching remained master it made no ostensible headway. The seed was sown, but the harvest was to be after Grecian arms had also established their supremacy. Meantime, until then is growing up and taking form this essential Jewish creed which is to throw down the gauntlet to that of the Greek, and in the end is to emerge triumphant. It was to prove one of the great moral victories of the world. With all its failings the Jewish ideal was far in advance of anything the Greek ever made his own. In the realms of talk no doubt the Greek was magnificent, but in a world's balancesheet the only item that really counts is talk that also finds correspondence in life. Probably the devil's best