Over Beth-horon and its battle-field,

Where the great captain of the hosts of God,
A slave brought up in the brick-fields of Egypt,
O'ercame the Amorites. There was no day
Like that, before or after it, nor shall be.
The sun stood still; the hammers of the hail
Beat on their harness; and the captains set
Their weary feet upon the necks of kings,
As I will upon thine, Antiochus,

Thou man of blood! Behold the rising sun
Strikes on the golden letters of my banner,
Be Elohim Yehovah! Who is like

To thee, O Lord, among the gods ? — Alas!
I am not Joshua, I cannot say,

"Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon, and thou Moon,
In Ajalon!" Nor am I one who wastes
The fateful time in useless lamentation;
But one who bears his life upon his hand
To lose it or to save it, as may best
Serve the designs of Him who giveth life.

SCENE II. - JUDAS MACCABEUS; JEWISH FUGITIVES.

JUDAS.

Who and what are ye, that with furtive steps
Steal in among our tents?

FUGITIVES.

O Maccabæus,

Outcasts are we, and fugitives as thou art,
Jews of Jerusalem, that have escaped
From the polluted city, and from death.

None can escape

JUDAS.

from death. Say that ye come To die for Israel, and ye are welcome. What tidings bring ye?

FUGITIVES.

Tidings of despair.

The Temple is laid waste; the precious vessels,
Censers of gold, vials and veils and crowns,
And golden ornaments, and hidden treasures,
Have all been taken from it, and the Gentiles
With revelling and with riot fill its courts,
And dally with harlots in the holy places.

All this I knew before.

JUDAS.

FUGITIVES.

Upon the altar

Are things profane, things by the law forbidden;
Nor can we keep our Sabbaths or our Feasts,
But on the festivals of Dionysus

Must walk in their processions, bearing ivy
To crown a drunken god.

JUDAS.

This too I know.

But tell me of the Jews. How fare the Jews?

FUGITIVES.

The coming of this mischief hath been sore
And grievous to the people. All the land
Is full of lamentation and of mourning.
The Princes and the Elders weep and wail;
The

young men and the maidens are made feeble; The beauty of the women hath been changed.

JUDAS.

And are there none to die for Israel?

'Tis not enough to mourn. Breastplate and har

ness

Are better things than sackcloth.

Let the women

Lament for Israel; the men should die.

FUGITIVES.

Both men and women die; old men and
Old Eleazer died: and Máhala

With all her Seven Sons.

JUDAS.

Antiochus,

young:

At every step thou takest there is left

A bloody footprint in the street, by which
The avenging wrath of God will track thee out!
It is enough. Go to the sutler's tents:

Those of you

who are men, put on such armor

As ye may find; those of you who are women,
Buckle that armor on; and for a watchword
Whisper, or cry aloud, "The Help of God."

SCENE III. - JUDAS MACCABÆUS; NICANOR.

NICANOR.

Hail, Judas Maccabæus !

JUDAS.

Hail! Who art thou

That comest here in this mysterious guise our camp unheralded?

Into

NICANOR.

A herald

Sent from Nicanor.

JUDAS.

Heralds come not thus.

Armed with thy shirt of mail from head to heel,
Thou glidest like a serpent silently

Into my presence. Wherefore dost thou turn
Thy face from me? A herald speaks his errand
With forehead unabashed. Thou art a spy
Sent by Nicanor.

NICANOR.

No disguise avails!

Behold my face; I am Nicanor's self.

JUDAS.

Thou art indeed Nicanor. I salute thee.

What brings thee hither to this hostile camp

Thus unattended?

NICANOR.

Confidence in thee.

Thou hast the nobler virtues of thy race,
Without the failings that attend those virtues.
Thou canst be strong, and yet not tyrannous,
Canst righteous be and not intolerant.

Let there be peace between us.

JUDAS.

What is peace?

Is it to bow in silence to our victors?

Is it to see our cities sacked and pillaged,
Our people slain, or sold as slaves, or fleeing
At night-time by the blaze of burning towns;
Jerusalem laid waste; the Holy Temple

Polluted with strange gods? Are these things peace?

NICANOR.

These are the dire necessities that wait
On war, whose loud and bloody enginery
I seek to stay. Let there be peace between
Antiochus and thee.

JUDAS.

Antiochus ?

What is Antiochus, that he should prate
Of peace to me, who am a fugitive?
To-day he shall be lifted up; to-morrow

Shall not be found, because he is returned

Unto his dust; his thought has come to noth

ing.

There is no peace between us, nor can be,

Until this banner floats upon the walls

Of our Jerusalem.

NICANOR.

Between that city

And thee there lies a waving wall of tents

Held by a host of forty thousand foot,

And horsemen seven thousand.

To bring against all these?

What hast thou

JUDAS.

The power of God,

Whose breath shall scatter your white tents

abroad,

As flakes of snow.

NICANOR.

Your Mighty One in heaven

Will not do battle on the Seventh Day;

It is his day of rest.

War, war, and only war. Go to thy tents

That shall be scattered, as by you were scattered The torn and trampled pages of the Law,

Blown through the windy streets.

NICANOR.

Farewell, brave foe!