David had reigned ere he was hailed king over
all Israel. And the nearer objects were such as gave thrilling
interest to the prayer of the Asmonean prince: the view of the towers
of Bethsura which he was about to assail, the hosts of the enemy whom
he--with far inferior numbers--was going to attack; this, perhaps, even
more than associations connected with the past, made every word of
Maccabeus fall with powerful effect on his audience.

And that audience was in itself, probably, the noblest that could at
that time have been gathered together in any laud, not excepting Italy
or Greece. It was composed of men whom neither ambition nor the lust
of gold had drawn from their homes to oppose an enemy whose force
greatly exceeded their own. In face of the trained warriors of Syria
were gathered together peasants, artizans, shepherds, animated by the
purest patriotism, and the most simple faith in God. Every man in that
kneeling army knew that he carried his life in his hand, that in case
of defeat he had no mercy to expect, and that victory scarce lay within
the verge of probability according to human calculation; yet not a
countenance showed anything but undaunted courage, eager hope, firm
faith, as the weather-beaten, toil-worn Hebrews listened to and joined
in the supplications of their leader.

But it was the character of that leader himself which gave the chief
force to his words. If Maccabeus the Asmonean received the lofty title
of "Prince of the sons of God," it was because his countrymen
acknowledged, and that without envy, the stamp of a native royalty upon
him, which needed not the anointing oil or the golden crown to add to
its dignity. Any nation with pride might have numbered amongst its
heroes a man possessing the military talents of a Miltiades, with the
purity of an Aristides; one whose character was without reproach, whose
fame was unstained with a blot. Simple, earnest faith was the
mainspring of the actions of Maccabeus. The clear, piercing gaze of
the eagle, energy like that with which the strong wing of the royal
bird cleaves the air, marked the noble Asmonean; for the soul's gaze
was upward toward its Sun, and the soul's pinion soared high above the
petty interests, the paltry ambition of earth. As there was dignity in
the single-mindedness of the character of Judas, so was there power in
the very simplicity of his words. I will mar that simplicity by no
interpolations of my own, but transfe