Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Mariamne.
ye assail them as they were thieves and murderers !—give me answerwhy have ye done the evil ?" _ " They have railed at and beaten a holy Pharisee , " replied an opulent citizen , one of the most forward in the outrage . " False witness , " interrupted Aran , for the first time breaking silence , " no blow hath been struck but by thee and thy ungovernable companionsHonoured of Judea" he continuedbowing in deep
. , , humility , " thy servants are from the Desert , journeying to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple , as is the custom of our people ; my brother did but request yon Pharisee to guide us to some house of good resort , for we are strangers , when he replied , with most inhospitable scorn , which , with the intemperance of youth his questioner retorted ; these , his friends and followers , surrounded us ; their violence thou hast witnessed ; judge , then , between us . "
Is this so ? said tlie indignant High Priest , directing his glance towards the abashed hypocrite , " begone . '—know that charity is a garb more sacred than the vestment of outward observance , and that the worst pride is that of the self-righteous . You , " he continued to the rebuked Hebrews , " conduct these strangers to my dwelling , they are guests whom the Lord hath sent me ; " and without waiting to receive then- thanks , the holy man pursued his way . Their
guides now became as officious in their kindness as they had before been offensive in their hostility . Strangers who had quarrelled with a Pharisee , and the favoured guests ofthe High Priest , were widely different persons in the estimation of the Jews , who vied ivith each other in attentions , and excuse for their former outrage . Arrived at the statel y palace where fortune had so unexpectedly provided them ivith a home , they were first conducted to the bath , that indispensable article of eastern
hospitality , and , after refreshing themselves , left by the obsequious attendants to repose . " This is beyond my hope , " exclaimed the elder , as soon as they were alone . " Belus prospers our design ; the very house of our enemy is open to us . Not for another Babylon ivould I forego my triumph . " "And yet , " replied Eli , musingly , the old man was kind to us : but for his aid we might have perished ' neath the violence of the people—it was the dotard ' s fate . "
" But what , " continued Aran , bending his brow , is the meaning of this coldness ? hast thou forgot thine oath to the mighty gods of Babylon , that the fairest maiden of Israel shall be their scorn , even the daughter of this hoary priest . " "No , " replied the younger , firmly , "it is registered ivith thine . Beauty hath ever been my passion , my destiny ; none ever yet escaped my arts . I will make vengeance a pleasure , and add this famed Mariamne to the numberth
; en , in our father ' s hall , will we mock at the virtue of Jerusalem . " " While I , " resumed his brother , " profane their detested Temple , the rival of our imperial city , enter its mysterious sanctuary , and erect upon its shrine this symbol of our worship . " As he spoke , the disguised idolater drew from his vest a golden image of his deity , wliich , for the daring purpose he had avowed , he carried secreted upon Iris person . Learned the
beyond spirit of their time , both the brothers were well calculated to sustain the characters they had assumed , that of travelling Israelites from one of the cities of the Desert . The evening meal was prepared upon the house-top , as was the cus-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Mariamne.
ye assail them as they were thieves and murderers !—give me answerwhy have ye done the evil ?" _ " They have railed at and beaten a holy Pharisee , " replied an opulent citizen , one of the most forward in the outrage . " False witness , " interrupted Aran , for the first time breaking silence , " no blow hath been struck but by thee and thy ungovernable companionsHonoured of Judea" he continuedbowing in deep
. , , humility , " thy servants are from the Desert , journeying to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple , as is the custom of our people ; my brother did but request yon Pharisee to guide us to some house of good resort , for we are strangers , when he replied , with most inhospitable scorn , which , with the intemperance of youth his questioner retorted ; these , his friends and followers , surrounded us ; their violence thou hast witnessed ; judge , then , between us . "
Is this so ? said tlie indignant High Priest , directing his glance towards the abashed hypocrite , " begone . '—know that charity is a garb more sacred than the vestment of outward observance , and that the worst pride is that of the self-righteous . You , " he continued to the rebuked Hebrews , " conduct these strangers to my dwelling , they are guests whom the Lord hath sent me ; " and without waiting to receive then- thanks , the holy man pursued his way . Their
guides now became as officious in their kindness as they had before been offensive in their hostility . Strangers who had quarrelled with a Pharisee , and the favoured guests ofthe High Priest , were widely different persons in the estimation of the Jews , who vied ivith each other in attentions , and excuse for their former outrage . Arrived at the statel y palace where fortune had so unexpectedly provided them ivith a home , they were first conducted to the bath , that indispensable article of eastern
hospitality , and , after refreshing themselves , left by the obsequious attendants to repose . " This is beyond my hope , " exclaimed the elder , as soon as they were alone . " Belus prospers our design ; the very house of our enemy is open to us . Not for another Babylon ivould I forego my triumph . " "And yet , " replied Eli , musingly , the old man was kind to us : but for his aid we might have perished ' neath the violence of the people—it was the dotard ' s fate . "
" But what , " continued Aran , bending his brow , is the meaning of this coldness ? hast thou forgot thine oath to the mighty gods of Babylon , that the fairest maiden of Israel shall be their scorn , even the daughter of this hoary priest . " "No , " replied the younger , firmly , "it is registered ivith thine . Beauty hath ever been my passion , my destiny ; none ever yet escaped my arts . I will make vengeance a pleasure , and add this famed Mariamne to the numberth
; en , in our father ' s hall , will we mock at the virtue of Jerusalem . " " While I , " resumed his brother , " profane their detested Temple , the rival of our imperial city , enter its mysterious sanctuary , and erect upon its shrine this symbol of our worship . " As he spoke , the disguised idolater drew from his vest a golden image of his deity , wliich , for the daring purpose he had avowed , he carried secreted upon Iris person . Learned the
beyond spirit of their time , both the brothers were well calculated to sustain the characters they had assumed , that of travelling Israelites from one of the cities of the Desert . The evening meal was prepared upon the house-top , as was the cus-