overtake him; and so returned, with much
rich spoil, and all the Roman engines of war, to Jerusalem--having,
with scarcely any loss, defeated a great Roman army, and slain five
thousand three hundred foot, and three hundred and eighty horse.

"Such is the history of events which have brought about the present
state of things. As you see, there is no hope of pardon, or mercy,
from Rome. We have offended beyond forgiveness. But the madness
against which I fought so hard, at first, is still upon the people.
They provoked the power of Rome; and then, by breaking the terms,
and massacring the Roman garrison, they went far beyond the first
offense of insurrection. By the destruction of the army of Cestius,
they struck a heavy blow against the pride of the Romans. For
generations, no such misfortune had fallen upon their arms.

"What, then, would a sane people have done since? Surely they would
have spent every moment in preparing themselves for the struggle.
Every man should have been called to arms. The passes should have
been all fortified, for it is among the hills that we can best cope
with the heavy Roman troops. The cities best calculated for defense
should have been strongly walled; preparations made for places of
refuge, among the mountains, for the women and children; large
depots of provisions gathered up, in readiness for the strife. That
we could ever, in the long run, hope to resist, successfully, the
might of Rome was out of the question; but we might so sternly, and
valiantly, have resisted as to be able to obtain fair terms, on our
submission.

"Instead of this, men go on as if Rome had no existence; and we
only show an energy in quarreling among ourselves. At bottom, it
would seem that the people rely upon our God doing great things for
us, as he did when he smote the Assyrian army of Sennacherib; and
such is my hope, also, seeing that, so far, a wonderful success has
attended us. And yet, how can one expect the Divine assistance, in
a war so begun and so conducted--for a people who turn their swords
against each other, who spend their strength in civil feuds, who
neither humble themselves, nor repent of the wickedness of their
ways?

"Alas, my son, though I speak brave words to the people, my heart
is very sad; and I fear that troubles, like those which fell upon
us when we were carried captive into Babylon, await us now!"

There was silence, as the rabbi finished. John had, of course,
heard something