For, As the spring drew on, Titus began making his preparations to advance against the rebellious and hapless city. Nature was putting on her gorgeous robe. The hills were being covered with beauty. The valleys were teeming with life, and vocal with song. lo the winter is past, and the rain is over and gone; and the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land.' The bright sun, the balmy breeze, the blue heavens, the silvery streams, the emerald hills, all unite to give a rich beauty to the landscape. Here every and riot were becoming universal, and Titus, who had accompanied his the citizens gladly admitted another father as far as Alexandria, returned faction into the city. This faction was at once to take charge of the army, led by the bold and fierce Simon, the and carry on the war in Judæa. He son of Gioras. He was an Idumæan arrived at Cæsarea early in the year and had been a leader of banditti. He 70. The history of the Jews during was welcomed with acclamation by the the year 70 is the most awful page in people, who panted for deliverance the annals of the world. It is like the from the low cunning and brutal in- roll of Ezekiel, written within and sults of John. The entire city was without with mourning, lamentation, again divided into three factions and woe.' During this year, those Simon occupied Mount Zion, with solemn and awful prophecies which 15,000 men; John the lower city, with had been uttered by Christ during his 6,000; and Eleazar the temple, with last visit to the guilty city, had their 3,000. The holy city now became a literal fulfilment. theatre of discord. All the worst passions of human nature were let loose, and mingled in confusion. Unclean spirits returned from walking through dry places,' and took possession of the people. Robbery, bloodshed, and death were of common occurrence. The kingdom was divided against itself, and terror and destruction seemed to be fast eating into the heart of the city. We left Vespasian with the Roman army at Cæsarea; and now a great change took place in the order of the arrangements there. Nero, the Roman emperor, was no more. His life had been stained by crimes of the deepest dye. He had persecuted the Christians unto death. His name was loathed by his own subjects. Hated and abominated, he abruptly and violently left the world. Nero was succeeded by Galba, who reigned but a short time. At his death there were two aspirants to the imperial purple, Otho and Vitellius. They met in battle and contended for supreme dominion. Vitellius was beaten in the first engagement, in the next he was victor. Otho stabbed himself, and left the power to his opponent. Vitellius gave himself up to the pleasures of the table, and the Roman people became disgusted with their ruler. Vespasian was now, therefore, proclaimed emperor at Alexandria, and in a short time all Syria invested him with the imperial purple. He left the scene of war in Judæa, and went to Rome to take possession of his new dignities and dominion, and the management of the campaign was left in the hands of his eldest son Titus. These events took place in the years 68 and 69. prospect pleases, and only man is vile.' At this interesting season of the year the whole nation seemed to be in a state of motion. The passover, one of the great Jewish festivals, was now approaching. At this time, therefore, Jerusalem was the great centre and climax of attraction. From all civilized nations worshippers came to celebrate this feast. 'Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, aud strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians.' On the hill sides, and along the deep glens there might be seen groups weary with travel, and wending their way up to the house of God. One band joins another, and they go from strength to strength, till every one appears in Zion before God. Listen to their united voices as they catch a glimpse of the golden temple:-'I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the Titus before Jerusalem. house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together. Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good.' Alas! well might they now say, 'pray for the peace of Jerusalem,' for within terror was reigning, and without a storm of war gathering. The splendid city of Cæsarea, where the army of Titus was stationed, was now the scene of great excitement. The glittering eagles were to be seen on every hand, and the marching of troops in every street. The time has come for the great general to lead them forth to battle. The sight is one of surpassing magnificence; kings thought it an honour to be there. The signal is given, and the whole army is in motion. Josephus gives the following description of the order of march: 'The auxiliaries that were sent by the kings marched first, having all the other auxiliaries with them; after whom followed those that were to prepare the roads and measure out the camp; then came the commander's baggage, and after that the other soldiers, who were completely armed to support them; then came Titus himself, having with him another select body; and then came the pikemen, after whom came the horse belonging to that legion. All these came before the engines; and after these engines followed the tribunes and the leaders of the cohorts, with their select bodies; after these came the ensigns with the eagle, and before those ensigns came the trumpeters belonging to them; bext these came the main body of the army in their ranks, every rank being six deep the servants belonging to every legion came after these; and before these last their baggage; the mercenaries came last, and those that | 93 guarded them brought up the rear."' The army marches through Samaria as far as Gophna, and remains there for the night. They then go to a place called the Valley of Thorns, where they encamp. They are about four miles from Jerusalem. Titus leaves the main body of his army here, and selects 600 of his best horsemen, and goes forward to view the city. He approaches it at the north-west corner, near the tower of Psephinus. The Jews have been apprised of his approach, and a great number rush forth and assault him. More than once his life was in extreme danger. He now conducted his horsemen northward to a place called Scopus. It was an elevation which commanded a complete view of the city,-hence its name. The eye of Titus ranged over the magnificent view. Close at hand was Bezetha, a suburban part of the city; beyond was Acra, with its close crowded dwellings; to the left of which was the gorgeous temple, which shone like the sun of the city, and farther to the right were the marble towers and stately palaces of Zion. In this place Titus fortifies his camp, and other legions now join him. The near approach of the enemy without began more and more to attract the attention of the citizens within. Hitherto the factions had shown a deadly hatred to each other. They had made the streets to run down with blood. They had burnt the corn and wasted the provisions. They had polluted even the holy temple itself. The sight of the Romans induced them to lay aside their enmity for a time. They saw that division was weakness and unity strength. 'What do we here,' say they, ' and what do we mean when we suffer these fortified walls to coop us in, that we shall not be able to breathe freely? While the enemy is securely building a kind of city in opposition to us, and while we sit still within our own walls, and become spectators of what they are doing, we are only conquerors against ourselves, while the Romans are like to gain the city without bloodshed or sedition.' Accordingly they unite their arms, and rush out and attack the enemy. Their wild disorderly movements at first alarm the Romans. are broken, and they are obliged to retreat. The march of the Romans seemed to the Jews to be a flight, and as the watchman placed on the wall gave a signal by shaking his garment, there came out a fresh multitude of Jews, and that with such mighty violence, that one might compare it to the running of the most terrible wild beasts.' The Romans retire to the hills, and thence drive back the Jews, who return to the city. Their ranks wish to come over to the Romans; and when the latter drew near to them the Jews fell upon them with great fury. This deception only tended to irritate the minds of the Romans. Titus surveyed the walls on the northwest side of the city, in order to find the weakest and least defended part. He decided to make the assault on a place near the monument of John, the high priest. The military engines were moved forward. The city in this part was comparatively thinly populated, and the strength of the fortification not so great as in other places. The mighty battering rams began to beat against the wall, and the sound thundered through the city. Besides the battering rams they used engines for hurling javelins. John and Simon again throw aside their personal hatred, and join their forces for the common defence of the city of God. The war without ceased for a time, and then the seditions within were renewed. The bond of union was broken and the factions were again at enmity with each other. At the feast of unleavened bread, Eleazar, who held the temple, opened its gates to admit the worshippers. John and his party, under pretence of devotion and great sanctity, enter with daggers and other weapons under their garments. When inside they throw aside their garments, and appear in their true characters The people became panic stricken, and the Zealots, regarding themselves as the only objects of hatred and destruction, escape into the vaults of the temple. And thus that sedition, which had been divided into three factions, was now reduced to two.' Titus began to make preparations on a large scale for taking Jerusalem. He cut down trees round about the city. He threw down the hedges and walls which the people had made about their gardens and groves, and cut down all the fruit trees that lay between them and the city wall. He demolished the rocky precipices with iron instruments, and made all ready to attack the city walls. The Jews brought the engines they had taken from Cestius, and planted them on the walls, but not knowing how to use them expertly they were of little service. Stones and darts and javelins were hurled by both parties. The Jews rushed out through their gates and made furious assaults on the troops. Titus now erected three towers fifty cubits high, in order that they might be above their enemies, and might thence drive them from their walls. In the dead of night one of these towers fell down, which making a tremendous noise greatly terrified the Romans. A fortnight had now been taken up in fighting, but still the outer wall_was untaken. Titus seized one of the Jews and crucified him in the presence of the others, hoping to alarm them in this way. They began to grow weary of fighting and resistance, and relaxed their efforts. The Romans brought up their great battering ram and a breach was made in the wall, and on the 7th of May they entered the city. The Romans pitched their camp in a place called the camp of the Assyrians, and the order was given to attack the second wall. The Jews fought with desperate fury. Myriads of people. were seen on every side. John of Galilee occupied the nothern part of Scripture Illustrated.-Broken Cisterns, &c. the city, including Fort Antonia and the temple, Simon defended Mount Zion. The engines were brought up against the wall and in five days after the capture of the first the second wall was taken. The part of the city now entered was most densely populated, the streets were narrow and the houses packed close together. The tradesmen and working classes resided principally here. The aristocracy inhabited Zion, the democracy Acra. Zion would correspond therefore in this respect to the west of London, and Acra to the east. Titus, being anxious to save the city and temple, did not press forward, nor set fire to the houses. The Jews interpreted his delay to his weakness. He tried to conciliate them and get them to surrender. But seeing the heathen standards so near their holy temple, they became frantic with a kind of religious frenzy. The seditious cut the throats of all who talked of peace, 95 and dashed themselves headlong among the enemy. The Romans were now in great danger. They had neglected to enlarge the opening in the wall, and the Jews coming upon them with such swiftness, were obliged to effect a retreat. The loss sustained was considerable. Having driven the Romans outside the second wall the Jews made the most of their triumph. They shouted for joy and the city rang with acclamations of victory. They covered themselves with their armour and made a wall of their own bodies over against that part of the wall that was cast down.' But the steadfast Romans were not to be borne down by the stubborn Jews. The attack on the wall was renewed. The fight lasted three days, and on the fourth Titus entered again, drove back the Jews, battered down the entire wall, and brought the lower city completely under his power. Scripture Illustrated. BROKEN CISTERNS, &c. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be ye horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.'-Jer. ii. 12, 13. No comparison could more keenly rebuke the madness of a people who changed their glory for that which did not profit. The best cisterns, even those cut in the solid rock, are strangely liable to crack, and can never be depended upon as sources of supply; and if by constant care they are made water-tight, yet the water, collected from clay roofs or from marly soil, has the colour of weak soap suds, the taste of the earth or the stable, is full of worms, and in the greatest need is sure to be dry. The foolish people, then, were like those who neglected the sweet, fresh water of the spring, and preferred drinking out of a stagnant cistern, that, filthy as it was, might chance to be dry when most wanted. THE OLIVE FLOWER AN EM- 'He shall cast off his flower as the olive.'Job xv. 33. WHAT is there in the casting off of olive flowers which can illustrate the rejection and ruin of those who trust in vanity, for which purpose Job employs the figure? The answer is simple. The olive is the most prodigal in flowers of all fruit-bearing trees. It literally bends under the load of them. But then not one in a hundred comes to maturity. The tree casts 96 Scripture Illustrated.-The Usefulness of the Olive in Syria, &c. them off by millions, as if they were no more value than flakes of snow, which they closely resemble. So it will be with those who put their trust in vanity. Cast off, they melt away, and no one takes the trouble to ask after such empty, useless things—just as the olive seems to throw off in contempt the myriad flowers that signify nothing, and turns all her fatness to those which will mature into fruit. THE USEFULNESS OF THE OLIVE IN SYRIA. Although the labour of the olive should fail, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.'-Hab. iii. 18. THE olive tree is of slow growth, and bears no berries until the seventh year; nor is the crop worth much until the tree is twelve or fifteen years old; but then the labour of the olive' is very profitable, and will continue to yield its fruit to extreme old age. It requires little care or labour of any kind Vineyards forsaken die out almost immediately, and mulberry orchards neglected run rapidly to ruin; but not so the olive. Large trees, in a good season will yield from ten to fifteen gallons of oil, and an acre of them gives a crop worth £10. The olive is indispensable for the comfort, and even the existence of the mass of the community. The oily berry when pickled, forms the general relish of the farmer's dry bread. He goes forth to his work in the field at early dawn, or sets out on a journey, with no other provision than olives wrapped up in a quantity of his paper-like leaves; and with this he is content. Then almost every kind of dish is cooked in oil, and without it the good wife is utterly confounded; and when the oil fails, the lamp in the dwelling of the poor expires. Moreover the entire supply of soap in Syria | is from the produce of the olive. Habbakuk, therefore, gives a very striking attestation of his faith in God when he says, 'Although the labour of the olive should fail, yet . will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.' PREACHING ON HOUSE-TOPS. 'What ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops.'-Matt. x. 27. Ir was customary in the days of our Lord to make public proclamations from the tops of houses which were flat, and constantly used by every family. Our Lord spent most of his life in villages, and accordingly the reference here is to a custom observed only in such places, never in cities. At the present day local governors in country districts in Syria, cause their commands thus to be published. Their proclamations are generally made in the evening, after labours in the field. The public crier the people have returned from their ascends the highest roof at hand, and lifts up his voice in a long-drawn call upon and obey. He then proceeds to anall faithful subjects to give ear nounce in a set form the will of his master, and demands obedience thereto. HYPOCRITICAL RELIGION. 'Whose trust shall be a spider's web.'- HOPE and trust are two of the principal elements of religion. In mock religion they are simulated. The religion of the hypocrite is like the web of the spider. Cobwebs are both common and curious. So common that all have seen them; so curious that few can ex. plain them. Let us look at one, that we may learn the qualities of hypocritical religion,-and observe, 1. It is slender in its construction. 2.-It is deceptive in its purpose. 3.It is made to hide the maker. 4.-It is self-evolved. 5. It is sometimes beautiful, but always useless. 6.-It will surely be swept away. H. |