, the banners of Syria
had waved on the walls of some well-manned fortress.

To the bold spirit of Maccabeus there was something congenial in the
adventurous kind of existence which he led, and yet he was not one who
would have adopted a guerrilla life from choice. As even in a hard and
rocky waste there are spots where rich vegetation betrays some source
of hidden nourishment below, and they who dig deep enough under the
surface find a spring of bright pure living waters,--so deep within the
Asmonean's heart lay a hidden source of tenderness which prevented his
nature from becoming hardened by the stern necessities of warfare.
This secret affection made the warrior more chivalrous to women, more
indulgent to the weak, more compassionate to all who suffered. In the
moment of triumph, "Will not Zarah rejoice?" was the thought which made
victory more sweet; in preservation from imminent danger, the thought,
"Zarah has been praying for me," made deliverance doubly welcome. When
the evening star gleamed in the sky, its pure soft guiding orb seemed
to Judas an emblem of Zarah; as he gazed on it, the warrior would
indulge in delicious musings. This desperate warfare might not last
for ever. If the Lord of Sabaoth should bless the arms of His
servants; might not the time come when swords should be beaten into
ploughshares, when children should play fearlessly in pastures which no
oppressor's foot should tread, and the sound of bridal rejoicings be
heard in the land of the free? Hopes so intensely delightful would
then steal over the Asmonean's soul, that he would suddenly start like
a sentinel who finds himself dropping asleep on his post. How dared
the leader of Israel's forlorn hope indulge in reveries which made him
feel how precious a thing life might be to himself, when he had freely
devoted that life to the service of God and his country? When David
was engaged in rescuing his flock from the lion and the bear, did he
stop to gather the lilies of the field? "It is well," thought Judas
Maccabeus, "that I have never told Zarah what is in my heart; if I
fall, as I shall probably fall, on the field of conflict, I would not
leave her to the grief of a widow."

An event was at hand which was felt as a heavy blow by all to whom the
cause of Israel was dear, but more especially so by the Asmonean
brethren, who from their childhood had regarded their father with
reverence and affection.

Mattathias was an aged man, and