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קא

BARBAROSSA SALLIES.

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battering-rams of brass, and with arrows, and with the bow, so that the one came not near the other all that day*. And the men of Barbarossa could not withstand the many guns, and they turned the neck, and drew back, and the city of Tunis was perplexed; and three of the rams they left there in their haste, and the uncircumcised took them, and the horsemen slew with the edge of the sword those Turks who remained there.

894. And the emperor tarried there all night because the sun was set‡, and he pursued not after them, for they were fatigued, because the way humbled their strength§; their soul loathed|| because of thirst, and had not Barbarossa fought with them, there would not have been left any who remained or escaped¶, for the uncircumcised had no strength to stand upon their feet; the greater part became weary of their life**, for all this was of the Lord to bring upon Tunis the time of her visitation, for by Him actions are weighed‡‡.

895. Then Barbarossa's thoughts troubled him, and his knees smote one against another§§; and

*Exod xiv. 20. Gen. xxviii. 11. || Numb. xxi. 5.

** Gen. xxvii. 46. ‡‡ 1 Sam. ii. 3.

+ Esth. iii. 15.

§ Ps. cii. 23.

¶ Is. i. 9.

++ Gen. xxiv. 50.

§§ Dan. v. 6.

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CHRISTIAN SLAVES REVOLT.

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it came to pass when the morning appeared* that he went out to see the men of the city and the host, and that which was in their heart to do. And him who was over his housef, he commanded, saying, "Stand fast and make ready my garments, and my vessels upon the camels, for I know not what the day may bring forth§." And it came to pass, that he was yet scarce gone out, when the Lord put a faintness into the hearts of the keepers of the fort, saying, "He has fled**! And what will become of us††, when we shall be left and fall into the hand of our enemies, and be for a scorn and a derision‡‡ in the countries of those uncircumcised who seek our destruction?" and they also went out and did not stay, and left the fortress as it was, because they feared for their lives. They were yet between the walls, and the Lord raised evil§§ against Barbarossa from the midst of his own house. And one of his servants who was a Nazarene, who had changed his law|||, went into the prison-house, the place where the uncircumcised prisoners of his master were

* Exod. xiv. 27. Comp. Jer. xlvi. 14. Gen. xxvii. 30.

** Gen. xxxi. 20.

Ps. xliv. 13.

i. e. Steward; Comp. Gen. xli. 1.

§ Prov. xxvii. 1.

¶ Lev. xxvi. 36.

++ Comp. Exod. xvi. 7.

SS Comp. 1 Kings xiv. 10; xxi. 21.

i. e. Who had become a renegade.

קא

TUNIS TAKEN.

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bound*, and brake the bars of iron in sundert, and said unto the prisoners, "Come ye out; gird yourselves with weapons of war; why will ye tarry, when your brethren, the men of the emperor, have set themselves in array at the gate‡;" and the watchmen fled, and became as though they were not." And he brought them out from the prisonhouse, and they warred against the Turks, who had not hearkened unto the voice of their brethren, with pieces of wood and with stones; for there was not found among them a shield or a spear§, and they caused them to flee before them; and they shut the gates of the fortress.

896. And they climbed up the walls, and gave the signal, and called, "God save the emperor!"

and raised a banner on the wall. And Barbarossa ran when he heard this evil report, and spake unto their hearts, but they would not hearken. And they mocked him from the wall, and cast stones upon Barbarossa¶. When he saw that they warred from heaven against him, and that the war was against him from within and from without, then he laid hold on his own beard**, and cried with a loud and exceeding bitter crytt. And he went

*Gen. xxxix. 20.

Is. xxii. 7.

|| 1 Sam. x. 24; 1 Kings i. 25.

** 2 Sam. xx. 9.

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+ Ps. cvii. 16. § Judges v. 8.

Lam. iii. 53.

tt Esth. iv. 1.

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TUNIS SACKED, JULY 25.

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out from the midst of the city with his whole army, and the emperor knew not that he had fled*. And he went on his journeys into the city of Bona; and thence he went to his metropolis, Algiers, unto his fifteen ships which he had there. And the ships of the emperor pursued him, but found him not; and also in the city there was not found any who pisseth against the wall, for the fear of the uncircumcised fell upon them, and they escaped unto the mountainst. [p]

897. And the emperor sent up his men into the fortress, and the captives went out with great substance§. And the rest of the men of the host he placed until noon at the entrance of the gate of the city until he should see what would become of it. And many of the inhabitants of the city fled by the way of the desert, when they saw that evil was determined against them. And many died of thirst; and many were slain with the sword by those who pursued them, who pitied neither man nor woman. And the emperor gave the city of Tunis to be plundered upon that bitter day, which is the twenty-first day of the month of July. And they divided the spoil in the midst

*Gen. xxxi. 20.

+1 Sam. xxv. 22. 34; 1 Kings xiv. 10; xvi. 11; xxi. 21; 2 Kings ix. 8.

Gen. xix. 19.

§ Gen. xv. 14.

Esther ii. 11.

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MUI.EY HASSAN REINSTATED.

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thereof*, and the women were lain with, and one half of the city went into captivity. And in their prayer-houses, the Germans slew and destroyed there about six thousand souls of men and children and woment: their eye had no compassion upon them, for they are cruel, and their sword devoured flesh, and their arrows were drunken with blood+.

898. Also of the Jews who were there in multitude, some of them fled into the desert, and some of them were slain in the day of the Lord's anger with the edge of the sword, and some of them went captive before the enemy§, and they were sold for bond-men and bond-women|| into the four corners of the earth, and in Naples and in Genoa, the congregations ransomed about one hundred and fifty souls; may the Lord, my God, remember unto them this for good¶!

*

899. And the decree was given at Tunis** by command of the emperor on the twenty-third of the same month, that all the soldiers should march out; and they did so. And the emperor made Muley Hassan king as at the first; and he was unto him a servant unto tribute all the days. Goletta

* Zech. xiv. 1. Deut. xxxii. 42. Esth. vii. 4.

** Esth. iii. 15.

+ Esth. ix. 6.

§ Lam. i. 5.

Neh. v. 19; xiii. 31.

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