The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1867-11-07

of those Dressed resting places in the
way of life, which is type of that
endless Sabbath--that perpetual rest
for the vigilant and the faithful
towards which he is tending.and has
tening with every breath.
The MOTHER AND HER SEVEN;
SoNs. "A Jewish motherSand her se-
ven sons were brought before ,Ant7oc-:
US, charged with. having refused to
worship his idol.
..se The king addressed them separate
ly, andbeganwith the eldest, BY com
manding to worship the idol.
4" I cannot" said he; "for my God
has commanded me, saying, Lam
the Lord, thy God, who brought thee
out the'land Of Egypt =
This refusal cnraged the king. and
he Immediately ordered that the boy
should be killed on the spot. .s.:. j.
The second boy was ,then. brought
forth. " x <ss;, s:::ss:;s..l
Acknowledge my idol as onesof
thy gods" said the king. e
elbow can I p replied the boy.
"The law tells me thou shalt have
no other gods before me-
The king, enraged at his obstina-
cy, had him executed as the third son
was led in.
Antiochus then lowered his demands
by asking him merely to bow down
before the idol; but the boy said:
Il dare not. The word of God
commands me, "Thou shalt not bow
down thyself before them," and he
was executed:
The fourth son was then ordered to
acknowledge the idol merely as di-
vine power who Influenced the earth.
"No," said he: "for it is said, know
therefore this day, and consider in
thine heart that the Lord He is God
in the heaven above and upon the
earth beneath and there is none
else. >"
Having thus refused to comply with
the kings wish he too was led forth
to death, and the fifth son brought in.
1.-The. king. nowyasked still less, and
only requested the boy to shoWthe
idol some reverence.
"I must not" was the reply, ''for
lie that sacrifices to any god save
unto the Lord only, shall be utterly
destroyed"
The king, enraged at being thus
repeatedly foilcd, ordered him put to
death also.
The sixth son was called to the
kings presence and was asked, not to
embrace idolatry, but only to deny
his faith.
"No," said the lad, "for God has
thus spoken to Israel, saying, The
Lord has anointed thee this day to
be his peculiar people.
He too, was ordered to be put to
death.
At length the mother and her Sc
venth son, mere child, the only sur
vivors of the noble band of martyrs,
were led before Antiochus. He tried
all his powers Of persuasion to make
the child do his bidding, but in vain.
Even his hard heart began to melt,
and lie would gladly have saved the
child, but he could not, for thousands
were crowding around his throne, and
all his royal dignity would have been
lost if it appeared that he was obliged
to yield.
ION one condition." said he ad-
the child, "will I spare thy
life. / will drop this sygnct-ring OF
mine; pick it up, and thou shalt be
saved"
But the boy perceived the kings
device.
"What!r' said he, "shall I be more
mindful of thine honor than Of my
Gods! !" !
And the brave boys words sealed
his doom.
"Let me kiss my boy before his
DEATH, asked the mother,
She kissed him and said, "When
thou art in heaven, an see Abraham,
our ancestor, tell him he has a rival;
for he erected an altar for the sacri-
fec of one son, but 1 have seven al
tars for the sacrifice of seven sons.
The heroic mother did not long
survive her noble sons.
A man in Hendricks County, In
diana, named James Adams, ate
n nnur1a of