A STORY OF THE MACCABEES.* APPARENTLY the plan of dual
authorship answers, though we suppose it must answer for the same reason for which, remarkably laborious men live to a great age,—namely, thaw they must be picked men, men selected by constitution for the very purpose of accomplishing what they do accomplish. before they accomplish it. Nothing looks more unpromising. at first than such a partnership as that of Erckmann and_. Chatrian, or that of Besant and Rice ; and, of course, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, it would not only. be unpromising, but would fail. But the only conditions under which such a partnership could be rationally formed, are, we suppose, those rare conditions under which it would be likely to succeed. At all events, this literary partnership between Mr. Church and Mr. Seeley seems to us decidedly successful. Mr. Seeley, who, we are told, is responsible for the plan of the story, has drawn it out with great skill, so as to illustrate the essential features of a story of the Maccabean exploits, and especially the contrast between the pliant Greek opportunism and superfine intellectual scorn for the narrow- ness and gloom of Jewish faith, and that Jewish faith itself; which gives its whole character to the Maccabean patriotism. At the opening of the story, there is a very careful and
The Hammer a Story of the Mecca:an Times. By Alfred J. Church, M.A., lately Professor of Latin in University College, London ; and Richard Seeley. With Illn.tretiouv by John Jellicoe. London : Seeley and Co..
interesting sketch of two Hellenising high-priests, whose chief motive, no doubt, was pure greediness of wealth and pleasure, but who had also caught the genuine levity and capacity for disbelieving in any moral government of the world, which characterised the profligate Greek love of superficial ease and beauty. The sketch of Jason and Menelaus, and of the half- insane monarch Antiochus Epiphanes, has been drawn by Mr. Church with great skill, so as to prepare his readers to enjoy with their whole hearts the enthusiastic devotion, and even fanaticism, of the Jewish zealot. The account of the plot against the pious Oniah, the ex-high-priest, and the fury of Antiochus, in spite of his contempt for the Jewish creed, at its success, is just what is wanted to help us to understand the revivalist feeling which gave the great impulse to the Maccabees. Mr. Church has painted the recoil of the pleasure- loving temperament from the strictness of the Jewish law very vividly, and the utter rascality into which it so easily passes, though it did not inevitably pass into it where there was any con- science left at the bottom of that pleasure-loving temperament. From Jason and Menelaus to Micah, the Hellenising Jew who, in spite of his recoil from the narrowness and arbitrariness of Jewish orthodoxy, cared more for righteousness at bottom than he cared for pleasure, the transition is very skilfully made, and from that point in the story the chief interest turns on the conflict between the puritanism of the Jewish orthodoxy, and the military arrogance of the Greek conquerors. Nothing can be happier than the way in which Micah's re-conversion is repre- sented as brought about, not merely by the revival in him of the sense of righteousness, but partly at least by his keen feeling that the pretended aestheticism of Greek culture was as hollow as it was plausible, since it offered no resistance to the hideous ugliness of ruthless torture and massacre. The scene in which he finds his sister's lifeless body on a cross with a new- born baby in her arms, is very striking, and it gives the true key, no doubt, to the popular feeling which turned Judaea into so effective a recruiting-ground for the Maccabees that the feeble successors of Alexander were quite unable to make head against them.
And when once we are introduced to the hiding-place of the Jewish refugees in the mountains, and the growth of the Maccabee camp from the sheltering-place of a few patriot outlaws into the kernel of a victorious army, the interest grows steadily to the point at which jealousies begin to divide the successful rebels, and to introduce that element of dis- union which is the first omen of a reverse. It is almost a pity, perhaps, that Mr. Seeley did not leave the story with the triumph of the Maccabees. The failing purity of the Maccabean self-devotion is somewhat too sad a subject for a tale of this kind. It would be a fine theme for tragedy, but hardly for a story of which patriotic enthusiasm is the very life- breath. It needs a higher level of emotion than it is possible to reach in a story of this sort, to reconcile one to the fall of Judas Maccabeus. Nor is the close, we think, quite as skilful as the first three-quarters of the tale. Naturally, it is very much more difficult to render the story of the decline of patriotic self-devotion as fascinating as is the story of its origin and growth. The element of melancholy which it In- troduces needs a higher sort of treatment than suits the scale and character of a story of this nature, if it is to satisfy the reader.
But we have no wish to dwell on the less attractive close • while the charm of the greater part of the story is so great. The little episodes of the tale, too, are admirable. Take the following as illustrating one of those portions which will most delight its younger readers. It belongs to the time in which the refugees from the persecution of Antiochus first establish
themselves in their mountain fastness:— "When a few days after their arrival Ruth gave birth to a son it was much feared that the scanty supply of nourishing food might long delay her restoration to strength. This fear was not realised. The feeling of freedom and deliverance combined with the fine mountain air to bring her back to her wonted health, and she found herself able to go about her daily work long before she could have hoped to do so in the more enervating atmosphere of the city. One day she had gone to gather herbs for the daily mess, a work in which she was especially useful from the knowledge of plants which she had taken pains to acquire in her unmarried days. She had taken, of course, the new-born infant with her, and Miriam, who was delighted to perform, as far as her strength permitted, the office of nurse. The little Judith, whose night's rest had been disturbed by some childish ailment, had been left at home to make up her allowance of sleep. The mother found on her return that a strange visitor had made herself at home in the cave. The little one was fast asleep on a bed of rugs which had been made up for her, and curled up at her side with one of her fore paws round her neck was a jackal. The two companions were roused together by the arrival of the party, and, wonderful to relate, neither showed any symptoms of alarm. The jackal rose from its resting-place, approached Ruth, and fawned at her feet. and the child came after its bedfellow and stroked affectionately its shaggy skin. When, two or three weeks afterwards, the new comer gave birth to a litter of cubs, the joy of the children was complete. The little animals soon learnt to play with the girls, and their dam sat by and watched their gambols, and sometimes even condescended to join in them herself. The little colony heard of the strange incident with delight, and saw in it a token of Divine favour. Man rages cruelly against us,' they said, 'but we find friends among the beasts of the field. Surely it is our God who hath changed the heart of this savage dweller in the wilderness, and we will trust that He will do yet greater things than these." Mother,' said Miriam one day to Ruth, by what name shall we call our new friend?' The question puzzled her, and she referred it to her husband. It does not seem fitting,' she said, 'that we should give the name of a daughter of the Covenant to the beast, for though she is of kindly temper yet she is unclean.' Seraiah thought awhile. 'You say truth, my wife.
Let us call her Jael.'—' But why Jael Because the wife of Heber was of the unclean, for was she not of the house of the Kenite ? Yet was she a friend of Israel, for she slew Sisera that was captain of the host of Jabin, King of Canaan.' So thence- forward the creature went by the name of Jael. It was not long before she justified her name by showing that she could be fierce on occasion. A wayfarer, who described himself as a discharged soldier and a Moabite by birth, asked for shelter and food. Scanty as were the means of the fugitives, they did not grudge the stranger a share of their meal. They gave him their best, adding to their daily fare the special luxury of some dried grapes. As he complained of being footsore, Ruth applied some simple remedies to the blisters on his feet. Altogether he was treated not only as welcome but even as an honoured guest. On his part he professed a fervent sympathy with the hopes and plans of his hosts. The next morning he started as if to continue his journey. But the cupidity of the wretch had been roused by the sight of the hand- some earrings,-almost the sole remaining relic of former affluence —which he had spied in his hostess's ears. About an hour before noon, when he judged that the men would be still busy about their daily work, he crept back to the cave. Ruth was sitting by a fire nursing her babe. The jackal lay asleep in a corner ; the girls were playing with the cubs on a sunny little plot of ground out- side.—` Lady,' began the fellow, in a beggar's wheedling voice,.
can you spare a little money for a poor fellow who has not so much as a copper coin to buy him a piece of bread ?'—Ruth was startled at his reappearance, but concealed her alarm. Friend,' she said, I have no money ; but I will give you half a loaf if you want food, though you had done better, I should think, to keep on your way, for you can hardly find any that are poorer than we? = But you have gold,' said the man.—' Gold ? Not I,' she answered.—' Nay, lady,' he went on, with a perceptible tone of threatening in his voice, those earrings that you wear are doubt- less of true metal. They add, indeed, to your beauty, and it is a pity that you should lose them ; but then there is no one to admire you in this wilderness, and they would keep a poor fellow like myself in flesh and wine for a month or more.'—" My earrings ?' said Ruth, stupefied by the man's audacity.—' Yes, your earrings, lady,' said the man. I should advise you to take them out your- self, for if I have to do it I am afraid that I shall show myself a very rough tirewoman.'—The spirit of Ruth, the same that had dwelt of old in a Miriam or a Deborah, was roused at the man's insolent audacity. She seized a half-burnt brand from the fire and stood on her defence. The soldier, thinking that he had found. an easy prey, approached. But he had not reckoned on an ally who was ready to help her in her need. Jael had been woke by the voices, and watched with glaring eyes the soldier's movements, uttering every now and then a low growl, which, however, the man was too much occupied to heed. As soon as he came within. reach, she sprang upon him from her lurking-place. The force with which she threw herself upon him overset him, and he fell backwards, his head striking on the mill-stone which formed part of the scanty furniture of the cave. In a moment her fangs wore in his throat. In vain did Ruth, who saw the man's danger, and was unwilling that he should perish in his sins, call her by her- name. All the savage instinct in her was roused by the taste of blood. Before two minutes had passed the freebooter was dead. We did well to call her Jael,' said Seraiah that evening, as he helped to carry the corpse out of the cave. The wretch has received the due reward of his deeds.' "
The story of Shallum the wine-seller, and of Huldah the victim of the Syrian soldiery, are equally striking; and we lay down the book with real gratitude to writers who have given us so vivid an insight into one of the greatest of all patriotic revivals, because it was due to the purest spirit of religious faith. " The Hammer " is hardly, we think, a very happy title, though Judas Maccabeus was called in Hebrew history and tradition " the Hammer of Jehovah." It was admiration and affection which bestowed on him the sobriquet- But its meaning is hardly well enough remembered now, to give any impression to people in general of the subject-matter of the story.
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