did. She therefore besought them to fulfil her joy, and encouraged them in dying for the cause of religion. Noble matron! the tyrant was subdued by thy perseverance; and, both in thy words and actions, thou hast proved thyself mighty; for when thou wert apprehended with thy sons, and saw Eleazar put to the torture, thou stoodest immoveable, and thus addressed them in the Hebrew language:

"My sons, you have a glorious conflict before you, to which being called, that you may leave your nation a testimony of your faith and religion, contend cheerfully in defence of the laws of your country. It would derogate from your characters, to suffer an aged man to be exposed to the pains of the rack, while you shrink, in the prime and vigour of youth, under the same trials. Remember what life is, from whom you derived it, to whom you owe it, and that it is your indispensable duty to undergo every difficulty and danger in the cause of the religion of its grand author. For him did our father Abraham hasten to sacrifice his son, the future parent of our nation. Nor did that son tremble, or once recede, when he saw a father's hand, armed with a weapon of death, uplifted to give the fatal stroke. For how was pious Daniel cast a prey to hungry lions, and the three children into the fiery furnace? You, who are partakers of the same faith, should not be disheartened, if you are made partakers of the same sufferings; for it is most dastardly, in those who have a true sense of religion, to betray a pusillanimity, when called upon to sustain difficulties."

Thus did this matron exhort her seven sons, whom she enjoined rather to suffer death than violate the divine law, especially when assuredly persuaded that those who die in the cause of God, shall live with God, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the succeeding patriarchs, in mansions of immortal bliss.

CHAP. XVII.

IT is said of this dauntless woman, that, after being scourged and otherwise severely tortured, by order of Antiochus, she finished her punishment by voluntarily throwing herself into the flames.

Courageous matron! thus defeating the tyrant's rage, disappointing his infernal schemes, and exerting a most noble faith, proof against all shocks that laboured to overturn it! Take comfort, therefore; thy patience is supported by a firm reliance on the divine goodness, and a well grounded hope of future reward. The moon, encircled with her attendant stars, shines not so bright in the firmament of heaven, as dost thou, reflecting light upon, and receiving it back again, from thy seven illustrious sons, fixed in the celestial mansions, and honourable in the Divine presence. Thy race descended from the stock of Abraham. Were we able to depict this act of piety in true and lively colours, our passion scarcely could sustain the mere representation. Were a monument to be erected as a memorial by the nation to which they are so great an honour, an inscription to the import of the following might become it.

"Here lies a venerable priest, an ancient mother, and seven gallant sons, cut off by the rage of a tyrant, attempting, but in vain, to overthrow the Jewish constitution. These brave champions stood in the gap, asserted the religion and rites of their country, committed themselves and their cause to God, and persevered in despite of torments and death."

The encounter was truly divine: virtue was the judge of the combat, and disposer of the prize; and patience was the proof and exercise of it. To this the victory was to be adjudged, and immortal bliss was to be the reward of the conquerors.

Eleazar was the first champion; the mother of the seven sons made a glorious defence; the brothers stoutly fought; the tyrant was their adversary, and the world were the witnesses. Religion obtained the victory, and yielded the crown to her champions.Who but must admire these noble assertors of the divine law? Who but, on gazing on them, must stand in amaze? The tyrant himself, and the whole court, were struck with admiration at their fortitude: but now they stand at the throne of heaven, and enjoy a life of immortality. Moses writes, "All his saints are in thy band:" for these men, being devoted to God, are celebrated with immortal renown. Nor was the benefit of their trials confined to their own persons, but the blood shed upon this occasion was accepted by divine justice as a propitiatory sacrifice, and delivered Israel from the oppression under which they groaned.

Antiochus, considering the extraordinary virtue and resolution of these men, gave testimony to their magnanimity, and, by a public officer, propounded it as a pattern worthy the imitation of his own soldiers. He enlisted many of the Hebrews into his service, and by their valour, having subdued his enemies, became an absolute conqueror; learning, by experience, that religion inspires men with the truest courage; and that none are capable of serving their prince in wars, comparably to those undaunted contemners of life, who dare to encounter tortures and death for the sake of God, and a good conscience.

O sons of Israel! race of faithful Abraham! pay obedience to this law: that reason, assisted by religion, has dominion over the passions, not only of those which are called internal, but also external pains and troubles.

CHAP. XVIII.

Thus did these heroes nobly fight and conquer: nor did they overcome death and torments only, but the enemies also that inflicted both, restoring peace to their nation, and the observance of that long neglected law, the contempt whereof provoked the Almighty to scourge the people with that worst of calamities, the tyrant Antiochus. But while he became an instrument of vengeance to others, he treasured more against himself; for, when he found he could by no means force the Jews to embrace foreign customs and rites, and abdicate their own, he departed from Jerusalem, and undertook an expedition against the Persians; nor was it long before the divine justice overtook him, and cut him off the face of the earth by a most miserable death.

For duty to the memory of the pious mother, I add another exhortation she gave to her seven brave and virtuous sons.

"I was long a chaste virgin, nor did I wander from my father's house. No seducer of youth corrupted me in the fields; nor did I fall a prey to the subtle craftiness of a betrayer. The prime of my life I past in the strictest conjugal fidelity to my husband. When you, my children, were grown up, your father died, happy in the esteem of all that knew him. He had the satisfaction of being the parent of dutiful sons; nor did he survive the

loss of one of them. While he continued with you, he usually instructed you in the knowledge of the law and the prophets, and set before you the renowned examples of patience and suffering virtue : Abel murdered by his own brother Cain, Isaac designed for a burnt-offering, Joseph imprisoned for his chastity, and Phineas zealous for the divine law. He displayed the virtues of Ananias, Azarias, and Mishael, and of Daniel cast into the den of lions.He would frequently remind you of God's preserving providence by repeating from Isaiah, 'When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and when through the rivers they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.' He taught your infant tongues that song of David, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all;' and called upon you to observe that maxim of Solomon in his Proverbs, 'That wisdom is a tree of life to all that lay hold upon her.' Nor did he forget to teach that divine hymn of Moses, 'I kill and I make alive' and again, what he pronounces of the law, and the diligent observers of it, 'It is your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days.""

O melancholy, or rather glorious day! when the merciless Grecian tyrant kindled his impious fires, prepared his cauldrons, and, with infernal fury, dragged and bound to the engines of torture, and exercised, with the most excruciating pains, the seven-fold offspring of this daughter of Abraham! when he deprived them of their eyes, of their tongues, and put them to death with all the cruelties that malice could invent! These horrid barbarities were retaliated on their perpetrators; while those sons of Abraham, with their victorious mother, are translated to bliss unspeakable, admitted to the triumphant society of their pious ancestors, and enjoy with them a glorious immortality in the vision of that beatific Being whom they had so faithfully served, and to whom be ascribed all glory and praise, both now and for evermore. Amen.

END OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE MACCABEES.

VOL. IV.

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