The log cabin Democrat., 1909-09-25

] NOW when IlullBS Ol lulS Iuii5
 reached the ears of the king he was
 wroth and ordered that his armies
 should pursue after those in the will derness and either bring them back and compel their worship and serv- ice of the heathen gods. or utterly
 destroy them. And when these sol
 diers came upon the people, they were
 for giving battle at once, but one oi their number, who was Jew, spoke
 up and said
 1 Delay thy attack until the Sabbath day. If they be zeal0ds to uphold the law of Moses they will not lift up
 sword or spear to fight on that day,
 and thou shalt win an easy victory.
 Now this advice sounded good to
 the captain of the forces, and he ac-
 cordingly waited two days until the
 Sabbath day had come.
 All that has gone before will be
 forgiven, if you will but come forth,
 do according to the commandment of
 the king. and ye shall live" was the
 word which the messengers brought from the captain.
 We will not come forth" was the
 word which the people returned, neither will we do the kings com mandment. to profane the Sabbath day"
 So the army of the king fell upon ! them in battle on the Sabbath and 1 slew them with their wives and chil- dren and their cattle, even to the number of thousand people. ! Now word of this thing was soon 1 brought to Mattathias and his sons and he was sore grieved, and mourned many days
 If We all do as our brethren have done. and fight not for our lives on 1 the Sabbath day, then will the heath en quickly root us off the earth, [ spoke up one of the boys, Judas by name, as they sat talking over the 1 sad condition of affairs one day.
 Yea, but we also ought to be zeal ous for the law, had we not" argued another This is where our strength must lie with our faithful brethren. We must be loyal to the law of Moses
 True" replied the father search ing each face before him as he sought to find solution for the problem. But there is a zeal on the Sabbath day which Is honorable and doth mag nifty the name Gf the Lord. If there is any virtue, or any glory in lying down and being slaughtered like a lot of helpless cattle, just because il is the Sabbath, fail to see or under stand where 1t can be-
 As result of this conference the following decree was signed by Matta- thias and his sons and sent to the faithful wherever they could be found:
 "Whosoever shall come to make battle with us on the Sabbath day we will fight against him; neither will we die all, as our brethren that were murdered in the secret places
 This message bore fruit in an un expected direction, for few days la ter there came marching into the camp of the Maccabees company oi Assideans, who were mighty men oi Israel.
 And when Mattathias and his sons heard the awful stories of the iniquity of the land and of the prosecutions of those who would not forsake the law of God and worship before the heathen altars, their spirit was stirred within them.
 See" exclaimed Mattathias, God has placed an army in our hands and among them the powerful Assideans Let us prepare at once to go against our enemies
 This proposal met instant approval and not many days after what had been rather motley crowd was a very presentaOle army.
 Mattathas realized that the cam paign must be planned carefully ana all the advantage which strategy ana quick attack could give must be used Yea. it is Gods battle,' he eX claimed one day to some who were fearful. He will strengthen our hands and make our eyes keen and our feet swift. so that We may be able to overcome the forces Of the king"
 So the warfare ragged, starting from the country adjacent to where Matta thias and his sons had first taken rel uge. Gradually, as victory after vic tory gave them added strength, they extended their operations until at last they had recovered the land out oi the hand of the Gentiles and had driv en back the forces of the king so that he no longer had rule over Judah. i Now it came to pass after all this ! hard and long fought wars were over that Mattathias, burdened with age and broken down by his severe ex 1 periences, realized that his end was approaching. and calling his sons tc him. he said:
 Now hath pride and rebuke gotten 1 strength, and the time Of destruction and the wrath of indignation. Now l therefore. my sons. be ye jealous Tor l the law. and give your lives for the