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XVIII.

THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS.

BY CAROLINE CHESEBRO.

"FORASMUCH as many have taken in hand to set forth a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also," having sought for a perfect understanding of all things, to write unto thee, in order, beloved reader, that thou perhaps mightest be led to think more earnestly of those things wherein thou hast already been instructed. Grace be with thee, and faith from our Lord Jesus.

Judea rejoiced in unprecedented peace and prosperity. The strong will, ability, and power with which King Herod reigned over the land, had attached to it an importance and splendour to which it had hitherto been a stranger.

From holding merely the governorship of a comparatively unimportant region, Galilee, that ruler came to be the independent sovereign of all Palestine-aking feared and disliked for the natural cruelty of his disposition, and because of the rigour and sternness with which he carried forward all his plans for self-advancement, and for the increased power of his kingdom; beloved he was by none, and honoured by few besides those whose greatness surpassed his own, who could afford to admire a firmness of will that had never for its object their subjugation; and applauded or encouraged only by those beyond the reach of his cruelty and rapacity.

The effectual aid Herod's father had rendered to Cæsar had gained for the Idumean the fast friendship of the great Roman

Emperor; and, in gratitude to Antipater, Cæsar made him procurator of Judea. Very naturally, the father, occupying this authoritative station, sought the advancement of his own sons; and so we read that Herod, one of these sons, was ere long made the governor of Galilee. It was not very long before that youth, exulting in his power, and desirous to win distinction, began to exhibit those qualities which, in later years more fully developed, made the glory of his dominions, and the misery and disgrace of his private history.

Herod did not reach his brilliant and powerful station as monarch of Palestine suddenly, neither were his honours altogether unsought. To reach that height he was forced to tread a path beset on every side with dangers; but he trod it valiantly, and won the glory which was to him dearer than all things else. Some time after his father had appointed him to the government of Galilee, Herod and his brother Phasael were made tetrarchs of Judea; and not long after this increase of their authority, those causes were set in operation, whose ultimate end was the elevation of Herod to the throne.* An army of Parthians entered Syria and Asia Minor; and one of the Asmonean princes, named Antigonus, a claimant to the Judean throne, thinking it a favourable moment to assert his rights, and supposing that he would be aided in his just attempt by the Parthians, marched with an army towards Jerusalem, and forced his way into that city. A fearful slaughter followed, without any prospect of a speedy cessation of hostilities, or of victory on either side. At length Antigonus proposed to Phasael that they should proceed together to the Parthian general, and leave with him the decision as to the justice of their cause. To this plan Herod's brother foolishly consented, but soon he discovered the trap which had been laid for him, and happily found means to convey to Herod the intelligence of the danger threatening him, with the necessity of his immediate flight. The younger brother fled from one place of safety to another, and finally to * See Milman's History of the Jews.

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