on to adhere to
his religion,--a man who could not be bribed, and who could not be
intimidated. "Be it far from us," he said, "to forsake law and
ordinances. We will not hearken to the king's words, to turn aside to
the right hand or to the left."

When he had thus given noble attestation of his resolution to adhere to
the faith of his fathers, there came forward an apostate Jew to
sacrifice on the heathen altar, which it seems was erected by royal
command in all the cities and towns of Judaea. This so inflamed the
indignation of the brave old man that he ran and slew the Jew upon the
altar, together with the king's commissioner, and pulled down the altar.

For this, Mattathias was obliged to flee, and he escaped to the
mountains, taking with him his five sons and all who would join his
standard of revolt, crying with a loud voice, "Let every one zealous for
the Law follow me!" A considerable multitude fled with him to the
wilderness of Judaea, on the west of the Dead Sea, taking with them
their wives and children and cattle. But this flight from persecution
speedily became known to the troops that were quartered on Mount Zion, a
strong fortress which controlled the Temple and city, and a detachment
was sent in pursuit. The fugitives, zealous for the Law, refused to
defend themselves on the Sabbath day, and the result was that they all
perished, with their wives and children. Their fate made such a powerful
impression on Mattathias, that it was resolved henceforth to fight on
the Sabbath day, if attacked. The patriots had to choose between two
alternatives,--to be utterly rooted out, or to defend themselves on the
Sabbath, and thus violate the letter of the Law. Mattathias was
sufficiently enlightened to perceive that fighting on the Sabbath, if
attacked, was a supreme necessity, remembering doubtless that Moses
recognized the right of necessary work even on the sacred day of rest.
The law of self-defence is an ultimate one, and appeals to the
consciousness of universal humanity. Strange as it may seem, the Sabbath
has ever been a favorite day with generals to fight grand battles in
every Christian country.

Mattathias, although a very old man, now put forth superhuman energies,
raised an army, drove the persecuting soldiers out of the country,
pulled down the heathen altars, and restored the Law; and when the time
came for him to die, at the age of one hundred and forty-five years,--if
we may credit the history, for