usurped the High-priest's office, but he altered the form of divine worship, and changed the customs of the Jews, which occasioned a general corruption in the Jewish economy, and for which God raised them a scourge out of the cause of their offence; for they needed not a worse enemy than Antiochus to punish them, who raged against them with the utmost barbarity.

After Antiochus had been in Egypt, he came in person to Jerusalem, where he was received in great pomp by Jason, who sometime after this sending one Menelaus with money to the king, Menelaus supplanted him, purchasing the priesthood of the king, and expelling Jason, who thereupon withdrew into the country of the Ammonites, waiting a turn of fortune in his favour.

Menelaus did not long enjoy his ill-gotten promotion; for failing in his payment he surrendered the priesthood to his brother Lysimachus; but afterwards repenting of his tameness in delivering it up, he sold the sacred vessels to recover it; and lest Onias, the deposed pontiff, who was withdrawn to Daphne, should oppose him in his design, he procured him to be murdered by Andronicus, whom justice soon overtook; for Antiochus first ordered him to be divested of the purple, then led through the city to the place where he had murdered Onias, and there put to death. The people of Jerusalem mutinying against Lysimachus, slew him. Menelaus, who was the contriver of all these mischiefs, found means to clear himself to Antiochus, and get his accusers condemned. Jason hearing that Antiochus was preparing to invade Egypt, takes the opportunity of his absence, and with a thousand men attacks Jerusalem, by this means hoping to recover the High-priesthood, he soon made himself master of the city, but Menelaus retiring into the citadel, he could not reach him; wherefore revenging himself upon the people, he slew many of them, and then made a hasty retreat into the country of the Ammonites: soon after which, he was seized, and imprisoned by Aretas, king of Arabia, but making his escape, he fled from one city to another, and afterward died at Lacedemon.

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Antiochus, who was then in Egypt, hearing of these events, and suspecting that Judea might revolt from him, returned in a rage against the Jews for making these commotions, and entering the city by force, put the inhabitants to the sword, for eighty thousand were slain in three days, forty thousand taken prisoners, and as many sold for slaves. Then profaning the temple with his irreverend and abominable approaches, he entered it, attended with the execrable traitor Menelaus, whence they sacrilegiously conveyed what treasure they could find. And to torment the wretched Jews the more, Antiochus made one Philip, a Phrygian, a man more barbarous and inhuman than himself, governor of Jerusalem, and Andronicus, governor of Gerizim, joining Menelaus in commission with both, which was grievous to the poor people, whom he used most barbarously. He sent Apollonius, one of king Antiochus's generals, with an army of two and twenty thousand men to Jerusalem, to kill what men remained, and to sell the women and children. Apollonius coming before Jerusalem, made no offer of attacking the town till the sabbath, from whence the Jews concluded themselves secure. But whilst they were at their devotions on the sabbath, Apollonius entered the city, massacred many of the inhabitants, plundered the place, led away the women and children captives, and part of the rest they obliged to fly. After this Antiochus orders that the Jews should embrace the religion of the Gentiles, caused the temple at Jerusalem to be called the temple of Olympian Jove, filled it with abominations, and obliged the Jews to sacrifice to idols upon pain of death. Those who met in caves to keep the sabbath were burnt; the book of the law was cast into the fire; the circumcision of infants was forbidden; and women accused of having circumcisied their children were publicly led about the city with their infants hanging at their breasts, and then cast headlong from the walls. In short, no manner of cruelty was omitted to compel the Jews to desert their religion.

During this terrible persecution, some of these wretched people yielded to force; but many chose rather to die than

forsake the law of their God. Among these last was Eleazar, a doctor of the law, a very aged man, and of a venerable aspect. To afflict this good old man the more, the first test they put him to, was to make him eat swine's flesh, which they forced into his mouth; but he, choosing rather to die gloriously than live ignominiously, spit it out. Some of those who had the charge of this part of the persecution, in pity to his age, and out of former friendship, gave him leave to elude the sentence by taking a piece of any other flesh, and eating it as swine's flesh. But he considering this as a vile collusion and hypocrisy, told them he would not purchase his life at that sordid rate, but desired them to dispatch him rather than let him be guilty of dissimulation, and stain the honour of his grey hairs with so base an act. Upon this, his persecutors, changing their pity into cruelty, fell upon him, and beat him to death, which he resolutely suffered, rather than dishonour God by violating his con

science.

The next instance of religious fortitude was that of the heroine Solomona and her seven sons, who were by order of Antiochus brought from their habitation to Antioch. The king pretending pity to their youth, and respect to their family, (which was noble) persuaded them to renounce their religion, and embrace that of the Gentiles, promising them great rewards and promotion if they would comply; but if they refused, they must expect no mercy. Then ordering variety of tortures which he had provided, to be shewed them, he thought to terrify them with the sad prospect of what they were likely to suffer. However, these instruments and engines of death could no more terrify, than the allurements of the tyrant could entice them; but inspired with a holy zeal, they unanimously declared their stedfast adherence to the law of God, and the precepts which he delivered by Moses, assuring him that his cruelty could not hurt them; and all the effect their pains could produce, would be to secure to them the gracious rewards promised to unshaken patience and injured virtue; cautioning him at the same time, of the dreadful consequences to himself; for by the

murder of so many innocent men he would arm the divine vengeance against him, and for the temporal pains which he inflicted on them, would himself become obnoxious to everlasting torments.

The constancy and zeal of these brave youth so enraged the tyrant, that he gave the word for the executioners to bring the eldest to the torture, which they immediately did; and stripping off his clothes, they bound his hands and arms in a posture for receiving the scourge, which he enduring with admirable patience; and finding that they wearied themselves more than him with this sort of punishment, they bound him upon the wheel. The noble youth lying extended here with his bones broken, and joints dislocated, reproached his tormentor thus, "O execrable tyrant, and persecutor of heaven! Thou "dost not treat me thus barbarously for any breach of "divine or human laws, but for my zeal to God and his holy ordinances." Then the soldiers advising him to save his life by complying, he continued; "You may "exercise your cruelty upon my body, but you cannot "torture my mind; that is out of your reach; and I will "convince you by this trial upon my person, that it is "the peculiar glory of the Hebrew nation to be invin

cibly firm in their sufferings for God and a good con"science." Then extending his body still more, they turned him to the flames, where they held him till his bowels burst, and nothing of human form was left, but a skeleton of bones. These exquisite tortures this brave youth bore with such magnanimity, as if the fire had only served to refine him into an immortal creature. At last, nature being wasted with repeated tortures, he thus took his leave of his brethren: "Be sure you follow my example, and desert me not in this noble conflict. Shame "the tyrant with your sufferings, and die gloriously in "the service of God, who will humble this bloody mon"ster with punishments as uncommon and amazing as his "own pride and cruelty." And thus this holy youth closed his painful life.

The second brother, with the same undaunted courage, advanced to this tragical stage; where being demanded VOL. II.

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whether he would eat of their sacrificed meat, and refusing, the tormentors with pincers drew off all the flesh from the muscles of his neck to the chin, and flayed of all the hair and skin of his beard, face, and head. And having remained some time a sad spectacle to the bloody tormentors, he thus took his leave of them and the world. "How welcome is death in any shape to him that suffers "for truth and religion? The pleasure of an innocent "mind, and the comfort of a clear conscience soften my "sufferings, and support my spirits, whilst thou art racked "with the cutting apprehensions of a guilty mind. Thy "cruelties I suffer with more pleasure than thou canst "execute them; for thy own heart must tell thee, that "thou dost wickedly in punishing the innocent for as"serting the truth, and persevering in the worship and "love of God, for which be assured thou wilt not escape "the terrible vengeance of a just and angry God." The pious hero thus persevering in the defence of his religion, made his way to heaven through blood and tor

ments.

The third brother, far from being daunted at the sight of what the former endured, and being pressed by the tyrant to take warning by their death, he angrily replied, "The same father and mother brought us into the world, "and the same master formed our minds with the same principles: think not therefore that I will by any pu"sillanimous retreat endeavour to evade thy cruelty, and "desert the glorious cause of suffering for our religion. "Lose no time, for I come prepared to suffer, not to "make speeches." This answer, delivered with an air of resolution, so enraged the tyrant, that he thought, if possible, to augment his tortures; therefore commanded the executioners to fix his hands and his feet in the screws, where with a violent wrench they dislocated all the joints of his fingers and toes at once. This done, they continued to draw the engine yet higher, till they had twisted his legs and arms, and shoulder-bones out of their sockets; and finding him still to survive all these distortions, dragged off his skin at the ends of his fingers, and flayed him from the very crown of his head. And