onquerors,"
cried Rachel to her fair young companion, who was rather inclined to
shrink back. "The Asmonean blood flows in your veins; you are
kinswoman to our prince; and you have yourself nobly suffered
persecution for the faith. What! tears in your eyes, maiden, on such a
morning as this!"

"Oh, that my beloved mother, Hadassah, had lived to behold it!" thought
Zarah. "She would have deemed this glorious day a type and forerunner
of that even more blessed time when _the ransomed of the Lord shall
return to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away_"
(Isa. xxxv. 10).

Yes; as that bright, warm day in winter, soon to be succeeded by frosts
and storms, was in regard to the long, glorious summer, so was the
happiness of Judaea under the sway of her first Asmonean princes,
compared to the glory which will be hers when her many ages of
tribulation shall be ended. In the time of Maccabeus and his
successors, the "discrowned queen" had arisen from the dust; but she
has not yet, even at this late period, mounted her throne. More
fearful judgments, more terrible desolation, were to succeed an
interval of prosperity and freedom in the history of Zion. The Romans,
more formidable even than the Syrians, were to give Jerusalem's sons to
the sword and her Temple to the flames; and God's ancient people were
to be scattered throughout all nations, to be a by-word and a hissing
amongst them. But the glory is not departed for ever. We may--or our
descendants must--see the Vine brought out of Egypt, budding into new
beauty and life at the breath of the promised Spring.

"He comes, he comes! Maccabeus, our hero!" Such were the shouts which
burst from every side as the war-worn victors appeared, with palm
branches in their hands. Was not exultation in the heart of Maccabeus
at that moment? Perhaps not. Perhaps he would gladly have exchanged
the shouts of all the people for a loving welcome from one dear voice.
Judas caught a glimpse of Zarah. Hers were the only eyes in all the
crowd that were not fixed upon himself. She was eagerly looking at the
form of one a little way in the rear of the chief---the form of her
betrothed husband, the Gentile proselyte whom she loved.

The conquerors entered the Temple of Zion. They came, not only to
worship, but to purify. No sacrifice could be offered in the sanctuary
till what the heathen had d