GISCHALA REDUCED.

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Titus summoned them to surrender, but John desirous of escaping, pleaded the sacredness of the sabbath, and asked a truce from all negociations till the morrow. This Titus granted; and John used the interval to accomplish his escape. He prevailed on a number of the citizens to accompany him, with a multitude of women and children whom he cruelly deserted on the road. These, of course, fell into the hands of those who went in pursuit six thousand of the helpless creatures were put to death, and half that number brought back, in dreadful captivity, to the town. Titus is represented as showing great leniency to the inhabitants, who came out to meet him most submissively, casting on John all the blame of the deception practised; and it does not appear that any extensive massacre was perpetrated. He had a higher prize in immediate prospect: Jerusalem was next to be invested, and the army expressed great impatience to march upon the holy city; but Vespasian, hearing from deserters how great were the divisions, and how bitter the internal contests carried on there, refused to advance, deeming it expedient to allow those breaches to widen, and the mischief to proceed as far as possible, before they furnished the Jews with a motive of union

by attacking them. There can be no doubt that the wily Roman had emissaries in the city, stirring up strife, and directing many evil works that appeared to be of Jewish origin alone; and Josephus himself, a captive, but in high favour and confidence, would afford many valuable hints for his patron's guidance. How far his patriotism had been subdued, we may gather from the complacency with which he details events that even at this distance of time must pierce with anguish the heart of every Jew who peruses the tale; how far his feelings had been paganized, we may also discern from the whole tenor of his language, which is that of a Roman, not an Israelite. The divine fury" that he ascribes to Vespasian could not, to his view, be as the heaven-born courage of Gideon or David; but the legitimate inspiration of Rome's warlike demon, Mars. Touches do appear of natural feeling, but they are very few, and very far between; a glimmer among the ashes of what he had laboured to extinguish, and where scarcely an expiring spark yet lingered. This ought to be borne in mind, when admitting as unquestionable the accuracy of one who took part in the events that he narrates. Every eye-witness is not a true witness; neither is the report of a

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AN UNFAITHFUL WITNESS.

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faithless deserter, such as bore tidings to the Roman camp of what occurred within the walls of Jerusalem, above suspicion. This we know, that they were days of vengeance, when all came upon the country and the people, which the prophets had foretold; and whatsoever is borne out by the word of prophecy that we are bound to believe. Beyond it, we have no sure data on which to build, save in the military operations and public events that were known to all men. Josephus certainly did not write for the Jews: but for the Romans he certainly did write, and through their favour his work is preserved as an invaluable record of what, but for it, would rest on a still more questionable foundation; wholly destitute of the local and national features that establish its general accuracy beyond dispute.

The prefatory matter has swelled far beyond our purposed limits; but Jotopata, Tariches and Gamala arrest us by the fearful interest of their melancholy details, while the narrative invests with grim and glaring life the prophetic beast, "which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet.”

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CHAPTER VI.

THE fortified places of Judæa being reduced, and their gallant defenders slaughtered, or with their helpless families carried into slavery, the Roman army pressed on their general the desirableness of proceeding to Jerusalem; but Vespasian exhorted them to patience, representing that their work was being more effectually done by means of civil dissension, commotion, and blood within the city, than it could be by their immediate advance. John, who had escaped from Gischala, was at the head of a lawless party calling themselves zealots, making havoc of the more peaceable, and committing dreadful acts, not only in Jerusalem but by occasional excursions to neighbouring places; while some alien bands who had possession of the citadel of Masada, not far from Jerusalem, took advantage of

VESPASIAN ADVANCES.

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the absence of the male population at the feast of unleavened bread to fall on the surrounding villages, committing dreadful barbarities, and carrying off the spoil to their fortress; insomuch that individuals frequently made their appearance in the Roman camp, inviting Vespasian to advance, and by completing at a blow the work of desolation, put an end to this slow and torturing process. To this he seemed to yield, rather than to the wishes of his army; and set forward on his sanguinary expedition in the character of a deliverer anxious to extend the protecting wing of the Roman Eagle over the whole nation. Gadara, the chief city of Peræa, surrendered on their approach; the more hostile party having taken to flight, on finding that no opposition would be offered by the principal citizens. Vespasian dispatched one of his commanders in pursuit of the fugitives, a body of whom they soon overtook, and completely surrounded, forming with their mail clad ranks an unbroken, impervious wall of iron, against which the darts of the Jews were hurled in vain. These stood at bay, and fought with desperate courage: but escape was impossible; and there like,oh, how like!" a wild bull in a net;" they struggled and fell, one by one, beneath the prac