The Jews within the castle seem to have been received favourably by the governor. But they suspected him of treachery. Unhappily, their Christian brethren had given them but too good reason for their suspicious temper. A rumour was circulated among them that he meant to open the gates to the rioters, conditionally on being rewarded for his treachery by receiving a large portion of the plunder. One day, when he had gone out into the town, they took the desperate step of shutting the gates against him, and, manning the walls, declared they would defend themselves against all who might attack them. The governor’s indignation was roused to the utmost at this ingratitude. It chanced that the sheriff of the county was in York, attended by an armed force. The governor appealed to him to recapture the fortress from the traitors who had seized it. The sheriff assented, and, aided by the mob, made an assault on the castle. The besieged defended themselves manfully, and for a long time kept their enemies at bay. At last it became evident that they could resist no further. Then their Rabbi, a man of learning and high character, addressed them, and warned them that there was nothing but death before them—a speedy and honourable death by their own hands, or a death attended by every circumstance of insult and barbarity by the hands of their enemies. Surely it was better to choose the first. This proposal was agreed to by nearly all present. They collected their valuables. Such as were combustible they burned, the rest they buried. They then set fire to the castle in several places, slew, first of all, their wives and children, and then one another. The Rabbi was the last to die. He stabbed the last survivor of his flock, and then drove the sword into his own heart. The fearful scene which had taken place, a thousand years before, in the Castle of Masada, was repeated, with scarcely any variation but those caused by the difference of time and place. If any evidence were required of the resolute and unchangeable character of the Jewish people, this story would surely suffice.