the blow. Until now he had hoped that Titus would, in
the end, spare the Temple; but he recognized, now, that it was the
obstinacy of the Jews that had brought about its destruction.

"It was God's will that it should perish," he said, to himself;
"and Titus could no more save it than I could do."

After some hours, he roused himself and descended to the room now
occupied by the remnant of the band. Jonas and ten others, alone,
were gathered there. Some had thrown themselves down on the ground.
Some sat in attitudes of utter dejection. Several were bleeding
from wounds received in the desperate fight of the morning. Others
were badly burned in the desperate efforts they had made to
extinguish the flames. Exhausted by want of food, worn out by their
exertions, filled with despair at the failure of their last hopes,
the members of the little band scarce looked up when their leader
entered.

"My friends," he said, "listen to me, if but for the last time. We,
at least, have nothing to reproach ourselves with. We have fought
for the Temple, to the last; and if we failed to save it, it is
because it was the will of God that it should perish. At any rate,
our duty is done. God has not given us our lives, and preserved
them through so many fights, that we should throw them away. It is
our duty, now, to save our lives, if we can. Now that the Temple
has fallen, we are called upon to do no more fighting.

"Let the bands of John of Gischala, and Simon, fight to the last.
They are as wild beasts, inclosed in the snare of the hunter; and
they merit a thousand deaths, for it is they who have brought
Jerusalem to this pass, they who have robbed and murdered the
population, they who have destroyed the granaries which would have
enabled the city to exist for years, they who refused the terms by
which the Temple might have been saved, they who have caused its
destruction in spite of the efforts of Titus to preserve it. They
are the authors of all this ruin and woe. They have lived as wild
beasts, so let them die!

"But there is no reason why we should die with them, for their
guilt is not upon our heads. We have done our duty in fighting for
the Temple, and have robbed and injured none. Therefore, I say, let
us save our lives."

"Would you surrender to the Romans?" one of the band asked,
indignantly. "Do you, whom we have followed, counsel us to become
traitors?"

"It is not treachery to surrender, when one can no longer resist