The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-06-02

races, was vain-glorious by wanting [,
DO worshipped for he sent A]ppolloniur
with a great army commissioned TO sla,
and destroy. He first entered Jerusa
lem amicable and then suddenly turn.
ing upon the defenseless city, he muir
dered, plnndered and burnt through is
length and breadth. The men we're
b~utchered, the women and children sold
into slavery and in order to give perma.
nence to the work of desoIation walls and
numerous houses were torn down. The
Die city OF David was fortified anew Inv
the Syrians and made into a very strong
fortress completely dominating the
city.
Having thus made Jerusalem a Crock
colony, the Kings attention was next
turned to the destruction Of the nation.
al religion. A royal decree proclaimed
the abolition of the Jewish mode of wor-
ship, sabbaths and festivals were not
to be observed, circumcision was not To
he performed, the sacred Bibles were
to be surrendered and the Jews were
compelled to offer sacrifices to idols that
18th, SGs yaftrFasB e dsjs.sy On Nov.
Of desolation vas set up on the altar Of
burnt offerings in the Temple and the
Jews required to make Obesiance to it.
This was the OIympian Icus or BaaI
Shamem, but with the help of the ever
living, true God, the Jews suffered mar
tyrdom by the thousands and finally
Mattathias organized open resistance in
1857 B. G., which through the heroic
achievements of his son and successor, /
Judas, the Maccabec, defeated two large
and well equipped armies of Antiochus
and he also defeated the parthians un-
der Lysias, also the great armies under
the Generals Ptolemaeus, Nicamor and
Gorgias were defeated one after the
other. Having made his victory com
plete, he rebuilt the country, Jerusalem
and tho Holy Temple, and after having
enjoyed tranquility and peace for 300
years, they were again defeated and
conquered by the Romans under Vespas-
sian, who devastated Palestine, Gallilee
destroyed Jerusalem, burned the
Temple. History records that one mil
lion and a half of people, men, women and
children, have been killed in Jerusalem
after being besieged by Roman Iegions
for 3 years and then scattering and dis
perslng the remnants of the children OF
Israel all over Europe among the Ger
manic races, and SIays, Gauls and Huns,
and coming down TO the fcigns Of the
different popes and Kings, their cup
was bitter through the merciIess pcrse-
c~utions as under the reign Of Isabella
the Catholic; under that great lnqnisi-
tor, ThOmases TurquOmaderos, oyer two
hundred and twenty-five thousand Jew
ish men and women we're burned at the
stake on the Auto-De-Fa Of Madrid,
Seville and other cities Of Spain for no
other crime than for protesting to be-
Iieve in only one true and omnipotent
great God, who has been and will be
forever, and ever blessed be his name.
And the balance Of them had been driy-
en- out where thousands have persisted
by the wayside, and among them Don
Isaac Abborbonell, the physician and
philosopher Of the royal court Of Spain,
who after having been offered the high
est honors and station in life, rather
shoosed to go with his brethren in exile
and after a long suffering some of them
Ianded with Columbus and Americas in
5he new discovered country, the land Of
the free and the home Of the brave.
God planted this country TO be a rest
ing place for all his children, who are
oppressed Of all nations and beliefs. !
The Roman Catholic RS well AZ che
Greek, the Jewish as well as the hictho-