EXAMPLES OP MALIGNITY. 



119 



In order to illustrate this sentiment, and to im 

 press it more deeply upon the mind of the reader, 

 I shall select two or three facts in relation to cer 

 tain characters whose names stand conspicuous 

 in the annals of history. 



Every reader of history is acquainted with the 

 character and actions of Antiochus Epiphanes, 

 whose name stands so high on the rolls of impi 

 ety and crime. Having besieged the city of 

 Jerusalem, he took it by storm, and, during the 

 three days it was abandoned to the fury of the 

 soldiers, he caused forty thousand* men to be in 

 humanly butchered : he exercised every species 

 of cruelty upon the citizens, and unmercifully put 

 to death all those who fell into his hands, and 

 whom he considered as his enemies. He de 

 spatched Appollonius at the head of 22,000 men, 

 with orders to plunder all the cities of Judea, to 

 murder all the men, and sell the women and 

 children for slaves. He accordingly came with 

 his army, and to outward appearance, with a 

 peaceable intention ; neither was he suspected by 

 the Jews, as he was superintendent of the tribute 

 in Palestine. He kept himself inactive till the 

 next Sabbath, when they were all in a profound 

 quiet, and then, on a sudden, began the work of 

 slaughter. He sent a portion of his men to the 

 temple and synagogues, with orders to cut to 

 pieces all who were found in these places of 

 resort ; whilst the rest going through the streets of 

 the city, massacred all who came in their way. 

 He next ordered the city to be plundered and 

 set on fire, pulled down all their stately buildings, 

 anc carried away captive ten thousand of those 

 who had escaped the slaughter. Not yet satisfied 

 with the blood of the Jews, Antiochus resolved 

 either totally to abolish their religion, or to de 

 stroy their whole race. He issued a decree that 

 all nations within his dominions should forsake 

 their old religion and gods, and worship those of 

 the king, under the most severe penalties. He 

 dedicated the temple at Jerusalem to Jupiter 

 Olympus, and set up his own statue on the altar 

 of burnt-offering ; and all who refused to come 

 and worship this idol were either massacred or 

 put to some cruel tortures, till they either complied 

 or expired under the hands of the executioners. 

 He put to death Eleazar, one of the most illustri 

 ous of the Jews, a venerable old man, ninety years 

 of age, and a doctor of the law, &quot; whose life had 

 been one continued series of spotless innocence,&quot; 

 and his execution was accompanied with the most 

 cruel torments. He seized the seven brothers 

 commonly called the Maccabees, along with their 

 mother, and caused them to be scourged in a 

 most inhuman manner, in order to compel them 

 to swallow swine s flesh, which their law forbade, 

 e.tul when they refused, he was so exasperated that 

 he ordered brazen pans and cauldrons to be 

 heated ., and, when they were red, he caused the 



Rollln states the number at 80,000. 



tongue of the eldest to be cut off had the skin 

 torn from his head, and the extremities of his 

 hands and feet cut off, before his mother and 

 his brethren. After being mutilated, he was 

 brought close to the fire, and fried in the pan. 

 The second brother was then taken, and, after 

 the hair of his head, with the skin, was torn away, 

 he was tortured in the same manner as his elder 

 brother ; and in like manner were the other five 

 brethren put to death, the last of whom, who was 

 the youngest, he caused to be tortured more 

 grievously than the rest. Last of all the mother 

 also suffered death. \ 



Hearing, some time afterwards, that, the Jews 

 had revolted, he assembled all his troops, which 

 formed a mighty army, and determind to destroy 

 the whole Jewish nation, and to settle other peo 

 ple in their country. He commanded Lysias, one 

 of his generals, to extirpate them root and branch, 

 so as not to leave one Hebrew in the country. 

 When in Persia advice was brought him of tho 

 defeat of Lysias, and that the Jews had retaken 

 the temple, thrown down the altars and idols 

 which he had set up, and re-established their 

 ancient worship. At this news his fury rose to 

 madness. In the violence of his rage, he set out 

 with all possible expedition, like an infernal fiend, 

 venting nothing but menaces on his march, and 

 breathing only final ruin and destruction to every 

 inhabitant of Judea, and to all that appertained 

 to them. He commanded his coachman to drive 

 with the utmost speed, that no time might be 

 lost for fully satiating his vengeance, threatening 

 at the same time, with horrid imprecations, to 

 make Jerusalem the burying place of the whole 

 Jewish nation, and not to leave one single inha 

 bitant within its confines. But the Almighty, 

 against whose providence he was raging, inter 

 posed, and stopped him in his wild career. &quot; He 

 was seized,&quot; says Rollin, &quot; with incredible pains 

 in his bowels, and the most excessive pangs of 

 the colic.&quot; Still, his pride and fury were not 

 abated : he suffered himself to be hurried away 

 by the wild transport of his rage, and breathing 

 nothing but vengeance against the land of Judea 

 and its inhabitants, he gave orders to proceed 

 with still greater celerity in his journey. But as 

 his horses were running forward impetuously, 

 he fell from his chariot, and bruised every part of 

 his body in so dreadful a manner, that he suffered 

 inexpressible torments ; and soon after finished 

 an impious life by a miserable death. 



The Turks, in their wars with neighbouring 

 states, both in former and present times, have 

 been proverbial for the malevolence they have 

 displayed, and the cruelties they have exercised 

 towards their enemies. The following is only 

 one instance out of a thousand which might be 

 produced, of the desperate length 10 which human 

 beings will proceed in treachery and in the in- 



t The details of these shocking cruelties may be 

 seen in Rollin s Ancient History, voL 7, 



