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by a famine which was considerably mitigated by the munificent generosity of Helena a queen of Adiabene, who was a zealous proselyte to the Jewish religion, and whose son Izates had embraced her faith and imitated her example of benevolence.

Relate an instance of the kindness of the emperor Claudius for the Jews.

Cassius Longinus, the prefect of Syria, came with a numerous army to Jerusalem, while Fadus was at the head of the administration in that city, and insisted that the pontifical vestments should be taken out of the custody of the high-priests, and that they should again be kept under the superintendence of the Romans in the fortress of Antonia. But the Jews sent an embassy to Rome; their representations were supported by the influence of young Agrippa; Claudius issued an imperial mandate in favour of the nation; while Herod, king of Chalcis, the brother of the elder, and uncle of the younger, Agrippa, obtained the government of the temple and of the sacred treasury, with the power of nominating or deposing the highpriests a power which after his death was obtained and exercised by Agrippa.

What impostor agitated Judæa during the government of Fadus?

It was during the government of Fadus that_an impostor, Theudas, created great commotions in Judæa. This Theudas is not to be confounded with the impostor of the same name mentioned in the gospel of Luke, and who with good reason is supposed to have been the person whose ravages and death have already been mentioned, called by Josephus Judas the son of Hezekias. This second Theudas, having collected a great multitude of the Jews, led them to the banks of Jordan, promising to divide the waters of the river after the example of Joshua, and to lead his followers to conquest and to triumph. Their delusion was dissipated by the victory of the Romans; many were slain; many were taken prisoners; and Theudas himself was decapitated, and his head was taken to Jerusalem.

Who succeeded Fadus in the government of Judæa ? The government of Tiberius Alexander. A. D. 46. who succeeded Fadus, and who was a renegado Jew, the nephew of the celebrated Philo, was only distinguished by the crucifixion of James and Simon, the sons of Judas Galileus the head of the Gaulonitish sect, who had disseminated the dangerous doctrines of their father. About the same time Herod king of Chalcis, after having again changed the priesthood, Ananias the son of Nibid, being placed in that dignity, died, and his dominions with his authoritative influence over the temple and the high-priests, was given to the younger Agrippa.

What dreadul event occurred in Jerusalem in the government of Cumanus?

A. D. 48.

In the government of Ventidius Cumanus who succeeded Alexander, a horrible tragedy took place at Jerusalem. A Roman sentinel behaved with the grossest indecency at the festival of the Passover; the indignant Jews repaired in a body to complain to the governor, and grossly insulted him in the fury of their resentment; Cumanus ordered his army to appear to overawe the populace; the multitude, apprehending instant slaughter, were seized with a panic terror, and sought safety in flight; the passages in the vicinity of the temple were too narrow for the escape of so vast a crowd; and between ten and twenty thousand persons were stifled, crushed, or trampled to death.

What event produced the removal of Cumanus from the government of Judæa?

Some Galilean Jews were killed by the Samaritans ; the survivors applied to Cumanus for redress; but he had been bribed by the murderers, and refused to inflict the punishment of justice upon the offenders. The Jews were so exasperated by this conduct, that they were on the verge of an insurrection which might have involved their extermination. The influence of their principal men induced them to abstain from open violence; the complaints of the people were taken before Quadratus the governor of Syria; the Samari

tans were condemned to die; Cumanus, and Celer his military tribune, were sent to Rome to answer for their conduct; Cumanus was banished, and Celer was sent back to Jerusalem to be dragged through the streets by the heels, and then beheaded.

Was the administration of the next Roman governor advantageous to the Jews?

A. D. 51.

The appointment of Claudius Felix, the brother of Pallas the favourite of the Roman emperor, to the government of Judæa, was a most disastrous event to the Jews. Tacitus declares, that he governed them with the despotism of a monarch, and the genius of a slave. He did not hesitate to inflict the most barbarous oppressions and cruelties, until the people were goaded into open rebellion, and a scene of calamity followed unparalleled in the history of the world. The whole country was a theatre of crime. Banditti infested every place; false Messiahs, pretending to authenticate their claims to a divine mission by the most extraordinary miracles, seduced great numbers of the people, and the arm of the executioner was fatigued with slaughter. The Sicarii, or assassins, justly termed the spawn of the Gaulonitish sect, committed the most atrocious acts of murder under the pretence of zeal for the religion and liberties of their country. Jonathan the high-priest, who dared to expostulate with the governor upon his baseness and wickedness, fell by the dagger of a hired murderer; and according to the testimony of the Jewish historian, "God from that hour abandoned Jerusalem as a detested city, and sent the Romans to be the ministers of his vengeance." The profligate licentiousness of Felix was a scandal to his country and his age. Drusilla, the daughter of Agrippa the First, who had been married to Aziz, king of Emesa, he enticed away from her husband, and persuaded her to contract an adulterous connexion with him, though one of the most flagitious persons in the whole Roman world. It was on this accouut, that when the apostle Paul was brought before his tribunal, and reasoned of righteousness, chastity, and judgment to come, "Felix trembled."

What exhibition of Jewish fanaticism was exhibited in the government of Felix?

An Egyptian Jew collected a body of thirty thousand men, conducted the deluded multitude to the summit of mouut Olivet, persuaded them that the walls of Jerusalem would fall down at their feet, and that they would triumphantly enter the sacred city to deliver it from the presence of their pagan foes. The troops of Felix formed the attack, the Egyptian himself escaped, but many of his followers were slain.

Who was the successor of Felix in the government of Judæa, and what was his character?

Portius Festus was the successor of Felix

A. D. 60. in the government of Judæa, and his upright administration formed a pleasing contrast to that of his predecessor. He found the nation in a state of the most violent commotion. The priests themselves were involved in a civil war. The inferior order of the priesthood, resisted the exactions of the superior; and these men, who professed to be devoted to the service of God, did not hesitate, with unscrupulous and impious barbarity, to employ the daggers of the Sicarii to destroy their opponents. The firm and rigid government of Festus for a time repressed these hateful disorders; he made the severest examples of the most obstinate and mutinous of the seditious, and succeeded in restoring some degree of tranquillity to the distracted and miserable nation.

What distinguished person was brought before the tribunal of Festus?

Soon after the arrival of Festus in Judæa, Ananias the high-priest and the rest of the Jewish chiefs, demanded the punishment of the apostle Paul, who had been detained in imprisonment at Cæsarea. When that great, eloquent, and devoted man was brought before his tribunal, Festus immediately perceived his innocence, and pronounced him guiltless of any capital crime. Paul, seeing that the Jews were determined upon his destruction, availed himself of his privilege as a Roman citizen, appealed to Cæsar, obviated the malicious intention of the Jews, and procured his

transmission to Rome-an event which, as will soon be seen, was productive of the most momentous consequences to himself, to the Jews, and to Christianity. Agrippa, and Berenice his sister, having arrived at Cæsarea, heard the eloquent defence of Paul; Agrippa was almost persuaded to become a Christian, and Festus could only reply to the arguments of the servant of Christ by asserting that his learning had affected his senses.

What changes at this period took place in Jerusalem? Agrippa having erected in his palace at A. D. 60. Jerusalem a lofty tower which overlooked the temple, the priests were so irritated by what they deemed his unwarrantable presumption, that they built a high wall which completely obstructed his prospect. Festus and Agrippa resented the insolence of the priests, and commanded the wall to be pulled down. The Jews, however, obtained permission to send to Rome for an imperial decision of their dispute, and Ishmael the high-priest, Hilkiah the keeper of the treasury, and eight other persons proceeded to the court of Nero. The influence of Poppæa obtained for the Jewish deputation their wishes, and the wall was permitted to stand, though Ishmael and Hilkiah were detained at Rome. Ishmael was immediately deposed to make way for Joseph surnamed Cabei, and Joseph was soon degraded from his dignity for the sake of Annas. Annas was a proud, violent, overbearing Sadducee; and he exemplified his tyrannical and malignant spirit, by exciting a persecution of the Christians, in which James the apostle, and many of his brethren, obtained the crown of martyrdom.

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