presented to the 
 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SAN DIEGO 
 
 by 
 
 JUDGE J.M. CARTER
 
 oieoo
 
 THE 
 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BY 
 
 JULIETTE T. BURTON, 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 MACOY PUBLISHING and MASONIC SUPPLY Co. 
 1903
 
 i according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 
 MASONIC PUBLISHING COMPAJTT, 
 la tb Office of the I/brwrlar of Congrog*. at
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 I AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATE THIS BOOK 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SISTERS OF THE EASTERN STAR 
 
 TKUBT1NO THAT EACH ONE MAT FIND 
 
 PROFITABLE RECREATION 
 
 FROM A. PERUSAL OF ITS PAOM.
 
 ace* 
 
 merit speaks for itself; it is useless to eulo- 
 gize that which does not really bear intrinsic 
 worth, for whatever is flimsy, trashy, or un- 
 stable, will, of itself, fall to pieces, despite all the 
 praise that may be heaped around. 
 
 When one writes, if there is originality, it r'L 
 at once strike the critical reader ; if there is a rea- 
 sonable basis, it will be seen ; and if things are said which stir 
 the fountains of feeling, they will be appreciated to their full 
 value. 
 
 We agree that when a woman writer puts finis to manu- 
 script, and gives it over to her publisher, she experiences some- 
 what the feelings of a mother whose daughter has just been 
 married ; she believes in the virtues of her child, but is fearful 
 that another may not perceive them, and not until after the 
 first issue does she feel certain that the shoals of disappointment 
 are safely passed. 
 
 We shall, in some of the succeeding sketches, take up the 
 general routes which have been well trod by previous writers, 
 shall borrow the same strain that has been sung, but perhaps
 
 by some peculiarity of style, and through different authority 
 than has been heretofore referred to, we may be able to stop at 
 villas, to drink of fountains, traverse romantic paths that others 
 had not discovered, and in our relations present other curious 
 features to our readers. 
 
 Plain matter-of-fact relations of incident in biographies seldom 
 please ; romance must gild a tale to make it agreeable. Without 
 romance all creations would be dull ; man would be a barbarian, 
 woman a nonentity ; wisdom, genius, liberty, would be indiffer- 
 ently regarded, and the very heavens, even, would seem dim. 
 
 It was under a romantic guise that Christ was born and 
 walked the earth; he taught by parables, and mellow prose 
 poems were his familiar speech ; his life and martyrdom were 
 typified by symbols, and even the advent of the Spirit in form 
 of a dove was more novel and attractive than any usual mode 
 of communicating would have been. Mythology, the exquisite- 
 ness of romance, by its peculiar presentation of truth and virtue, 
 founded the divine institution of Freemasonry. The whole 
 stream of sentient existence has its spring-time of romance, and 
 old age does not forget it. 
 
 High coloring cannot create merit, but may surround it, and 
 attract attention to modest worth which might otherwise never 
 be brought forward to the observation of the best. We hope 
 that the true lustre of our Five Jewels may shine into the hearts 
 of all who love virtue, and that the Sisters of the Eastern Star 
 especially may find traits of excellence, worthily depicted, in 
 their histories.
 
 iontenis. 
 
 PREFACE .... 
 PRELUDE .... 
 ODE TO THE EASTERN STAR 
 THE TURQUOISE ADAH 
 THE TOPAZ RUTH 
 THE DIAMOND ESTHER 
 THE EMERALD MARTHA 
 THE RUBZ ELECTA . 
 
 I'AGH 
 
 7 
 9 
 
 13 
 
 17 
 
 61 
 
 101 
 
 157 
 
 197
 
 FBONTISPIECE EASTEBN HOSPITALITY . . 2 
 
 THE TURQUOISE BEFORE JEPHTHAH . . 16 
 
 JEPHTHAH AND HIS COMPANIONS BETUBNING 
 
 FROM A MARAUDING EXPEDITION . . .23 
 
 THE TOPAZ IN THE FIELD OF BOAZ . . 60 
 
 THE DIAMOND BEFORE KING AHASUERUS . . 100 
 
 MORDECAI AT THE PALACE GATE . . . 132 
 
 THE MAN WHOM THE KING DELIGHTETH TO 
 
 HONOR 147 
 
 THE EMERALD AND MARY BEFOBE CHRIST . 156 
 
 THE KUBY AN ASSEMBLY OF THE FOLLOW- 
 ERS OF CHRIST ... . 196
 
 AH ! this earth would be cold if the blush of romance 
 
 Was chased from its surface entire, 
 If the pulse of man's mind could no longer enhance 
 
 The tone of life's every-day lyre. 
 
 If the ideal veil should be suddenly lift, 
 
 To leave the nude object bereft 
 Of the numerous graces of drapery's gut, 
 
 But half of its beauty 'd be left. 
 
 Should the magical stream of romance never lave, 
 
 The root of the cherished " Roof-Tree," 
 There would never hang garlands of fame for the brave, 
 
 And the "mistletoe bough" wouldn't be.
 
 io 
 
 Should woman divorce from her pathway this ray, 
 Where the roses are might come the thorn ; 
 
 And the blisses that now into man's bosom pay, 
 Might have in their stead hope forlorn. 
 
 "Tis the sorcerer's wand that most cunningly gilds 
 
 Existence's rough places o'er; 
 The prose-ground enchanted, where poesy builds 
 
 Its love-lighted halls evermore. 
 
 Tis the panacea mixed with stern duty's demand 
 
 That sweetens the gall in each cup; 
 And chained to the clod would our hopes ever stand, 
 
 If its light wing ne'er lifted them up. 
 
 When Youth from Life's volume by Time has been chased, 
 
 And senility opens its page, 
 Tis the pencil by which every record is traced 
 
 That brings joy to the eye of old age. 
 
 JULIETTE T. BUBTOW.
 
 <g)de to ths 
 
 1ft HEN the scene of life changes from pleasure to gloom, 
 And the soul sees its midnight uncheered by a ray ; 
 When the spirit droops low 'neath the weight of its doom, 
 As the hopes that once lighted its halls die away ; 
 Then there shines through the windows of heaven afar 
 Bright gleams that bring peace from a beautiful Star, 
 The Star of the East, that most beautiful Star. 
 
 When the willows are waving o'er graves wherein lie 
 The first-born of mothers, whose tears will not dry; 
 Or the widow bends crushed with the blight of despair 
 All the comfort departed that made life so fair ; 
 Then there comes through the vista of sorrow afar, 
 For the cheerless a light from a beautiful Star, 
 The Star of the East, that most beautiful Star. 
 
 May harmony bring in its circle of light 
 All the colors that make up a halo as bright 
 As charity, patience, long-suffering, and love, 
 Can catch from reflection of Jewels above, 
 Which shine through celestial gates set ajar ; 
 In blessing and peace oil our beautiful Star. 
 
 JULIETTE T. BUBTOH.
 
 I. 
 
 e Yurquoise, 
 
 ADAH. 
 
 " She was his only child ; besides her he had neither son nor 
 daughter." 
 
 HESE words at once suggest a volume 
 of possibilities, unfold a sacred 
 page, indite a tender strain, and draw a 
 holy picture. Man's nature, corrugated 
 to suit his sphere of practical contact 
 with discordant or opposing elements, 
 has, reserved, beneath those hard rinds, a sweet sap 
 of sentiment for the tenderer handling of woman ; 
 a secret, interior, accordant instrument of the soul, 
 his heart of hearts, which but a few, in any man's 
 lifetime, may play upon.
 
 1 8 J|{ivc Jewels xxf the ( 
 
 There are mere surfaces of feeling which graduate 
 from the positively stern, and these may be caught 
 by occasional passions and mellowed for the mo- 
 ment, but, like tracks in the sand, they pass away. 
 Not so with this inner music; its strains, once 
 awoke, can never cease vibration, and will be sacred 
 to one master-hand alone. That master-hand may 
 not always know its capabilities to torture or to 
 soothe. Happy, thrice happy, the man who has for 
 his genius one who will not awaken weird, wild 
 notes of distortion, but who will woo the tenderest 
 pathos of enjoyment. 
 
 Jephthah, the hunter, the judge, the mighty man 
 of valor, before whom none stood in point of execu- 
 tive force of will, whose brawny figure might be 
 likened to the mountain-side for his thews and 
 sinews stood out like roots ; his grizzly beard tossed 
 about by his motions looked like vines swayed by 
 the wind ; his eyes were brilliant as the sun's rays 
 reflected from granite ; and his voice was loud like 
 the roar of the cataract Jephthah, the iron mau, 
 had yet, beneath all this exterior hardness, the clear 
 running fountain of paternal love, which could be
 
 plhe iplmtquaiss jiLdah. 19 
 
 played in every variation of delight by the magic 
 touch of his only child a daughter. 
 
 Of all states of perfection to which a woman may 
 aspire, none is more divine than that of filial devo- 
 tion. In the truly amiable daughter may be found 
 the germs of all other fitness; sister, wife, and 
 mother are born out of a good daughter, and man 
 need never fear to choose for wife the woman who 
 has nobly sustained that relation. In the Bible his- 
 tory, singularly enough, there is no personal appel- 
 lative signified to the heroine of so much tragical 
 romance. She is called throughout simply " Jeph- 
 thah's daughter." Modern associations attach to 
 their symbolical representations of this character 
 the name of Adah, whose poetical definition is 
 "powerful perfume, or strength and sweetness," and 
 we will occasionally, for the sake of clearness, call 
 Jephthah's daughter, Adah. 
 
 She was of the fairness of the moon, the bright- 
 ness of the stars, and the goodness of the summer 
 dews, to use oriental descriptiveness ; in less equiv- 
 ocal terms, we might draw her picture, and for a 
 p.rfect portrait refer all to Dore's most exquisite
 
 20 H\ii;e r$wKl$ sf the 
 
 painting of " Jephthah's daughter and the maidens, 
 on the mountain bewailing her sad fate." No houri 
 of Arabic celebrity, or peri of oriental verse, was 
 ever more beautiful in form and feature : the lus- 
 ciousness of perfect proportion, with the rich tints 
 of high color, made her surpassingly attractive in 
 mere physique, while the sold, that was fitted to the 
 very highest tone of moral and virtuous principle, 
 reflected through her countenance its marvellous 
 finish, glorifying the flesh into a spiritual love- 
 liness. Her mind was cultivated; for from all of 
 the barbaric or heathenish ages there have been 
 handed down to us records of the educational rules 
 of the period ; and whether or not it lay in the same 
 line of orthography with modern schools, it was suf- 
 ficient to enlighten the pupil up to its own period. 
 
 She was a skillful housewife. From her infancy 
 she had had no mother, and had stood at the head 
 of her father's household. The women of that day 
 were skilled in knitting, weaving, and embroidering 
 dexterously, the most cunning articles of exquisite 
 design and finish ; and although the most patrician 
 dame, as well as the plebeian maid, took part in
 
 iss jitdah. 21 
 
 servile work when the occasion became imperative, 
 yet the hands of Adah showed no signs of rough 
 occupation ; they were fair and stainless, and were 
 well adapted to silk embroidery. Women dyed 
 beautiful colors ; and some of the most enterprising 
 were engaged in trade, dealt in purple dye-stuffs 
 alone. These dyes were to be had, after much peril 
 and cost, from foreign lands. Woman was a trader, 
 and engaged in ordinary merchandise then, as well 
 as now, as in the book of Proverbs may be found 
 the words : " She maketh fine linen, and selleth it, 
 and delivereth it to her merchant." Before the time 
 that Adah became old enough to realize the need 
 of a mother's tender training, she was deprived of 
 that mother, and afterward was grieved sorely and 
 painfully at the oft-repeated absences of her father 
 from home. 
 
 Many and painful were the periods of separation 
 from her sole guardian and friend, for his habits as 
 hunter, and afterward as general of a great army, 
 subjected him to innumerable perils, of which the 
 quick perception and keen affection of Adah always 
 apprized her. His love was to her all that made
 
 22 3i\ixre Jteursis ttf the 
 
 the skies seem bright ; an assurance of his personal 
 safety was essential to her happiness. Often, when 
 in company with men of roving habits, v/ild rangers 
 of the borders, spoilers and banditti, he would call 
 for his black steed ; which, like his master, " scented 
 the battle afar," and was anxious to be gone. Adah 
 would on those occasions fasten his war-harness 
 around him : her delicate hands buckled the armor, 
 while her white teeth gleamed from between lips 
 which parted in smiles, yet which only smiled to 
 hide the tears that were crowding to her eyes, yet 
 these, as a soldier's daughter, she heroically com- 
 manded to stay. She longed for the days of warfare 
 and violence to cease, and prayed from a heart of 
 piety emotive prayer. Constitutional, spontaneous 
 devotion was her habit. Prayer not left to grow 
 stagnant, and only to burst out on some great occa- 
 sion into jets of sensibility, but which arose with 
 the morning sun, and only ceased when sleep settled 
 upon her. To pray was to her a necessity : to 
 whom could she tell the terrible anxieties which her 
 filial affection, in the exigencies of her father's 
 peculiar life, induced ? To the Lord God of Israel,
 
 JplurqwxisB jitdah. 23 
 
 she looked for consolation ; from Him alone might 
 any comfort come. Many a time Adah gazed up 
 at the stars which shine so directly down from the 
 cloudless azure-tinted heavens of the Orient, and 
 tried, by invocation, to penetrate the veil that cur- 
 tained between her and the Divinity. Devout joy 
 was native to her temperament, and was height- 
 ened by the sweet entertainment she gave it. By 
 giving the history, cursorily, of Jephthah, we may 
 with more facility glide into the drama of Adah's 
 subsequent story. 
 
 Jephthah, it is stated, was an illegitimate son of 
 Gilead, whose wife had other sons. These sons were 
 enraged and jealous at Jephtliah's sharing with them 
 their patrimonial rights ; and when they grew up 
 they forcibly expelled him from their premises. 
 
 In his exile, being too proud to dig, or beg, 
 he conceived a taste for the sword, and joined 
 to himself men of lascivious habits, extravagant, 
 reckless, who by their own extravagance were 
 reduced to poverty; and with such he marauded 
 the borders. By his intrepidity, and wonderful 
 prowess in arms, Jephthah soon gained hign
 
 24 Jl\ixre J^wsls at 
 
 renown for bravery, strategy, and success ; and when 
 Israel was very sorely distressed by the Ammon- 
 ites, and when they found themselves incompetent 
 to organize their numbers into military order, and 
 they could not find among them a leader, the elders 
 assembled and unanimously declared Jephthah the 
 nominee for general-in- chief of their armies. It 
 seems that this was a sore reflection upon the chil- 
 dren of Israel, and proves that it must have been 
 through disobedience and alienation from the laws 
 of their religion, that they were now reduced to such 
 a necessity as that of calling upon one who was by 
 Jewish law not fit for the place ; for, " He who was 
 the son of a harlot might in no wise rule among 
 them." 
 
 But necessity overcomes many scruples, and the 
 elders themselves made most flattering concessions 
 to Jephthah, hoping to gain his consent ; and they 
 said to him, " Come, and be our captain." They 
 tried to flatter him with allusions to his martial 
 genius, their conviction of his bravery, and used 
 every inducement to influence him to become their 
 leader, Jephthah would not at first be prevailed
 
 Jplhe FPtequmse jUdah. 25 
 
 upon to accept command of the army, urging as ob- 
 jection that some of his brothers who had persecuted 
 him were among the elders. So far is the prejudice 
 of man sometimes carried, that no prospect of per- 
 sonal aggrandizement is sufficient to wipe off wrongs, 
 or to reconcile them to close contact with those tow- 
 ard whom they have once formed strong dislikes. 
 It is a strict rule in Israelitish laiv to defend the poor 
 and fatherless ; this his brothers had failed to do in 
 his own case ; he wished them to realize their own 
 injustice before he could consent to become a leader 
 for his country. His patriotism was zealous, but his 
 prejudice was stronger ; and not until after much per- 
 suasion, and their consenting to conform to his pre- 
 scribed terms, would he be prevailed upon to become 
 their chief. We cannot admire the general tenor of 
 Jephthah's early life, yet must give him praise for an 
 independence of mind, a heroic fortitude, which could 
 alone have induced him to decline again, even after 
 his brothers had made concession, a place that he 
 felt was one of such honor, that only the positive 
 necessity of the moment could have instigated them 
 
 to offer it to him. 
 
 2
 
 26 JKiva jpswsls xrf the 
 
 Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead " Did 
 you not hate me, and expel me out of my father's 
 house ? and why are ye come unto me now in dis- 
 tress?" And the elders among whom were his 
 brothers, entreated him to come, described the un- 
 fortunate condition of the Jews who had gone astray 
 after idols, and pointed to the probability of their 
 deliverance, not only from their enemies, but from 
 further wickedness, if he would agree to become their 
 leader. So at last, Jephthah, unable to withstand 
 their repentance, after he had stipulated with them 
 for certain conditions, consented to be their captain. 
 He required them to sign a pledge to this effect : If 
 he returned successful from his battles, they would 
 still retain him for their leader. This they did. 
 
 Jephthah had learned in his experience of shifts, 
 amidst every variety of mind, that a man may be 
 exalted when expediency renders it necessary for the 
 general good, but that when events settle down 
 ordinarily, the same man is apt to be let sink back 
 into his original obscurity ; as the necessity for his 
 effort is removed he becomes useless as an ornament, 
 and is consequently forgotten.
 
 j^Tdah. 27 
 
 Jephthah had some ambition ; and a strong incen- 
 tive worked the lever of his aspirations. He remem- 
 bered the fresh rose that bloomed in his bower, and 
 liked to shed lustre over it, through valorous deeds 
 and well-earned praise. His heart also repented it, 
 of the lawless habits which he had assumed ; and 
 he determined to reform his hitherto wild, reckless 
 life, and to become a man honored among men, and 
 approved by the God of his forefathers, from whom 
 he had strayed. 
 
 No one who seriously reflects upon the disadvan- 
 tage under which he labored when a child for from 
 his very birth he had lived among boys who were 
 selfish, avaricious, and entirely ignorant of the prin- 
 ciples of the beautiful laws of Jewish equity, which 
 handled each man, woman, and child, under every 
 circumstance and condition, as tenderly as justice 
 would allow, boys who scrupled not to heap insult 
 upon injury, who taunted him with the sins of his 
 mother, derided with jeers and laughter every sign of 
 chivalric conduct, and set at naught his youthful ex- 
 ploits nobody could wonder at his irregular habits 
 after he became a man. And again he had no mother
 
 28 Ji\i,i;s Jewels flf ths 
 
 to imfcA over Mm, and this is a whole argument 
 against probable morality in any man. 
 
 He was a child born neither of a wife, a concubine, 
 nor a mistress, but of a stray woman, whose position 
 excluded the son from recognition in any plane of 
 social obligation : he was taken into the house of his 
 father's wife, who jealously and hatefully regarded 
 him as the usurper of her lawfully-born children's 
 rights, and she urged her rude sons by her example 
 to their course of cruelty toward the orphan. 
 
 To crush down an independent, high spirit, by 
 sneers, to keep ambition tied hand and foot by pecu- 
 niary poverty, is like fastening a lion, fresh from the 
 wild woods, the broad forests, rolling tides of waters, 
 the clear, free, unfettered light of heaven, the liberty 
 that Nature gives, in a cage half -dark ; and leads to 
 perverted talent, vitiated tastes, and corrupt habits. 
 
 Cruelty to his manliness, hatred of his name, and 
 contempt for his society, were hard things for a 
 proud lad to bear ; and when his brothers, deter- 
 mined that he should no longer live with them, and 
 by brute force overcame the father's authority and 
 Jephthah's streogth, and thrust him forth into the
 
 iss jitdah. 29 
 
 wide world, alone, without a resting-place for his 
 head besides the ground, or a roof to shelter him be- 
 sides the canopy of the skies, without woman's hand 
 to smooth a single hardship from his path, and with 
 scarcely any conception of God's lore for each one of 
 his chosen race ; it is not strange that Jephthah in 
 his undisciplined state of mind should cultivate the 
 fiercer passions, and for expression of them, take 
 delight in daring exploits, startling adventures, and 
 dangerous feats. 
 
 Jephthah's life, from the time that he was a youth 
 of perhaps eighteen to full manhood, was not filled 
 with commissions of willful sin, but his lawlessness 
 was rather the result of biased circumstances. Such 
 a life is not so heinous in the eye of Omnipotence, 
 as the transgressions of moral law which men of cul- 
 tivated minds and golden opportunity often weave 
 over great spaces of their lives, transgressions upon 
 which the eye of respectability has not rested and 
 named crime; sins which have been wrapped up 
 under the extenuating circumstance of wealth, or 
 hidden behind the sanctity of ecclesiastical dignity ; 
 yet which, for all that, are in reality, deepening
 
 30 ^B\iue jewels af tba 
 
 and tightening their folds, hardening, all the time, 
 the fibres of moral being. When at the bar of im- 
 mortal judgment these men stand together, Jephthah 
 may be the first to reach forth and take the sceptre 
 of love, and the sign of retribution. 
 
 Circumstance is the grand shaper of human con- 
 duct ; principle is often subordinate to its stern rela- 
 tions. Fact is fact ; and necessity is invincible. 
 
 It is not stated in Sacred history, nor in any com- 
 mentary, where Jephthah married his wife, but when 
 he left his native place he went to Tob, whose poetic 
 interpretation is " good, pleasant, agreeable ;" and 
 as he became associated with men, some of whom 
 had held high places, were rich and influential at 
 one time, it is probable that in one of these families 
 he found an accomplished, lovely woman, who, 
 under the inspiration of love, forgetting or not 
 knowing the discrepancies in their social spheres, 
 married him. Jephthah became rich through his 
 spoils, and was afterward renowned for his mighty 
 deeds in arms ; possibly grief at the daily-increasing 
 jeopardy in which the life of her idolized husband 
 was placed induced premature disease and conse-
 
 31 
 
 quently the wife's death, when Adah was at a very 
 tender age. 
 
 It was the custom in ancient days, as well as now, 
 for ladies of distinction to have numerous servants, a 
 maid or man-servant to fill every place in the detail 
 of household economy. Jephthah's wife was not 
 without her share of luxury and the usual appoint- 
 ments of ladies of rank. It was a romantic country, 
 and was a fit field for cultivating the sentimental or 
 emotional, and we may fancy Jephthah's bride often 
 wandering with her maids along flowery foot-paths, 
 or up steep ravines, and over flimsy foot-bridges, 
 scanning precipitous heights, where vines of luxu- 
 riant fruitage lined the banks around and reached 
 the topmost boughs of the trees, while the variegated 
 tints of the plumage of sweet singing-birds made 
 elegant contrast, and their trills vocalized the air. 
 Often would she wend her footsteps down the glen, 
 and across the moor, stretching her gaze afar in 
 hope of being rewarded by the sight of her lord, 
 her chief, her hero, her husband, after he had re- 
 mained absent a longer time than he proposed; and 
 we can see how the stalwart form of Jephthah tow-
 
 jewels uf to 
 
 ered above her dimensions, as he, after springing 
 from his foaming steed, and giving a quick glance 
 back at his comrades in the distance, whom he had 
 outridden, opened his arms and fondly embraced 
 his gentle wife, calling her, "his rose," and 
 repaying her, in that one loving caress, for all 
 the tears she had shed on account of his 
 absence. 
 
 Some of the most love-sick heroes of romance 
 have been described in Bible history, and the sturdy 
 warriors of that day and time open a wider field for 
 romantic speculation than anything of modern era. 
 All that could be procured to adorn his house for 
 his wife's pleasure, Jephthah secured ; no time or 
 expense was spared, whereby her comfort might be 
 established or her pleasures enhanced. Jephthah 
 loved her still more dearly because she had taken 
 him when life had so drear an aspect, and there was 
 nothing in his circumstances which could have pre- 
 sented an inducement for any woman to wish to 
 share. She had made choice of him because of the 
 glory that love, which is so peculiar, so mysterious, 
 had painted about hi
 
 Jplurquxxise j^Cdah. 33 
 
 Love, oh ! so good, the comforter, 
 
 Divinity and arbiter, 
 
 Of each one's life ; a th.ng so sweet 
 
 It will all difficulties meet 
 
 If it may but give itself; It cares 
 
 Not for reproach, or blame ; but dares. 
 
 They loved one another enthusiastically, and 
 when their first-born, their only-born, was given 
 them, their loves were monumented in the sweet 
 little scion of their blent selves. 
 
 Desolate and drear, after this dear wife died and 
 was buried in the tombs among her ancestors, would 
 his life have been, if the black-haired babe had not 
 represented her, and as the child grew into woman- 
 hood, if she had not been all with which such a 
 mother might have endowed her daughter. She 
 inherited every beautiful trait from both parents. 
 She resembled her mother in form and feature. 
 She had imbibed, from the peculiar nature of her 
 father's pursuits, a stronger spirit of endurance, and 
 a keener sense of the duties incumbent upon a sol- 
 dier's daughter, than her mother, who had been 
 
 brought up amid the peaceful domestic scenes of 
 
 2*
 
 34 }[ive ^swsls xxf the ( 
 
 civil life, could ever gain. She was flaccid even, 
 to the most acute sensibility, yet in moments of 
 imminent anxiety or impending peril, she could call 
 up the stern adamantine of self-control to a degree 
 which some, who called themselves philosophers, 
 might have been proud to emulate. 
 
 In her childhood her father's retainers were wont 
 to show her the most chivalrous attention, which 
 early gave an individual strength to her manner, and 
 created a self-reliance which served a good purpose 
 in her life of double duty. Adah had a luxuriance 
 of black hair which waved in rich masses around a 
 head beautifully shaped. She was remarkable for 
 the length and texture of her hair, among the 
 companions with whom she associated. There 
 were many maidens in Tob, and as her father's 
 house was well appointed, and an accession of num- 
 bers made no material difference in her domestic 
 arrangement, she had always staying with her five 
 or six young friends who cheered her in her father's 
 absence. Many a sweet story of love and valor and 
 knightly escort would one relate to the others, each 
 taking their turn to recite. Flowers grew luxuri-
 
 Jplurquxxiss jplxlah. 36 
 
 antly in that region. Around her, on every side, 
 Adah was accustomed to glorious colors, sweet 
 scents, and in varieties of rose, lily, and pome- 
 granate. Fresh fountains of water, sending out 
 perpetually their jets like liquid diamonds, shone 
 between the green vesture of the olive and 
 the scarlet of the azalia, making a sylvan-like 
 scene. All these attractions attached this child of 
 beauty to her home, and through the beautiful she 
 was attached to life. Life is desirable ; there 
 is enough on this shore to make it enjoyable 
 wherever there is a spirit wise enough to look 
 beyond petty events to the universal grand 
 scheme of eternal good which is in our very 
 midst. 
 
 Sweetly sang Adah ; tenderly she touched her 
 timbrel ; and sometimes her festivals were marked 
 by rare displays of the poetry of motion which 
 terpsichorean amateurs might well praise. Jeph- 
 thah's daughter was religiously trained ; her 
 mother had not been an idolater, but was one of 
 the chosen people; her religious devotions had 
 never been biased by any association with
 
 36 J^ixre ^Bursts xxl the 
 
 heathens. Adah also served the God of her fathers 
 with all the feryor of her ardent nature. 
 
 One day, when Adah was seventeen, and the full 
 beauties of ripeness which had entered into com- 
 pact to create a faultless living thing were satisfied 
 that they had clothed her with so celestial a dower 
 that she stood more like a spiritual vision of angelic 
 design than as mere woman, she took hold of the 
 hand of Beta, her favorite companion, and went 
 toward the foot of a high hill or mountain in the 
 rear of her house. Not being afraid, they wandered 
 beyond their destination, and came unexpectedly 
 upon a band of strange men and women, who were 
 not called gypsies in those days, but who were verily 
 of the same kind. They were a mixture of races 
 for whom we have scarcely a name ; offshoots from 
 tribes who were ostracised from the privileges of 
 name and nationality ; roving and unsettled, but 
 peaceful. They pitched their tents anywhere, some- 
 times planting a little colony in a night, making a 
 lively foreground to the blunt, scraggy mountain- 
 sides, remaining for a short time, and leaving as 
 suddenly.
 
 Jpturqumsc jUdah. 37 
 
 As Adah and her friend wandered out of their 
 usual route, they came suddenly upon one of these 
 little encampments of snow-white tents, and turned 
 to retrace their steps, but a form rose up be- 
 fore Adah, strongly marked against the sky, and 
 stood as if spell-bound, gazing upon her beauty, of 
 which, in her innocence of vanity, she did not 
 think. 
 
 It was the form of a man, athletic and symmetri- 
 cally proportioned ; he was graceful, and seemed to 
 be well versed in the etiquette of the day, for he 
 took off one of his sandals and laid it upon his head. 
 This meant, in polite interpretation, humility or 
 acknowledgment of superiority, either of beauty, 
 sex, rank, or power. Greatly surprised as she was, 
 Adah was too kind not to return the salutation, and 
 when he made known to her that he was her 
 mother's near relation, and had lately come from 
 Moab on a visit to Tob, she invited him to come to 
 her father's house, for the maidens of that time were 
 hospitable, and it is well remembered to what extent 
 Kebecca carried this fine quality, in giving, not only 
 to the messenger at the well water from her pitcher.
 
 38 Jjriiv$ jewels ixf the 
 
 but by also watering his camels with her own fair 
 hands. 
 
 Andra was curiously observing the manners of 
 these people who occupied the tents when the unex- 
 pected apparition of his cousin was presented. He 
 went home with Adah and Beta, where he tarried 
 until Jephthah returned, by whom he was well re- 
 ceived. The modest and dignified customs of the 
 East, dictated retirement to the females of a house, 
 not from inferiority of position or servitude of sta- 
 tion, but because inclination approved of what 
 custom dictated ; but neither was it a sign of rank 
 to be cold and restrained by artificial laws. Adah, 
 as mistress of the house, gave kind attention to her 
 cousin Andra, and sat with him and her father, 
 manifesting in a hundred ways to the delighted 
 senses of Andra her superiority and virtue. The 
 word virtue has its definition in more than one 
 sense, it implies mental and moral strength, energy, 
 and resolution. 
 
 The sweet-lipped god could not stay away, could 
 not abide in the distance when there was such de- 
 lightful opportunity offered for his manifestation,
 
 Jplt;qu0i8 Jltdah. 39 
 
 and before the veiled heart of Adah was fairly alive 
 to its own susceptibility it was seized, appropriated, 
 and enlisted under a new order; something so 
 sweet, so blissful came into her soul in return, that 
 its excess created a suffusion of blushes upon her 
 face, a soft languor in her eyes, and a hesitation in 
 her manner, which declared to Andra that his own 
 disease was caught, and that each had the other's 
 symptoms. Such joys as her mother had ex- 
 perienced in the days of her courtship, and as all 
 women from Eve successively down have realized, 
 and must still entertain as long as time lasts, 
 had now sprung up in the fresh soil of her nature 
 to impress it indelibly. The great inspiration of 
 this new intelligence is wonderful in forming the 
 character of a young girl. 
 
 Adah had always, from a mere child, assiduously 
 performed work in the household, and she mani- 
 fested a judgment and discrimination beyond her 
 years. Her own fingers worked the elegant curtains 
 which hung at the oriental doorways, or embroi- 
 dered the quilted coverlets for the divans. Her in- 
 genuity devised models for vases and frames, with
 
 40 JKive ^swsls xrf to < 
 
 which her beautiful garden was decorated. The 
 situation and arrangement of the sweet shrubs and 
 flowers were suggested by her, and her own dress 
 was superintended and sometimes partially made 
 by herself. She had naturally a love for gorgeous 
 color ; it was what her eye had rested upon from 
 her birth; the amethyst sky at sunset, the moun- 
 tains tinged with hues of rose, and violet, and 
 orange were familiar to her eye ; birds also, varying 
 in tint from every shade of purple to faintest azure, 
 she had always seen. When Andra first met her, 
 she wore an embroidered dress of scarlet with a 
 blue bodice, a thin, white, soft veil which floated 
 around her figure and shaded, without concealing, 
 her features. She was tasteful, industrious, econom- 
 ical, and charitable. She wholly fulfilled the text, 
 " She stretcheth out her hand to the poor ; yea, she 
 reacheth forth her hands to the needy." Her 
 charity widened, increased, and encompassed all 
 within her reach. She had been patient under 
 great suspense, and from her religious nature, many 
 doubts must naturally have agitated her mind as to 
 the moral character of her father's life, and her con-
 
 fcc tttquaiss jptxlah. 41 
 
 viction of his lack of piety must have pained her. 
 Young as Adah was, she had had occasion to be 
 made thoughtful and prudent ; she had learned the 
 true submission of a meek spirit under the dispensa- 
 tions of life ; she had needed but the touch of love to 
 baptize her into perfect womanhood; through this 
 sacrament she now came, and was ready for sacrifice, 
 or any oblation that circumstance might dictate. 
 
 Their union was approved by Jephthah, and the 
 happy young lover was ready to perform his vows 
 unto the Lord. Soon after this, Jephthah was so- 
 licited earnestly to take the lead of the army to 
 rescue the Israelites from the invasion of the Am- 
 monites and others, to which proposition he finally 
 assented upon their acceptance of his terms, which 
 were that he should be made constant Judge of 
 Israel on his successful return. Though full of 
 martial impulse, Jephthah was humane, and always 
 avoided bloodshed if possible ; therefore he sent to 
 the leaders in Ammon terms of capitulation, to 
 which they returned answer : " That the land of the 
 Israelites was theirs ; that it had originally belonged 
 to them, from whom it had been taken by the
 
 42 JiThre jewels trf tbs 
 
 Amorites, who had been dispossessed by the Israel- 
 ites; and that on these grounds they claimed the 
 restitution of their lands." 
 
 Jephthah, believing that the land belonged to the 
 Israelites by right of conquest from the actual pos- 
 sessors, would not recognize any claim of antece- 
 dent possessors, who not only had rendered them 
 DO help but had showed them some hostility. The 
 Ammonites reasserted their claims, and on this issue 
 hostilities were inaugurated. 
 
 Before engaging in battle Jephthah vowed a vow 
 unto the Lord, to be fulfilled in the result of vic- 
 tory. This brings our narrative to the thrilling 
 and tragical incidents connected with Jephthah's 
 daughter. The vow which Jephthah so thought- 
 lessly made was as follows : 
 
 " And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and 
 said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children 
 of Ammon into my hands, then it shall be that 
 whatsoever cometh of the doors of my house to 
 meet me, when I return in peace from the children 
 of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will 
 offer it up for a burnt-offering."
 
 j^tdah. 43 
 
 The general nature of a vow is that of a promis- 
 sory oath, of future service. Vows were very com- 
 mon under the Old Testament dispensation. Those 
 in distress, sickness, or difficulty, made promises to 
 God of certain stipulated services in the event of 
 their deliverance or success. David says, "Thy 
 
 tf 9 */ 
 
 vows are upon me, O Lord; I will render praise 
 unto thee, for thou hast delivered my soul from 
 death. Wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling, 
 that I may walk before God in the land of the 
 living?" 
 
 Adah, although gentle in disposition, was not 
 without fervid patriotism, and this the recollection 
 of the annals of her kindred and country helped to 
 intensify. 
 
 Every sympathetic feeling in her nature was 
 aroused when her father was called to a high 
 post of honor by the elders and rulers, and filial 
 affection, piety, and emotions of ambition for the 
 success of the Israelites stirred her sensibilities. 
 Her interest was doubled in the coming contest 
 when Jephthah selected Andra as one of his officers, 
 his fame also becoming involved.
 
 44 3i\itTS Jewels flf the 
 
 Warfare has, incidental to it, tragedies of fearful 
 importance. Ancient tradition and modern account 
 agree that upon its track there follow a succession 
 of horrible occurrences : the black- winged messenger 
 of disease, disaster, crime, demoralization ; and that 
 tragedy becomes habitualized to the hour. 
 
 The preparation for a severe conflict at arms 
 throws a country into a fermentation of excitement ; 
 martial spirit runs high, ambition forgets the possi- 
 bility of defeat, and excited imagination crowns every 
 one a victor. Money flows ; the national exchequer 
 runs out freely, extravagance knows no stop; and 
 men, like puppets, play upon springs which may 
 snap in a moment, and leave them limp and disabled. 
 
 Though anxiety for her father's and lover's safety 
 greatly agitated Adah's mind, yet she seized the 
 contagion of hope, and was thrown into the general 
 feeling which commonly exercised all ; so that she 
 did not, until the very moment of parting came, 
 realize the terrible peril in which all who were 
 dearest to her would be placed. 
 
 When the great army, as far as her eye could 
 reach, was stretched across the plain, awaiting but
 
 ffiurquxxise jUdak. 45 
 
 the signal of their captain to start for glorious con- 
 quest or for sad defeat, Adah, for one moment 
 forgetful of all save the womanly tenderness in her 
 heart, twined her arms around Jephthah and pa- 
 thetically entreated him not to expose, carelessly, 
 his beloved form to the mark of the enemy. Jeph- 
 thah held this treasure, prized higher than all earth- 
 ly things save his honor, to his heart, then placing 
 her hand in Andra's, turned to his war-horse, 
 mounted, and was gone. 
 
 The maiden raised her face to her lover's, and in 
 one long, silent kiss, the blisses of love were poured 
 out, which neither the circumstance of its occasion 
 nor the possibility of its being final could make less 
 sweet. One pressure against his strong breast, 
 whose emotions were strenuous for love and sacri- 
 ficial to duty, and he, too, was gone. 
 
 Desolate days and nights were passed; through 
 which Adah shivered under the cruel chill of appre- 
 hension. The excitement of preparation being over, 
 the endurance of separation seemed hard. The 
 flowers bloomed as gayly, the birds sang as merrily, 
 the sky shone as bright, friends surrounded her,
 
 46 Ji[itrc Jewels of the 
 
 God was above, yet there was a yearning after the 
 absent ones ; a longing for their safety which created 
 a gloomy mental mist ; melancholy settled upon her. 
 Music could no longer amuse, books no longer 
 solace, and her handmaidens often found her weep- 
 ing. It was not for herself that she would have 
 indulged such sorrow, but for those whose lives, 
 precious to themselves as well as her, were in peril. 
 
 In the meantime Jephthah, girded with his unerr- 
 ing sword, led his army from the declivities across 
 Jordan, where the opposing hordes were gathered 
 as thick as blades of grass. He became inspired 
 with strength from invisible heavenly powers ; the 
 mantle of valor settled over him ; his hands were 
 controlled and his voice sent commands which were 
 like utterances of the gods ; he dashed upon the 
 enemy like a falling bolt, amid gleaming spears and 
 willing blades, and came out clear of wounds, un- 
 hurt by anything, after hosts had closed again and 
 again about him. At last, like waves held by the 
 tide, his enemies fell back ; the rout was complete, 
 Jephthah was victor. 
 
 His militarv tactics proved that no mean master-
 
 Jltdah. 47 
 
 hand guided him. His religious nature caine forth 
 from the obscurity of perverted life, his vow 
 returned to him after the success of his arms ; and 
 he praised God in his heart, and determined by the 
 pious observance of that vow to expiate some of his 
 past offences against divine law. 
 
 He sent a herald before him to apprize his be- 
 loved only child, who could touch the springs of his 
 nature as none other might, of his victory and 
 immediate return. 
 
 Joy, unqualified delight, flooded Adah's heart. 
 Her country was saved ; her father and lover left 
 alive ; were both made famous by their intrepidity 
 and superior generalship! Smiles wreathed her 
 face, all of the sleeping animation was restored, and 
 the very goddess of pleasure herself might have 
 patterned expressions from Adah's eyes, lips, and 
 whole countenance. 
 
 Rejoicing was the motive of the hour; families 
 and people all with one heart, acclamatory of 
 praise, lifted their voices in thanksgiving. Only 
 those who have lived in the midst of war can realize 
 how gratefully peace comes.
 
 48 J^ive Jewels sf the 
 
 Jephthah's daughter had cause to make great 
 demonstration, and she called together hastily her 
 household, and arranged with them plans for a 
 festival. Rich cakes, preserves, and confectionery, 
 meats and strong food, wine, nectarines, and grapes, 
 were all gathered, arranged, and set in the grand 
 hall for the returning generals and soldiers. Great 
 was the excitement of the servants and maidens. 
 Adah went around like a white, misty cloud, dropped 
 a word here and there, or peeped over some gar- 
 dener's brawny shoulder, with a smile which out- 
 shone the summer light that ravished his flowers, 
 and repaid him for the wounds of thorns (which, 
 alas ! will grow everywhere), or the wanton riot set 
 loose among his favorite beds and borders. 
 
 Beauty sits well in every place ; it can never be 
 disproportioned to circumstance, but, like the sun- 
 light, can measure any distance or fill any space. 
 And Adah, under the shadow of the peasant's lintel, 
 or within the brilliant light of palace-hall, was still 
 a welcome object. And now, in this hour of 
 triumph, many who had been blessed by her hand 
 came and brought offerings of sweet laurels or some
 
 ss Jltdah. 49 
 
 tender token of their appreciation, and Adah gladly 
 received every kind demonstration. At last, after 
 everything necessary for her feast had been pre- 
 pared, the table spread, festoons of flowers hung in a 
 triumphal arch in front of her doorway, the maidens 
 assembled, she awaited the approach of her father 
 and her lover. 
 
 She had thought that, to please her lover, she 
 would put on bridal attire, and it is possible that 
 sweet visions of her nuptials actuated her. White 
 embroidered silk, with a tunic over it of soft, float- 
 ing, silver tissue, composed her dress. Pearls were 
 around her wrists and arms above the elbows; 
 around her neck, in her ears were large hoops of 
 gold set with pearls. A white veil floated over her 
 flowing hair, and gave to it the appearance of frost 
 upon a raven's wing. We can imagine her eager- 
 ness for the meeting, how breathlessly she awaited 
 the first intimation of their approach. 
 
 With their harps and timbrels strung, 
 Upon expectancy they hung ; 
 As, bending o'er, each lovely maid 
 
 Her tribute of attention paid. 
 3
 
 5o Jiviva jewels xtf the dD^i 
 
 The welcome signal came at last ; 
 One sigh from parted lips she cast ; 
 Then Adah floated forth to treat 
 The heroes, with her greeting sweet 
 
 Like visions caught in happy dream 
 The scene presented here might seem, 
 'Twas if as angels, bright, had dropt 
 From paradise, and warfare stopt 
 
 For grizzled warriors, whose arms 
 Were tremulous of late alarms, 
 And glittering steel, whose ardent track 
 Was scored in blood, gave back. 
 
 They made betwixt a pathway that 
 The maid might reach him, who still sat 
 Upon his steed, whose long locks caught 
 By whipping winds to curls were wrought 
 
 His beard uncombed, in battle trim, 
 Was knotted on his breast ; and grim 
 The warrior seemed, although 
 His eye burned with a tender glow. 
 
 Beneath the rugged outside stirred 
 A thought of sweets to fame preferred 
 His " singing-bird " invoked the strain,] 
 And Adah ruled the chief again.
 
 jgtdah. 5i 
 
 Visions of her glad face and thoughts of the 
 happy meeting indeed played through his brain and 
 heart, and his aspiration took a high tone ; he 
 praised God for his victories, for the gift of his 
 child, and determined to live in the future as became 
 a judge in Israel, and the father of such a daughter. 
 Just as his spirit seemed sweetened to its very ten- 
 derest tone, he observed the swaying of his guard ; 
 and lo! through the avenue came flying a white 
 cloud. God of Israel ! 'twas his child, his Adah, his 
 singing-bird, his lamb, his ring-dove, his bond to 
 earth, his inspiration for heaven. She ; she was to 
 be offered up a living human sacrifice. 
 
 Mechanically, in obedience to her loved voice, 
 he dismounted. Adah, with every dimple playing 
 in ecstacy to her smiles, threw her white arms 
 around his war-stained breast and kissed him. 
 Startled and astonished at his coldness, for he in- 
 deed stood a monument of dumb, cold despair, she 
 exclaimed, " My father, my father, what is it, and 
 what has thy Adah done in thy sight that she is not 
 welcomed?" Then, indeed, the fountains of feel- 
 ing were pierced and a way was opened for words j
 
 52 ^B\itre ^swsls xxf tfca 
 
 the warrior who had just stood a man of iron at 
 the head of a great army, had seen men fall beneath 
 his sword like grain before the reaper, and been 
 unmoved, now shook like a reed swayed by the 
 wind, and was bathed in tears ; as the granite rock 
 is baptized by the fountain that bursts from its own 
 bosom. Suddenly he had been translated from the 
 highest elevation of joy to the deepest dejection of 
 despair. 
 
 Adah, appalled at this great demonstration of 
 sorrow, knelt at his feet, clasped his blood-stained 
 knees, and cried again, " My father, why is this ?" 
 Then he answered her, "Alas, my daughter, thou 
 hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them 
 that trouble me ; for I have opened my mouth unto 
 the Lord and I cannot go back." 
 
 Stupefied for a moment, stunned, bewildered, 
 horrified, Adah contemplated her father; then, 
 seeming to realize it all, to understand the nature 
 of the Israelitish vows, she slowly let her hands 
 droop, closed her eyes, and seemed to pray. After 
 that the woman prevailed ; she thought of the suf- 
 ferings of her father, her lover, and she put
 
 ise JIdah. 53 
 
 aside her sorrow for herself, and stood strong to 
 bear their grief. So natural is it for womanhood to 
 give, to bestow at its own cost, that to many women 
 sacrifice is sweeter than favor ; there are some 
 women of this day who live martyrs, and who are so 
 comforted under the infliction that they would 
 hardly accept release if it were offered. It was 
 after woman's nature for Adah to look up almost 
 cheerfully and answer, " My father, if thou hast 
 opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me accord- 
 ing to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth ; 
 forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for 
 thee of thine enemies, even of the children of 
 Ammon, let this thing be done for me ; let me alone 
 for two months, that I may go up and down upon 
 the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my 
 maidens." 
 
 This was all she asked, she made no other re- 
 quirements, plead for nothing, urged no entreaties, 
 used no reproaches, but only stipulated for two 
 months longer of her sweet, fresh, beautiful life. 
 Her lover asked nothing but that he might hold 
 her to his heart once more and die ; it seemed
 
 54 
 
 that heaven heard his prayer, for we are told that 
 his great grief induced fatal disease and caused his 
 speedy death. 
 
 We would fain close our history, would fold over 
 the terrible tragedy, sublime in its very horror, a 
 veil, but our readers call for the whole drama, and 
 we set our face hard and follow Adah to the seclusion 
 of her mountain retreat, whither she had repaired 
 to do penance and sanctify herself for her sacrifice. 
 
 We know that there are doubts about the actual 
 fulfillment, to the letter, of Jephthah's vow. To be 
 deprived of the joys of connubiality and condemned 
 to perpetual virginity was to the Jews a great afilic- 
 tion, disgrace, and punishment ; whereas to the 
 Catholics, vice versa, it is an honor, and the surest 
 means of securing divine favor. 
 
 It is allowed by some that Jephthah might have 
 fulfilled his vow so far. But assuming that no com- 
 mutation of the full sentence was made, Adah was 
 offered and slain; her flesh burned with fire, and 
 the incense of the offering arose to His nostrils and 
 was acceptable, according to the Israelitish faith, to 
 the Lord God Almighty.
 
 ise jitdah. 55 
 
 As another has forcibly illustrated the closing 
 scene, we quote him, glad to escape the thrilling 
 torture of describing the offering of so vital a thing 
 as human life for a sacrificial spectacle. 
 
 " When the two months had expired, and the day 
 arrived which was to bring this sad affair to a close, 
 a vast multitude gathered together to witness the 
 event. Precisely as the sun came on the meridian, 
 she was seen, followed by a long train of hei 
 friends, wending her way down the mountain's side 
 to the fatal spot where the altar was erected, and 
 her father, with an almost broken heart, was stand- 
 ing, prepared to fulfill his vow. She approached 
 him, and with one long kiss of affection bade him 
 farewell. Taking hold of the thick mourning- veil 
 which she wore, he drew it gently over her face and 
 drew his sword. But she rapidly unveiled herself, 
 and said she needed not to have her face covered, 
 for she was not afraid to die. Her father replied 
 that he could not strike the blow while she looked 
 upon him, and again cast it over her. She threw it 
 off the second time, and, turning from him, said she 
 would look up to the heavens so that his hand
 
 56 
 
 should not be unnerved by the sight of her face, 
 but that she, would not consent to die in the dark. A 
 third time, however, he insisted, and a third time 
 she as resolutely cast it off, this time holding the 
 ends of it firmly in her hands, and then, in the 
 hearing of the multitude, she solemnly declared 
 that if this ceremony was insisted upon she would 
 claim the protection of the law and refuse the fate 
 she was otherwise willing to endure. 
 
 " She said it was the practice to cover the faces of 
 murderers and criminals when they were about to 
 be put to death, but for her part she was no criminal, 
 and died only to redeem her father's honor. Again she 
 averred that she would cast her eyes upward upon 
 the Source of Light, and in that position she in- 
 vited the fatal blow. It fell." 
 
 We are glad that the curtain has shut out the 
 tragedy, and that we may hopefully raise it again 
 upon heaven, where our sanctified, redeemed heroine 
 has met her Andra, has looked upon motive, seen 
 cause, and realized consequence. 
 
 Jephthah after this became sanctified to the 
 Lord. He judged Israel for six years, and was
 
 J^luttquxxise Jltdah. 57 
 
 " gathered to his fathers." His piety is historical. 
 His words have passed down successive generations 
 as oracles. And all the years of his latter life ex- 
 piated the offences of his youth. 
 
 In Adah's life we fiiid a truth 
 
 Which every woman knows, 
 That virtue, planted in one's youth, 
 
 Through all one's future grows ; 
 
 That modesty will throw a grace 
 
 O'er genius, and devise 
 A model for the highest place 
 
 Among the good and wise. 
 
 That beauty is a goodly thing, 
 
 If coupled with desire 
 To lift the intellect, and bring 
 
 Genius and wisdom nigher. 
 
 That r/reet humility which craves 
 
 No more than it deserves 
 Shuts off much cruel grief, and paves 
 
 A path which it preserves. 
 
 Though riches flow to magic touch, 
 
 And high position buy, 
 Yet woman knows that nothing such 
 
 Her heart can satisfy. 
 3*
 
 58 
 
 A meek and quiet spirit sees 
 
 In humblest lot a peace, 
 And circumstance of wealth and ease 
 
 Her joy cannot increase. 
 
 To bend one's spirit low beneath 
 
 The yoke of duty, may 
 Fix on one's brow the victor's wreath. 
 
 In some far future day. 
 
 The patient service of true good 
 Through industry and might, 
 
 By power supreme is understood 
 And to the end worked right
 
 II 
 
 The 
 
 KUTH. 
 
 UMAN circumstances create them- 
 selves; in various tones, coloring, 
 and phase, they blend until the uni- 
 versal groundwork or actuality is only 
 a repetition of the minor parts. The 
 relation of cause with effect, the 
 likeness of human passions, the correspondence of 
 human interests, all compare equally, and assert 
 that man is liable to be controlled by the same prin- 
 ciples ; and whether he loses or gains, he will still 
 be influenced by the power of thinking. Dates, 
 periods, and epochs alter, but principles never.
 
 62 JKivc jewels rxf the 
 
 Truth is as immortal as God, and when applied to 
 things, is as immutable. 
 
 In one essential point, throughout all ages, na- 
 tions, and places of the world, however different in 
 character, inclination, and manner, men are united 
 the inherent recognition of, and adoration for, a 
 Supreme Power, and they have devised external 
 manner to demonstrate their faith, and declared 
 openly their dependence upon it. 
 
 Religious sentiment, enthusiastically followed, has 
 originated some of the greatest designs in every art 
 that science ever knew ; has dictated the most 
 severe virtue, and fulfilled the most holy obligations 
 of filial piety, records of which may be had from the 
 infancy of the world to the present day, this century 
 repeating the principle that the first declared. 
 
 To the heathen as well as to the Jew and Gen- 
 tile, this manifestation is alike given, and we cannot 
 more forcibly illustrate its practical application than 
 in a recital of the life and character of the beautiful 
 Scripture heroine RUTH. 
 
 This young woman of Moab was reared amid all 
 the comforts that wealth can secure. She was ten-
 
 ^lojtaz J^uth. 63 
 
 derly and delicately nurtured ; was accustomed to 
 wear scarlet and purple, which could not be obtained 
 except at great expense, and the fact of a person's 
 wearing these colors was a proof of high position 
 and title to great riches. She was of an idolatrous 
 race and nation, and zealously observed all the 
 feasts that her religion required. These feasts were 
 numerous. 
 
 The most particular one was Eleusis, or "The 
 Mysteries," into which parents were particularly 
 careful to initiate their children at an early age, 
 because the ceremony made a compact which 
 secured the protection of the goddess to whose ser- 
 vices they dedicated themselves, and was the means 
 of a more perfect and happier life in the future. 
 
 We may very readily suppose that it was at this 
 feast that Mahlon, the Hebrew stranger lately come 
 to Moab, for the first time saw Ruth, and we may 
 naturally draw the picture of their meeting. 
 
 Upon the evening of the fourth day during the 
 feast, the Procession of the Basket took place. An 
 immense basket, elegantly designed and decorated, 
 was laid upon an open chariot, and, slowly drawn by
 
 64 Ji\ixre jewels 
 
 oxen, was followed by numbers of women, all of 
 whom carried mysterious baskets in their hands, 
 filled with articles that they took great pains to 
 conceal. 
 
 As Mahlon stood under an arcn, or in an em- 
 brasure, curiously observing this ceremony of the 
 idolaters, his attention became suddenly riveted 
 upon Ruth, who, in her anxiety to conceal the con- 
 tents of her basket, paused a moment behind the 
 others to arrange the elegant covering of embroi- 
 dered silk over her mysteries ; her hands, like two 
 sensitive lilies, were cunningly and dexterously fas- 
 tening the top. 
 
 Her hair, whicli was of shiny black, luxuriant and 
 soft, was waved freely back from a broad, pure 
 brow. Her eyes, of liquid black touched by 
 diamond glints, were raised as if by some potent 
 mysterious agency, and caught for one moment the 
 gaze of Mahlon. The telegram of love instituted 
 the initiatory of the union of two races which was 
 finally to create the house of David, the beloved of 
 the Lord. 
 
 Elimelech, a man of distinction, rich and influen-
 
 : "Ruth. 65 
 
 tial, was a Jew of the tribe of Judah. He lived, 
 honored and respected, with Naomi, his wife, and 
 two sons, Chilion and Mahlon, until he was past 
 middle life, in Bethlehern-Judah, or Ephratah, 
 which was his native place. In consequence of a 
 famine which devastated the land, he removed his 
 family to Moab, where both of his sons married 
 Moabitish women, Ruth and Orpah. Such unions 
 were contrary to the given law of the Lord. 
 
 In the case of Ruth, her devotion to Mahlon, her 
 husband, overcame every prejudice ; the God that 
 he worshipped became her God, and whatever con- 
 stituted his happiness created her joy and satisfac- 
 tion. What he desired she desired, and she was 
 converted from idolatrous worship to the Hebrew 
 religion. She was devoted to her husband ; loved 
 him with all the earnestness f a first genuine affec- 
 tion, and with all the strength that a character so 
 tender, yet so strong as Ruth's, was capable of. In 
 the poetic version of Scripture phraseology she 
 proved that " She will do him good and not evil all 
 the days of her life," and that " A good wife is from 
 the Lord."
 
 56 JKitrs swsls vt the 
 
 After a few years of joyous wedded life, Mahlon 
 died and also Chilion. Elimelech, too, was dead. 
 When Mahlon lay upon his deathbed he charged 
 Ruth not to forsake her adopted religion, but after 
 he was buried, to cleave to it still through every 
 chance and change. 
 
 Great was the sorrow of the lovely young widow, 
 when she was left by her best beloved to tread the 
 path of life alone; it is not surprising that she 
 should cling to her who was her Mahlon's mother ; 
 and though the riches of Elimelech, with which he 
 came full-handed, were all exhausted, and the three 
 widows, Naomi, the mother-in-law, and her two 
 daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, were very poor, 
 and were barely supplied with necessary comforts, 
 yet they would not separate, but with tenacious 
 constancy remained under the same roof, each con- 
 tributing her small share of earnings to fill the 
 meagre exchequer's daily demand, thus fulfilling the 
 law of affection to its strictest letter. 
 
 The hour of adversity brought out the genuine 
 goodness, portrayed each characteristic, and devel- 
 oped the strongest points in the disposition of
 
 plho iptepfcs JSJtttfc. 67 
 
 Ruth. Her own relations were wealthy and ex- 
 tended the most earnest solicitations for her to 
 come and share with them their comfortable home 
 and appointments, but the faithful heart looked 
 through the dim obscurity of the grave up to 
 heaven, where was her beloved, who held her reg- 
 istered vow. She refused every invitation and 
 abode with Naomi ; and with her own delicate 
 hands performed chief part of the menial duties. 
 
 Orpah, seeing the example of Ruth, emulated her, 
 but when poverty pinched her sorely she had secret 
 longings for the ease which competence insures, and 
 which was within her reach, and when Naomi urged 
 her to leave her she was scarcely strong enough to 
 resist the temptation ; but she really loved Naomi, 
 and would have been willing to stay with her for- 
 ever if such a course had not involved her personal 
 comfort. To make self-sacrifice was not her pre- 
 vailing quality, but a love of ease was. 
 
 Things became worse and worse in the little 
 household ; it was hard to live, and Naomi became 
 greatly depressed, and determined to return to her 
 early home if it were but to die and to have a place
 
 68 Jiiivs Jewels 0f the 
 
 to be buried in ; she longed to be where she could 
 enjoy her religious rites and ceremonies, and be- 
 lieved that by retracing her way back from her 
 weary stay in a foreign land, the God of her fore- 
 fathers would approve the act, for she had violated, 
 through her husband's will, the law which forbids a 
 chosen one to go, of his own will and inclination, to 
 dwell with the heathen. This act of disobedience 
 she firmly believed had brought ill consequences: 
 her present forlorn condition. 
 
 She and Ruth and Orpah set out on foot ; a " far 
 journey," as it was then called, owing to imperfect 
 navigation and slow modes of land-travel. The 
 flowers were in full bloom, the grape-blossoms 
 scented the air, the birds sang their thanksgiving 
 hymns, and even the little fishes that swam hither 
 and thither in the brooks that they passed seemed 
 to rejoice, and to appeal to them to look up to the 
 great source of all love for a renewal of their hap- 
 piness. After they had travelled a few miles 
 Naomi's spirit became depressed, her steps faltered, 
 and she seemed to realize the hardships which 
 they should have to encounter before they could
 
 69 
 
 reach the end of their toilsome journey, and her 
 kind heart refused to involve in this trouble her two 
 daughters. 
 
 She threw herself down on the green sward, her 
 garments trailed among the sweet wild anemones, 
 and her brow pressed the rich tufts of lobelia, while 
 her hands tremulously clasped Ruth's and Orpah's ; 
 her voice rose above the murmur of the brook that 
 ran close beside the pathway, as she in earnest 
 tones begged her daughters-in-law to return to their 
 friends : to leave her to pursue her way alone ; if 
 she perished, it would be only an old woman, with- 
 out any relative to mourn her, who died ; but that 
 they were young, with many years before them, with 
 numerous friends whose hearts would be gladdened 
 by their society. 
 
 In her breast mingled emotions contended for 
 mastery. To part with them, Ruth especially, was 
 as terrible as death. It was a dreadful thought to 
 be left alone at her time of life ; very sweet to realize 
 that a tender solicitude was felt for her, and to re- 
 tain this blessing was of course the first wish of her 
 heart; but her generous mind craved their happi-
 
 70 ^B\ixre Jewels xxf the 
 
 ness, and she feared that they would realize the 
 reverse if they stayed by her. 
 
 Suddenly she raised her eyes to theirs and 
 impressively pointed out to them, in eloquent 
 words, the advantage to be gained by a return 
 home, and the privations and discomfort which 
 would follow them if they remained with her. 
 She endeavored to persuade them to pursue the first 
 course. Ruth twined her arms around Naomi and 
 uttered the most eloquent chapter of love that has 
 ever been spoken, in these words : " Entreat me not 
 to leave thee or to return from following thee. 
 Whither thou goest I will go ; and where thou lodg- 
 est I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, 
 and thy God my God. Where thou diest I will die, 
 and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me 
 and more also, if aught but death part thee and 
 me!" 
 
 No studied oration could have expressed more 
 undying, changeless, self-forgetting devotion than 
 these simple words. Naomi's heart bowed in admi- 
 ration for so sublime a manifestation. 
 
 Orpah loved Naomi and kissed her repeatedly,
 
 Plhe Jptopaz JKutb. 7 1 
 
 and was anxious to manifest her love, but her fond- 
 ness for self-indulgence and dread of the prospect 
 of poverty in a strange land prevailed, and, with 
 many tears, though with some secret relief, she bade 
 adieu to her two companions and retraced her steps. 
 
 Naomi no longer opposed Ruth's determination ; 
 it would have been an insult to human affection ; 
 but she rose from the ground upon which she had 
 thrown herself, renewed and strengthened to resume 
 her journey. Ruth sang as they walked, and when- 
 ever they stopped to rest brought wreaths of wild 
 flowers and playfully twined them around Naomi's 
 waist and wrists, endeavoring by every little art to 
 wile her thoughts from the difficulties of their route. 
 
 At last, tired, dusty, travel-stained, and hungry, 
 they entered the gates of Bethlehem. It is due to 
 the people of the times to say that the warm sympa- 
 thy shown to Naomi on her arrival proved them to 
 be unselfish enough to spare both feeling and time 
 for their returned countrywoman, and to grieve with 
 her at those heavy afflictions which caused her to 
 reply to their eager questions, " Call me not Naomi, 
 the pleasant, the sweet, but Mara, the bitter, for the
 
 72 
 
 Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went 
 out full and the Lord hath brought me home again 
 empty. Why, then, call ye me Naomi, seeing that 
 the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty 
 hath afflicted me." 
 
 The poetical interpretation of the name Naomi is 
 pleasantness, sweetness, grace. Bitterness and sad- 
 ness were now more applicable to her, and she 
 plaintively reminded her friends of the fact. She 
 did not mean to complain, but to prevent them from 
 recurring to the past, which afforded such contrast 
 with her present condition. Her friends would have 
 heaped favors upon her and the gentle Ruth, who 
 modestly remained silent and retiring, but Naomi 
 could not bear to become an object of pity, and so 
 with their small means they secured a very humble 
 dwelling in the suburbs, and she and Ruth com- 
 menced their frugal life in Naomi's native city. 
 
 Curiosity dictated no idle inquiries about Ruth ; 
 the Israelites were too well versed in politeness to 
 stare or to ask questions ; but many a furtive glance 
 was given, and whispered expressions of admiration 
 were made at her exceeding loveliness. She was
 
 73 
 
 divested of purple, and blue, and scarlet colors, the 
 insignia of wealth and consequence, now, and was 
 simply robed in pure white linen, with a hood of the 
 same over her head, and half sandals upon her feet. 
 
 When they arrived at Bethlehem it was the time 
 of barley harvest. Naomi had a very wealthy rela- 
 tion of the family of Elimelech, who, according to 
 Jewish law, was bound to provide her with all the 
 relief that she needed, but her unassuming disposi- 
 tion led her to prefer for the present to remain in 
 retirement, because the contrast in their respective 
 positions was too great. She concealed from Ruth 
 his existence. 
 
 It was customary for the peasantry to be allowed 
 to pick up the grain they might find which had been 
 left upon the field, and so the sacred history tells us 
 that " Ruth went to glean in the fields, and that it 
 was her hap to light on a part of the field belonging 
 to Boaz." If Ruth had known of this connection 
 she would have hesitated to work at this place, but 
 as she was ignorant of it, of course she was rejoiced 
 to be so near home, and was glad to find Boaz so 
 
 conciliatory to her, who was a stranger, and had no 
 
 4
 
 74 JHixrs jpsursls trf to (Dri 
 
 right to presume upon the privilege of the Jewish 
 women. 
 
 Boaz observed her modest deportment, and also 
 her elastic figure, which was the very embodiment 
 of grace and beauty, as she industriously performed 
 her tasks, and he told her that it was not necessary 
 for her to go into any field but his, and to stay by 
 his maidens. He told her also to keep close after 
 the reapers, for that she should not be insulted or 
 ill-treated. 
 
 How grateful this act of appreciation must have 
 been to the sensitive young widow no one can 
 realize but she who has also been a stranger in a 
 strange place, performing offices which threw her 
 under a light totally different from that of her usual 
 sphere, and which subjected her in a measure to 
 coarse treatment. With the sweet candor and gen- 
 tle humility of her nature, she, knowing that from 
 her present position she would not seem to be 
 entitled to such consideration, inquired of Boaz: 
 "Why have I found grace in thy eyes that thou 
 shouldst take this knowledge of rue, seeing I am a 
 stranger ?"
 
 plhe Jplapaz ^Elutfc. ;5 
 
 Honest praise is very gratifying, and has often 
 given an impetus to a heart for a renewal of effort, 
 which had nearly sunk under misappreciation. The 
 meed of well-earned approbation which the answer 
 of Boaz conveyed, was joyfully received by Ruth ; 
 her mind delighted to find that she, through virtu- 
 ous conduct, had secured a friend, possibly, for her- 
 self, and her countenance lighted up by the reflec- 
 tion of these pleasant thoughts. Boaz, taking the 
 covering from his head, bent respectfully forward, 
 and, looking upon her sweet downcast eyes, said 
 with serious impressiveness : " It hath been fully 
 shown me all that thou hast done unto thy mother- 
 in-law since the death of thine husband ; how thou 
 hast left father and mother, and the land of thy 
 nativity, and art come unto a people which thou 
 knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy 
 work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord 
 God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to 
 trust." 
 
 There was such unmistakable respect, and tender 
 interest besides, intimated by his manner, that 
 Ruth's heart trembled with satisfaction, tears sprang
 
 76 
 
 to her eyes, and so much sensibility manifested itself 
 in her voice as she answered, "Let me still find 
 favor in thy sight, for thou hast spoken friendly to 
 thy hand-maid, though I be not like one of thine 
 own hand-maidens," that Boaz was betrayed into an 
 emotion of tenderness which he could not suppress. 
 
 He turned suddenly away, lest he should betray 
 the peculiar interest that he felt toward the strange 
 serving-woman, which would make him seem to his 
 dependants to be taking undue familiarity. But at 
 dinner he seated her near to himself, and waited 
 upon her, for it is said that he handed her the 
 parched corn. A beautiful picture the fair-skinned 
 Moabitess seated among her olive-skinned com- 
 panions must have presented; a most novel and 
 pleasing sight, indeed ; so delicate, with the evident 
 and unmistakable signs of high birth and breeding 
 depicted in the countenance, in the hand ; her 
 peculiar distinction from her companions by the 
 manner of handling her spoon ; the attention be- 
 s bo wed upon her by her landlord, all set forth a 
 contrast which was unmistakably interesting. 
 
 There was a distinguishing refinement about her
 
 77 
 
 which made her the especial figure in the scene, 
 and the young men all held her in the most virtuous 
 esteem ; they had perceived that she was entitled to 
 their profoundest respect. 
 
 Boaz urged his hospitality, and was pleased to 
 see her partake with a good appetite of the viands 
 set before her ; and when she had concluded her 
 dinner he followed the young men, or reapers, and 
 ordered them to drop some of the sheaves so that 
 she might have a plenty to take home with her. 
 This was a favor which the reapers most willingly 
 accorded, for each one was impressed with the 
 superiority of the beautiful stranger. Ruth was 
 industrious, and gathered enough to make an ephah 
 of barley. 
 
 Naomi had felt some anxiety about this now 
 doubly-dear child of her adoption, and often, as the 
 sun got low, she had gone to the door to look if she 
 was coming. "When at last Ruth came into the 
 doorway, her face lighted up with the pleasant news 
 she had to impart, Naomi's affectionate heart was 
 stirred with joy ; she herself brought cool water and 
 refreshed Ruth with it, then made haste to bring
 
 78 Ji\ii;s jewels of the 
 
 some choice dish of food which she had saved for 
 her, affectionately asking questions of her, whilst 
 Ruth ingenuously described the marked respect she 
 had received from Boaz. 
 
 Naomi was astonished when she heard the name 
 of Boaz, and she ascribed it to no mere chance that 
 Ruth had been guided to him. She was constrained 
 to give expression to her gratification, and she cried, 
 "Blessed be the Lord who hath not left off his 
 kindness to the living and the dead." She imparted 
 to Ruth their near relationship to Boaz, and com- 
 mended her for her observance of all he had told 
 her ; and so, on the morrow, Ruth repaired again to 
 the same field, where she met with fresh kindness. 
 
 It was not a mere speculation, or love of match- 
 making, which induced Naomi to set about schem- 
 ing for a union between Ruth and Boaz, but the 
 tender, devoted love of a mother, who, knowing well 
 the excellence of Boaz, was anxious to secure the 
 happiness to her daughter which her marriage to 
 him might secure. 
 
 The warmth of her heart centred on this 
 daughter, who had by every act manifested for her-
 
 79 
 
 self the most undeviating devotion. It is well said 
 that a dutiful daughter always makes the most per- 
 fect wife ; this Naomi had seen proven, for as a wife 
 to her son, Ruth had fulfilled the most strict mi- 
 nutiae of duty and devotion, had made his heart 
 glad throughout the whole ten years of their mar- 
 ried lives. 
 
 Naomi, understanding what the Jewish law was, 
 determined to use those means which, under God's 
 especial providence, might result in so much benefit 
 to all. Naomi trusted in God. Through every vicis- 
 situde of ill luck or prosperity, she had never ceased 
 to supplicate and to praise ; and she had laid up a 
 store of peace and joy, through this means, for her 
 old age ; her mind was placid, and rested content 
 with the assurance of God's everlasting protection. 
 
 Pious beauties mellowed by time assume a fervid 
 lustre. Patient endurances had shed a calm, 
 steady light throughout Naomi's soul, which no cir- 
 cumstance of misfortune or poverty could obscure. 
 But she deemed it her duty to embrace the means 
 presented for the benefit and comfort of her 
 daughter, who was so deserving and who was yet so
 
 8o 
 
 young ; and she gave instructions to Ruth which at 
 first seemed very revolting to the Moabitess, for 
 there was no such rule among her own people ; her 
 modesty and strict sense of propriety were shocked ; 
 but as she had known Naomi for so long, as kind as 
 her own mother, and had perfect faith in her pru- 
 dence, she consented to abide by whatever she 
 might tell her, and she simply answered : " All that 
 thou sayest unto me that will I do." 
 
 It was the custom of the Jews when a marriage 
 was contemplated between near relatives, or with 
 the widow of a deceased relative, for the female to 
 steal in the night-time to the feet of the man and 
 lay herself down, drawing the coverlid over her; 
 this was a significant sign for him to extend the 
 mantle of protection, or was an opportunity for her 
 to ask, " Give me thy protection as a husband." 
 
 Judging men by common rules, we conclude that 
 it is no mean proof of chivalry for a man to exer- 
 cise his discretion so far as to show no immodest 
 or indecorous behavior towards a beautiful woman 
 who lies at his feet. To insure confidence is to give 
 confidence, and the mere act of a woman's passively
 
 JRutb. 8 1 
 
 submitting herself to the peculiar situation may 
 possibly arouse the man's most beautiful sentiment 
 of honor and generosity. 
 
 " In the midst of the night,'* as Naomi instructed 
 Kuth to do, she repaired to the sleeping apartment 
 of Boaz, with what trepidation any modest mind 
 may conceive, and laid herself down at his feet. 
 
 Her beautiful figure palpitated with contending 
 emotions ; the soft moonlight streaming in and fall- 
 ing on her face, exposed its paleness. She lay 
 trembling like an aspen-leaf controlled by the 
 breeze, until Boaz, awaking in alarm, perceived 
 who she was, knew that she was acting in exact 
 accordance with the law, and reproved her not, but 
 spoke encouragingly and pleasantly to her, which so 
 reassured Kuth that she talked freely to him of 
 some facts in her life and history. 
 
 The heart of Boaz was in his hand, and willingly 
 enough he drew his mantle or covering over his 
 beautiful charge and assured her of his willingness 
 to become her husband, and the high honor he felt 
 she would be conferring upon him. But there was 
 one shadow which clouded the atmosphere of his
 
 82 ~Ji{iv$ ewels xxf the 
 
 anticipations, the fact that there was a nearer rela- 
 tive, still, than himself, who, according to Jewish 
 law, had a stronger claim to her than he had. 
 
 Ruth's heart was still with her dead Mahlon, and 
 she cherished his memory most tenderly ; but she 
 was discreet as well as affectionate, and she judged 
 that to do what her mother-in-law advised was a 
 proper rule to go by, and she assumed no prudery 
 nor affected any sentimentalism which might reflect 
 pain or ill consequences to one so dear. She had 
 had opportunity of observing the high tone of dis- 
 position and conduct of Boaz, and his present gen- 
 erous behavior toward herself was not without its 
 softening tendency. 
 
 Boaz pledged his word to marry Ruth if the other 
 kinsman did not enforce his claim, and took tender 
 care of her till the morning, when, careful for 
 her reputation, he awakened her before it was light 
 enough to distinguish one person from another, and, 
 after having filled her veil with barley, showed 
 her the secret way out. Naomi nervously awaited 
 the result of the interview, anxious for Boaz to be 
 the bridegroom instead of the other kinsman.
 
 83 
 
 The gate of the city was the place for the trans- 
 action of all magisterial business. People of every 
 class and grade were accustomed to assemble there, 
 and when one wished to inquire for or to find 
 another, the gate was the safest chance wherein to 
 look. Boaz found this other relative of Naomi's 
 there, and made known to him the business of 
 Naomi and Ruth. 
 
 This relative, owing to some nice technicality, 
 could not properly become the husband of Ruth, 
 but he bought Naomi's claim to a field of ground 
 and transferred his right of husband to Boaz. 
 
 With joy irradiating his countenance, his heart 
 beating in time to his happy thoughts, Bcaz repaired 
 to Naomi's house, related the result of his interview 
 with the kinsman, and handed over to her her just 
 inheritance, the money for her land. Naomi kissed 
 him, fell upon his neck and wept for very joy. 
 
 Sweet must have been this realization of her fond 
 hopes for the success and prosperity of her beloved 
 Ruth, and she praised the Lord that he had done 
 her so much good now that the hairs of her head 
 were all white and her life was in its sear leaf.
 
 84 3\ixrs Jewels xrf 
 
 Slie feelingly related to her cousin how faithfully 
 Ruth had acted toward her. She described the 
 various evidences of her noble, virtuous, and con- 
 stant nature, displayed in the different relations of 
 life and departments of social obligation. First she 
 spoke of her, a young girl of heathenish religion, 
 her chaste regard of outward proprieties; she told 
 him that though Ruth's parents would have in- 
 dulged any extravagant whim, yet she never pre- 
 sumed upon their generosity to extort extra jewels 
 or articles of dress ; that she ran into no excesses 
 which some of the ceremonies belonging to their 
 feasts justified. 
 
 She then descanted upon her virtues as a wife ; 
 how she had, immediately on her marriage to 
 Mahlon, embraced his religion; for his sake had 
 stood the scorn of her teachers ; had made his faith 
 her faith, its practices her pleasure, and thus 
 secured a double bond between them In all of her 
 wifely duties she had displayed the most cheerful 
 acquiescence, the keenest discrimination, and the 
 most ingenious economy. 
 
 Naomi told Boaz all this and more of the perfec-
 
 85 
 
 tions of Kuth. She descanted upon her conduct 
 under adversity when affliction and poverty assailed 
 Mahlon, when all the manifold tribulations of re- 
 verses were heaped upon his head. When every 
 vestige of property was swept off, and day by day 
 they became poorer, Kuth never uttered a word of 
 complaint or repined at the personal discomfort to 
 which she was subjected, but was ever cheerful, and 
 gave to the meagre aspect of their humbled home a 
 general glory by her consistent good-temper and 
 easy adaptation of herself to the circumstance of 
 the hour and her ready expediency in averting an- 
 noyances. 
 
 When Mahlon's anxiety for an heir increased, she 
 with patient sweetness reminded him, from his own 
 scriptural history, of Sara, who had a child in her 
 old age, playfully suggesting that when they became 
 wiser God would give them children. Naomi said 
 she knew that Ruth's barrenness had been a source 
 of private mortification to her, but that she had 
 never sought to cast the fault upon her husband, or 
 complained of injustice from God. 
 
 Naomi told Boaz of the untiring fidelity of Euth
 
 86 Jiftre Jfowsls #f the 
 
 to her husband during his long illness; of the 
 sacred reverence with which she bowed her head to 
 Almighty God under the terrible dispensation of his 
 death, and of her inimitable devotion and beautiful 
 deportment to herself since she was made a widow ; 
 and declared that Ruth fulfilled to the letter 
 another proverb : " The heart of her husband doth 
 safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of 
 spoil." 
 
 The heart of Boaz swelled with delightful emo- 
 tions at this description of Ruth's perfections, and 
 his fine face, beautiful in shape and feature, glowed 
 with the reflection of genuine appreciation. Love 
 controlled him, and the god painted his image in his 
 eyes when, at the close of Naomi's speech, Ruth, 
 unexpectedly appearing, beheld him. 
 
 Bashful still and timid, she sensitively shrunk 
 back, as a rose beneath the full glare of the sun, 
 made a reverence, and was about to retire, when 
 Naomi called to her and said, " Nay, my daughter, 
 thou needest not be shamefaced, but come forward 
 and receive the hand of him who is to be thy hus- 
 band ;" and Ruth, with the simplicity of perfect
 
 Jptopaz JSutb. 87 
 
 obedience which she always accorded to her mother- 
 in-law, did as she was requested, gracefully came 
 forward and stood before Boaz. He extended his 
 hand, drew her toward him, kissed her; took a 
 ring and placed it upon her finger, and bestowed 
 many kind and affectionate assurances of his devo- 
 tion and intentions for the future. 
 
 Of course she went no more into the fields, but 
 commenced to get ready for the celebration of her 
 nuptials. 
 
 Do not let our readers suppose that Ruth had 
 forgot Mahlon. She could not forget what had 
 come into the soft, tender, springtime of her life ; 
 his memory was indelibly printed on the walls of 
 her heart, and no other or more recent impression 
 could ever obliterate it ; but as over old and great 
 pictures are sometimes laid fresh coats, so Ruth 
 took into her affections a second love, through 
 which the lines of the first might again be ex- 
 pressed. 
 
 It is so especially woman's nature to love, that 
 Ruth experienced the want which her husband's 
 death had created ; the void wa there, and to wish
 
 88 Jivixra Jewels xnf the 
 
 to fill it, with as perfect representation of its first 
 object as was possible, was natural; she shrunk 
 from a lonely path, felt the necessity of a strong 
 arm to lean on in her weakness ; and when she 
 realized that she was the subject of a man's love, 
 whom she knew to be superior in imparting 
 strength, consolation, and changeless sympathy ; a 
 friend who would not forsake her, never leave her 
 lonely, but who would diffuse pleasure and comfort 
 over her path, and that through her happiness 
 Naomi would also be blessed, she not only accepted 
 Boaz cheerfully, but joyfully. 
 
 She could not forget the sensation which his first 
 words occasioned her, when her tender feet were 
 wounded by the stubble of the fields, her delicate 
 hands were burning beneath their unusual occupa- 
 tions, her pure brow scorched by the rays of the 
 sun, her eyes brimming with tears, her lips quiver- 
 ing with pent-up anxiety, and her heart sorely 
 oppressed with a sense of her dependence and utter 
 loneliness (for she was a stranger among the hand- 
 maidens, who were of different kind) she could not 
 forget how kindly he then spoke and attended to
 
 89 
 
 her wants. Words are great things when spoken 
 under some circumstances, and 
 
 There's never a word that has been told 
 Which, spoken through a spirit cold 
 Or warm, has ever yet been lost 
 It either sighs and tears has cost, 
 Smiles and pleasant fancies brought, 
 Or lessons of great love has taught 
 
 A word 1 why 'tis as mighty as a fire 
 Of great proportion ; hi its ire 
 Burning out all the gladdest things 
 That rich enthusiasm brings, 
 Heaping ashes where ambition grew, 
 Where hope was leaving grief hi lieu. 
 
 A word has crushed the tender bloom 
 Of love ; has hastened to a doom 
 Obscure sweet aspiration, and 
 In stifling every keen demand 
 For human sympathy, has laid 
 Ground for misanthropy instead. 
 
 Again, a single word reversed 
 Has copious streams afresh coerced, 
 Toward all that fills the widest scope 
 joy, philanthropy, and hope ;
 
 90 JRixrs Jewels sf the 
 
 Has turned a widow's drooping weed 
 To consolation's richest meed ; 
 
 Has crushed to atoms grim despair 
 And from the ruins built things rare; 
 Has scattered to the winds mistrust, 
 And wove a fabric of stanch trust; 
 Has harmonized, and humanized, and fed 
 A soul, till up to heaven 'twas led. 
 
 Words were of consequence to Ruth, for they 
 gave her flagging spirit a new impetus, and opened 
 a volume of bright thoughts where before had 
 merely existed the shut book of endurance. Kind 
 words came like dew to the parched flower, the sun 
 to the frozen rill, the mother's breast to the babe, 
 and food to the hungry. 
 
 Never before had she looked more lovely than 
 now. Exercise in the open air had created a rosy 
 bloom in her cheek, and her mouth, so purely the 
 index of her feelings, reflected sweet content. Her 
 eyes sparkled with unusual brilliancy, and her 
 beautifully-shaped throat seemed raised with a new 
 dignity. 
 
 Boaz proclaimed to the people, and all the
 
 9 1 
 
 elders, the fact of his purchase of Naomi's land and 
 of his betrothal to Euth. He received the con- 
 gratulations of all, and the elders and the people 
 bore witness joyfully, and prayed that the Lord 
 would make the woman whom he had chosen like 
 Rachel and Leah, who had built up the house of 
 Israel, and that he himself might " do worthily in 
 Ephratah and be famous in Bethlehem." After the 
 allotted season of waiting, Boaz and Euth were 
 married. 
 
 It was in the season when the fruit hung mellow 
 with ripeness, luscious with the juices of perfect- 
 ness ; when the birds fledged in the spring were now 
 matrons themselves ; the lambkins that sported 
 were nearly full grown ; and the season itself felt 
 that it had served its time, had fulfilled its part, and 
 was ready to lay by its rich mantle of crimson and 
 gold, and retire. 
 
 On one morning, cloudless and balmy, during the 
 autumn, their nuptials were solemnized, and the bride 
 fulfilled another proverb : " Strength and honor are 
 her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come." 
 
 There was much feasting and rejoicing attending
 
 92 J^itrs Jfewsis xrf the 
 
 the occasion. The beautiful, serene, meek- eyed 
 Ruth was the delight of all eyes, and especially was 
 she the joy and satisfaction of Naomi's heart, which 
 had seen of Ruth's perfections of character, and 
 rejoiced in her deserved reward. 
 
 Peace and plenty were again their portion, for 
 Boaz was "A man who was mighty and rich." 
 Naomi had apartments in his household, which 
 Ruth delighted to adorn, and many a day of calm 
 reflection had Naomi. She often sat at decline of 
 day and watched the sunset gild the fields with its 
 last lingering glance, blessing the world even as it 
 went out ; and we may liken Naomi's silver tresses 
 scattered over the aged brow to snow upon an old- 
 time open page ; her dim eyes to windows between 
 two worlds with veils spread upon them. Her bent 
 figure was the living monument of human decay; 
 her hands, still busied in some needlework, tran- 
 scripts of the everlasting principle of will ; and she 
 seemed, her very self, to resemble the waning sun- 
 light; for with her influence of perfect love and 
 goodness she illuminated and glorified all around as 
 she declined toward the tomb.
 
 ;H(utb. 93 
 
 No studied phraseology can ever measure the 
 estimate of true virtue ; it is its own definition, and 
 shapes its own destinies. Good works are followed 
 by great ends, and noble action is rooted where 
 time, nor rust, nor tempest can ever unsettle it. 
 
 The lessons that Euth had learned in her hours 
 of misfortune and poverty were the groundwork of 
 deeds of charity, patient forbearance, and love, 
 which her munificent means now enabled her to 
 effect. Her life she determined to make a practical 
 fulfillment of these obligations, applied as well to 
 the most trivial as to the greatest opportunities. 
 
 She ordered her household well, and pursued 
 with her own hands many domestic avocations, and 
 verified still another problem : " She looketh well to 
 the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread 
 of idleness.'* 
 
 Throughout Naomi's adversity Euth had clung to 
 her ; now Naomi clung to Euth, and she was sought 
 after, admired, and emulated by her husband's rela- 
 tions. Boaz was a fond and devoted husband, and 
 refused nothing to Euth and Naomi. 
 
 At last the beautiful dream was realized ; the
 
 94 Ji\it;B jewels &t tbs 
 
 secret sweet wish of all true women's and true 
 wives' minds was realized to Ruth; she had con- 
 ceived; the beautiful development in her nature 
 was revealed ; the germ which is so sacredly 
 wrapped in woman's organism was set to pulse, for 
 she felt the sweet joy that the babe was leaping in 
 her womb. Motherhood ! 'tis the baptism of God, 
 the consecration of angels, and the culmination of 
 every perfect desire. 
 
 When the full time for her delivery was come, 
 and Naomi and Boaz anxiously awaited the result, 
 from the crisis the most joyful of sounds, an infant's 
 first manifestation of intelligent existence, a feeble 
 wail was heard, and a " man-child," it was told by 
 the attendants to Boaz, had been born. Ruth 
 thrived ; the infant was called Obed, and became 
 grandfather to David. 
 
 Naomi took the child to her bosom, constituted 
 herself its nurse, and thus relieved Ruth of the 
 anxieties incidental to having strange nurses. 
 Every mother will appreciate this great favor, of 
 having her first child especially cared for by as 
 loving and more exoerienced hands than her own,
 
 herself relieved of all anxiety during the perilous 
 four weeks subsequent to parturition. A young 
 mother is blest who has such a friend as Naomi to 
 relieve her of the charge, one whom she can so 
 freely trust to foster in her own bosom the young 
 fibre of a new existence, the " baby," the mother's 
 first-born. 
 
 How touching ! how sublime ! the whole history 
 of Ruth and Naomi is throughout. The fact of the 
 women of Israel coming to congratulate Naomi on 
 the birth of her grandchild, and making her especial 
 joy the common interest of all, rejoicing that 
 " Naomi had a grandson ;" the incident of their 
 bringing evergreen to plant upon her brow, the 
 symbol of the springing of a live branch from the 
 old stock, was touching, and all joined in the chant : 
 " Blessed be the Lord who hath not left thee this 
 day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous 
 in Israel, and he shall be unto thee a restorer of 
 life and a nourisher of thine old age, for thy 
 daughter-in-law, who loveth thee and who is better to 
 thee than seven sons, hath borne him." 
 
 In the character of Euth every woman of this day
 
 96 JSUvs jewels of the 
 
 may find volumes of excellence which they may do 
 well to copy. Virtue has double and triple mean- 
 ings, is full, running over, and exhaustless ; is a 
 garment which may be fitted to all who will try to 
 wear it. Perfection is attainable, or Christ Jesus 
 would not have exhorted his disciples and audiences 
 to secure it. Constancy is like the sweet odors 
 pressed from scented flowers, and when applied like 
 Ruth's, is the incense that Heaven approves. 
 
 Industry will not only reap barley-grains, but will 
 garner results in the storehouse of immortality. 
 
 Love sanctifies, exalts, and completes a woman's 
 character, whether it is spread as a mantle of charity 
 for general good or is fixed in its most subtle refine- 
 ment upon a worthy husband ; and when, like 
 Ruth's, it is coupled with self-sacrifice, endurance, 
 and piety, will be a crown of glory, the highest gift 
 that can deck a man's life. 
 
 Marriage, when a true union of souls, is the per- 
 fect fulfillment of the law of unison in nature which 
 sympathetic qualities must fulfill. 
 
 Perfect fitness makes perfect concord, which is the 
 culmination of the divinest attributes in either sex,
 
 97 
 
 and must create a condition of happiness which is 
 desirable, sacred, good, and superior in delight to 
 all other blisses. 
 
 Ruth stood among the women of her day 
 As one star in the milky way, 
 Prominent from a thousand others 
 Of maids and daughters, wives and mothers. 
 
 As a MAIDEN, she became her lot, 
 And graced her age ; she ne'er forgot 
 That violets bloom the sweetest where 
 The modest shade shuts off the glare. 
 
 As DAUGHTER, she was satisfied to bend 
 Her will unto her mother's, nor pretend 
 To rule ; she knew that when an angel stoops, 
 It is to bless the head that droops. 
 
 As SISTER, she combined the graces 
 Of true virtue, and as sunshine chases 
 Mist away, her genial temper chased 
 Discord ; and pleasure hi its stead placed. 
 
 As WIFE, all that the daughter promised 
 She fulfilled, and none the fact resist; 
 The wisest daughter makes the truest wife, 
 Crowns man with his best gift in life.
 
 98 
 
 As MOTHER, the angels came and stood 
 About her helped to every good. 
 And happy the son must be, in truth, 
 Whose mother patterns after Ruth.
 
 III. 
 1 
 
 L 
 
 amor 
 
 ESTHEE. 
 
 [HE Persians, a people of the acutest 
 susceptibilities, impressional, impas- 
 sioned, and enthusiastic, contemplated the 
 beautiful through an exaggerative lens, 
 caught from the poetical every available 
 raj of loveliness or shadow of romance, 
 and adorned their secular occupations with ideality 
 and imagery. 
 
 The beautiful was suggested and applied in their 
 peculiar symbolical manner to proper names, espe- 
 cially of females, and the name of Esther had the 
 splendid significance of a beacon a Jialo a glory
 
 102 Ji-ws Jewels x*f ths 
 
 something which was superlative in goodness and 
 grandeur, and its definite meaning was " A Star." 
 
 Astrologists existed amongst them, and, in the 
 days of Artaxerxes, were famous for determining the 
 destiny of men and women by the signs of the zodiac 
 and the stars that governed their nativity. Through 
 this mystical prophecy it is supposable that the fate 
 of the Jewish maiden Hadassah was described. 
 
 Astrologers, at her birth, foretold to the anxious 
 parents that their babe was born for high honors ; 
 that she should wear a diadem, and share the royal 
 sceptre ; that she would shine among the constella- 
 tions of rank, a " star" of the first magnitude, promi- 
 nent through histories of civilized and barbaric 
 ages. 
 
 And when, years after, the significant appellative 
 Esther was bestowed upon her by the Persians, it 
 was but a continuation of the prophecy which was 
 realized when she became the consort of Ahasuerus, 
 the sharer of a throne. 
 
 Hadassah, a daughter of Israel, was a descendant 
 of Benjamin, of the house of Kish, the family of Saul, 
 who was the first king of Israel. At a tender age
 
 103 
 
 she was left an orphan, and was adopted bj Mor- 
 decai, a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin one of the 
 ten tribes who faithfully adhered to the house of 
 Judah. 
 
 He delighted to bestow all that his riches and 
 position could secure upon this tender bud that 
 he had taken to the nursery of his love ; she 
 was reared in refinement, and also in the strictest 
 observance of the rites and ceremonies of the 
 Jewish religion. She knew no God but the great 
 Jehovah, the God of her forefathers. The rough 
 winds of hardship never assailed her, her delicate 
 hands were unused to a single menial service, for 
 she, as well as Mordecai, were of noble race, and 
 inherited great wealth. 
 
 During her childhood, she was designated as 
 " the lovely" on account of her gentleness and the 
 peculiarly amiable traits of character which she 
 manifested, and it was a sight which a painter 
 might have been proud to portray, when Mordecai, 
 after being fatigued with the services of the taber- 
 nacle, would bow his proud head to the shoulder 
 of his little charge, and drink in rest through her
 
 104 ]H\ixrB JfoursU trf the 
 
 sweet and intelligent prattle. At these times they 
 sat together on a divan, his great form contrasting 
 with her tiny figure as her little hands clasped his 
 head against her, she assuring him that it was not 
 too heavy, but that it was a pleasure and delight to 
 hold it there. 
 
 The charm of her society grew with her growth 
 and strengthened with her years. Throughout 
 their subsequent captivity, which occurred in her 
 early life, and through every vicissitude of trial or 
 elation, she preserved the same cheerful obedience 
 and willingness to serve him, and his devotion to 
 her was very great. 
 
 She passed the usual courses of education com- 
 mon to Jewish maidens of rank, expanded from one 
 perfection to another into the half-grown woman, 
 amidst the most luxurious scenes that her high 
 position imposed. 
 
 Mordecai, a man in whom many virtues were em- 
 bodied, was of middle age when first introduced in 
 sacred history, of fine personal appearance, and 
 exceedingly beautiful features. He seems to have 
 had the contrasts of qualities which are necessary
 
 JDiamand JUJstUai?. io5 
 
 to roake up the sum of the most perfect man, gentle 
 but firm, generous, and yielding to softness where 
 his finer emotions were called out, yet unflinching 
 in his sense of honor where duty demanded him to 
 be stern ; humble and affectionate under justice, yet 
 haughty almost to scornfulness where his dignity 
 was insulted or his honesty impugned ; loving, self- 
 sacrificing, fastidious yet abstemious, passionate but 
 temperate. An enthusiast to his religion, he recog- 
 nized no heresy, and tolerated no heathen worship. 
 
 He had been constant always in his attachments, 
 and when he and his charge, the young Hadassah, 
 became exiles, and their fortunes so materially 
 changed that they had necessarily to live in a re- 
 tired, economical manner, he became grateful to the 
 country of his adoption which had sheltered him, 
 and he preferred to remain in Persia even after 
 many of his expatriated countrymen had returned 
 to their native land. 
 
 He received his own intuitions as prophecies, and 
 whatever he conceived to be the will of God, deliv- 
 ered in this way, he unhesitatingly obeyed. Believ- 
 ing that the august eye of Omnipotence waa 
 
 5*
 
 io6 Ji-rcrs Jewels trf 
 
 reflected through his perceptions, he made every act 
 and event of his life one of active piety. 
 
 Purple and fine linen, beauty and luxury, had 
 been the conditions of their lives when Mordecai 
 and Hadassah came to live in Shushan, the City of 
 the Lilies. In the mind of the naturally refined, 
 contact with coarse objects, or the conditions in- 
 duced by penury, must be and is disagreeable, and 
 no one who is versed in physiology can dispute that 
 externals do affect the interior or soul sense of the 
 individual. To the delicately-nurtured Jew and 
 Jewess, this reverse from affluence to penury must 
 have brought the usual disagreeables, inconve- 
 niences, and painful restrictions ; yet, like the lustre 
 of a genuine diamond, which, though it may be 
 covered with clay, still retains its brightness, their 
 qualities of rare virtue existed amidst the obscurity 
 of broken fortunes and conflicting opposites, and 
 their lives were glorified by the performance of 
 such deeds of goodness as their intrinsic merit 
 dictated. 
 
 At the age of twenty, Esther was a perfect model 
 of physical proportions, complexion, graces, and
 
 JDiamxwd J.stfrsr. 107 
 
 charms, with the unmistakable expression of soul 
 nobility, of virtue in its every aspect portrayed in 
 her speaking countenance. Beautiful expression is 
 always indispensable in glorifying the human coun- 
 tenance, and in this particular she was pre-eminent- 
 ly gifted. 
 
 Her figure, symmetrical yet somewhat voluptu- 
 ous, was over medium height, her skin of that fair 
 type of Jewish olive through which the blue vein is 
 discernible ; her eyes were pictures in which the 
 emotions of her soul were fairly limned, changing 
 to every shade and phase of feeling that impulse 
 dictated. She was strangely beautiful. If we 
 summed up all the graces of Venus and Juno, and 
 planted them in her person, we should not be ex- 
 travagant in our description. 
 
 The most beautiful of her characteristics was her 
 piety, observed in the minutest events of every-day 
 life ; she worshipped God and conformed to the 
 rights of her faith, so that their actual practice 
 seemed to be the involuntary or spontaneous fitting 
 of the work to the natural principle, the outward 
 evidence of the inward mind. Her religion was
 
 io8 Jgfttrs Jewels ttf the 
 
 not a burden, but an embellishment, and was 
 adapted as component with herself. 
 
 The very God was the object of her worship, and 
 her cousin Mordecai was to her the perfect man 
 who represented the God- qualities in human form. 
 To all devotional minds the object which most nobly 
 sustains the principles of its religion, exalts, by a 
 contemplation of it, the soul up to its Author. 
 
 As all virtues exist in a truly pious woman, we 
 with consistency sum up Esther's charms, graces, 
 and qualities in that comprehensive term, " a truly 
 pious woman ;" and we may suppose her, from the 
 period in her history which we next introduce, sub- 
 lime enough in her character to cope with the great 
 events incidental to the second crisis of her life, 
 her promotion from obscurity to notoriety; strong 
 enough to bear the adulation of a thousand, and not 
 become vain ; to mix with the rival wives of a royal 
 husband, and yet to be superior to the weakness of 
 jealousy and envy ; to be wise enough to withstand 
 flattery, and to bear blame. 
 
 We, in order to be clearly understood, shall have 
 to give some account of other characters, whose
 
 109 
 
 fortunes and destinies go so far toward determin- 
 ing events of chances and changes, precursorily to 
 Esther's ascension to the throne. 
 
 Shushan, the City of the Lilies, was the seat of 
 
 PERSIAN HOUSE AT SHUSHAN. 
 
 royalty ; it took its poetic name from the vast quan- 
 tities of this beautiful flower which grew around it ; 
 in the city, on the housetops, and everywhere that
 
 no Ji\it; ewels 0f the 
 
 there was room for a bulb to be planted, this grace- 
 ful flower flourished. 
 
 Florists had been able to extend the species into 
 many varieties ; the tinted, the blood-red, and the 
 snow-white grew also on the brink of the water, and 
 may have formed some part of their mythological 
 worships. 
 
 Shushan, as a royal residence, was like all other 
 similar cities of the East. It had the usual admix- 
 ture of pomp and penury, of gayety and pageantry, 
 military and civil, refinement and vulgarity. The 
 theatre, patronized by the king, was represented in 
 mimic pantomime on the street by the ballet-dancer, 
 singing-girl, and clown in bells and cleaver ; the 
 august person of the king jostling the pauper ; po- 
 litical intrigue and amours ; kingly retinue, celebra- 
 tions of religion, which granted license to crime and 
 gave expiation for the same. Dice, wine, music, 
 the buffoon, the show, each and all were the com- 
 ponent parts of life in Shushan. 
 
 Just the same life and occupation which have 
 through all ages made up the sum of existence, 
 have been subject to the same process of change,
 
 o JDiamxmd ^.sth^. 1 1 1 
 
 undergone the different degrees of refinement and 
 variety of manner, incident, episode, and catas- 
 trophe, from the earliest accounts of nations up to 
 the present time, have been repeated and re-re- 
 peated at different periods, all and each completing 
 the requirements of their time ; filling the imagina- 
 tion and suiting the wants of man, which, under 
 every dynasty, are still human. 
 
 The splendor and squalor, aristocracy and medi- 
 ocrity that existed in the days of Ahasuerus had 
 been common under other administrations, and in 
 the great changing panorama of men's lives and 
 centuric possibilities will be still and again repeated, 
 although mutations in public opinions and custom 
 sometimes overleap time, and new laws are enforced 
 which seem almost miraculous in development. 
 
 Throughout all barbarous or unenlightened ages 
 woman has been held subordinate to man ; the wife 
 has been subject in toto to the will of her lord, and 
 her husband, whether a prophet, king, or peasant, 
 was in reality her master. Any attempt on her part 
 to resist his authority or to declare her individual 
 opinion was considered an outrage against the sov-
 
 ii2 ^i{h;B jewels 
 
 ereign authority of his will and dignity, and waa 
 just cause for divorce, and sometimes even the 
 severe punishment of death. 
 
 Kings, lords, counsellors, and prophets had more 
 wives than one, and the king, not only having some 
 hundred lawfully-married wives, had also numerous 
 mistresses, or concubines. 
 
 Ahasuerus crowned and made queen one of his 
 wives, whom he placed in royal apartments and 
 gave maids of honor from the fair women of his 
 harem, who were also his wives yet not his queen. 
 
 Of course the queen's power was but nominal, and 
 except in her own province, the secluded apartments 
 of the harem, where no man but those who were 
 eunuchs ever went, she had no voice, and was sub- 
 ject to the caprices of the king ; though sometimes 
 monarchs took to their councils their queens, and 
 were aided in their judicial policy by their advice. 
 
 Women of rank wore veils which effectually con- 
 cealed their faces whenever they went into the 
 streets or public places, and on no account whatever 
 were they expected to reveal their features ; any 
 such display would have been a gross violation of
 
 plhs JD iamxmd 5sthJ{. 1 1 3 
 
 the rales of modesty, and as sure an advertisement 
 of prostitution as now it would be for a woman to 
 parade her nude figure before the common gaze. 
 
 Only before the face of her lord dared she remove 
 the thick covering, and reveal the charms of her 
 eyes, the blush of her cheek, the ripeness of her 
 lip, or the contour of her neck and arms. How 
 particularly an object of scorn would Vashti have 
 considered our modern belle, who, with perfect pro- 
 priety, displays in the ball-room, to the indiscrim- 
 inate gaze of crowds, the charms of neck and 
 shoulders. 
 
 Our modern woman pities no more her Eastern 
 sister who has to share the affections of one hus- 
 band with many wives, than that sister would sor- 
 row over her supposed immodesty in showing her 
 face to any man except her husband; thus virtue 
 or vice, modesty or the reverse, prudery or inde- 
 pendence, are at last comparative, and are compati- 
 ble or incompatible with the customs and usages of 
 the times we live in. 
 
 True modesty, which shines out through the soul, 
 is always the most desirable feature in the galaxy
 
 1 14 H\ixrs Jtewzls til the 
 
 of woman's virtues, and is the pearl of great price, 
 which no custom of barbaric age or of recent eman- 
 cipation can sully, obliterate, or alter ; and is recog- 
 nizable in all colors, stages, and ages. 
 
 There is recorded that about the time of the third 
 year of Ahasuerus, the city of Shushan was fervid 
 with excitement in anticipation of an unsurpassed 
 festival which would be given to the princes and 
 nobles and to all the people, which was to last for 
 several successive months. All of the varied para- 
 phernalia that the coffers of the royal treasury could 
 afford, the taste of merchants, the design of artists, 
 and the ingenuity of the architect, were called into 
 requisition to beautify and adorn the palace and 
 courts, and every avenue to the royal mansion. 
 
 The result was, that never before had so gorgeous 
 a scene been displayed in the city ; purple and gold, 
 blue and crimson, with arabesque and chased silver, 
 lined the walls ; the floors were covered with thick 
 carpets of Persian ply in Tyrian dyes. Metallic 
 mirrors were hung, vessels of porcelain and gold 
 were distributed in fitting places, statues of their 
 gods filled up niches, flowers were scattered, while
 
 Jplha ;H>iamxwd ^Egston. 1 1 5 
 
 such delicious music filled the corridors and halls, 
 saloons and chambers, as deluded the senses of the 
 guests into a foretaste of the blisses of paradise. 
 
 All that Eastern splendor and magnificence could 
 contribute was poured in tributary streams, to aid 
 the king in his purpose of giving the world some- 
 thing splendid to remember after it was over. 
 
 There is particular allusion made, in the Sacred 
 account of this affair, to the palace gardens, in 
 which magnificent silken tents were erected, and 
 decorated with an extravagance and reckless disre- 
 gard of expenditure which is almost fabulous ; these 
 were more particularly devoted to the gamesters, 
 and, of course, scenes of revelry were enacted there 
 which baffle the imagination to portray. 
 
 There is no particular reason given why this cele- 
 bration was instituted whether it commemorated 
 a national anniversary, or that the policy of party 
 suggested it ; political intrigue, or the mere desire 
 for pleasure, may have been, either of them, the 
 cause ; in either case it does not affect the fact that 
 such a feast was held, which lasted several months, 
 and that the season was replete with intoxication,
 
 1 1 6 ^{ii;e jewels ttf ths 
 
 debauchery, and excitement; and was followed, as 
 is usual, by regrets, remorse of conscience, and a 
 reproving sense of misapplied talents. 
 
 This occurred when Babylon, blood-red with 
 riches, was filled full of the pride of pomp and 
 power, strong in its own might, and arrogant of its 
 possibilities. 
 
 The king entertained the men in his apartments, 
 gardens, and pavilions ; there were artificial gardens 
 arranged on the house-tops also, which, when illu- 
 minated, made beautiful effect, and we may well 
 imagine the perfect abandon and license of theii 
 indulgences, when we reflect that no virtuou? 
 women were present. There were women on the 
 scene, of course, famous for their physical charms ; 
 this was an item in the programme of entertain- 
 ment which was loudly applauded ; but the pres- 
 ence of chaste ladies of refinement, which element 
 is so potent in humanizing or allaying the gross 
 passions, and in bringing out the charm of men's 
 spiritual nature, was lacking, and license became 
 lawlessness and obscenity. 
 
 But the fair women of the harem were not with-
 
 JDiammxd 5.sth. 117 
 
 out their share of enjoyment, the queen's apart- 
 ments were also fitted in corresponding magnifi- 
 cence, with all the appurtenances requisite for the 
 entertainment of the finer tastes of the fair sex: 
 and the queen entertained hundreds of the daughters 
 of the nobility. 
 
 The rich Persian silk drapery was closely drawn 
 over the openings between the two departments, 
 which effectually separated them from the men. 
 Reclining on couches in elegantly-embroidered 
 robes, their splendid hair dressed with bouquets of 
 diamonds, and their tiny feet enclosed in sandals 
 or slippers of satin and pearls, these Peris of an 
 oriental clime made a parterre of exceeding beauty, 
 and were fit subjects for the muses to rant about. 
 
 They filled the time with innocent games, music, 
 dancing, and telling of tales; this last amusement 
 was particularly pleasing to Yashti, and the Arabian 
 Nights' Entertainments may be considered a fair 
 transcription of the stories which her maids of 
 honor read or recited. 
 
 When we compare the orgies of the males with 
 the innocent enjoyments of the females, the contrast
 
 1 1 8 Jivixrs Jewels xtf ths 
 
 brings up forcibly the difference of the sexes, when 
 left unrestrained by the association of the other, 
 and we see the wisdom in the arrangement of 
 Almighty provision which creates the female with 
 the powerful prerogative of moral power, the gift of 
 keeping refined the fiercer, the more animalized 
 man. 
 
 Vashti was a woman of not only regal exterior 
 appointment, but was noble in soul as well; was 
 greatly honored and respected for her virtues and 
 amiability of manner, and eminently secured the 
 title of "hospitable hostess" during this season. 
 
 She had been greatly loved by her royal husband, 
 who had ever shown her the respect which her 
 character claimed; no indulgence consistent with 
 his dignity he ever refused her, and their married 
 lives had been uninterrupted by a single jar. 
 
 Severe and sad is our reflection upon the act of the 
 king which took place in the midst of this season. 
 
 One who fills the post of king for a nation should 
 always be the beacon of temperance and moral 
 worth ; and repulsive to our sense of high honor is 
 the idea of his indulgence in degrading and obscene
 
 JDiamand Jlistba*. 119 
 
 exercises and habits, which puts him morally on as 
 low a plane as the most obscure and degraded ; but 
 during the mad carousings of the feast which con- 
 tinued so long, Ahasuerus partook indiscreetly of 
 the various spiced wines, liqueurs, and other drinks, 
 and lost his dignity, became boastful of Vashti's 
 charms, spoke boldly and against all marital deco- 
 rum of their conjugal relations ; and the lords and 
 courtiers, already half mad with the excitement of 
 wine, urged the king to have her brought, that all 
 of them might see the charms of which he boasted. 
 
 Such an act was almost unprecedented, but the 
 king's senses were too much obscured to reflect 
 upon the liberty of the nobles, and he sent to order 
 Vashti to come and display herself. 
 
 Imagine how her modest nature, her dignity, her 
 pride, must have felt outraged at such request ; to 
 disobey, she knew was to incur any punishment that 
 the king's insulted authority might dictate ; to obey, 
 was to forfeit her character as a chaste woman. 
 
 She hesitated not which tc choose ; and, thinking 
 to herself that the king would, when again sober, 
 possibly forgive the offence of her disobedience, if he
 
 120 Jp[ii;e ewsls trf the < 
 
 reflected that it was to save his honor from injury 
 that she took the step, she refused to go, and bravely 
 stayed. 
 
 Pale as marble and almost as fixed in position, 
 she stood, as she gave the answer : " Tell my sover- 
 eign I pray him to excuse me." 
 
 Terrified at the second summons she stood; the 
 elegant drapery of her royal robes trailed over her 
 white arms around her magnificent figure, and was 
 held up by her especial attendants. With her 
 hands clasped together, and held snpplicatingly 
 upward, she feelingly uttered the words : "I pray 
 you beseech my lord not to insist on an act which 
 will cover me with shame." 
 
 Gigantic moral strength limned her chaste, exqui- 
 sitely-shaped profile, when, after seeming to debate 
 with herself a moment, one hand hanging down, the 
 other over her heart, a position proclaiming so 
 forcibly the weakness of physique and the majesty 
 of purpose, she thought, "Come death or come 
 divorce, I mill riot sacrifice my womanhood" 
 
 The king's wrath was great, for it was considered 
 a disgrace for a man, and most especially for a king,
 
 Jplfoa ^iamiwd Jijstto. 1 2 1 
 
 to have his word of command disregarded by his 
 wife. 
 
 At that time if pacificatory means had been used, 
 if his courtiers had turned the subject into another 
 channel, and diverted his mind, he woiild have, when 
 his brain was cooler, been glad that Vashti had not 
 complied with his insulting request ; but the lords 
 declared their indignation at Vashti's disobedience, 
 and incited Ahasuerus to a prompt divorce. 
 
 So Vashti was divorced and dethroned. "With 
 tears and much sorrow, yet with an inward convic- 
 tion of having performed her duty, and a strong 
 sense of self-approval, she left the royal palace 
 never more to return. 
 
 When the mad excitement of the time was passed, 
 and Ahasuerus thought over the matter, he repented 
 him of his act, and saw the beautiful conduct of the 
 queen in its proper light ; but his decree was immu- 
 table. 
 
 The regrets, however, must have fastened upon 
 him, and made him sad and melancholy, for the 
 courtiers who had stimulated him to the rash act 
 
 devised means for a cure to his grief ; possibly they 
 
 6
 
 122 J^ixra J^wsls xrf to 
 
 were afraid that the king's indignation might fall 
 upon them; so it is said that they urged him to 
 select another wife whom he should make queen, 
 and the king consented. 
 
 Vashti must have been very superior, as it was 
 difficult to secure another woman who could com- 
 pare favorably with her, and it was arranged that 
 all of the most beautiful virgins of the land should 
 be collected and pass in review before Ahasuerus ; a 
 singular but most pleasing sight this was, as the 
 maidens, each one decked with all the external 
 arrangements which might possibly enhance their 
 native beauty, passed anxiously forward before the 
 king, awaiting his choice or rejection ; and there 
 must have been many an ambitious maid amongst 
 them who longed to be chosen, and whose disap- 
 pointment was great when she found herself rejected. 
 
 It is singular that Mordecai, so strict a Jew, 
 should have insisted upon Esther's joining in this 
 claim for the favor of the king's notice ; it is strange 
 that he should have wished to marry her, against all 
 the rules of his faith, to one who was not of her re- 
 ligion, and in consideration, also, of his warm at-
 
 Jplhe JDiamxwd ^HJ.stker. 123 
 
 tachment to his cousin, for whom many think he 
 entertained a deeper passion than that of adopted 
 fatherly kindness, he did not keep her in retirement, 
 and not allow her to join the youthful procession as 
 a candidate. 
 
 But it must have been that the prophetic mean- 
 ing which he read in passing events shadowed 
 peril to his nation, and had raised an enthusiastic 
 zeal and prepared him to be a martyr for his coun- 
 try's sake, a martyr in an abandoned hope of love 
 and joy. 
 
 In giving up Esther to the inspection of the king, 
 the beautiful dream of his life vanished. He could 
 have concealed her, but he urged her to go ; nothing 
 but the prophetic warnings of his mind, which pre- 
 dicted that through Esther there was to be deliver- 
 ance from perils achieved for the Jews, could have 
 induced him to sacrifice her to a heathen king. 
 
 Esther had never worshipped any God but the 
 Lord God. It turned out that our sweet, gentle 
 Hadassah pleased Ahasuerus more than any of the 
 maidens. Her modesty in making no extravagant 
 demands when presents were offered her, her unself-
 
 1 24 y{w$ Jewels trf ths <jg>w 
 
 ishness, her faultless and exquisite form could not 
 be resisted. 
 
 The king, as the maidens passed before him, 
 keenly noticed every gesture, step, and glance of 
 the eyes, and was particularly attracted to the dig- 
 nified, easy, yet most modest and unpretentious 
 bearing of Esther ; he perceived in her countenance 
 the reflection of the moral power which glorified her 
 whole appearance. The intellect which is clothed 
 by virtue and baptized in piety always imparts, 
 through the countenance, a sense of strength, and 
 Esther's face eminently reflected the divine inspira- 
 tion which filled her mind. 
 
 Mordecai did not allow her to betray her parent- 
 age ; his pride was great, but his love of his religion 
 was greater, and sufficient to overcome all things, 
 even the affection for Esther, which we suppose had 
 grown into his life. 
 
 The very effort of having to conceal from his 
 charge the fact of his romantic passion for her, is a 
 suggestion that the haughty manner he usually 
 observed was induced by that effort. He was too 
 noble to name the subject of his sentiments to her,
 
 JDiamxwd Ksthsit. 1 2 5 
 
 who lie knew entertained for him only a daughter's 
 or a sister's affection; he had crushed back the 
 passion as a fruitless and foolish one. 
 
 How forsaken, how forlorn he must have felt, 
 after the little lamb had been taken from its fold ; 
 the rose had been transplanted, his singing-bird 
 caged behind the magnificent palace walls! for 
 Esther had been taken by Hegai into the harem. 
 The act of his resigning Esther was proof of his 
 generous, self-sacrificing nature. It seems some- 
 what strange that no inquiries were instituted in 
 regard to Esther's parentage or antecedents, but so 
 the Scripture states. 
 
 It is not known exactly how many years elapsed 
 between the time of Esther's adoption into the 
 harem and her ascension to the throne ; but it must 
 have been three or four. After she had been chosen 
 there were entertainments given in honor thereof, 
 and then Mordecai obtained a situation under the 
 king, but exactly what is meant by " sitting in the 
 king's gate," it is hard to decide. 
 
 Affection for Esther must have induced him to 
 take this step, as his reserve would hardly have
 
 126 Ji\iv ewsls jrf the ( 
 
 courted so conspicuous a position. From his pecu- 
 liarly singular place he could observe many a secret 
 of the palace, and became a dread, possibly, on this 
 very account, to Haman, who was an Amalekite, of 
 an idolatrous race and nation, and who was about 
 this same time appointed by the king as confidant, 
 favorite, and adviser. 
 
 Mordecai discovered an intrigue against the life 
 of Ahasuerus, and betrayed it to Esther, and thus 
 was the means of averting so terrible a catas- 
 trophe to king and state ; but, singularly enough, 
 no reward was given to Mordecai for this bene- 
 fit, but the fact was chronicled in the king's ar- 
 chives. 
 
 Haman was also of noble descent, or was of fine 
 extraction as to pedigree, but, though his manners 
 were of the most courtly cultivation, his language 
 fluent, and his figure and whole appearance quite 
 distinguished, yet he was wily, deceitful, and un- 
 principled ; a schemer, seeking in all things only his 
 own aggrandizement and the accumulation of great 
 wealth. He gained the unlimited confidence of the 
 king, and had great influence over him.
 
 Jplhs JDlamtwd Jgsthsit. 127 
 
 From the very first, Haman and Mordecai hated 
 each other. 
 
 The hatred of their races was concentrated in and 
 shown through the two men, and when every one 
 was showing obsequious court to Haman, Mordecai 
 retained his calm, proud, imperturbable manner, 
 and made no sign or gesture of recognition, or show 
 of respect. 
 
 When Esther was placed upon the throne, 
 another magnificent royal feast proclaimed her 
 triumph. 
 
 It was pleasing and flattering to the young 
 maiden to be chosen for such high honors, and as 
 she had no previous attachment she came sweetly 
 and willingly to the arms of her husband, and into 
 the favor of the king. And the king forgot Yashti 
 in the connection, and luxuriated in the society of 
 bis bride. He could have granted her any boon. 
 
 During his honeymoon the uxorious sovereign 
 conferred great benefits in Esther's name; the 
 taxes of the provinces were remitted, pardons were 
 granted to the condemned, so that Esther's name 
 became a proverb in the land and famous in history.
 
 128 i{ii;e ewels x*f the d 
 
 She was esteemed among all the people. 
 During this season of elevation she retained the 
 same sweetness of manner and modest deportment, 
 and never arrogated to herself the privileges of her 
 high position as an excuse for scorning the humble. 
 
 The fact of her being debarred from the pleasures 
 of participation in religious observances, in which 
 she was so punctilious before, throws a veil of doubt 
 over our minds whether or not she was entirely 
 happy, though throughout every event, as the 
 Scripture states, she preserved the same child-like 
 obedience to her cousin Mordecai. 
 
 Esther, as it had been appointed her to become 
 a queen and a wife, with her strict sense of duty 
 guiding her, determined conscientiously to perform 
 her part ; and the womanly heart soon grew to love 
 fondly and truly her lord who was so kind to her ; 
 she learned to cling to him, and created him, in the 
 romantic book of her heart, her hero, her love. 
 
 Sadly, indeed, must it have fallen upon her, then, 
 when the fickle, voluptuous king, growing weary of 
 constancy, suddenly changed ; his attentions declined, 
 and finally he remained away from her altogether.
 
 JDianwmd ~JSj$th$v. 129 
 
 Esther was no longer the happy bride, but the 
 sorrowful wife banished from her husband's pres- 
 ence. Many bitter tears did Esther shed, yet she 
 forgot not to trust in the God of her fathers. Her 
 attendants became devoted to her, and anything 
 that they could offer for her consolation and amuse- 
 ment they did not withhold. 
 
 Splendor glittered about her, fine linen, blue and 
 gold, flowers and music ; every delectable viand 
 which could tempt her palate was profusely spread 
 around ; yet for all these things her heart was sor- 
 rowful ; for thirty days she did not behold the face 
 of the king. 
 
 In the meantime Haman was unhappy because 
 the despised Jew made no concessions, and not all 
 the wealth and honor of his favored position could 
 banish this one bitter drop from his cup. He 
 longed for vengeance, and concocted a plan for the 
 destruction of the whole hated race. 
 
 Mordecai secretly believed that it was through 
 Haman's influence that the king was no longer 
 gracious to Esther, and this fact must have made 
 
 his blood boil with indignation. 
 
 6*
 
 130 Jl\it;e Jewels af the 
 
 As he walked backward and forward before the 
 palace gates, his serious, calm gaze riveted upon the 
 walls behind which his beloved was, many pictures 
 must have filled his mind of what might have been ; 
 and Esther, the star of his heart, was still in this 
 hour, as through former years, sacred to him ; for 
 her sake he waited and watched the chances and 
 changes, and instituted a secret surveillance over 
 Haman, for he suspected him of double-dealing. 
 Haman felt the suspicion through the mysterious 
 agent, intuition, and hated him none the less for 
 it. 
 
 Haman could not be satisfied until the astrolo- 
 gers were consulted about the selection of a lucky 
 day for the slaughter of the Jews; so lots were 
 through them cast, and, providentially for the Jews, 
 the date was propitious for them, though it was 
 hidden from Haman that such was the fact, and 
 possibly even from the astrologers themselves. 
 
 According to the king's order, letters were sent 
 into the provinces by posts, which gave the verdict 
 of death to all ; the edict ran : " To destroy, to kill, 
 to cause to be put to death, to make perish all Jews,
 
 JDiamiwd- 
 
 both young and old, little children and women, in 
 one day." 
 
 No crime was specified, and no offer to expiate or 
 exempt on any terms. The murder of the nation 
 was a lawful act, the manner of destroying life was 
 not ordered after any particular plan, but the execu- 
 tioners were left to their own ingenious devices to 
 kill, in whatever way they might choose. 
 
 Every variety of torture that cold-blooded cruelty 
 could suggest, they were at liberty to exercise ; to 
 exterminate was the great end and aim. The most 
 terrible feature in the terrible drama would be the 
 stimulus of the promise of plunder ; each assassin 
 would have the right to take possession of the 
 property of his victim. 
 
 Nothing in history is more horrible to contemplate 
 than this general massacre, which would have taken 
 place through Haman's agency, but for the working 
 of Almighty Providence in behalf of a chosen 
 people. The tragedy would have instituted fresh 
 scenes of bloodshed ; and crime and cruelty, vio- 
 lence and rapine, would have been the result of the 
 terrible prelude.
 
 132 Jl-ttTS Jfsttrals 
 
 All the time that these things were agitating the 
 people's minds, Mordecai rent his clothes, was dis- 
 tracted with grief, put on sackcloth and ashes, and 
 went through the city to condole with his distracted 
 countrymen who had so long lived unmolested ; and 
 he found so much bitter woe, such helpless sorrow, 
 that he joined his lamentation with theirs and wept 
 and cried aloud. 
 
 He still preserved the same unbending reserve 
 toward Haman, who gathered his relatives together, 
 and with them talked over the subject of the 
 slaughter of the Jews, and with the concentrated 
 fires of hate and rage burning in his heart, told 
 them all how Mordecai had dared to treat him. 
 
 His friends advised him to get the king's per- 
 mission to hang Mordecai on a gallows of immense 
 height, and in the meantime, that it might be cer- 
 tainly effected, to have the gallows erected ; and 
 Haman did so, not suspecting that he could fail to 
 get the king's consent to it, or to any proposition 
 which he might urge. 
 
 Mordecai's insignia of grief was not withheld from 
 the eyes of any ; he made no secret of his nation.

 
 133 
 
 Through all the anxiety and terror he strove not 
 to conceal that he was one of the condemned. 
 
 Ahasuerus and Haman, as usual, partook of all 
 the pleasures of the table ; wine and dice, and every- 
 thing which could be brought to aid Haman in the 
 destruction or suppression of the king's more amia- 
 ble nature he called to his aid, and the king's fickle- 
 ness was a tool which he used to his own aggran- 
 dizement ; and while so many innocent people were 
 plunged in the deepest grief, he must have kept the 
 king's senses half stupefied with wine. Ahasuerus 
 did not realize the enormity of his favorite's de- 
 signs, for it is said that " Haman and the king sat 
 down to table," the pleasures of which were intem- 
 perately appropriated, no doubt. 
 
 Mordecai must have despaired but for the pro- 
 phetic whisperings of his own mind, and through 
 the deep veil of present woe realized the light 
 ahead. Through Esther, the star, he contemplated 
 deliverance for his oppressed race. 
 
 This dream of joy that had come into his earlier 
 life, the flower in his garden, the sunbeam in his 
 house, the bird in his nest, the lamb in his fold,
 
 1 34 Ji^ivs J^ewBls xxf the 
 
 the child under his roof-tree, the genius of his life, 
 and the deliverer of Israel ; she was the means, 
 under Providence, to which he looked for help. 
 
 But where was Esther during this time of tribula- 
 tion to Mordecai and all the Jews? Unconscious 
 of any trouble besides that in her own heart, she 
 performed her duties, and fulfilled the plans of each 
 day with quiet dignity. She concealed her regrets 
 from her companions as well as she could, for her 
 pride was sensitive, and she would not allow any to 
 remark on the king's estrangement. 
 
 She gained daily and hourly the affections of all 
 those about her sweet flower, the violet in retire- 
 ment, which had so lately been the lily worn on a 
 monarch's bosom. 
 
 Esther had one sorrow which was hard to bear ; 
 she had no communication with her own people, 
 and had no opportunity of observing the cere- 
 monies of her own religion. This, to one so strictly 
 trained to observe these laws, was doubtless a 
 source of trial. 
 
 On a bright day Esther reclined on a couch of 
 royal velvet fringed with pearls, her robes of blue
 
 JDiamxwd ^.stbou.. 135 
 
 and gold floated over her feet ; the sweet perfume 
 from a magnificent white lily, which one of her 
 beautiful maidens had just presented to her, wafted 
 to her senses a reminder of her humble home in 
 Shushan before she was queen; the scenes of her 
 peaceful life, when she cultivated her own lilies, 
 and was content with her seclusion, and she silently 
 begged the God of her fathers to bless her with a 
 spirit of true submission to any trial which might 
 assail her, but that He might not afflict her cousin 
 Mordecai. 
 
 Judge of her distress, then, when at this moment 
 her chamberlain reported to her an account of 
 Mordecai's condition of grief, and repeated the 
 edict of the king. 
 
 Like one awakened from a dream, she was at first 
 bewildered, and her earliest impulse was to send a 
 message or an order to him to put aside the signs of 
 his nativity, and get out of the way of vengeance ; 
 but of course Mordecai would not obey the order, 
 and Esther realized that she was impotent to help, 
 and was herself involved in her nation's danger. 
 
 She knew not how she stood with the king, for
 
 136 Ji^ws jewels xxf the 
 
 she had not seen him for many weeks. She had 
 longed for a message or a look of love, and the 
 royal favor seemed past. She was afraid that she 
 was indeed forgotten ; her magnificent halls, par- 
 lors, bed-chambers, with all the glitter that money 
 and power gathered, were but prisons ; her lord 
 seemed to be the means of her torture. 
 
 She did not even know but that her place in 
 his affections might have been filled by a later 
 favorite ; yet with all this doubt, this dark uncer- 
 tainty, the dread spread before her, her noble soul, 
 true to its instincts, looked up to a higher source, a 
 stronger arm for help, and through faith in God's 
 promises rose sufficient to meet the emergency. 
 
 The charms of her glittering surroundings, fairy- 
 like in beauty and appointment, had no power to 
 rivet her regard whilst her people, and possibly her- 
 self, were in such imminent peril. She suddenly 
 decided to go in person, unasked, and to beg with 
 all her eloquence and earnestness that he would 
 revoke the sentence he had passed. 
 
 She had a keen sense of her own duty, and the 
 obligations of her religion, and she also possessed
 
 J^hs JDiamxwd J3.8th3?. 137 
 
 the key to the king's mind; she knew that his 
 senses were susceptible to beauty, and she con- 
 ceived the idea of first charming him by her fasci- 
 nations into reconciliation and clemency. There 
 must have been a direct inspiration which dictated 
 her heroic resolve : 
 
 " I will go to the king, and if I perish, I perish." 
 
 Such a strong purpose, such lofty resolves, could 
 not have been spoken in more forcible language ; 
 no long sentences could have conveyed as much 
 emphasis as these simple words. 
 
 A devout believer in prayer, she instituted a 
 solemn fast of three days, in which all the Jews of 
 Shushan should bow themselves, and pray also for 
 her, before the God of their fathers. This order 
 was observed, not in outward celebration, but in 
 fervent aspiration and personal humbling of each 
 soul. 
 
 The queen and her maidens fasted in their secluded 
 portion of the palace, and the fair form, graceful 
 neck, and beautiful head of Esther were bowed in 
 the attitude of devotion and reverence which true 
 earnestness and perfect faith can alone dictate.
 
 138 KWS Jfewals xif tba O&yi 
 
 What a contrast to the crowned queen of a few 
 months previously ! the flattered, the adored wife of 
 a king, decked with the adornments of majesty, 
 held to the breast of a devoted husband, petted, 
 caressed, admired, and honored, now, forsaken ; with 
 all this grievous weight of anxiety resting upon her 
 heart; the orange flowers, the bridal robe, the 
 jewels, exchanged for sackcloth and ashes. 
 
 This was the time to try the true force of her 
 great nature, and to prove her heroism, faith, vir- 
 tuous principle, and self-reliance. With these attri- 
 butes the simple woman may be majestic in her 
 own beautiful womanhood, whether she be queen or 
 peasant. 
 
 In the meantime, Mordecai contrived private in- 
 terviews, in which he forcibly urged her compliance 
 with his request to persuade the king to repeal his 
 cruel sentence. 
 
 It seems to us that the Jew, Mordecai, failed at 
 this time to realize the true nature of Esther, her 
 generous, self-sacrificing spirit, for he continually 
 reminded her that if the nation was destroyed she 
 could not escap ; which injunction implied a possi-
 
 Ji) iamtwd ^Esths?. 1 39 
 
 bility of her being selfish enough to secure her 
 own safety, without making an effort for her people. 
 
 He said to her: "Think not with thyself that 
 thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all 
 the Jews, for if thou altogether boldest thy peace at 
 this time then shall there deliverance arise to the 
 Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's 
 house shall be destroyed; and who knoweth 
 whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a 
 time as this." 
 
 This suspicion of infidelity must have pained our 
 sensitive Esther, unless she reasoned that Mordecai 
 supposed the mind of his Hadassah had been 
 turned by her high position. He certainly could 
 not have appreciated her unselfish nature, and how 
 strong to act she could be when aroused to a sense 
 of her position. 
 
 This was a crisis in which she felt the positive 
 necessity for prompt action, and her fertile mind 
 conceived the plan of giving an entertainment to 
 which she would invite the king, and by her fasci- 
 nations woo him into reconciliation, and then to 
 compliance with the appeal in behalf of her people.
 
 H JUitffi jewels 0f the 
 
 With her womanly intuitions she had perceived 
 the assailable points in the king's character; she 
 knew his susceptibility to beauty, and determined 
 to adorn herself with all the appliances of the most 
 approved toilet, and to call to aid every artificial 
 lustre available to enhance her native charms : as 
 her case was urgent, policy was wise and diplomacy 
 excusable. 
 
 To appear before the king without an order or 
 invitation was an unprecedented liberty, and might 
 bring disgrace and consequent punishment upon 
 her, but she had made her resolution, and would 
 abide by it. Her fastidious taste suggested the 
 most effective arrangement of the various gifts 
 which her royal lord had bestowed upon her in his 
 happiness the diamond rings, bracelets, and neck- 
 lace, all, she fitted conspicuously. This would, she 
 thought, flatter the king, and remind him of their 
 tender relations. 
 
 The crown which she took care to place on her 
 head was significant of her rights, and was a badge 
 of equality, through which she might demand and 
 expect acquiescence and favor.
 
 JDiatwmd J3sther. 141 
 
 As she stood at last before her mirror, contem- 
 plating in her beauty the might that would possibly 
 set her people free from a terrible impending fate, 
 the blent beauties of heaven seemed to aid her, and 
 baptize her with almost divine beauty. 
 
 She hesitated until the last moment, when, throw- 
 ing her head back, with eyes raised and hands 
 stretched forward, she drank in an inspiration of 
 heavenly hope, then stepped gracefully and confi- 
 dently forward to where her lord was, in his audi- 
 ence-chamber. 
 
 He was carelessly regarding his courtiers, who 
 were scattered around, when the sudden appearance 
 of Esther seemed to startle the atmosphere of the 
 room, as if a star had suddenly dropped from the 
 heavens and glorified the scene. 
 
 The king was astonished, and hi a moment so 
 delighted with the novelty of her act that when 
 she gracefully knelt before him he hesitated not a 
 moment to extend the sceptre, and bid her rise and 
 prefer any request which she might please ; and 
 when she assured him that it was only to claim his 
 presence at a grand banquet, as she found it im-
 
 142 JSUve JrcwsU $f the 
 
 possible to enjoy herself without his society, his 
 vanity, his chivalry, and his love were all aroused, 
 and he most graciously consented. 
 
 The lords and nobles stood gazing in boundless 
 admiration and genuine respect upon the lovely 
 vision, and Ham an was flattered beyond measure 
 when she, through private motives of policy, se- 
 lected him from the rest, and invited him also to 
 attend. 
 
 The king's coldness vanished like a mist before 
 the morning's sun ; her presence revived a flow of 
 sweetest emotions, and Esther was almost sure that 
 she might make her real motives known ; but she 
 suppressed her impatience until things might be 
 still more auspicious. 
 
 Haman was delighted ; he dressed himself in his 
 richest attire, boasted to his wife of the great 
 honors he was considered worthy to receive, and 
 repaired with the king to Esther's banquet. She 
 suppressed the great indignation that she felt, and 
 entertained him becomingly. Haman had elegant 
 manners, for he was well cultivated in all court 
 etiquette, and was an accomplished lord of the
 
 143 
 
 times ; and he, no doubt, made himself amiable and 
 graceful for the occasion; but Esther knew of the 
 viper that lay concealed beneath this fair exterior, 
 and loathed his presence in her heart. 
 
 But when the banquet was over and Hainan went 
 out, the gallows which he had had erected for Mor- 
 decai rose conspicuously and portentously against 
 the sky, and brought back the hatred which Esther's 
 sweetness and clemency had dispelled; he exult- 
 ed in the thought that on the morrow his hated 
 adversary would be hanging from that very gallows, 
 and that before the closing morrow's sun there 
 would not be left one of the despised race. 
 
 But wiser and higher influences were at work, 
 influences which come unseen yet all-powerful, to 
 frustrate evil designs and wicked machinations 
 against the innocent. 
 
 It happened that the king could not sleep, though 
 sweet, soft, gentle music stirred in the adjoining 
 rooms, the dreamy moonlight streamed through the 
 casement, and the very luxuriance of his couch sug- 
 gested to the senses a lull, a soothing spell, an in- 
 ducement to sleep ; yet the king's thoughts went
 
 144 3i\ivs jewels 
 
 roving, his eyes were wide opened, and memory 
 seemed to have set afloat old forgotten things, 
 which arrayed themselves into speaking reminders ; 
 and at last one call upon his revived recollection 
 caught and claimed attention. 
 
 Touching his summoning bell, his attendants 
 came, of whom he requested that the archives of his 
 kingdom should be brought ; and, in the midst of 
 his royal bed, he read an account which had 
 vaguely suggested itself to his roving thoughts ; that 
 Mordecai, a Jew, had saved his life by disclosing a 
 conspiracy, and that he had never been compen- 
 sated or requited. 
 
 This struck the grateful vein of his feeling, and 
 he determined to set about righting it. 
 
 It could have been no mere chance which dic- 
 tated the opening of the book of records ; it was a 
 high power which instigated the act. 
 
 The stars had paled out before the morning sun, 
 when Haman, hasting early to the palace to obtain 
 audience with the king, for the purpose of having 
 Mordecai instantly hung, passed Mordecai sitting 
 as usual in the gate ; the insignia of his race still
 
 lhe 
 
 marked out, in soot, sackcloth, and ashes ; yet still 
 as proud and silent, he gave no sign of humility or 
 respect. Haman arrived at the palace just in time 
 to receive the king's summons to appear at once in 
 the audience-chamber. 
 
 The king was glad, always, to have an adviser, 
 upon whom he might sometimes shift the weighty 
 affairs of state questions, and Haman was the man 
 whom he now needed to advise him what high 
 honors he should confer upon one who had done 
 great service to the king, and whom the king great- 
 ly delighted to honor. 
 
 Ever presumptuous in his estimate of his own 
 worth, he immediately conceived the opinion that 
 more startling honors were to be conferred upon 
 himself. He was certain that Haman was the ob- 
 ject of royal clemency and favor ; and when Ahasu- 
 erus, looking at him, satisfied that his answer 
 would relieve him of the burden of thinking of or 
 devising some scheme of great benefit, asked : 
 "What shall be done to the man whom the king 
 delighteth to honor?" he answered: "To the man 
 whom the king delighteth to honor let the royal
 
 apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, 
 and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the 
 royal crown which is set upon his head, and let 
 this apparel and horse be delivered to the hands of 
 one of the king's most noble princes, that they may 
 array the man withal whom the king delighteth to 
 honor, and bring him on horseback through the 
 streets of the city, and proclaim before him : Thus 
 shall it be done to the man whom the king delight- 
 eth to honor." 
 
 This was a bold stroke, for the very insignia of 
 royalty were demanded, and these, doubtless, were 
 suggested to Hainan on the ground that there was a 
 possibility that, through some unforeseen event, the 
 king's dominion might cease, and that he might be 
 exalted in his stead. 
 
 What terrible revulsion must have racked the 
 brain of Ham an ; have torn his breast and dried his 
 tongue ; what blame did he not heap on his own 
 head for the infatuation which had dictated his 
 vanity ; what volcanoes of contending passion 
 rocked the foundations of his feeling, when the 
 king's answer declared that instead of himself these
 
 JDiamo-nd ^stheu.. 147 
 
 honors were to go, all of them, to Mordecai, and at 
 his own instigation. 
 
 The king said : " Make haste, take the apparel 
 and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to 
 Mordecai, the Jew, who sitteth at the king's gate ; 
 let nothing fail that thou hast spoken." 
 
 Of course Haman knew better than to remon- 
 strate, for the laws of the Medes and Persians 
 were irrevocable. He bowed, and turned to obey. 
 He gave the message to Mordecai ; was sullen and 
 calm, as he, with his own hands, acted chamberlain, 
 and arrayed him in robes of royalty and honor. 
 
 It really requires no very powerful stretch of the 
 imagination to describe a picture so striking as 
 these two men, so opposite in every point and par- 
 ticular, who now stood in the most peculiar posi- 
 tions one toward the other. Haman, dark-browed, 
 with the whole soul of suppressed hatred, defiance, 
 smothered wrath, and malignity, limned in his broad 
 profile ; Mordecai receiving the honors as if entitled 
 to them, and seeming to show, by acceptance of his 
 services, that he was conferring and not receiving 
 honor.
 
 148 Jijivs Jewels trf tfrs dDii 
 
 The reason for the sudden and great favor must 
 have puzzled Mordecai to analyze, yet he expressed 
 no more surprise through his countenance than if it 
 had been of e very-day occurrence. 
 
 It did puzzle him ; for when the pageant was con- 
 cluded and the robes taken off and put away, he 
 again occupied the same seat, and resumed the 
 sackcloth and ashes ; and his case did not seem 
 changed, so far as externals were concerned or gave 
 evidence. He had not heard from Esther, and the 
 gallows prepared for him still stood, a monument of 
 wrath against him, and he might, by the next night, 
 be dangling from it a lifeless corpse. 
 
 It took all the faith of his sublime nature to 
 enable him to adopt, in this hour, his own prophecy, 
 that God would save his people, and through Esther. 
 
 Haman, in his shame and despair, went to his 
 wife, and on woman's faithful bosom sobbed out a 
 recitation of his woes. She, a seeress, foresaw the 
 ruin of her house, told him that his day was over, 
 and advised him to flee from the place in order to 
 save his life, or take some prompt measure for his 
 personal safety ; but, while they were yet talking,
 
 149 
 
 the king's chamberlain came, and hurried Hainan 
 to Esther's banquet. 
 
 On the second day, at the banquet, the king 
 desired Esther to make any request of him, and it 
 should be granted, to the half of his kingdom. The 
 repentant king, doubtless, was anxious to reinstate 
 himself fully in the queen's affections, and wished 
 to prove it by some mark of especial favor, a love- 
 token. 
 
 The sublime character of Esther shows in strong 
 lines at this period. She might have demanded 
 that any sum or portion of riches should be settled 
 upon herself, and been sure of its being done in a 
 magnificent manner ; but all and every thought of 
 personal favors were discarded and ignored, in her 
 self-sacrificing principle of devotion to those who 
 were a race persecuted, insulted, and suffering. If 
 the objects had been of any nation, class, or people 
 who were suspended under such a cruel penalty, her 
 pity would still have suggested the plea for theil 
 lives; her motive was not merely her relation to 
 the Jewish race, but her philanthropic spirit was 
 her prompter.
 
 [ 5o Jiftrs ewels af the 
 
 Lovely, womanly, and beautiful, Esther appeared, 
 as, gracefully kneeling her supple figure before her 
 husband and king, she humbly, yet confidently and 
 trustfully, raised her large, soft, gazelle-like eyes to 
 his face, and, with the pathos of deep emotion con- 
 trolling her musical voice, she uttered the simple 
 words : " If I have found fa^ or in thy sight, O 
 king, and if it please the king, let my life be given 
 at my petition, and my people at my request, for we 
 are sold, 1 and my people, to be destroyed, to be 
 slain, to perish." Then she disclosed her national- 
 ity and relationship to Mordecai, and quoted the 
 edict which Haman had issued in the king's name, 
 with his own signature and seal, and added : " But if 
 we had been sold for bond-men and bond-women I 
 had held my peace, although the enemy could not 
 countervail the king's damage." 
 
 Such an appeal, uttered with all the fervor of en- 
 thusiasm, melted the king into the most profound 
 emotion, and he inquired : " Who is he ? Where is 
 he that hath presumed in his heart to do so ?" 
 
 Haman, confounded, speechless, dumb with con- 
 sternation, inwardly craved of the gods to extin-
 
 JDiamimd KstoH- i5i 
 
 guish him on the spot sooner than allow him to be 
 made the scorn of the king and the rest ; but wick- 
 edness meets its reward, and he had to face the po- 
 sition, and bear the levelling of eyes when Esther's 
 finger pointed out distinctly his figure amongst the 
 others, and she said the words : " That adversary, 
 THAT wicked man, is Haman." 
 
 The king, beyond himself with indignation and 
 rage at the weakness which he had suffered to 
 master him, the weakness of indolently allowing 
 himself to lean continually on another for advice 
 which his own kingly mind should have dictated 
 especially as that confidant was now proven before 
 his face to be an arch deceiver, presumptuous, 
 crafty, and selfish would not suffer his voice to give 
 any expression to his conflicting feelings, but went 
 out into the garden, possibly to take a moment in 
 which to consider his own premises, and line of pro- 
 cedure. 
 
 Esther, overcome by her temerity, and nearly 
 fainting from excess of emotion, threw her faultless 
 figure on a couch, rested her head upon one hand, 
 whilst her fairy little feet peeped out from the edge
 
 1 52 
 
 of her royal robe. She was the very impersonation 
 of beauty, the realization of the most enthusiastic 
 Persian's ideal of perfection. 
 
 Haman, crucified by horror at his prospects of 
 disgrace, banishment, or probably ignominious 
 death, realized that the queen's prayers alone could 
 save him ; and in his extremity forgot all else and 
 threw himself beside her, imploring her to sue for 
 him. 
 
 At this unfortunate moment, the king entered, 
 and, seeing Haman in that position, white with 
 rage and just indignation, he exclaimed : " What, 
 will he violate the queen here in my own palace !" 
 
 This was sufficient. Hainan's face was covered 
 significant token ; the attendants took him out, and 
 the hangman hung him upon the gallows which he 
 had had erected for Mordecai, and which was fifty 
 cubits high. Thus perished a man whose wicked- 
 ness suggested the destruction of a nation, from 
 motives of personal jealousy. 
 
 Esther's humane nature could not rejoice in the 
 sufferings of any one, but in this act she realized 
 that her nation was saved from the cruel edict.
 
 A.hasuerus could not unsay what he had once said, 
 for the Persian law was irrevocable, but he gave the 
 Jews each one the privilege of defending himself, 
 and in this way they came out victorious, and 
 Esther's affectionate heart reverenced the king, and 
 loved, most fondly, her husband. 
 
 After that every day recorded some boon which 
 the king granted her. Mordecai was made prime 
 minister, and the Hebrews were all well provided 
 for. 
 
 To the disposition of Esther, to her noble char- 
 acter, and to her piety, we call especial attention. 
 When, suddenly reduced to poverty, exiled and de- 
 pendent on her own delicate hands for every ser- 
 vice, she retained her patience, took up the lines of 
 life as they had fallen to her, and worked them up 
 into a beautiful fabric of cheerful adaptation. 
 
 Upon her exaltation to the throne, the quick shift- 
 ing of the scenes in the drama of her life did not 
 disturb the equable exercise of every amiable trait, 
 but brought out into more perfect light through 
 contrast the noblest purposes and strength of intel- 
 lect, the severest virtue, the strictest probity, the 
 
 7*
 
 1 54 Jg{ive Jewels xif the 
 
 most unqualified devotion, the most enthusiastic 
 patriotism, and the most startling comparisons of 
 moral will with baleful influences. 
 
 Throughout every vicissitude of trial and triumph 
 she had held to her unflinching faith in God, and 
 had unhesitatingly obeyed, with child-like sim- 
 plicity, her adopted father Mordecai ; had held to 
 the principles which her early education indoctri- 
 nated, and never for a moment lost the true sense 
 of her obligation to her fellow-creatures. Sacred to 
 all hearts be the memory of Esther, the Star ! 
 
 Now as a star still brighter she presides, 
 Where one continuous joy abides. 
 True virtue's royalty crowns her head ; 
 By majesty of good her life is led. 
 The beautiful deed has won its meed, 
 And flowers of faith have riped their seed. 
 The stars that decked her earthly name 
 Shine brighter now mid heavenly fame.
 
 IV. 
 
 MAETHA. 
 
 " She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meal to bar 
 household, and a portion to her handmaids." 
 
 'ANY had been the changes in the 
 East between the time that Euth 
 gleaned in the fields, that Adah was 
 sacrificed, and the day that Martha 
 entertained beneath her own roof 
 " Jesus the Messiah." 
 
 Wars and rumors of war had shook the earth and 
 sent alarms ; famine had desolated the land ; pesti- 
 lence depopulated whole sections of a once-happy 
 country. Political factions had grown up; policy
 
 1 58 Jiftve Jewels trf tbs riant. 
 
 had levelled cliques ; monarchs had been dethroned, 
 and demagogues been exalted. 
 
 Drought and flood, fire and chance, had brought 
 their usual degrees of disparity ; yet the sun shone 
 as brightly, the stars twinkled as gleefully, the 
 moon was as tender, and the earth as willing as 
 ever. 
 
 Men and women married and were given in 
 marriage, and humanity had the same law of feel- 
 ing. The gold of Ophir, the ships of Tarsus, the 
 dyes from Tyre, and the fine linen from Sidon, were 
 still in vogue. 
 
 The whole Jewish nation, though separated by 
 many leagues of land and water, was existent, and 
 still clung tenaciously to the law of Moses, and 
 served in the tabernacle. 
 
 The Mediterranean was still pictured with the 
 tremulous lily. The blood-red rose blossomed 
 amidst the skulls of the battle-field. Diamond and 
 gold mines hoarded treasures, which men still made 
 ambitious plans to secure. 
 
 Trade and commerce existed ; men were subject 
 to the same passions ; no law in nature was affected,
 
 and yet the epoch of Christ's birth had come, the 
 system of atonement been instituted. 
 
 When we think of the preaching of the Apostles, 
 their declaration that the Lord God Almighty had 
 come down from Heaven, and dwelt as mortal man 
 among the people, we are surprised that such a 
 scheme had not changed the whole aspect of the 
 world ; that all men were not converted to angels ; 
 and that trade and merchandise were necessary to 
 sustain human interests ; we wonder that tares ever 
 grew again in the soil of earth. 
 
 The Jews never realized that their Eedeemer 
 existed in the poor Nazarene. Their Messiah, that 
 Isaiah sang about, was to be clothed with pomp and 
 majesty ; his crown was to outshine all other dia- 
 dems. His sceptre should be potent to elevate the 
 whole race to dignity and honor, and to restore 
 Jerusalem to its pristine grandeur. 
 
 Only a few of the Jews recognized Jesus of 
 Nazareth as the Mediator. 
 
 Not far from Jerusalem, in the town of Bethany, 
 there was one little Jewish family who became 
 converts to Christ's doctrine, though they did not
 
 160 
 
 really understand the full significance of his mis- 
 sion. They regarded him in the light of a friend, 
 and truly and sincerely were they attached to him. 
 
 Of the virtue and moral beauty of the characters 
 in this little family, every school- child has been 
 taught. The circumstance of the death and restora- 
 tion of Lazarus is a household story. 
 
 The actual history of any of the New Testament 
 characters is so bare, has so limited a margin for 
 speculation, that but little room is found for tradi- 
 tional embellishment. 
 
 Many efforts have been made to afford detail, 
 with such poor success, that we determine to take 
 the original tersely-rendered story of Martha, and 
 give it, without embellishments of startling style, in 
 its most natural manner, to our readers. 
 
 So much merit blends in Martha's character, that 
 any varnish of high color or eulogy would set as 
 badly in a picture of her life as frippery and tinsel 
 would have been out of taste in her toilet. 
 
 The house owned and occupied by Martha, Mary, 
 and Lazarus, in the village of Bethany, was of 
 moderate dimensions. It was of ancient date, and
 
 161 
 
 ivy clustered around its walls. Cool and pleasant 
 the trees made the ground around, and the shadow 
 of Lebanon reached nearly to the spot. The brook 
 Kedron swept its crystal flood not far distant, and 
 Olivet met the kisses of the sky all in full sight. 
 
 Plenty was pictured in the aspect of this retired 
 place, and from the doorway, throughout the 
 house, there was never to be seen speck nor stain to 
 offend the most fastidious. Neatness was apparent. 
 There was no need to inquire if a tasteful and in- 
 dustrious woman presided over the premises, the 
 assurance of it was observable in every object that 
 met the eye. 
 
 Martha, Mary, and Lazarus composed the family 
 proper. Martha possessed, to an eminent degree, 
 administrative ability. She was leader of the do- 
 mestic menage, a position which called into active 
 play her especial talents. 
 
 Her mother realized, before her death, that 
 Martha would be trustworthy as manager and head 
 of the family after she was gone, and felt no appre- 
 hensions of the proper training of the more delicate 
 and sensitive Mary.
 
 1 62 Ji^itjs Jswsls uf the <g)i}i 
 
 Long before the dawn fretted the sky, Maltha 
 was stirring ; appointing the services peculiar to the 
 day, setting in motion the machinery of domestic 
 business, and arranging the maids at their tasks. 
 Theirs was a family of consequence in the village : 
 she had her servants. 
 
 Even those in moderate circumstances had hire- 
 lings and apprentices. We do not exaggerate when 
 we say that Martha arose so early, for it was the 
 custom of the people of the country. The most 
 delightful part of the twenty-four hours, in sultry cli- 
 mates, is before the sun rises. The air then seems 
 to be impregnated with an element which invigorates 
 the lax frame for the coming action of the sun's rays. 
 
 Repeated instances are mentioned in the Scrip- 
 tures of the system of early rising. Bangs and 
 princes had the habit of rising before the dawn. 
 Moses was commanded to stand before Pharaoh 
 early in the morning as he came forth to the water. 
 
 Martha's habit of taking time by the forelock was 
 not altogether the result of custom, but was also 
 the natural sign of her industry, vigilance, economy, 
 and activity.
 
 5<l^artba. 163 
 
 She loved to send her orisons forth upon the 
 wings of morning, and she also believed that it 
 would secure health for her sister, who was not, it 
 seems, of so vigorous and energetic a constitution 
 as herself. 
 
 Besides, Martha was thrifty, and looked well to 
 the ways of her household. She chose, as all indus- 
 trious housekeepers ivitt, to secure a margin of day- 
 light by husbanding the dawn ; she never let noon 
 trip up the heels of her morning duties. 
 
 Everybody knows how agreeable a house may be 
 in which a cheerful spirit of energy is cultivated by 
 its mistress ; one who takes hold of duty with joy, 
 and keeps her actions springing upon the hinges of 
 willingness. 
 
 The atmosphere of such a household reflects 
 content, and visitors feel refreshed, as a traveller 
 does who comes across a widespread tree when its 
 branches are filled with sweet singing-birds. If the 
 mistress be querulous and complaining, no one who 
 comes under her influence perceives a green tree 
 with musical songsters, but, instead, withering 
 boughs, with croaking ravens upon them.
 
 64 
 
 There was a sense of repose in Martha's house, a 
 kind of rest, such as one experiences when suddenly 
 rid of a deafening roar of water or machinery, or 
 the pressure of a heavy burden upon the arm. It 
 was physical rest as well as spiritual repose ; there 
 was in the atmosphere a quiet, mingled with the 
 serenade murmuring of domestic machinery, which 
 satisfied the mind that comforts for the body were 
 in process of preparation. 
 
 The three orphans were not forgetful of their 
 obligations to their Maker, but gave grateful re- 
 sponse through their cheerful willingness to take 
 life as it was presented. They realized, through 
 every sense, the gratification intended ; philosophic- 
 ally regarded the benefits of Providence, despising 
 nothing, however trifling in value, that came in 
 their way, through which the kindness of a wise 
 Creator might be recognized. Martha, especially, 
 applied to actions the injunction, " Whatsoever you 
 do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto 
 men." 
 
 These orphans were well thought of in Bethany, 
 and were of consequence, for the town was called
 
 plfcs ^msqaU Jl^artba. i6S 
 
 the "Town of Martha and Mary." They were 
 Israelites, and practised all the Jewish customs in 
 their family and household. 
 
 They became devoted disciples of Jesus ; through 
 his pious teachings perfected themselves, and lived 
 more spiritedly up to the Mosaic commandments. 
 To love their God with all their hearts was a privi- 
 lege out of which grew their love for their neigh- 
 bors. 
 
 Mary was the opposite to Martha in many traits 
 of disposition. It is usual for us to find, among a 
 family of five or six, great differences of character, 
 intellect, and person. Martha was vivacious, ener- 
 getic, nervous, and emphatic. 
 
 Positive in principle, she believed that religion 
 could be applied in every hour of one's existence ; 
 was to be lived, and not merely observed; that it 
 was something which might be practised in the 
 occupation, design, and exigencies of every-day 
 existence; circumscribed by, and subject to, no 
 limited prescription of text and letter. 
 
 Martha exerted her piety through every avoca- 
 tion ; she applied it as an instrument by which all
 
 1 66 iVB SWSlS trf 
 
 keynotes might be sounded, and believed it suit- 
 able to be played throughout every section of the 
 passing page of existence. She was firm in resolve, 
 lofty in aspiration, strong in effort, and invincible in 
 integrity. 
 
 From Martha's industry there seemed to emanate 
 an inspiration for her handmaidens, each of whom 
 worked cheerfully, as if for pleasure, and not for 
 wages. 
 
 There was a halo of geniality which accompanied 
 her, and brightened the aspect of each department 
 in which she was engaged. This sprang from hope ; 
 was the fulfillment of the lively faith that always 
 actuated her. To believe in the constant protection 
 of a superior Providence was her principle, the 
 burden of every act. Upon this parallel she 
 brought out every minor aspiration. 
 
 Martha was a lily raising its head high, and 
 claiming of heaven the dew that it promised. 
 Mary, the violet which hung its head, fearing that 
 the dew might not deem it of sufficient worth to 
 baptize ; shrinking and timid, yet lovely and tender, 
 waiting to be taught, never claiming to teach.
 
 167 
 
 Martha, as we have said, was more vigorous than 
 Mary in constitution, and in person was opposite. 
 Her hair, naturally rich in curls, she, in her severe 
 ideas of simplicity, combed back straight from her 
 brow. Her eyes were large and sparkling, her 
 mouth firm yet very tender. 
 
 She was beyond average height, and properly 
 proportioned. Mary was small of stature, fair and 
 more spiritueUe in appearance ; her hair was of 
 unusual length and beauty. Never had it been, she 
 thought, so highly adorned as when spangled with 
 crystal drops that adhered when she made of it a 
 napkin for her Saviour's feet. 
 
 Martha's position, as mistress of a family, had 
 matured her manners into a matronly dignity, which 
 enhanced the charm of her temperamental vivacity, 
 and secured a serenity of movement which was well 
 matched with her person. She possessed eminently 
 the great charm of woman, repose of manner; 
 from this no sudden transition of feeling could 
 throw her. 
 
 Any peculiar emotion was manifested by height- 
 ened color, the paling or brightening of her eye, and
 
 1 68 3i{itrs Jewels trf iba <g>jii 
 
 the dilation of her nostril. Enthusiasm portrayed 
 its zeal in her speaking countenance, not through 
 any abrupt movement of her person. Joy could 
 tune her voice and play with it varied intonations, 
 but could not tempt her into any boisterous mani- 
 festation. "Martha was troubled about many 
 things," the Scripture says. 
 
 To be the responsible mistress of a family is no 
 light position to hold, especially when one has so 
 dear a charge as an only sister and brother to make 
 comfortable and happy. She was vitally spiritual, 
 though she gave less time to rituals than did her 
 sister. 
 
 Prayer is in its highest sense the aspiration of 
 the heart, and can be achieved while the body and 
 hands are vigorously exercised. It does not require 
 the position of kneeling to effect its utterance. It 
 is a force which finds articulation at the right 
 moment, and is limited by no terms of contortion. 
 Martha cultivated it in every season, however com- 
 plicated and vexed, of her life. 
 
 Besides the usual complement of domestic labor, 
 she had her garden of beautiful sweet shrubs and
 
 169 
 
 luxuriant vegetables to superintend ; azalias, roses, 
 pomegranates, and jessamines mixed their sweets 
 together and flourished under her thrifty hand. 
 
 Every one who had ground raised grapes and 
 made their own wine. Martha's clusters of purple, 
 which in those latitudes grow to fabulous size, 
 doubtlessly fulfilled the very highest promise of 
 cultivation. She had goats which must be milked, 
 and in her dairy were to be found sweet butter and 
 young cheese. 
 
 Her vines were her tender inspirers ; she realized 
 that no object of nature affords so great a variety 
 of allusions as the vine : the widespreading boughs, 
 broad leaves, and clustering bunches of luscious 
 look and glad taste, continually suggested symbols 
 to her mind. 
 
 The faithful Thomas, the companion of Christ, 
 the confidante and friend of Lazarus, figured in 
 these pictures; sweet thoughts of love engrossed 
 her as she coupled him in her mind with a fruitful 
 bough whose branches might even at some future 
 time overshadow herself. 
 
 She made wine for the good of her familv, and 
 8
 
 i7 Ji\ixra Jewels txf the ( 
 
 with her own hand manufactured linen-cloth ; she 
 also embroidered her brother's girdles. 
 
 She was, of necessity, compelled to be careful 
 about many things, and worked willingly, or " with 
 the delight of her hands." Throughout her whole 
 life there was a firmness and consistency of charac- 
 ter shown which is worthy of the highest admira- 
 tion. 
 
 This, in woman's character, is a virtue demand- 
 ing great exercise of moral and religious principle ; 
 because affection and feeling unavoidably influence 
 women generally, which renders them unstable in 
 opinion and liable to changes of temperament and 
 disposition. 
 
 Mary's relation to Martha seemed more like that 
 of daughter to mother, from the fact of the differ- 
 ence in their dispositions, though in reality there 
 was but a small disparity in their years. 
 
 Mary's acute sensibility and devotional mind 
 readily imbibed a fervor of religious strictness, so 
 that sacrament and sacrifice were associated with 
 every idea of duty, and disposed her to a rigid ob- 
 servance of sacred forms ; made her more poetical
 
 (Martha. 1 7 1 
 
 and less practical than exactly accorded with Mar- 
 tha's positive ideas. 
 
 Martha believed that ordinance, combined with 
 the appliances of labor, was more apt to effect 
 rapport with the spirit of Omnipotence than the 
 total neglect of utility for sacrament. 
 
 Mary, doubtlessly, was very lovely in disposition 
 and manner, as well as in her person. She had 
 soft eyes, as tender as a dove's ; her lips could not 
 be painted and justice be done them. Over her 
 whole countenance was diffused an angelic expres- 
 sion. Loving, quiet, gentle, devoted, she would 
 have made the most ardent nun, for she was never 
 so well pleased as when engaged in performing the 
 strict duties of the sanctuary. 
 
 Martha sometimes thought that her zeal was 
 carried to excess, and attempted to reason with 
 her upon the necessity of attendance to the actual 
 requirements of material life. At such times, 
 Mary would meekly contemplate her sister, promise 
 to fulfill her injunctions ; but, in the midst of her 
 task, would evince so much repugnance for them, 
 that Martha was fain to leave her to her own way.
 
 i7 2 JSi^s Jewels #f the 
 
 On one occasion, when the duties of housekeeping 
 had accumulated, and Martha's busy hands and 
 fertile brain were not sufficient to conceive and per- 
 form, she sadly complained to Jesus of Mary's in- 
 difference to her heavy responsibilities. 
 
 She was mortified and pained at the rebuke con- 
 tained in His answer : " Martha, Martha, thou art 
 troubled about many things, but Mary has chosen 
 the better part, which shall not be taken from her." 
 
 Martha sorrowfully turned and left Mary sitting at 
 His feet, drinking in the beautiful language of inspi- 
 ration that fell from his lips; she contrasted the 
 pleasure which she might take in His teaching, with 
 the positive necessity that existed of her carefully 
 providing comfortable cheer for the beloved Guest, 
 but, with her usual self-sacrificing spirit, accepted 
 the blame, determining to perform double part and 
 let Mary have the full benefit of His society, since 
 she was debarred from the privilege ; practical in 
 everything, in self-sacrifice and mortification, as 
 well as in performance of physical labor. 
 
 When the snow-white cloth was laid, which was 
 the work of her own hands, Martha remembered
 
 1 7 3 
 
 that while the shuttle was flying back and forth 
 through the web, she had lifted up her heart to her 
 God and begged him to weave her every action into 
 a woof of perfect good. 
 
 When the sweet butter was brought, she thought 
 of the prayer her soul had uttered as she churned 
 it; to implore God to create in the depths of her 
 heart, all good resolves, and enable her to turn them 
 out in accomplishment of effort. 
 
 When the ripe fruit was placed in the baskets, 
 she called to mind her wishes while gathering it, 
 that she might be ripened or developed into full 
 fruition of wisdom and goodness. She was com- 
 forted when she reflected that, through her inde- 
 fatigable industry, her beloved Jesus would be com- 
 fortably fed and entertained. 
 
 About Bethany there were many pleasant ram- 
 bles, and in the twilight of evening the sisters often 
 went out to meet Lazarus when he was returning 
 home from his business. Once, they were delighted 
 at the unexpected sight of Jesus and Thomas in 
 company with him. Thomas was the dear friend and 
 confidant of Lazarus, and also a disciple of Christ.
 
 1 74 ]TOv J^wsls xxf ths 
 
 The brook sang its measures ; the stars shono ; 
 the sweet summer-breezes rustled through the scar- 
 let cactus-blossoms ; Martha's heart throbbed to the 
 sweet emotions of love, for Thomas held her hand, 
 and the Christ, the Prince of Peace, walked beside 
 them. 
 
 Wondrous privilege had they ; and ,yet they hu- 
 manly regarded him as was best and right. 
 
 Had they realized that God was in Jesus they could 
 not have held him in the sweet estimation of friend. 
 Their awe for so august a presence would have made 
 wide separation between them. Mary's sweet eyes 
 beamed with a holy fire. While she listens to his 
 teachings, her heart beats responsive : her feet 
 touched the sward lightly in time to her joy, and 
 her voice assumed its most melodious tones. 
 
 Martha looked strangely beautiful and queen-like, 
 as she walked by the one she loved with human love. 
 
 Ah! love will exist, even though the feet of Je- 
 sus tread beside ; naught that ever yet touched the 
 soul has power to hush the strain which was insti- 
 tuted in Paradise. Martha's face shone with its re- 
 flection, the whole atmosphere took its likeness from
 
 Jl^artha. i;5 
 
 the glad inspirer, emotion was set to pulse, which 
 strung the harp of her soul, and played on it the 
 sweetest melodies that ever made glad her heart. 
 
 The murmurs of Kedron sounded like whispering 
 voices of angels. 
 
 To Jesus, who heard all the still tones of nature, 
 who communed continually with the invisible agents, 
 the very breeze that fanned his cheek was vocal 
 with the messages and love-tokens of his celestial 
 inspirers. Nothing was a mystery to him ; he read 
 prophecy in everything, from the dream of his sleep 
 to the death of a friend. 
 
 His soul was open to spirit sight ; he kept com- 
 pany with prophets, priests, martyrs, and kings, 
 through his gift. 
 
 By him the sky was fathomed, space defined, and 
 sublimity comprehended. He saw the course of a 
 soul when freed from its tabernacle of clay, and 
 followed the flight of mind from one stage to another 
 of immortal progression. 
 
 On this particular evening his tongue burned with 
 eloquence, his speech suited the understanding of 
 his friends. Mary and Lazarus walked on beside
 
 176 1{w$ Jewels xrf to Client. 
 
 him, Martha and Thomas behind. Sweet flowers 
 grew on the borders of their path ; the glowworm 
 gave light to the dewdrop which bathed the violet. 
 Summer exulted in fragrance and mellow tints. 
 
 Meantime, heaven watched, with its ejes of stars, 
 upon the devoted head that walked that evening 
 beneath its canopy. 
 
 When they reached the house, the white cluster- 
 roses that gleamed through the mist of evening 
 were heavy with fragrance, and Jesus took one 
 that Mary gathered, the sweetest spray, and held it 
 in his hand. His hands, soft and tender, although 
 inured to toil, were fit and meet to handle flowers, 
 things which bring a sense of peace and rest, and 
 typify purity. 
 
 After they had gone into the house, Martha 
 brought a vessel of water, and Mary bathed the 
 feet of Jesus with her hands; this was a custom 
 which Jews were careful to observe, and was most 
 grateful to Jesus, who had wearily trodden the 
 rough ground ; the stones had bruised his feet, and 
 it must have been a positive luxury to have his tired 
 members manipulated by woman's tender hands.
 
 J3.merold ^^artha. 177 
 
 Jesus loved this family tenderly and truly; he 
 was confidant, friend, and counsellor to them, and 
 their house was a retreat which he gladly availed 
 himself of. 
 
 Without a roof for his head, or a couch for his 
 body to lie on, persecuted, misunderstood, misap- 
 preciated, despised, and slandered, this home was 
 to him a bright spot in his existence : the cordiality 
 of their friendship touched his heart, as dew refreshes 
 flowers. No amount of adulation bestowed upon a 
 king could have brought so sweet a savor: their 
 affection was bestowed upon a despised Nazarene, 
 a poor carver of wood. 
 
 Their purity of motive could not be questioned. 
 For through Jesus they saw no promise of future 
 emolument, no incentive to a mode of policy. There 
 was no governmental office in prospective for them 
 to play for ; no judicial post to aspire to, no rank, 
 no gift to hope for ; they loved Jesus of Nazareth, 
 and he knew it, because of his goodness, his wis- 
 dom, his powerful gifts, and for his affection mani- 
 fested toward them. 
 
 Not until long afterward did these three realize 
 8*
 
 178 
 
 the significance of his name, the sublimity of his 
 character. Still, Martha's faith was so unqualified, 
 so clear, so full, that she believed him capable of 
 performing any feat, however wonderful ; there is 
 nothing that he taught but was treasured in her 
 thoughtful mind. And after the dear one was 
 buried and had risen, these things came back before 
 her, and she saw plainly what it all meant, that 
 the Comforter whom he promised to send them, 
 after he was united to the Father, was the Spirit of 
 himself. 
 
 Even when Jesus discoursed to them about the 
 destruction of the temple, and its reorganization on 
 the third day, it did not occur to them in its full 
 significance. 
 
 Martha's generous management was never more 
 cheerfully appropriated, than when this loved Guest 
 tarried with them ; cool linen, smelling of rose- 
 leaves, she placed upon his bed, arranged flowers 
 on his table, fixed a hundred other little apprecia- 
 tive appliances in his bedchamber, all of which 
 were grateful to the refined tastes of Jesus. 
 
 The appointments of the whole establishment were
 
 179 
 
 such as secured him sweet recreation after his buf- 
 fetings with rough men, who were deaf to his 
 teaching, inappreciative, and who even sought his 
 life. 
 
 Every one has, sometime or other, sat at a lux- 
 uriously furnished table, where form and fashion 
 prescribed the terms, and can contrast their sensa- 
 tions at that meal with those experienced at a 
 dinner that was served in a less costly manner, yet 
 where the host and hostess presided, and dispensed 
 fervent, unadulterated hospitality. 
 
 Offices of love, served by willing, ready hands, 
 were what was accepted and gladly appreciated by 
 the lonely Nazarene. He often spoke to Martha in 
 praise of her beautiful dishes and arrangement of 
 household affairs, which praise was worth to her 
 more than rubies and gold. 
 
 We know that the brain is dependent, very much, 
 upon the stomach, and that through the act of 
 digestion is the mind and disposition kept healthy 
 and amiable, or the reverse ; that digestion is pro- 
 moted or retarded by the quality of food taken into 
 the stomach; to insure sufficient nutriment to the
 
 i8o 
 
 blood, phosphorus to the brain, and albumen to the 
 bones, this law of hygiene should be well under- 
 stood by the director of the culinary department of 
 a house. Martha succeeded in making her table- 
 fare wholesome as well as agreeable. Everything 
 that she undertook she performed thoroughly ; her 
 good sense, forethought, and discrimination were 
 rarely led into mistake. 
 
 It was their privilege to have plenty ; simplicity 
 was their rule. Martha's lot was cast where vigi- 
 lance and effort were imperative. She knew that if 
 she faltered in the faithful discharge of her ap- 
 pointed duties, those dearest to her must conse- 
 quently lose many of their indulgences. 
 
 Sometimes housewives in their zeal to have their 
 respectability sustained, become indifferent to the 
 interests which affect their eternal welfare; they 
 forget the transitory nature of secular pursuits; 
 how quickly what seems of most importance to the 
 mortal may suddenly drop from their hands and 
 perish, or that they may, in a moment's time, be 
 separated from earth, from friends, wealth, rank, 
 and influence, and be transferred to a sphere where
 
 Jl^artha. 1 8 1 
 
 the consequences of misapplied energies and tal- 
 ents will be regret and disappointment. 
 
 Jesus at one time perceived that Martha might 
 possibly become too much absorbed in worldly 
 matters, and hence his timely rebuke. "Martha, 
 Martha, thou art troubled about many things. Mary 
 has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken 
 from her." 
 
 Lazarus had the management of their joint patri- 
 mony, and was successful and prosperous in his 
 business. 
 
 He was a young man of middle stature, athletic, 
 and healthy ; he had the complexion and expres- 
 sion of Mary. He was refined, his temperament 
 poetical, and his tendencies religious. He had great 
 taste for beauty, and a keen appreciation of power 
 of intellect ; was a comfort in every respect to his 
 sisters. His habits had always been above reproach. 
 He engaged in none of the boisterous games of the 
 age, nor followed any vice ; was very beautiful in 
 features, and was a fit mate for his beloved friend 
 Thomas. 
 
 The fact that Jesus chose Lazarus for an intimate
 
 1 82 Ji\ive jewels af ths 
 
 companion, justifies us in ascribing to him the very 
 highest moral, mental, and spiritual attributes. 
 Their friendship was faster than that of brothers, 
 and they rejoiced together over all that was 
 presented to them through the divine sight of 
 Jesus. 
 
 Great indeed was the spiritual benefit conferred 
 upon the little family by the companionship of 
 Jesus ; we may conceive that hosts of angels 
 attended Christ, that a train and retinue of unseen, 
 invisible spirits, gathered around, and encompassed 
 him in their charmed circle, shielding, guarding, and 
 ministering to him. The whole house must have 
 been overshadowed by their influence, whenever 
 Jesus rested in it. 
 
 The prophecies of Martha's favorites, David and 
 Isaiah, occurred to her : " The angels of the Lord 
 encampeth around about them that fear him ;" and 
 again : " I will give my angels charge concerning 
 thee, that they bear thee up in their hands, lest at 
 any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." And 
 yet more : " The angels shall minister to him." 
 
 Oh ! what privilege had Martha ; to have a guest
 
 gl^artba. 183 
 
 who kept company with angels; who saw heaven 
 open, and who was conversant with Moses and the 
 Prophets ! 
 
 But Jesus was very much persecuted by the 
 people, so much so that it was not safe for him to 
 stay about Jerusalem ; so with many tears and 
 lamentations the family of Bethany assented,, at 
 the last moment, to the scheme of his retirement to 
 another section. 
 
 They went with him a part of the way, and tried 
 to lighten the journey by every means they could 
 devise. Martha prepared nice bread and cake, and 
 put up a bottle of her own wine for him to refresh 
 himself with. Mary worked his girdle and placed 
 within it a testimonial of her love and tender inter- 
 est. When at last they had to separate, they kissed 
 him and returned. 
 
 Many were their apprehensions concerning him, 
 until they heard that he had reached Bethabara, 
 and that he had some of his disciples with him. 
 
 Martha, after his departure, prophetically con- 
 jectured that some calamity would happen to them, 
 and could not stifle her apprehensions. With these
 
 1 84 Jl^ivs Jr$w$l$ trf the 
 
 forebodings she did not care to distress Mary, who 
 was already afflicted at the departure of Jesus. 
 Martha was prepared for the illness of Lazarus, 
 which commenced soon after, and which terminated 
 so fatally. 
 
 The dearly-beloved, affectionate, beautiful brother 
 was- stricken down with a nervous disorder, and 
 despite the skill of the Jewish doctors, who were 
 very attentive and learned besides, and the unceas- 
 ing ministrations of the two afflicted sisters, he grew 
 worse and worse. At this point Martha wrote to 
 Jesus, and sent the letter by an especial messenger, 
 informing him of the illness of Lazarus. 
 
 This one act is sufficient to demonstrate the in- 
 domitable faith of Martha ; the fact of the wording 
 of the letter. She used no entreaties, put forth no 
 complaints, uttered no murmurs, but only said : 
 " Our brother Lazarus, whom you love, is sick nigh 
 unto death." She believed that the knowledge of 
 their need would be sufficient to bring Jesus straight 
 to them ; she knew of his wonderful powers to heal, 
 and felt sure that all would be well if he could once 
 more return.
 
 ^artha. 1 85 
 
 Wonderful faith is this, which realizes that the 
 demand of the soul will be sufficient to insure its 
 supply. 
 
 Of course, it was not necessary for Jesus to receive 
 written intimation of the illness of his friend, for his 
 soul perceived his condition, though leagues of land 
 and water separated them. Tet he went not, at 
 once, for he knew that there was a particular pur- 
 pose to effect, and he remained away intentionally. 
 
 In the meantime Lazarus, young, fresh, vigorous, 
 and the beloved of Jesus, withered and wasted, his 
 pulse sank, and at last, without a groan or sign of 
 pain, he took on the deep sleep from which the 
 doctors and friends never expected to see him 
 restored. 
 
 Great was the agony of distress into which the 
 sisters were thrown, though Martha still expected 
 Jesus, and believed that he could give them conso- 
 lation. All families of consequence about Jerusa- 
 lem had vaults ; Martha had a family-tomb where 
 were laid her father and mother; into this was 
 Lazarus laid away, after they had kept him out 
 three days.
 
 1 86 3i{ivs Jewels xxf the 
 
 Martha wandered about restlessly. It was the 
 custom with the Jews for the doctors to stay with 
 the family after the decease of their patient, and to 
 render all the comfort in their power ; the house is 
 also put in mourning, and the bereaved are draped 
 in the sable symbols of woe. Martha could not sit 
 still ; a spirit of restlessness occupied her. On the 
 fourth day after her brother's death, she perceived 
 that Jesus was near, and ran to meet him. 
 
 She fell upon her knees and uttered the words : 
 "If thou hadst been here my brother had not 
 died ;" and after his answer, added : " but I know 
 that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of the 
 Father he will give it thee." Wondrous faith ! her 
 heart throbbed with expectancy; her Lord had 
 come, and she trusted him. 
 
 Thomas, at the first intimation of Lazarus' death, 
 had, while the other apostles urged him not to go 
 where so short a time before the Jews had tried to 
 stone him, begged Jesus to accompany him back, for 
 his grief was so great that he said, "Let us go 
 back, and die with him." 
 
 He was now in company with Jesus, and the tears
 
 ^.mcratd ^^artba. 187 
 
 of Martha greatly distressed and pained him. He 
 looked wistfully at the friend of whom so much was 
 always expected, and when Martha retired to call 
 Mary and give her secret information of the arrival 
 of the beloved Jesus, Thomas moved involuntarily 
 toward the sepulchre, having hold of the arm of 
 Jesus; then Mary came forward and related her 
 woes. " Jesus wept." 
 
 The history of the tragedy at the sepulchre all 
 are so familiar with, that we cannot invest the sim- 
 ple fact with any description which would seem new 
 or add interest. It speaks for itself, and the great 
 nature of the event is beyond mere rhythmetrical 
 calculation to portray. But the strength of Mar- 
 tha's character shone out through the trying 
 ordeal ; serene and calm she stood, while the voice 
 of her Lord called aloud for Lazarus to come 
 forth. 
 
 There were many present who did not believe 
 that Christ could effect the end he proposed ; even 
 Mary trembled with apprehension. What if he 
 failed? his own reputation was at stake as well as 
 her hope; the Jews stood ready to accuse him of
 
 1 88 JR\itj Jewels 0f the 
 
 making false professions if he failed, and equally 
 ready to accuse and condemn him if he succeeded. 
 Thomas stood by holding a hand of each of the 
 sisters ; his heart beating quick, his sympathies 
 keenly alive, his anxiety intense. 
 
 It was indeed a moment of great suspense. Stout 
 hearts and strong faith were necessary for the occa- 
 sion. The servants stood grouped around the two 
 sisters, contemplating them with serious eyes ; those 
 who had been accustomed to regard Martha as a 
 person of superior mind and fortitude, watched her 
 with suspended breath ; they perceived that she was 
 equal to the crisis ; the faith that had prompted her 
 speech " Even now, if thou wilt ask the Father, he 
 will give thee Lazarus back to life," sustained her. 
 She believed, and she realized. 
 
 After Lazarus was restored, and his energies 
 somewhat resuscitated, he was lifted in solicitous 
 hands to his house. Mary sat at his feet and 
 bathed them with glad tears, while Martha, radiant 
 with the lustre of hope realized, daintily fed him 
 with nourishing food ; Thomas knelt beside her, 
 while Jesus, the wonderful Physician, stood con-
 
 189 
 
 templating the result of his skill, the observed of 
 all observers. Martha's cheeks were deeply dyed 
 with scarlet, always a sign with her of great emo- 
 tion ; her hand trembled a little, while her eyes 
 beamed with a hundred new joys. 
 
 Lazarus was so contented, so easy, so sweetly 
 compelled to be administered to, that his senses, 
 still weak from long fasting and confinement in the 
 vault, were scarcely yet able to realize that he was 
 not in a state of beatitude. 
 
 There were enemies on the scene, fierce scowl- 
 ers, who were even th&n concocting plans to murder 
 this great Healer, and who soon went out to take 
 counsel together for his destruction. 
 
 After a few days the household of this "little 
 family " was restored to its usual order, and Martha 
 assiduously applied herself, with renewed dispatch, 
 to her domestic duties. 
 
 She left Mary to attend personally to Lazarus, 
 who was somewhat weak and unsettled, whilst she 
 traversed every department. Like humming-birds, 
 her feet flew about with the alacrity of affection and 
 interest ; every one of her movements was dictated
 
 190 ]B{ive Jewels ^ ths ni 
 
 by thankfulness ; for Lazarus, her beloved brother, 
 was among them again, brought up from the grave ; 
 for HIM now she might work ; her old incentive was 
 restored. 
 
 Thomas, also, the inspirer of all sweet melodies of 
 her heart, her pattern of excellence and picture of 
 beauty, was near her. 
 
 Martha was so great in her excellence of faith, 
 that she worked as but few ever did. She lived and 
 practised her faith, through every moment of secular 
 life ; well might Thomas regard her as a miracle 
 of beauty, amiability, and Christian virtue. 
 
 This friend, counsellor, physician, was compelled 
 to secrete himself. Thomas, John, and Martha pri- 
 vately arranged a mode of administering to him, 
 as long as it might be necessary for him to remain 
 secreted. 
 
 It was late one evening, when the shadows had 
 grown thick, the dew was falling, and the murmurs 
 of Salem came through the distance, that a group of 
 four or five might have been found standing under 
 the shades of a Lebanon cedar. Sobs, incapable of 
 repression, smote the still atmosphere. Mary was
 
 ;H|ros?a1-d g^artha. 1 9 1 
 
 leaning her head upon the bosom of Jesus, taking 
 leave of her beloved Lord ; amid so many threaten- 
 ing dangers, she believed that she would not meet 
 him again. He kissed her, spoke consoling words, 
 and was gone out into the darkness, while Mary and 
 another sorrowfully went home again. 
 
 Joyful was the effect of His appearance again, 
 when, six days before the Passover, he came 
 straight to the house of his friends. Many 
 strangers were anxious to behold him who was 
 capable of such wondrous deeds. 
 
 And Martha, ever watchful of his dignity, proud 
 for his honor, proposed to her brother and sister 
 that they give him a great feast or supper. A sup- 
 per under such circumstances, she knew, would 
 prove their appreciation of him to the whole 
 people ; for among the Jews a manifestation of 
 that kind was an especial honor to the one to whom 
 it was given. A supper denoted full fellowship and 
 perfect friendship. 
 
 To this both agreed ; so with joyful alacrity they 
 set about to have prepared all that culinary skill 
 could devise for the table, or that good taste and
 
 192 Jl\ii;i3 Jewels uf the 
 
 ingenuity might suggest for the full pleasure of the 
 occasion. 
 
 It was a success. The most remarkable act of 
 Martha, but one which was entirely characteristic 
 of her perfection of Christian character, was her 
 humility in serving with her own hands at the table. 
 
 Her elastic figure swayed gracefully back and 
 forth in her polite service. She wore a flowing robe 
 of green, with a soft, white lace-veil which shaded 
 her beautiful throat, and was lightly thrown back 
 from her pure brow. One single ornament she 
 wore a sprig of green, a bit of cedar which Tho- 
 mas had begged her to wear, reminding her that 
 it was a fit emblem of her faith and constancy to all 
 whom she claimed as friends. 
 
 Thomas gallantly assisted her to serve, or to wait 
 upon the table, and we may imagine what an im- 
 pression her act of humility before this large com- 
 pany created, for she was a woman of rank, and in 
 circumstances above any such office. They as- 
 cribed consequence to a guest who was worthy of 
 such an act of devoted attention. 
 
 Joyfully fled the hours to the guests generally,
 
 193 
 
 though to some there was a sorrowful beckoning of 
 calamity, and Jesus himself knew of what cup he 
 must soon drink. 
 
 We must leave Martha while the nour is rosy 
 with hope and joy ; while the beautiful inspiration of 
 faith lighted her eyes, and gave swift step to her 
 feet ; while the pleasure of sight was hers, and the 
 realization of the presence of those dearest on earth 
 to her, made glad her heart ; while Jesus was there, 
 and light and music and wine painted red the season. 
 
 We must draw the curtain before the darkness" 
 which settled upon Gethsemane is presented; be- 
 fore the vail of the Temple is rent in twain. 
 
 Nothing that could be woven farther would con- 
 stitute a more perfect picture than what we have 
 already tried to portray ; of Martha's faith, indus- 
 try, zeal, truth, and constancy, manifested not only 
 through outward observance in sanctified places, 
 but in every action and event of her private life. 
 
 Martha stands prominent and fairest in the galaxy 
 of "Faithful Ones;" may each and all of her sisters, 
 in Israel and in Christendom, imitate her excellent 
 example.
 
 V. 
 
 uW, 
 
 <y 
 
 ELEOTA. 
 
 T was midnight. In an elegant room, 
 upon a luxurious couch, a matron 
 slept. The moonbeams came in at the 
 window; not being satisfied to burnish 
 into splendor the silver mountings of the 
 furniture, they stole across the Persian 
 carpet, and kissed the hair, eyes, and lips of the 
 beautiful lady ; and invisible angels were there, 
 " encamping about her whom the Lord loved." 
 
 Worthy was she of the ministration of angels, 
 for she was full of grace, moral virtue, and practical 
 piety. While the moonbeams ravished her face, 
 she was dreaming; the pictures painted upon her
 
 198 3Sws Jewels nt the 
 
 sleep were doubtlessly intended for prophetic warn- 
 ings. 
 
 She dreamt that it was a future day, full of 
 turbulence ; that strange factions had sprung up, 
 for which men and women were willing to be mar- 
 tyrs ; she saw bloodshed, a mob, a rough giant, who 
 came forward and proposed terms, which he said 
 would be sufficient to expiate some gross offence 
 she had committed, but what, she did not perceive ; 
 she declined his terms ; he gave her blows, dragged 
 her by the hair, and she was about to perish when 
 sho saw a light, and from it came a voice, saying : 
 " Whosoever believeth in me, though he perish, yet 
 will I sustain him." 
 
 The dawn of morning broke over the world, the 
 sunshine replaced the moonbeams, light of day 
 baptized her face, compelled the ugly vision to pass, 
 and restored the cheerful consciousness of safety 
 which morning always brings ; but for a long time 
 the impression of Electa's dream remained fixed 
 upon her mind, and thrills of apprehension would 
 seize her when she related it. 
 
 The dwelling of Electa was of a style of archi-
 
 199 
 
 tecture which the extravagant period of her grand- 
 parents recommended; gold and silver were not 
 rare in panellings, cornice, and doors. Built of the 
 finest material that artisans could find, and embel- 
 lished without regard to cost, it stood, fair and 
 elegant to behold from the exterior, pleasant, cheer- 
 ful, and splendid within. A fit abode was this for 
 our " Chosen Lady." 
 
 Electa had been brought up amidst the gorgeous 
 scenes and circumstances of Oriental wealth, and 
 when she inherited this residence and came to oc- 
 cupy it, she delighted to add improvements, and to 
 adorn it with some of the fashions of her far-distant 
 native East. Luxury abounded, yet good taste and 
 reason controlled the appointments of this extensive 
 establishment. 
 
 The situation was one of exceeding beauty; ro- 
 mantic and picturesque, it yet retained enough of 
 what we call feudal aspect to inspire us with an 
 idea of the chivalric days when heroes assembled 
 with their legions at the feast, where the victor, pre- 
 ferring honor to conquest, might be imagined riding 
 up to the very door to have the badge of victory,
 
 200 ^g[ive ewsis xtf to 
 
 made of holly-leaves, placed upon his brow by the 
 ruler and president of the game. 
 
 Behind there was the sparkling water; to the 
 right the fertile fields, filled with loaded vineyards ; 
 to the left, the distant turrets of a great city, and 
 overhead, the fairest sky that ever canopied a land. 
 
 There were successive terraces around the house. 
 Spreading widely out were gardens of paradisaical 
 appearance. Fountains of exquisite design played 
 in every proper place, the bottoms of whose basins 
 were made to reflect the water, and magnify it to 
 startling depths. 
 
 Natural beauty, adorned by every suggestion of 
 art, conspired to make this spot beautiful indeed. 
 There were aviaries which excited the wonder of 
 the learned naturalist. Miniature museums were 
 fitted with curious and beautiful specimens; flowers, 
 whose types were not elsewhere known, flourished ; 
 the foliage of the spice-trees made the air redolent 
 of perfume. There were artificial fans operated, 
 and a dew created by an expensive apparatus, 
 which, let the day and season be as sultry as they 
 might, made the atmosphere cool and balmy.
 
 201 
 
 Clear streams were turned, and made to run their 
 course over wires, which caught the liquid woof and 
 wove it into music. 
 
 For fourteen years Electa occupied this beautiful 
 spot, before we introduce her. Five sons had been 
 born to her, each one healthy, intelligent, and amia- 
 ble. In those days gymnastic exercises made an 
 important branch in young men's education, and 
 through the exercise of athletic sports our Electa's 
 sons had strengthened their sinews and secured 
 elasticity of muscle. 
 
 Electa's husband was a Greek, of elegant accom- 
 plishments. He had been reared among nobles 
 who were his peers. He was gifted with many vir- 
 tues ; his fine person, set off by graceful manners, 
 made him a meet companion, in external beauty, for 
 Electa ; while his truly amiable, independent, and 
 noble spirit created the true congeniality without 
 which, in wedlock, there can be no true happiness. 
 He had, whilst a youth, won many prizes for vic- 
 tories achieved in the different branches of art 
 peculiar to the age and nation. 
 
 They had been brought up in the midst of hea- 
 9*
 
 202 Jiftxrs ewels #f the 
 
 thendom, where the worship of the living God 
 Almighty was not known or recognized. 
 
 Feasts and observances were held, in which out- 
 lays were required, of such costliness, brilliance, and 
 display, as would, if described for our readers, 
 induce them to imagine that we copied the Genii 
 of Aladdin's lamp. Games, exercises, and exploits 
 in wrestling were introduced as a part of the grand 
 season of Feasts, and Adrian was expert in all. 
 
 Electa had met him at the coronal of one oi 
 these matches, where a single wreath of wild olive 
 was his sole reward for victories which men would 
 have set any time, labor, and means to accomplish. 
 Honor was his incentive ; no mean impulse ever 
 actuated him. As Electa was a virgin princess, 
 she was entitled to an honorable seat on occasion 
 of feasts. 
 
 She first saw Adrian when the highest honor was 
 conferred upon him that young men ever aspired 
 to ; that of having the year dated with his name ; 
 placed in the calendar, and in front of all laws made 
 in the same year with the victory. That his name 
 was thus honored, she herself beheld. He had
 
 203 
 
 carried his ambition of making a great figure in 
 games as far as any man ; and distinguished himself 
 in the most splendid manner. 
 
 In some instances, where Olympic games were 
 celebrated, ladies were admitted to dispute the prizes. 
 There are statuary and paintings descriptive of female 
 victors yet to be seen in ancient cities, but our Electa 
 was too retiring in her sweet nature to compete with 
 men for a prize ; she was satisfied that her Adrian 
 should wear all badges of public distinction, and was 
 contented to shine in the reflected light of his honor. 
 
 She married him when he and she both were 
 worshippers of gods, and amidst the oriental cus- 
 toms, under a tropical sun, lived with him six sweet 
 years. But after the death of her grandfather, who 
 was an Israelite of the tribe of Judah, they removed 
 to Judea to enjoy their ancestral inheritance. 
 
 Old ties called loudly to Adrian to return to his 
 native land, but the wife and one little boy were so 
 delighted to remain, that he became persuaded to 
 content himself, and made his adopted home and 
 country as dear to his affections as he could. 
 
 He often took Electa and her older boys to
 
 204 Jfiive J^wsls xxf the 
 
 Rome, and by narrating the history of pictures, 
 architecture, statues, and scenes to his intelligent 
 children, making every narrative agreeable by 
 traditional description, he hoped to foster a clas- 
 sical taste in their impressible minds, in which 
 wish, from the subsequent history of one, at least, 
 of his sons, he was not disappointed. 
 
 Electa, whose beautiful tastes were nurtured to 
 the utmost capability, revelled in all the accessories 
 that a new field of study presented, and she and her 
 husband were wont to visit the ruins of Sodom, the 
 sepulchral shades of the tombs of Absalom and the 
 prophets, and the catacombs ; with the law of Mo- 
 ses and the chronicles of the Jews she was so de- 
 lighted, that every traditionary foot of soil awakened 
 to her reaching mind a new vista through which she 
 beheld the One Great God. 
 
 The religion of her forefathers came back to the 
 grandchild as an inheritance ; she had cast from her 
 the last vestige of idolatrous opinion, and was to 
 be found in the Tabernacle worshipping with the 
 Israelites, where she first heard of the Jesus of 
 the apostles preached.
 
 205 
 
 She was ripe for the New Testament, for she com- 
 prehended in the Old the dispensation that should 
 ensue. 
 
 In her conformation, elements which constitute 
 the basis for grand action existed, and yet she pos- 
 sessed eminently germs of all the finest, most sensitive 
 susceptibilities of modesty and retiiement. She com- 
 bined the two best qualities of woman practica- 
 bility and silence. She was of a disposition more 
 pensile to dictation than Martha's, yet somewhat 
 like hi activity. 
 
 Though, at the time that we introduce her to our 
 readers, of the age of forty, she was not nearly re- 
 cognizable as that. So fresh and radiant were her 
 personal charms, in fact, that Adrian was furnished 
 with a new remark for each successive birthday 
 anniversary, upon her improved bloom and beauty. 
 
 Her skin was of pearly whiteness, with a soft, 
 warm glow of peach in her cheeks : eyes deep blue, 
 tender, and full of love ; eyes which talk as well as 
 see. A deep dimple in her chin, which Adrian called 
 the index of her mind; for when the sunshine of 
 smiles came over it, it deepened in sympathy, when
 
 206 Jixivs Jfowsis #f the 
 
 seriousness prevailed, it nearly faded out. Her brow 
 was, contrary to the usual contour of Eastern faces, 
 high, of serene and noble character. 
 
 Expression was what constituted principally her 
 indescribable loveliness. She was of ordinary height, 
 elastic in her movements, and poetical in her tem- 
 peramental gestures. 
 
 Electa's voice was in itself a charm ; through it 
 the slightest emotion was discernible ; the most 
 delicate changes of feeling were declared in each 
 inflection. It is, after all, no wonder that she was 
 so lovely, for she was an elect lady, one whom 
 guardian angels sustained, and through whom the 
 holy light was to come, and who was meet to be 
 exalted above an ordinary type. 
 
 She was one day relating to her youngest, a 
 bright, blue-eyed boy of six, some oriental fairy tale, 
 when Gaius, her eldest-born, came in, his eyes glis- 
 tening, his whole face full of excitement ; but who 
 was too well-trained, notwithstanding, to give utter- 
 ance to any impetuous speech. 
 
 The mother perceived that something of an inter- 
 esting and novel nature had occurred, which he was
 
 if B.lecta, 207 
 
 burning to tell her, who was his confidant and most 
 intimate companion, but she drew a crimson-colored 
 velvet cushion nearer to her, merely observing, " Sit 
 near to mother, my love." 
 
 Gaius took off the student's cap from his head, 
 and let the rich brown curls hang low upon his 
 neck. 
 
 His sensitive nostril dilated, and the red spot 
 in his cheek indicated unusual excitement, but still 
 he kept silent, waiting for his mother's invitation to 
 speak. 
 
 The mother's feeling was too tender to allow the 
 effort for silence longer to pain him, so, after kissing 
 the little one on her knee, and advising him to go 
 gently down the flight of steps to the garden, she 
 turned her face toward Gaius, placed her hand in 
 his, and with the love-notes of her voice set to 
 their sweetest cadence, she asked, " "What is it, my 
 son?" 
 
 Then the eloquent speech came fast and ardent. 
 " Mother, I have heard that there is a man called 
 Jesus who is performing miracles such as none 
 other, living or dead, has ever done ; there is a
 
 208 Ji-we ^swsls trf to 
 
 rumor that he has brought to life a young girl who 
 was dead ; there are diversities of opinion in regard 
 to his origin and wonderful power ; some contending 
 that he is of Diabolus, others that he is of the Lord 
 God, and, Mother, think what a monstrous sugges- 
 tion ! that he is the Lord God himself." 
 
 His voice fell to a whisper, his excitement grew 
 intense. Electa's dimple was gone, the shade of 
 deep thought was upon her. 
 
 For one moment she sent her thoughts tele- 
 graphing through Jewish tradition ; her inspira- 
 tional monitors crowded her mind and whispered : 
 "The Messiah!" She believed, she realized, she 
 rejoiced, and she prophesied. 
 
 Never had Gaius heard such words uttered as fell 
 from the inspired lips of his mother ; there seemed 
 to have come a tongue of fire to point her language, 
 and under the influence Gaius also became con- 
 trolled, and they declared together that this Jesus 
 was the Messiah that sweet-lipped Isaiah had sung 
 about. 
 
 That the revelation of a new dispensation was 
 inaugurated, and that upon the Old Testament was
 
 209 
 
 to be laid a page which would reveal its mystical 
 pictures, and suit other coming eras. 
 
 From this time forth she and Gaius talked to- 
 gether of the prophecies of the old Bible, forming 
 conclusions favorable to their peculiar views. 
 
 A beautiful contrast the son and mother afforded, 
 their heads bent together over the same volume, 
 Gaius often raising his face, which was browned by 
 his frequent excursions through the sunshine to 
 Jerusalem ; Electa's face by his looking like a drift 
 of snow. 
 
 Enthusiastic and devoted, they enjoyed their opin- 
 ions, and though Adrian was not convinced of the 
 truth of Christ's divine nature, he willingly listened. 
 Adrian was slower to realize the divine light, and 
 not until after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection 
 was he fully converted. 
 
 Let our readers imagine after this with what 
 interest Electa watched the course of events con- 
 cerning the " Son of Man," how every rumor of a 
 new miracle exalted her spirits, how news of his 
 persecution, misappreciation, insult, and neglect, 
 must have pained her, how useless seemed to her
 
 210 Jifttjs jewels xxf the 
 
 rank, position, wealth, and friends, since he whom 
 she so sincerely admired, loved, and reverenced, was 
 an outcast, a wanderer, without a roof to shelter him. 
 
 Many plans did her fertile fancy conceive for his 
 benefit, but of little avail ; and never once did she 
 behold him. 
 
 It was after the terrible tragedy of Gethsemane, 
 when the disciples had been appointed by the risen 
 Lord to preach ; after he ascended to the Father, 
 and sent his Spirit back to the apostles, which sat 
 upon them and controlled them to utterances of his 
 law and will, that Electa began to be most prac- 
 tically serviceable in the cause of the disciples' 
 doctrine. 
 
 Gaius made personal acquaintance with Jesus, 
 and was an enthusiastic admirer of the beautiful 
 Nazarene ; he treasured up his sayings to repeat to 
 his mother, and whenever he could, without giving 
 offence, he had conveyed to Mary, the mother, who 
 lived in Bethlehem, gifts of value through Martha 
 and Mary of Bethany. 
 
 After the miraculous resuscitation of Lazarus, the 
 house of these sisters, and their names, became
 
 ^Iccta. 2 1 1 
 
 traditional among many people far and near, and 
 afterward, when Martha distinguished herself by 
 her beautiful deportment at the feast given to Jesus 
 during the Passover, she especially was much 
 thought of by both friends of Jesus and those op- 
 posed to him ; for brave and beautiful actions will 
 be recognized by all. 
 
 Electa secured every report of the sayings and 
 doings of Jesus, which, from such authority as that 
 of Gaius, she could accredit, and these written man- 
 uscripts were afterward very valuable in the compi- 
 lation of the Gospels. 
 
 Many of Electa's proud friends regarded her 
 slightingly, and sneered at her " foolish superstition." 
 
 Some even went so far as to declare that she was 
 insane, and others discarded her from their enter- 
 tainments, slighted her by indignities of non-recog- 
 nition when they met in public, and in many ways 
 besides they evinced contempt. 
 
 Electa was human, therefore was not impervious 
 to slights ; her tender feelings were often grievously 
 hurt at the disaffection of those in whom she had 
 reposed confidence, and regarded as friends,
 
 212 ~Ji{wK Jewels xxf the 
 
 She made every advance that dignity would allow, 
 but finally ceased to endeavor to conciliate those 
 whom she knew had no real grounds for their offen- 
 sive conduct. 
 
 She remained apart from them as their conduct 
 suggested, and in the heart of her family found 
 repose. 
 
 She received inward grace and instruction, which 
 was worth more than all the assurances from those 
 friends who in other days had expressed so much, 
 yet who, upon a trivial turn of mere sentiment, had 
 proved themselves, though mighty in pomp and 
 power, hollow in heart, false in affection, and failing 
 in friendship. 
 
 In these days of her isolation from the society of 
 the gay world, she formed acquaintance with some 
 of the disciples, and was richly compensated for the 
 loss of some who had professed the strongest inter- 
 est in her, by the pleasant and instructive visits they 
 made to her house. 
 
 The mother of Jesus was a person of uncommon 
 interest to Electa, and when she was informed of 
 her anxiety and great grief, at the perils to which
 
 2 1 3 
 
 her beloved son was exposed, Electa, with all the 
 woman's tenderness and the mother's sympathy 
 stirring in her bosom, indited a letter to the 
 anxious mother, in which there was the outpouring 
 of genuine sympathy and sincerity, which rejoiced 
 the heart of Mary. 
 
 Electa invited her to make a visit to her house, 
 hoping thereby to be able to minister somewhat to 
 her comfort; but Mary was a careful mother, a 
 busy housekeeper, in moderate circumstances, and 
 had no time to make visits. 
 
 Gaius increased in learning as well as stature, 
 and was head of his classes in the colleges. His 
 father designed him for the law, but this Gaius be- 
 lieved unsuited to his talents. 
 
 His mother's heart dwelt with honest pride upon 
 her first-born, and in the twilight of evening might 
 often be seen the two in confidential conference ; 
 the son, understanding the sorrow of the mother for 
 the troubles of Jesus, strove to mitigate her grief 
 by pointing to the high hope which might be pre- 
 sumed Jesus entertained, of being delivered from 
 his enemies and established upon a throne; but
 
 214 3Sive ^swsls *rf the 
 
 Electa's spiritual vision extended beyond the mate- 
 rial plane, and she realized that Christ's kingdom 
 was not of changing, earthly character, but of an 
 immortal, eternal foundation in the future world. 
 
 Adrian listened to Electa and Gaius, who dis- 
 cussed their faith in the infallibility of Jesus, and 
 of his being really the Messiah, as one who is 
 anxious to believe, and who is yet held back by 
 some unfortunate vein of constitutional skepticism, 
 and he sometimes ventured to remonstrate with his 
 Electa upon the danger of becoming too much 
 absorbed in a belief for which there was no settled 
 basis. 
 
 " Sweet wife," he would say, " I love you too well 
 not to be happy to see you enjoy whatever con- 
 vinces your judgment and accords with your inten- 
 tions, but possibly this man may not be aught more 
 than other men. 
 
 " For his character I have great esteem ; but I 
 hear it said that he takes no great honor to himself, 
 and that he openly declares he can, of himself, do 
 nothing, save what the Father gives him. 
 
 "Were he what some infatuated zealots describe,
 
 2i5 
 
 would he be despised, poor, and lowly as he is? 
 Would he not assert his supremacy by triumphing 
 over his enemies ?" 
 
 Electa would, at such points, lay her hand over 
 his mouth and beg him to desist. 
 
 Adrian listened to her exposition of the theory, 
 but Electa's prophetic teaching was not to be com- 
 prehended by his matter-of-fact mind. 
 
 He judged as men judge, and not by the spirit, 
 yet he sought to know more ; and when the news 
 of the accusation and trial of Jesus met his ears, 
 he went to Jerusalem, was present at the trial, 
 heard the decision, and was one who joined in 
 bringing a plea for the innocent man, against 
 whom no charge could be laid other than that 
 of healing the sick, bringing the dead to life, 
 restoring the sight of the blind, and curing luna- 
 tics. 
 
 But of no avail was his plea; the decree went 
 forward into effect. Barrabas was released and 
 Jesus was offered up upon the cross. 
 
 After the terrible tragedy, dreading the effect that 
 this sad news would have upon his beloved wife,
 
 2 1 6 JS-rtfe ?wsls xxf to 
 
 Adrian, upon his return from Jerusalem, was careful 
 to approach the subject warily. 
 
 When Electa saw him coming, she took hold of 
 the hand of the household pet, their youngest-born, 
 and, with the alacrity of a girl, ran down the broad 
 flight of steps which led from the terrace, and out 
 into the avenue. 
 
 Adrian beheld her, sprang from his chariot, went 
 forward, and in a moment had her in his arms. 
 There was a silent expression in the nervous touch 
 of his hand, the peculiar earnestness of his embrace, 
 which conveyed to the quick senses of the wife that 
 something unusual was stirring in the soul of him 
 who was her double self ; but with her usual refine- 
 ment of prudence she kept silence, only pressed 
 her face more closely to his bosom, and once more 
 caressed his lips. 
 
 Little Marcellus, clamorous for his share of atten 
 tion, made good excuse for Adrian to hide his emo- 
 tion, and taking in his arms the intelligent, beautiful 
 little fellow, he started forward with the words, 
 " Come, my precious," to Electa. 
 
 After Marcellus had lavished a score of infantile
 
 2 1 7 
 
 endearments upon his father, a thought seemed to 
 control his sympathetic mind ; he glanced at his 
 mother, then at his father, and said : " Father, tell 
 my mother about Jesus of Nazareth." Electa's eyes 
 flew to Adrian's ; alas ! she read disaster and tribu- 
 lation for the Christ in Adrian's look. 
 
 Unable to keep silence longer, she exclaimed : 
 "Tell me, Adrian, what has happened. I feel, I 
 know, that some calamity has overtaken that holy 
 man." 
 
 Adrian drew her with his left arm to his side, 
 glad to escape the inquisition of her eyes, and slowly 
 answered, " My wife, there has indeed happened to 
 the Nazarene a great tragedy, an awful fate ; but as 
 you have faith in his immortality, and in the divinity 
 of his nature, you should not tremble when I relate 
 that he is already, according to your doctrine, with 
 ' The Father.' As a soldier of his cross, you must 
 not flinch when I tell you that ' The Son of Mail' 
 was executed yesterday upon a cross. 
 
 " Think of him only as your Lord, who is beyond 
 the need of your tears. To his mother and those 
 
 excellent women who must be plunged into irreme- 
 
 10
 
 218 
 
 diable grief turn your thoughts, call up y jur prac- 
 tical talents, and let your generosity, free and un- 
 conditional as it always is, extend toward them ; 
 strive to comfort them by acts of attention, com- 
 mand me, command our means, give full play to 
 your principles of benevolence in this terrible crisis. 
 
 My heart bleeds for them, my wife, not for him, 
 whose countenance bore the impress of peace and 
 power. Never, never, have I seen face of man shine 
 as did the face of Jesus." 
 
 Electa was fainting ; hastily putting the little boy 
 from his arms, he took her in his tender hold, went 
 to one of the nearest fountains, laid her sweet form 
 upon the green grass, dipped up water and held it 
 to her lips, calling her by every endearing appella- 
 tion which his aroused anxieties suggested. 
 
 These tender love remedies restored her. She 
 sat up, but shed no tears, only repeated the words : 
 " Ascended to the Father." 
 
 As she gradually realized the sad fact of the suf- 
 fering of the beloved Christ, she was overwhelmed 
 with tears, which had the effect of relieving her. 
 
 She seated herself in a bower, and with her head
 
 2 1 9 
 
 buried in Adrian's bosom, listened to the whole 
 story which he graphically related. 
 
 When he concluded, she raised her eyes to 
 heaven, clasped her hands, and vowed that so long 
 as she might live she would never again repine, let 
 come whatever affliction there might. 
 
 I will emulate this patient Lord, who, though the 
 floodgates of trial were opened upon him, never 
 shrank from a cheerful performance of duty, never 
 gave vent to complaint, and was never heard to 
 murmur. 
 
 By the time that Gaius, who was in Borne, re- 
 turned, the common wonder and interest of the peo- 
 ple was stirred into thrilling inquiry of the proba- 
 bility of the Divine nature of the martyr. The 
 forms which came up from the graves and walked 
 openly before the people, the darkness that had 
 settled over the world, the obscurity of the sun, the 
 earthquake, were all supernatural phenomena, and 
 his words, parables, and sayings, became familiarly 
 quoted by all classes. 
 
 No man who had ever lived became so famous 
 after death.
 
 220 JRitrc jewels of the 
 
 Electa's health suffered somewhat, and about a 
 year after this, her husband, who was watchful of 
 the least varying shade in her condition, solicitous 
 to the most lover-like anxietv. prevailed on her to 
 go with him to Athens, where she might secure the 
 best medical advice. 
 
 After Electa had selected many articles of utility, 
 and dispatched them to Mar}-, the mother of Jesus, 
 who was very poor, with a large family to superin- 
 tend, and many domestic cares besides the burden 
 of her son's death, she and her two youngest chil- 
 dren, their attendant, and Adrian, went to the re- 
 nowned city of Athens. 
 
 Electa recovered her bloom and usual elasticity, 
 and sought the most intricate portions of the town, 
 in search of historic places and scenery. 
 
 One day, as she passed a house on the outskirts 
 of the suburbs, she heard voices singing sweet 
 hymns of a spiritual character ; there was some- 
 thing so wondrously plaintive in the nature of the 
 strains that she begged Adrian to go with her to 
 the very spot, to ascertain who were the singers. 
 Adrian, who refused her nothing, accorded his com-
 
 Jplhe JBsJutxtj Jiscta. 221 
 
 pliance, and, after winding up several pairs of stairs, 
 they found themselves in a large room, in which was 
 assembled a large number of men and women. 
 
 Electa had never seen any form of worship be- 
 sides the heathen worship, and that of the Jewish 
 tabernacle. Her own heart knew its own forms, but 
 the rites, postures, and the peculiar usages of the 
 disciples she had never witnessed. 
 
 The song ended, here was one man kneeling with 
 hands clasped and eyes raised, while his voice 
 ascended in the most earnest supplication to an 
 invisible power; all the rest of the assembly were 
 also kneeling, with their heads bent in their open 
 palms ; to the risen Christ the appeal was made. 
 It was a little band of men persecuted and afraid, 
 who had been baptized with inspiration, and were 
 en rapport with the ascended Jesus ; a company ol 
 disciples of whom she had heard, but never before 
 had met. 
 
 Her heart burned within her ; she stood contem- 
 plating the scene until the prayer was ended ; then, 
 being observed by the meeting, seats were offered to 
 Adrian and herself, and they also rested.
 
 222 
 
 Silas and Timotheus conducted this little meet- 
 ing; each spoke with burning eloquence of their 
 knowledge of the soul's immortality; they related 
 their experiences of seeing and conversing with 
 Jesus after his resurrection, and cited the instance 
 of John's witnessing the transfiguration on the 
 Mount, when the spirits of Moses and Elias had 
 manifested themselves. 
 
 Imagine the enthusiasm of our beautiful Electa 
 as she drank in these accounts, which so well 
 accorded with her own impressional experience. 
 Adrian was there converted to a full belief in the 
 doctrines of the apostles, and much cause had Electa 
 to rejoice that she had followed the sound of the 
 sacred singing on that ever well-remembered even- 
 ing. 
 
 Frequently after this Electa went with Adrian to 
 the meetings of the disciples, and her ready zeal 
 gave an impetus to many who were nearly lost in 
 doubt. 
 
 The things that the apostles did were of so start- 
 ling a nature that many hesitated between two be- 
 liefs, some imputing their gifts to an evil source.
 
 223 
 
 At Athens, Electa took her little boys to the 
 feasts of idolatry, which were celebrated with great 
 splendor ; she wished them to be informed on every 
 point, to be able to form opinions and to judge all 
 subjects for themselves. 
 
 Athens at that time was almost wholly given to 
 idolatry. 
 
 Philosophers of the Epicureans and Stoics had 
 great influence, and when the moral teaching of the 
 disciples, which prescribed temperance and moder- 
 ation, reached, through report, their ears, they were 
 greatly offended, and thought that it was an effort 
 to introduce new gods ; and yet the Athenians were 
 a wonder-loving people, were continually searching 
 for novelty, and when some of them heard of Jesus, 
 they erected a sign which bore the inscription, " TO 
 THE UNKNOWN GOD," and blindly and igno- 
 rantly worshipped this " god" because of the novelty. 
 There were others who were afraid of the power, 
 and sought to confute the ablest advocates of Jesus. 
 
 In this new and exciting field, Electa's fine mind 
 was exercised to study, and she embraced very 
 rapidly the most advanced thoughts.
 
 224 Ji\ii; Jewels art to riant. 
 
 She visited all places, and made good use of the 
 opportunity to store the young intellects of her 
 boys with information which, in the future, would 
 be valuable. 
 
 In maturer years these boys realized the benefit 
 of having had so intelligent a mother to control 
 their infantile minds, and secure them the education 
 which her peculiarly sound judgment had made 
 her conscious would be profitable and advantage- 
 ous. 
 
 Upon Mars' hill often might be seen Adrian and 
 Electa with the little boys, Marcellus and Alexan- 
 der ; to these Adrian pointed out beauties in archi- 
 tecture, explained dates, and described epochs con- 
 nected with each. Electa's ingenuity devised many 
 a beautiful scheme for their edification and amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 It seems that prosperity had crowned all of 
 Electa's days, for no personal want or calamity 
 had ever befallen her or her household. 
 
 Munificence poured in its countless comforts and 
 conveniences ; good health had, with partiality, in- 
 vested each of her children ; physical beauty was
 
 Jgtota. 225 
 
 inherited jointly, from both father and mother, by 
 each son. 
 
 It was difficult to determine which boy might 
 ripen into the greatest perfection, so full was each 
 one of promise. 
 
 Their princely home bloomed newly, as another 
 year added fuller foliage to the trees, more numer- 
 ous blossoms, and increase in every fruitful depart- 
 ment; flocks were added, ingenious devices which 
 had been brought in vogue were applied, and refine- 
 ment of art adapted through every avenue to each 
 department. 
 
 Nothing failed Adrian; his business capabilities 
 extended to the minutest detail of finance, and 
 revenue seemed to flow naturally to his de- 
 mand. 
 
 Through these years of ceaseless prosperity, 
 Electa had been universally charitable. 
 
 She practised benevolence and exercised charity 
 continuously; was never arrogant, but, with sweet 
 humility, occupied any place, however obscure, in 
 which her presence and means might effect comfort 
 
 and blessing. Tried by no sudden and absolute 
 
 10*
 
 226 Ji\ive Jewels itf the 
 
 reverse, the true metal of her nature had not as yet 
 been tested. 
 
 As a pampered child of fortune, we have so far 
 known Electa. 
 
 [t was in the spring-time, after Electa had been 
 in Athens a year, when Adrian thought it best to 
 return home and leave Gaius to make a tour of the 
 Nile with his mother. 
 
 Electa's heart was pained at the separation, and, 
 as she twined her arms about her beloved Adrian, 
 forebodings of tragic, possible accident occurred to 
 her. " I feel, I realize, Adrian," she said, " that 
 terror and catastrophe are rising in our sky ; here- 
 tofore we have had no adverse winds, now a tempest 
 is brewing ; something tells me so, and yet I do not 
 know what voice it is that whispers to me ; my 
 Adrian, my best beloved, remember, let happen 
 what will, that our hearts are one, our minds are 
 one." Adrian kissed away her tears, soothed her 
 fears, and, by gentle persuasion, prepared her for 
 the moment of parting. 
 
 " You, my birdie," he said, " have not yet learned 
 to flj without me. Silence your apprehensions,
 
 227 
 
 enjoy jour trip, and return to me with blooming 
 color, and in robust health. Nothing that I have 
 seen in Athens can half-way compare with the 
 beauty of my Electa's eyes." 
 
 Theatres were the resort of all who aspired to 
 high art, and histrionic representation was then the 
 best school for literary students. 
 
 Philosophers and sages hung suspended upon the 
 mimic utterances of the drama, and stored their 
 minds with hints of modes for future reformation of 
 vice through this powerful avenue. 
 
 After Adrian left, Electa went with Gaius to the 
 great theatre, to see a performance which was in 
 high vogue. It was there that Gaius for the first 
 time beheld Persis ; loved her upon first sight, and 
 to whom he was afterward happily united in wedlock. 
 
 It happened that the two families were at the 
 same time tourists, and upon the banks of the most 
 renowned river in the world, amidst the romance 
 and blush of beautiful scenery, peace-engendering 
 atmospheres, and harmonious circumstances, youth 
 took on its sweetest, holiest, strongest, and freshest 
 attitude, and discovered love.
 
 228 Ji^itjB jewels at the 
 
 The hearts of Persis and Gaius were like the 
 mellow June morning, which emits the odors that 
 the earth and air and sun and cloud have made the 
 most redolent in sweets, and which by its own ardor 
 fixes in one great realization. 
 
 Their impressible affections received the touches 
 of the inspirer, adapted every pleasing, passing 
 strain to help make full the diapason of melody, har- 
 mony, and time. Their courtship moved on oiled 
 hinges, for there were no disapproving guardians to 
 interfere. 
 
 Persis was a Jewess, liberal in thought, and much 
 affected by the teaching of Paul, who had for a 
 short time preached in Athens ; when the whole 
 city seeming bent upon idolatry, he had, in the very 
 teeth of danger, ventured to present Christ's doc- 
 trine. She was afterward converted, and fully en- 
 tered into all plans of Gaius and Electa, for the 
 support of the elders and scattered brethren. 
 
 This was a season of especial pleasure to Electa ; 
 her forebodings wore off, she encouraged joy, and 
 took hold of amusement with all the ardor of her 
 enthusiastic nature.
 
 229 
 
 When the sunset gilded the landscape, when the 
 moon alone trod the sky, when their heavy vessel 
 dipped deep and ploughed through the surge, she 
 was impressible either to the sublime or apprecia- 
 tive of the romantic. 
 
 Marcellus kept a cabinet filled with each days' 
 spoils, and Alexander saved specimens of plants and 
 shells, which his mother took great pains to arrange. 
 
 Women were regarded in high esteem in a day 
 and age when some of the most powerful monarchs 
 that ever sat upon a throne were of that sex. 
 
 Among the Jews also women served in the taber- 
 nacle and were prophetesses, whose oracles were 
 sought after and adopted by philosophers and sages. 
 
 Woman was not oppressed and secondarily re- 
 garded, by any means, but they were responsible 
 money-holders, merchants, and preachers. 
 
 Women spoke in public and exhorted in private 
 assemblies. St. Paul, the celebrated orator, like all 
 great geniuses, had peculiarities of opinion ; woman 
 was to him evidently a sealed book; he disap- 
 proved of the custom of the women of the period to 
 exhort and speak, and advised them against it.
 
 230 Jlfttje Jewels trf to 
 
 Some of the Hebrew women were especially 
 earnest, strong, and deep in character ; of clear, 
 comprehensive intellects ; ardent and devout in 
 temperament. They were unlike the listless, supine 
 orientals generally, and though domestic and meek, 
 being contented in the sphere of home, they some- 
 times made a wider sphere or went beyond, as their 
 talents directed. 
 
 Deborah had long before prophesied, been in- 
 spired, and recited inspirational poems which were 
 full of burning beauty and melting pathos. She 
 also went out and sat under the shade of the palm- 
 trees, and fearlessly judged Israel. 
 
 Her name was famous among men, reverenced by 
 the tribes, and handed down to posterity in connec- 
 tion with some of the most startling prose poems 
 that ever medium uttered ; she was full of the in- 
 spiration of genius, and was not afraid to speak it 
 publicly. She even took part in the battles. 
 
 The quiet incidents of Electa's record were 
 written chiefly through the hearts of her home 
 circle. She had governed her household actively 
 and diligently, and had been well reported of by
 
 ubij Klscta. 231 
 
 her neighbors and strangers. She had relieved the 
 afflicted, and had poured oil into many a wounded 
 spirit ; had diligently followed every good work. 
 
 She was a holy mother, a noble woman, who was 
 fit and meet to be a follower of Christ. To per- 
 petuate his principles and practise his divine 
 example was her desire, in which she most happily 
 succeeded. To her husband she had been the 
 guiding star of life, the beacon of his aspiration, 
 and the anchor of his hopes. 
 
 "Woman ! blest partner of our joys and woes; 
 
 Even in the darkest hour of earthly ill, 
 Untarnished yet thy fond affection glows, 
 
 Throbs with each pulse, and beats with every thrill 
 When sorrow rends the heart, when feverish pain 
 
 Wrings the hot drops of anguish from the brow, 
 To soothe the soul, to cool the burning brain, 
 
 Oh ! who so welcome and so prompt as thouf 
 
 This was what Electa was to Adrian. But 
 through rosy paths her life had always led, and no 
 great trial of her virtues or sacrifice of ease had 
 ever been called for. The time was near which
 
 232 ^i{itre Jewels 
 
 would unfold the lofty attributes, the unflinching 
 bravery of our Electa. 
 
 After a most charming season had lent its bland- 
 ishments to heap up pleasure to our travellers, when 
 the spring and summer were over, and Gaius and 
 his beloved Persis had settled all preliminaries, and 
 were only waiting for a convenient day to solemnize 
 their nuptials, a letter came to Electa full of appre- 
 hensions of a terrible persecution which threatened 
 the Christians. 
 
 Rumors had reached Adrian of the confiscation 
 of property, of fire and sword, and in one or 
 two instances, of the murders of several Chris- 
 tians. Electa knew Adrian's habit of thought 
 too well to suppose that any rumor of a trivial 
 character or uncertain foundation would be suffi- 
 cient to induce him to impart news which might 
 possibly alarm her. 
 
 She hastily made preparation for instant return, 
 and, in company with the young bride and groom, 
 she reached home just as the yellow began to 
 paint the foliage, and fruit was golden with ripe- 
 ness.
 
 Tender was the meeting of husband and wife- 
 and of mother and boys, who had been brought 
 from school to meet her, but mixed with melan- 
 choly aud mystery, for Adrian was evidently con- 
 cealing a secret ; in every tone of his voice appre- 
 hension was discernible. 
 
 The lovely spot was lovelier than ever; nothing 
 was neglected ; beauty sat on everything. 
 
 Marcellus and Alexander were wild with exuber- 
 ance of delight at meeting their father and brothers, 
 and Gaius, too happy in his new relation of hus- 
 band, went hither and thither with his bride, 
 revealing each day some unobserved corner in 
 which a rare bird had its nest, a fountain sent its 
 waters through mystical jets, or some attraction of 
 delightful import met the senses. 
 
 Meanwhile, a week passed, and amidst the de- 
 lights of reunion, the general bustle of getting 
 settled, Electa had not looked as deeply into 
 Adrian's mind, or weighed his peculiarity of man- 
 ner as she would have done under ordinary, quiet 
 circumstances ; but at the end of that time, as she, 
 Gaius, and Persis were occupied in some trivial 
 individual concerns, a traveller arrived.
 
 234 3^it;e Jfewols af the 
 
 To Gains, the appearance of John the Evangel- 
 ist was indescribably pleasing. There had, for a 
 long time, been an intimacy between these two 
 young Christians, and John was most tenderly at- 
 tached to Electa. He had often been heard to say 
 that every Christian, every female virtue, centred in 
 this chosen one. 
 
 Sorrowful was his face on this occasion, when 
 Electa, after having kissed him, proceeded, with 
 her own fair hands, according to the custom among 
 Jews and Christians, to wash his feet. 
 
 Alas, he had nothing but recitals of trial and 
 trouble and persecution to relate. 
 
 The Christians were pursued, hunted out, and 
 beaten down ; no one who acknowledged the 
 religion of the cross was safe from the penalty of 
 the severest cruelties. 
 
 He told her of horrible scenes, and to Adrian, 
 and Gaius, and Persis as well, related the events 
 which had lately transpired under his own notice. 
 
 He himself had been subjected to the greatest 
 straits; he dared not follow his peculiar business, 
 his very tools were subject to the most unreason-
 
 JSfcubtj ^.lecta. 235 
 
 able fines, and nobody would give their countenance 
 to a disciple for fear of punishment in one form or 
 another. 
 
 Electa's tears flowed abundantly, her sympathetic 
 heart burned within her, and she longed to be able 
 to manifest her devotion by practical work. 
 
 After John left them, much comforted and re- 
 freshed, Electa's house became a refuge and a hos- 
 pital for the persecuted, foot-sore, weary Christians ; 
 weary only in limb, not in spirit. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the tenacity with which 
 they unflinchingly clung to the faith of Jesus. 
 Persis, with her own fair hands made useful articles 
 of clothing, nursed the sick, bound up wounds, and 
 performed menial offices for pilgrim Christians. 
 
 Everything that their vast wealth had for years 
 been storing came willingly into the hands of its 
 owners for the use of these afflicted ones. 
 
 It began to get unsafe for Adrian or Gaius to 
 appear in public ; rumors had reached the rulers of 
 their proclivities, and, although their high position 
 and vast wealth gave them wide privilege, and con- 
 sequence of no mean extent, they were yet not safe
 
 236 
 
 from the prejudices under which religious zeal, the 
 most violent of all incentives, laid them. 
 
 Gaius noticed the lowering brow, the suppressed 
 murmurs, when his presence at any public meeting 
 was noticed, and although his loyalty would have 
 borne any test, yet his prudence pointed to him that 
 it was best for him not to hasten any catastrophe. 
 
 Electa realized inwardly, through her perceptive 
 powers, that there was a heavy calamity impending. 
 
 Active benevolent enterprise, in behalf of positive 
 sufferers, sufficed to keep up her spirits ; for her 
 husband, her children, she dreaded the fate that 
 she saw fixed. 
 
 For herself, her faith was sufficient to convince 
 her of her future immortality ; she was not glad to 
 leave the scene of life, but of her fate, as she said, 
 she was fully convinced. 
 
 Flocks and herds, money and provender, were all 
 at the disposal of refugees and mourners. Much 
 suffering there was now, and to her general sorrow 
 there came a heart-rending, personal, family afflic- 
 tion. 
 
 During twenty-eight years of married life they
 
 ;EU*ate. 237 
 
 had never lost a child. At this season their 
 intelligent, promising second son, David, died, and 
 was buried in the great ancestral tomb which 
 had for thirty years been unvisited by a new 
 tenant. 
 
 To all mothers who know this heart-rending grief 
 our Electa will be an object of sympathy. She 
 could not be rebellious to the will of God, but,, as a 
 mother, the strings of her heart were painfully 
 strained. 
 
 Afflictions came thick and heavy after this. 
 
 From a disease of the optical nerve, Adrian 
 became blind, first in one eye, then in both. It was 
 a piteous sight to behold this model of manly beauty 
 stricken down with darkness ; to know that through 
 the rest of his days no light of sun, moon, or stars 
 was to gild his pathway : that through his Electa 
 any avenue could alone be trod ; only through her 
 was life to be kept worth the having. 
 
 And Electa ? In the last year her beautiful hair 
 had grown gray, lines of care began to seam her 
 brow and crease her cheek, and the rich color which 
 had been remarkable in her complexion was waning
 
 238 3i\iu:e Jewels xrf to 
 
 into pallor ; but with the depreciation of her physi- 
 cal bloom there was a more holy beauty shed over 
 her countenance, the perfect reflection of the spirit- 
 ual growth within. 
 
 Their revenue was still large, but owing to the 
 enormous taxation and other unusual drains, Gaius, 
 who had now the control of his father's business, 
 found it necessary to retrench and economize. 
 
 These beautiful grounds and fine mansion were 
 the common resort for the afflicted Christians scat- 
 tered throughout the country, and Electa's name 
 was a talisman to many a fainting heart. St. John 
 hesitated not to claim her clemency, but made use 
 of her liberality in all cases of distress that came 
 immediately under his notice. 
 
 Adrian sat about the garden with Electa or Mar- 
 cellus by his side nearly the half of every day. He 
 was inclined to melancholy, which added to Electa's 
 distress. His beautiful resignation to the affliction 
 which had befallen him proved his submission and 
 firm reliance upon a high Power, but his human 
 nature would sometimes lament. 
 
 After the family had been returned from the Nile
 
 Jplhs JKlubg: JUteata. 2 39 
 
 for about one year, Persia gave birth to a lovely 
 babe, a little girl. Gaius was exceedingly proud of 
 his little treasure, and more devoted than ever to 
 its mother. 
 
 When this little bud was four months old, Persis 
 one day took it to a seat, near to the farthest 
 fountain, which was occupied by Adrian. She 
 laid it in his lap. Adrian caressed its little hands 
 and feet, while the baby was delighted to twist 
 its little fingers in the beard of Adrian, which crept 
 like a drift of snow and lay upon the baby's form. 
 
 While the young mother knelt upon the sward 
 watching with indescribable delight the intelligent 
 glance of her first-born's dark-brown eyes, several 
 men approached. 
 
 Persis' heart beat. She knew that something 
 unusual was astir, for these men were officers in 
 the king's uniform. 
 
 Hastily clasping her babe in her arms, her next 
 thought was for Electa, and she flew back through 
 the nearest avenue, and found Electa busy with the 
 services of the supper-hour, for she always superin- 
 tended, and with her own hands helped to arrange,
 
 240 
 
 supper : " Mother ! mother !" cried Persis, " there 
 are soldiers in the garden talking to father." 
 
 Electa gave one swift, startled look toward her 
 daughter-in-law, then calming herself, silently and 
 majestically awaited what she felt would be a catas- 
 trophe. 
 
 Soon the same men, whom Electa's quick eyes 
 had perceived were armed with high authority, 
 came confidently up the steps and forward into the 
 pavilion, where Electa still stood rooted to the spot ; 
 but when they came near enough to perceive the 
 beauty of her countenance, and its expression of 
 strength and determination, they altered involun- 
 tarily their manner, and stood at first with bowed 
 heads, respectfully awaiting her speech. "Where- 
 fore, friends, are ye come ?" inquired she, calmly. 
 
 Then one, stepping forward, produced a scroll of 
 parchment, and from it read the decree of the king. 
 To this effect it ran, that all who confessed the 
 doctrine of Christ were commanded to recant, or to 
 be punished with imprisonment, trial, and perhaps 
 death. 
 
 The foremost speaker then took from under
 
 JSfcutig; Jlscta. 241 
 
 his cloak a wooden cross, and placing it upon the 
 floor, explained to Electa that, by simply placing 
 her foot upon it, he would understand that she 
 resigned her peculiar faith, and that she would 
 be secure from any indignity or penalty. 
 
 In an instant the dream that, many years ago, as 
 related in the opening of our narrative, had dis- 
 turbed her, flashed before her mental vision, and 
 she realized its fulfillment. 
 
 She stood unflinchingly before the officer, who, 
 touched by her chaste beauty and evident superi- 
 ority, endeavored to persuade her to take the 
 step which would save them, for he plainly told 
 her that each one of her family would alike have 
 to suffer. 
 
 Of course, Electa refused; she meekly folded 
 her hands ; then, in obedience to the sentence they 
 uttered, she let them be manacled. 
 
 Adrian, Gaius, Persis, and the next eldest 
 boys were taken first to Jerusalem, were subse- 
 quently transported to Borne, and imprisoned. 
 
 There was some consideration shown the females, 
 
 yet, for all that, the sufferings which they endured 
 
 11
 
 242 ^B\ixre 3?swts xrf to 
 
 were intense. No friendship, no love, was sufficient 
 to save them from the hardship incidental to prison 
 life, and in six months our beautiful women, as well 
 as the stouter men, were invalids, weak and pale, 
 shadows of their former selves, but still buoyant in 
 zeal, and resolved, if need be, to suffer martyrdom 
 rather than renounce a religion in which they be- 
 lieved. 
 
 Adrian and Electa sang hymns sometimes, and 
 the stern jailor many a time wiped tears from his 
 eyes, as, when instead of threats and complaint, he 
 heard them pray for their enemies. 
 
 At the expiration of one year the Roman judge 
 offered them another opportunity to recant. They 
 refused, which was a sign of their death-warrant. 
 
 Our sympathies are fain to close now, before the 
 drama reaches the final act, tragical and horrible as 
 it was ; but our readers who have gone with us so 
 far, would not be satisfied unless we showed them 
 the finale ; and, painful as is the task, we will yet, 
 for their sakes, paint the scene of their end, in as 
 moderate colors as the vivid subject will allow. 
 
 The whole world of air, heaven, light, and motion,
 
 -^.lecta. 243 
 
 was in its holiday garb, for it was the season of the 
 year when nature seems to be decked on purpose 
 for some gala festival, when Electa, wrapped in a 
 scarlet gown, was seen behind the jailor, holding in 
 convulsive clasp the head of her Adrian ; again and 
 again she pressed his sightless eyes to her bosom ; 
 then taking leave of her Gaius, her eldest-born, and 
 Persis, her fond and faithful daughter-in-law, and 
 successively of her children and grandchild, she 
 told the jailor good-bye, and thanked him for his 
 kindness to her and hers, was then rudely led for- 
 ward by men of herculean forms, who fastened her 
 to the heels of oxen, which were driven around the 
 public squares. 
 
 She was not suffered to expire in this way, but 
 with the extreme refinement of cruelty, they restored 
 her exhausted faculties by administering stimulants, 
 and then, in the face of a large multitude, fastened 
 her to a cross, where she, with these words on her 
 lips, "Father, forgive them, they know not what 
 they do," expired. 
 
 The sun had not sent its last rays of gold over the 
 scene ere Adrian, Gaius, and all the others, save
 
 244 
 
 Marcellus and Alexander, were victims to the same 
 barbarism. 
 
 Owing to the tender ages of Marcellus and Alex- 
 ander they were spared, though their patrimony 
 was not allowed them. 
 
 They devoted themselves to the infant left by 
 Persis, and the educations which they had received 
 secured them means of employment in schools of 
 juvenile students ; afterward they were professors in 
 the university ; and, after the furor subsided, and 
 men grew more tolerant of the Christian religion, 
 they became distinguished as teachers and preach- 
 ers ; but the tragedy of that golden sunset never laid 
 its shadow. It was a memory which haunted them 
 through all their subsequent lives.
 
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