THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. 205 



cabees. The senate placed Herod the Great, an Arab 

 prince, upon the throne. 



Herod was a man of the world, and his policy re- 

 sembled that of the Ptolemies in Egypt. He built the 

 temple at Jerusalem, and a theatre at Cesarea, in which 

 city he preferred to dwell. The kingdom at his death 

 was divided between his three sons : they were merely 

 Rajahs under the rule of Rome, and the one who 

 governed Juda?a having been removed for misbehaviour, 

 that county was attached to the pro-consulate of Syria. 

 A lieutenant-governor was appointed to reside in the 

 turbulent district to collect the revenues and maintain 

 order. The position of the first commandant whom 

 Russia sends to garrison Bokhara will resemble that 

 of the procurator who took up his winter quarters at 

 Jerusalem. 



Those Jews of Judsea, those Hebrews of the 

 Hebrews, regarded all the Gentiles as enemies of 

 God : they considered it a sin to live abroad, or to 

 speak a foreign language, or to rub their lirubs with 

 foreign oil. Of all the trees, the Lord had chosen 

 but one vine ; and of all the flowers, but one lily ; 

 and of all the birds, but one dove ; and of all the 

 cattle, but one lamb ; and of all builded cities, only 

 Sion ; and among all the multitude of people, he had 

 elected the Jews as a peculiar treasure, and had made 

 them a nation of priests and holy men. For their 

 sake God had made the world. On their account 

 alone empires rose and fell. Babylon had triumphed 

 because God was angry with his people ; Babylon had 

 fallen, because he had forgiven them. It may be im- 

 agined that it was not easy to govern such a race. 

 They acknowledged no King but Jehovah, no laws but 

 the precepts of their holy books. In paying tribute, 



